I tried to set my car on fire today....

[FRESH]

I left my Protege sitting on my passenger side front seat today while I got out to talk to someone for a bit, came back and immediately notice a nasty smell when I open the car door.....

My Protege was burning my car seat.

I've had my Protege for about a month, no problems. So I wasn't expecting at this point to have a switch problem. The thing was so damned hot, I could just barly pick it up long enoug to fling it out into the parking lost. I got a rag and started disembling it. Let everything cool down. The mouthpice was partly melted, and I have a brown burn mark on my seat from where it was sitting.

I had my 510 adapter and atty on it. I grabbed another battery, and my 801 adapeter/atty and reassembled it. Works fine. Been using it again for several hours now, no problem.

What the heck???????

 

[CaSHMeRe]

Hey Fresh!!! So sorry to hear about that bud!

What exactly got hott? The atomizer and/or the tube-battery?

Seeing as the 801 Adapter and 801 atty are now working fine on it, have you again (in a safe environment) tried the 510 adapter and a new 510 atomizer?

Trying to figure out what the culprit could be!

Thanks

 

[NekoGurrl]

Happened to me a few weeks ago, fortunatly I was driving and smelled something odd. Went to pick up my Protege and it was to hot to hold. Managed to get the bat out and set it aside for a while, once it cooled down put a different atomizer on it and it worked fine. Think something was misaligned with the switch, I did push out the switch assembly and make sure it was lined up right. Hasn't happened again (knock on wood), but planning to order the mechanical switch come payday.

 

[CaSHMeRe]

hmmm.... Neko, had it just happened after putting on an atomizer?

 

[them0nk]

wow i'm so glad this hasn't happened to me... i would drive to TN to show steve what he did to my car (LOLOLOL i'm so kidding...) - i have a subaru wrx that rapes me for 470 a month... but i love her to death! lol

i recommend looking at the opposite side of the button housing to see if anything is loose.

even if the Atty was bad... it can't do anything without power. without the button being pushed (YOUR FAULT lol) or the button shorting out or maybe even a drop of juice or something conductive making the 2 button contacts a complete circuit... if you had just puffed on it... maybe you pushed the button in too far and the aluminum top-hat part of the button got stuck on. i would inspect that.. BE CAREFUL AND DONT PUSH THE BUTTON DOWN HARD LIKE THAT - you can damage the solder holding the tact switch. which is how i broke mine lol...

 

[FRESH]

Hey Fresh!!! So sorry to hear about that bud!

What exactly got hott? The atomizer and/or the tube-battery?

Seeing as the 801 Adapter and 801 atty are now working fine on it, have you again (in a safe environment) tried the 510 adapter and a new 510 atomizer?

Trying to figure out what the culprit could be!

Thanks

Yeah, I got home and checked out the 510 adapter, and I cleaned it up a bit. I noticed that there had been a pool of residue building up in the channel around the brass fitting. I don't know if that oculd have caused some type of short, bu as suggested above, with no power that shouldn't have mattered. Anyway, a new 510 atty on that adapter and it is working fine.

As far as what got hot, the whole thing was danged hot. But based on the burn marks, you can clearly see the outline of the atty, and the adapter(I could take a pic if you want).

I am guessing the switch stuck in the ON position some how. It's never done it before. I have bought 3 Protege's, but this is my original and it is my all day - every day rock star. Could my swith be going bad?

I bough a couple of replacement switched on my last order, and I am wondering if I should just go ahead and solder in a new switch to be safe....or just keep a sharp eye on this one for a while?

 

[BrockJ]

Sounds like a short to me.

Gotta keep these high performance machines clean clean clean..... I'm sure AD2 and Lotus would agree



.

 

[Casey@PS]

even if the Atty was bad... it can't do anything without power. without the button being pushed (YOUR FAULT lol) or the button shorting out or maybe even a drop of juice or something conductive making the 2 button contacts a complete circuit...

Wish that was all true, but I have in fact seen this happen. Screw on a bad atomizer and BAM. The entire thing turns on and won't shut off. Trust me- after testing over 800 of these suckers, it's happened at least 4-5 times. A bad atty can make things go haywire.

 

[a2dcovert]

Well, IMHO the common since theory goes to Brockj. You can have a dead short on the atty and it will not cause harm until the switch button is pressed. Something either depressed the switch or somehow the switch mechanically stuck in the on position.

