Conanthewarrior

Hi people. I already own the Hotcig DNA200, but have had a problem with the battery, and is currently unuseable at all as the Li-Po lasted 5 days before failure-but I knew it was coming as it kept giving the error "DNA200-battery-Warranty issue". A new battery is being sent under warranty, but may take a MONTH. So, I am looking at mods I can get in the UK so I have two mods. Here are a few of my options-could anyone tell me anything about these mods, if any are better quality than the others if you own them for example? My first choice is the efusion designed by lost vapes-I like its design, and the battery. It retails for £124.99. My second choice is the Hcigar VT200-I wish this is what I had bought in the first place-as it is only £100 IN THE UK and I would not of had issues with China, it would be much faster if this was the one I got for the same price, this is the reason I want to buy another from the UK and have 2 DNA200's. Then my third choice is the vaporshark-thing is, the design is so similar to the Hotcig, and it is £169.99, I don't really want that particularly, unless it is exceptionally well built or something. Those are just a few examples. So, a DNA 200 with ideally a 1300MAH Li-PO is what I am looking at-1100 is also OK, but 900 seems to go too fast for my style of vaping. I want to keep under £150, £130 preferably, which is another reason the Vaporshark is not really viable. So, any UK users, could you recommend me a DNA200 device? I probably will get the Efusion most likely, unless there is known problems with it. I like the design, and the shop will warrant the 1 year warranty-so I like that the most at the moment. So, anyone who could help would be great. Thank you everyone, Conan.

Ok I tried the only other LI-Po I have-it was very weak, but it DID fire connected to USB. So I guess it isn't the fuse-as it fired and worked, albeit at very low wattage with kanthal. I just have to wait up to ONE MONTH to get my battery replacement from gearbest-till then I will have to use my other 12 mods (Not DNA, but now I've tried the DNA200 they seem inferior) So, It is almost certainly the battery, not the fuse, or anything else is it? I just like to rule everything out and make sure I am correct with my issues, otherwise they will play on my mind for the next month all day and night. Thanks, Conan.

So it was due to the dodgy battery then? I tried another LI-PO, just connected the balance lead and the negative and positive right up with electrical tape-it was an old Li-Po, but it would fire at low wattage, so I know it is the batteries now, not the fuse. I was glad it wasn't the fuse blown, I was scared of that. I have to wait for up to a MONTH for the free battery to come-I think I am getting a turniguy Lipo and going to use that for now, 850MAH 45C-90C, and I can afford it, so at least I will be able to use my device. If it doesn't work with a new battery-it's the actual DNA setup itself. I would then have to wait for gearbest to change it, and being my most expensive mod it is quite annoying. At least I have 12 others to use to pass the time lol!

Hi people. On another forum, someone mentioned to me is could actually be the onboard fuse that is blown causing my issues, as he said he had heard of similar issues only working on USB and it was the fuse. Thing is, I didn't have to have mine CONSTANTLY connected to USB, only when the error come up, it would go straight away, and then I could use it. Now the Li-Po last night, the screen started to flicker, then lost power. I went into escribe and sure enough, the battery was buggered. It would only go up to 4.89 W/h's, jump to 5.10 W/h's, then back down. I just want to check now someone on another forum mentioned this-so could it indeed be the onboard fuse is blown, and the new Li-Po will not work? I do NOT have any Zinc flux, so soldering shouldn't work at the moment. It was actually when I swapped batteries out, soldered in the old one, without many cycles, and got the same error I was worried, but it was a 6-7 year old Li-Po. I am thinking of completely cleaning any solder residue, and attaching the battery to the pins firmly with electrical tape-after all, repairs to mains electricty are temporarily done using this, so I see no issue with a battery. You're help is much appreciated, and really will help me find if it IS the battery, as gearbest have sent me a new one but it can take up to a MONTH to arrive. Seeing as at least I could use the mod before, but did not realise special solder was required, I will clean all the contacts of solder then use electrical tape to at least try to get it half working. Thanks everyone-so Could it be the chip-or due to it stating battery error-should it 100% be the battery? It has never told me about a hardware issue, once it told me a 1.1V something, but that was using tools, to flash the firmware, upload my profile setup, test fire the atty, and then the battery. But I gathered that was because of the battery. Thank you-a worried DNA200 owner.

I did, but went back to the older firmware, but when I have the new battery I will sort it. I was doing some reading, and read that I need to use Zinc flux with my solder, so normal rosin core will not work no? Maybe that is why it would not work with the new(old) battery, and also the one it came with no more, as I used standard solder, tinned the wire and connection, then soldered, but guess it doesn't work properly.

