P16 shorting or misfiring

[GaryS]

I recently bought a P16 with 2 Ultrafire P16430 batteries. It worked wonderfully for the first few days. However, this evening it suddenly stopped working. When I press the button, it fires for a very brief period of time (1 second or less) and then stops. The same issue is present with both batteries and atomizers that work fine on other devices. The P16 is practically new. I received it last week. So it seems unlikely that it is a battery issue. If the protection circuit blows on 16340s, do they stop working completely, or could the fire shortly like mine appear to be doing? I've taken the unit apart and checked the O-ring and spring. Everything looks fine.
Any suggestions?

Thanks
Gary

 

[GaryS]

***Probably solved***
The hh.357 that I that was working intermittently on the p16 just short-circuited an ego battery... It worked fine for a while, but then the battery wouldn't stop firing. Now any atomizer I connect to the Ego fires immediately, before I even press the button. Looks like I may have killed many batteries with a dud atty.
Is it a bad idea to run LR atties on 750mah AW 16340s?

 

[forcedfuel50]

***Probably solved***
The hh.357 that I that was working intermittently on the p16 just short-circuited an ego battery... It worked fine for a while, but then the battery wouldn't stop firing. Now any atomizer I connect to the Ego fires immediately, before I even press the button. Looks like I may have killed many batteries with a dud atty.
Is it a bad idea to run LR atties on 750mah AW 16340s?

Good morning GaryS! Welcome to the Precise family! I've run LR's on 750mah AW's. You may or may not notice reduced life on your battery. On your atomizer, if you get a short, check out the center pin on your atomizer to see if it has been pushed way up in there. That will cause them to short out.

 

[GaryS]

Thanks, loving the mod. My Vapemate is in the mail as well. Hopefully, it will be here by Friday. I went with the P16 over the P18 because the Shockwave pics looked very intriguing. I'll be keeping my ears to the forums for updates on it.
Best,
G

 

[GaryS]

More strange issues...
EVERY atomizer that I put onto my P16 lasts for a few hours and then starts shorting out after 1 or 2 seconds. This has happened with LR510s, the HH.357 and two LR306 atties. I've gone through 5 atomizers in two days. I have two 16340s. However, the issue happens with both batteries.

 

[GaryS]

I have a multimeter kicking around, but, I'm not sure how to use it.
Are there any tests I can do to help identify what is going wrong? Should I test the batteries? The device itself? The batteries in the device?

Thanks.
G

 

[GaryS]

I'm getting a reading of 4.12 on my batteries, fully charged. I get the same reading when I put the battery into the P16 and take a reading from the negative of the battery and the copper contact which the atomizer connects to. This seems normal doesn't it?

 

[dspin]

Here you go Gary

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ecf-library/129569-rechargeable-batteries.html

 

[GaryS]

I also tried holding the negative node to the stainless button on the bottom and the positive to the copper atomizer contact. When I depress the button, I get a reading of 4.08, which is the same as if I hold the negative contact to the battery directly while the positive to the copper atomizer contact. Above I said I got 4.12 through the copper contact, but I was wrong. It drops a bit from the direct battery test, which I assume it should because of the resistance through the top connector.

Best,
G

 

[GaryS]

Thanks dspin. So, does this look like both of the AW 750mah ICR123s are shorting out? They are only a few days old. I have two high drain 550mah AW16340s on order. I assume I can use the same UltraFire charger for them?

 

[forcedfuel50]

Check your atomizer center posts too and make sure they aren't pushed up in, thats a sure way to get a short. Lisa used to have a picture around here of good vs bad atomizer center posts. I'll try to find it.

 

[GaryS]

The centre post is out about a millimeter on all the atties. I never put atties on very tight, because I'm afraid of stripping either the atty or the battery.

 

[dspin]

Thanks dspin. So, does this look like both of the AW 750mah ICR123s are shorting out? They are only a few days old. I have two high drain 550mah AW16340s on order. I assume I can use the same UltraFire charger for them?

Here's a link re: batts, mah and attys. Better than my typing it again. Keep reading as it goes on w/other batts. Also including link for pic fo bad and proper center posts.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/battery-issues/135545-whats-diff-performance-18650-2900mah-vs-18650-1600mah-high-drain.html

Check out pic of bad atty center post

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/altsmoke/141595-new-hot-spring-ruined.html


And another good thread

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/joye-510/65055-battery-voltages-surprise.html

 

[GaryS]

Today while I was testing the voltage of a 16340 in my P16, I noticed that I would get an occasional spark which would light off from the threads of the P16. If I touched the threads while testing the brass top contact with the button taken off, a short series of sparks were created.

 

[forcedfuel50]

Today while I was testing the voltage of a 16340 in my P16, I noticed that I would get an occasional spark which would light off from the threads of the P16. If I touched the threads while testing the brass top contact with the button taken off, a short series of sparks were created.

Yes, electricity will jump gaps, or if shorted cause sparks too. Not sure what you mean by with the button taken off though?

 

[GaryS]

Using a multimeter, I can't contact the negative end of the battery without removing the bottom button first.

 

[GaryS]

Is there a way to do a load test (testing the voltage through an atomizer and battery at the same time) using a multimeter? It will still be a few days until I receive the new 16340 batteries. Meanwhile, I'd like to try and figure out what, if anything, is happening with the batteries I have?

 

[Tripster]

Is there a way to do a load test (testing the voltage through an atomizer and battery at the same time) using a multimeter? It will still be a few days until I receive the new 16340 batteries. Meanwhile, I'd like to try and figure out what, if anything, is happening with the batteries I have?

You can get a 510 Voltage Meter...pm on the way.

 

[forcedfuel50]

Is there a way to do a load test (testing the voltage through an atomizer and battery at the same time) using a multimeter? It will still be a few days until I receive the new 16340 batteries. Meanwhile, I'd like to try and figure out what, if anything, is happening with the batteries I have?

Sure, you can make a dyi rig by pulling apart an atomizer (carefully so the wires don't break) and hooking up leads to them. Loaded voltage will be around 3.7 volt on a fully charged battery. I made a rig that screwed in between the atomizer and a mod and allowed you to clamp on alligator clips, see my video.

Truthfully though, it's a lot of work to go through. If you just voltage test your batteries and they read in the neighborhood of 4.2 volts when coming off the charger, you can be 99.99 percent sure they are good. It is possible for a battery to still read good voltage and still be bad, but it's very rare.

David

 

[forcedfuel50]

UPDATE: I just reread your original post. You said you picked up the unit used and are using ultrafires. By all means, replace those ultrafires with AW's asap! I do not recommend ultrafires and they do not fit properly. Also, since the unit was used, feel free to send it to me and i can check it over and make sure everything is brought back to OEM specs and configuration, free of charge. Send to:

Super T
Box 331
Sauk Rapids, MN 56379