E-cig Battery Troubles==$$$$$

[dormouse]

What I do - I always use a folded bit of tissue to make sure a battery's threaded end is clean and dry (gently!) before I put it in the charger. I do have the USB charger connection to power when I screw the battery in and I stop screwing the battery in as soon as I get a solid red light on the charger. If I think an atomizer is gurgling and not heating well I check for leaks and blow out the atty into a tissue. I don't dry burn attys. And now I rarely use atomizers. I use Boge cartomizers for my favorite thin juices - fresh atomizer in every one. I can get a good week out of a Boge carto and usually at least part of a second week. I mostly use standard resistance, If I used anything LR I would not go below 2.0 ohms. To go lower I would use a mod liek a 3.7v box mod or other mod with cheap replaceable batteries.

I recommend you label that bad charger BAD so you don't get mixed up and use it again.

 

[UncleWesley]

I am completely vexed and dismayed. I so want to throw all this stuff in the garbage, but I'm so hooked. Perhaps I should just chalk this up to .... happens, but I'm so annoyed because I tried to do some research and be smart about things, yet I am just really not doing well here.

I suppose if I spent more time here I would learn more, but it just makes me think that the learning curve here is HUGE and that the amount of people truly enjoying their vaping habit is much smaller than I thought. Perhaps I need to be doing something else, like spending money on a girlfriend or something...ARGHHH!

 

[UncleWesley]

If you have a bad atomizer it will fry the batt. Also if you have a bad batt. it will fry your atomizers. Found that all out the hard way.

Exactly. This is what I think I've somehow accomplished! And now I don't really know which of of the five attys (that I just bought) is the one I mega-burned out, so after I drop another bunch of money I fear I'll ..... these new ones up as well. Maybe I should just start from scratch.

I'm kinda annoyed, because I feel like I did some pretty astute preliminary reading and all that before I jumped in, but there seems to be a lot more troubleshooting involved than it would appear, having done some research. Either that or I have incredible poor luck at this. More Grrr....

 

[UncleWesley]

Well I think they're all BAD at this point so I guess it doesn't really matter. BTW, do you mean that one filled cartomizer lasts you a week or so? I hope so, and not that you need a new one every week.

Thanks for the advice as I actually will be more attentive through on out. I had no idea that the center pin was such a sensitive issue.

 

[UncleWesley]

sorry, for my vulgar language, as it doesn't belong here. I did try to pg-13 it with an asterisks. Blah.

 

[dormouse]

Cartomizers are disposable and cost under $2 each plus shipping. I don't mind spending $2 per week to not screw with atomizers.

I fill a carto well, let it settle on different sides, and vape. I keep them damp with liquid so they don't singe. I usually start a pair with contrasting flavors and use them for 2 weeks. I may get another week out of the Boge vaping it 1/2 the time. My other carto is a KR808D-1 carto on a different model.

---
How I fill Vapor4Life KR8 cartos and Boge 510 cartos

Pop out the soft cap with an unbent paperclip in the mouth hole, very careful not to catch stuffing or the wire loop.
Shake and open the eliquid
Hold a bit of tissue on the threaded end hole, tilt the carto, and add 18 drops per ml of capacity into the stuffing (Boges and most KR8 cartos are about 1ml).
Wait 15 seconds or so then see how many more drops the carto stuffing will soak in easily.
Clean up the threaded end, tilt open end down into tissue, puff into threaded end to clear air channel (Boges and the KR8 cartos I use have a defined center air channel and I want to see light through that)
Sop up any loose juice above the stuffing
Cap and let it settle - I lay it on different sides for 15-20 minutes to make sure every bit of stuffing gets damp so I won't singe the carto. if you use thicker juice than me (I use 20% Vg or less) then you may need to wait much longer.

While vaping, if the vapor gets a bit light or a bit dry or the carto is getting hotter than normal, I take the carto off the battery and add eliquid. I sometimes use a plastic or delrin drip tip as a mouthpiece on Boge and KR8 cartos (not to drip into since the juice would head for the central air channel)

 

[swedishfish]

I don't know if this matters or not but I always charge my batteries with the wall outlet.

Get the cartomizers (boge 2.0) just fill them with about 20 drops of juice and you're done. Top off as needed. Try Joogler you get a free bottle of juice with your order. First time you order use the code ECF5OFF for $5.00 off your first order.

 

[UncleWesley]

Unbelievable.

