Explosion stories making me paranoid about starting ECigs

JK91

Ok, cigarette smoker here and I'm interested in making the switch to e-cigarettes for the obvious reasons, no lung cancer, copd etc risks, better breathing etc. However, there is just one thing that is holding me back from starting up on e-cigs and that is all of the explosion and house fire stories. How safe are these things and what would it take for one these to explode? I would not feel comfortable putting one up to mouth until all of this can be cleared. Definitely want to get away from tobacco, but the thought of developing a gradual cancer actually seems scary that half my face potentially been injured by a faulty e-cig. And how common is for these things to overeat to the point of becoming a fire hazard?

grindle

Laptops and phones explode as well. If the type of batteries we use aren't treated well or have a defect, they'll misbehave.
There's no reason to believe that ecigs explode more often than laptops or phones and a lot of those were due to people being deliberately unsafe with their batteries or not using the charger that came with their ecig.
Buy a good brand of ecig, use the charger that you're supposed to with it and don't leave it on the charger all night or unattended (this stands for phones and laptops too!) and the chances are extremely slim.

It's not often a tabloid rag describes anything accurately but

The Mirror wrote:

Firefighters say the most common cause of fire appears to be either using incorrect chargers or over-tightening the screwed connection to the rechargeable battery resulting in mechanical damage.

So we can glean from that that ecigs don't cause explosions, users do. Don't be a careless ecig user.

Green Hornet

I'd imagine that mech mod type batteries are more risky than the the eGo types that have short circuit protection anyway.

I've had one or two shorts when I started rebuilding back in the day and the short circuit protected type battery shuts down until the short circuit is fixed.

I've had a few closer ones with the likes of 18350 or 18650 batteries but they've just heated up, very hot very quickly mind.....but no explosion.

An eGo or innokin type battery is very safe I'd imagine.

Ionised

I stand to be corrected, but I can't recall a single news story about anyone being injured by an ecig.
I've come close.. But only when my better half threatened to throw one at me.

DubTony

Ionised wrote: »

I stand to be corrected, but I can't recall a single news story about anyone being injured by an ecig.
I've come close.. But only when my better half threatened to throw one at me.

Here's one

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/electronic-cigarette-explodes-in-mans-mouth-causes-serious-injuries/

and here's a story about a house going on fire due to a lit cigarette

http://www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk/1589.asp

and here's a picture of a cat

Ionised

Funnily enough..she has also threatened to throw the cat at me!

Anyhoo... I think it is pretty safe to say that overall one is going to be safer with an ecig than a 'normal' cigarette, both in health and risk of injury and death.

If I can just find an 'e-wife' my risk of injury decreases even further

StickyIcky

You've got more chance of dying on the way to buying a lotto ticket than you do of winning the lotto. You stand about the same chances of your ecig exploding. Perhaps getting hit by lightning could be something more worth worrying about?

grindle

Ionised wrote: »

If I can just find an 'e-wife' my risk of injury decreases even further

This is what Real Dolls are for. You can even get a portable version called a Fleshlight, or for the in-between haven't-got-space-in-the-boot-but-want-a-body vibe, you can get a Real Doll shorn of those cumbersome limbs that analog women are festooned with.
WTF is that about ladies? If I wanted you to have arms and legs I would've ordered you with arms and legs.
Ironically my perfect lady will never be able to type an answer to that. Sad times.

DubTony

StickyIcky wrote: »

You've got more chance of dying on the way to buying a lotto ticket than you do of winning the lotto. You stand about the same chances of your ecig exploding. Perhaps getting hit by lightning could be something more worth worrying about?

OP, the ecig business is supposedly worth over a billion a year worldwide. If half of this is on kits and batteries that means that about 20 million batteries are sold each year. I've heard stories of 4 ecigs blowing up. So based on that "evidence", the odds are about 1 in 5 million. It seems you're actually more likely to be struck by StickyIcky's lightening. Winning the lottery though ... well, that's for another thread.

BTW, as a smoker, the chance of you dying from a "smoking related illness" is 50%. So go on, bite the bullet. It probably won't blow up in your face.
(See what I did there? )

tommy2bad

Never mind the smoking related illness, the number of fires that are caused by cigarettes far out numbers the exploding ecigs.
Candles chip-pans, charging phones, driving, eating sushi, life is full of danger.

Ionised

tommy2bad wrote: »

Candles chip-pans, charging phones, driving, eating sushi, life is full of danger.

Driving, eating sushi AND using a chip-pan is a recipe for disaster !

And they say people are mad using a cell phone whilst driving

tommy2bad

What can I say? I get hungry on long journeys.

StickyIcky

Exactly the number of fires caused by drinking and smoking or smoking while sleepy compared to the risk of any lithium ion battery exploding is greater. This ecig exploding news is just anti ecig propaganda.

StickyIcky

Exactly the number of fires caused by drinking and smoking or smoking while sleepy compared to the risk of any lithium ion battery exploding is greater. This ecig exploding news is just anti ecig propaganda.

Mr. Chrome

I was staying in a hotel in London a few years ago. I came back to the room off my tits and conked out. I woke up with a 2" wide by 2" deep hole in the mattress beside me. I had fallen asleep while smoking. The mattress must have been fire proof....scared the **** outa me!

SugarShane88

Sounds like in your drunken state you fashioned a hole big enough to fit your penis in the mattress.

Mr. Chrome

Maybe....

dePeatrick

Mr. Chrome wrote: »

I was staying in a hotel in London a few years ago. I came back to the room off my tits and conked out. I woke up with a 2" wide by 2" deep hole in the mattress beside me. I had fallen asleep while smoking. The mattress must have been fire proof....scared the **** outa me!

Woke up in a confused (read drunken) state in a room in the 70's and eventually fumbled and found the light switch, stared at the light wondering why I could only see the bulb and reached the door coughing and choking to witness the mattress erupting in flames, luckily I managed to bring it under control......if I had not woken......well! There were three other people upstairs from me in the house asleep too....

If e-cigs/mobile phones/laptops/flashlights/tablets get me I will wreak my vengeance in hell and Pi** on the fires of Satan

JK91

Mr. Chrome wrote: »

I was staying in a hotel in London a few years ago. I came back to the room off my tits and conked out. I woke up with a 2" wide by 2" deep hole in the mattress beside me. I had fallen asleep while smoking. The mattress must have been fire proof....scared the **** outa me!

Was this a cigarette or an e-cigarette?

Mr. Chrome

Joint :-)