Kevin

 

[jj2]

My mini with it's auto batteries have stayed on. Luckily, I was holding it when it happened. It did it often enough that I learned to never, not even for a few seconds walk off and leave it.
I doesn't take a second to unscrew the atty a little bit.

 

[316lvm]

Ok, I'm a smart*** - but I can add this to "101 other uses for an e-cig"

Firestarter!!!

Ok, I'm leaving now.

 

[KathyD26]

Wow, this happened to mine tonight with my protege/510 atty! I've only had it for a few weeks and it has been working great-but tonight I walked off and came back and the atty was HOT. I quickly unscrewed the atty and battery. I thought maybe the switch was stuck on, but that was not the case. The atty still works on my SB, so at least it did'nt burn out but the carto is now loose because of the heat up. Will a new switch take care of the problem?

 

[lotus14]

The circuit has to be closed at the switch for the battery to fire the atty - there's law of physics here. It's possible that enough liquid got past the adapter to cause a short. There's not much distance between things in there.

As for screwing on an atty and it instantly turning on, that too is possible, but not because of an atty short. You could solder the positive and negative leads on the outside of the adapter together and still not turn on the battery if the switch isn't closed.

What I have noticed is that these devices are sensitive to how the switch is put in. I've taken them out to clean and put them back in a little wrong (apparently) and had the atty fire as soon as I put it on. Take the switch out, carefully put it back in and all is well. I probably should have filed a little of the switch housing away from the brass connector, like PS is now making them, but it's been quite a while since I've had that happen.

A little twist or squeeze can close the switch if it's not in just right. That's one of the reasons why you don't want to put the adapter on too tightly. Everything might seem fine. Then you screw another atty on and that's just enough to torque the switch and you have ignition.

 

[a2dcovert]

The circuit has to be closed at the switch for the battery to fire the atty - there's law of physics here. It's possible that enough liquid got past the adapter to cause a short. There's not much distance between things in there.

As for screwing on an atty and it instantly turning on, that too is possible, but not because of an atty short. You could solder the positive and negative leads on the outside of the adapter together and still not turn on the battery if the switch isn't closed.

What I have noticed is that these devices are sensitive to how the switch is put in. I've taken them out to clean and put them back in a little wrong (apparently) and had the atty fire as soon as I put it on. Take the switch out, carefully put it back in and all is well. I probably should have filed a little of the switch housing away from the brass connector, like PS is now making them, but it's been quite a while since I've had that happen.

A little twist or squeeze can close the switch if it's not in just right. That's one of the reasons why you don't want to put the adapter on too tightly. Everything might seem fine. Then you screw another atty on and that's just enough to torque the switch and you have ignition.

Well put, I think that there are far too many of the incidents are blamed on the switch. These types of switched rarely fail in the shorted position. Most switch failures usually result in an open circuit, unless the spring mechanism fails.

Yes boys and girls the switch already being used in the PS devices is a mechanical switch. There are only really only 2 types of switches, mechanical and digital. The switch in the current PS devices is a miniture tactical (momentary) switch. The contacts move between closed and open, usually with a spring tensioning device keeping them seperated until the button is depressed. The "new" mechanical switch being designed is nothing more than a large version of the momentary switch that is open for easy access to the internal parts. Kind of a step back in the evolutionary scale. But simple is usually better and easier to troubleshoot.

I agree with Lotus14 there are several mistakes that can be made in reassembly of the PV switch into the tube. The new mechanical switch assembly should make it easier to get this done with fewer errors. A good decission on the part of PS.

Kevin

 

[dmccauliff]

I felt I had to follow up this conversation with my experiences (bad) with the protege. At this point I am on my third (and slightly faulty) protoge and my last. I am not certain what has destroyed them but my guess is a combination of bad DSE801 atomizer(s) and faulty switch design. All of this within pretty much 1 month.

Protege #1 seemed to periodically not turn on. I would completely dismantle it and reassemble and then it would start working. One night when it did not turn on I kept the button pressed for a few more seconds as I watched the wick inside the atomizer. The unit started getting warm in my hands so I released the button and removed the battery which was very warm. I had an extra DSE801 so I removed the 'bad' one and put the new one on. I put the battery back in and was screwing the battery cap back on when I saw the atomizer wick heat up with no buttons pressed. It was fused in an on position. I tried pressing/releasing the switch but no luck. It was permanently in an 'on' state. Place to one side and order replacements.

