its a hard plastic, blue led button. ive had it, and have been using it off and on for 7 or so months with no problems. it was working fine until yesterday and for some reason now it wont hit. i press the button and it stays lit, producing no vapor or providing any power to the atty i have on it as far as i can tell. tried a new atty and a different battery. nothing changed. the light just lights and stays lit. for now im using my back up epower, but i would like to figure out whats wrong with this one so i can fix it or order new parts.
still a new member so i must post in this section, but my e-power seems to have a problem with the button
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so nobody can help me with this problem? guess i didnt exactly pick the greatest title since most people probably think im talking about the classic button problem associated with epowers... idk maybe ill try starting another thread with a different title
The only similar problem I had with an E-Pooper switch with a hard plastic button was hitting the switch, but the dang thing stayed on and was firing. Pushing on it at that point produced no feedback, no sense of the on/off click you should feel.
The fix was rotating the hard plastic button by pressing on it with my thumb and and trying to rotate it, I think counter clockwise. Whatever the problem was, that caused the button to get unlocked/unstuck. I have two switches and this has only been a problem with one of them.
The fix was rotating the hard plastic button by pressing on it with my thumb and and trying to rotate it, I think counter clockwise. Whatever the problem was, that caused the button to get unlocked/unstuck. I have two switches and this has only been a problem with one of them.
I do not have an Epower set up however you may want to take a look at the spacer/insulator underneath the center pin on the control head.check to see if it is cracked,split or generally falling apart.also try lifting the center pin just a tad bit with a small jewelers flat head driver,or similar tool to pry up in multiple points eg north,east,south,west or up,right,down,left.also make sure that the center pin is clean and that your atty center pins aren't pushed up to the point of possible shorting as well.
@Rickajho yea unfortunately im positive its not firing and the button still clicks fine, so i don't think that that's problem. by the way it seems that you dont like the epower, what models of ecigs would you recommend? i might end up buying a new type instead of new parts but i only have a limited amount of money to spend. hence the reason i bought something i could replace individual parts on. but im still completely open to new ones.
@freekshow im not sure what your talking about. i understand that you do not have an epower though. when this happened i thought i might be getting bad connections because i use vaseline (very small amounts) to lube up the crappy paper thin threading so i dont crossthread it. i use it where the atty screws in and where i screw in the part that holds the battery on, so i thought that might be affecting the connection and degreased it with some rubbing alcohol. didnt change anything. from the directions you gave me it seems i would have to open up the button part and i dont know how i would go about doing that without breaking it entirely. its one solid piece from what i can tell. from the looks of it, its not cracked and it hardly has any scratches on it. ive taken pretty good care of it. it has taken a couple falls though, but continued working long after the last. now that i think about it, maybe just something finally shorted out. and about the atty part ive tried brand new attys that work perfect with my spare epower but not on this one.
@freekshow im not sure what your talking about. i understand that you do not have an epower though. when this happened i thought i might be getting bad connections because i use vaseline (very small amounts) to lube up the crappy paper thin threading so i dont crossthread it. i use it where the atty screws in and where i screw in the part that holds the battery on, so i thought that might be affecting the connection and degreased it with some rubbing alcohol. didnt change anything. from the directions you gave me it seems i would have to open up the button part and i dont know how i would go about doing that without breaking it entirely. its one solid piece from what i can tell. from the looks of it, its not cracked and it hardly has any scratches on it. ive taken pretty good care of it. it has taken a couple falls though, but continued working long after the last. now that i think about it, maybe just something finally shorted out. and about the atty part ive tried brand new attys that work perfect with my spare epower but not on this one.
If you have a volt meter you can check to see if the battery is putting out power. Take one lead and wrap it in tape just having the tip exposed put that on the center of the battery and the other on the outer metal. Push the button and see if you get a voltage. It helps to have a third hand unless you know how to use chopsticks. I'm making a tester using an old carty for this but the setup i described will work. The reason for the tape on the one that goes on the center is so you won't accidentally shot out your battery.
If you have voltage then the Atty is bad. You can ohm that out the same way just us the ohm setting. A cheap meter will not give you an accurate voltage reading but it will show that you have a voltage.
Hope this helps if you need more detail or have a question please do not hesitate to PM me.
