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The Reason Why I am so Big on Safety

madmonkey

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I wasn't quite sure where to post this so I thought I would put it here and the mods can move it if it is in the wrong place. Many people know that read my posts I am big on, almost preachy, on double and triple checking your builds, using an ohms meter and not stressing your battery. And this is why. I am very sad about this as it was my first authentic RDA as there is no clone of it I am aware of. I was using it with a hybrid connection with a single parallel coil at .3 and I am not sure if the insulator melted first on the inside or snagged and failed at the 510 connection but from the best I can tell it arc'd and fused together as I am unable to even unscrew the center pin. Luckly I had a legit VTC 4 in the tube and it got really hot but I was able to get the mod apart and the battery in the sink. I realized quick enough what was happening and thankfully it didn't vent. I metered the atty before I ripped the build out trying to fix it and I knew it was shorted out because my .3 build was reading a .02. If I had reacted a second slower or held the fire button a second longer I could have been the next "blew his _____ off story" and I've been doing this for over a year without an incident. It just goes to show you that no matter how "safe" you think you are, not paying attention because you love the vape off of something and forgetting to check it from time to time can lead to bad things.

melt2_zpspqq8jwwf.jpg


melt1_zps6aruhybe.jpg


Sadly, with my camera and the crappy lightening in my apartment I couldn't get a better picture. You can see where it's burnt and melted though in the center even in these...I think it's fused because every time I tried to turn the center screw (I have the right size screw driver) it just tore it up....

melt3_zpseiicgnrj.jpg


If you look closely on at the connection by the bottom of the slit in the screw for the flat head slot you can see a "divit" in the insulator...there's a small piece missing I didn't notice and I think that's what helped it short. It's kinda hard to see but it's discolored a bit near the top.

I am thankful I wasn't another statistic but it still scared the hell out of me. Just something I wanted to share to show why it's so important to be careful when sub ohming... this can happen to anyone....even me :(
 
Wow. That does looks like it got very close.
I know I have to react if I hear that hissing sound from the battery but honestly I dont know how. I would probably stick it into the fridge or if possible through it in the garden and get a safe distance.
What would be a better way to be prepared? And I will not start taking the mod apart in that moment, but I would appreciate some hints to a proper behavior in that moment.
 

Hoekakes

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jeeze .. hopefully my manta v2 from fasttech doesnt do this
 

CurlyxCracker

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Wow. That does looks like it got very close.
I know I have to react if I hear that hissing sound from the battery but honestly I dont know how. I would probably stick it into the fridge or if possible through it in the garden and get a safe distance.
What would be a better way to be prepared? And I will not start taking the mod apart in that moment, but I would appreciate some hints to a proper behavior in that moment.
Ideally, a charging bag would be the safest bet but not very practical. Just get it away from yourself and others. Without proper ventilation on a mod, you have a pipe bomb in your hands, there's a reason actual pipe bombs are filled with nails and such. It's the shrapnel that causes the real damage to people. The actual explosion is localized to the immediate area, the bits and pieces are what cause most injury.
 

Cloudy Peak Vapes

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Wow. That does looks like it got very close.
I know I have to react if I hear that hissing sound from the battery but honestly I dont know how. I would probably stick it into the fridge or if possible through it in the garden and get a safe distance.
What would be a better way to be prepared? And I will not start taking the mod apart in that moment, but I would appreciate some hints to a proper behavior in that moment.
Best thing to do is along the lines of @CurlyxCracker s advice, and additionally, unscrew the button and let the battery out, ideally in a safe place. You then effectively have a venting battery, not a pipe bomb

OP, glad you're ok man. I'm just like you with OCD checking of my attys and batteries. I generally have almost twice the amp capabilities in my batteries of what my builds draw, I always meter my batteries, and meter my builds after every step throughout building, and at least once a day. Using a meter as an atty seat makes that convenient.

I already knew that despite all of my diligence and fairly modest builds, something could go wrong. You mention a hybrid connection, and I use a 4Nine frequently. I exercise greater care with it.

