Satan series mod tearing up my batteries.

[Jsgillis86]

First off, a generous thanks to all of you who contribute around here. Without your knowledge and advice I wouldn't be half as far along as I am, and likely still be deathly afraid of mechs. So right to it then.

I finally got my hands on a Satan by El Diablo. I've been after one for a long, long while and was more than excited when she showed up yesterday. But I've been having some issues, and I was hoping that someone out there could help me diagnose the problem(s) and help me figure out if it's me or my mod that's causing them. Thanks in advance everyone.

First off, she's tearing the battery wraps only on the battery that is in direct contact with the atty, and only on the bottom. I thought my atty/510 was just too tight so I tried it tonight with another set of batteries and removed the atty/510 and the switch completely. I held her upside down and removed and replaced the bottom panel three times in a row. Sure enough, the wrap tore a little more each time.

Secondly, both the switch and the 510 screw in just fine, but the 510 left these "rings" around the positive terminal of my battery. I removed it and found a small burr which I sanded down (very slowly) with very fine sharpening compunds. It's level now and sits nice and flush with my battery, but I took her for a run tonight and only after I fired her did these rings appear again. And this time it was on a fresh, undamaged, completely unadulterated battery. Ugh.

The same happens the battery connected to the switch. The cell making contact with it screws in just fine but after firing her it leaves these odd rings on my negative terminal. I can't feel them with my nail but they don't come across as arc marks. I have removed those with mild abrasives and the bottom side of a mousepad in the past, and neither of those solutions worked here.

Did I get a bunk mod? I bought from Dragons Den which everyone seems to trust, I cleaned every part of my mod thoroughly and meticulously before ever using her, and I'm well within the CDR of my batteries. I'm using married pairs of VTC5As (which, after the damage caused to them I'll probably discard) and HB6s (which I'll have to rewrap now).

I'm sorry if this comes across as pissy. I'm not ready to give up on her. I love the design and the switch, and the few hits I got off of her were game changing. But if she keeps tearing up my batteries, even in the least, she's gotta go.

Anybody experience anything similar? Am I doing anything wrong?

The only other thing I find odd is that my serial number is 0081. How did I wind up with one with such a low serial number? I thought these had been around for a while.

Anyways, feel free to come at me hard with any questions about what's gone on.

 

[Markw4mms]

I think @r055co owns one and might be able to offer some advice. Maybe he'll be around soon, or someone else with one can help you.

 

[Jsgillis86]

Honestly, I didn't expect much help this late. I'm kinda shocked I got a response so quickly.

Many thanks for making him aware of this thread. I was just gonna PM him but I didn't want to be obnoxious. I'm sure he has enough on his plate without some guy he doesn't know who happens to vape and might have the same mech he does that might have issues that, for all I know, could be my fault, bugging him at 3am. Didn't seem right to me.

 

[fartbubble]

Never got any from the switch but I've had problems with the 510 catching the wraps and I've had the plate on the bottom catch the wraps. With the 510, there was a slight bias so a quick filing fixed it. As for the plate, I tightened it down farther and adjusted the 510 & screw on the switch.


And that's a solid serial on yours. My polished is 648

 

[Jsgillis86]

Thanks, fart. Heh..I never thought I'd say that willingly. Never trust a fart, unless he's a VU forum member. Anyways...

I noticed a slight bias on the 510 so I took it upon myself to level it. I sharpen knives on what most would consider a professional level, so leveling a 510 can't be that much different. All I'm doing is creating a more even plane than existed previously, with a finer scratch pattern mind you, and doing so with harder stuff than the original "plane" was composed of originally, eh? Makes sense to me.

Odd thing is, afterwards I tested a married set of HB4's in the same mod with the same atty with the same build in her and she shines like a 9am hangover.

I'm clueless.

 

[fartbubble]

It's just giving you a better & more even contact. With a bit of polishing on it for good measure

 

[Jsgillis86]

For sure Mr. Bubble. And again, many thanks.

Right, so I think I've got it all sorted now, but it took a minute. I'm not sure if this is my experience alone but I'd at least like to share what happened along the way.

So the burr on the 510 was likely my doing. After fiddling with her for a few days now I can solemnly say that the gold plated sections of the 510/switch are pretty durn soft. Not a deal breaker by any means, but for anyone looking to pick one up just keep in mind that you should use the proper tools to disassemble her. Attempting to unscrew especially the tiny parts with a screwdriver too small, for instance, funnels a relatively large and unnecessary amounts of pressure into specific points in the steel and can cause deformation. For whatever reason I could see this leading to arcing and/or battery damage. Insert your best Homer Simpson "Doh" face here.

When you remove or insert batteries, make sure you unscrew the 510 and the switch beforehand. I did not at first and the bottom plate caught my wraps and ripped them to shreds. It also made these nice, neat marks the negative terminal of my battery in the shape of a negative sign. I should've known. Dumbass me.

Either way, be certain there is zero possible resistance from your 510 and your switch on the batteries in any format before attempting to do, well, anything with the bottom plate. Proceeding as such solved my battery wrap issue entirely.

Lastly, as Senor Pedo stated previously, my 510 was not perfectly level. If you're even the slightest bit proficient on a sharpening stone, a file or some form of sander it won't take you more than a few minutes to remedy, and for all I know me and el Bubble here might be the only two who've come across this issue, but it needs to be noted regardless.

Aside from all that, I'm sitting here with a .6 ohm round wire build (something I thought I'd never go back to) and am getting what I think might be the best vape of my life. I'd never get this cloudy in public, but man oh man... As far as I can tell the Kryten RDA was tailor-made for series builds, and I'm already hooked on series and looking for my next one.

If anyone else has any other input I'd be happy to hear it, but I think she's just dandy as is.