Alpha Ultra won't fire

[vaptamist]

Hello! I recently purchased a used Ultra off of the ECF classifieds - just the base model with no RES - just the atomizer connection. I'd like to think I'm not a "newb" when it comes to these as I have an Ultramax and an Ultralite already (both with RES) and I don't have too many issues with those and I think I have them figured out for the most part. Unfortunately, when trying to use an AW IMR 14500 from Innovapor, it just doesn't fire. I've tried different cartos and atty's that work on other mods - and I've even used the battery in another 14500 mod and it works fine.

The strange thing is it went like this:

Received mod
Waited for battery to arrive
Battery arrived - charged it to full and tried it in Ultra - no luck. Tested it another mod and it worked.
Tried a few hours later and it worked kind of sporadically - at one point I had it working about 9 times out of 10
The next day - I couldn't get it to fire at all

I'm trying again as we speak, and I just can't get it to work. The switch looks really clean - the contacts are spotless. The ultra itself has been cleaned thoroughly. The battery is making contact with the spring/switch as far as I can tell, it just doesn't seem to fire.

Any ideas? I'd really like to get this to work - was going to order a RES for it once I got it up and running, but I'm holding off until I can get this figured out.

 

[Slo Ryd]

Try soaking the switch in lime juice. The outside contact points might look clean, but the contact points inside the switch could be dirty. Soaking it in lime juice will break up any of that corrosion. Try that and let me know if it works.

 

[vaptamist]

Ok! I'll give that a shot! Just to confirm - Should I be soaking the whole atomizer interface with the switch? Or just the switch assembly? How long should I soak it? Should I wash it with water immediately after removing it from the lime juice?

Appreciate the help!

 

[Roxxette]

i have run into these couple of times , and like you my unit is "second hand" for me the problem was with the atomizer flooded and i just blow it couple of times and it fired with no problem.

My ultra have the RES system though

 

[Slo Ryd]

Good to see that its working now. For future reference, only soak the switch assembly, not the atomizer interface. Let it soak in the lime juice for about 5 minutes, then take it out and rinse it thoroughly. Then let it sit for a while to dry out.

 

[vaptamist]

Mine still isn't working - will try the lime juice tonight!

 

[vaptamist]

I must be missing something obvious - how do I get the switch assembly out of the atomizer interface?

 

[vaptamist]

Why do I always figure things like this on my own seconds after I ask the question?

I think it's definitely the switch, I swapped my ultramax switch into the ultra atomizer interface and it fires every time!

 

[vaptamist]

It took a long time for the switch to dry all the way - but the lime juice soak has it working 100% of the time! I also went ahead and soaked the switch assembly for my Ultralite and Ultramax and they're all happy campers now. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Slo Ryd]

No problem, good to hear they are working again. The lime juice trick always works.