Battery maintenance

[Robinowitz]

I know, it's a bit baffling. To me, the mod looked the same inside as it did before the event but the wood is dark. Yes, the spring was fine. After the dust settled, I metered both batteries that had been in use (lost track in the ruckus) and one was 2.0 and the other 3.7. I ASSumed it was the battery. Perhaps it was eliquid related?? I had been sharing this particular mod with a friend the previous night and sometimes "new to Reo-ites" don't have the Squonk process down. Just a guess??

The good news is that USPS says that my Woodvil has made it to Maine. Hoping Dr. Rob can diagnose her...

 

[Robinowitz]

Update all!

Just got an email from Rob that the problem with my Woodvil was a "broken center post gasket." So, no problems with the battery!!
The smoke I saw that was coming from inside must have had to do with eliquid.?

Didn't want to bother Rob as he has his hands full with the recent problem with his website, but am wondering how I might avoid this problem in the future. I'm assuming we are talking about an o-ring right? Except for placing the RM2 on the Woodvile once and I remember not cranking it down (easy line up with air hole) and have never fiddled with it since. I'm very faithful with cleaning my mini fairly often but the juice I use and the frequency in which I use the Woodvile, has not required an atty cleaning. (Now, my mini iand that RM2 is another story all together....but that's for another thread!).

 

[Robinowitz]

Guess what I'm still perplexed about is the battery reading of 2.0 after the fiasco....hmm, could a bit of juice getting into an AW IMR do that? Hmmmm

 

[pennysmalls]

The center post gasket is a tiny cup shaped gasket the center pin fits into. There is another gasket that is circular and sits just under the pin and above the cup gasket. It's one of those two that was damaged. If you look down into the 510 connection you'll see the center pin and those gaskets sit beneath it. If you have a repair kit you'll see the pieces in the kit.

 

[ancient puffer]

I'd be more inclined to suspect that the broken gasket resulted in an unplanned circuit (short), that allowed the battery to discharge rapidly, although not rapidly enough to over heat the spring and cause it to sag. Just my guess, I'm no expert on 'lectrical stuff.

 

[BockinBboy]

I've noticed if I have 'too much' noalox on the top of the battery, that I'll get a wonky reading. I would imagine if juice or other got on there it might act similar. I've gotten into the habit of cleaning off the top of the battery before putting it on the charger to ensure that the charger doesn't 'read' it wrong like my multimeter did with too much noalox on it.

- Bboy

 

[Papa_Lazarou]

The two problems with a hooped center pin gasket are leaking and shorting. You might have hit the daily double and had both.

 

[Robinowitz]

I'd be more inclined to suspect that the broken gasket resulted in an unplanned circuit (short), that allowed the battery to discharge rapidly, although not rapidly enough to over heat the spring and cause it to sag. Just my guess, I'm no expert on 'lectrical stuff.

That does seem to resonate. Thanks Ancient. I'm not an electrical genius but this was "very interesting." A reminder about the complexities of electricity and our mods.

I hear you Bockin about Noalox. I've not needed to use it with the Woodvil and have ceased needing to use it with my Mini since the "new" contacts became available a few months back. When I did use it, I had a habit of cleaning off the residue from the battery with a drop of alcohol on a q-tip and sometimes a light scraping with a paper clip..

No more Daily Doubles for me Papa.

Thanks kind folks for helping me sort this. Am looking forward to getting my refurbished Woodvil back. Good squonking day all