Istick Users Please Read - Safety

[wildpolecat]

i never charge anything while im not around my wife on the other hand will argue thats its perfectly safe to leave tablets phones etc overnight it causes alot of arguements in our house i just cant get through to her its an accident waiting to happen work is another place guilty of this leaveing 5 to 6 lithium drill batteries on charge overnight for the morning they wont be told either grates me to see it happen but sad as it is some folk need a wake up call before they will listen

[jtc]

It is a strange one bob and it's just what we don't need.
Being a lipo perhaps it had been used so much it had become unstable. It's a one cell and probably charged a hell of a lot.also if the mod has been thrown around a lot maybe it's been damaged inside.
I think maybe a mod with a built in lipo should have a limit to it's life tbh, maybe 12 months?
Then give an on screen warning maybe.
I have a couple of DNA200 devices with large lipos but I made sure when I bought them that they were user serviceable so I can swap them out.
For the price of a lipo it ain't worth risking imo.
No more over night charging for me though as yes hands up I've been guilty and stupid really

[Deleted]

Jan 17, 2016 16:04:38 GMT Greeny1210 said:

I'll be honest, I often charge my istick on the laptop overnight (I do use the correct charger..leats I think it is (the white one? that might be my phone charger come to think of it not really sure)

I always thought it was the shady stuff off markets or abroad you had to be wary of not the genuine ones

It doesn't matter whether it"s from a shady backstreet market stall or a world renowned vendor/dealer. If its got a rechargeable battery in it, you have to treat it with respect.

[tsoko]

Jan 17, 2016 16:44:23 GMT striker42 said:

Jan 17, 2016 16:04:38 GMT Greeny1210 said:

I'll be honest, I often charge my istick on the laptop overnight (I do use the correct charger..leats I think it is (the white one? that might be my phone charger come to think of it not really sure)

I always thought it was the shady stuff off markets or abroad you had to be wary of not the genuine ones

It doesn't matter whether it"s from a shady backstreet market stall or a world renowned vendor/dealer. If its got a rechargeable battery in it, you have to treat it with respect.

Here here

[mart166]

Cant add a lot to this, as all above sensible, only thing I did not know was taking attie off before charging, never done that, or read the instructions lol. It's not just our devices, well documented Sony laptops frying, and even Boeing Dreamliners having same problem, I never charge unattented apart from my tablet, have to think twice about that now, but how the hell do you charge when using it all waking hours, bit of a conundrum there !!!

MP

[jtc]

Yeah that is the problem isn't it.
For convenience overnight seems the way but.......
Hmmm we need to invent an armoured box with charge ports

[Bobsbeer]

I must admit I never take the atty off while charging. Never gave that aspect a thought to be honest. I always charge from my USB ports on the laptop, so when the computer goes off at night, so does the charging. However I must admit that it is left on all day, even if I'm not in front of it, and if I go out it gets left on. So any connected mods get left charging unattended.

There must be something about the batteries that we use that are inherently unsafe. Yes the odd laptop goes up, but there will be many more laptops out there in regular use, so it stands to reason there will be the occasional fault. Yes one Dreamliner battery went up in smoke, but there seems to be more e-cig mods go up in flames than any other type of battery. Or they are the ones that get the headlines, which I doubt. If loads of phones or laptops were going up in smoke we would hear about that in a heartbeat as people tried to sue Samsung and Apple etc. Many laptops use 18650 batteries. They were invented to use in laptops. So are we just pushing them too far? Is it the way we use these batteries that is causing a problem? I don't know what power drain a laptop has, but looking at the battery casing they must have about 10-12 x 18650 batteries in there. They get charged everyday or get left on charge all the time in many cases. Yet loads are not going up in flames. Is it the high drain use? Is it just a matter of too high charging rate as people may plug into anything that has a micro usb plug on, which is most phone chargers these days? Just seems it is something that should be looked into.

[amygx]

The guy has been vaping for 12 months he should know how to safely charge his batteries by now. I only ever charge or leave things turned on while I'm at home and my batteries are always within my field of vision while charging, as soon as the magic light goes green I turn it off.

I don't even charge my phone while I'm sleeping, it gets charged (like everything else really) in the evening while I'm sat down comfy and warm watching my soaps on TV.

I can't believe the guy said "I’ve been using e-cigarettes for the last 12 months, after being a smoker for the last ten years, because I thought they were better for my health. It seems they’re obviously not though."

Why? because your battery exploded due to your stupidity and it hasn't badly effected your "health" in the last 12 months until now. Give me a break. I'm sure it will say in the manual somewhere not to over charge the battery and to use correct charging equipment, it will also say something along the lines of don't leave it unattended while charging, sleeping while its charging = unattended + over charging.

