E-cigarettes: Empa on battery explosion in your pocket
Empa proves that e-cigarettes often draw their energy from 18650 lithium-ion batteries, but these batteries are a fire hazard without a protective cover. Anyone who carries such batteries loosely in their pants pocket is living dangerously.
Shooting flame during the explosion of a replacement battery for e-cigarettes (industrial battery type 18650). (Image: Empa)
Together with Empa, the SRF program "Kassensturz" of January 23, 2018 , see below, reported on a man who suffered severe burns to his thigh from the exploding battery of his e-cigarette. He had kept the spare battery for the e-cigarette in his trouser pocket, together with coins and a bunch of keys. This caused a short circuit; the battery turned into a flamethrower.
Empa battery expert Marcel Held presented the situation for the SRF television team in the laboratory of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research after: He removes the insulating foil from a standard-size 18650 lithium-ion battery and places the battery in a beaker full of nuts. Behind a protective screen, in a chemical fume hood, Held then fills up the beaker with some 5-centime coins. The upper contact of the battery, which was previously exposed, is also contacted with this.
A short circuit occurs, and after just under 10 seconds, the battery ends its life in a fireworks display about 30 centimeters high.
The battery explodes after Empa researcher Marcel Held short-circuits the contacts. (Kassensturz article www.srf.ch)
The most important facts in brief:
- Lithium-ion batteries can catch fire in the event of a short circuit. They are not only found in cell phones and computers, but also in electric cigarettes.
- In Zurich, an e-smoker's battery exploded in his pocket. Severe burns were the result. A second, similar case is known.
- Tests in Empa's safety laboratory show how violent such an explosion can be.
- The industry puts the danger into perspective. These are isolated cases. However, it is recommended that replacement batteries always be transported in a protective case. (srf)
Intended for installation in battery packs only
Standard size 18650 batteries carry the warning "DANGER - DO NOT USE OUTSIDE OF BATTERY PACK". Such batteries are only intended for installation in battery packs of laptops, power tools, e-bikes or cars. They should not be used or transported without protective extra wrapping. This is because the insulation of the standard 18650 battery consists only of a thin plastic film. If the insulation at the top end of the battery cylinder is damaged, for example by a bunch of keys, then a single coin is sufficient to short-circuit the positive terminal with the battery housing. Anyone who carries such batteries unpacked in their pants pocket or handbag is therefore literally living in a fire hazard.
