Vape Pen Kills Man

LeanBurn

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Interesting how the baggage spontaneously combusted on that link that xxo posted That could have happened on the plane! Lithuim batteries are safe when you know how to handle them. Unfortunately the greater part of the population doesn't know or care to know. I would use them, but the simplicity and zero training needed for NiMh batteries just are so much safer in the hands of a noob.


Same story but another news outlet:
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A 38-year-old Florida man was killed when the vape pen he was using exploded, launching two pieces of the object into his head. Tallmadge "Wake" D'Elia's official cause of death, which is the first e-cigarette fatality in the U.S., was listed as "projectile wound of the head" and ruled accidental.

D'Elia, who died on May 5, also suffered burns on nearly 80 percent of his body, The Tampa Bay Times reported. Firefighters discovered him in an upstairs bedroom at the St. Petersburg home after responding to a fire alarm. At the time of his death, D'Elia was using a "mod" type of Smok-E Mountain Mech Works pen that was manufactured in the Philippines.

"This is a terrible shock," Christopher D'Elia, the man's father, told ABC Action News. "Anybody who has lost a son doesn't want anybody else to lose a child to something like this. A 38-year-old should not be gone, and his mother and I are devastated."

The report did not reveal a cause for the device explosion, but a representative told ABC Action News that it was likely due to an atomizer or battery issue. The company said they've encountered previous issues with other manufacturers creating imitation batteries.

"I don't know much about the vape technology," Christopher D'Elia told the news outlet. "I didn't really find what he was doing attractive, and I asked him not to do it in the house because I didn't like the odor, and he didn't. His mother and I weren't home, so that's why he may have been using it inside."
While the exact circumstances surrounding the explosion are unknown, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises against carrying e-cig batteries loose in pockets to avoid coming in contact with coins, keys or metal objects. It also recommends charging the device on a flat surface away from anything that can catch fire, and to avoid charging it while sleeping or leaving it unattended.

D'Elia's obituary said he was a television producer and rece
ntly moved to Florida with his wife, Maria Lamberti.
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Practice safe Lithium storage. Use a lithium battery condom.
 
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[email protected]

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May 17, 2018
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Important to note that the media are referring to the device as a vape pen but the device in question is known as a Mech mod (Mechanical mod) It has no on-board protection electronics like the majority of vaping equipment used these days and these types of devices are commonly regarded in the vaping world as the most dangerous vaping devices available if not used with extreme care and knowledge of battery safety. I often use these devices but am extremely careful with my battery care and handling and know what not to do, in order to keep myself safe.

As is usual, the media will want everyone to believe that it was a common vape pen that you can buy anywhere because this will sell copy, whilst it is actually, a much less common device mainly only used by enthusiasts.
 

LRJ88

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May 4, 2014
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There's no reports or statistics regarding the brands of the batteries involved in this? I'm guessing it's just cheap ChinaExport stuff they managed to get for $2/piece, but it'd be good to know if this has also affected name brands under heavy load.
 

TinderBox (UK)

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I am not a vaper, I have never smoked, But people do not understand how dangerous li-ion battery can be, I would only use lifepo4 cells even if i had to change them twice as often, Lifopo4 also have up to 2000 cycle life compared up to 500 cycles for standard li-ion cells.

John.
 

Nephron44

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May 30, 2016
Messages
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Important to note that the media are referring to the device as a vape pen but the device in question is known as a Mech mod (Mechanical mod) It has no on-board protection electronics like the majority of vaping equipment used these days and these types of devices are commonly regarded in the vaping world as the most dangerous vaping devices available if not used with extreme care and knowledge of battery safety. I often use these devices but am extremely careful with my battery care and handling and know what not to do, in order to keep myself safe.

As is usual, the media will want everyone to believe that it was a common vape pen that you can buy anywhere because this will sell copy, whilst it is actually, a much less common device mainly only used by enthusiasts.

I'm pretty sure the second media source specifically stated it was a "mod" device or whatever.

That said, whatever device is used to vape, and whether or not it explodes, it is hazardous to your health and will eventually cause death. Years ago people thought smoking was healthy, and look where we are now!
 

Melvang

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Joined
Mar 29, 2019
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I'm pretty sure the second media source specifically stated it was a "mod" device or whatever.

That said, whatever device is used to vape, and whether or not it explodes, it is hazardous to your health and will eventually cause death. Years ago people thought smoking was healthy, and look where we are now!


I remember this article going around. The device being used in this case was what is called a mech or mechanical mod. There is a huge difference between this and a regulated box mod. Regulated devices have internal circuits that do many things. Allowing you to adjust the wattage/voltage/temp settings (temperature control is based on specific metals resistance changing at a specific rate with temp that the device can measure), along with battery protection for charging and discharging (never trust this on these devices as it is added after the fact), but mostly protect the cells from over discharging. With the mechanical mods, there is nothing but a metal tube, one wire, and a fire switch. When you build with these, you need to build the coils to a general range of resistance to prevent over-discharging from the battery. The vast majority of "exploding vape pens" are of this type. This usually happens from either one or a combination of two factors. Incorrect coil resistance for the batteries used, or cheap/faulty/mislabeled/counterfeit batteries. Even then, the majority of issues like this just causes venting with actual explosions being rare. More common with sealed off mech mods that have no vent holes in the device itself.

There have been a couple of regulated devices that have had issues. However, the majority of these were due to the manufacturer of the mods being sold batteries that for whatever reason, weren't capable of standing up to what they were being sold as and were effectively being over discharged. One device in specific (I had one of these) had this issue, plus an electronics malfunction that it would randomly just fire and bypass the industry standard 10 second shut off. My mod started doing this but at least not constantly. It did it twice, and I disassembled the mod, and cut the wire to the battery.

Side note, vaping is not considered safe or healthy. It is at least considered a safer/healthier alternative to tobacco.
 
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