Weird Smell Coming From iTaste MVP

[esteband]

Hey folks,

I bought an MVP (not sure which version, but it's got VV only, no variable wattage) a little more than 2 months ago, and I've been loving it. Recently, however, a really bad smell has been coming off of it. It's kind of an electronic smell; like a cross between burned gunpowder and paint.

I must admit that I have been "breaking the rules" lately. I know I'm not supposed to use this thing with rebuildables, but I have been. Since I read that it's got a protection circuit that keeps it from drawing more than 3 amps, I thought it was safe to give home-made coils a try. I have no way to measure resistance, but I did a little math and figured that my coils, which are made from 6 to 7 wraps of 28 gauge kanthal, would be safe.

There have been no explosions or failures of any kind, and as a matter of fact, the vaping is awesome except for the strong smell coming from the battery.

I'm curious if anyone else has had the same issue with the MVP or any other similar gear. If so, does anyone know if I'm headed for trouble? I'd hate to have the thing blow up in my face.

-Steve

 

[jefsview]

Is the body getting hot? Does the body get hot while charging? Is it charging properly? Did you get liquid inside of it?

 

[Capt.shay]

Come on man! Your running coils that you have no idea of the resisitance on or even if they are a dead short and you wonder why your device is "smelling funny". "Doing the math" is just another way of saying "I'm to lazy to buy and learn how to use an Ohm meter". You have no business running a coil that you made and haven't measured. You managed to order the re-wicking materials now manage to order up a $7 meter and watch a U-tube vid. on how to use it.

Go. Go you! Get! Order a meter. Do it now! Go! Get!

 

[esteband]

During use, the body never gets hot. During charging, it gets a little warm, but not hot, per se. On charging, I did notice one very strange thing. When I use a different cable than the one that came with it, I feel a mild "vibration" if i very lightly run my fingers along the body. If I touch it firmly, I can't feel it - only if I very gently touch it. Isn't that weird?

I've also never gotten liquid inside it as far as I know. My tanks have never leaked.

 

[esteband]

"Doing the math" is just another way of saying "I'm to lazy to buy and learn how to use an Ohm meter".

Lazy is too strong a word. Frugal is more like it. Because I don't have unlimited funds to throw at this hobby, and must explain most purchases to my wife, I decided instead to be resourceful and make use of what I have. Since I have several old ego batteries I no longer use or care about, I figured I could use them to test whether my coils would fire. I'm also not wrapping sub-ohm coils - I'll wait until I get a mechanical mod to do that.

However, I never knew that there were meters available for $7. I saw one on vaporjoes for $30, and figured that since it was on vaporjoes, $30 must be the very lowest price for such a thing. What $7 meter would you recommend?

 

[Capt.shay]

Yea, maybe lazy is a strong word but seriously dude, you could fry some thing, wreck your device or worse. Two wraps touching, touching the outer wall, what ever can change resistance. I'm just guessing here but it almost sounds like you are trying to draw more from the battery than it is designed to discharge and it's getting hot and starting to melt some plastic. But that is totally a guess without knowing what we are dealing with here

Any meter will tell you Ohms. Set it to the lowest setting near the little Omega symbol and your in business. Many you-tubes out there on how to use one and how to read the resistance of a coil head. I happen to of had a more expensive meter on hand already but lot of people run one of these $4.99 jobs from Harbor Freight. http://www.harborfreight.com/7-function-digital-multimeter-92020.html

Best of luck and be safe!

 

[jefsview]

6 to 7 wraps is probably sub-ohm.

at least use this to help measure your resistence: PV Web Apps

If something isn't right with it, stop using it.

 

[Jaiofspam]

theres a fine line between frugality and negligence. go out and get dmm or ohm meter ASAP if youre wrapping coils... theres no excuse.

 

[esteband]

Hey thanks jefsview - that's a great link. Much more comprehensive than the basic ohm's law calculator I was using.

 

[esteband]

one of these $4.99 jobs from Harbor Freight. http://www.harborfreight.com/7-function-digital-multimeter-92020.html

Thanks, Cap'n. This is good. I'll get one of these. I'd seen the resistance meters with a 510 connection, but it never occurred to me to get the more basic kind. Will do.

 

[esteband]

theres a fine line between frugality and negligence. go out and get dmm or ohm meter ASAP if youre wrapping coils... theres no excuse.

Whatever, dude.

Real productive comment.

 

[Jaiofspam]

Whatever, dude.

Real productive comment.

im just trying to be straight with you, there is no excuse to not have a method to accurately check your resistance if youre wrapping coils plain and simple... if you were offended by my comment concerning YOUR personal safety and well being, consider yourself being counter productive

edit: you can pinch pennies on a dmm but get something that'll last... buy once, cry once.
Amazon.com: Equus 3320 Auto-Ranging Digital Multimeter: Automotive

cheers

 

[vtechmech]

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-function-digital-multimeter-92020.html[/URL]

Best of luck and be safe!

thanks! at $5, I picked up 2

 

[DavidOck]

While phrasing may have been somewhat brusque, using a hand made coil without a meter is eventually going to cause problems. The problems may be a fried battery (my MVP, in use since January, has never emitted an odor), the problem could also be a catastrophic battery failure resulting in a fire or and explosion. The latter, next to your face, is not good....

While a visual inspection of the hand made coil may show that there are no shorted turns, it's harder to see inside the tubes. Wires can get crossed up when re-assembling, and can't be seen unless you have Superman's x-ray vision. You might inadvertently leave the ends a tad too long, and when screwing the head back into the post they short out. Again, inside the device, you can't see it.

Even a cheap HF meter can alert you to those issues.

Be safe, be smart.