RIP my Drop, 2018-2018 -- I learned an important lesson

[dom qp]

I'm not writing this because I don't understand what happened, I'm just hoping someone doesn't learn the same lesson I did but with a worse outcome.

I picked up my first mech mod last weekend. I'm very meticulous when it comes to calculating the resistance of my coils, building them, and checking amp draw. I'm aware of battery safety guidelines and I follow them pretty closely.

What I was not aware of was the signs of shorting. I figured if something went wrong with the mech, my batteries would get hot and I would then know I need to remove them and troubleshoot the problem. That's not what happened to me.

I picked up a drop last week, i've been loving it and trying different builds on it. I precut my leads so that they are short and easier to work with. After an hour or so of usage, I got a burnt taste. I took off the cap and looked and everything looked fine. I fired it again and saw a red glow within my cotton, almost like a pumpkin latern. Put it on a regulated device and there it was: 0.00 resistance - atomizer short. After looking everywhere and taking it apart, I found a little nub of NI80: a 1mm or so trimming that welded itself between a positive post and the base of the deck. Sitting right ontop of the insulator, burned black, it was hiding infront of the black background of the barrel and deck - almost impossible to notice.

I learned my lesson. I need to make my legs longer and be diligent about collecting 4 leg ends after cutting my leads. When I precut them a tiny bit of wire (28g core from my clapton?) must have flown in the air and landed directly into the deck of my Drop.

The good news is this lesson only cost me ~40CAD.

 

[Sara Love]

Glad you caught it when you did. Sorry about your mod.

 

[untar]

I figured if something went wrong with the mech, my batteries would get hot and I would then know I need to remove them and troubleshoot the problem.

 

[Eskie]

It could have been worse. At least you were diligent about seeking out the problem right away and not wait for a catastrophic failure. It's an excellent lesson to us all about the need to investigate any new problem carefully before assuming it's no big deal and continuing on our merry way towards a really bad outcome.

 

[pwheeler]

Thanks for posting this. I use a drop, and getting a second. I'm using dual core fused claptons, and can see how this can happen. I'll be sure to double check everything before firing.

 

[QcVaper]

Happened to me aswell once, thing is the drop has tiny cracks where your cutted leads can go as seen on the image, my only solution is to now cut them while my drop is upside down as to make sure no wire is stuck in it (mine didn't fuse lucky me,but came close as i had to remove the post to get the piece out).

 

[dom qp]

... and a second drop is now on the way

ETA tomorrow

 

[dom qp]

Bit more work, managed to remove the short - it was welded in there strong.

Not sure if I trust the insulator though , It was welded directly between the insulator and post.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

Goes to show that bad things can happen to the most diligent and experienced and why mechanical mods just don't belong in the hands of neophytes.

Lacking your experience, a neophyte wouldn't have known what to look for. That means he/she would probably have repeated the process and would probably have a much different story to tell.

Thanks for posting.

 

[stols001]

Thanks for posting that @dom qp , and I'm glad you ended up safe (if minus a drop). Ugh, I loathe the process of snipping myself, and usually (unless I've collected every snip, which I aim for) but then shake the deck vigorously and expect it. I'm glad you figured it out before worse happened.

And it's actually a sign of good practice, to report these types of issues for other members to see, so congrats on not blowing yourself up but also reporting what can happen. It's so easy to "miss" something "vital" at times.

I am glad you are okay

Anna

 

[CMD-Ky]

Excellent and useful post, thanks, Dom.

I'm not writing this because I don't understand what happened, I'm just hoping someone doesn't learn the same lesson I did but with a worse outcome.

I picked up my first mech mod last weekend. I'm very meticulous when it comes to calculating the resistance of my coils, building them, and checking amp draw. I'm aware of battery safety guidelines and I follow them pretty closely.

What I was not aware of was the signs of shorting. I figured if something went wrong with the mech, my batteries would get hot and I would then know I need to remove them and troubleshoot the problem. That's not what happened to me.

