The Kick...dead in 13 days

[Pooladdict247]

Got a kick starter kit from nhaler 13 days ago(i got lucky) and have been loving every minute of it...until yesterday. Props to nhaler for super fast shipping. Love how they packed it all up in a nice blue nhaler eyeglass cleaner bag. Every now and then it wouldnt fire so I would just tap the bottom of my Silver bullet(my only mod) on my palm and back to vaping. It was barely making a connection on the ground spring because the plastic wrap was holding the spring back so I had to cut the wrap a little on the top side of the spring to free it and gently pull the spring out a lil bit. No big deal, only does it maybe once in a while now.
I have the sleeve and have only used the 18500s that came with the kit a few times. 90% of the time its been ran with AW18650 2000mah batts @8-8.5w on a single coil 1.7ohm resurrector in a tank. The main reason I bought it was because I was sick of the "battery is almost dead" vape toward the end of the battery life. With my SB kicked I would get about 7hrs out of my 18650 and then it would pulse fire(meaning dead batt).

Well yesterday after refilling a tank, first vape I noticed the carto wasnt doing its normal rice crispy talk to me snap, crackle, and pop action. Didnt think much of it, thought maybe the coil was just a little too wet. Today I took off to work and all day have been getting that "battery is dying" vape. So I got home from work a few hours ago, time to investigate. Have been going on the same batt all day(12-14hrs) I never really take the kick out because it stays in the sleeve as I change batts. I pulled it out and noticed a bulge that wasnt there before on the side of the black part on the bottom chip(near the B+ plate). The only thing I come up with is a blown capacitor. I threw a freshly charged batt in and bam now its vaping like normal now, swapped back and forth between my 2 batteries a few times and then w/ out the kick and am convinced that a cap failed. I dont have an inline meter yet but am ordering one tonight, kick failure helps me justify spending more money on vape hardware with the wife

So for now Im just gonna run kickless until I can get ahold of nhaler. Really wish I had a darn meter to verify. Was hoping to get a lil feedback on here to see if Im the only one. Should I wait to contact them to verify the voltage? Im sure Id be on a waiting list anyways since they are out of stock

Heres a few pics, sorry for the poor quality, my POS galaxy phone doesnt have a flash on the camera so I had to use a flashlight with it.

 

[Martö]

Sounds more like your not getting a good ground connection.

Oh yea BTW if your going to test, you need a capacitance meter, multimeter, and an Oscilloscope. So figure on spending about $600.00 just to test everything.

Oh yea and a 1.8 Ohm 50 watt wirewound resistor and a variable bench power supply. So add in another $200.00+..

 

[Pooladdict247]

Pbusardo has a video on the kick showing it boosting the voltage to 4.xx with a regular inline 510 meter. Im just trying to verify my voltage is being boosted like he did. The only ground issue i could have would be internal on the kick itself. From my experience with it, if it has a ground problem with the spring not making good enough contact it wont fire. My SB has no coating on the inside so Im sure there would be an issue there.
If a cap didnt blow what would be the cause of the bulge that was never there? Hoping i can test with just an inline meter, but if I do need all the equipment Ill just take it to my dad, he used to build custom cb radios and has everything except maybe the 1.8 Ohm 50 watt wirewound resistor. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Bmays]

Pbusardo has a video on the kick showing it boosting the voltage to 4.xx with a regular inline 510 meter. Im just trying to verify my voltage is being boosted like he did. The only ground issue i could have would be internal on the kick itself. From my experience with it, if it has a ground problem with the spring not making good enough contact it wont fire. My SB has no coating on the inside so Im sure there would be an issue there.
If a cap didnt blow what would be the cause of the bulge that was never there? Hoping i can test with just an inline meter, but if I do need all the equipment Ill just take it to my dad, he used to build custom cb radios and has everything except maybe the 1.8 Ohm 50 watt wirewound resistor. Thanks for the feedback!

I'd like to see a pic of the swelled cap. You could really be onto something there. That does happen from time to time.

 

[Martö]

Pbusardo has a video on the kick showing it boosting the voltage to 4.xx with a regular inline 510 meter. Im just trying to verify my voltage is being boosted like he did. The only ground issue i could have would be internal on the kick itself. From my experience with it, if it has a ground problem with the spring not making good enough contact it wont fire. My SB has no coating on the inside so Im sure there would be an issue there.
If a cap didnt blow what would be the cause of the bulge that was never there? Hoping i can test with just an inline meter, but if I do need all the equipment Ill just take it to my dad, he used to build custom cb radios and has everything except maybe the 1.8 Ohm 50 watt wirewound resistor. Thanks for the feedback!