[happyloman]

Sad to see this stuff getting in papers, as has already been said mobile phones have caused a lot of fire damage over the years, even appeared in a fire safety advert recently in Scotland, but no polls about banning them.

On a side note, do people know what to do if a battery does explode?
I never leave them unattended and have a fire safety blanket in my room, more for when I was a stinky user, which is about to expire, is there something better than that for this type of incident?

[Jerri]

Jan 17, 2016 21:44:56 GMT happyloman said:

Sad to see this stuff getting in papers, as has already been said mobile phones have caused a lot of fire damage over the years, even appeared in a fire safety advert recently in Scotland, but no polls about banning them.

Ah yes but mobile phones aren't costing the government and big tobacco billions like ecig's are right now, and they've got to keep those fat expense accounts topped up! So the more they can demonise the things costing them money the better. Then when they're banned Joe public can nod his head and say well the government are looking out for us here aren't they. Those dangerous ecig's! Right before he plugs his phone/laptop in and goes to sleep.

Wonder how many house fires and accidents are caused by people forgetting they've got a lit cigarette or falling asleep mid smoke. Don't see poles about banning those though ay.

All my mods have built in batteries. They are charged next to me with the atty taken off. If I leave the room to pop the loo I unplug them.

[gm111]

Jan 17, 2016 21:44:56 GMT happyloman said:

Sad to see this stuff getting in papers, as has already been said mobile phones have caused a lot of fire damage over the years, even appeared in a fire safety advert recently in Scotland, but no polls about banning them.

On a side note, do people know what to do if a battery does explode?
I never leave them unattended and have a fire safety blanket in my room, more for when I was a stinky user, which is about to expire, is there something better than that for this type of incident?

Yes a class d fire extinguisher you can pick a small one up for about £20 I believe, the chances of an 18650 going up in flames is very slim it will just release gases but lipos will go up in flames..

[Bobsbeer]

Before you rush to condemn this guy, just stop and think. I know we don't know how he was charging his iStick, but if he has only been vaping for 12 months, the iStick is very likely to be less than 12 months old. Very few people would start vaping with that sort of equipment, but even if it is 12 months old, that is not very old for what is supposed to be decent quality equipment. I have had a few iSticks, although none over 12 months old as they seem to stop working or not hold their charge much after 9 months old, but maybe he was lucky, or unlucky depending on how you look at it, and it carried on working.

While he may have been stupid to charge overnight, unattended, there will be many thousands who do, and think hey, I charge my phone overnight, so why not my e cig, and millions charging their phone. On the phone side, it was the fake chargers not the batteries causing the fires, and they got loads of publicity. In this and other e cig cases, it is the batteries, or at least the electronics inside the e cig, not the charger.

Jerri and amygx you both sound as though you are very strict in your charging regime. Well done. I think you will find you are both in the minority in the vaping community though. I have been vaping for over 12 months and touch wood no incidents. I would have said the same as that guy though. I started vaping because I thought vaping was better for my health.

[Deleted]

Jan 17, 2016 14:37:31 GMT nanotm said:

he also didn't remove the atty, not sure about you guys but the instructions with mine said you should remove the atty when charging.... so ignored safety warnings and paid the price, you cant prevent stupidity with regulations so the poll they include in the article is rather stupid /

You will also find that it advertises that the device can be used as a pass through. Bit of a contradiction as far as I can see.

[Bobsbeer]

Jan 17, 2016 14:37:31 GMT nanotm said:

he also didn't remove the atty, not sure about you guys but the instructions with mine said you should remove the atty when charging.... so ignored safety warnings and paid the price, you cant prevent stupidity with regulations so the poll they include in the article is rather stupid /

I think you will find that the iStick 20w device doesn't mention removing the atty during charging.  In fact they state you can use the mod and atty while charging.  He's possibly stupid for other reasons but not that.

From my iStick 20w instructions.

How to charge

iStick is charged through USB port at the bottom. One can take puffs while it is being

charged.

[Deleted]

Jan 17, 2016 16:04:38 GMT Greeny1210 said:

I'll be honest, I often charge my istick on the laptop overnight (I do use the correct charger..leats I think it is (the white one? that might be my phone charger come to think of it not really sure)

I always thought it was the shady stuff off markets or abroad you had to be wary of not the genuine ones

I used to do this until a mate asked why I was using a £500 laptop as an adapter for a £30 device. I went out and bought a proper adapter. I am not sure it is worth the risk to burn out a USB port - just my opinion.

Nick