If you have voltage then the Atty is bad. You can ohm that out the same way just us the ohm setting. A cheap meter will not give you an accurate voltage reading but it will show that you have a voltage.
Hope this helps if you need more detail or have a question please do not hesitate to PM me.
OH make sure your contacts are clean get a Qtip wet not soaked with alcohol and rub the contacts on both the battery and the Atty.
BB,My apologies for not being more specific about where I was talking about.the connection I was speaking of is the point where the atty connects to the e-power unit/pv/apv or whatever you wish to call it.
You are right - to me the E-Pooper was a mistake. I started with one of the first revision clear plastic buttons that wouldn't fire on much of anything below 2.2 ohms. (Yeah - that's 2.2 ohms. It even flaked on SR JoyeTech attys.) That switch was replaced free of charge - eventually. The supplier I bought from was promised new switches that would at least work with 1.75 ohm stuff. The manufacturer never delivered. I accepted a replacement switch that will work with devices as low as 2.0 ohms but that's it. And switch number two was the one that would get stuck on some times unless I did my "thumb rotation" trick. And switch two still flakes out on occasion and just flashes instead of fires. Which requires unscrewing the switch and reseating it.
And the plating wore off both switches starting on day one. Within a week I got black marks on my hands from exposure to the base copper metal underneath the plating. Besides that being kinda gross, the E-Power itself just looks .... ugly with the plating worn off the switch.
Seemed like a good idea at the time. Horrible product execution. The dealer I bought from sold off his remaining inventory and stopped carrying them because of all the switch problems, and promises of a corrected switch that never came through.
I moved on - quickly - to a VV box mod for my main vape. However I did recently pick up a JoyeTech eGo T-2 that uses a 18650 battery. It seems to be a much better variant of an E-Power. Certainly on style and finish. The new T-2 version switch can run in two modes: 3.3 volt regulated or unregulated. In unregulated mode it gives you straight battery voltage from 4.2 volts down until the battery protection shuts it off. I only use it in unregulated mode.
It is not without a fault: The threading between the battery tube and the switch head is a little rough and there are reports on ECF of people cross threading the things. BUT this thing is designed to charge the battery in place, using a regular eGo charger. Not blinding fast charge speeds doing it that way. But since this was never meant to be my main PV I can live with charging it on the eGo charger and avoid stripping the threads.
And the plating wore off both switches starting on day one. Within a week I got black marks on my hands from exposure to the base copper metal underneath the plating. Besides that being kinda gross, the E-Power itself just looks .... ugly with the plating worn off the switch.
Seemed like a good idea at the time. Horrible product execution. The dealer I bought from sold off his remaining inventory and stopped carrying them because of all the switch problems, and promises of a corrected switch that never came through.
I moved on - quickly - to a VV box mod for my main vape. However I did recently pick up a JoyeTech eGo T-2 that uses a 18650 battery. It seems to be a much better variant of an E-Power. Certainly on style and finish. The new T-2 version switch can run in two modes: 3.3 volt regulated or unregulated. In unregulated mode it gives you straight battery voltage from 4.2 volts down until the battery protection shuts it off. I only use it in unregulated mode.
It is not without a fault: The threading between the battery tube and the switch head is a little rough and there are reports on ECF of people cross threading the things. BUT this thing is designed to charge the battery in place, using a regular eGo charger. Not blinding fast charge speeds doing it that way. But since this was never meant to be my main PV I can live with charging it on the eGo charger and avoid stripping the threads.
yea i already cleaned both contacts with a Qtip and rubbing alcohol. it was the 1st thing i did. i dont think i have a volt meter, ill have to look. ill get back to you on that.
@freekshow yea that got it working. used a knife to lift the center pin up a little bit and then it started firing. but unfortunately, when it started up it didnt stop and fried my atty, even though the light shut off. took a puff or 2 off of it. then vapor started pouring from the top so i popped the top off and the atty was lit up red like a cigarette. so i threw away the atty and tried the button again (without an atty) and now it wont light at all when i press it. just cant be easy can it.
