I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve talked a non-vaper or a smoker down, rather aggressively, when questioned about the exploding vape phenomenon.
I usually insist that the companies who make our mods go to special lengths to include all the necessary protections and that the rare cases of exploding vapes were caused entirely by user fault, ignorance about battery safety and usually mechanical mod shenanigans.
Last week, I learned my lesson. I was seriously fond of my Wismec Exoskeleton mod and Kage tank combo. In fact, I barely put the device down once in the 3 weeks since my review.
I would usually use an external battery charger (as is recommended) but in this case, I chose to use the onboard charge feature because my external device wasn’t big enough to handle all three 18650s.
So…after a long day’s vaping, I connected the Exoskeleton up to charge on my desk, with all the rest of my electronics: my Mac, my phone, some other vapes, my speakers, my GoPro. Off I went, to watch movies in the living room.
After about 4 hours, at around 2am, over the loud TV sound I hear a ‘Shhhhhhh’ sound like a flair going off inside the house. It was such a foreign sound that I instantly knew something was wrong. I rushed out into the hallway and saw a bright light issuing from my office and I instantly knew…fire.
I lunged into the room to find foot and a half high flames on my desk, in between all my important gadgets, spewing from this Wismec Exoskeleton, which had clearly caught alight.
I grabbed my favorite winter jacket of my deckchair to stifle the flames and quickly carried the mod to the bathroom sink where I immersed it in water. The thing continued to explode, shooting flames from under the water. My jacket was melted, my nose burning with a terrible chemical smell and the damage to my desk was worse.
I’m lucky I didn’t lose anything else. 15 Seconds more and my mac, my curtains, my house all could have caught alight and let me tell you, the one little fire extinguisher I own wouldn’t have been enough.
My first thought was…”Thank God everyone is okay and that I didn’t lose my Mac or the rest of my livelihood. My second thought was “what did I do wrong?”
The problem was, I knew that my batteries were perfect, I used the right charger and the device supposedly supports balanced, on board charge. So WTF?
My research shocked me. As it turns out, this has happened to a long string of users who’ve owned the device and it’s bound, frighteningly, to happen to more.
Wismec failed to include a sealed five ten pin on the device, meaning, juice will eventually get inside it. To top that off, the usual short circuit protection, to prevent a fire when liquid on the circuitry shorts the device, is not included in the coding on release.
Grimm Green covered this issue a short while back, he himself set his device aside with tank and batteries removed. Check out what he had to say here on Youtube.
What does Wismec offer by way of a solution to this explosive problem?
Nothing but a meager declaration at the bottom of a massive ad for the device on their site, telling you to download a firmware upgrade to enhance safety. Nothing about blowing your face off or burning down your house, mind you, no real warning at all.
EXO SKELETON ES300 Declaration
Wismec released an updated firmware V1.03 as the default firmware for the EXO SKELETON ES300. To enhance the safety of your device, please download the latest firmware and upgrade your ES300 by following this link:https://www.wismec.com/software/
For further inquiry, please contact service@wismec.com. We are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause and continuously strive to provide you with the best service.
Your understanding will be highly appreciated.
Thank you.
I spend almost every day going back and forth between vaping sites and I didn’t get wind of this problem until my experience and I most certainly knew nothing about this necessary upgrade.
That’s insufficient from Wismec, I’m appalled that this brand is endangering lives by still selling this mod and I 100% feel that the device should be recalled, this just isn’t enough.
I certainly hope that no-one bought the mod of the back of my review, because the thing vaped great …until it exploded!
I don’t recommend this device and I cannot vouch for the fact that a firmware upgrade is going to save your skin. One thing’s for sure, no firmware upgrade is going to seal your 510 pin.
Anyway, what have I learned…research and triple check safety features on any device FIRST! Check out the below videos of other Exoskeleton fails.
The second video shows a guy who’s device was SWITCHED OFF when it melted.
This is cause for concern…take those batteries out and put that Wismec Exoskeleton away!!
We have contacted Wismec regarding this matter and we will of course update as and when we here back from them.
