Unpleasent and scary thing happened to me - TWICE in 24 hr

[Steelgirl]

Such an odd thing to never happen, then happen twice in short amount of time..

I was happily vaping at work using a troll rda and Sig 75w or something. I'm not a high wattage vaper, so had it set to about 20ish. I took a hit and huge dry hit and crazy amount of vapor coming off atty. I took cap off to look and see WTH was going on. Hit the fire button and it was like a volcano coming off ONE coil. That's what the problem was. My screw came loose on one of the leads to one of the coils. 20ish watts going to a now 1.2 ohm coil was crazy ! I tightened all 4 down, and went back to vaping - happily. Then Sat morning, and the same darn thing happened on a completely different Troll rda. This time tho, I knew immediately WTH was going on - no less unpleasant, I can assure you... But this time the coil actually busted off the pin. So FTM I'm just using it as a single - it's doing fine. But if you'd have seen my face when it happened - both times, it would have made you either laugh or call an ambulance. It really was scary - both times. Very unexpected and hot and totally unpleasant. Now I hit fire button before I get to my mouth to check it, and I will routinely check screws.

 

[WharfRat1976]

Yep, rogue coils. It happens and it is scary when your mouth is 8mm away from it.

Be safe and ohm out your builds. Thanks for sharing.

 

[SpaceApe]

Glad your safe and sound!

 

[KYBLUE]

Had this happen thrice over the course of two days. It was confusing as upon removing the cap all appeared fine. Would have thought it a board failing had it not been a mech. I'm guessing I was hitting the coil or wick when removing the cap thus restoring sufficient contact. Discovered the loose screw when rewicking. And yes a screw check is now a part of my vape routine.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.........cotton smoke.

 

[DanJiblets]

That's crazy! Once the rba in my subtank wasn't hitting right. I pushed a little pin to just move the cotton around a bit. I must've knocked the coil loose because I went to vape and heard a loud pop noise. I didn't see anything myself, but my girlfriend said she saw it light up in the tank. Whatever happened, I've been extra careful since lol.

 

[Baditude]

You're "lucky" in that you didn't hard short your battery on a mech mod or the results could have been catastrophic.

I've had a loose post screw unbeknownst to me until I got a bad dry hit for no reason. I was using my usual 0.6 ohm dual coil build on my mechanical. Being the cautious type of vaper, I decided to re-check my coil resistance, which was now reading just 0.1 ohm. I checked my post screws, and the positive screw was loose. Re-tightened it, and the resistance was again 0.6 ohm. Refilled my wick and the vape was good.

A 0.1 ohm build is too low for any battery available to us. It will have a 42 amp draw, and 30 amps is the highest amp available to us (Sony VTC4).

 

[edyle]

Such an odd thing to never happen, then happen twice in short amount of time..

I was happily vaping at work using a troll rda and Sig 75w or something. I'm not a high wattage vaper, so had it set to about 20ish. I took a hit and huge dry hit and crazy amount of vapor coming off atty. I took cap off to look and see WTH was going on. Hit the fire button and it was like a volcano coming off ONE coil. That's what the problem was. My screw came loose on one of the leads to one of the coils. 20ish watts going to a now 1.2 ohm coil was crazy ! I tightened all 4 down, and went back to vaping - happily. Then Sat morning, and the same darn thing happened on a completely different Troll rda. This time tho, I knew immediately WTH was going on - no less unpleasant, I can assure you... But this time the coil actually busted off the pin. So FTM I'm just using it as a single - it's doing fine. But if you'd have seen my face when it happened - both times, it would have made you either laugh or call an ambulance. It really was scary - both times. Very unexpected and hot and totally unpleasant. Now I hit fire button before I get to my mouth to check it, and I will routinely check screws.

sounds to me like one of the side effects of jumping straight to dual coil.

common thing with rda's is when you screw down your coil, then either dry fire it or just start using it, the high temperature causes the screw connection to become loose and needs to be screwed in.

if you start with single coil, when the problem occurs, the mod can't fire the coil and you soon learn to give a second tighten after first heatup.

but if you don't learn that and jump straight to dual coil, when it happens, one coil goes open and you get a burnt hit from the second coil getting overpowered

 

[Steelgirl]

I had been using the set up for several days already. Just one of those unpleasant things that happens occasionally. Coils pop or break, or in the case of the first one, the screw worked its way loose and lost connection. But yes, super hot vape due to watts being sent to the "now" single coil. Really bad ! But in all that, I didn't even need to change the cotton on either Troll. Surprisingly it did not scorch it. I routinely change cotton wick every few days or so though.

 

[Steelgirl]

You're "lucky" in that you didn't hard short your battery on a mech mod or the results could have been catastrophic.

I've had a loose post screw unbeknownst to me until I got a bad dry hit for no reason. I was using my usual 0.6 ohm dual coil build on my mechanical. Being the cautious type of vaper, I decided to re-check my coil resistance, which was now reading just 0.1 ohm. I checked my post screws, and the positive screw was loose. Re-tightened it, and the resistance was again 0.6 ohm. Refilled my wick and the vape was good.

A 0.1 ohm build is too low for any battery available to us. It will have a 42 amp draw, and 30 amps is the highest amp available to us (Sony VTC4).

I was thinking the same thing, Bad. Happy I was using Sig, both occasions.

 

[VHRB2014]

That` the key, you have now learned that it is a lose coil, :?)
You will now know, almost intuitively, that the coil has come lose.

Whenever I rewick, I give each screw a little nudge, to make sure they are still tight. The heat and expansion can upset them, especially when they are new, until they get "set" and stop moving around on there own from the heat.