The new set of batteries seem to have shorted out on me before I even went through one round of the dry-burn!

ARRR!!!

 

[calico21]

maybe you should go back to the begining and switch to an 808 or something without separate atty's. It may save you a lot of arrrggg! and Money. I'm quite happy with mine and there are a bunch of great carto's out there that you can clean easily and refill.

 

[UncleWesley]

Anyone have any ideas?

I bought a cheapo/not so cheap $30 "super-cigarette?" single kit to hold me over this past weekend. The little mini actually works ok, but I miss the Riva 510 vaping pleasure. I believe the supercigarette is a 901? model and is a super mini. It comes with three cartos filled with fairly vile tasting tobacco flavored juice.

I did power through it though and filled up with my Atomic Cinnacide (yum-yum) and am getting by. I sent out a 3-page letter to Liberty-Flights detailing my battery woes, as well as link to this thread. I hope they can shed some light on this problem.

I did not use the hyper dry-burnt atomizer that I surely destroyed, but instead chose an a different atty from the batch of six that I cleaned. I did not make it through even one attempt to dry-burn out some of the mineral deposit before the battery blinked out on me and ostensibly became fried. Thinking that perhaps the battery was simply uncharged on arrival, I perhaps made the mistake of trying to prep the same atty on the second battery which resulted in the same terrible fate.

None of my newly purchased batteries work now. I'm stuck with this marginally ok super-cigarette. I'm desperately hoping for some heroic knowledge about how to rescue any of my batteries, though I'm inclined to think that I may have to start from scratch completely.

I probably ought to buy a brand new, brand new kit altogether and eat the loss of four batteries as well as six atomizers. I think save any heroic advice I best consider my late fortune as my dues to entering into this fascinating culture and community of e-smoking.

 

[Psy-Crow]

It's really looks like atomizer fried and short-circuited battery. Sorry for you. I've been burning CE2 cartos with manual KR808D-1 battery and had no problems what so far. But it's not very convenient, because battery has cut-off time and I forced to push button numerous times. So I'm ordered passthrough and maybe you should get one for this job.

 

[UncleWesley]

maybe you should go back to the begining and switch to an 808 or something without separate atty's. It may save you a lot of arrrggg! and Money. I'm quite happy with mine and there are a bunch of great carto's out there that you can clean easily and refill.

I know. I apologize for sounding conflicted and angry. I received nothing but positive support here and that attitude pervades all the other threads I've peeked into. My frustration could have adopted a more mature tone perhaps.

Perhaps some of you delighted in a bit of schadenfreude perhaps.

808? Perhaps I should look into this, though when the Riva 510 -- JoyeEgo? sticks were working, they worked pretty great. I especially liked using the a low-res atomizer. Talk about huge hits with intense flavor. The super-cigarette comes quite short of the power of the Riva.

 

[UncleWesley]

It's really looks like atomizer fried and short-circuited battery. Sorry for you. I've been burning CE2 cartos with manual KR808D-1 battery and had no problems what so far. But it's not very convenient, because battery has cut-off time and I forced to push button numerous times. So I'm ordered passthrough and maybe you should get one for this job.

Is this something that happens often though? Short-circuiting a battery? I swear all I did was dump really hot water on these attys, stirred them around some, blew air through them, then dried them with a hair-dryer. Am I underestimating how delicate they really are?

I did try to use cartomizers a little, though I thought they didn't really hit the same as the dripping or cart technique. Though I don't think I let the juices settle long at all, may have been loading them incorrectly, and maybe ought to try the Boges.

 

[calico21]

Oh no I can understand your aggrevation! I just don't want you to get fed up spending more than you bargained for and go back to analogs. We've all been frustrated a time or two. I wish I could help you more but I just like the simplicity of the carto's.
ETA: I'm using the CE2 Deluxes right now and I get great flavor and vapor. Some say there are still issues burt I haven't seen it yet, and they may have some that fit your batteries at gotvapes.

 

[Baldr]

Cartomizers are disposable and cost under $2 each plus shipping. I don't mind spending $2 per week to not screw with atomizers.

I had bad luck with cartomizers when I tried them. They were a pain to fill, I got lots of leaks, sometimes they would vape great, sometimes they would just seem to squirt juice straight into my mouth. I'm using EMDCC's now, and having better luck.