And it is definitely the battery- it wont charge past 5 W/h's. It fluctuates from 4.97 to about 5.10, but will go no further, and when you try to fire the screen dims and lights as if it can't power the device enough to even keep it going, let alone heat a coil, and that's on USB. Not connected to USB it isn't even on. At least gear best will of shipped a battery tommorow (thats if they keep to their word, I THINK they will though. If not it will be a fastech order, but I think gearbest will warrant it as it;s in writing now.

Ok then mate, so both batteries are knackered? I gathered it probably would be at that age- but soldering out the old battery, putting in the new, and replacing the old has made it give up the ghost, even in escribe. It just says 'check atomizer' or 'check battery' now, so I am glad a replacement is on the way. Will be a few weeks, but I won't have to do no soldering as it is in its enclosure, and should work well. It is just going to be a long few weeks after experiencing the DNA200 and going back to a SIG150TC and Xcube 2 lol.

Hi people-I tested out if it was the Li-Po giving me the check battery-warranty issue screen by changing Li-Po's. I soldered a new one in the battery holder-and am STILL getting the same error. Does anybody have any idea why this could be? I think the whole mod may actually have to go back, which is a shame, but I am certain it is the Li-Po, plus the working Li-Po is about 6 years old, but only taken around 10 or so charges in its life. So, if its not the battery-what could be causing the battery error message? Thanks everyone.

OK it is the battery-I changed the setting from mximum 0.2 difference to 0.5, and it worked and escribe turned green. Worry over, just got to wait for the bloomin Li-po from China. I just want to make sure-as the battery was balanced and I am still getting the error, it is the Li-Po at fault still yes? As I don't want to receive another battery, then find out it wasn'y the Li-Po. I have a 20C battery I can put in quickly to test if it is or isn't-could I test that quickly at very low wattage with kanthal to see if I get the error?

Hi everyone. As you know I received a severly discharged lipo and am having some issues. Gearbest surpisingly have agreed to send me a new Li-PO in housing though, and I can keep the one I have, so can put a good battery in this one and have two! Thing it, under tools I tried to run production utility-to update the firmware, upload settings, test fire, and check the battery more. Thing is, it updates the firmware, then the settings, but then Excribe goes red and says "Bandap out of range-1.1V-possible hardware issue". Now, I am worrying it is more than the Li-Po, but I am sure it is just the dodgy lipo causing this. I need to also ask-what is the bandgap? Thank you all for your help, you really are helping me out. The batteries were balanced to 3.77 volts a cell when I tried to perform the test-so the battery was not imbalanced, they was at this voltage as it said to perform the test at 1/4 to 1/2 full. Is it possible that due to having the WH setting set to 9, and not 9.9 as it should be, this is causing the error? Anyone that can answer will be very helpful, as I am now worried it is not the battery after all-and is the chip. But I am 99.9% certain it IS the battery. Thanks everyone, Conan.

Ok You are not going to believe this-Gear best have agreed to send me a brand new Li-Po, in housing for my mod, for free, and I get to keep the partially working one, that I can install a fully working Li-po in! So, they said they will be dispatching it immediately. I do not know what method it will be shipped by, so it could be a few weeks, but they have warranted the warranty! Really happy is an understatement. Now I do not have to order the extra housing either for when the battery runs out to straight swap-I will already have it

I have updated to the latest software version, the september the 30th release, but I don't know how to show what version this is? Where in Escribe can I find the version I am on? As I have really looked through, but I can't seem to find the information. All help is appreciated, but I must say it is working fine on the newest firmware , apart from the OHMS reading. It seemed more accurate on the previous revision so I may go back-before it locked my coils at their correct resistance, now it sometimes changed the cold resistance to a hot reading for some reason, and then fires super hot due to believing the coil is higher resistance. I have to override that sometimes manually, so I may go back to my previous version as I still have that for stability.

My battery is less imbalanced than that-but is giving me a battery error message. I think it is 100% the Li-Po though, as it arrived a 3.7 volts! So I had to use escribe battery recovery, but it still throws out the error message if left idle for half hour or I remove and reconnect the battery- but if I connect to Escribe it boots straight away so I can use it. I am trying a full USB recovery charge and also hard reset the device- Before I only used it for an hour or so, then finished on the usb port but the wall charger, I am hoping a full from near zero recovery charge will sort the issue, as gearbest are idiots, I described the problem in detail, and they then said could you please explain your problem in detail. I sent a similar message, tried to make it easier to understand, and showed them the error message. I do not expect them to replace it though and wont use gearbest again, but I got a fully made DNA 200 for the price the chip retails for in the UK, so even if I have to replace the Li-Po, it is still a fully made, great working unit for under £100, the cheapest in the UK are £180+.

