LR atty's keep killing my batteries...please advice...

[Rated-R-Ron]

Hi all,

Something really really strange is happening lately.
For well over six months I've been using my two 650 ego batteries with 1.5 LR306 Cisco atty's, and everything was perfect, a real smooth sail.
An atty would last me around 4-6 weeks and when performance went down, I'd crack open a new one. batteries charged once a day and last the whole day.

About a week ago, I put in a new atty, business as usual.
Three days later, I'm vaping, and out of nowhere, a whole lot of burned smelling vapor starts coming out the battery/atty that just wouldn't stop until I separated them.
I than saw that the manual switch on the battery kinda sunk inside the battery and was no longer where it's supposed to be.

Well, I figured it's an old battery, I'll just get a new one, but until than I have the second battery.
So I take the other battery, screw in the same atty, which again was only 3 days old or so, one click on the switch, and boom, same damn thing happened again!

I couldn't believe it, both batteries died within 2 mins of one another, so I figured, something was prob off with that atty, cause there's no way this makes any other sense.

So I go online, order 2 new batteries and wait patiently for them to arrive.

I got them a couple of days ago, cracked open a new atty, everything is cool, and than today, out of the blue, poof and up in smoke!!!

What in the world is going on?

I've been using this combo for so long with no issues at all, and than the atty killed both my original batteries, and now just two days later, a fresh, out of package battery killed by a fresh out of package atty?? Are you serious bro??
I honestly don't know what to do, something is obviously wrong with those atty's, even though It's the same supplier and same brand I've been using since day one.

I don't want to keep wasting money on batteries and than killing them, that's just awful.
I need your guys' suggestion, what should I do?
Get different batteries? different atty's? use different supplier?
Please help, I don't know what to do, and I don't wanna smoke yuck analogs til this is figured out.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Michael Curry]

First thing I think I would do would be to test the resistance on every atty in that box. Could possibly be a bad batch.

 

[stephen1979]

I use Cisco LR306 attys myself and have never had that problem. It is recommended that they are not used on eGo batteries, as they put extra strain on them. You may want to look into a big battery mod if you like those attys.

 

[Rated-R-Ron]

I use Cisco LR306 attys myself and have never had that problem. It is recommended that they are not used on eGo batteries, as they put extra strain on them. You may want to look into a big battery mod if you like those attys.

Any specific recommendations?

 

[windwalker]

Wowsers! That sucks... literally

First, I gotta echo what Michael said about testing the carto's, you could have a bad batch.

Second - there is another culprit they don't tell you about in the manual - 'Ambient Temperature' - Have you ever noticed most companies rate their Cartos in ranges - like "2.2 - 2.4 ohms" - One reason for this is fabrication tolerances, the other reason is - Ambient Temperature!

Now, you live in Hollywood, so ambient temperature probably isn't the actual culprit, but it is possible - especially when you consider that they worked fine all summer long...

Basically - resistance (impedance) drops as temperature goes down. The same coil can show vastly different resistances depending on it's temperature. So, when it's cold, the resistance could drop enough in both the coil and the mosfet to fry the chipset...

So here's the thing - most EGO Mosfet's are designed to support a 2ohm load. A few companies overbuild them down to the 1.5ohm level. So if it's hot outside, no problem, you can run the LR atty's even they they are outside the design range of the battery. But, some cold morning - Same atty, same battery - and poof! Fried Mosfet.

There are a few higher dollar units which include a 'Over Voltage Protection' (OVP) circuit that shuts the thing down instead of cooking the chipset... But most, EGO style batteries don't include that... and thus, fried mosfets are the bane of the industry.

So, what to do - RIGHT NOW! After all - this is urgent!

ASAP, jump up to a 2.2ohm or higher resistance atty or cartomizer. There are so many subtle variations in the chipset on products labeled 'EGO' - so it can be really hard to know exactly what the batteries you have are rated for.

I've heard really good things about: hoosierecigsupply.com
and I know that he carries SMok Tech Products.

Smok Tech is really good about overbuilding mosfets on the e-power series products: E-Power From Smok Tech and HECS

So if you want to stick with those ultra LR's, and you want a chipset that won't cook, an E-power is a good option. I know they design those E-Power batteries to be stable down to 1.5ohms without a problem.

