A7 short on REO Grand

[JTman]

Hello ECF. I got my first rba today, the A7. I primed it up and put it on my REO grand. I took my first draw and instead of vapor I had smoke coming out of the squonk hole. Upon inspection I saw my first ever collapsed spring. I fear I have short in my new A7. There is no apparent cause but this is pretty new to me. What can I look for to be the cause of the short. I am really bummed. I was able to stretch the spring out a bit so I can keep using my REO with boge cartos like I have been but the battery rattles in there really bad. A new spring is definitely in order. Is there anything I can do? Thanks in advance!

 

[BJ43]

Hello ECF. I got my first rba today, the A7. I primed it up and put it on my REO grand. I took my first draw and instead of vapor I had smoke coming out of the squonk hole. Upon inspection I saw my first ever collapsed spring. I fear I have short in my new A7. There is no apparent cause but this is pretty new to me. What can I look for to be the cause of the short. I am really bummed. I was able to stretch the spring out a bit so I can keep using my REO with boge cartos like I have been but the battery rattles in there really bad. A new spring is definitely in order. Is there anything I can do? Thanks in advance!

Ck that the coil is not touching the air hole under it and shorting and dry burn it and see if all the coils heat up.

 

[JTman]

the coil clears the center hole with room to spare. I did notice the center post of the A7 was super loose, it turns out that it is a threaded screw. Could that have anything to do with my issue?

 

[hildicat]

Too late for you now, but you should always check your Reo for continuity when installing a new atty, especially if you are using a rebuildable.

I always build my coil with the battery removed from the mod, then check it with a multimeter at the two posts. You should get your desired resistance based on what wire you used and how many wraps. If something doesn't read right, rip out that coil and start again.

Once you have the coil right, then test the Reo by touching one lead of your meter to the hot spring and the other to the Reo's firing pin. The reading will jump around, but if it goes lower than .8Ω theres a problem and you run the risk of a short.

Lastly, you really should replace that spring before using the Reo. If its failed once already you really have no short protection in that mod. Just sayin'.. Not trying to scare you but you should be aware.

Also, check out the Reo sub-forum here. Theres tone of info about using the A7 and other rebuildables...

 

[JTman]

Thanks for your advice hildicat. I guess I was just hoping it would work out of the box. This coil came pre-installed and I even bought a couple of pre-made coils so I wouldn't have to worry about buying materials right away. I guess sometimes short-cuts aren't worth taking. Lesson learned.

Man this just really bums me out. I suppose I've been pretty lucky in never having experienced a short until now. Thats proably why it was easy for me to bypass the more carful measures you laid out for me. Should I try replacing the "stock" coil and try again? Could there be something other than the coil causing the short?

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Man this just really bums me out. I suppose I've been pretty lucky in never having experienced a short until now. Thats proably why it was easy for me to bypass the more carful measures you laid out for me. Should I try replacing the "stock" coil and try again? Could there be something other than the coil causing the short?

Sometimes a dodgy connector on an RBA can cause shorts. Example here - http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/reos-mods/326612-era-atomizer-please-read.html

 

[JTman]

I couldn't really tell if the connector was the problem or not on the A7 I just cant figure it out. The guys at empiremods are awesome and sending out a new one for me today. I also just packed up my REO and sent it off to Robert for a much needed overhaul. New firing pin, spring, button, the bigger feed tube, and also to replace the atty connection, just in case that was part of the issue. It does look pretty worn out and slightly ....-eyed.

 

[iKN0WaGH0ST]

Maybe try posting this in the Reo subforum. I had some weird issues with phoenix atties when I had my reo. The atomizers fired fine on my provari, yet when I tried it on the Reo I ended up with a melted spring. Rob suggested that I use a 510-510 unsealed adapter. Are you sure you didn't have a short when rebuilding your A7? If you are sure you didn't give the adapter a try.

 

[JTman]

Yeah, I didn't do my own build so I was just going with how it came. I should have been more cautious. There's not much i can do now, my Grand is in the mail and I have a new A7 coming to me from EmpireMods (great people!). I'll check into a 510-510 adapter. I am also going to invest in a Multimeter to prevent this from happening again.

 

[Njt07]

Id check the positive post, if it is not lower than the sides then that's a melted spring waiting to happen. How do I know this? i did it twice...with the same atty...

 

[JTman]

The A7 does have an adjustable post, I don't recall noticing its exact position when I realized i could turn it like a screw. I will definitely pay close attention to this detail from now on!

Id check the positive post, if it is not lower than the sides then that's a melted spring waiting to happen. How do I know this? i did it twice...with the same atty...

 

[Karla Lyle]

I got 2 of these today and they don't work on my Reo VV's. I put the post down as far as it goes and it still is not long enough to make a connection. Are you using adapters with them?

 

[JTman]

I got 2 of these today and they don't work on my Reo VV's. I put the post down as far as it goes and it still is not long enough to make a connection. Are you using adapters with them?

I was not using an adapter. Perhaps its not firing due to a short and the VV circuity is preventing the short? I hope you are able to find some answers. Unfortunately I am just getting started with RBA's. Do you have a multimeter. My first big lesson was to have one of these on hand when building coils and messing with RBA's!

I did get the replacement A7 and put it in my Grand after I got it back from being repaired. I tested it out with my new multimeter and then with much trepidation I pressed the button and was delighted to see vapor from the atty and not smoke from the spring! SUCCESS!

I adjusted the post to be just a hair longer than the threads. When I took it out of my Grand the post was a little deeper than when I put it on. I re-inserted the A7 with the post left as it was when I pulled it and it was still firing just fine.

I also found the "blind squonk" to work really well in keeping the juice contained inside the A7 and not flowing out of the catch cup. In fact, after using it for about 20 minutes, I pulled the A7 and the juice cup was bone dry. A blind squonk is when you lightly draw through the atty without power as you squonk the bottle. When you hear the juice start to gurgle stop squonking while drawing air through the atty for another second or two. Ive done it that way on my grand almost since I got it over a year ago.

Ive got some 34g A1 Kanthal on the way and I cant wait to start building my own coils/wicks. I will say that the stock coil/wick sucks. The flavor is flat (compared to my boge 2.0 carto) and it isn't wicking nearly fast enough to keep up with me.