Guidelines to Avoid Fire Risk Using E-Cig Chargers

The Chief Fire Officer has released guidelines to minimise the risks of fires when charging e-cigarettes.

These are;

• Always use the correct charger and follow the manufacturer's instructions
• Never charge a battery that has signs of damage, that has been dropped, or has been subjected to impact
• Never plug a charger into a non-approved mains power transformer
• Check that your e-cigarette battery has overcharge or overheat protection
• Remove the battery from charge when complete - don't over charge
• Never leave a battery on charge unattended
• Don't use if wet or exposed to water
• Do not over tighten the atomiser or when connecting to charger
• Ensure that you dispose of batteries correctly.

However whilst these guidelines are important and should be followed, the overall risk of fire from e-cigs is tiny compared to other causes and the cause of most reported fire incidents with e-cigarettes was the charger itself and not the battery. Use the correct charger supplied with the product and avoid cheap chargers bought on their own.

Conventional smoking is a much larger cause of both fires and deaths, and therefore switching to e-cigs means the elimination of one risk with a much smaller one, as this article highlights.