It just shows that being armed with proper knowledge and practicing safe measures still doesn't eliminate errors from occurring. I'm glad it wasn't a disaster, and this re affirms that especially with mechs and RBA's, they deserve respect. I'm not trying to jack your thread, but this reminds me of my concerns with all of these new sub ohm tanks. New vapers can have a build more aggressive than I've ever even built in the form of a .2 ohm Arctic Tank, now. With the disappearance of the VTC batteries, there are basically no batteries that aren't on the edge of their capabilities at that.

Again, glad you acted quickly and are safe. And glad you were somewhere in which you could do so.
 

UncleRJ

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Thanks for sharing this with us.

And it truly sucks that you had to deal with this with a high $$$ original. I feel for you brother, I truly do!

On a side not, I have not received a PM from the OP for awhile now.

I quite miss our chats on safety issues.
 

madmonkey

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Best thing to do is along the lines of @CurlyxCracker s advice, and additionally, unscrew the button and let the battery out, ideally in a safe place. You then effectively have a venting battery, not a pipe bomb

OP, glad you're ok man. I'm just like you with OCD checking of my attys and batteries. I generally have almost twice the amp capabilities in my batteries of what my builds draw, I always meter my batteries, and meter my builds after every step throughout building, and at least once a day. Using a meter as an atty seat makes that convenient.

I already knew that despite all of my diligence and fairly modest builds, something could go wrong. You mention a hybrid connection, and I use a 4Nine frequently. I exercise greater care with it.

It just shows that being armed with proper knowledge and practicing safe measures still doesn't eliminate errors from occurring. I'm glad it wasn't a disaster, and this re affirms that especially with mechs and RBA's, they deserve respect. I'm not trying to jack your thread, but this reminds me of my concerns with all of these new sub ohm tanks. New vapers can have a build more aggressive than I've ever even built in the form of a .2 ohm Arctic Tank, now. With the disappearance of the VTC batteries, there are basically no batteries that aren't on the edge of their capabilities at that.

Again, glad you acted quickly and are safe. And glad you were somewhere in which you could do so.

@TBCAmor ...thanks man. I don't think you're jacking my thread at all and I am glad you said what you did. I catch flack for being a safety nut but it just goes to show anything can go wrong to anyone and if you're not prepared or aware bad things can happen.

and thanks to everyone else who responded....thank you for taking the time to read this. My authentic Black Copper Stingray was and still kinda is my prize mod. However I feel that JD Tech dropped the ball designing the Manta V2 and I wanted to post this to warn other's about the danger of using it with a "hybrid" topcap as it's advertised for with the new Stingray mods. The copper screw they use for the center post is so soft you screw up the head even using the proper screwdriver for it....and out of anger and frustration I ordered two more of them from a German store that had them on sale for half the price of what they are here in the US with shipping included.

If you loosen the screw to make it stick out far enough to be used with a hybrid cap then you loosen the positive plate enough to create another potential short there by solving nothing. I really like the flavor the atty produces, I think it's a better flavor than the Magma, but it's almost a "danty" fragile thing for lack of better words and I wanted to show that shorts can happen to anyone, even when safety precautions are taken.

@tweety bird ....As for identifying a short....well, there are a few ways you can try to catch them but sometimes....as was with in this case...I could tell within a half a second that the mod was firing wrong and took action. If you think your battery is going to vent the best thing you can do is get the damn mod out of your hand and into something like a sink or a bathtub or metal trash can if you're in doors....if you're outside....chuck in the safest possible place away from people or anything that could catch fire.....no matter how much you paid for that mod it's not worth trying to save and causing bodily harm in the process. I was very lucky that I realized my mod was shorting out and (against all intelligent thought) was able to unscrew the button and get the battery out before it had a chance to vent. I was also lucky it didn't vent...luckily I had an authentic VTC 5 in the mod....it didn't vent, but the battery was stressed and I recycled it for safety reasons. That's another thing....I don't buy cheap batteries. I stick to the big names like VTC and Samsung and LG....You spend all this money on gear, why would you use a cheap battery? Batteries and chargers are the worst place to try and save a buck in vaping...not just the brand you buy but who you buy them from. I don't trust Ebay or Amazon for batteries. I pay extra and buy from retailers I know sell authentic batteries so I know what I am getting. The extra couple bucks is worth the peace of mind.

