For the love of god, please teach your vaping newb friends battery/build safety!!!

[Borescoped]

So, there I was at work one day, and I went out to the smoke pit. Saw a new guy there I'd never seen before, and he was vaping what looked like a 134 style mech with a small IGO dripper on it. So I started up a conversation with the guy, he was new to vaping (around 2 months), his buddy set him up with that gear, showed him how to wrap his coils and wick it.

So, I was like, man that's pretty cool! What resistance are you running on that dripper? He replied with "0.4 ohms".... I start thinking "uh oh, know where this is going"

Next question I had was "well, what kind of battery are you using?" He popped out a Panny NCR18650B...

/facepalm

Last I checked, that really wasn't the safest battery for the resistance he was running... which by the way, he didn't check. He only knew that because that's what his friend told him it would be.
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Right after that conversation, I turn to my left, and there is another guy there that I haven't seen before vaping. So, thought I'd strike up a conversation with that guy... didn't know how to check resistances on his builds, yet was sub-ohming also, but at least he had decent batteries in his mech.
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So, I guess it's just the safety side of me kicking in at work when I see/hear this stuff that just makes me cringe and step back a few paces, in case some of these newbs (notice, I didn't say noobs) have an accident. It actually concerns me that they weren't shown better by their friends, or had some simple ohm's law teaching before they were handed stuff like this.

So, please folks, if you are going to be a great friend and help your friends out with vape gear, please teach them about some battery safety and how to check your coils with an ohmmeter/DMM before turning them loose on the world. Doesn't do any good to help them quit smoking, just to have them get hurt later from ignorance! I'll have to catch up with the first kid next week and explain to him why he might want to consider retiring his B's and order up some better batteries LOL.

 

[GargoyleK1]

Newbs get Protanks and spinners from me… Nothing else.. Then when they are one with the force I will teach them the way of the Jedi..

 

[Borescoped]

Newbs get Protanks and spinners from me… Nothing else.. Then when they are one with the force I will teach them the way of the Jedi..

Sensible IMO. That's one of the set ups I recommend for newbs starting out.

 

[Thunderball]

@Borescoped .....I feel your pain sir. Mechs are getting alot of attention everywhere it seems. Alot of it is the fault of the vape shops selling them and no warnings or instructions that come with the mechs.

There's alot more of what you said going on than we probably know about. Im afraid of what we are going to start hearing about in the news.....and Im suprised we haven't heard more of something exploding or burning peoples face, hands or legs ......other than cheap Egos.

 

[Borescoped]

@Borescoped .....I feel your pasin sir. Mechs are getting alot of attention everywhere it seems. Alot of it is the fault of the vape shops selling them and no warnings or instructions that come with the mechs.

There's alot more of what you said going on than we probably know about. Im afraid of what we are going to start hearing about in the news.....and Im suprised we haven't heard more of something exploding or burning peoples face, hands or legs ......other than cheap Egos.

Yuppers, that's why I thought I'd share what I saw the other day. Ignorance on these newb's parts is somewhat understandable (they just don't know better). But, the majority of the blame should be on their "friends" that go "Oh man, look at all these clouds dude! You should totally SUB OHM, its the ONLY way to go man!", then proceed to set them up with something way more advanced than someone starting out should be using.

My concern with this is: these guys I ran into... they are on my military base.... we REALLY don't need the damned wing commander or his designated rep to come down and make it a base policy banning ecig use all together on base... simply because someone was hurt.

TBH, I don't want to see anyone get hurt at all, no matter where they are at.

 

[chris damron]

I do the same build for all of my customers at the shop who are buying rebuildables for their first time, a single 1 ohm micro with cotton. I refuse to do any sub ohm builds for customers unless I'm positive that they know what they are doing and I'm comfortable with that build walking out of my shop. Also, we don't sell/carry cheap batteries. I have a decent group of regulars that come in who are learning their way thru mechs and rebuildables and safety is always my first priority when explaining this stuff to them.

I had an older guy come in with a decent setup but cheap batteries and wanted me to build him a 0.1 setup that he "had seen on YouTube" and I told him I wouldn't do it.

 

[Roger Schaeffer]

When I started building 2 months ago I was given a Crown clone and I had ordered a Seigeli 20watt a 26650 tube and some batteries. I posted this on ECF. I thought protected batteries where safe in a regulated mod. A knowledgeable member explained to me those were not the right batteries. I had not ordered the 26650 batteries yet and I ordered the ones he recommended mnke IMR 26650 20 amp. I still appreciate that.

 

[Scuba-Matt]

That guy was pushing the NCR18650B past its 6.8 amp limit. I know Panasonic rates it at 12 amp pulse. But I would never push that cell that hard. at .4 ohms and 4.2 volts that cell was seeing 10.5 amps of draw.
When bad things happen to idiots like this guy. It makes the press and the rest of us pay the price. Kudos to B&M's & vendors that won't sell newbies mechs and rebuildables.