Yeah I only really vape super high wattage for a bit of a laugh, its not really what I enjoy, I enjoy lower wattage, super flavour. OK so you can hit 200W with big enough coils? What sort of gauge are we talking here? I gather at a minimum 22-as I have 24 Gauge and built a dual coil setup at 0.24 ohms. I had this set to 80 watts-but it would hit temp almost immediately at 230C, and drop to around 17 watts, and fluctuate slightly to keep at the temp it has hit, so in reality I wasn't vaping at 80 watts, maybe for a second until TC kicks in. I tend to find that on all TC models-more vapour is produced with more heat-but my DNA 200 manual states temp does not control clouds, the wattage does, so its a bit confusing, as I guess with standard kanthal, the higher the wattage, the higher the temperature on standard mods, which produces more cloud. But like I said I would only like to do it for fun, probable only every couple of weeks-and I highly doubt I would be able to take that wattage for long. But, I do want to get some 20 or 22 gauge standard kanthal, to get the surface area needed for TC. I wonder what I could get out of a dual coil, 26 gauge titanium build at around 0.2-0.3 for surface area?

Ahh thats pretty good then-my battery can't be too damaged as it is 900MAH and I get around 9ML's out of a full charge. I realised, I have not actually ran a FULL battery saver cycle on Escribe. I have only allowed it to run for around an hour or so, then finished off with the wall charger. I am trying to run the battery untill full in battery saver mode-and it seems to be doing something, as occasionally on the graph the voltage will dip, then the amps, instead of the usual flat charging line. It is only doing it every few minutes-but I guess it is areas of the battery that are damaged it is trying to override/save? Also, I understand it is 200W, but in TC mode that obviously isn't achievable, due to wattage dropping to keep to your temp. If I did want to run it at 200W, it would be with kanthal, non temp yes? I am highly unlikely to do so, as I have other mods that are possible of 150 and 180W, I have tested them once just to see if they could reach it with a suitable build, and they could. But in all honesty, 80W with dual coils is enough for me, that provides huge clouds, and that is mad for me. I am more after flavour, and interested in the tech side of vaping, so use the DNA 200 at around 30W or so with a 100W preheat, 8 punch. I did have it set to 80W preheat, but I find 100W to be even smoother as it gets there in an instant.

Ahh-I think you are right! I checked in escribe and a cell IS unbalanced from the rest- now, I am ordering a new battery on Saturday when I get payed, but for now, how do I fully run Escribes battery saver? I go into diagnostics, and Click battery saver, and proceed with it, but it doesn't seem to do anything different-is the battery saver running-or do I need to trigger it a certain way? As everyone else with the Hotcig had this issue, and have recovered batteries more damaged than mine OK, so I find it odd I am one of the only people to have the issue . So just checking I am running it correctly-and should I run the battery right down before using the battery saver- or use it at any time during the discharge cycle? I'm thinking I should ideally do it now, when it is at just under half charge. EDIT: The 3 cells are at 3.82 volts at the moment-but if I remove and insert the battery I get the error? Can the DNA200 detect the battery is damaged even before reaching that voltage?

I just want to be sure it IS the battery-the device works perfectly-if you unplug the battery and plug it back in it comes up with "DNA 200-Battery-Warranty issue" And not "return to researcher" like I would expect if the board was faulty, and only happens under half capacity. As the battery was discharged to 3.6 volts, around 1.2 or so volts a cell, its 99% certain that with that error message, plus when connected to USB it powers on immediately,removing the error message and you can remove the USB and it works until you either remove the battery or leave it overnight, then get the same message? I gather as the device itself is telling me its a battery issue, and it was discharged to damaging levels, it is almost a 100% certainty that it IS the Li-Po, I just wanted to check with people more knowledgeable than me that it is, in fact, the Li-po. I am certain it is-but I like to double check, and due to my injury I tend to worry more than others as it affected my thinking.

