Let's stir a little ;-)

[Bunnypoison]

Build is irrelevant, he took hybrid mech to the bathroom " getting ready for work". Mod gets wet he pulls a drag and shorts it out. Lithium in presenece of water release hydrogen and more heat. Explosion of that magnitude could have been caused only by hydrogen ignition.
In short, man is a moron.

Ok let me try to understand what you are saying, so contact between lithium and water would cause an explosion with the release of hydrogen, the batteries contain lithium thus the batteries would have had to been either exposed or gathered steam from a shower?

 

[Martin_tu]

@Normz, This is 2017. Consumer products should not injure you. If I buy a laptop, it doesn't matter what I do to it, it shouldn't injure me.

Consumer products like -as you mention- maybe a Dell Laptop http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1526424/Exploding-laptops-prompt-Dell-battery-recall.html
A Ford Kuga; http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2016/12/19/Ford-Kuga-owner-leaps-from-burning-vehicle-in-Durban
Or maybe a Samsung note 7; https://www.cnet.com/news/why-is-samsung-galaxy-note-7-exploding-overheating/

Hint: It's not the device, it's the battery.

 

[RichJB]

Whatever the merits or demerits of this incident, the bigger picture is:

1) This isn't the first incident
2) There is no single common link with all incidents, such as batteries only venting when they get wet, or only in mechs, or only in people's pockets, or only with xyz brand of battery
3) Unless the industry can come up with idiot-proof products, new users need to be made aware of the risks. Not just "aware of the risks" but "MADE aware of the risks". That puts an onus on manufacturers and retailers, not just on consumers.

Game can't sell you a home theatre system where, if you couple it to a Samsung HDTV and switch it on between 15h00 and 17h00 on a Thursday, steel shrapnel flies out of it and pierces your eyeballs - and then claim "oh but the user should have googled it and been aware that this is a quirk with this particular home theatre system". If the product explodes under those particular circumstances, then the product will be taken off the market while the manufacturers redesign it so that it no longer malfunctions under those circumstances. That is just how consumer law works.

 

[RichJB]

@Martin_tu, those products have all been recalled. In every case, the manufacturer has taken steps to recall, redesign and rectify the product. Neither Dell nor Ford nor Samsung has claimed "oh but the user was just stupid, they should have done their research".

Should all mech mods and RDAs of the type involved in this incident be recalled? That is how the rest of industry reacts to incidents like this. What is the vaping industry's reaction going to be? And how will the FDA and other regulatory bodies view that reaction?

 

[craigb]

Whatever the merits or demerits of this incident, the bigger picture is:

1) This isn't the first incident
2) There is no single common link with all incidents, such as batteries only venting when they get wet, or only in mechs, or only in people's pockets, or only with xyz brand of battery
3) Unless the industry can come up with idiot-proof products, new users need to be made aware of the risks. Not just "aware of the risks" but "MADE aware of the risks". That puts an onus on manufacturers and retailers, not just on consumers.

Game can't sell you a home theatre system where, if you couple it to a Samsung HDTV and switch it on between 15h00 and 17h00 on a Thursday, steel shrapnel flies out of it and pierces your eyeballs - and then claim "oh but the user should have googled it and been aware that this is a quirk with this particular home theatre system". If the product explodes under those particular circumstances, then the product will be taken off the market while the manufacturers redesign it so that it no longer malfunctions under those circumstances. That is just how consumer law works.

Wholeheartedly agree. It just sucks that the end result is to limit the choice of responsible users to cater to the failings of irresponsible users. But that is the human condition.

 

[alex1501]

Ok let me try to understand what you are saying, so contact between lithium and water would cause an explosion with the release of hydrogen, the batteries contain lithium thus the batteries would have had to been either exposed or gathered steam from a shower?

In my opinion mod got wet from whatever he was doing in the sink. When he pulled a drag, water caused initial short, battery starts to vent, then water gets in the contact with lithium and reaction is very volatile Li+H2O= LiOH + H2 + heat
Hydrogen than selfignites and creates again water and more energy.
Now him, FDA goons, and bunch of so called reporters are just trying to capitalize on his stupidity, and having a great success so far.

 

[RichJB]

Have to love this from the Daily Mail article:

Batteries are widely considered to be the cause of vape pen explosions.

Well, yes. Metal, plastic, glass, e-liquid and cotton are not volatile substances that tend to explode on their own.

 

[Bunnypoison]

In my opinion mod got wet from whatever he was doing in the sink. When he pulled a drag, water caused initial short, battery starts to vent, then water gets in the contact with lithium and reaction is very volatile Li+H2O= LiOH + H2 + heat
Hydrogen than selfignites and creates again water and more energy.
Now him, FDA goons, and bunch of so called reporters are just trying to capitalize on his stupidity, and having a great success so far.

I love how randomly in the vaping community you stumble onto a science lesson, this was educative!