Everyone says, Brent at Hoosier is really friendly and helpful, so call him up, and have him help you get sorted first thing in the morning, you'll be restocked by the end of the week...

 

[Michael Curry]

Any specific recommendations?

haha, now, THAT, my friend, is one big can of worms

 

[Rated-R-Ron]

Wow, thanks for all the info, the temperature factor never occurred to me.

So, just to make sure I understand, I've got 2 options.

1 - Same battery but I need higher resistance atty's.
2 - Same atty's, but I need a larger (stronger) battery.

Well, which one should it be then?

 

[Michael Curry]

Well, easiest and cheapest is to buy some Standard Resistance carto's or atty's and screw them on.

But if you're like me.... Remember the sitcom called Home Improvement? I have been told I have a severe case of "Tim Taylor Syndrome". If there's something out there with more power, I want it. Then I want to know how to tweak it for even more.

 

[Rated-R-Ron]

Standard resistance sucks.
When both my batteries crapped out last week and I was waiting for new ones, I whipped out my 510 starter kit from the drawer, and it was just horrible using standard after getting so used to LR.
Very light pull, TH, flavor, just crappy all around.
It's gotta be LR.

 

[stephen1979]

Any specific recommendations?

I have a Silver Bullet, which I think is a fine PV. If physical size is an issue, then it may not be for you as it is rather bulky. Standard resistance attys may be the easiest way to get back to vaping.

 

[Michael Curry]

Well, you did leave the options pretty open...

Standard resistance sucks on a low end mid-range device, for sure. Put it on a ProVari at 4.4 volts though and it's awesome.

(Edited because I was thinking you were using a different battery than you are)

 

[windwalker]

I gotta agree - right now I'm puffing a 1.7ohm dual coil at 4.2volts.

I think a lot of us have discovered the 8-10 watt sweet spot - and dropping back to the 4 to 5 watt standard is really disappointing...

Now, for clarity - it's not necessarily a stronger battery - it's a higher rated mosfet.

To explain: The mosfet is the part of the thing with the button, the electricity actually runs through the switch itself. On ecigs, the amount of electricity is physically determined by the coil resistance.

So when you drop the coil resistance, more electricity runs through that tiny little circuit.
So think of it this way: The wires that connect your battery to your car are huge, but the wires that connect the battery to your watch are tiny. The more power, the bigger the wires.

So what is likely happening, and the reason you are noticing the button sinks in, is that the switch, and the area around it, is literally melting.

Hence, the need for a bigger, more powerful switch. Make sense?

You could have a 650mAh battery with a 3amp switch, and you can run mass power out of it. Or you could have a 2400mAh battery with a 1amp switch and fry that switch in a heart beat...

So, basically, what you need, is something specifically designed to handle those LR atty's...

This is really what has spawned the whole "Modder's Movement" - lot's of hobbyists building stronger, more stable, high output devices...

For sake of discussion - How much do you want to spend on your next vaping appliance?

 

[Michael Curry]

... still in all, those eGo 650 mAh batteries have no excuse for not handling an LR atty. One fail, ok. Two fails, look somewhere other than the battery. Once is a glitch, twice is a trend.

The third failure (of a brand new battery) seals the deal in my mind.

 

[Rated-R-Ron]

... still in all, those eGo 650 mAh batteries have no excuse for not handling an LR atty. One fail, ok. Two fails, look somewhere other than the battery. Once is a glitch, twice is a trend.

The third failure (of a brand new battery) seals the deal in my mind.

Even though I'm willing to upgrade due to those unfortunate failures, I still believe I got a defective batch of cisco atty's, because again, I have been using this combo for a long tome with no issues at all, unless it really is the temprature issue, but this is Southern California, and it doesn't really get too cold here.

 

[Rated-R-Ron]

So, basically, what you need, is something specifically designed to handle those LR atty's...

For sake of discussion - How much do you want to spend on your next vaping appliance?

