Smoketech Bolt Issues - Low power, maybe the button?

[UncleChuck]

So for the last few days I've been having issues with my Bolt. It's about a month old I believe, and at first was working great.

Now, I'm getting a drastic decrease in power. I thought I had ruined my batteries, but it doesn't matter whether I use any of my 18500s or my 18650s, I've tried over 10 batteries and that's not the issue.

At first I thought my cartos were just needing replacement, nope that wasn't it either.

Then I thought maybe there was a connection issue where it screws together, but it does the same thing whether or not I'm using the 18650 extension ring. I cleaned out all the threads, still no better.

Then I threw one of my tanks on my old eGo, that hasn't been charged since I got the bolt (still had a decent charge though obviously) and finally got the power that I was missing with the Bolt.


So for sure it's an issue with the bolt itself, not the thread connections anywhere, not the batteries, not the tanks/cartos.

I've read that the wiring inside is quite thin and low quality, and have also heard that the switch wasn't too robust. So I'm assuming it's got to be one of these issues.

For those of you who have had their bolt's switch go bad, did the thing just stop working, or did it slowly die and just give you weaker and weaker hits like I'm experiencing?

I ran that dual-carto adapter with dual 1.7ohm cartos, so I was drawing a pretty good amount of current through the switch and wires, never noticed any burning smell or extra heat or anything though.

So basically my question is, does this sound like either a switch or wire issue to you guys? Also, any idea on how to take the head/switch portion apart? I assumed the ring around the switch was a locking ring, from the outside, but I couldn't unscrew it. I don't want to destroy this thing taking it apart, but I guess if it's not working to my satisfaction right now it doesn't really matter anyway.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[vsummer1]

How is the warranty on that? Sounds like you need a new one.

Sorry for your troubles with it... and hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

 

[UncleChuck]

Ah I don't like dealing with sending stuff back unless it's something I can't fix myself (wouldn't want to bother fixing an eGo, for example) but a nice basic mechanical mod is easy once I got into the thing heh. Plus it's super cheap so it's no biggie, I just don't want to go back to using eGo batts.

Got it apart finally, just grabbed the center post inside the head with pliers and pulled the plastic disc thing out.

It's definitely the switch. I routed the wires out of the switch hole and reassembled the whole thing with a battery, and then just held the wires together while taking a vape. Big clouds of thick vapor with strong throat hit, so it's not the wires or anything else.

The wires actually surprised me, I always heard how crappy they were. They are nice thick, stranded wire with thick rubber insulation. I had heard they were thin, solid wire with that awful hard plastic insulation. Considering this is rather new perhaps Smoktech is using better wire now.

So instead of the wiring being a weak spot now I guess it's just the switch.

I really don't understand how they couldn't have just used a damn switch with a amp rating way higher than needed. It's not an electronic switch or anything. A mechanical switch is just two metal pieces that touch when pressed. It's not exactly hard to make something like that which holds up to more current.

The next fail was when I tried to use a switch I had purchased earlier for a custom mod I was making. Turns out it's an always on switch, that turns OFF when you press the button, not on.

Bahhh, oh well. I honestly don't know what I'll do now. I don't want to buy another stupid horn switch and have it burn out like this one. And it will be difficult to get anything that will look decent with the huge hole for the switch. Maybe I'll just fabricate my own custom mechanical switch.

Time to get a nice regulated, quality, possible VV mod I guess. I was trying to hold off until I got close to breaking even on the money I've spent on tons of stuff lately, but I guess I'll just push that "break even" date out even further.

Anyone have any ideas on a nice looking switch that can actually run some current through it without burning out?

 

[Thrasher]

search around, cant find the links but there are several owners who have rewired them themselves and said the results are much better afterwards., supposedly smok has revamped the wire in the new ones because of all the problems, while mine held up till I got rid of it, wiring going bad could very well cause this.

BOLT Button/Switch Assembly -Grey - $15.19 : eJuiceMonkeys.com, Evolutionary Vaping Supplies

 

[Nomoreash]

I've replaced several Bolt switches with the E-Switch - PV5 Series. Excellent quality switch that comes in several different colors. it has screw terminals so no need to worry about soldering which makes things a bit easier. It's my fav to use in mods when I want a horn switch and fits the Bolt perfectly. It's a little more expensive than a the generic horn switches that many vendors carry but not that bad and completely worth it imo...I've used both, should handle anything you throw at it.

Here's a link to one just for reference.

PV5S64011 E-Switch | EG4722-ND | DigiKey

and here's the Manuf page

PV5 anti-vandal switch | elevator switch | anti-vandal | round pushbutton