That would be your best bet is to take it over to his place then..

Best guess is heat generation

I think the Kick uses SMD and through hole but I think the caps are SMD from what I've seen.

 

[Unforeseen]

Moved from Mod Discussion to E-Cigarette Accessories Discussion.

 

[gamedemon]

Had exactly the same issue. Contacted Evolv Vapor and sent it for an exchange. Don't have the email here, but it is on their site.. I did not see or look for a bulge... but mine did the exact same thing after a few deal.

 

[Endweaver]

@Poola: Thanks for bringing up this incident with the Kick by Evolv. Hopefully we can all get an official statement either from drew at nhaler or from evolv regarding this issue. Keep us posted!

 

[Firefly13]

I had to send one of mine in to Evolv, Nhaler won't deal with it, just go onto the Evolv site and email them, they will take care of it. I sent it back to them and had a replacement out very quickly.

 

[Pooladdict247]

Ordered an inline meter. Should be in earlier next week.
@Martö I think the heat is probably the most likely cause also, especially with the silver bullet, its walls are pretty thick and does get warm from time to time, but im also assuming the caps themselves are probably not of the highest quality ones out there either. If they were tantalum or porcelain, that would be probably 40-50% of the cost of the kick, and I wouldnt expect to see that from a company that has to make a profit after distributing them to vendors. Business-wise it just wouldnt make sense. Im could be way off tho and just sound like a bafoon

Had exactly the same issue. Contacted Evolv Vapor and sent it for an exchange. Don't have the email here, but it is on their site.. I did not see or look for a bulge... but mine did the exact same thing after a few deal.

Feel so relieved Im not the only one! Its inevitable to have a few of these fail premature just like any mass produced electronic. All in all I still love it and would encourage others to not let this thread discourage them from purchasing the kick, its a great tube mod add on.

@Poola: Thanks for bringing up this incident with the Kick by Evolv. Hopefully we can all get an official statement either from drew at nhaler or from evolv regarding this issue. Keep us posted!

Shot nhaler an email earlier today. Ill wait to see what drew wants me to do, might send me to Evolv for warranty since technically its not his fault, he's just selling em

I'd like to see a pic of the swelled cap. You could really be onto something there. That does happen from time to time.

Tried to get a few more pics of the bulge... so hard tho because its so small

^3 o clock

^12 o clock

^3 o clock

 

[Pooladdict247]

I had to send one of mine in to Evolv, Nhaler won't deal with it, just go onto the Evolv site and email them, they will take care of it. I sent it back to them and had a replacement out very quickly.

Good to know, Thanks! Just sent them an email.

 

[kabonk]

the first one I got worked for about 10 minute no big deal I sent it in and it was replace the replacement was working great for about 2 weeks and now all it will do is make a low fast clicking sound when I try to fire it I really hope this is some kind of user error on my part I sent an email to evolv I'm kind of bummed I was really enjoying it

 

[Bmays]

I was considering one of these for my BOLT as I really like the feel of the bolt in my hand. I'm sure these are rare occurrences as everyone who does not have issues, don't post that they are not having issues. But, I'm re-considering it now...Hmm

 

[Pooladdict247]

the first one I got worked for about 10 minute no big deal I sent it in and it was replace the replacement was working great for about 2 weeks and now all it will do is make a low fast clicking sound when I try to fire it I really hope this is some kind of user error on my part I sent an email to evolv I'm kind of bummed I was really enjoying it

bummer sounds like the low bat hiss hiss hiss is kicking in too early
I wouldnt hesitate to email brandon I did and regret it.
cs@evolvapor.com

I was considering one of these for my BOLT as I really like the feel of the bolt in my hand. I'm sure these are rare occurrences as everyone who does not have issues, don't post that they are not having issues. But, I'm re-considering it now...Hmm

Just got my kick back on Friday. Wow, 6 day turnaround from my house to OH and back. Thanks for the speedy repair Brandon!
I wouldn't reconsider buying the kick at all, simply put its a game changer for a mechanical mod, such as your bolt and my silver bullet. I just got my inline meter at the beginning of the week and I have been watching the numbers on my all day vape routine. My trusty cheapo trustfire tr-001 charger puts my aw's and panasonics at 4.19-4.20v and with a load kickless, my 1.7 smoketech resurrectors, it puts out ~3.9v. And to think I was gonna dump $50 on a pila charger. Every hour of vaping looses about .1v under load until about 3.5v then it kinda stabilizes there for a few hours til I get sick of the weak vape and swap batts. With the kick I dial it in @ 8 watts and it will push 4-4.12 for about 6-7 hrs and never drop in voltage, which to me means everything. I hate a questionable vape wondering if the battery is dead/dying or the carto is dying, with the kick its consistent until charging point. I absolutely love the low battery 3 hiss warning, after a vape or two you know right away when its time to change batts.
The low bat hiss hiss kicks in at about 3.5-3.6v no load. I carry 2 18650s in my ego case and one in the chamber. I get all day with a stellar vape.
Ill be buying 2 more kicks if I can whenever they restock.
About the only bad thing I can say about it is it doesnt like my 1.5 ohm HH357 too much, which sux because it too is really consistent, it only puts out about 3.12v @8w but I just pull the kick whenever i rock that one. 2-2.5 ohm stuff seems to work the best.
Im sure a VV device user would not be too impressed but for me ive only dabled with my SB and the kick is just awesome for it.