Yes, that is exactly what I think I need, but I think I also need to find a new supplier for my LR atty's because it's quite possible that those avidvapor cisco's were failing my batteries and I don't wanna take any more risks on them.

As far as budget goes, I guess no more than say 30-40, considering I just spent 30 on those batteries, and we've seen where that money went.

 

[Fernand]

Michael, I took a couple of failed 1000 mAh Joye batteries apart.

They had failed after several months of use, including using 1.8 Ohm LR Mega atomizers, the big 1.7 ohm EMDCC and 2.0 Ohm Boge cartos. If you look carefully at the photos (ignoring mechanical damage from pulling the circuit boards out of the "head"), you can notice the failed parts. They are the little burned surface mount R4 and R5 resistors in the circuit's output path.



Without more analysis, it's impossible to say what these resistors are dissipating, but they have obviously been asked to carry more than they are rated for, and have burned up. My guess would be that on an eGo type battery any atomizer/carto under 2 ohms carries that risk, especially as the button is held down a long time. That would mean 3.3 volts/ 2 ohms = 1.6 Amps is a general limit, which makes sense.

There is room enough on the board to use bigger resistors, but it's likely that above 1.6 amps other parts (including the battery) are unreasonably stressed, so Joye's decision may be sound. The way I look at it is that batteries don't last more than a few months, and they don't cost a fortune, so I don't freak out at replacing them.

If yours fail very quickly, you may be drawing truly an unreasonable current. A 1.5 ohm atty for instance is way over the line. Sorry, but even if you vape on an unregulated (no circuit board) circuit with a high drain AW IMR 14500, you are drawing 4.1 / 1.5 = 2.73 amps, which as I recall is over what even an IMR battery of that size can deliver without suffering reduced life. I'm impressed overall with Joye's designs. Their 1100, 1000 and 650 mAh batteries seem to survive intermittent loads below the 2 Ohm range for months, but I think you need to get into bigger batteries of the 18650 size, and/or a smart VV controller, to continuously use attys/cartos below 2 ohms.

I also have a couple of eGo batteries that failed in less than a week, and the culprit was a LR "T" type atty that was faulty and had dropped below 1.5 ohms. The failure point was the same, the output resistors. You can smell 'em.

 

[Archer]

The temperature info is very interesting. Thanks for sharing that!

 

[windwalker]

Yeah, I would tend to agree - if ambient temperature played any effect at all, it was because the batts and carto's were so close to frying anyways, that the combo cooked...

However, truth be told, 1.5ohm on an EGO is pushing it past it's design limits anyways... Whether it was ambient temperature that broke the camels back, or a bad batch of cartos, it is pushing that poor little battery to it's limits...

I did a little search and this has been getting really good reviews: [url=http://www.notcigs.com/buzz-pro/]Buzz Pro [/URL]

It's $129 bucks, variable voltage, and rated to handle 15watts, plus it has the OVP (over voltage protection circuit) built into it (so you can push it to the max, bad carto's and all, and it won't fry out on you)... Plus, it's got removable batteries, so you can just replace them when they get old...

It's a little bigger, but it's an all day charge, so that's the trade off...

It may be time for you to step into the level most of us reach eventually, entering the world of high performance Mods...

 

[Rated-R-Ron]

Looks nice, but too rich for me at the moment, Can't I just get a higher rated (or whatever the correct terminology is) battery?

 

[windwalker]

For something a little less pricey, I'd go back to my original suggestion and talk to Brent at Hoosier E Cig Supply and ask him about the E-Power stuff.

I have an 18650 E-power that I regular use at 1.7ohms with no problems... He's got the E-Power 14650 on sale right now for $44.00 for a complete kit... But it is like Fernand said, with those super low resistence 1.5ohm atty's, you are going to be overdrawing the batteries a bit nomatter what until you step up to one of the more expensive smert mods...

But overdrawing and cooking the chip are different things - I asked my friend just now (smok tech factory rep), if the 14650 E-power can handle a 1.5ohm atty, and she said "No Problem - the button and board on the E-Power series is built to handle these low resistence atomizers" . . .

This series is also available from - Welcome to MadVapes LLC . . .

So, that's pretty close to your price target, and should do the trick!