APC killed my atomzers

[panderson01]

I just started using my APC today after using my PCUSA battery and I had 2 atomizers die on me while using it, one was brand new, the other I had been sucking on for a cuouple of weeks.

Has anyone else experienced this with the APC?

I can never use this again considering it may have killed more $$ in atomizers than the APC cost me

 

[Steph2323]

Me too. Burned 3 atomizers and the APC was 30 dollars, so not worth risking anymore atomizers.

 

[LucKyPunk]

Are you sure its not your APC going to sleep, I noticed even while actively vaping the APC goes to sleep and i have to press the button, does your passthru have a light is it working.

 

[panderson01]

Are you sure its not your APC going to sleep, I noticed even while actively vaping the APC goes to sleep and i have to press the button, does your passthru have a light is it working.

Nope, not going to sleep. I understand that the APC does that and that you have to hit the button to wake up.

I re-tested the atomizers using the standart battery and other pass through sources, i.e., car adapter, pc & laptop.

 

[Steph2323]

I am sure that it's not going to sleep. My atomizers are shot. Very bummed it didn't work out for me, but very happy that I stocked up on supplies.
Stephanie

 

[aasupplyny]

I had the same thing happen with the usb passthrough and apc with the dead atomizer.

I had 2 fairly new atomizers go "cold" on me. The atomizers would not produce any vapor and would not heat up at all. Tested with different batteries and still nothing so i know its not the passthrough.

If you're getting the same symptoms, it might be that the wire soldered to the cap on the battery end of the atomizer is off.

What I did was: (Only try this if you have nothing to lose)

1) Remove the circular cap in the battery end of the atomizer with a flat head screw driver.

2) Look for a wire. You should see a wire that is disconnected now since you just removed the cap and that is where the wire was soldered, also where the current from the battery passes to the atomizer.

3)Pull the wire out carefully with tweezers as much as you can without yanking it off completely.

4)Check to see if there is plastic around the wire. You about 1mm of "bare" wire so that you can make contact later. To do this, I used a nail clipper. Couldn't find pliers small enough to fit in there lol. Carefully cut around the wire but not all the way thru. Pull the plastic off.

5)Now solder the wire to the cap and push cap back onto the atomizer.
I'm a lazy person so I didn't solder. I just bent the wire at 90 degrees and pushed the cap back on with the wire thru the hole of the cap. Just need to make sure the "bare" wire has a good connection (touching) with the cap.

And thats how I fixed both my dead atomizers.
It wasn't the apc pack that killed them though.
It was the usb passthrough. The friction from the atomizer "cap" and battery caused the soldered wire to come off when switching from passthrough to regular batteries frequently.

Careful cleaning the atomizer threads with napkins too hard also. If you push too hard on the cap and clean in a circular motion, you could disconnect the wire. You'll know what I mean if you take the atomizer cap off.

Hope this helps!

 

[panderson01]

I am willing to send this to someone for $20 shipped to anywhere in the COUS. Let me know via email and I will give you my Paypal account. Oh, this is my paypal account:

paulanderson60@sbcglobal.net

 

[LucKyPunk]

That sucks, I'd have thought there was at least some electronics in the passthru to prevent that.

 

[Sun Vaporer]

Wow--that is terrible. Are you sure it is not the Passthrough that shorted out the atomizers. Have you tried the Passthrough with another power source and another atomizer yet? If it was the APC--then no wonder they keep going on sale!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mixxy]

What a bummer! I've been using my USB passthrough battery with the APC for over 2 weeks without any problems, and bought a 2nd APC when Fry's had them on sale again. Now that I have two I just keep the passthrough battery plugged into one of the the APC's since I always have an extra charged. They both seem to work fine other than the little 'naps' they take! I know someone had some sort of a problem with his APC and Fry's sent him a new one.. maybe you can exchange yours for another and try it again?

 

[gto]

I'm using a Dura, no passthrough yet, so I plan to use my APC for charging my batts when I'm out n' about. Will the APC stay constant to charge the batt, or will it sleep duting the charging?