 

[alex1501]

2) There is no single common link with all incidents, such as batteries only venting when they get wet, or only in mechs, or only in people's pockets, or only with xyz brand of battery

Sorry but there is. It is always a heat, alone, or caused by the internal or the external short.
Lithium batteries are unsafe and should be respected as such. On the other hand they provide at the moment best price/capacity/amperage ratio (reason for popularity). It may be very hard to recall all of them from the market. Until improved battery is developed we have to live with them.
There is hardly anything foolproof or 100% safe on the market today, but we still use it every day.
However common sense is always in order, and I'm sure that not many people take pluged toaster or hairdryer to the bath tub full of water.

 

[blujeenz]

Strange how its always men involved in these "dumbass incidents".
Now Ive met a few "scatterbrained" women in my time and supposedly women outnumber men population wise, yet not really any women involved in bodily harm incidents.
Outwardly it would seem that a scatterbrained woman is higher up the intelligence ladder than a dumb male.
Better get rid of my mech's before I find out where on that ladder I am.

 

[Normz]

Strange how its always men involved in these "dumbass incidents".
Now Ive met a few "scatterbrained" women in my time and supposedly women outnumber men population wise, yet not really any women involved in bodily harm incidents.
Outwardly it would seem that a scatterbrained woman is higher up the intelligence ladder than a dumb male.
Better get rid of my mech's before I find out where on that ladder I am.

I wish I could rate this more really made me laugh. Gotta show my lady this

 

[Raindance]

Something keeps niggling me. He used a LG H2 battery. Maybe this was one of the fakes we have doing the rounds? It is possible that a convergence of minor risks occured and resulted in this blowout.

Recreating the sequence of events that could have caused the destruction trail evident in the pictures also leads me to think that the main explosion occured inside the basin resulting in the basin dammage and launching the battery on a collision trajectory with his hand and face which after making these impacts ricochet back towards the wall and ceiling.

Tranlsating this into a potential scenario where the mod falls into the basin while he was leaning over it (brushing his teeth or shaving?), possibly with a running tap supplying the water needed for initiating the reaction. The limited damage and placement of the injury to the hand seems to support this. The mod being in shreds sure indicates he was not holding it when this happened.

In any case, it was an unfortunate event and does show the need to be knowledgeable of the correct use of these devices. The same applies to almost anything you can think of. Drying dogs in micro wave ovens, prying loose toast stuck in a toaster with a kitchen knife, recovering a stuck vehicle with a towstrap tied to the ball of a tow hitch, the list goes on and on. We can legislate all we want but here is no escape from the laws of natural selection.

Reminds me of the movie 'Idiocracy'. It wont win any oscars but does accurately portray humanities future if we continiue trying to cater for the lowest common denominator.

 

[TechnoSnakeMan]

This kind of stuff is really harming the industry and the general public's already skewed perception on vaping as a whole. I cant even count how many times I have been asked "Doesn't that cause water buildup in the lungs" or "Did you see what happened to that guy". 9 out of 10 people say "We saw it on Facebook". The question is how long before a news channel decides to air this latest incident on national or international television, if that hasn't happened already.

 

[RichJB]

However common sense is always in order, and I'm sure that not many people take pluged toaster or hairdryer to the bath tub fool of water.

Yes because people know that electricity and water aren't good together. They know that putting their hand into a food processor with whirring blades isn't a good idea. They know that jumping off a fourth-floor balcony isn't wise. They know not to press their face down onto a stove hotplate when it's on. These are intuitive conclusions, you can expect the average person to know them. Is it intuitive for Joe Sixpack to not screw an atty without a protruding positive pin down on a hybrid mech? Is it something that an average person would be expected to know?

The general public consensus on batteries is that they are safe and harmless. How many people have received second-degree burns from putting an AA Duracell in their pocket? How many people had their Walkman burst into flames on their hip? Or their TV remote explode in their hand? We've all used batteries forever in a huge range of appliances and they are not viewed as dangerous products. You get your toy, you put AA or AAA batteries in it and it works. It doesn't maim you. Now when vaping gear comes out with similar-looking batteries, what are people going to think? Are they going to know intuitively that this is a whole different product? No, they're going to assume it's exactly the same as AA or AAA batteries.

The vaping industry can tell casualties "your injuries are a result of your stupidity, deal with it". But then govt will tell the vaping industry "our regulations are the result of your inability to make idiot-proof products, deal with it". What are we going to do then? Blow clouds at them? We're a tiny minority, we don't hold the upper hand in this. It is up to us to fit in with the norms of mainstream non-smoking society, not up to them to fit in with us. If that is going to be our approach, we can cut to the chase and shut down the industry right now.

 

[Rincewind]

Something keeps niggling me. He used a LG H2 battery. Maybe this was one of the fakes we have doing the rounds? It is possible that a convergence of minor risks occured and resulted in this blowout.

Recreating the sequence of events that could have caused the destruction trail evident in the pictures also leads me to think that the main explosion occured inside the basin resulting in the basin dammage and launching the battery on a collision trajectory with his hand and face which after making these impacts ricochet back towards the wall and ceiling.