 

[Borescoped]

Well, he is pushing it past the 6.8A limit...I wouldn't call him an idiot for just not knowing, BUT... what he's fouling for is NOT doing his own research, just taking his "friends" word for it. Who really screwed the pooch is his friend in the first place, for telling him the 650B was safe to do that with.

 

[VapedCrusader]

at the same time.. saying something probably won't matter in the end.. especially with the elitist attitude these new vapors have lately.. I don't even waste my breath (but that's mainly because I hate most people) but I agree with your gripe.. its getting worse and worse with this sort of thing.

 

[Cloudy Peak Vapes]

I literally just picked up a vtc5. B&M had one left, or else I'd have two. One of my efest 2000 mah 15 amps is denting on the negative side, I'm guessing I should toss it? Any advice is appreciated, but unless suggested otherwise overwhelmingly, I think I'm gonna bin it safely, no matter what...

I have another of the same that is solid, and a purple efest 35 amp 2500 MAH that I think is near it's end. Any way. I needed at least one new battery, will pickup another when they restock. The vtc5 is nice. Seems comparable to my purple efest, but haven't vaped much yet on it.

I run kayfuns at 1.2 almost exclusively, and my dripper I rarely use, and haven't built below .6. The guy at the shop and I did some math, and the vtc is way overkill for me, he recommended I get a 20 amp purple efest 3100 mah, for what I'm doing. More battery life, and I'm still not pushing it. I still settled for the sony. It's peace of mind. I know the battery is safe should I build lower, and I'd rather have way too much battery than the opposite. I'm confident that my kayfuns won't have issues or my dripper, and better safe than sorry.

People need to be educated about mechs. You and your batteries are your safety, good charger too btw. I'd rather have the best battery even if it's overkill. A few extra bucks is worth it.

 

[Cloudy Peak Vapes]

Sorry to double post, but I just remembered this. Won't name the shop, but last week I had a guy insist I could and should use icr batts in my mods, safe to sub ohm crazy low, too. I pretty much smiled nodded in one ear out the other. They have great juice, so I'll go back, and they're nice, just giving dangerous info out.

The owner said that's all he uses, so I hope he doesn't blow one up, since it's my understanding that icr's basically catch fire, whereas IMR batts will vent.

Again, it was the owner, who apparently is the battery guru there. That worries me for people who buy mechs there.

 

[Borescoped]

One of my efest 2000 mah 15 amps is denting on the negative side, I'm guessing I should toss it? Any advice is appreciated, but unless suggested otherwise overwhelmingly, I think I'm gonna bin it safely, no matter what...

Yup, dispose of it properly if you have ANY doubts about the integrity of the battery. Your safety should never be compromised for a mere $10 (+/- a few $'s).

 

[Borescoped]

Sorry to double post, but I just remembered this. Won't name the shop, but last week I had a guy insist I could and should use icr batts in my mods, safe to sub ohm crazy low, too. I pretty much smiled nodded in one ear out the other. They have great juice, so I'll go back, and they're nice, just giving dangerous info out.

The owner said that's all he uses, so I hope he doesn't blow one up, since it's my understanding that icr's basically catch fire, whereas IMR batts will vent.

Again, it was the owner, who apparently is the battery guru there. That worries me for people who buy mechs there.

Well, two things you could do that I can quickly think of (I'm sure others will chime in with WAYYYYY better suggestions ):

1 - Direct him to any posts on ANY site that speak about battery safety. Ignorance ignored is someone's personal (and in this case, professional) safety compromised (in the case that HE passes along shitty info and that causes someone to get hurt, then he gets sued, and you are SOL on great juice because he's out of business).

2 - Go about it with shit instead of honey and chew his ass out WITH supporting documentation on why he's fucking up and how he's fucking up and how he's endangering himself, his employees AND his customers.

Either way, IMO, not correcting a safety issue (no matter how it's done) by someone that knows better, is basically being complicit in their eventual accidental injury. Please DO say something to that guy!

Personally, I'd rather someone be a utter asshole to me to help keep me safe, than a nice quiet guy that lets me blow myself up LOL.

 

[Cloudy Peak Vapes]

I did tell him that everything I had heard/read said unprotected IMR, and not ICR. He insisted that it works fine for him, but said he understood me wanting to purchase IMR's. Next time I'm in I will bring it up with them. I'm not gonna get into an argument, though. I've already said my part, but I agree it would be prudent to do so again.

When it comes down to it, he owns a shop, I'm just a guy who's been there twice to him. He listened to what I had to say, but as I said, he repeated that ICR's were fine, as I finally just let it go in one ear and out the other.