help!! mod setup problems / mod newbie

[giles]

So now you are using the meter to find out where the short is? I'd have guessed at the top end. I don't have one of those (or any mech mod actually) but presumably there is (or should be) some sort of grommet in there which may be broken or not properly in place?

[DiscoDes]

You are pressing the button when you're trying to take a reading aren't you?

[giles]

I'm off to the gym. Bet markm has it sorted by the time I get back.

[purkle]

my god! I think that's me f'd a battery already!! that was an very short life for £7!!! oh no the one with the low voltage reading, it's not even registering in the charger now, which is a 'smart' one & if a battery was just full would still register it, but nothing. perhaps I don't want to blow the other one too!

If anyone got any suggestions for finding the short-circuit bit please help, but I'm worried that my mod days might be over before they've started, can't afford another one!!

[purkle]

yep DiscoDes !! good thinking tho.. you must know I'm blonde haha! how exactly would I test to find the short? just try the negative probe on different bits whilst keeping the positive on the centre pin that's meant to join the atomiser? and what would a short look like on the meter? still set to 20V? I'm guessing I need to test it with my one remaining battery in.. I really don't want to break that one too! Guess I should've got protected ones eh!! totally gutted.

please tell me where to go if this is all getting a bit too ridiculous & I'm far too unknowledgable to be playing with this!

[purkle]

Found a guide about testing : bumblevape.com/article/25/105/0/Mechanical%20Mod%20Proper%20Usage%20Guide#1
so I'm working thru that.. will more than likely be back when I'm still stuck..!

Many thanks to all, esp markm

[oldsmokey]

Good Luck! I hope you find your short - I would suspect the top connector may have a defective/damaged insulator that is causing the problem.

[Deleted]

I just know that mod was working last time I tried it

and one of your batteries is a dud so send it back

You will get there...God willing by xmas

and like you have learnt how to work the multimeter so all is not lost...

Now handing over to the techie boys

[fagin]

I have a very similar mod (V3 - Sentinel clone) and it's basically a chunk of brass - very little to go wrong.

All I can think of is if you've taken the centre pin out, when you've put it back it's somehow earthing on the body. Seems to be a little rubber ring in there?
Why did you take it to bits?

[purkle]

I needed to take it apart to clean it, but the centre pin is just loose anyway, if it's not held in place by the force of having the battery holding it in (e.g. if there is no battery in there) it just falls out it's wee recess & jumps about inside the tubes. Is that maybe why it is shorting - if it is loose like that? The pin has a black ring round it which I assume insulates it & therefore protects the body from conducting, but there doesn't look to be any problem with this insulating bit, it's not broken/cracked or anything?

Aye it is just a big lump of brass, I don't know how on earth I've managed to kill one of my precious batteries already!!! There's no rubber ring in with the centre pin, should there be dya think? I wouldn't have thought one could fit; the black ring has a snug fit with the hole in the brass it fits in, although not snug enough to keep it sitting there lol!


I didn't get very far with testing it for shorts, the first thing I was going to do was test the resistance of the body, as Giles suggested, but I couldn't get the meter to read anything apart from 1, and I tried all the different resistance settings from 200? - 2M?.  It said 1 when the probes were touching +ve pin & the side of the tube, but it also said 1 when the probes were apart in mid-air!!  So in terms of finding where the short circuit is, I haven't a clue.

The fact the pin is loose & jumps about (although not when there's a batt in there) would suggest maybe it's that??? But if it is that then what can I do to cure it? It looks fine, like if there is a batt in then I can't see how any of the metal part of the pin could touch anything apart from the battery & the atomiser pin!

[Adam78]

Hi purkle sorry to read you're having problems.

Check the bottom of your aerotank and make sure the pin is central with space all around it, like this..(best to always do that before screwing onto a mech mod)



A couple of times I've screwed the coil-unit in too far and it's pushed the pin out a little bit, and it's touched the side giving a short, like this.



If that's ok assemble the mod and check it for a short, set your multimeter to "continuity test" (when you touch probes together you will hear a beep)

Touch one probe to the tube of the mod and the other to the firing pin, do you get a beep?

As for the battery, what charger did you get?

If you got the Nitecore have you tried just leaving it in the charger for an hour? then check the voltage of the battery and see if it's gone up at all.

When I put my over discharged 18350 into the Nitecore, it didn't look like it was doing anything for ages but eventually it charged back up.

[purkle]

Yo Adam, cheers Well the centre pin of the aerotank is fine, nice & central.. Got the continuity test working (although even touching the probes together gives pretty inconsistent beep - mostly it's there but sometimes not!), but definitely no beep when touching red to the pin which would touch the tank pin, & black to the tube (no battery in, should I have?) OK I'll try again with battery in there (oops!)...

Nope. no beep at all with batt in & everything connected up nicely. D'oh!!!

Aye I got the Nitecore, I'm worried about the battery tho, I had two, battery A & batt B both charged fine before I used them (left them in to trickle charge for a good while after they'd finished charging as well). Then I put batt A in the mod & started trying to make it work, which it wasn't.. didn't do anything at all. A good while later I checked the voltage of that one & it wasn't reading anything half the time, but with patience I got a very low reading (can't remember now 0.4V or something?) whereas B gave me 4.18V. So maybe batt A is a dud? but then how did it charge in the first place?

Then put B into the mod & put the tank on, tried the button & I think it shorted & the battery vented possibly, cos something came out the drip tip which looked a bit like vape but tasted disgusting.. and any subsequent button pushes since then nothing has happened at all. Batt B was quite warm (not burning hot) just after the eruption, took it out immediately in case it was venting and/or about to catch fire! So maybe I've killed batt B?!

I'll check the voltage readings for both.. A = 0.25V; B = zero. In the charger, neither shows any sign of life (no led's light up)...

(ah, the good old trotting round in circles! love it! )
In which case possibly nothing will be happening whether I discover a short or not...

[chykensa]

purkle - really sorry you are having so much trouble getting your first mech mod to work, and also sorry that I can be of no help whatsoever as I am waiting for my first mech mod to arrive on the Slow Boat.
Anyway, think of this as a positive educational experience - not only are you learning so much about testing your mod for shorts and learning about IMR batteries, but you are providing a wonderful service for all of us out here that are even more in the dark than you are! This thread will be invaluable for me when my mod reaches these shores, and I will be able to refer to this to get my mod/batteries to marry up and work properly.
Wishing you imminent success in your endeavours - I'm popping out for an hour and a half, and hope you are up and vaping by the time I get back!!

[Greg]

Feb 11, 2014 17:54:37 GMT purkle said:

The fact the pin is loose & jumps about (although not when there's a batt in there) would suggest maybe it's that??? But if it is that then what can I do to cure it? It looks fine, like if there is a batt in then I can't see how any of the metal part of the pin could touch anything apart from the battery & the atomiser pin!

I'm not familiar with your mod but that doesn't sound quite right to me, I would expect the centre pin to screw into something on the top cap like a Delrin cap. If its free to wobble them maybe your shorting the bottom 510 pin of the atty and therefore also shorting the battery when you hit the fire button.

[purkle]

haha, good, I'm glad someone's getting something from it!! educational indeed, I'm actually thinking now it seems to be so simple (the mech mod) that maybe I'll just make my own.. if I make it then I can be sure there's no shorts & all the bits that need to be insulated are btw, an hour & a half.. aye right!! been at this since 11am cheers pal