Vamo 02 fault code and top cap overheating possible fix.

[Deleted]

Glad my janed vamo came in handy

All better now? robby

[petey]

Thank you so very, very much. I've been having Lo Battery issues with my Vamo and this tutorial really clears things up for me. Have contacted the Vendor politely several times and only 1 response requesting a video of the issue. Sent the video Monday morning and haven't heard anything back. Again thank you very much as it's a brilliant post.

Apr 19, 2013 21:06:56 GMT robby said:

This is a possible fix for the Vamo 02 fault, also the fault where the Vamo top cap warms up dramatically in use. It was a joint effort with Moggy this afternoon. After Wilf`s`s trouble`s with his Vamo where he eventually got a refund from Vaporbreak we thought we would have a go at seeing exactly what was going wrong with it. There have been many theories about what was causing it so we did a thorough investigation. Wilf took the top off his Vamo and found a lot of hotglue in there, first time I have heard or seen of that. When he touched the black wire it kind of swivelled around. Looking at the pictures you could be forgiven for thinking that the black wire was soldered onto the Vamo top cap. It turned out that there is actually a screw there which makes sense as you cant solder direct on to Stainless Steel, also it is a big lump of metal and to get anything to solder directly onto that would need the heat from a blowtorch. It turns out to be the same for the chrome version and probably the black chrome version as well. The screw on Wilf`s Vamo was loose. The reason this is important is that the negative of the battery connects to the board through that screw, via the battery spring and the tube joins, all the way up to the top cap, then through the top cap to the black wire and on to the board. As far as I can see, there is no other electrical path to the negative of the battery, so it is vital that the connection off the top cap to the control board is perfect.

In the same way that the dodgy battery springs caused a lot of heat around the base of the Vamo in some cases, the bad connection at the top of the Vamo would have the same effect at the top. The bad connection through the screw/top connection could easily be as much as a couple of ohms. So at that point it could be trying to get rid of just as many watts as are used in the atomiser, the result? a build up of heat. (the amount of heat dependant on the resistance reading at that point) It would also cause the 02 code when inserting batteries depending on how bad the connection was at the time. It would probably be variable.

The bad news is that the fix (tightening up the screw with the black wire on) requires the top cap to come off. Mine was very tight and wouldn`t be easy for someone who isnt mechanically minded.

Underneath that blob of solder is a screw

With the wire and screw removed

Another possible source of resistance is the way that the Vamo tubes are joined together. It isnt what I expected. I thought that there was no extra piece like below, but that one of the tubes had been machined that way. The joint piece below appears to be made of steel. Dissimilar metals in contact with each other will often oxidate or corrode which could easily lead to a few ohms resistance and have the same effect as the loose wire in the top cap. Here we have the steel join piece which joins up the tubing.

Ignore the colour of this one, it is one of my experimental bits and has had high heat applied which has discoloured it

The path from the negative of the battery to the Vamo Control Board is fairly tortuous, a slight loss of electrical continuity will possibly cause 02 problems and misfiring and control problems, also possible heat where the electrical continuity is not 100%.



So a few things to try there for 02 faults and when the top of the Vamo is getting hot. Good luck

[petey]

And last but not least thank you very much for this video. Tested my Vamo and no flashes so unless I hear back from the Vendor it looks like I'll have to find a fix myself. Again many thanks. Registered 10 mins ago and already have found much needed information. A Great Forum.

Apr 22, 2013 9:07:16 GMT Moggy said:

Just edited my post with it in

[Moggy]

petey Glad it was of help to you.

[petey]

This Forum is AMAZING. Won't really know until I take it apart but at least you kind folks have given me an idea of what's wrong. Don't want to do it though until all avenues of communication with the Vendor have been exhausted though it looks like my emails are on the iggy list

Apr 25, 2013 16:39:20 GMT Moggy said:

petey Glad it was of help to you.

[womble]

Apr 25, 2013 16:45:44 GMT petey said:

This Forum is AMAZING. Won't really know until I take it apart but at least you kind folks have given me an idea of what's wrong. Don't want to do it though until all avenues of communication with the Vendor have been exhausted though it looks like my emails are on the iggy list

Apr 25, 2013 16:39:20 GMT Moggy said:

petey Glad it was of help to you.

If all avenues of communication are exhausted and the vendor still hasn't come through, please feel free to tell us the vendor. We really like this sort of info

[petey]

Thank you Womble. I just want to give the Vendor every opportunity to right this before I post something negative. Yes whether good or bad I always also like to know. Geez I sound like my Dad LOL
Cheers.

