Vamo gone for a Burton... not chuffed... help!!

[steffijade]

Could be that the centre pin has been depressed too far down. They are usually held in place by a small plastic/rubber washer that also insulates the positive from the negative. Sometimes, the pin can get forced down too far and it isn't able to make a proper contact with the centre pin on the carto.

If the centre pin on the vamo looks a bit too far in you could try easing it up VERY GENTLY with a small flat headed screwdriver so that it raises up a bit.... but be aware, if you're too vigourous you could easily damage the rubber washer or even worse, damage the wiring to the centre pin. It might be a better idea to try teasing out the centre pin on a carto so that it protrudes a bit first and seeing if that makes a contact (better to knacker up a £1 carto by fiddling than your device).

 

[Vapemonkey1980]

I don't wish to alarm you, but I fear I may love you

Took a paper clip to my carto, stuck it on the vamo, and lo and behold... it registers existence

Still f00ked with my tank as it has a fixed end, but we are making steps in the right direction

How would i go about moving the centre pin? It looks fixed in place, or am I being vapetarded?

Cheers

 

[Woowoo]

Mine done that - was a centre pin issue - I lifted centre pin on Vamo with a toothpick and replaced the rubber o ring underneath with a thicker one, as the original had lost it's rigidity and the pin kept going too low to make a connection to anything I put on it - touch wood no issues since

 

[Vapemonkey1980]

Mine done that - was a centre pin issue - I lifted centre pin on Vamo with a toothpick and replaced the rubber o ring underneath with a thicker one, as the original had lost it's rigidity and the pin kept going too low to make a connection to anything I put on it - touch wood no issues since

This is looking to be EXACTLY the issue I am having

Have just prised up the centre pin with a good old paper clip, barely tightened the tank, and lo and behold, we have a reading!!!

Just need to find a suitable O ring replacement and my issues could well be resolved.

Many thanks

 

[steffijade]

I don't wish to alarm you, but I fear I may love you

Took a paper clip to my carto, stuck it on the vamo, and lo and behold... it registers existence

Still f00ked with my tank as it has a fixed end, but we are making steps in the right direction

How would i go about moving the centre pin? It looks fixed in place, or am I being vapetarded?

Cheers

Using a small, flat headed screwdriver, put the end of the screwdriver underneath the centre pin and GENTLY pivot it upwards. Do this a few times, rotating the device so that your not just lifting from one direction.

When you get to a point that the device works, stop. For future reference, screwing cartos in too tightly is generally what causes this issue. When screwing in cartos, try to screw in until it just 'bites' and don't force it all the way in.

For a while now, I've used 510-510 'shorty' extenders on my devices and haven't had this issue raise it's head. If you screw in the extender and leave it in position permanently, it helps to protect the threads on your device and if the same issue does happen to develop again, it's less harrowing to mess with the centre pin on the extender than the device.

I added a good few of these orders to an order I did from healthcabin and they've served me very well. In the following link, one of the 4 bottom options would be the ones to choose (the ones with holes are for automatic batteries) :
http://www.healthcabin.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1094_1095&products_id=7850

These same extenders are also available at a lot of UK suppliers too if you didn't want to wait for delivery.

Hope this helps.

 

[steffijade]

Oh... forgot to mention... important safety tip :

If the little rubber washer gets damaged and the centre pin makes a connection with the negative 'rim', it will cause the device to short. This will mean the device would probably 'fire' constantly (if it had a carto screwed in). If this happens, stop using it immediately... the constant drain on the battery could cause it to overheat and potentially, blow up. If the device feels very hot to the touch, it would probably be safer to try and place the device outside until the battery either goes 'bang' or fully discharges. If the device doesn't feel very hot to touch, try to take the batteries out before they go bang.

This might sound a bit alarming, but Garry Dibley did a series of experiments on VTTV where he tried to deliberately make batteries blow up and he couldn't manage it, so I'd say exploding batteries are very rare but it doesn't hurt to know what might happen if you were unfortunate enough.

I say this because by lifting the centre pin, it's possible that the rubber washer could (and I do mean could, not will) get punctured and cause a short. I've done it several times though and it's not happened to me... yet.

 

[Vapemonkey1980]

Not to keep asking daft questions... but where would i get hold of a suitable o ring replacement?

Could i nab one out of a defunct ego battery or somesuch or is there a better route to take?

Cheers

 

[Wigglypops]

you can get o rings from diy shops.

 

[steffijade]

Fully replacing the ring would involve taking the device apart and desoldering the connection... not something I would recommend attempting.

You could just stretch an o ring around and then underneath the centre pin to lift it a little, but if you lift it too far you risk breaking the connection wires and cartos might be a bit erm.... wobbly because they won't screw far enough in.

If you're gonna try adding an o ring, a thinnish one might be better.. could try looking in B&Q or somewhere similar?

 

[Woowoo]

My centre pin came out about an inch when I replaced the o ring - didn't yank it out, just gently teased it, but as said above, BE VERY CAREFUL in case you do pull the wires off!