 

[mixxy]

I'm using a Dura, no passthrough yet, so I plan to use my APC for charging my batts when I'm out n' about. Will the APC stay constant to charge the batt, or will it sleep duting the charging?

That's a good question.. and I hope someone will know. I don't have a USB charger, so haven't tried charging with it. I know it seems to take a 'nap' at the strangest times. Sometimes when it's been sitting for awhile I kind of expect it to be taking a nap, but it isn't. Other times I've just taken a puff, and go to take another and it's gone to sleep in just a few seconds.

 

[CssReb]

It should stay awake. I plugged my cell phone into the APC pack I got from Frys and it charged my phone without going into sleep mode ( charge time was 30 minutes ). I use my APC power pack (from Frys) and a super mini passthrough (from Vapor Guys) oconstantly and haven't had any problems.

 

[gto]

yay, thanks!

 

[camoruin]

I have been using the APC heavy with the 901 passthru from Puresmoker and have had no issues with it. Hopefully this is not something waiting for me down the pipeline.

 

[Rubberjohnny]

First thing, my logon name comes from my hobby..........sport diving !!!

I think aasupplyny has it right regarding burn outs. I have made many DIY modifications, mainly of the wired and seperate power supply type. Using both portable L-ion and NiMh battery power packs I allso experienced a fair number of failures. However, on examining the atomizers it was allways one of the base connection wires that had come away at the solder joint and not, as I had expected the main atomizer coil failing. I put it down to over dripping the main coil leading to a build up of resistance finding the then weakest spot, that being these two joints, coused in part by the increased power (voltage) of the battery packs. I had not considered that the use of cloth or tissue following cleaning could be the culprit but now think this a valid explanation.
I have to say the re-soldering of these joints is a nightmare to do but it does pass the time on a wet Sunday afternoon.

 

[lintz69]

APC from frys and USB passthrough (penstyle and 901) from Puresmoker. Working fine for about a week and a half now. Absolutely love it. Course I have only had to charge the APC twice...but it works fantastic. One problem I noticed(but dont think it's apc) is the 801 USB cable I got from David I plugged in and it didn't work. So I figured maybe it needs a charge. So I left it to charge well the APC wouldn't stay awake. So I plugged it into the PC and still the USB cable won't charge. So I think it's the 801 USB cable itself.

 

[ZambucaLu]

APC from frys and USB passthrough (penstyle and 901) from Puresmoker. Working fine for about a week and a half now. Absolutely love it. Course I have only had to charge the APC twice...but it works fantastic. One problem I noticed(but dont think it's apc) is the 801 USB cable I got from David I plugged in and it didn't work. So I figured maybe it needs a charge. So I left it to charge well the APC wouldn't stay awake. So I plugged it into the PC and still the USB cable won't charge. So I think it's the 801 USB cable itself.

Members here have been mentioning certain atomizers not working with the USB cables. I also have extra batteries for the little battery box which I occasionally recharge and replace.

Lu

 

[gto]

Members here have been mentioning certain atomizers not working with the USB cables. I also have extra batteries for the little battery box which I occasionally recharge and replace.

Lu

Maybe that's the answer to freshing up this discontinued product when the time comes. Give us more info on the replacement batts please

 

[Steph2323]

No, the usb is still working well and since I stopped using the APC, I have had no further problems with the atomizers that I am using. The ones that got burnt I still have and may try to clean them sometime. I thought that it may of been the self cleaning mode that killed them, but I didn't get any indcations that it was self cleaning, and after the first 2 went, I thought maybe I missed the cyle, but after the third one burned and still no self cleaning cycle, I figured that it had to be the APC. Maybe it was just too much power? I'm not electronically inclined so I really don't know.
Anyway, it was a great power source and I wish that it had worked. I can still use it for my ipod,ect so it's not a total waste.
Thanks for all of your feedback everyone.
Stephanie

Wow--that is terrible. Are you sure it is not the Passthrough that shorted out the atomizers. Have you tried the Passthrough with another power source and another atomizer yet? If it was the APC--then no wonder they keep going on sale!!!!!!!!!!!