Frustrated!

[esdel]

Hi everyone,

I bought a YETI 510 less than two weeks ago. The kit comes with two complete e-cigs; I also bought the USB passthrough and an extra atomizer (which I haven't used yet). At first, everything worked great. However, I am noticing a clear deterioration in performance as time goes on: the throat hit isn't as good and the amount of vapor is less. This is true whether I'm using the batteries or the USB passthrough. I should add that it's not a straight downhill spiral; sometimes, everything just clicks and it works great -- for a while.

One thing I've definitely noticed is that the battery performance gets much worse when it's running low. However, it takes a long time between when it gets low and when it stops working completely, so I'm forced to endure a long period of diminished performance while I wait for the battery to stop. Still, putting a freshly charged battery in is no guarantee of great performance.

I'm not sure if maybe I'm reusing the carts too much (I bought empty carts, which I refill constantly), or if the atomizers are going bad, or what. I do notice a more acrid, metallic quality to the vapor, as if the atomizers are "burning" it too much. I haven't wanted to clean the atomizers because I've read several posts that say it doesn't do much good and even causes them to go bad.

Has anybody had a similar experience, or can anyone make any suggestions? Thanks so much in advance

 

[esdel]

UPDATE: well, I guess the only logical thing to do was to try the unused atomizer, and I have now done so. The performance is much better, but I wouldn't say it's 100% what it was when everything was new. Does this mean I should be cleaning my atomizers? If so, how often should I clean them and what is the best method?

 

[Tc321]

I don't have any experience with Yeti's, but I am thinking you might want to clean each cart before refilling them. I noticed that if I just fill my cart on the go the it doesn't work as well as if I clean it and refill. I typically save my empty carts and clean them all at once by taking everything apart and running it through warm water. Then after everything is dry I fill them all at once so I am set for a couple of days. I think you might want to try cleaning your atomizer. I clean my 4801 by blowing through the atomizer end, but my DSE I run through HOT water an let dry. For me this typically clears out a lot of the liquid that gets built up at the base. Another thing you might check is that the threads from the battery to the atomizer are clean. You can also take off the cart (but not the atomizer) and blow through the battery end. this will "burn off" some of the stuff in the atomizer, but I have heard (though never had any trouble with) that it can burn out the atty. Make sure you don't overfill the carts since this causes the liquid to go into your mouth and also clogs the atomizer faster. I hope some of this might help.

 

[Nikko Daniels]

My first atty from my 8-day-old Yeti 510 just DIED today.....
I'm trying a LONG bath in 91% alcohol before I freak out about it....
Before it died it exhibited very similar behavior to what you described.....

 

[juliemeyer]

I'm having the same problems with the Yeti 501 I bought. The batteries run down, the vapor is only good for a short while, the throat his is only good for a short while. I pour more liquid in them and it's still only good for a short while. I have ordered more blank cartridges and more liquid. Maybe a different kind of liquid will help. I don't know what else to do.

 

[esdel]

Sorry to hear you all are having similar problems, although it's kind of comforting to know I'm not the only one (misery loves company). I think my problems are caused by a combination of the LOUSY batteries and the atomizers. I find that the USB passthrough works much better. As I said, I put the unused atomizer on it. While the performance was better right away, apparently it had to "break in" a bit, because now it's going great guns, good as new. However, if I put that same atomizer on the battery, it doesn't perform as well, although it is better than using the old atomizer. This is pretty discouraging, though. I sure hope I don't have to buy a new atomizer every week in order to get decent performance out of this thing. I'm afraid I'll just end up smoking again.

 

[D05GTO]

It shouldn't be your atty's. Probably your carts. Definitely take the cart material out and clean it. Run it under hot water then dry it out with a paper towel. Some even replace the material every few days. When I notice it stops holding as much and the wicking doesnt' keep up with the burn rate. I'll clean it or replace the filling material. Keeping the ecig battery side down helps some while vaping but don't store it that way. It will gum up auto batteries.

Try a fresh cart before messing with the atty. Don't keep using it when you notice it running dry. You will burn the wicking material in the atty's. 510's like to run wet.

 

[scintar]

Do you notice good vapor when just dripping on the addy? If so top off your cart more often, Your allowing the wick to dry out = poor performance. 510 manual switchs are liquid eaters.

 

[Flitzanu]

and one thing...yes, your passthru is going to hit MUCH better than the battery because it's 5v. you can't really compare the two.

 

[skyward]

one thing about the 510s is that they seem to flood easy.if you try the atty thats underperfoming for a few hits and wipe around the thread where the 2 holes are(batt side) i'll bet it's wet. if so then put your finger or a paper over the center hole(on batt side) and blow out gently. wipe off and repeat blowing out thru batt side. this should fix u up. btwy i just had to do this myself no 15min ago LOL.

 

[esdel]

one thing about the 510s is that they seem to flood easy.if you try the atty thats underperfoming for a few hits and wipe around the thread where the 2 holes are(batt side) i'll bet it's wet. if so then put your finger or a paper over the center hole(on batt side) and blow out gently. wipe off and repeat blowing out thru batt side. this should fix u up. btwy i just had to do this myself no 15min ago LOL.

OK so, if I clear the atomizer doing this, then I put a couple of drops of liquid on the atomizer, as many here recommend, won't I be undoing what I just did when I cleared the atomizer?? :-@

 

[esdel]

My first atty from my 8-day-old Yeti 510 just DIED today.....
I'm trying a LONG bath in 91% alcohol before I freak out about it....
Before it died it exhibited very similar behavior to what you described.....

