So my setup is a Kamry K101 with a VTC5 and Stillare clone. However, I somehow burnt out the batteries that I originally bought with my mod. I'm guessing it has something to do with the RBA. When it happened with the first battery, I noticed the fire button kinda stuck a little bit and when I took the battery out it was extremely hot to the touch and the contact pin for the firing button was half charred, when I stuck it closer to my nose there was a burnt smell. I immediately changed the battery figuring it was a faulty battery and could be replaced, the same exact thing happened again with the other one. After buying new batteries I decided to try a different tank. My Nimbus XL clone worked, my Igo-L worked, and for the hell of it I tried an iClear 16 which also worked. I decided to sand down the pin on the Stillare a bit to see if that would help, and it did for a while, but it eventually fried one of the new batteries I bought. My question is, why is this happening? The build in the Stillare is the same exact one that's in my Nimbus, so it isn't a matter of the resistance being too low. Also, is there a way to salvage these batteries and make them magically work again? I'm guessing no, but I'm kinda mad that this is happening.
How did I short my VTC5's?
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What ohm coil were you using?
Do you have an ohm meter or a digital multimeter? If not, you must get one. There is no way to measure and know your coil resistance without one.
You batteries probably shorted because of a short in the coil, 510 connector (bad insulator), or firing pin. The batteries are probably beyond repair, but it would be interesting if you tested them with a multimeter to see if they have any voltage left. If they still have at least 2.5 voltage left, a top quality charger like the Xtar VP1 might be able to revive them.
As far as salvaging your K101 mod, that is beyond my scope.
Do you have an ohm meter or a digital multimeter? If not, you must get one. There is no way to measure and know your coil resistance without one.
You batteries probably shorted because of a short in the coil, 510 connector (bad insulator), or firing pin. The batteries are probably beyond repair, but it would be interesting if you tested them with a multimeter to see if they have any voltage left. If they still have at least 2.5 voltage left, a top quality charger like the Xtar VP1 might be able to revive them.
As far as salvaging your K101 mod, that is beyond my scope.
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Definitely,sounds like the mod had a short that is causing it to auto-fire or short out. Without having the mod in my hand with an ohm meter, I can only speculate and more like likely be wrong. Was the fire button always sticking? If so that be my first suspect and enough for to deem the mod unsafe to use till I had corrected the issue.
The batteries are probably shot, especially if the device auto fired down to the point the battery dropped below 2.5v.
What build where you using, was the fire button always sticking or did you correct the problem? Do you have an ohm meter you can trouble the device or mod with?
No, the fire button started randomly sticking. It only started sticking about a week or so before the batteries died, and when it did stick it was only while I was using the Stillare. The build I had at the time of the short was a dual coil setup, 6 wraps of 24g kanthal around a 2.4mm screwdriver. Being the ..... that I am however, I do not have an ohm meter. I usually check the resistance using my iTaste vv v3, but with this particular setup I did not check the resistance.
Relying on the VVv3 as an ohm meter for sub ohm builds isn't a good idea. Firing an untested build on a mechanical is even a worse idea, continuing to use it after ruining 3 vtc5's is beyond dangerous, you should immediately go buy some lottery tickets.
Remove the coil place in trash, buy reliable ohm / multimeter, try again.
Remove the coil place in trash, buy reliable ohm / multimeter, try again.
I was rocking a 24g dual parallel seup running at .12 ohms (used my friends ohm meter for that build) and my batteries were absolutely fine. I don't think the build I had in there when they were fried could have been any lower than .12. If I were to guess I'd say about .2 or .3.
I would want to know the reason for the firing button to stick. It sounds like something with the device and possible the build is wrong. You shouldn't reply on a vv/vw ohm reading when sub-ohm. You can feel lucky that you were using Sony VTC batteries at the time of the failure (whatever the cause might have been). Had you been using a cheap battery or ICR you probably be typing your messages one handed.
Again without having the mod / device / build in my hands, it's hard to determine the cause, but a ohm meter would help you determine the cause and if it was the build or mod that caused the problem.
Again without having the mod / device / build in my hands, it's hard to determine the cause, but a ohm meter would help you determine the cause and if it was the build or mod that caused the problem.
Well now you know you have to have an ohm meter or a DMM. It's important that it reads out to the 100ths and that you use it EVERY TIME before you fire your coil.
