Vamo O-ring split

[dickyg]

I've posted this method on here before 'borrowed' from another inferior forum. Think it did the trick last time

www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/vamo/375871-vamo-ohm-error-fix.html

[Greigster]

Mar 13, 2013 22:25:43 GMT ian said:

I know you like your rebuildables Neil so thought you maybe did away with any cartomisers you may have had?If you need a few grommets then just let me know and i will get some posted.I am really impressed with the fix on my Vamo and now keep the grommets from all my old cartos for any future fixes.

Cheers Ian,
I had a feeling the info was on one of your previous posts, but as someone has said, the search function is not working at the mo. I have just realised that amongst my bits and pieces of spares that I hoard, I had a few.....I think they may have been called i-clear atties that I purchased from UKecigstore last year, they are a little clearo blue tube that took about 1 ml.of juice. Anyway I stripped it down and was able to take out the 2 silicon rings, one being bigger that the other. I managed to pull out the centre pin which comes out clear of the top by about 10 mm. This allowed me to take off the old perished silicon ring and put the new one over the pin. I cold then push the silicon ring/hollow plug down into the hole in the top cap (nice snug fit) and then push the centre pin back into position....seems a perfect fit.

I cant remember if you took any photos of your repair but I have taken some and if you don't mind, I will pop them in this thread tomorrow along with a brief description of each stage.

I can only thank you again Ian for your kind offer of the carto rings along with your original instruction and with Simon's help pointing me in the right direction, I have achieved what seems to be a great repair.
Also I still have half a dozen I-clear carto`s that will be staying in my spares box.
I am a happy chappie.

[Greigster]

Mar 13, 2013 21:47:03 GMT @simate said:

One way to get a replacement grommet is to take one out of a carto. Get a couple of pairs of pliers and semi crush the tube about a 3rd from the bottom (510 end) so it warps it enough to pull it apart from the 510 side then just pull all the inside off and then push the 510 pin out then the rubber grommet will just pop out.

I have done this to fix an eGo-T of mine and it's still going strong, the center pin just lifts up and out, then I slipped the replacement over the center pin and pushed it back in, it was very fiddly but it worked. However, I have no idea how long the wire is that is attached to the center pin on a Vamo so it might not lift out enough to do it how I did with my eGo-T battery. It might be worth sending Robby a PM asking if he knows what's what as he is knowledgeable about the Vamo, I'm not sure if he repaired a fault like yours though.

Big thanks to you Simon for pointing me in the right direction.

Cheers Mate

Neil

[Greigster]

Mar 13, 2013 22:41:57 GMT dickyg said:

I've posted this method on here before 'borrowed' from another inferior forum. Think it did the trick last time

www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/vamo/375871-vamo-ohm-error-fix.html

Thanks for that Dicky, yet another bit of information to store.

[vapertrainjames]

The way i have done it with a returned one was to pull the vamo top cap of using water pump pliers with tape around them.
I then push the centre pin up, de-solder it & put heat shrink around it, heat it to shrink it to a tight fit, & then put an O-ring over that so it covers the base of the centre pin & then just a case of resolder & then a bit of reassembling good as new (if not better).

EDIT:

I then turned this into a brass vamo looks great

P.S the reason it was returned was not for the above but because an inductor had been broken on it

[Greigster]

Mar 13, 2013 22:30:01 GMT OneDay said:

Mar 13, 2013 20:42:00 GMT Greigster said:

I have searched and searched but cannot find it anywhere on the forum, obviously using the wrong search words.

Neil

The search function is busted at the mo so it wasn't your choice of search terms

Cheers oneday, handy to know.

[Greigster]

Mar 13, 2013 23:11:23 GMT vapertrainjames said:

The way i have done it with a returned one was to pull the vamo top cap of using water pump pliers with tape around them.
I then push the centre pin up, de-solder it & put heat sink around it, heat it to shrink it fit & then put an O-ring over that so it covers the base of the centre pin & then just a case of resolder & then a bi of reassembling good as new (if not better).