I only just noticed this. I did get the error again, and they was going out of balance at lower charge (.2 volts between cell 1 and cell 3). Not a massive change, and the batteries cells were still above 3.1V, this was with about 1/4th-1/3rd battery left. I thought I had the issue solved-but obviously the Hotcig coming at just THREE.SEVEN volts has left a permanent scar. I knew about the issue before order though-it is just the whole setup was on offer for the same price as the chip retails for alone. So even If I have to get a new Li-Po, I got a fully made DNA 200, with lipo, balanced external wall charger, for the price of just the board. I am in the UK-would there be any problems getting the fullymax shipped to the UK? I also am in the process of emailing Hotcig to try to get a free replacement-as it should not come that drained. I knew about the evolv bug to start, but it is still wrong. I have not had an email back from hotcig yet-I think I may have to pressure them into releasing one for free. I am going to also order an extra from fasttech-this should not suffer from the discharge issue as it is not connected to a mod, it is just the battery in a housing. So, does everyone agree it is a new Li-Po that is needed? I was looking at various ones last night, I actually have a 850MAH sitting on my bed right now. I used it about 5 times for one of my RC helis, and that has never been damaged. I am wondering if it is worth opening the housing and installing that, and losing 50 A/h's for the device to function properly. If I don't use that, it will definitely be a 900 or 1000MAH li-Po that I can fit in there. Just have to make sure the rating is OK for the device-even though in escribe I noticed my amp draw never was above 20-it hit about 18 for preheat, then about 7-8 Amps for the rest of my 5 second pull, that was set at 220C 24W. I would like a battery that could handle full power though-I tried it with TC on a dripper, and well it was the same as using it at the 24 watts-it hit the temp ceiling immediately, and dropped below 20 watts. I guess the 200W is for non-TC wires. Even though escribe has max kanthal power set to 100W, it is safe with the correct battery to change that value to 200W isn't it? I don't want to damage the DNA, as I won't be able to afford another one for a while. I had a seizure last year that left some lasting damage, so work is quite dry, although I am training with Cisco in the new year in IT and network system repair and diagnostics.

Yeah, I noticed that, that is why I suspect that IS the same fullymax battery, just with the cells rewrapped. OK, the problem is NOT solved. I woke up this morning, it was around half battery last night but I didn't want to leave it on charge over night, for obvious safety reasons. I connected to Escribe- and boom straight into the profile it was set to before, unplug it straight away, and it still works. I have changed the watt hours down to 9, and have it set to max recharges, but it still is doing it. It is a minor niggle until I get a new Lipo- but it does mean I can not take the device out with me. If the error happened while I was out that equals no vape. When I went back into escribe, I checked the cells, and the was all in perfect balance, ALTHOUGH last night I notice that at 1/4 full there was a .2 volt difference in cell 3 to cell 1. Is this enough to trigger that screen? I thought it would come up with the battery imbalanced screen if that was the case? The error I am getting is not shown on the screen setup page, it says "warranty issue-battery" So must be programmed in by hotcig themselves. It takes charge fine, it doesn't get hot, it can charge to its full capacity of 9.9W hours (It is a 10 watt hour battery, and happens to be exactly the same size as the fully max battery-so I suspect it to be that.) I get 3 1/2 RSBT2 tanks out of it, or about 9ML of juice, which is well on par, or even above my other devices. I have an 80W preheat with punch set around 8 with a 1 second limit, but it doesn't even need the full second. I have only tested with 1 dripper so far-the other set ups are a Lemo V2 with NI200 and a SMOK RSBT2 in TI dual coil. Both are super smooth. I must add that the batteries were nowhere near dangerously unbalanced last night-they was all well above 3.1 volts. So, does anyone have any more ideas, or does it sound like a dodgy li-Po, like the DNA is actually telling me?

Wow. I don't think I will be making something like that just for battery testing, but pretty cool! I may use the thick wire method as stated above, just need to know exactly WHAT wire would be suitable. I guess a single resistor would not be sufficient to run this test? That is why you have them set up that way? Thanks for the information though. It seems a bit beyond my realm-and I wouldn't want to break my now favourite mod/Chip. All I know is the 900MAH battery is enough for 3 and a bit tanks of my SMOK RSBT2. I've found that to be a good tank for TC after taking it out of retirement due to it using untempered glass, found some that fit (The gt-t tanks by taifun if anyone was wondering, the glass for those is a pyrex type, and won't shatter like the standard thin glass provided by SMOK). I see the turniguy battery-I was looking at one of these myself, but I think it was 1100MAH, 45C-90C so well enough for safety. In all honesty though-I guess the 200W would only really be suitable for Kanthal, as TC would kick in and drop the wattage would it not if you tried using it on a TC build? But standard settings in Escribe for kanthal are 100W-is it safe to allow kanthal to the chips full power with a suitable battery?

I had dropped the W/H to 9, and set it to max recharges. Its now back on max puffs and 9.9 W/h's. Lets see if the error still pops up, as it was two changes I made, I dropped the W/h to 9 and also changed the max recharges back to how it was originally. It was probably the W/H drop that fixed it thinking about it, as I can't see how the .3 volt difference would affect its ability to perform under 500 W/h's. I have set it back to max puffs, and 9.9 to try replicate the problem, and if I do, I will drop it to 9 W/h's and leave it on max puffs, and see if that works . EDIT: Well, it seems that problem has gone. Max puffs, 9.9 watt hours, charged right to 9.9W/H's, and has vaped all the way down without the error message. Hoping it was teething problems with the first few charges-but if it does happen again, at least I know how to fix it by dropping the Watt hours.