Coiling Calculator
Here are a few links for you regarding building coils and getting the resistance just where you want it:
1. Steam Engine
2. Coil Toy Calculator
The Steam Engine is much more than just a coil calculator. I consider it my "All in One" vaping calculator.
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Man and I though smoking was dangerous
Assuming your numbers are correct, you are pushing 35amps from the battery.
VTC5 is 30amps.
the coils you described should have ohmed out at .54 Im wondering if the center pin on the stillair was too short and shorted out at the 510 connect...
another good reason to have a meter... check the atty too not just the coil...
another good reason to have a meter... check the atty too not just the coil...
Man and I though smoking was dangerous
Assuming your numbers are correct, you are pushing 35amps from the battery.
VTC5 is 30amps.
I wanted to repeat he this poster said.
When sub-ohming there is no room for guessing. You either know what your build is and if your battery can handle it, or you shouldn't use it.
You used a device that had a faulty fire button, You possibly pushed a battery past it's continuous amp rating, and you used an unknown build (possibly .12, maybe .2... or maybe even .09) on a mod with a sticking fire button and possibly pushed the battery past it's amp rating all at once.
Do you have any idea how lucky you are only out $30 to $40 for batteries?
Trash the build, fix or discard the mod, buy an ohm meter, and learn and obey ohm's law and stay within a batteries capacity.
Don't mean to sound like a ....., but I rather hear you sub-ohm safely and not earn yourself a new nickname... like "lefty" or "Zachy Two Face".
There is so much wrong with this post its sad. There is no room for guessing when building sub ohm coils. Only the ignorant and foolhardy do this. Count your lucky stars that you still have all of your digits and teeth.
OK, I'm sure its been said. But HOLY CRAP!!
I would be damn hard pressed to try that even with a meter (I estimate around .2 ohms or much below) and I sub ohm dual coils all day!
First thing get an accurate meter, then learn how to use it and rsst its accuracy. At that resistance you need to have accuracy to the 100th of an ohm.
Second, I had a much beloved k101 that took several months of abuse and i did have the fire button stick on occasion. Get out the rubbing alcohol and a box of cue tips and make it all squeaky clean... then do it again.
Thirdly, if you have a android phone, get "Vapers Toolbox" (not sure if another similar tool exists. If not, get to Temco and get the raw data on resistance per inch and then do the math. You can gauge resistance before you build *regardless* of inner diameter (and I know I will get hit for the "phenomenon" effect of a micro coil working as a single conductor) that is at least accurate to nearly a tenth of an ohm.
With the Vapers Toolbox app I can be within *5* 100'ths (.05) ohms for every build even up to 8 coils on a single build. Do the homework, its worth it.
It has a pulse rate of 60 amps. As long as you don't fire it for too long the battery is perfectly fine.Man and I though smoking was dangerous
Assuming your numbers are correct, you are pushing 35amps from the battery.
VTC5 is 30amps.
Since you know "it's fine", you should really understand exactly why your batteries are fried in the first place. If not, perhaps your builds are not exactly delivering what you think they are. There are a lot of very experienced people, many of them giving you the same advice. Good luck!
Based on some of the posts in this forum... ...... ....... well... That's about all I've got to say about that...
As for the problem... This is pure speculation without having the stuff in my hands... but.... I'd say several things happened...
A) You were firing coils way lower than you should have and had already weakend/damaged the batteries... Do you truly understand what a "pulse" rating is? Do you what an inrush current is? When a resistance circuit is fired the initial current is usually MUCH higher... For example, when you turn on a light bulb, it might normally only draw less than 1 amp... but when you first turn it on it might spike to 20 amps or more... Electric motors and other electronic devices do the same exact thing...
The thing is, this inrush current only last for a fraction of a second.... When you're talking about a battery that has a pulse rating, it means it can support higher inrush currents... A "pulse" isn't intended to be 4 or 5 seconds of you sucking on an RDA... Does that mean you can't go above the continuous rating and still be fine? Nope... But does it mean you shouldn't? Yep...
So anyway... A battery that was already beat to crap... followed by slapping a completely untested build on it... Just because you "guessed" that it shouldn't have been below a certain resistance doesn't mean it wasn't... When I check one of my builds I'm not testing it because I don't already have an EXACT idea of about what resistance it should be at.... I'm testing it to make sure it IS!!!! My atty might have gotten a short somewhere... My coil might be touching a little too much in one area... I might have a small lead that got into the wrong place... There might be some residue on it shorting it... Who knows... The point is... when you don't "know" then you don't KNOW...