Apr 25, 2013 21:03:31 GMT womble said:

Apr 25, 2013 16:45:44 GMT petey said:

This Forum is AMAZING. Won't really know until I take it apart but at least you kind folks have given me an idea of what's wrong. Don't want to do it though until all avenues of communication with the Vendor have been exhausted though it looks like my emails are on the iggy list

If all avenues of communication are exhausted and the vendor still hasn't come through, please feel free to tell us the vendor. We really like this sort of info

[jed2705]

Thanks for the information, just need to be brave enough to pull mine apart now.

Is 44 too young to go down the pipe route? I have slippers, the pipe could finish of the curmudgeonly old bugger look.

[petey]

Well I took the Vamo apart just below the firing button and cleaned it. There was a little bit of green oxidation. Put it together and same issue. Started using it today and fired flawlessly for 1/2 hr before the Lo Battery error appeared. When the Lo Batt error appears if I turn the wattage up or down by .5 it fires once and then Lo Batt error appears again??? Batt reads 3.9 volts on Vamo and same on Multi Tester. In 1/2 hour battery has drained .2 volts. The batts are high drain unprotected 18650 2250 mah genuine Panasonic. Just a heads up to anyone that doesn't own a multi tester it's an invaluable tool for vapers.

[robby]

Apr 26, 2013 12:09:10 GMT petey said:

Well I took the Vamo apart just below the firing button and cleaned it. There was a little bit of green oxidation. Put it together and same issue. Started using it today and fired flawlessly for 1/2 hr before the Lo Battery error appeared. When the Lo Batt error appears if I turn the wattage up or down by .5 it fires once and then Lo Batt error appears again??? Batt reads 3.9 volts on Vamo and same on Multi Tester. In 1/2 hour battery has drained .2 volts. The batts are high drain unprotected 18650 2250 mah genuine Panasonic. Just a heads up to anyone that doesn't own a multi tester it's an invaluable tool for vapers.

Did you take the top cap off petey ?

[petey]

Thank you but LOL I'm afraid to. The Vendor has offered to replace it so maybe I'll just send it back. I enjoy fixing stuff so I'm really torn about attempting to repair it or just send it back...that cloth and long handled pliers are calling me LOL

Apr 26, 2013 12:11:22 GMT robby said:

Apr 26, 2013 12:09:10 GMT petey said:

Well I took the Vamo apart just below the firing button and cleaned it. There was a little bit of green oxidation. Put it together and same issue. Started using it today and fired flawlessly for 1/2 hr before the Lo Battery error appeared. When the Lo Batt error appears if I turn the wattage up or down by .5 it fires once and then Lo Batt error appears again??? Batt reads 3.9 volts on Vamo and same on Multi Tester. In 1/2 hour battery has drained .2 volts. The batts are high drain unprotected 18650 2250 mah genuine Panasonic. Just a heads up to anyone that doesn't own a multi tester it's an invaluable tool for vapers.

Did you take the top cap off petey ?

[robby]

Send it back mate, very easy to damage the top cap when you are removing it, some of them are really tight and even the SS ones get marked. Is it China you have to send it back to, not Vaporbreak by any chance? petey

As a matter of interest, if you check the resistance between the battery end cap of the vamo and the top cap of the vamo, what do you get? and is the spring gold in colour?

[petey]

Thank you very much. Yes it is VB to whence it goes back. The res is .98

Apr 26, 2013 12:50:55 GMT robby said:

Send it back mate, very easy to damage the top cap when you are removing it, some of them are really tight and even the SS ones get marked. Is it China you have to send it back to, not Vaporbreak by any chance? petey

As a matter of interest, if you check the resistance between the end cap of the vamo and the top cap of the vamo, what do you get?

[robby]

wow, .98 is way too high, I`m not surprised it is doing the 02 and switching off thing.

Try checking the voltage at the same points and press the fire button and see what the voltage is (awkward lol). It should be negligable. petey

[petey]

Thank you. Like I've said the batts are only lasting 4-5 hrs. I'll just send it back. Thanks very much once again. I LOVE this place.
What should the normal res be?

Apr 26, 2013 12:59:08 GMT robby said:

wow, .98 is way too high, I`m not surprised it is doing the 02 and switching off thing.

Try checking the voltage at the same points and press the fire button and see what the voltage is (awkward lol). It should be negligable. petey