Can You Fry an RTA?

[Vapemesilly]

Been having an issue with a Zeus rta (single-coil). I've had this rta for a year or so with no issues at all. I really like it. A few days ago, I went to put in a new coil, it was a pre-made kanthal clapton, rated at .45 ohm. I didn't need to trim anything off the ends so it should come in pretty close to .45 ohm. I got it all set up, new coil, wicking, soaked the cotton and then checked the ohms and it read .18 ohm. Couldn't be right. Checked it again. .21 ohm. Then .19 ohm...and so on. Fired it up to see how it would be and it gave off a lot of noise, heat and vape and smelled burnt.

I assumed that something was wrong with the coil so I tossed it, got another coil and went through the exact same process and the same thing happened. I took THAT coil out and put it in another RTA and it came in at .47 ohm and worked just fine.

This is all happening on a regulated mod running at 28 w.

I'm afraid to use this Zeus now. Is it possible that something in the RTA went kaflooy? Is there anything in an RTA that can fry? Anybody have this happen?

Thanks.

 

[GOMuniEsq]

Theory 1: You have gunk sitting between the negative and positive plates and you need to give that thing a good wash, scrubbing, soak, and dry.

Theory 2: You didn't burn in your coil. A fresh contact coil can read as lower resistance when the wraps are touching and the electricity takes a shortcut across them. Heat it up red hot wiggle it so oxidation will form to insulate neighboring wraps. Video example here. You can alternatively stretch it into a spaced coil.

edit: forget theory 2, you eliminated that possibility by testing on another device

 

[P3ch3]

is the deck pin tighten? the one that makes contact with the mod's pin
when you install a new coil, do you are sure that is well tighten? the main problem with postless decks is that user might think coils is well attached to the deck but the reality might shown a loose leg on the coil...

 

[Mordacai]

Hello Vapemesilly, the only thing that you can really kill on a Rebuildable is the insulators.

Personally I'd take the deck apart by unscrewing the two part screw that makes up the centre pin of the 510 connector (yes, it is two screws. If they're stuck together you can use a pair of pliers or grips with some card to protect the metal, and a screwdriver).

Then when you've converted it into a kit, ultrasonic clean it if you can or if you can't, use a toothbrush and toothpaste. Then dry as best you can and leave to air dry, reassemble and see if anything changes (hopefully it will have).

Good luck.

 

[puffon]

Check the height of the coil.
I've had that happen on the Zues, when the coil was too high and was touching the chimney.

 

[P3ch3]

Check the height of the coil.
I've had that happen on the Zues, when the coil was too high and was touching the chimney.

well said

 

[Shawn Hoefer]

Well, I'd offer advise, but I would've said the same things...

 

[Vapemesilly]

What exactly in an insulator?

 

[bombastinator]

What exactly in an insulator?

The insulator is the (generally) plastic or ceramic bit between the positive and negative posts that prevents arcing. If you look at high tension power cable the wires hang from a series of what look like cups. Those are insulators.
Many insulators are made of a plastic called PEEK. They’re generally gray, though color isn’t important.
The stuff can melt or degrade. When it does it generally turns black, though there are other things that can also turn it black, so color isn’t a great indicator.
I’ve got an aromamizer plus deck with an iffy PEEK insulator I’m going to have to figure out how to take apart (the seems to be press fit so it’s going to be annoying)

 

[Vapemesilly]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I believe I have enough information now to be truly dangerous.

 

[bombastinator]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I believe I have enough information now to be truly dangerous.

Heh. The trick is to be dangerous only to yourself. I try to follow that one as much as I can. Not always successfully, and definitely not as much as I’d like, but I do try.

 

[P3ch3]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I believe I have enough information now to be truly dangerous.

pretty far from danger, just take out atomizer, and just fully take it all apart, watch insulator, conection pin and then put everything together again, fullyu test,

Regards,

 

[Vapemesilly]

I wanted to follow up on this issue. I finally got some time the other day and cleaned the heck out of this RTA, the insulators looked good. After letting it dry for a day it looked brand new. I built a coil ( making sure it wasn't too tall), wicked it, soaked the cotton and tried it out. It works perfectly. I was almost ready to throw this Zeus away. I'm glad I didn't. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[P3ch3]

hope you enjoy it! sometimes is easy, sometimes is a bit difficult, but the point, you just fixed it!

Regards

 

[DaveP]

It's easy on some atomizers to create a short after loosening/tightening the 510 pin. The positive pole of the coil deck can skew and touch the negative on some attys. You want to look for parallel spacing between the two pole pieces on the deck and no damage to the insulator underneath the positive pole. This is where an ohm meter comes in handy. Just throwing that into the troubleshooting box of tricks, FWIW.