The "sticking" of the button combined with your description of the pin being blacked? If I had to take a guess I'd say it probably wasn't "sticking" at all... you probably had a dead short in your coil or atty and "welded" the button to the battery... Which is also why it only happened with that build...
As was pointed out above... You have a LOT of VERY experienced people here.... Who are trying to help you out... By letting you know that you just don't "know" as much as you think you do... and if you're very lucky, maybe in the long run it'll just cost you a bit of money replacing batteries and such... But it could end up costing you a lot more than that...
Go read up on safety... Baditude has lots of blog posts that cover a wide variety of information... I'd suggest you start there since it's spot on...
As for the problem... This is pure speculation without having the stuff in my hands... but.... I'd say several things happened...
A) You were firing coils way lower than you should have and had already weakend/damaged the batteries... Do you truly understand what a "pulse" rating is? Do you what an inrush current is? When a resistance circuit is fired the initial current is usually MUCH higher... For example, when you turn on a light bulb, it might normally only draw less than 1 amp... but when you first turn it on it might spike to 20 amps or more... Electric motors and other electronic devices do the same exact thing...
The thing is, this inrush current only last for a fraction of a second.... When you're talking about a battery that has a pulse rating, it means it can support higher inrush currents... A "pulse" isn't intended to be 4 or 5 seconds of you sucking on an RDA... Does that mean you can't go above the continuous rating and still be fine? Nope... But does it mean you shouldn't? Yep...
So anyway... A battery that was already beat to crap... followed by slapping a completely untested build on it... Just because you "guessed" that it shouldn't have been below a certain resistance doesn't mean it wasn't... When I check one of my builds I'm not testing it because I don't already have an EXACT idea of about what resistance it should be at.... I'm testing it to make sure it IS!!!! My atty might have gotten a short somewhere... My coil might be touching a little too much in one area... I might have a small lead that got into the wrong place... There might be some residue on it shorting it... Who knows... The point is... when you don't "know" then you don't KNOW...
The "sticking" of the button combined with your description of the pin being blacked? If I had to take a guess I'd say it probably wasn't "sticking" at all... you probably had a dead short in your coil or atty and "welded" the button to the battery... Which is also why it only happened with that build...
As was pointed out above... You have a LOT of VERY experienced people here.... Who are trying to help you out... By letting you know that you just don't "know" as much as you think you do... and if you're very lucky, maybe in the long run it'll just cost you a bit of money replacing batteries and such... But it could end up costing you a lot more than that...
Go read up on safety... Baditude has lots of blog posts that cover a wide variety of information... I'd suggest you start there since it's spot on...
Man and I though smoking was dangerous
Assuming your numbers are correct, you are pushing 35amps from the battery.
VTC5 is 30amps.
This.
This.
And this.
And all of this. My post is already getting long though.
Please listen to what these awesome people are telling you. I know it's hard to admit that what you were doing wasn't safe, but when it comes to something like this... You do not want to mess around.
Please, please, please acknowledge what they are saying, and implement it. You are very lucky. Emphasis on 'very.' Baditude is by far the most knowledgeable battery expert on this forum and his advice is always spot on.
They are just trying to save your face.
Please be safe. That is all.
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Alright so after reading these posts I wasn't going to comment and just let the thread die, but I'll swallow my pride and admit that I was being an idiot. I'm done with my mechanical for a little while because I'm out $30 from the batteries. In a few weeks I'm going to buy a decent atty (the Nimbus and Igo-L aren't cutting it) as well as more batteries and a resistance checker. For now, I'll just stick with my iTaste and Protank Mini 3. Thanks for the help everybody, I appreciate it (even if some of the replies were kinda mean )
)
You've made a good decision.
When you return to using your mechanical keep in mind there is no safe way to exceed the continuous discharge amp rating of any battery.
When you return to using your mechanical keep in mind there is no safe way to exceed the continuous discharge amp rating of any battery.
I'm really glad your being safe now. Shorts can be really scarey, I know I've had it happen to me when I first started out. I'm so glad you realize you could have prevented it by knowing ohms law and working the formula to determine if your build will push your battery past it's limitations. Also I'm glad your getting a ohm reader because it let you know you have a short in your build. When using your ohm reader you want a consistent reading. If the ohm reader jumping around and not reading consistent you will want to redo the build until it reads consistent. I don't think anyone was being mean, they just want you to be safe. I'm glad your getting things figured out. Best wishes.
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