Battery automagically shutting off

[jmathers]

I recently built a battery box mod (like the Nico Stick) with instructions from madvapes. It works but not perfectly. When I first press the button the LED lights up and everything works just fine. However after a couple of secs of constant pressing the LED stops working and I get no hit. It acts exactly like an auto battery - it automatically shuts off after a certain period of time. If I repress it works again for a few seconds and then cuts off. Is this supposed to happen? I'm using a single 14500 protected battery.

This only happens with an atomizer connected. It works fine for several seconds (20+) without an atomizer connected.

I resoldered the negative connection to the atty connector to double check that connection. It still does the same thing.

Any ideas?

Jeff

 

[jiff]

I think the protection circuit of your battery is tripping. Must be a short somewhere. See if there are wires crossing where they shouldn't be.

I had the same problem on one of my mods. One battery would constantly trip the circuit after a few seconds. My other battery has never tripped. If you have another battery handy, try that one and see if it does the same thing.

 

[kcofohio]

One suggestion, with the cover off, screw on your atty, as you do this, watch your posi terminal, as pressure from atty moves the terminal, see if your + - wires come close to contacting each other.
Also, look to see if any left over solder got down into the gap, between + -.
I have found that, depending on the flatness of atty, batt terminals, can change the alignment of the posi terminal.
Hope that helps.

 

[jmathers]

Well thanks for the suggestions. It seems to be an atty problem - with a different atty no cutoff. I wonder if the resistance of the one atty is somehow different. I'll measure and report back. Both are supposed to be Joye 510 attys non-LR.

Appreciate the help.

Jeff

 

[jmathers]

Well both attys are close - around 2.0 ohms although the one without trouble is closer to 2.3 ohms and the problem one seems to want to stay around 1.8 ohms. Isn't that what a LR atty measures? They both have a little e-juice in there; not sure if that makes a difference?

Of course, this doesn't show what happens when they are under load. It seems like once the problem atty heats up then I can't get the battery to stay on for much more than a split second. Let it cool down and I get a good 4-5 seconds before it cuts off.

Still a mystery. I did check another battery (did the same thing) and looked at the atty when I screwed it in to make sure nothing was touching, etc. No apparent shorts, etc. And as I said it works just fine on another atty - even when that atty heats up.

Jeff

 

[Sci]

Yes, the e-juice in there matters. Take a swab & wipe everything in there clean. See if that makes a difference.

 

[Shortstuff116]

Another possibility may be that the rubber gasket between the center terminal on the atty connector (the one you attached to your box) and the negative outer housing may have been damaged. It may be split or squished or melted allowing an electrical contact between them. For example, if you attach your atty to tight it can squish and damage the rubber gasket causing a short.

Just a thought to consider.

 

[jmathers]

The problem atty does the exact same thing on an auto battery - works fine for the first hit or so and then the battery will not stay on for more than a few seconds. So, I'm confident that this is an atty problem not my box mod. Practically brand new Joye 510 atty too - three days use as of today.

Can anyone explain why this happened? Is this the infamous Chinese QC in action? I suppose, like you said Shortstuff, it may have been damaged somehow. It hits great though on a manual battery.

Jeff

 

[Rocketman]

If it is a low resistance atty (even though it was purchased as a regular atty) then the current being drawn may be just high enough to trip the protection circuit. If you had a large sample of auto and manual batteries you would probably find a somewhat large range of trip currents. A low resistance atty can trip the protection circuit of a 14500 (2.2 to 2.4 amps is the trip point for most I believe) but not a 18650 (trips at about 4 amps).

Yes it is possible that the insulator in the atty is the cause, but I think the atty resistance is on the ragged edge of working. Chill it in the freezer and see if you get several more seconds before the battery trips.

Rocket

Edit to add info:
If the protection circuit trips with your 14500 box mod because of current draw (atty resistance or short) the battery voltage will appear to be zero volts until it UN-trips.
You can remove the battery and measure atty current with an ampmeter but the extra resistance of the meter in series may allow the mod to work with the suspect atty. Of course that would confirm the tripping because of atty resistance. If you don't have an ampmeter then take the battery out and temporarily wire it in the circuit with a couple of feet of hook-up wire (adds a little resistance but leaves the questionable atty alone).