Hey Nikko, where did you get your atomizer? I got mine at ElectroNixStix.com and they have a 14-day warranty.

 

[Cancer]

Clean my one atty(i have 8) with Everclear its a liquor. Its pure grain alcohol and doing that have had excellent performance and no need for the other 7 Just let it soak for an hour at least, i have let it soak overnight and PRESTO. Good as new

 

[Judge Mental]

and one thing...yes, your passthru is going to hit MUCH better than the battery because it's 5v. you can't really compare the two.

I've had just the opposite experience. I don't get near as good of performance from my passthru as from a freshly charged battery. The supplier I got it from said this was normal.

 

[Cancer]

I don't want to bash your supplier...but he is DEAD wrongAnybody with an expertise with an e-cig or electricity knows that for your standard e-cig 3.0 to 3.3 volts a passthrough at 5.0 volts is gonna HIT HARDER. The Prodigy i preordered with its internal batteries runs at 4.7 to 5.5 volts by itself, so thats the only e-cig(besides a build it yourselfer or a GG,SD,Zimoshi) that you may not notice a difference with a passthrough.

 

[Judge Mental]

Thanks for confirming, Cancer. That's what I thought from reading what everyone else had to say about pass-thrus. Guess I'll try another one (from another supplier).

 

[Palmetto]

I don't want to bash your supplier...but he is DEAD wrongAnybody with an expertise with an e-cig or electricity knows that for your standard e-cig 3.0 to 3.3 volts a passthrough at 5.0 volts is gonna HIT HARDER. The Prodigy i preordered with its internal batteries runs at 4.7 to 5.5 volts by itself, so thats the only e-cig(besides a build it yourselfer or a GG,SD,Zimoshi) that you may not notice a difference with a passthrough.

The OP is talking about a Yeti P/T, with an inline battery, which would drop the available voltage to that of the battery -- about 3.7V, I believe.

Only the P/T's without inline batteries will deliver 5V.

I use 901 atty's, in the SD and a P/T, and I would prefer a P/T with a battery, since the atty's run extremely hot at 5V and I find I can't vape the same way at all on the P/T as I do the SD as a result -- I burned out three atty's before I realized what the problem was. Unfortunately, no one makes a 901 P/T with an inline battery for some reason.

 

[skyward]

OK so, if I clear the atomizer doing this, then I put a couple of drops of liquid on the atomizer, as many here recommend, won't I be undoing what I just did when I cleared the atomizer?? :-@

don't add drops(unless dripping), just make sure cart is topped off(wet but not pooled) and wait about 15 sec.

 

[framitz]

The OP is talking about a Yeti P/T, with an inline battery, which would drop the available voltage to that of the battery -- about 3.7V, I believe.

Only the P/T's without inline batteries will deliver 5V.

I use 901 atty's, in the SD and a P/T, and I would prefer a P/T with a battery, since the atty's run extremely hot at 5V and I find I can't vape the same way at all on the P/T as I do the SD as a result -- I burned out three atty's before I realized what the problem was. Unfortunately, no one makes a 901 P/T with an inline battery for some reason.

My 901 auto PT puts out about 4 volts (tested), seems that the same circuitry is used as with a battery model. It's not getting the full 5 volts from the USB port. This works GOOD and there is no inline battery.

My home built Manual 901 PT runs at a full 5 volts and works great, hotter, more vapor.

The auto model is more pleasant to vape because it runs a little cooler.

 

[SetiroN]

I am having the same frustrating feelings after trying out the Titan for a while, and I've come to the conclusion that it's not just about the atomizer or battery level, at least not primarily. It's now been about a week of component swapping, cleaning, refilling, mixing a combination of 7 brand new atomizers, 8 different kinds of liquid of various strength and concentration, 2 automatic batteries, a manual one and an USB passthrough: there was absolutely no combination of the above issuing performance nearly as much as cartridges. Of course battery level has an influence on vapour production, and while it is true that the passthrough is a bit worse than a fully charged battery (the USB 5v is being reduced through the device to a lesser voltage) both it or a low running battery can provide decent performance IF the cartridge is supplying a good enough amount of liquid.

Here's the problem: a just refilled cart has an uniform amount of liquid along the whole inside material; after vaping a bit (and i don't mean much at all, it's really one-hand-numerable puffs) the top part of that material, actually in contact with the atomizer, runs dry. It takes quite a while for the liquid to even out along the whole thing again or even fill up the top part sufficient for single good puff, so you're basically experiencing empty cartridge performance during that period although the cartridge is actually almost full. You can confirm that by dropping in a bit more liquid for immediate excellent vapour production. It is amazing to experience such a huge throat hit from TW 36mg and absolutely no hit on the subsequent puff, replaced by a nice (and probably very unhealthy) metallic/plastic taste produced by the empty atomizer.

This is extremely annoying, having to wait 30-60s in-between puffs totally rips off the smoking experience.
I have no idea how to improve liquid homogenization, shortening the cartridge could help but i have no ideas how to do so. I'm going to try both reducing and increasing the quantity of material inside but i don't really think it will sort the problem out, at least not completely.

That, along with the additional atomizer and battery performance degradation and uneven performance along their lifetime, are really making me regret the investment.

Apologies for my grammar.