Not completely dead but not alive either. And doesn't work

[vapealone]

After a beautiful week she has stopped working but still alive

Symptoms:
Without USB plugged in goes dark and dead as if there was no battery connected.

With USB plugged she lights up as per normal but doesn't fire. Mostly says check atomizer sometimes says too high ohm.

Device Monitor shows battery voltage perfect, if all the connector is attached and funny numbers if only the balance charger is plugged.

Atomizer Analizer starts promising than drops connection too.

Should it display the same Check Atomizer message unplugged  I would even buy that it is the connector/wiring (the very atty is at work ATM on an IPV4 so I figured it was OK) but it seems that there is something else trigger this message.
Besides, as far as my MM can tell both the connector and the output wires are OK and I can also detect the standby mV-s on the connector and the on the wire.
MM shows the battery OK too both on connector and on solder (12+V)

And the smell. The unmistakeable smell when an electrical device is about to die and getting hot too when USB is on.

Can it be the fuse? Or it would make the whole thing dark even with USB on?

Thank you in advance for any advice

P.S:
   

Besides: Is there any way to simply export data listed above? If yes, where? If not, can I make it a feature request?

[vapealone]

Since the above I had a closer look at and it is the fuse which leads to two questions:
Why?
What next?

Because, it seems to me that something is wrong with the USB connector or with something related to it for:

1. Without USB plugged the device is dead. So far so good, the fuse is blown, no power.
2. USB on I have some function, connectivity but limited. E.g. No ohms reading (Check Atomizer message on board big question mark on Escribe)  and obviously no firing.So, apparently USB can power up some circuits not protected by the fuse. Which is either a bug or a feature, I don't know.
3. USB plugged and some light upward force applied on the plug (that I accidentally did, tilting the mod to look inside while troubleshooting) and the full device is on direct USB power and dead fuse is fully bypassed means

• Ohm reading is working
• The mod starts to fire until I got a too high ohm message (understandably, 5V/0.5A doesn't go long way)

And this bothers me a lot.
Apparently some current from USB can bypass the fuse and flow everywhere it wants. And if it happens when fuse is blown than it can happen when fuse is not (yet) blown. And I fear, that it could easily blow the fuse again. And again. Or fries something else on the board?

Which leaves question #2
What next?


P.S.:
This is the way I have held the mod when USB bypassed everything (w/battery on) Apparently at some point something makes contact with some other thing on the board that shouldn't happen. It would explain a lot of things, wouldn't it?
BTW, she died while tethered and vaped on, USB plug sitting on my index finger... 

[lamonjullo]

Vapealone, I don't want you to vape alone, so I'll be your first responder...

I had a mod that had nearly identical symptoms not long ago.  I understand that you know it's a blown fuse, and I understand that you are mostly concerned about the USB's ability to still somehow provide power after such an incident, but I want to save you possible future woes with your mod, specifically your LiPo pack.

When I sent my mod in for examination/repair I was told it was indeed a blown fuse.  I was vaping closer to 1am, I was a bit tired, so as soon as it quick working I knew I better jot down my thoughts before heading off to bed for fear of not being able to remember any pertinent details the next morning.  Here is what I jotted down:

1.  Just took it off the charger from full around 5 minutes before it went dead.

2.  I had taken around 20 hits off of it before it went dead.

3.  Around 2 hits before it went dead, I looked at the battery charge - it read 98%.

4.  After it wouldn’t respond to any button combination, I plugged it into a 1 amp charger.  It went through the boot screens.  After booting, battery percentage immediately read 92%, 6% different from just a 30 seconds earlier - weird.

5.  Whilst plugged in I noticed my previously solid .12 build now reads .15 ohms.

6.  When I hold the FIRE button whilst plugged in it shows the live-wattage reading only below 10 and immediately reads "OHMS TOO HIGH.”  I inspected my build, it looks solid.  No touching the posts and the screws are tight.

7.  When I unplug from any sort of power, it turns off instantly and still does not respond to button clicks of any sort.

8.  My build is a single-coil .12 Ni200.

9.  My settings while vaping were temp-limited 500°F, 75W.

Notice numbers 3 and 4.  I am curious if you noticed anything like this in your own mod between when it quit and when you plugged it into a charging source.  The important information I want to warn you about was after a two-day journey to my modder via USPS, the battery was checked with a multimeter and one of the cells was reading 0v.  Now, this could have happened as a result of plugging into a charging source after the fuse had blown.  Either way, were I you I'd limit any plugging into power after the fuse has blown.

I can't answer either of your specific questions though no matter how much I'd love to help.  From my perspective (consumer/enthusiast/lurker) it seems like John and Brandon and the whole Evolv team have enough problematic mods on-hand to be able to replicate common issues and collect useful data.  This should lead to a fix, or at least to more-detailed information for modders and end-users.

[vapealone]

Thank you lamonjullo for your answer.

I haven't really checked the battery readout before it passed away
However, I have noticed weird ohm readings and unstable power delivery etc.

And thanks for the warning. Luckily, the battery is already out and (unluckily) it won't be back soon

[VapingBad]

The board powering for partial function via USB is not a bug, it is needed to program the boards without having to install them.

[vapealone]

VapingBad said:

The board powering for partial function via USB is not a bug, it is needed to program the boards without having to install them.

My concern is that the  board powered via USB when the fuse is blown (i.e. board powered up w/o surge protection) With good fuse it is OK

Besides, as I have added, it does some other thing it probably shouldn't: the current actually found its way to the output circuit. And I think, it could be a problem. Unless there is some shut down hardware option inside, it means that few circuit on the board can get power from both the battery and the USB at the same time which sound like a kaboom to me

[David247]

Hi mine had the same symptoms wired ohm reading and unstable power delivery before I changed the atty then the fuse went which I have changed now hope it's ok now Regards David

[Mad Scientist]

vapealone said:

[QUOTE=VapingBad]The board powering for partial function via USB is not a bug, it is needed to program the boards without having to install them.

My concern is that the  board powered via USB when the fuse is blown (i.e. board powered up w/o surge protection) With good fuse it is OK

Besides, as I have added, it does some other thing it probably shouldn't: the current actually found its way to the output circuit. And I think, it could be a problem. Unless there is some shut down hardware option inside, it means that few circuit on the board can get power from both the battery and the USB at the same time which sound like a kaboom to me


[/QUOTE] It would be interesting to see how much current it will try to draw from USB. Do you have any tools to measure that? (I'm not inclined to take a mod apart and disconnect batteries at the moment -- sorry lol). USB standard is (was? -- so many new versions out these days I can't keep track) that a device would negotiate with a digital port for amount of power available and a charging port (in addition to the specs for how to determine what it can supply) would lower its voltage if excessive current was drawn. As VapingBad stated, the board is designed to power itself from the USB with no battery present. The USB standard will (should) protect a digital or charging port from excessive current draw. This is true even if the mod tries to fire when USB powered. No kaboom. If you are still concerned about the issue, you should measure the current drawn through the USB when you try to fire the mod with no battery connected.