Melting 510 cart - am I doing it wrong?

[chad]

Hi guys,

Figured I'd post the question here so I can get alot of responses and maybe help other folks out.

I just got my Prodigy V1 today (wanting to love it as other owners do) but I'm not having much luck. I'm a Prodigy nOOb but not new to manuals and mods at all.

I charged the batts full. Popped 'em in. Put on the 510 atty that came with the Prodigy, dripped a couple drops of ECOPure rich (VG) on the atty (all I had next to me at the moment - didn't want to use the Riskee Yuice quite yet). Then did a couple 2 second burns to clear out the primer (without the cart on). The vapor smelled a little funky - kinda burnt. So I pulled off the atty, blew out the juice until none was left, reattched the atty and dripped two drops again.

I did a quick 2 second burn watching the atty glow and vapor swirl in the atty tube. I blew it out, dripped a single drop, popped on the empty cart - taking care to line it up just right with the atty bridge.

I did a three second burn and didn't get much vapor. I did another three second burn and didn't get much vapor but got kinda light headed. I touched the side of the atty tube and nearly burnt my fingers! It was damn hot! I pulled off the cart and saw that the edges had melted down - that would explain the light headedness.

I pulled everything apart, cleaned contacts, cleaned out the atty again, dripped a bit more but it smells really sour and acrid when I do a quick burn.

It just seems the atty is getting way, way too hot! Multimeter says 6.5v when the button's pushed. I can tell the edge of the plastic cart is getting pretty hot too - verge of melting each time - and the atty tube is almost too hot to touch. I'm really, really concerned about using a filled cart as I can envision sucking in a big puff of atomized ployfiberfill - blech.

Anyway, from experience, my (insert name of other manual mod PV here) produces much, much more vapor and certainly doesn't melt carts. The Prodigy seems to be behaving weirdly but, as I said, I'm a Prodigy nOOb so I have nothing to compare this observation to. My only other 510 experience is with the regular Joye510.

Does it sound like something's wrong or I'm doing something wrong. It should be dead simple, right? Figured I'd get some feedback from the community rather than run to PureSmoker first and look like an idiot.

 

[gjrhine]

Pull the switch out and take a look at the resistor.

 

[chad]

Pull the switch out and take a look at the resistor.

The resistor "looks" good from the outside. I appears to be soldered well and not shorted by contact of leads. It's not burnt or cracked or etc...

 

[gjrhine]

Since you have a multimeter try this.

 

[chad]

Since you have a multimeter try this.

I think the values look right:

Batts: 3.26v, 3.25v
Tube & Threads: 6.51v (with button pushed)
Adapter: 6.51v (with button pushed)
Atty: 2.4Ω
Resistor: 0.7-0.8Ω

Maybe the 510 atty that came with the Prodigy's a bit too weak? It's resistance seems a little low. Maybe I should just get the 801 or 901 adapter. Those atty's have always seemed more "industrial" strength to me. I only got the 510 'cause I've got a few 510 atty's around here...

 

[mbolack]

Isn't that voltage pretty darned high?
Per the puresmoker site:
"Voltage under load is roughly 4.7 - 5.5v"

 

[Flitzanu]

did you touch the atty before putting the cart on it? all those "seconds" you used up before would really be heating that atty, it may have been hot before you tried vaping it.

 

[chad]

Isn't that voltage pretty darned high?
Per the puresmoker site:
"Voltage under load is roughly 4.7 - 5.5v"

Yeah - 6.5v does seem high considering the batteries shoudl be 3.0v. I didn't overcharge. I pulled 'em out right when the light went green (ok well, 30 seconds later maybe). Could be because they're new? They're protected though so they shouldn't overcharge anyway.

did you touch the atty before putting the cart on it? all those "seconds" you used up before would really be heating that atty, it may have been hot before you tried vaping it.

I let it cool in-between my "break-in" and before I popped the empty cart back on.

 

[Shan123]

I have noticed some warping on the straight edges of my 510 carts from time to time, and wondered if I'm sometimes holding the switch long enough to soften the plastic. Kinda meant to ask if anyone else had noticed it... and wondered if there's a better atty for the Prodigy that has the cart inner-edge farther from the element, but since I've been stocking up on 510 attys that's moot at the mo'.

 

[chad]

I think I'm just gonna give up on the 510. I put in an order for a 901 adapter. The 901 might work better (I hope).

 

[Mr-Glass]

I have noticed some warping on the straight edges of my 510 carts from time to time, and wondered if I'm sometimes holding the switch long enough to soften the plastic. Kinda meant to ask if anyone else had noticed it... and wondered if there's a better atty for the Prodigy that has the cart inner-edge farther from the element, but since I've been stocking up on 510 attys that's moot at the mo'.

I have noticed this too - even with the standard 510 batteries - that is why I mostly "tail pipe" - I wish someone could come up with a tight enough fitting metal extender for the 510 for my reasons - not sure that would help out with folks who use carts however..

 

[Flitzanu]

some of teh experts can help with your voltage tests, but i don't think a multimeter gives an accurate voltage result just "pushing the button." there's a post somewhere that Steve explained how to test true results and voltage "under load" and it involved taking it apart. too complicated for me

the carts, i use a blank 901 on mine and have no melting issues. i do see it mentioned a lot with 510 carts.

 

[StratOvation]

Yeah - 6.5v does seem high considering the batteries shoudl be 3.0v. I didn't overcharge. I pulled 'em out right when the light went green (ok well, 30 seconds later maybe). Could be because they're new? They're protected though so they shouldn't overcharge anyway.