If a battery is overstressed it will super heat as it's getting ready to vent....you've got fractions of seconds to realize what's happening and that your mod isn't just warm from chain vaping....if you can get your mod apart in that nano second's worth of time between the superheating and the hissing to save it great...but I like my fingers too much to risk again :)

the atty was built to .25 before it shorted and after it shorted it read .02 to .05 flickering back and forth....that's enough to take out even the best 18650 battery and vent it. Best advice I can give to avoid a short is constantly check your gear. I meter my coil before, during, and after a wick change. I check my screws to make sure they haven't backed out even slightly on a regular if not daily basis....and in the case of this atty, I knew something was wrong the instant I fired it and that probably is what saved me a trip to the ER. If you go to meter your atty and the resistance is jumping all over the place....I mean more that like .01 or .02's difference than one of your leads isn't properly secured. Crazy jumping ohm's meter readings is the first big sign something's not right.

Call me paranoid if you will but if you think/feel something is wrong...it probably is. And like I said, better to get rid of an overloaded mod in the safest place you can than risk trying to take it apart and hurt yourself in the process.

Since the Manta V2 doesn't fit on my BC Stingray authentic top cap I use it on my Hcigar Stingray X clone, it fits that topcap just fine for whatever reason and I am constantly checking it out of paranoia. Like I said, it's a killer flavor atty....it's just super touchy :)

Well, I am going to climb down off my soapbox here and thank you again for everyone who took the time to read this...I wish you all happy...and safe vaping! :)
 

CDZVaper

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Great Post madmonkey...I should have added the reason why or one of them, is because around by me in lower NY, Ive seen more Stingray mods then any other. So Im assuming they are very popular which means there are alot of others walking around with potential danger in their hands. I havent been up close to see if they are Mantas, but I know Ill be sure to spread the word. Im gonna head across the street to my BnM and tell them to. Id say its their most popular mod... Ive noticed with them to (my BnM) that they dont always give all the safety details when selling stuff. Ive bought stuff from them and have had to figure it out for myself and thats not good. Not everyone goes home and reads up or researches what they buy, they just take someone elses word, thats foolish.
 
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madmonkey

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Great Post madmonkey...I should have added the reason why or one of them, is because around by me in lower NY, Ive seen more Stingray mods then any other. So Im assuming they are very popular which means there are alot of others walking around with potential danger in their hands. I havent been up close to see if they are Mantas, but I know Ill be sure to spread the word. Im gonna head across the street to my BnM and tell them to. Id say its their most popular mod... Ive noticed with them to (my BnM) that they dont always give all the safety details when selling stuff. Ive bought stuff from them and have had to figure it out for myself and thats not good. Not everyone goes home and reads up or researches what they buy, they just take someone elses word, thats foolish.

The Manta V2 is the atty in the pictures above...There was only like a thousand of them made or some rediculous number like that....and they fit the top cap of my stingray mech mod clones just fine...only the real authentic stingray I have it wouldn't fit and disappointed that I couldn't match the two authentics together I used a hybrid cap and that's when it shorted on me. I was stupid and bought an authentic JD Topcap even for it just so it could all be legit and if I didn't keep that separate from the clone hybrid cap I wouldn't know the difference between the two other than the 20 dollar price difference. I don't know if the Manta V2 atty has been cloned yet but I think in a post above someone said they ordered one from fasttech....and not knowing what they would make the clone out of I would rather post this so hopefully someone else won't have the same problem I did. I just looked it up on fasttech and they do have a clone of it and it also has the copper center pin....and if that screw is as soft as the authentic it could be dangerous if you're not careful.

I just wouldn't use it with a hybrid connector at all to stay safe.

And thank you for spreading the word....safe vaping is happy vaping :D
 

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