Tranlsating this into a potential scenario where the mod falls into the basin while he was leaning over it (brushing his teeth or shaving?), possibly with a running tap supplying the water needed for initiating the reaction. The limited damage and placement of the injury to the hand seems to support this. The mod being in shreds sure indicates he was not holding it when this happened.

In any case, it was an unfortunate event and does show the need to be knowledgeable of the correct use of these devices. The same applies to almost anything you can think of. Drying dogs in micro wave ovens, prying loose toast stuck in a toaster with a kitchen knife, recovering a stuck vehicle with a towstrap tied to the ball of a tow hitch, the list goes on and on. We can legislate all we want but here is no escape from the laws of natural selection.

Reminds me of the movie 'Idiocracy'. It wont win any oscars but does accurately portray humanities future if we continiue trying to cater for the lowest common denominator.

Trying to figure out what happened and how it happened is pointless if the whole thing was staged. And say what you will, those photos make no sense..

 

[craigb]

prying loose toast stuck in a toaster with a kitchen knife

That's something I never plan on doing again, at least not while the toaster is plugged in.

 

[Raindance]

That's something I never plan on doing again, at least not while the toaster is plugged in.

With you there brother, just proves the point that we can not legislate away all risks. Next thing we know we will be living in a world where every brick carries a 'Do not drop on foot' sticker on each of its sides...

 

[Puff the Magic Dragon]

Agree with @Normz . No licence is needed for the private use of a chainsaw, lawnmower, angle grinder, cut off saw, band saw, etc (all of these are far from being idiot proof). I know several people who have had accidents with them. All of these items are potentially very dangerous, even lethal. No photos I have yet seen of people injured by vaping "accidents" come close to the injuries received by an ex colleague (caused by an angle grinder). He is an experienced artisan and yet ...s**t happens.

Vaping may well be more strictly regulated in the future. This will most likely be as a result of the actions of various pressure and interest groups. There are no pressure groups out there campaigning for the banning of angle grinders. A child could walk into builders w-house and buy one.

It would seem that legislators trust us to operate far more dangerous gadgets without any control.

That being said, there is more than one born every minute. Sometimes it becomes necessary to legislate because of those who are hard of thinking.

 

[Normz]

Or we could not regulate and witness modern natural selection at it finest #halfpricemechmods




Just kidding guys, shame for people who don't research

 

[Raindance]

Agree with @Normz . '....Sometimes it becomes necessary to legislate because of those who are hard of thinking.

And risking the survival of the human species?

By the way, nice stir @Richelo Killian!

 

[Schnappie]

We have a Ford Kuga and if it suffers the same fate a lot has suffered lately while my Ecig is in there the news will be broadcasting it like this:

"In another unrelated case an ecigarette exploded in an unidentified vehicle causing the vehicle to burn out next to the highway. It is at this stage unclear how many casualties are on the scene" Proudly sponsored by Marlboro

 

[BuzzGlo]

Feel bad for the guy, but I am grateful for the reminder that I should keep vigilant with my gear.

Mechs should require a licence for sale.

Looking forward to everyone and their mother telling me about how vaping is so dangerous and about this story they saw on fb. Sigh!

 

[The_Ice]

Looks to me like the guy fell onto the mod, and it passed through his face and broke the sink. Then maybe it got wet and shorted and vented.

 

[blujeenz]

Trying to figure out what happened and how it happened is pointless if the whole thing was staged. And say what you will, those photos make no sense..

Yeah, trying to make sense of BS is a tail chasing exercise.
The fool is an actor trying his best hang dog expression to gain sympathy.

First pic says it all, he's in a car, not ambulance, taking selfies with his bek hanging open, no painkillers at this stage... agreed?
Now anyone who has had a broken tooth will know the pain that results from air rushing into your lungs past the exposed nerves.
I have had a tooth broken in half and I made damm sure my mouth was closed, yet this fool had more than a few broken!
Last train leaving for BS on platform 7.

 

[RichJB]

There are some strange aspects to his behaviour. I'm not saying it's fake news. But let's look at the timeline:

1) His mod blows up.
2) He gets rushed to hospital, having the presence of mind to take a selfie of himself in the car en route. If I'm being rushed to hospital and in agony, selfies aren't really top of my priorities.
3) He gets treated in Casualty, then transferred to ICU.
4) The next day, he posts pics of the mod, bathroom, etc, from his bed in ICU. His post states clearly that he hasn't been home yet. So how does he get the pics of his mod, bathroom, etc? There are only two possibilities:
a) He took them before he was rushed to hospital. Not very likely. Or
b) He instructed his wife to come home, take pics on her phone, then take the pics to him in hospital so that he could update his FB page from his bed in ICU. This is the more likely but it's bizarre behaviour. Why is updating his FB page so important that he has to do it from his bed in ICU? Why didn't he just wait until he'd been discharged, got home, and then he could update his FB page with the whole sorry tale. Why did it have to be updated asap after it happened?