For awhile, I used ego type A tanks/atomizers, and it's possible I'll go back to them. (If I do, I'll probably get some of the type B tanks and try those.)

But regardless of whether you use atomizers or cartomizers, all of it goes bad at some point. Before getting the EMDCC's, I had spent about a month and a half using two atomizers with my ego tanks, swapping them out once a week, cleaning the old one by soaking in isopropyl alcohol and letting it dry for most of the week. In that time, both are still going strong - but both are probably near the end of their life cycle, too.

Almost everything you get is going to die or wear out sooner or later. Batteries are rechargable - but only so many times. Cartomizers and atomizers will have to be replaced. Nobody should buy a PV thinking "After this, I'll never have to buy anything but juice".

UncleWesley, I'm using ego-T batteries, the 1000 mah version. They don't have a "pin", as best I can tell, so I'm not sure exactly what that is. I certainly haven't had to "adjust the pin" or anything similar. Riva is essentially an ego knockoff, designed to look and work like an ego. And I've seen a video of someone taking them apart, and they look the same on the inside. The Riva even had a battery inside that said "Joye" on it. Joye is the company that makes the Ego's. But there have also been a lot more posts about Riva's having problems. It's possible that Joye sells batteries to Riva when they get old. It's possible that there is no real difference.

But if I were having problems with the Riva, I'd consider getting a genuine ego T and going that way.

For what it's worth, I don't do a dry burn, and if I felt like I needed to, it would be because an atomizer I had already tried cleaning with isopropyl and hot water still wasn't working. At that point, I might try it, figuring that the worst that would happen would be to kill an atomizer that wasn't working for me anyway. 99% of the time, I don't think there is any need.

 

[Baldr]

Is this something that happens often though? Short-circuiting a battery?

I don' think so. I'm still fairly new around here, but I read a lot of posts, and I hang out on the IRC chat, and I haven't heard anything to make me think this is a common problem.

 

[UncleWesley]

So I've heard back from Liberty-Flights.

He is willing to replace the last two batteries which is very kind of him. I suppose it's not impossible that I received one bad battery which corrupted my atty which in turn corrupted the second battery. Or I received two bad batteries.

I'm 99% sure that I disposed of that one over-cooked atty that I previously suggested I had mixed it in with the others.
Regardless I think it's prudent that I purchase another set of attys from Liberty-Flights to compliment the new set of batteries.
This way I have absolutely no compunctions if these replacements die...again?!?! It can't be the charger. Buying more atomizers will breed trust and good faith in the supplier as really the service has been pretty darn good and without any major incident. Fidelity as its own reward.

I had such a great run with my first set, I'm inclined to think that things will be better pretty soon. Thanks for the quick suggestions everyone. You will likely hear from me soonish. Happy Vaping!

 

[TinyTimberGal]

While charging, the blue light will not come on when pressed. Wait until the red light turns to green, remove from the charger. The blue light will (or should) illuminate when pressed at this point. If it does, the battery is okay.

As for cartomizers, after the initial fill, you need to 'top them off' every hour or so, depending on how heavy you vape. Cartomizers can last a week or more, but they need constant replenishing.

 

[judybr]

I had 2 sets of Rivas that went out on me within a month. They both were under warranty but I just about lost it as I was left with a tiny 510 that had to be charged constantly.
I moved on to Joye Ego and have had no issues with them. Joye does cost just a little more but peace of mind is worth it. Of course, since that incident leaving me with nearly nothing to use, I have learned to have lots of units and options. I have several Joye batteries of different sizes now and a Roughstack with replaceable batteries. A few other brands also that I have come across on sale. Since all these vaping things have a lifespan, (greater than Uncle Wesleys I imagine?) one should prepare for the worst.
I think I was trying that dry burn thing too when one of the Rivas quit so I do not do that anymore! I finally learned to use a cartomizer and now drip occasionally and also use alcohol to clean only when there is no other way.
Judy

 

[swedishfish]

Is this something that happens often though? Short-circuiting a battery? I swear all I did was dump really hot water on these attys, stirred them around some, blew air through them, then dried them with a hair-dryer. Am I underestimating how delicate they really are?

I did try to use cartomizers a little, though I thought they didn't really hit the same as the dripping or cart technique. Though I don't think I let the juices settle long at all, may have been loading them incorrectly, and maybe ought to try the Boges.

Definitely try cartomizers again. Make sure to get boge 2.0 LR cartomize4rs.