Man Down!! MVP3 with Nautilus problem....

[Shipwreck]

I'm only on day nine with my new MVP3 and nautilus tank (started out with the 1.6 BVC) and I'm down here... Yesterday as I was vaping my MVP shut down and wouldn't turn back on. I had just full charged it but tossed it on the charger anyway and it came back on. Took a couple of vapes and BAM, down again... Put it on the charger again and it came on again but this time the display was flashing two dashes in the ohms section.

So, I switched out to the other head that came with it, had a few vapes and WAMO, down again. Plugged it in, came back up, couple of vapes and down again and again this other head now flashes the two dashes in the ohms section. Now here's the weird thing... When I popped the second head on it read 2.3 ohms. I didn't think anything of it at the time, being new and all, but when I just went to confirm which head I used first and second I read the stamp on the second and it says it's only a 1.8 ohm head.... Another strange thing is that as I was vaping on this second head I changed the watts to improve the vape after a couple vapes and I noticed it read 2.5 ohms, then after a few more vapes it went down with the flashing dashes.

When I took out the second head I notice there is juice in the very bottom of the bottom hardware, where the head is screwed into. I'm assuming this means it was flooded, but being a rookie I could be wrong. At any rate.... I'm not happy vaper right now In hind sight I realize I should have bought some extra heads, but again... Rookies make rookie mistakes right In my defense though, the guy at the shop said I should have been good for a month with what I had bought so I thought I'd be good. I uploaded a quick video to show the MVP3 display and the bottom hardware in case it was needed. You can see it here:



So now the questions... What would cause two new heads to die like that, or are they dead? Would it be a head problem or a problem with the MVP3? Am I correct regarding the fluid in the bottom hardware being a result of flooding, and if so what would have caused the flooding and could this have been the cause of the dead heads? And finally... What type of wire can I use to rebuild the heads? I've been reading a lot and watching a lot of videos on rebuilding over the past month or so and hear about nichrome, kanthal, and caplan... Does it need to be a specific type of wire or can I use some wire that I have here that I used for other purposes? Maybe an old guitar string? LOL

I'm desperate here.... I need my vape!!! I don't have the cash to buy new heads until around the 18th of the month and there's a carton of stinkys in the fridge and I do NOT want to resort to them if I start going bonkers Any assistance at all is greatly appreciated.

 

[Sir2fyablyNutz]

It appears the juice has leaked from the bottom of the Mini onto the 510 connector pin of the mod. Everything needs cleaned. Use a q tip and clean out the 510 connection on the mod. As to the bottom of the Nautilus Mini I run water in mine, moving the air holes so all areas get washed out, then do it a second time with a little vodka. Then blow through it with all different air holes selected. Then it has to dry. Make certain the coil is firm when you install it back into the bottom of the Mini.

When I get a gunked mini coil I soak it in vodka for a week or so, blow it out and let it air dry. Won't be perfect but the vodka cuts away a lot of the gunk and makes the coil reusable. I've seen on here where a person actually boils their old mini coils for 30 minutes and then lets them dry, I haven't tried that, but it could work.

Good luck.

 

[Sir2fyablyNutz]

My guess is the heads are probably ok, you just need to get everything (nautilus base and mod 510 contact) clean. Clean those and put the old coil back in.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

Yep a 510 connection issue.

 

[Shipwreck]

Thanks a million everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gonna do the cleaning and drying now. Teetering on the edge of bonkers LOL... Just went to the fridge to grab a cold beer and that damn carton of stinkys was all dressed up in sexy lingerie, winked at me, flashed some skin and said "Hey big boy, been a while. Lookin' to party?"

 

[Robert Cromwell]

You keep the cigs around? Why?

 

[Shipwreck]

You keep the cigs around? Why?

It's a full carton with only a half pack out of it, so I didn't want to waste the money on just throwing them away LOL. I'm giving them to my brother next time I see him, but not sure when that will be.

 

[Shipwreck]

OK... I believe I may have found my problem. Boiled the parts as per advised. I was going to soak them in vodka as advised but all I have here is beer and an expensive very nice spiced rum. So I took out the rum, poured some into a container and..... drank it. Then I got out the vinegar, as I've seen others use it, and popped everything in there for a good soak. After soaking for a good while and swishing around every now I then ran everything under good hot water. I then sat down to the drying.... As I was drying the base of the Nautilus I felt the center pin on it push in.... Uh oh..... Did I just bugger something up? I tool a jewelers screw driver and gently pressed it on the center pin from the inside and it did indeed push out.

The pic below shows the base with the center pin in and out... The pin feels pretty firmly snug when pressed out and isn't wobbling around at all. So I am now assuming, based on the comments here about the 510 connection, that this base center pin is indeed the culprit. My question though is, should this pin push in and out like that? I'm thinking it probably shouldn't, and if that's the case will take the unit back to exchange it Monday. My other question is, will it be ok to use this with the pin pushed out until I can take it back Monday? I don't want to ruin it any more than it is, if it is...

 

[Dom]

I would look into building your coils or at least wicking them. You will save lots of money. I tried reusing disposables and that didnt work out so well. If you return it look at the Lemo2 or a kanger subtank mini.

 

[ckquatt]

Its supposed to do that. Its just a press fit pin and will push out a hair when you put your coil in. (Mine does anyway) as far as your first problem goes. That would happen to me if I didn't have my coil screwed in tight in the base. That will cause ohm flux and juice in the bottom of the base. Crank the coil down when you put it back in and see if that helps.