I picked up a drop last week, i've been loving it and trying different builds on it. I precut my leads so that they are short and easier to work with. After an hour or so of usage, I got a burnt taste. I took off the cap and looked and everything looked fine. I fired it again and saw a red glow within my cotton, almost like a pumpkin latern. Put it on a regulated device and there it was: 0.00 resistance - atomizer short. After looking everywhere and taking it apart, I found a little nub of NI80: a 1mm or so trimming that welded itself between a positive post and the base of the deck. Sitting right ontop of the insulator, burned black, it was hiding infront of the black background of the barrel and deck - almost impossible to notice.

View attachment 736873

I learned my lesson. I need to make my legs longer and be diligent about collecting 4 leg ends after cutting my leads. When I precut them a tiny bit of wire (28g core from my clapton?) must have flown in the air and landed directly into the deck of my Drop.

The good news is this lesson only cost me ~40CAD.

 

[Baditude]

Glad you're safe, Dom.

As you may or may not know, I've had a couple of unfortunate experiences with mechs.

First time was when I first began vaping several years ago. I was using a 14500 battery mech. It had a protruding fire button. I absent mindedly tossed the mod into my pants pocket at work. I wore scrub suits when I worked and used a locker to store my clothes.

The fire button somehow became pressed in the pocket. The battery over-discharged and blew up inside the mod. Horrible smell in the locker room, like a burnt out transformer. No major harm done, but it could have started a fire in the locker being that it was an ICR battery. In 2012, Trustfire 14500 ICR batteries were about the only choice we had to use until AW came out with their IMR 14500 in 2013.

Second incident happened a couple of years ago. I was happily vaping away one evening and suddenly experienced a very hot vape. I immediately stopped, did a visual inspection of my RDA. Looked good. Measured on my ohm reader and it read 0.1 ohm. It was supposed to be 0.6 ohm.

Upon further inspection, I found that one of the RDA post screws had become loose. I tightened it up, remeasured the resistance, and it read 0.6 ohm again.

Just goes to show why everyone should build with a margin towards safety. Had I been using a 0.3 build and had a similar resistance drop, I'd probably have shorted the battery and vented it.

No wonder I'm such a safety fanatic on ECF.

 

[ScottP]

You might be able to either file off that little burr left after removal of the short to make it usable again. If not, check Fasttech, they MAY sell that insulator as a separate part.

EDIT: I checked and FT does not sell the insulator for this particular RDA separately. Maybe you can get one from Digiflavor directly. It wouldn't hurt to call. If you can fix a $40 rda with a $2-$3 part it would be worth it.

EDIT 2: I just thought of something else. You might be able to cover that burr with something like high temp silicone or liquid gasket type material to prevent shorts at that point.

 

[Belhade]

Well, that was definitely a close call, glad you came out unscathed! At least the lesson wasn't "Don't drop the Drop"!

 

[dom qp]

You might be able to either file off that little burr left after removal of the short to make it usable again. If not, check Fasttech, they MAY sell that insulator as a separate part.

You might be able to either file off that little burr left after removal of the short to make it usable again. If not, check Fasttech, they MAY sell that insulator as a separate part.

EDIT: I checked and FT does not sell the insulator for this particular RDA separately. Maybe you can get one from Digiflavor directly. It wouldn't hurt to call. If you can fix a $40 rda with a $2-$3 part it would be worth it.

EDIT 2: I just thought of something else. You might be able to cover that burr with something like high temp silicone or liquid gasket type material to prevent shorts at that point.

So to get the post out of the deck I took a hammer to the side of the post.

Then I took pliers, gripped onto the nub, and hit the underside of the deck until it came off.

I inspected the insulator and it looks fine. Been using it a couple hours now and it's all good.

 

[untar]

Then I took pliers, gripped onto the nub, and hit the underside of the deck until it came off.

Easy, easy, we don't wanna know all about your sex life, buddy

Glad it worked out, maybe next time consider measuring the resistance somewhere before pulling the trigger

 

[dom qp]

Easy, easy, we don't wanna know all about your sex life, buddy

Glad it worked out, maybe next time consider measuring the resistance somewhere before pulling the trigger

Resistance was fine at first. Took about an hour of usage for the clipping to find the corner and weld itself.

 

[untar]

Took about an hour of usage for the clipping to find the corner and weld itself.

That sneaky SOB.

 

[Vaperer]

The more I read about Mech Mods the less I want one.

 

[sonicbomb]

Glad you are ok dude.