 

[jkoppk]

I use my Kick in my SS GGTS and had the same dead battery on off hiss as you with fully charged batteries when I first got it.I thought it was defective and was real bummed.Then I took a scotchbrite pad and cleaned all the SS GGTS connections and Kick contact points and it worked like a champ ever since.The brass on the Kick corrodes fast so clean everything regularly when you get your new one back and you should have no issues at all.

 

[silverbullit]

I also had the problem with The Kick. Mine quit after 6 days. My AW batt. lasted 10 hrs. in my Silver Bullet using 18650 and about 12 hrs with the el-cheapo. But anyway, sent the kick back to brandon and turn around was 6 days. In heaven again. Awesome, isn't it? Hope it lasts longer this time. Consistant 8.5 watts of pure vaping nirvana using boge lr and sr. Still don't like duals. Hope Evolv gets the bugs out, don't want to go back to the vv. Didn't think I would be saying that.

 

[Pooladdict247]

The brass on the Kick corrodes fast so clean everything regularly

Good tip thanks! I almost tripped running frantically to the garage to begin kick corrosion cleanup. I wonder if a small dab/smear of white lithium grease on the B+ and on the inside of the sleeve where the ground spring touches would help block moisture from corroding the copper...might try this.

I also had the problem with The Kick. Mine quit after 6 days. My AW batt. lasted 10 hrs. in my Silver Bullet using 18650 and about 12 hrs with the el-cheapo. But anyway, sent the kick back to brandon and turn around was 6 days. In heaven again. Awesome, isn't it? Hope it lasts longer this time. Consistant 8.5 watts of pure vaping nirvana using boge lr and sr. Still don't like duals. Hope Evolv gets the bugs out, don't want to go back to the vv. Didn't think I would be saying that.

I couldn't agree more. I love the kick, now Im an official 2-broke-2-afford-a-darwin evolv fanboy!
My dad would be SOL without the kick this weekend. I just got an inline meter and have been checking voltages like a voltage addict. I just got a KGO kit monday for my mom for mothers day to help her quit analogs. My dad told me yesterday that he tried his tank on the KGO it was amazing and it hit harder than his SB. I was like yea its nice but its not that big of a difference. He said I can tell a big difference. So I brought my meter over. On mine with a fresh batt. (all aw's) 4.19v no load. Put 1.7ohm carto on 3.9v. With my dads I get 4.19v no load, same carto, only getting 2.8-3v barely lighting the meter. The button also feels much easier to push with much less resistance than mine. I cleaned up the threads and same thing. I have been using it(his top cap assy)with the kick @10w to get some numbers. With the 1.7ohm carto it would fire between 3.7-4v. With a 2.5 ohm atty it will jump between 4.2v-4.6v. On a 2.0 DC carto jumps between 4-4.5v. Without the kick though its almost unusable @ 2.8-3v, so for now I have my dads button head top since I have the kick, so he can at least get by. I asked him if he got any juice in the button because Ive always been very weary of that and he said no. Neither one of us have a backup only the SB. My mom was going to order some more stuff so I had her add another chrome KGO kit to the blue one she was already getting my dad. Now Ill have a backup. *duh, I should've remembered the 6 p's, prior planning prevents p1ss pour performance*

After talking with Chad at Altsmoke today, very helpful, I ended up firmly tapping the center of the button about 10x to realign the contact internally per his request, and it worked like a charm. Getting 3.8-3.9v with 1.7. Now with the kick I get 4.3-4.4v with 1.7; 5-5.1v w/ the 2.5; 4.6-4.7 w/ the 2 DC.

 

[rolygate]

Note that you can't use a Kick with an APV that doesn't have a sealed top connector, unless you use a solid 510-to-510 adapter. Any leaks down into the Kick will kill it.

The brass connectors at the top and bottom of the Kick need cleaning every couple of days.

If you use a solid adapter, and clean the contacts regularly, it does a good job.