 

[Bunnykiller]

sounds more like the wire became annealed ( softer) and conformed to the present load of the screw tension... in other words, it got soft and mashed out loosing the contact it once had due to the wire being "springy" before becoming annealed

thats why there are specific tourque loads one must apply to lugs in a captured wire connection

 

[JamesCox93]

I have that problem constantly with .06-1.1 ohm builds with Nichrome on my Lemo

 

[Steelgirl]

sounds more like the wire became annealed ( softer) and conformed to the present load of the screw tension... in other words, it got soft and mashed out loosing the contact it once had due to the wire being "springy" before becoming annealed

thats why there are specific tourque loads one must apply to lugs in a captured wire connection

i think my car has torque lol. Kidding, But I hope I don't have this experience again any time soon. Being more proactive on checking screws should help in the case of the first event. 2nd event, I don't know what I could have done to prevent. Maybe this coil popping or rogue coils as was posted above is more frequent then we read about.

 

[supermarket]

You're "lucky" in that you didn't hard short your battery on a mech mod or the results could have been catastrophic.

I've had a loose post screw unbeknownst to me until I got a bad dry hit for no reason. I was using my usual 0.6 ohm dual coil build on my mechanical. Being the cautious type of vaper, I decided to re-check my coil resistance, which was now reading just 0.1 ohm. I checked my post screws, and the positive screw was loose. Re-tightened it, and the resistance was again 0.6 ohm. Refilled my wick and the vape was good.

A 0.1 ohm build is too low for any battery available to us. It will have a 42 amp draw, and 30 amps is the highest amp available to us (Sony VTC4).

Wait.....so you mean these kids who build 0.05 ohms and make youtube videos to impress their friends aren't being safe??????


To be honest, I STILL don't understand the desire to cloud chase. This coming from someone who is still in their 20s (so I'm not that old), who LOVES to tinker and build things, and who loves to really dive into things.....

Now, FLAVOR chasing I'm ALL for. Let's figure out how to get the absolute BEST flavor from our mods, I'm ALL for that.....but what does one gain from cloud chasing?

 

[Steelgirl]

Wait.....so you mean these kids who build 0.05 ohms and make youtube videos to impress their friends aren't being safe??????


To be honest, I STILL don't understand the desire to cloud chase. This coming from someone who is still in their 20s (so I'm not that old), who LOVES to tinker and build things, and who loves to really dive into things.....

Now, FLAVOR chasing I'm ALL for. Let's figure out how to get the absolute BEST flavor from our mods, I'm ALL for that.....but what does one gain from cloud chasing?

I don't chase my clouds, but I'm fascinated in watching them. I have a place on my screened in back patio that I hang out and if the wind is coming across just right, not too hard, not too soft... the clouds amaze me. They dip and turn and spin. I'm easily amused I guess. But my lungs are small and don't produce huge amounts a vapor, even with .5 or .4 coils at 20-25 watts. I'm practically tootle puffing by todays standard. It's enough for me tho.

 

[mcclintock]

Yet another example of the reason it's better to adjust voltage than wattage. With VV, the only change would have been a loss of vapor.

 

[Moonlitwish]

I don't chase my clouds, but I'm fascinated in watching them. I have a place on my screened in back patio that I hang out and if the wind is coming across just right, not too hard, not too soft... the clouds amaze me. They dip and turn and spin. I'm easily amused I guess. But my lungs are small and don't produce huge amounts a vapor, even with .5 or .4 coils at 20-25 watts. I'm practically tootle puffing by todays standard. It's enough for me tho.

This is why I like the clouds too! I blow them under the light and watch the patterns. No patterns to watch and I get cranky.

 

[MattyTny]

Glad you sorted the issue out quickly. I'm sure everything was sound when you put the build in, but if you haven't gotten into the habit of checking your leg's stability while mounting, you should.

I like to wiggle on the lead once screwed down to see if the corresponding coil moves. Sometimes leads can get trapped on the side of the screw rather than under it too.

 

[Ryedan]

Being more proactive on checking screws should help in the case of the first event. 2nd event, I don't know what I could have done to prevent. Maybe this coil popping or rogue coils as was posted above is more frequent then we read about.

Steelgirl, I don't have a Troll RDA but I'm pretty familiar with that type of post hole and screw design. I keep a couple of things in mind with these.

One; the post screws need to be tight enough so when you put the atty on a ohms checker and gently bump each coil with your fingertip, the resistance does not change. If the resistance changes give each post screw a slight tighten and try it again. You'll probably be able to feel which post is looser. Repeat until the resistance does not change easily.

Two; the first couple of times you dry burn and rewick repeat the ohms checker bump procedure. Once you get a feel for how much force is required to make a good connection with a certain gauge of Kanthal in that atty you'll rarely need to re-torque, but double checking is good . Sometimes the wire can stay tight for a dozen dry burns and then get loose, but I find that doesn't happen often. The thicker the wire, the more force you'll be able to apply without damaging the wire. Also, if the coils are heating up at pretty much the same time they are probably both tight.

That's all I've got. Hope it helps a bit

 

[AndriaD]

Wait.....so you mean these kids who build 0.05 ohms and make youtube videos to impress their friends aren't being safe??????


To be honest, I STILL don't understand the desire to cloud chase. This coming from someone who is still in their 20s (so I'm not that old), who LOVES to tinker and build things, and who loves to really dive into things.....

Now, FLAVOR chasing I'm ALL for. Let's figure out how to get the absolute BEST flavor from our mods, I'm ALL for that.....but what does one gain from cloud chasing?

I think it's the difference between wanting to impress yourself, and wanting to impress others. I think maturity is in knowing what *you* like, and seeking that; immaturity is showing everyone, hey, look what boss clouds I can blow! (as if anyone cares!)

Andria