Atty in Reading in Mega Ohms Range?

[bladebarrier]

I recently picked up two 801 LR 1.5ohm atty's from a well respected vendor.

I connected the first one of the two up to my Reo, with a stealth 801 to 510 adapter. It seemed to be working just fine (excellent even) for about 5-8 hours of use, and then it wouldn't fire anymore.

I removed the atty and saw that there was quite an awful mess of juice in the reservoir cup of the mod, all around the adapter, and the bottom of the atty. This was clearly my fault, because I was trying out a Trick where you use an O-ring to stop possible spillage from leaks, and I didn't understand the first instructions, placed the ring way too far down (basically stopping all air flow), and flooded the snot out it because it auto fed it juice due to having no air flow.

I cleaned everything out, and allowed lots of time for drying. Put it back on, and still no firing. So, I swapped it with the other brand new 801 atty (same model/make) and that fires with no issues.

I grabbed the Fluke, and couldn't believe what I was seeing on the atty that wouldn't fire. It was reading 1.5xx Mega Ohms, instead of 1.5 Ohms. I've had attys that basically drop in resistance as they die, register as a short, go up slightly as they get gummed up, or have no reading at all because they "popped", but I've not encountered something like this.

Any ideas on what is happening here, and if I might be able to repair it?

Thank you!

--bb

 

[Katya]

Per my friend Scottbee, who knows everything there is to know about batteries:

"If your atty reads a very high resistance (K Ohms, M Ohms.. or infinite Ohms) then it is "open". And it typically can't be repaired without taking it apart. And that takes some skills.

If it isn't "open", but reads substantially higher than the stock numbers.... it is fixin' to die (go open)."

So sorry....

 

[DonDaBoomVape]

As for why it happened (and how to prevent/minimize future burned-out atomizers): 1.5 ohms on 3.7V generates an atty-straining high 2.5 amps current. [NOTE: All numbers in this post are ballpark averages and approximations. The actual voltage zapping an atomizer is not as simple as "3.7" ... and I only partially understand some of complexities.]

My personal rule of thumb on PV current: Keep it below 2.0 amps. Something more like 2.0 ohms would be safer: 1.85 amps current, while still putting out a strong 6.8 watts of power. [FYI: Many vapers find 6 to 8 watts to be the "sweet spot."] Even 1.8 ohms would be appreciably safer than 1.5: 2.1 amps and 7.6 watts.

I realize that many vapers use 1.5 ohm atomizers/cartomizers on 3.7V. It's a relatively high-risk/high-reward proposition. You just experienced the consequences of the high-risk part of the equation. And notice that most suppliers do not guarantee LR atomizers (beyond not being DOA).

If you really want that super-intense vaping experience of 9+ watts power (as is generated by 1.5 ohms on 3.7V), better to use an HV (or even standard resistance 801) atty on an HV battery. For example, a 3.0 ohm 801 on 5V yields an intense 8.3 watts power, but only 1.7 amps current.

FYI: You can quickly derive the good-news (watts)/bad-news (amps) consequences of any ohms/voltage combination with this online calculator. [Although I know Ohm's and Joule's Law formulas, I haven't bothered to do the arithmetic for eons. Let George do it! ("George" is my nickname for my computer and the Internet.)]