Mech mod battery safety

[bOOmBoTz401]

First post here so first off hi!

Now I know this is covered often however there's never too much info on mech safety

I have a limitless tube I use often and I well understand battery safety and dos donts however I want to be clear on a few things as recently I've gone back to my regulated from concerns of recent accidents on the web

Is it possible a properly wrapped battery operating within its limits can fail and cause an explosion?

I've read as of late many are building according to 3.7 opposed to 4.2 why?

I know many if not all of the accidents are user error I'm just curious of the actual safety with a properly trained user

If there was a failure leading to explosion would the user have enough warning to toss the mod ahead of time or would it just go up?


Thanks!







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[HondaDavidson]

If you don't build too low for your battery.. in a mech it won't fail..... in this case the failure if it happens will be during recharge.

If you draw more from any battery in any mod than it can handle it might go critical. ANY MOD.... the safety features on your regulated mod are not there to protect you.... they are there to protect the Mod from YOU the battery YOU use. Any safety the user derives is a by product.. stated as a goal.

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[bOOmBoTz401]

All very correct, it just got me thinking if the battery could fail without user error would it explode or not

I certainly don't build over battery's rating so I do my part in Taking user error out of the equation and only use properly wrapped 18650s

My 2 builds for mechs are

26ni80 9wrap 2.5mm ohms .4 with hg2 or 25r...10a draw @4.2

24ni80 9 wrap 2.5mm ohms .26 with lghd2c 16a draw @ 4.2

So I'm well within safety limits I was just concerned with overall safety of mechs compared to say my hex ohm


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[nightshard]

I've read as of late many are building according to 3.7 opposed to 4.2 why?

When calculating for safety you want to take a worst case scenario into account, that's why you use 4.2V as base voltage, even though you will never actually get 4.2V due to voltage drop.

Since 3.7V is the nominal voltage, calculating based on it will give you an average of the wattage that is to be expected when using the mech.

If there was a failure leading to explosion would the user have enough warning to toss the mod ahead of time or would it just go up?

Depends on the kind of failure.
Using a battery beyond it's CDR within a reasonable margin may result in slow and sustained venting, while dead shorting it may result in a violent eruption within a fraction of a second.

 

[nightshard]

So I'm well within safety limits I was just concerned with overall safety of mechs compared to say my hex ohm

A mech offers no protection and a regulated devices some, but will not protect you from everything.

Some regulated devices may sense that there is something wrong with your battery and give an error message some won't, but in any case there is no way for a mod to know if you're using a fake battery or a rewrap with exaggerated stats and what's the actual CDR of the battery.

In case of an explosion you are better off with a magnet cover box mod then with a solid tube mod that will act more like a pipe bomb and may send metal shrapnel or direct the eruption upwards.

 

[conanthewarrior]

All very correct, it just got me thinking if the battery could fail without user error would it explode or not

I certainly don't build over battery's rating so I do my part in Taking user error out of the equation and only use properly wrapped 18650s

My 2 builds for mechs are

26ni80 9wrap 2.5mm ohms .4 with hg2 or 25r...10a draw @4.2

24ni80 9 wrap 2.5mm ohms .26 with lghd2c 16a draw @ 4.2

So I'm well within safety limits I was just concerned with overall safety of mechs compared to say my hex ohm


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Without user error, it is extremely unlikely that a battery would go wrong, especially if you are using high quality batteries.

I have had one battery vent before, a 25R.
It was my fault- I was using a Victoria bamboo JA clone, and the positive connection is rather wide, I did not have enough of the insulator out, which resulted in a short. It did not explode, it vented and released electrolyte as it is supposed too in the situation. This happened while the mod was in another room, I was extremely lucky.

Enough heat was generated to melt the Drip tip of my velocity, and also I can not open the velocity either now. It must of got VERY hot.

I think in general you will notice an increase in heat before the venting happens, you really need this to happen before a failure for the pressure to increase enough to cause a vent. This should hopefully give you a warning, the word there is hopefully though. It depends how fast this increase in temperature happens though and what is causing it as to if you will have enough time to notice or not.