I let it cool in-between my "break-in" and before I popped the empty cart back on.

Voltage looks fine. Sounds like you simply need to prime that sucker a little... The Prodigy LOVES Juice..so the few drops you added to flush out the primer was probably just vaporized by the time you put on your cart.
BTW, why put on an EMPTY cart? Ya really gotta feed these Prodigys some juice, better to be a little generous than stingy while yer gettin yer feet wet.

I suggest ya try the following...
Now that your atty has cooled and all your contact points are cleaned, install that atty and drip 4 drops into it... now without a mouthpiece or cart installed take a couple 2-3 second hard tokes (About 10 sec.s apart)depressing the button only while your toking (No need for primer puffs with the Prodigy). That should yield moderate vapor on the first toke and alot of vapor on the 2nd toke. If you don't see substantial vapor on the 2nd toke wait 1 minute and repeat the 2 quick hard tokes.

That quicky little "Tailpipe Priming" sequence usually will help kickstart an atty.

Let Us know if that worked for ya.

Mike

 

[CaSHMeRe]

hey chad ...

Voltage looks correct ... remember, you are testing the unit unloaded (circuit isn't complete) therefore the resistor isn't doing anything. So you will see roughly 6.4 - 6.7v ....

Plain and simple -- Toss the carts -- Just my $.02 + $.02 = $.04 cents

 

[gatsby]

As people have mentioned that happens with dripping and the standard batteries too. At one point someone mentioned having luck with shaving or sanding down the cart a little bit (you can see how far down it melts and if you aren't using the batting it doesn't have to be that long). While you are at it you can punch out the bottom of the cart basket to make a dripping mouth piece.

Or you could pick up a 306 atomizer and let us know how that works at 5v (sorry thats kind of shameless personal plug for information-just ignore it)

 

[chad]

Wow! Thanks for all the feedback!!

BTW, why put on an EMPTY cart?

It was actually just the original cart that came with the Prodigy - no filler - I just meant to use it as a mouthpiece.

I suggest ya try the following...
Now that your atty has cooled and all your contact points are cleaned, install that atty and drip 4 drops into it... now without a mouthpiece or cart installed take a couple 2-3 second hard tokes (About 10 sec.s apart)depressing the button only while your toking (No need for primer puffs with the Prodigy). That should yield moderate vapor on the first toke and alot of vapor on the 2nd toke. If you don't see substantial vapor on the 2nd toke wait 1 minute and repeat the 2 quick hard tokes.

That quicky little "Tailpipe Priming" sequence usually will help kickstart an atty.

Let Us know if that worked for ya.

Mike

Yeah - that worked really well actually. Much better method of priming than what I was trying. Thanks for that tip.

hey chad ...

Voltage looks correct ... remember, you are testing the unit unloaded (circuit isn't complete) therefore the resistor isn't doing anything. So you will see roughly 6.4 - 6.7v ....

Plain and simple -- Toss the carts -- Just my $.02 + $.02 = $.04 cents

Thanks for paying attention to the thread Cash!

As people have mentioned that happens with dripping and the standard batteries too. At one point someone mentioned having luck with shaving or sanding down the cart a little bit (you can see how far down it melts and if you aren't using the batting it doesn't have to be that long). While you are at it you can punch out the bottom of the cart basket to make a dripping mouth piece.

Yeah - this is a good idea too. All I wanted a cart for was to get my lips away from the "hot" part of the atty pipe. A modded cart will serve that end well.

Or you could pick up a 306 atomizer and let us know how that works at 5v (sorry thats kind of shameless personal plug for information-just ignore it)

meh! I've got more PVs than I can use in a month using one every two days! I promised myself I'd not buy anything else unless there was a failure or I ran out of juice (not likely). This is an expensive hobby. If my wife knew what I spent... ...Hmmm... That 306 looks interesting! I'll have to watch that thread and see if you guys find a good, inexpensive supplier for the attys... ;-)

Thanks for the help all. I'm uhhh, "warming" up to the Prodigy more after these tips and my experience today.

 

[chad]

Or you could pick up a 306 atomizer and let us know how that works at 5v (sorry thats kind of shameless personal plug for information-just ignore it)

Bah!! I just ordered a couple from JantyUSA. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Cayman]

Bah!! I just ordered a couple from JantyUSA. I'll let you know how it goes.

I put a new atty on last night and it melted my cart as well. It appears that the bridge in the atty is slighly higher than all of the other ones that I have thus causing it to melt the cart. Man that tasted like crap!! 8-o

I guess it was just a little out of spec. Who knows...

 

[vapn]

You HAVE to make sure the bridge is lined up or rotated with the opening on the cart. I was noticing the same thing with the standard batteries also. I watch how I insert the cart and problem solved. Another thing I was doing wrong was tilting the battery end down. This is wrong. Most of the liquid is UNDER the actual atomizer and if you hold the battery level or slightly up you should notice a difference. IMO....lol..

 

[chad]

You HAVE to make sure the bridge is lined up or rotated with the opening on the cart.

In my case, I made sure I did line up the cart. I even said so in my first post. Like I said, I'm not a nOOb to manuals and mods.

I blew it out, dripped a single drop, popped on the empty cart - taking care to line it up just right with the atty bridge.

I'm inclined to agree with Cayman:

It appears that the bridge in the atty is slighly higher than all of the other ones that I have thus causing it to melt the cart.

Mine seems to be a little taller than my others as well. I think my 801 and 901 adapters arrived at my box yesterday. I'm gonna abandon the 510 for one of the others and only use the 510 when I'm in a pinch or want to tailpipe it.