Istick 50 help or advise please.

[bigd]

It was working fine till I charged it and put down for a few days. Now it won't acknowledge the fire button at all unless it's plugged into the mains. + and - buttons work ok all the time, fires and turns on and off only with USB cable plugged into mains.

any ideas?

[GeoffUK]

How old is it?

[bigd]

Must be a year old by now I think.

[Deleted]

Mine went after 4 or 5 months I think. Pretty disappointed. If you got a year out of it you have done well.

Nick

[GeoffUK]

Yup, I got 8 months out of mine, bought at a B&M darn sarf on a whim and never kept the receipt so had to write it off.

[bigd]

Got mine from China so returning out of the question. Just seems odd it worked ok till left a couple of days. Now everything is perfect just won't acknowledge the fire button without mains power even though it's charged.
Did yours die the same way?

[phtumshk]

Not an istick 50 but Ive had a lipo powered device go in a similar fashion.
Lipos seem to be either good or bad, no middle ground like a regular battery that will just decrease in capacity over time.

[GeoffUK]

Mine just wouldn't turn on at all. If I plugged it in to charge, the batt full symbol would show but none of the buttons made any impact. For the price, I suppose it's not bad economy 8 months was a bit shorter than the year most people seem to get out of them. Look at it like a disposable lighter.

[Deleted]

Dec 2, 2015 9:50:37 GMT bigd said:

Got mine from China so returning out of the question. Just seems odd it worked ok till left a couple of days. Now everything is perfect just won't acknowledge the fire button without mains power even though it's charged.
Did yours die the same way?

Pretty much. Used it walking home, then 20 mins later nothing

Nick

[bigd]

Looks like it's in the spares bin then. Just when I thought I was getting on top of things.

[naDiel]

Do you have the minimum knowledge and experience to open it up and check connections change the fire button at all?
I know that with myself that would be the first thing I would do.

[bigd]

The problem with that is the fact that the fire button button perfectly, but only when you wake it up with a mains cable and keep it plugged in.

[naDiel]

The momentary switch operates in such a fashion that each and every time there might be a little arc going between the positive and negative connection thus deteriorating the usability of it. This can lead to either a short or contacts deteriorating in such a way that there is a need for higher current to go through it to make that arc and effectively connection.

At this point I would say that I am NOT an expert and this is drifting in my head from some time ago when I was researching on diy ways to build you own mod. This got stuck in my head because it went wrong in a lipo box mod that someone done on the cheap (I believe that they paid approx £45 in materials inclusive of battery) and they put it up as a warning to use quality components.

[bigd]

I suppose it could be a possibility then. My soldering skills suck so I think I'll have to save up for something new. Cheers.

[phatfil]

fwiw mine died after a month or so AND a massive juice leak, I pulled it apart, cut myself deeply in the process and that left me with bits that i doubt i could reassemble.. you can source a new pcb from FT iirc if you need buttons your welcome to mine personally i would save the effort and time and buy a new mod. Its not an easy reassemble job.. £18 for an istick60 @ GB uk..