Failure - Firing continuously...

[erich]

So, LT was just sitting on my desk, upright position. I noticed a hissing noise, looked over, and there was vapor/smoke oozing from the drip tip. I quickly pulled the battery out, and while the atty is toast, otherwise no harm done. Messing with it a bit more, and apparently it is permanently in the 'ON' position now. If I connect a battery, it starts firing non-stop. The button still feels properly clicky, but has no effect.

I'm glad I happened to be at my desk, though. Had I not been sitting a few feet from it, I don't want to think about what might have happened, given that I leave batteries in all of my PVs, parked in various places around my home while I'm away, in another room, or asleep...

 

[txtumbleweed]

Wow that isn't good news. I'm glad you were right there.That is very strange that it would just turn on. I've never heard of a PV just turning on without pushing the switch. I've heard of batteries exploding ect but not just turning on. Does the battery appear normal?

 

[erich]

Yeah, battery looks fine. I assume as far as the battery is concerned, it just took normal load for 30s or so. The atty smells like burnt plastic, but otherwise everything looks pristine.

 

[Mr.Self_Destruct]

Had this happen with a DSE-905.

Have a warranty from where you bought it?

Seems like fried electronics to me.

 

[erich]

Yeah, it's about 10 days old, so should be covered by warranty. Honestly doubt I'd be comfortable with another one, though.

 

[txtumbleweed]

Well I would return it for an exchange and sell it on the classifieds if I didn't want it. If it is a manufacturing problem it will happen to someone else very soon. I think I will turn mine off at night now. During the day I have it on a lanyard so I will be aware of a problem real quick. lol
Did you get it from Volcano?

 

[erich]

Yeah, I filed a ticket with Volcano.

BTW, after reading your post, I just tested it, and turning it off (hold power button until the screen goes off) on the display does nothing. It's still happily firing away. Given that it's a mod I'm going to have to return, I can't tear it up to look for the point of failure, but that suggests the inner workings. With homemade boxes, there is a certain appeal to playing detective and finding what actually went wrong, and would be good to document here, because they're not going to tell you. Generally bulk freight from China has a quality control number on the crate. This number is the acceptable number of defects to be in the box. There's generally no "return process" for the vendor, they just pay for more or less quality control checks to lower or raise that number. From there, that's the number that they expect to get returned, which I assume are simply thrown away. That's sad, since they're probably tossing perfectly good electronics over bent cases and such.

So yeah, I'll probably go that route, get it replaced, sell it NIB on the classies. Not the best sales tactic ever, but I'll link this thread as my reason.

 

[txtumbleweed]

There are thousands of them being sold so if it is a bad component it will probably begin to surface more often. I've seen some complaining of sticky switches and voltage regulation at the high end but that is about all so far until your incident. Keep us posted to how Volcano handles the ticket.

 

[erich]

Will do. Won't hear back until at least Monday, and probably later in the week.

 

[Nodnerb]

Not good. I think i will remove my carto overnight from now on. Theoretically, it should just be an open circuit then. Glad you were there when it happenend.

 

[KeysBum]

So the 10 second cut out is not working?

 

[erich]

nope. I'm not really sure how long is safe to run it for the purpose of testing, but just did 20 seconds non-stop.

 

[KeysBum]

nope. I'm not really sure how long is safe to run it for the purpose of testing, but just did 20 seconds non-stop.

RMA time..

 

[BloodWolf]

Thats really weird. Better call Ghosthunters.

 

[Rocketman]

I do not own a LT. This post is not to 'dis' it either.
I am guessing about this failure, but it would be a 'likely' failure mode for a boost mod.

An electronic boost mod should have a series mosfet switch to control vaping (the fire switch).
Current goes from the battery to the boost circuit through this switch. Battery current will be higher than atty current for a boost mod. Iavg= Vout*Vin/efficiency, Ipeak=DC*Iavg. The series mosfet primary failure mode is a short, caused by heat dissipated in the mosfet or sometimes a single event high current pulse. Once shorted, only excessive current can open the short (burn it open). This is of course permanent.
Running a boost circuit at 'the raged edge' relying on the internal current sensor for the shunt mosfet in the boost circuit can cause high input current pulses. Too high a setting will cause a short high current pulse through the series mosfet with each vape.

When the boost circuit current sensor cuts off the shunt mosfet, current to the atty usually passes
straight through from the battery to the atty, less circuit losses and a protection schottky diode, thus the drop down to 3.7 volts in an overload condition (boost circuit stops, battery circuit continues).

A short or overload at the atty output may allow a short high current pulse from the battery through the series mosfet before protection in the mod takes over.

Trying to 'max out' a boost device is asking for failure.

Just a guess, but likely for most boost circuits.

Rocket

 

[spaceballsrules]

I had the same thing happen on an Elite 808. I call it a phantom-fire. Luckily for me, my auto cut-off was functioning properly, so it shut down after ~10 seconds. What's really concerning about the OP's problem is that there was an internal failure AND there was protection failure. This just proves that cheap is cheap, and quality control is lacking.

 

[Robby]

Used a 1.8 ohm (i think might have been lower but it was 1.sumthin) bridgeless atty on a 1000mah ego and this same thing happened to my battery. Gotta be careful with the super low resistance stuff

 

[bbb]

to add to the original topic ... my Infinity Pro did the same thing, fired on its own ... twice !! ... melted 2 cheapo Visions clearomizers, both were 2.8-3.0 ohm, the IP was set at 4.0 v in both cases ... I haven't sent it back yet but will on Mon ... this will be the 2nd RMA, they already had to replace the pcb, and I just bought the thing in December ... not happy with the Infinity Pro ... could be a short between top cap and clearo, but I used the very same clearo all week on the IPro and no problem ... if it is shorted, I won't trust it again, even if/when fixed ... I have no idea why it shorted, using the same clearo which previously had no problem ... I am now using the same spec Visions clearo on a 510 device and it works fine, no problem ... if I attach this same clearo to the IP, it fires instantly

I may order a Lavatube on Mon .. high priced ain't always good, apparently

 

[erich]

Heh, well hopefully I don't have the worst luck in the world... I just ordered an iPro earlier today.

Still wanted something lighter than the ProVari for out & about. As much as it's a PITA, I'm really thinking of starting a practice of removing the batteries from my mods at night...

 

[bbb]

hi erich,

I just done ordered a LT ... I can't go a whole week without complete variable volt, been spoiled

good luck with your IP

I'll ship my IP on Mon and it should be back in 6-7 days, that's how long it took last time ... they oughta priority it since this is the 2nd time in for repair in 2 months I'm not happy about it ... I hope the LT turns into my every day all day device ... the IP can be backup ... when the IP works, it works great, but mine ain't worked so good ... it is my opinion they have a bad batch of pcb's ... they don't make 'em, but still

right now I'm using a Go-go variable volt XL3 (3-4 settings) with rechargeables, either an Ultrafire XSL18650 (2600 mah) or (2) ICR123A's, which allow one additional setting to 5.0v, using an updated XL3 top off a mini ... v reasonable price, vapes good, very nice as a backup or quick trip pv, but the flavors just don't pop, thus the Lavatube ... as a backup, go-go and other stuff, great prices and service, check out

DiscountVapers - Your source for savings on electronic cigarettes and accessories, Go-go eGo, vGo outstanding service, Eric is da U.S. Go-go man