I got my first mech mod about month go, and it's been great. However, a couple of days ago it just stopped firing. What can I do? I've taken apart everything, wiped off everything, even put on new coils. nothing worked! For reference I have a Stingray clone from 101vape, a Tobeco Brass Monkee, and a purple efest 18650 battery.
Become a Patron!
My stingray won't fire. Help!
- Thread starter FlamingGnarwhal
- Start date
State O' Flux
Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
Member For 5 Years
At what resistance?
Do you preferably have a digital multi-meter (DMM), or at least an in-line volt meter? Short of just getting lucky in finding the culprit(s) you need the former to test for voltage, continuity and resistance. the latter would at least tell you if you have unloaded battery voltage.
You have either have an open circuit when you think you have a closed one (positive and/or negative terminals not actually making contact)... or an extreme voltage drop condition due to poor button or contact continuity.
Do you preferably have a digital multi-meter (DMM), or at least an in-line volt meter? Short of just getting lucky in finding the culprit(s) you need the former to test for voltage, continuity and resistance. the latter would at least tell you if you have unloaded battery voltage.
You have either have an open circuit when you think you have a closed one (positive and/or negative terminals not actually making contact)... or an extreme voltage drop condition due to poor button or contact continuity.
I have a multimeter. How do I check to see if any of those things are off?
State O' Flux
Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
Member For 5 Years
So you have no electrical diagnostic knowledge? OK... here we go.
A word of caution before we begin. Make sure that your meter is set correctly before any test. If you forget to switch from resistance to voltage and apply live voltage, you will pop the fuse in the meter... and unless a spare came with the meter, I doubt you'll have a back-up.
Moving right along...
With the meter set to it's lowest Ω resistance range, touch the probes together and hold them. The lowest test reading you get should be zero to maybe 0.4Ω (at worst)... this is the baseline resistance in your meter and test leads. You will subtract it from any future resistance readings.
> Measure the resistance from the RDA body to either negative post... it should be the same as your test baseline. Measure from the center post to the 510 positive pin... again, should be the same as the meter test number.
If you have measurements greater than the baseline, you have an internal resistance problem with the RDA. This would be pretty rare, but you needed to eliminate as a source of resistance.
> Again, on your lowest resistance setting... you can test the entire mech, or individual sub-assemblies for continuity. For example, with one probe on the mech top cap and the other on the button itself... press the button. This tests the entire ground conductive pathway from the button to the top cap, all at once. The resistance should be the same as your original meter baseline test... in other words, no additional resistance. If there is, then somewhere between the two probes, you have poor conductivity causing excessive resistance.
> Next is a "no load" conductivity test. With the meter set to the lower voltage position (usually 10 or 20 volts DC), measure the voltage of a freshly charged, "known good" battery. Install it into the mod - carefully place the positive probe on the 510 positive pin and the negative on the mech case - fire the mod. You should have voltage identical to the bare battery. If you had less than battery voltage with no load... that's an indication you have terrible conductivity through the mod.
> Next is an applied load voltage test, or "voltage drop" test. Because the meter, load, atomizer and battery are unique to you and not a universal constant, this test is not for comparison purposes to anything you see or read on the interweb. This is to allow you to "see" the conductivity loss or resistance in your kit, with a load applied. Got it? Good.
In a perfect world, there would be no resistance in our kit that would create a loss of voltage delivered to our atomizers... then reality sets in, and very few mods in day to day use have no voltage drop.
> Build a coil on your RDA at approximately 1.0Ω. With the meter set to the lower voltage position, again measure the voltage of a freshly charged battery. Install the battery in the mech and the RDA to the mech, with the cap off. This next part you may want help from a second set of hands.
Holding the positive probe firmly to the center or positive RDA pin, hold the negative firmly to either of the negative posts. Now fire the mod until the volt reading is relatively stable... preferably no more than 5 seconds.
A genuine JD Tech Stingray, under objective, repeatable testing - with a controlled 1.0Ω load will have a VD of less than 0.10v. The absolute worst VD measurement I've ever seen or taken, with any mod, has been no more than 0.7v.
The difference between the battery only reading and the reading at the RDA is your voltage drop. Considering the circumstances, if you have a difference greater than 0.3 volts, you have conductivity issues with, in order of likelihood... your button, your contacts, your tube/cap threading.
If all this is more than your able to do... you can send it to me with a pre-paid return envelop. If it's fixable, I'll fix it.
Cheers
@State O' Flux that is an incredible post man. I learned a couple things, so thank you.
OP, I hope you fixed your issue. One thing of note is dependent upon your Stingray. I have owned two different clones in the past, and since found them new homes, but I had problems with some batteries, since the switch contact on mine were concave. Some batteries, even identical ones, had a bit more wrap around the negative, so the outer contact point of the switch wasn't making contact, thus not firing. If you've changed up batteries, this could be your problem, if not, I can't be of help.
OP, I hope you fixed your issue. One thing of note is dependent upon your Stingray. I have owned two different clones in the past, and since found them new homes, but I had problems with some batteries, since the switch contact on mine were concave. Some batteries, even identical ones, had a bit more wrap around the negative, so the outer contact point of the switch wasn't making contact, thus not firing. If you've changed up batteries, this could be your problem, if not, I can't be of help.
Ditto. I was just about to post that my hcigar stingray has that happen with some efest batts.
Sent from my XT1030
Yup, it's a flawed design IMO. When it works it works well, though.
State O' Flux
Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
Member For 5 Years
No problem TBCA... I wrote it with more than the OP in mind.
I've encountered (one of) the Stingray clone(s) you're referring to. Not a clue on the brand. The positive contact appeared to be a plated casting, rather than a machined from bar or at least machine finished piece. It seemed to be almost "as cast" (brass) prior to applying the silvery plating. As you indicate, it was excessively large... and yes, slightly concave.
The one I fixed required chucking up the contact in a drill press (I no longer have a lathe), and with an assortment of files, re-profiling the contact face to convex... as well as reducing the diameter. I also reduced button travel about 1.0mm.