 

[Sir2fyablyNutz]

On my Nautilus Mini's the center pin is spring loaded, with very little movement. I assume it is that way to make contact with the 510 connection on the different devices it is used on. The center pin would not be the problem of the juice causing the "short" on discrepancy in the reading . Juice is not supposed to be down in the part where the coil screws in, it's for air to draw thru the coil. But if air can go up, then it's possible juice can go down, it's just really rare in my experience. The pin should be able to be pressed back in if it isn't buggered up by tinkering or defect.

 

[Shipwreck]

Thanks guys! @ I am indeed going to be doing my own rebuilding, but need to wait a couple weeks until I have the money to buy what I need.

@ckquatt Sweet... I thought maybe I did something between coil changes to break the pin or something... Will get a good tightening on it when I try it.

@Sir2fyablyNutz I was thinking the same about the juice being in the bottom. Just gave it a good drying out and am about to give it a try and see if I'm back in vaping business.....

 

[Dom]

The cost of rebuilding is fairly inexpensive. $1 a foot for the wire and thats on the high end. Couple bucks for some organic cotton and your set for months

 

[Shipwreck]

The cost of rebuilding is fairly inexpensive. $1 a foot for the wire and thats on the high end. Couple bucks for some organic cotton and your set for months

Ahhh I didn't realize the wire was that cheap. Definitely gonna pick some up tomorrow then. With regards to wire.... Check out this post I made earlier Dom:

I could be a genius, or I could be an idiot..... | E-Cigarette Forum

Let me know if I'm a genius or an idiot LOL.

OK, so I popped the unit back together, just screwed the head back into the base and screw it onto the MVP3. Got the same flashing dashes. So I took it apart again and did a good check inside the base. I see a tiny little spring attached to the center pin and it's bent down. Try to pull it up gently and get it a bit but not enough as I still got the flashing dashes (better than a dashing flasher I guess LOL). So I grabbed an old pen and pull it apart. Took the spring from it and cut a small piece off. I bent the top and bottom of it so I was sure there would be a connection and then dropped the piece of spring into the center of the base. Made sure it was centered and on the other spring and what it was connected to and then carefully screwed the head in. Voila! The center pin pushed out a little, before it seemed seated in too far... Screwed the base onto the MVP3 and turned it on..... EUREAKA!!! Sort of LOL... on the 1.6 head O got a 0.01 ohm reading, and on the 1.8 head I got a 0.02 reading..... I know I can't use it at that low resistance though... Maybe rebuild one of the heads and see if it's the head coil that's bad??

 

[Shipwreck]

WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hold the phone folks, or whatever ya feel like holding!!!! Just went to turn the MVP off and when I hit the button the display showed 1.0 ohms on the 1.6 head. I stared at it in disbelief until the display went off and pressed the button again and this time it was at 1.2.... When the display went off I hit it again and it went to 1.4... Just pressed it again and it's at 1.2... Do I dare put the rest of it together and try a vape?? What's the worse that could happen.... Beside it exploding in my face... Gonna give it a shot.... Hope I don't end up like this

 

[Shipwreck]

Well..... No love for this old wolf tonight. Put it back together and filled it up and put it on the MVP3 and turned it back on and it's back down to 0.1 on both heads. So.... I'm gonna grab something to eat here and depending no how I feel after that I may begin a rebuild tonight, if not I'll begin first thing tomorrow morning. I miss my vape

 

[Dom]

The problem seems to happen when you put it together. Tell me this. How large is the coil itself. it sounds like its too large so when you put it together something is pushing on it. I made a coil that was too large for my kanger subtank mini. I watched the battery light as i screwed it together. Every turn the ohm got lower till it shorted out. hope this helps.

 

[Shipwreck]

Not sure how large the coil is @Dom . They're both the stock heads that came with the Nautilus. Just woke up and having my first coffee now. Once I'm fully awake enough to get at it I'll give it a check again with just the head in and then again with it together and see what happens. I did notice there was no juice leaked into the base this time though. Plus I'm passed the flashing dashes.... So looking on the bright side that's a good thing LOL

 

[Shipwreck]

Well well well...... @Dom it appears you may have been correct. I popped just the base and the 1.6 ohm head on and it fired up at 1.4, looking great so far.... Attached the empty tank, but this time rather than tightening it down as I was before (I have this tendency to want things really tight... might be a guy thing.. don't know) I just tightened it until it was nice and snug on the O ring. Fired up again at 1.4 ohm, still looking good. Filled the tank a little and put it all back together again and it fired at 1.4 again.... It's been a few minutes now and had a few vapes (aaaaahhhhhh the bliss is back) and it's still firing at 1.4. Oh by the way, I didn't have that extra piece of spring in it that I tried last night and got the 0.1 ohm on either.

So, based on everything that was tried and the comments here I am deducing that there were a couple of factors at play in my issue. The flooding causing a short and everything drying over night resolved that. And I was over tightening the top of the tank to the base, and possibly not tightening the head enough into the base. So I'm going to use that for my first rebuild project today. As a side note to this positive, I tried the 1.8 head and it still has the flashing dashes. I am so relieved I won't have to take anything back, but at the same time I'm glad this happened because there were some really positive outcomes.

The first out come is that I learned what an awesome community there is here and how eager people are to help newbies without the usual attitude you receive at some places from the veterans who get tired of reading posts from newbies who seek help. The second, I've learned how to trouble shoot this type of issue in the future and can now jump in and help others who may have this r similar issues. Third, I've gotten the tinkering bug and now have a new hobby of rebuilding coils, testing out different wicks and wires, and finding easier and cheaper ways to do the tinkering.

Thanks a million to everyone who helped out here. I'm really loving this place.

 

[thetrucker]

Glad you are back in business---happy vaping