"..Exploding E-cigarette Ignites Car Seat.."

[kerk]

This probably should have been on the 'Health and Safety' board, but thought it was too important to place where not many would see it.

"..MOUNT PLEASANT, Utah (KSTU) - A Utah mother claims that her 3-year-old son was badly burned after an e-cigarette exploded, igniting his car seat. Kinzie Barlow told a local TV station she was driving in Provo on Friday with her son, Khonor, when she noticed a strange smell. "Then there was a big bang, and kind of a flash, and there's smoke everywhere," she said...".

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/09/24/Mom-3-Old-Son-Severely-Burned-After-Exploding-E-cigarette-Ignites-Car-Seat

[spydre]

Wonder if it was in sunlight when it was charging? We'll never know what happened, but for me, I can't imagine charging it in the car. Then again, we don't know if she was using a car charger specifically for that item, or using a charger from something else.

[spydre]

Um, yeah. Quick search shows that White Rhino doesn't MAKE or sell a charger for the car for their e cig. The charger is a USB charger, so either she was plugging into the USB port in the car (like the Sync system in Fords) or she was charging with an unapproved device

[spydre]

Shoot, hot enter too soon. Anyway, you aren't supposed to use the USB Ports in your car to charge anything, either. It's only for reading information, unless it is specifically sold as a car charger that uses the USB port. IMO, the people that do this stuff wrong, and then blame the industry when accidents happen, make everyone else look bad.

[kerk]

Somebody more techy than me should know, but I think cell phone chargers and ecig chargers put out the same, about 5V. Not sure if there's more to it, but I've used just a generic lighter converter to charge my phone and ecig batt.

[subnuclear]

USB uses 5v however they are capable of higher current than the usb port from your computer. If you notice the chargers you buy have different amperage ratings. tablet chargers are normally around 2A. Phone chargers around 1 Amp. The computer is normally limited to around 500mA.

The heat is from I2R losses basically it's from resistance to current flow. When current flows it generates heat and that heat can cause the battery to explode. Most batteries have shut offs for overcurrent.

so if your not using a charger with overcurrent protection (the joytechs have it) then your asking for this to happen. Rapid charging can cause gassing.

Charging a battery past it's capacity can cause damage also.

This is not limited to e cigg batteries. It's true of all batteries including cell phone and tablet batteries. There was a big ta do about the iphone batteries doing something similar a few years ago or maybe it was android i can't quite remember.

[Mark]

A Big +1 to subnuclear for the correct and astute explanation.

[kerk]

A Big +1 to subnuclear for the correct and astute explanation.

What he said.

[Bebop]

Thanks for that, Sub.

Required reading!