Hello all istick users:
I've had my istick since mid October, happily vaping away. First, I want to say I have been happy with the device for the cost and am not here to bash this device in any way. I think it was/is quite a mod at it's price point. When I got this, I did what most suggested when the concerns about power regulation were discussed.... I mostly ignored the display with regard to that. I generally build on an Eleaf Lemo in the 1.6 to 2.0 ohm range, so well within this mod's limitations. (Well mostly.)
I read this thread pretty thoroughly before purchasing, saw Pbusardos video on how the power is regulated, and had / have a basic understanding of ohms law. Somewhere in there I missed the fact that this won't regulate voltage down below it's charged state. So off fresh charge, at 4.2v, it won't step down. At least now I know this.
All of that said, I think I may be encountering some wonky spikes in power delivery, if that makes sense. In the last two weeks, I've been intermittently scorching the heck out of juice....but it is very intermittent. Yesterday I heard the infamous rattlesnaking sound while trying to run a 1.6ohm coil at about 9 watts. Charge was a bit low.
I'm not even sure that I can describe all the weird symptoms but one is that my resistance readings have been going wonky as well. Previously the stick was varying usually by 0.2 ohms, but now it seems will vary 0.4 ohms. It's especially wonky when breaking in a new coil...but that isn't new. It's just the variance has increased. I don't think it's my atomizer / build. It certainly could be, but I'm doing nothing different on my builds really. I suspect the device due to the other symptoms going on.
I don't have a lot of test equipment. I do have a very cheap DMM that has terrible accuracy for resistance. Not sure but I think the voltage reading is ok, but I don't really have a way to test the voltage output on this without an atomizer on it.
Sorry for the very long post. Anyone want to chime in and give me their opinions? Is the chip in my battery taking a dive? I suspect it's now spiking voltage where it hasn't before. It hasn't been dropped or anything new recently. Just acting crazy, and I have scorched a lot of FULL Lemo tanks , so I've wasted a bit of $ in juice.
I'm now setting the power, ALL the way down. If I trust the istick display I am vaping a 2.4 ohm coil at 4.9W (3.4v) with plenty of vapor. I built this atty at 2.0...and am confident of that. I'm aware it's probably putting out 4.2 volts......and maybe by keeping the settings very low I am avoiding the power spikes I think I am getting.
Lately, I can be taking a draw for 3-5 seconds, and it seems like I suddenly get a huge voltage spike near the end of my draw. All the sudden I hear sizzling at the end. The vape tastes fine in the beginning then suddenly gives me a horrible burned hit at the end.
Anyone else had theirs start acting similarly who's been using it a while? Should I stop using this? I think I am still safely operating within the limitations of the device but wasting good juice with lots of scorching has be about ready to retire it's use.