Protege #2. I ordered a spare case and a complete DSE901 set so now I had essentially 3 protege's. I had no problems for about a week. Yesterday I wanted to compare again to the DSE801 so I grabbed the DSE801 atomizer that had been working (if not permanently on) and tried it with the new battery case. Again the wick would not heat up but the battery did. Within 5 seconds I had the thing dismantled. I went back to the DSE901, now completely upset with the 801. The DSE901 started heating up again before pushing the button so now the second unit was in a permanent 'on' state.

Protege #3. Took the DSE901 atomizer and put in on the final battery compartment. It seemed to work fine but upon close investigation today I noticed the plastic mouthpiece had melted slightly inside the atomizer. OK, maybe that happened last night when #2 died and I just did not remember it. I tried the button about 7 times to make sure it worked ok. On the seventh try the button turned the unit on BUT DID NOT TURN OFF WHEN RELEASED!!! The unit started overheating. With no timed shutoff or LED to indicate the unit was active this could easily be missed making this unit potentially dangerous. At this point I am looking for any ideas of other manufacturers of similar units with either a timed shut-off or LED indicator or just simply a more reliable switch because I can no longer feel safe with it.

I love the DSE901 atomizers and maybe my experience is unique but after 3 tries and considering the more powerful batteries (900mah) and no safety LED or timed shut-offs, I consider the Protege' a serious safety hazard.

 

[lotus14]

Don't give up on the Protege, they're the best 3.7v device out there!

A wild guess would say at least one of your problems is occurring from the switch housing touching the outer brass switch contact or an adapter short. And yes, a bad atty can make bad things happen. Send 'em in to PS and they'll figure it out.

I definitely think the mechanical switch is the way to go with the Protege. I don't know why they don't seem to like the tact switch, but I've had 2 of them get stuck on in as many months.

 

[Synthnadz]

Out of curiosity, has anyone who has ever run into the 'always on' problem on either a Prodigy or a Protege ever sent everything back to PS and verified that a bad atty was the true culprit?

...If so, has anyone who's received their unit back after such a determination run into the same problem again with a different atty?

Just curious,

...D

 

[NekoGurrl]

hmmm.... Neko, had it just happened after putting on an atomizer?

No, I'd been been vaping on that atomizer during the morning and the 30 min drive to my friends house. I went in to get him, and noticed the smell. It was just sitting in the little grove by my shifter, making a stink. What I noticed is that the aluminum switch bushing seemed really loose when I looked at it after it cooled down. I was using a 510 atomizer, with an Ultrafire protected 14500 battery. Adapter didn't seem to be loose but the switch bushing pushed down a little when I pressed on the button, something had to have been misaligned. Once I put it back together, the bushing was rock solid. It hasn't happened again in the last 2 weeks.

 

[a2dcovert]

Adapter didn't seem to be loose but the switch bushing pushed down a little when I pressed on the button, something had to have been misaligned. Once I put it back together, the bushing was rock solid. It hasn't happened again in the last 2 weeks.

Bingo, you win the prize NekoGurrl. I believe that a lot of these stuck switches are caused by exactly what you described finding on your protege. I found the same thing and worked on the button housing to correct the alignment and clearance issue, no more issues. The best switch on the market could be compromized by a missaligned actuator.

Kevin

 

[EcA2AcE]

Out of curiosity, has anyone who has ever run into the 'always on' problem on either a Prodigy or a Protege ever sent everything back to PS and verified that a bad atty was the true culprit?

...If so, has anyone who's received their unit back after such a determination run into the same problem again with a different atty?

Just curious,

...D

Very Good Question!,,,, Has Pure Smoker been given the chance to make it right, and Please keep in mind READERS that when operating a Business that sometimes you can do EVERYTHING in Favor of your client and still not satisfy a unhappy customer, Sometimes no matter what one does it just will never be enough, Some Companys I KNOW OF DONT EVEN TRY to help a client / customer,,,,I am going to say I really hope people dont take what they read in the forums and form a bad opinion of the company or the protege / products,,,Good Products do Break Down, Bad things do happen to Good People,,,


a famous quote I once heard,,,,,,,

"A Company may spread itself over the whole world. . . May even employ thousands of men and women. . . yet the average person will form his judgement of the company through his contact with one individual, if this person is rude or inefficient, it will require a lot of courtesy and effiencency to overcome the bad impression. Every member of an organization, who, in any capacity comes in contact with the public, is a salesman. . . . The Impression he makes is an advertisement . . . Good Or Bad"