vv mod won't fire - 14500's protecton circuit?

[dupont]

Hi All:

I have a Mad Vapes vv box mod - actually I have 2 of them. I also have 2 pairs of UltraFire (silver colored) 14500 batteries. I am trying to use this set up with 510 cartomizers. Unfortunately I don't know their resistance and am not very good with a multimeter. But I got them in a pack of 5 for about $8.99 also from Mad Vapes. Finally, I also go a Mad Vapes 510 battery to 4081 atty/carto adapter and have used some 4081 cartos with the vv box mod.

This set up has worked well for me at times, but it also "cuts out" even with fully charged batteries. By this I mean that I can't heat an atty/carto - it just seems dead. This may be due to the batteries protection circuit shutting them down. (I can sometimes get it to fire for a moment by switching the on/off switch back and forth.) Since I've duplicated all of the systems' parts, swapped them in and out, and gotten the same result, I'm pretty sure I'm doing something wrong (user error) rather than dealing with a bad part.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. (Sorry for the long post.)

-Bill

 

[dale1962]

Dupont do you have a multimeter?Also have you tried turning the voltage down on your vv box mod?If them 510 cartos are under 2.5ohm the protection circuit will probably kick in on them ultrafires on voltages over 5 volts.

 

[dupont]

Thanks for the reply, Dale.

I do have a multi meter, but unfortunately don't know squat about how to use it. (I'm not a total klutz - pretty good with plumbing. But that won't help here.)

I have tried the whole spectrum with the vv knob. Just tried turning it all the way down and "no joye" (Bad pun...)

 

[dupont]

Dale: You got me thinking that I shouldn't be scared of my multi meter. So I tested voltage on both pairs of batteries that I have. In both cases, one of the two batteries measured about 1 volt lower than the other (approx. 4.2 vdc/3.2 vdc).

All of the batteries are pretty new. And to date, I have used them as pairs (i.e. no mix/match). I charge them in a 2 position charger. And both pairs produce a green light when put in the charger.

But I just put the two lower reading batts in the charger and it is showing red light (i.e. charging). And I put the two higher reading batts in the mod - and it works!

Looks like I a) have to learn to use my multi meter, b) have to learn more about batteries, and c) have to switch to charging batteries individually (instead of in pairs).

Thanks for the kick in the rear re. the multi meter!

-Bill

 

[dale1962]

Glad you got them to work you should check the ohms on them cartos too!

 

[dupont]

If I'm reading the meter correctly (questionable proposition) one is at 3.8 ohms and the other is 3.6. (I have a pair of them in play.) I'm not quite sure what that's telling me, but that will probably become more clear with experience.

Do you think that since I was charging batts in a 2 space charger, that one battery got charged quicker than the other and shut down the charging - therefore keeping the other from getting fully charged and making the pair not work? Do people avoid this by using a single space charger?

Thanks again from a happy vaper...

 

[dale1962]

I always use double space charger and mine work fine...if your carts are that ohms probably hit best over 5v imo.

 

[lynch]

I was the same way with a multimer intil somebody posted a link to hobby-hour.com there is a electrical section click on that then you will see digital mutimeter if you click that it will tell you how to get all the different readings. Sorry for not posting a direct link to it.

 

[dupont]

Thanks. I'm still having some issues with the mod, but maybe I have a questionable charger. Sill experimenting.

 

[Scorched]

dupont,

I own two of these as well and have been using them for quite some time. I also have a friend who uses one. I have found that they accept pretty much all 510 style atomizers but the mod does not like all 510 cartomizers, especially dual coils. This problem has to do with the cartomizer center pin not making contact with the bottom of the threads. I have a simple fix for you:

V2 510 Shorty Extension Sealed

Try some of these shorty extentions. They are basically 510-510 adaptors & they are great. I prefer the sealed type so I can tighten up the draw and definetly reduce leakage. Best of luck to you.

 

[dupont]

Scorched: Thanks for the tip! I put one of those 510 extenders in my cart. At $1.99 it's certainly worth a try.

Having now started using my multimeter (it's a nice tool - I need to get more familiar), I am finding that when I charge a pair of batts, one of the two seems to consistently charge to > 4 vdc, while the other member of the pair is consistently in the 3.6 - 3.7 vdc range. The batteries label states that at full charge they should read 4.2 vdc. And when I put two batts that measure > 4 vdc together, the mod seems to work.

Any way - I'm going to try a 510 extender and keep playing with charging/measuring batteries.

 

[MickeyRat]

I have that problem with my VV box mod at times too. I find that if I clean the atomizer connector thoroughly, it usually fixes it.

 

[Dirgon]

keep in mind when testing the resistance of an atomizer you have to subtract the natural resistance of the multimeter.

You can find it's natural resistance by touching the two leads together and remember that number.

For example, when I touch the black and red leads together on mine, I read 1.0 ohms. I then touch them to an atomizer and read 4.0 ohms. I subtract the 1.0 ohm, and I'm left with 3 ohms as the resistance.

YMMV, you may get a higher or lower number than what my multimeter shows for it's own resistance.

 

[dupont]

Thanks Dirgon - I'm still finding my way with the multimeter. And that's a good point.

Mickey: I may be dealing with connection/resistance problems that manifest when my batts are not all the way charged (as opposed to a battery problem).

I'm going to clean contacts and keep experimenting. I'm pretty sure I can make these little mods work!