Some people calculate at 3.7V as you never actually get a hit at a full 4.2V due to combined factors, but it is best to calculate at 4.2V as this is where amp load is highest (On a mech, Regulated it is at the lowest voltage). I find a lot of people who calculate at 3.7V or under load are the ones running 0.09 builds on a tube (Around where I live anyway-not saying everyone who calculates this way does) with a 20A battery.

With a mech, YOU are the safety features of the mod. I try to be as safe as I possibly can, but I did manage to have that one accident. I fully admit it was my fault though, it slipped through my checks. It is pretty hard to see, but it still happened and I can only blame myself.

Depending how careful you are will depend on how safe the mod is.

 

[HondaDavidson]

For wattage and performance purposes I use 3.7 to 3.9. As my base voltage when building.... but I always check my build with 4.2 volts to make sure I will be safe...

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[conanthewarrior]

For wattage and performance purposes I use 3.7 to 3.9. As my base voltage when building.... but I always check my build with 4.2 volts to make sure I will be safe...

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Nothing wrong with that at all, and I am sure you don't fall into the category I mentioned- just where I live is full of Chavs lol, even the shops are bad.
You work out afterwards at 4.2V too for extra safety. Not everyone that calculates at nominal voltage is silly, it just seems where I am (Canvey Island, UK), the people who calculate with voltage under load are the ones trying to pull 40+A from a 3000MAH, 20A battery.

 

[HondaDavidson]

Nothing wrong with that at all, and I am sure you don't fall into the category I mentioned- just where I live is full of Chavs lol, even the shops are bad.
You work out afterwards at 4.2V too for extra safety. Not everyone that calculates at nominal voltage is silly, it just seems where I am (Canvey Island, UK), the people who calculate with voltage under load are the ones trying to pull 40+A from a 3000MAH, 20A battery.

I use 3.7 for a lot of reasons the main being I learned to vape Unregulated and with VV devices. Variable wattage and TC are kinda foreign concepts to me. I think in terms of x volts at x ohm equals good vape. Even when using TC or VW which I do most of the time now. I vape at a range of 3.2-3.9 volts most of the time.
For the most part I don't worry about safety at all. Main reason is a I use batteries tested to be good at 20-25 amps and rarely vape at more than 10, with a fully charge battery. I know where the danger line is and just stay away from there.
Heck even with my new VW/TC mod when I want more surface area I am more likely to build a higher ohm coil and use more voltage on it than go to thicker wire and a lower OHM. Which was WHY I got the VW mod in the first place..... So I didn't have to build at super low ohms, <.3ohm, to get a higher wattage vape. As is required with my mechs.
.

 

[conanthewarrior]

I use 3.7 for a lot of reasons the main being I learned to vape Unregulated and with VV devices. Variable wattage and TC are kinda foreign concepts to me. I think in terms of x volts at x ohm equals good vape. Even when using TC or VW which I do most of the time now. I vape at a range of 3.2-3.9 volts most of the time.
For the most part I don't worry about safety at all. Main reason is a I use batteries tested to be good at 20-25 amps and rarely vape at more than 10, with a fully charge battery. I know where the danger line is and just stay away from there.
Heck even with my new VW/TC mod when I want more surface area I am more likely to build a higher ohm coil and use more voltage on it than go to thicker wire and a lower OHM. Which was WHY I got the VW mod in the first place..... So I didn't have to build at super low ohms, <.3ohm, to get a higher wattage vape. As is required with my mechs.
.

It makes a lot of sense for you to calculate at the voltage you do, and you are well within your batteries limits like I am also.

I attempted to vape at a time when Cigalikes were popular, but I never got into Mechs at the time- they seemed too 'dangerous' to me back then, and I only properly converted to vaping with a regulated mod, I did try Ego's for a long time but they didn't really do it for me.

I tend to build just with surface area in mind when using regulated mods due to the resistance not being a factor in amp load, but can see your reasoning of building higher resistance coils with more surface area if that is what you like- my usual type of all day vape set up is under 40W, often around 32W for duals, lower for single coils.

I only use mechs occasionally alongside a regulated mod, they do have a charm to them I like, I just enjoy the ease of use of a regulated mod in regards to building.