Thanks James, it was not quite knowing what to use as a replacement o-ring

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2013 23:12:08 GMT Greigster said:

Mar 13, 2013 22:30:01 GMT OneDay said:

The search function is busted at the mo so it wasn't your choice of search terms

Cheers oneday, handy to know.

Its working again

[Greigster]

Mar 13, 2013 23:15:03 GMT @simate said:

Mar 13, 2013 23:12:08 GMT Greigster said:

Cheers oneday, handy to know.

Its working again

Yes Si thanks to you and Ian. Once I had plucked up enough courage to pull that pin out, the rest was plain sailing, less than 10 minutes from start to finish.
After reading the link in Dickyg`s post, it mentioned that their Vamo kept giving readings of 9.9ohms, I had the same today and recoiled my Spheroid because of if......not bright enough to try the Spheroid on another mod first although it was due a recoil/wick so naturally I assumed I had popped a coil.
We learn something new every day, what a great hobby this is

Cheers Mate

Neil

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2013 23:27:59 GMT Greigster said:

Mar 13, 2013 23:15:03 GMT @simate said:

Its working again

Yes Si thanks to you and Ian. Once I had plucked up enough courage to pull that pin out, the rest was plain sailing, less than 10 minutes from start to finish.
After reading the link in Dickyg`s post, it mentioned that their Vamo kept giving readings of 9.9ohms, I had the same today and recoiled my Spheroid because of if......not bright enough to try the Spheroid on another mod first although it was due a recoil/wick so naturally I assumed I had popped a coil.
We learn something new every day, what a great hobby this is

Cheers Mate

Neil

Well done you

Its feels good fixing something. I was over the moon when I fixed my eGo-T, I only use it for testing but its still handy to have and I've had it ages so didn't want it to die lol.

[Greigster]

A grand feeling when it goes right but a bummer when it beats us. Tonight with some help I was lucky

[ian]

Very happy you sorted it out and it's working again mate.If I'm honest,i did it the gentle way because i didn't want to risk any wires coming loose or soldering coming undone as i can't solder.I did pull the pin up quite high and then with a bit of a fiddle managed to just pull the new grommet up and over the pin which did the trick.I tell you what,it's handy to know for the future if any other connection issues happen.These Boge carto grommets are quite heavy duty so i don't think my chrome Vamo will be failing any time soon,fingers crossed.I was shocked to see how thin and poor quality the original o'ring was,this is the weak point of the Vamo and why alot of people have this issue with the ring perishing quickly.Obviously alot of it is screwing in atomisers to tight aswell which will just cause connection issues sooner rather than later.I must admit that I was over the moon when I fixed mine,so relieved,lol.

[Greigster]

I forgot to update the thread as promised guys, Sorry.

Here is what I did after following Ians and Simates advice along with a couple of photos I took to hopefully make things a bit clearer, Thanks and kudos to Ian and Si,:-

A couple of weeks ago due to my ohms jumping about all over the place, I came across the above thread about this easy repair and it worked very well.


I use an opened safety pin opened in a right angle and bend the pointed end to a right angle using a pair of pliers.

You should end up with a safety pin that is easy to hold with a right angled hook on the pointed end.
Place the hooked part of the safety pin down the side of the Vamo centre pin and twist the hook under the flat top of the centre pin and ease it up slightly. Repeat all the way around the centre pin several times just a little by little until you have eased the pin completely out. The wire attached should allow you to bring the centre pin clear of the Vamo top by about 10mm..
You can then hook the old silicon washer out and over the top of the centre pin.

I then destroyed an old carto that has a silicon washer inside that fits the Vamo perfectly.

You then use this washer to put over the top of the centre pin (i used a cocktail stick to stretch it over the centre pin. You can then push the new silicon washer/tube down into the hole in the top cap followed by gently pushing back the centre pin. Voilà as they say. This new silicon washer is much better quality than the original and I have had no problems since.
Here are a couple of photos that I hope will help.



The above shows the old perished silicon seal around the pulled out centre pin



And above, the new silicon washer salvaged from an old carto