Hello. I am new to the DNA 200, and am enjoying it. It is by far the best out of my 12 mods, 9 regulateds, 5 TC. This is the smoothest TC, that it is so smooth its not even like TC. It does not pulse like other chips do, running hot then cool, it actually does it so smoothly it is unbeleiveable. I think this is the future of vaping. On to my question- I want to run battery anylyzer to find if my battery is damaged, and is the stated MAH (900) that it should be, but due to receiving at low voltage and using battery saver, I am worried its left a wound. It suggests using a resistor at 40 watts-is it best for me to get a resistor for this-or would it be possible with a coil of the correct resitance? If it needs to be a resistor, could you reccommend me the type, and I guess you attach it to your atomiser like you would a coil for the test to run? Thanks for your help to a new DNA200 owner.

Thinking logically-I see no reason as to how exactly this has worked, as the setting only reduces the charge to 4.1 volts per cell instead of 4.2.... Very strange indeed-but it definitely sorted the issue. I can not remove the battery below 50% or I get the error-but I then connect to Escribe and it instantly works again. I think a new Li-Po will be ordered next weekend when I am payed to fit into the current casing. I may be able to squeeze a slightly higher MAH battery in there, but if I can not thats no issue, I just want to be able to use it fully. I'm not sending the whole unit back to china now I have it, so will have to add a battery into the cost, but I got it at a massive discount, £80, so even if I got the official pack that brings it to just over £100 for the DNA200 hotcig. The chip alone retails for £79.95, so I got a working unit, for the price of a chip. That is one huge bargain. If I find the design of this to be limiting of batteries-I will simply transfer to a different case that can fit a bigger li-Po.

Well, changing the settings back actually worked. I think the Li-po was likely damaged, due to the voltage it was received at, I used escribe battery recovery when I first got the mod. I checked in escribe-the cells remained perfectly balanced through discharge. I recorded the graphs with the 'max recharge' settings in place, in case I needed them. But, my device works fine now. It can do 3 RSBT2 tanks of juice before recharging, which is far more than I expected from a 900MAH Li-po. I have some experience with li-po's, as I used to fly RC choppers. I only have one now, hence having one spare lipo, but thats only 850MAH so I won't install that one, plus the C rating is too low for safe operation (Even though with my average usage, 17 Amps is the peak for a split second for preheat (80w on Ni200, 70W on TI) and this is the smoothest device I own out of my 12 mods. I will check out the fullymax battery, and its dimensions. I will be ordering a spare battery pack on the weekend, so I can use my device when the other is charging. At the moment though, I am charging straight to device at 1A. Glad to hear it is normal for the watt hours to drop-now if my battery was damaged, it would not show as 9.9 watt hours in escribes device monitor would it? As that is exactly what it should be set at, it's awful hotcig are sending out units knowing they will be drained dangerously low due to the bug in the pre update firmware. That was the first thing I done when I received it, updated the firmware. But for now, issue solved . The only problem is, this is so smooth it makes my other mods seem rubbish compared to the DNA200. Like I said, TC is so smooth it does not even seem like TC, no heat then cold then heat for example, like some mods I own do. Definitely my new favourite mod. I have contacted hot cig to try and get a replacement Li-Po, as being discharged to 3.8V is sure to leave a scar, but it is all I have to use now. Maybe i've been lucky, the majority of hotcig owners have had the low battery, and each time Escribe has saved the battery. It seems to have in my case, but only if I keep it on max recharges, but on max recharges I get more puffs anyway as I can use it all the way to near empty.

I should add, I realise this happened after I changed settings in escribe from maximize battery to maximum puffs-I have changed it back and see if that fixes it. I am using it now, and with a 900MAH battery, it should be there soon (I suspect the battery may not be 900MAH and is less, but I do not have a resistor to do the battery anylyzer.) So I am pretty sure its a lipo issue- what can I get ordered to get in there while I am emailing them? As I can only use it to half batttery is a bit annoying, also the watt/hours falling during discharge use-this is normal yes? It was 9.9 fully charged, it is now at 7.16, it drops to around 5 when the error occurs. But maybe, just maybe, that change of settings will sort it, as I could use it below half before that. I did so twice, as I was really gettting to know the device, so using it a lot yesterday, and today to try and sort this error.