@rickajho my epower runs 2ohm kgo attys fine. im not too concerned with anything lower than that. i agree they could have done much better with the idea. i dont understand how all the problems get into the final product... if you could point me to a place with a vv box mod and etc that you use i would give it a look along with the ego. hows battery life on it? i take mine on the go so i need battery life and portability. how long have you had them and how well have they held up? the epower has been somewhat of a pita, but it beats rolling cigarettes and hour before hand or rolling a whole pack at least. and the threading on the ego cant be any worse than the epower. i havent had any problems so far with that, just have to be careful screwing it on and keep it lubed up a little.
well now my backup epower which was brand new and has only been used since the day i started this thread (im not sure, a week or 2?) is now doing the same thing. wth
My E-Power 14650 has worked hard for 11 months and is still going strong. I use it every day, about 2 ml of juice per day.
This one is equipped with a blue LED in the button, 5-click safety and LR capability.
I've used my E-Power 14650 so long that my thumb has worn through the nickle plate on the switch module, exposing the yellow brass plate underneath.
Here it is this morning, with cone and a Smoktech LR XL carto mounted.
When the weather is warm as it is today I use this mod without the cone. The carto stays cooler that way. Even more wear is evident on this side of the switch module. My index finger has worn through the nickle plate, the yellow brass plate and the red brass base metal is visible. The stainless steel tube and cone show little wear.
brassballs: the only time I've seen the button light stay lit continuously is when the battery charge is very low, like when I've run well past the point that the low battery signal has flashed. Perhaps your batteries are getting tired. Have you checked them with a DMM? I'm running my second set of batteries with the E-Power 14650 now. I just received eight new 14650 ICRs last week.
This one is equipped with a blue LED in the button, 5-click safety and LR capability.
I've used my E-Power 14650 so long that my thumb has worn through the nickle plate on the switch module, exposing the yellow brass plate underneath.
Here it is this morning, with cone and a Smoktech LR XL carto mounted.
When the weather is warm as it is today I use this mod without the cone. The carto stays cooler that way. Even more wear is evident on this side of the switch module. My index finger has worn through the nickle plate, the yellow brass plate and the red brass base metal is visible. The stainless steel tube and cone show little wear.
brassballs: the only time I've seen the button light stay lit continuously is when the battery charge is very low, like when I've run well past the point that the low battery signal has flashed. Perhaps your batteries are getting tired. Have you checked them with a DMM? I'm running my second set of batteries with the E-Power 14650 now. I just received eight new 14650 ICRs last week.
Hi. sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner.
If you search ECF - I think "EPower switch problem" will bring it up - there have been a lot of posts about the switch problems should you care to read more. Yours seems to be acting like it's shorted and I don't recall running across that kind of problem. Most of the issues have been surrounding that problem of the things not working with any reasonable low ohm device. Or the switch just wonking out and blinking at you and refusing to fire, requiring unscrewing the thing to correct it.
Shorted? Hmmm. Did you find that meter? I would be curious to know what resistance your cartos or clearos are reading. LR devices can drop in resistance as used. If the resistance drops too low that's akin to shorting the battery and that's never good.
Anyway...
The SmokTek Varicool boxes are here: SmokBox Custom Mods - 3.7v, 5v, Linear and Switching Variable Voltage
The $54.95 model.
This uses a high efficiency regulator and is very well constructed. In other words this isn't a $29.95 MadVapes box. Far from it. It never gets even warm. I get about 12 hours run time to a set of 14500 batteries vaping about 4.0 volts. Knew then... know now... this is what I wish I had bought and just skipped over the E-Power. I've had mine for about 8 months now and zero problems. It's only draw back might be the box. If you drop it sooner or later you are gonna break tabs on the battery door. Simple fix: a "smart" looking rubber band. I'm going to ask SmokTek if I can just buy an empty box out of their parts inventory somehow just to get a replacement battery door. There are a several reviews on ECF for the VariCool boxes.
The eGo T-2 is here: *NEW* Joye APV Unit
I like this, but it wasn't around when I purchased an E-Power. First, it just looks better than the E-Power. Since it's JoyeTech I'm expecting no finish problems. I like having the two regulated/unregulated voltage options. If you already have an eGo charger you can - and should - use that to charge it. The threading is a little rough and I can see why people complain about crossing threading it if you aren't careful. Use the eGo charger - no need to unscrew it. Run time? I'm getting a good two days to a charge and I've seen other reports on ECF saying the same. It feels good in hand and doesn't have that mini hard plastic button like the E-Power or eGo batteries. Has a soft feel to it, but not squishy like you are going to push it into the body of the thing like Riva batteries. Too new for me to offer an opinion on longevity - I've only had it for a couple weeks.
