2 days in .. errors galore. Faulty?

[Wacky Dee]

Got my satin silver unit 2 days ago and love it (while it worked). I've used it with a Ikenvape 510HV (3.5Ohm) atty since at between 4.8 and 5.5 V. Worked perfectly for a day.

Now today, I've started getting E2, E1 and E8 errors.

I thought the atty might be dead/dying so I put a fresh one (same model atty) and same issues.

The atty gets extremely HOT in a very short period of time (4-5 seconds) which is definately NOT normal. I'm thinking somehow the battery is discharging quickly at extremely high wattage hence the E2 warnings. But why ??

I've checked (using ProVari) the resistance on both atties and for some reason it shows them to be very low either 1.2 or 2.0 etc - definately not what they should be showing as (ie. 3.0Ohms+)

UPDATE: one atty shows 2.0 Ohm and other 2.4 Ohm resistance. Definately shouldn't be that low since these are IKV 510HV atties.

Could this be a short of some sort inside the unit itself ? The fact that the atties get so extremely hot so quickly leads me to believe its a short inside the unit. I've cleaned the attomizer connector etc to no avail. About to try the atties on my Buzz now.

 

[PKZap27]

Hi! Wacky Dee

What batteries are you using?

Do you own a Digital Multi meter?

PKZ

 

[Wacky Dee]

AW IMR 14490.

Have an analogue MM and the strangest thing is .. it appears to be the atties (if the MM is accurate). ie. the analogue MM shows the atties to be between 2 and 2.5 Ohms approx. Definately not 3 Ohms.

I have another spare eastmall HV atty (that I don't use because the draw is crap) and it shows 3 Ohms on the MM and also on the ProVari.

So luckily (?!?) this appears to be a problem with the Ikenvape atties ie. the Provari is not showing that E2 error for nothing, they're really < 2.5Ohms suddenly and the voltage I was using them at (5.4) is too high. Lowering the voltage to 4.9 does seem to fix the issue (no more errors)

So the only question that remains I suppose is ... How can attomizers lose so much resistance in a day ?? I thought they build up resistance over time due to gunk buildup and whatnot. Is it possible that the high voltage/wattage that I was using them at yesterday (actually only 1 of them) has somehow lowered their resistance ?

I'm gonna try and find a decent digital mulitmeter and re-test. But so far it looks like it's not a Provari issue at all but the atties have gone bonkers...

 

[PKZap27]

You are using the AW IMR 18490 batteries correct?

Because you posted AW IMR 14490.

Great news!

After reading you post several times I had a funny feeling that there might be somethng up with the atomizers.

The first thing I do before using a new atomizer is check the resistance with a Digital Multi meter, this gives me reference point for that atomizer. If you don't have a meter you should still check it using the ProVari. I then set the voltage on my ProVari to a low setting and just step the voltage up 0.1 volts at a time testing it in between the changes. Once you hit my "Sweet Spot" I'm good to go. Doing it this way I'm not focused on a hard number setting for my voltage, which also prevents unnecessary error codes.

 

[Wacky Dee]

Yeah I meant 18490 sorry.

Will definately order some more ikenvape atties because they've been fabulous on the Buzz. But I'd still like to figure out why they've dropped so much resistance in just 2 weeks and especially since using them on the Provari at 5.4V.

I really liked the vapor at 5.4V while they were showing to have 3Ohm resistance yesterday.

 

[PKZap27]

I'm not familiar with the other PV your using, however I would not focus on the number that you used for the voltage setting on the other PV.

You will achieve the same results with the ProVari, you may even get better results. I feel in order to get to were you liked it, like on your other PV. You should set the voltage on your ProVari to a low setting and just step the voltage up 0.1 volts at a time testing it in between the changes. Once you get to were you like it you should be good to go.

Doing it this way your not focused on that same number setting that was used with your other PV. I would have to say that this new voltage setting that you come up with on the ProVari is going to be different from the number you used with your other PV. I would not expect the same results from two different PV's just because they are set at the same voltage even if your using the same atomizer.