Liberty Flights sells the eGo T-2 too. Either place is a good price. At LF you get the standard 20% discount. If you get it from The Vapor Room you can use code THANKYOU for a 10% discount. And if this is your first time ordering you get a free 15ml bottle of liquids and a free 3 ml sample.
Indeed, there were quite a few problems with E-Power 14650 switch modules late in 2011 and early this year. I wrote quite a few posts on the subject.
The problems were eventually resolved. The latest switches (2012) handle low resistance (LR) devices down to 1.5 and 1.7 ohms. They feature a 5-click safety for pocket carry and are semi-regulated, that is these mods regulate output voltage to 3.7V under no load. They show a low battery signal, too. The latest generation switch modules can be found with either white or blue LED lights. Mine are blue.
A new switch module only costs about $10. That's pretty inexpensive compared to replacing an eGo-style battery.
I believe CCV stocks the E-Power 14650 replacement switches.
Regarding the nickle plate wearing off the switch module. This is not a huge issue. I'll bet this happens with any Chinese-made PV or APV that gets constant daily use for more than six months. Most eGo-style batteries aren't going to last long enough to show that sort of wear.
The problems were eventually resolved. The latest switches (2012) handle low resistance (LR) devices down to 1.5 and 1.7 ohms. They feature a 5-click safety for pocket carry and are semi-regulated, that is these mods regulate output voltage to 3.7V under no load. They show a low battery signal, too. The latest generation switch modules can be found with either white or blue LED lights. Mine are blue.
A new switch module only costs about $10. That's pretty inexpensive compared to replacing an eGo-style battery.
I believe CCV stocks the E-Power 14650 replacement switches.
Regarding the nickle plate wearing off the switch module. This is not a huge issue. I'll bet this happens with any Chinese-made PV or APV that gets constant daily use for more than six months. Most eGo-style batteries aren't going to last long enough to show that sort of wear.
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Just one question: Is the plating holding up on the new switch?
I don't mean to sound like a crank about this but... No problems with the plating on the body or the cone (cover). So why is this such an issue for this manufacturer with the switches? Believe me, mine look a lot worse than yours do. And it took all of a month to reach their maximum grossness.
It's just never been a problem with any other PV I have bought.
I don't mean to sound like a crank about this but... No problems with the plating on the body or the cone (cover). So why is this such an issue for this manufacturer with the switches? Believe me, mine look a lot worse than yours do. And it took all of a month to reach their maximum grossness.
It's just never been a problem with any other PV I have bought.
I purchased the E-Powers in October of 2011. I have only used one and keep the others unused as spares. These were equipped with switch modules that did not include 5-click safety feature.
I purchased new switch modules with 5-click safeties in February of this year. One of those switch modules is shown in the photos. It has been used every day since February.
Honestly, have you used any other Chinese-made PV or APV that had a plated metal finish next to the switch every day for six months? What did that look like? Make that 12 months if you alternate eGo-style batteries every other day.
I purchased new switch modules with 5-click safeties in February of this year. One of those switch modules is shown in the photos. It has been used every day since February.
Honestly, have you used any other Chinese-made PV or APV that had a plated metal finish next to the switch every day for six months? What did that look like? Make that 12 months if you alternate eGo-style batteries every other day.
There is no plating on the cone or battery tube. Those are solid stainless steel.
The switch module is plated (nickel is my guess) red brass. Brass is much easier to machine than stainless steel. Nickel plate is used on firearms like pistols and will eventually wear off of those, too.
I don't think that the E-Power nickel plating is different from any other Chinese-made PV. Parts for these things come from the same shops. Because only the standard Li-ion battery is replaced in this tube mod and not the entire switch/tube/battery assembly the E-Power switch modules get subjected to much longer wear then the eGo-type batteries. With eGo-type batteries the switch is changed out every time you switch batteries. Not so with the E-Power 14650 which offers the economy of standard rechargeable cylindrical Li-ion batteries.
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