 

[ScottinSoCal]

Most VV devices use a potentiometer to regulate the voltage. It's a resistance based setup, and it's not that efficient - it wastes quite a bit of the battery power. A ProVari uses pulse width modulation. It's a more efficient way of doing voltage regulation, and the way an atomizer responds to it is different. You'll probably get the same flavor and vapor you used to get on your Buzz at a lower voltage setting on the ProVari.

 

[Wacky Dee]

I found the opposite to be true actually ie. I found the vapor to be much nicer at 5.2-5.4V as opposed to 4.5 on the Buzz. Same atty.

 

[MonsterKenny]

Sounds like a atty error, try tuning down your voltage a bit and see if the problem still occurs. If it does, please send me a PM.

 

[Wylie]

So luckily (?!?) this appears to be a problem with the Ikenvape atties ie. the Provari is not showing that E2 error for nothing, they're really < 2.5Ohms suddenly and the voltage I was using them at (5.4) is too high. Lowering the voltage to 4.9 does seem to fix the issue (no more errors)

Out of curiosity, did you de-wick or de-bridge the atomizers? Just wondering since I screwed up an IKV atomizer thinking I was clever.

And also, did you check the resistance of the atties when you first got them? Are you sure they dropped or were they low to begin with?

 

[Wacky Dee]

Didn't de-wick or remove bridge. They were definately higher than 3 ohms (probably 3.5) when I got them because before I started using them on the provari they were showing 2.9 - 3.1 (this was after 2 weeks of use on another PV)

 

[Wacky Dee]

Quick update .. after cleaning one of the atties with alcohol and then in desperation tried a really long dry burn on a spare PV, it appears the resistance has gone back up to 3.6 Ohms. Woot!

 

[Wylie]

Cool. I happened to run across your posts in another forum a little while ago.

 

[ScottinSoCal]

Quick update .. after cleaning one of the atties with alcohol and then in desperation tried a really long dry burn on a spare PV, it appears the resistance has gone back up to 3.6 Ohms. Woot!

Carbonized (heated/burned) sugar is very conductive, maybe you had a short across some crap the juice left behind.

 

[Wacky Dee]

Hm don't put sweetner in my juice (TV stuff) and the resistance on the atty is slowly dropping again .. down to 2.9 ohms after a few hours.

 

[ScottinSoCal]

It doesn't have to be sugar, that's just one of the most conductive burned items. Nearly anything becomes conductive if it burns and turns to carbon.

At work we have plastic tote bins to carry parts around. Even though they're plastic they conduct electricity (need that to protect the parts) just like a solid metal box would. They do it because the plastic has a lot of carbon mixed into it. The lab coats people wear are conductive, because the material in them is 2% carbon. Can you tell I'm the ESD control geek at work?

 

[Tasteles]

I've had some dark colored liquid gunk up my atties in the past, never that quick though. If I were you, I''d try a different juice and see how long it lasts. Chances are that it's the particular juice that your're using that's gunking up the coils.

 

[Digs]

I've had the same experience with a HV IKV 306 atty (de-wicked). It was 3.5 Ohms when I first received it, but after several days of vaping it had dropped all the way down to about 2.3 Ohms. That surprised me, but since the ProVari is VV it wasn't a problem because I was able to lower the voltage to compensate for the lower resistance.

The first time I cleaned the atty (by soaking it in 151 Galen's Vodka for ~30 min) it went back up to 3.5 Ohms, but it wasn't long before it started dropping again. I've been using the same atty for over a month now and it's now sitting at about 2.6 Ohms. I've tried cleaning it again to get it back up to 3.5 Ohms but it didn't work. Cleaning it makes it hit like a brand new atty but I doubt I'll ever see it go above 3.0 Ohms again.

I'm not sure what causes this, but it doesn't bother me because 1) I can adjust the voltage to compensate for any change in resistance and 2) this IKV 306 atty is probably the best atty I've ever used in terms of how good it hits, how long it's been lasting me, and how leak resistant it is (never leaks unless I really flood it).

So yeah, it's definitely not the ProVari causing it but something with the atty or the juice we're using. I wouldn't worry about it though, especially since you own a ProVari. It's things like this that really show the value of VV.