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Eleaf Istick 50W and What Happened


jonnoh

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Hi All,  I see lurkingly that many here are quite into the Istick 50W for several reasons.  One being that it's good for sub ohm tanks?  Another for how long it lasts between charges.  I received one as a gift several weeks back and I too loved it.  I loved it because it would last more than two days without charging because I seem to vape almost constantly, and it was relatively compact, had a good feel in the hand.  Then a while back a couple of weeks ago maybe, I noticed a couple of times that when I pulled it from my pocket to take a hit, it had jumped to very high watts from my usual range of 9 to 11 depending on age of coil and liquid used.  I'm mostly using IClear 30's I think they're called because I just happen to have so many.  They used to come with so many kits I bought and I ended up with so many spare coils, and they work ok for me.  Anyway the very high watts that suddenly appeared either gave me a horrible hit or just blew the coil away.  I thought this was because I'd been inadvertently hitting the up watts button while the thing was in my pocket and never remembering to shut the thing off before putting it in my pocket. Then a few days ago, my sig other said, "Hey, did you hear the 50W is having an auto fire issue?".  I'd never heard of it but coincidentally that day or the next, I actually saw this happen.  I was sitting at the computer and the battery suddenly started firing and I grabbed it and hit the fire button and it stopped.  Sig other stopped trusting it instantly and said I'd better contain it while charging and store it outside, not keep near the bed etc.  I said, "We live in a cement house.  Who ever heard of a cement house burning down?".  But I do know we've got lots of wooden stuff here that could make quite a mess so I took to putting the thing in a stainless half liter tin with a clamped cover I would normally use to store homemade ice cream.  Then one day, I was just sitting there and heard a 'pssssssssssssst'  sound and immediately thought the cats must have caught a snake (occasional occurrence here).  But then I smelled burning metal and looked over at the tin and it was glowing on one end and the 'pssssssssst' sound was from there.  I had to unlock the rear kitchen to get oven mitts and finally picked up the thing and threw the container, Istick out onto the driveway.  The lid fell off the tin and the mod flew out and I ran to look and it was really hot.  Then when it cooled I pushed the button and saw it still had charge left so I just put it back in the tin, put it in the car on top of the oven mitts and drove 5 mins to the recycling centre.  Before I got there it fired up again and when I opened the car door and showed the recycling guy he just grabbed it and threw it in the guard dog's water where it hissssssed to death.  After assuring that the dog got new water, I left.  End of story except I wish I'd had presence of mind to take a vid or pic at least but I guess I was pressed into action and not testing if it were actually possible to burn down a cement house.  Any one else had something like this?  

 

Edited by jonnoh
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You said it was a gift, are you sure it was a genuine Eleaf iStick 50W and not a knock off? I've got five of them and none of them has ever done anything like that, not saying that they couldn't but... Where did your SO hear about the auto fire issue? I'm interested because I do have these and don't want to find that it can double as a hot plate.  :)

I'm glad you weren't hurt when the thing go so hot!

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I have seen a few reports on this subject, Mostly its due to juice leaking into the electronics, which can happen to most any mod. I have no experience with a Istick so I don't know how well they are sealed. This is one reason leaky tanks should not be used.

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You said it was a gift, are you sure it was a genuine Eleaf iStick 50W and not a knock off? I've got five of them and none of them has ever done anything like that, not saying that they couldn't but... Where did your SO hear about the auto fire issue? I'm interested because I do have these and don't want to find that it can double as a hot plate.  :)

I'm glad you weren't hurt when the thing go so hot!

It was a gift from SO and he's a stickler for making sure he got the real thing so always checks the numbers and holograms with the manufacturer etc.  He says it passed muster.  He was just googleing and found many posts discussing this.  Most refer to reddit, and most claim it's a liquid getting in the mod issue or being spilt on the firing button.  Not sure about that but it's possible as I'm not the neatest person (my former secretary would lhao over that).  :)  I was looking for a 'atomizer short, no atomizer, low atomizer' fix for my 20W at the time and it just came up so he looked.  

As an aside, I notice that my regular supplier in Malaysia no longer lists the 20W, 30W, or 50W, only the new 40W temp control version.  No idea why yet.  

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I too have seen quite a few reports of it, but it never anyone I "know".  I really hate that it happened to you, but now I know they just were not tall tales.  I personally have had great luck with the iStick line, but I don't own a 50 watt.

I am glad it didn't hurt anyone, or anything, except itself.

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Every time I refill a tank or do anything, I always clean the little bit of juice that's in the connection. So far I've not experienced any problems at all and I only use the 50W these days. I'll keep my eyes open for any problems. Thanks for the heads up!

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My wife and I have 4 and no issues at all but I did kill one when I jumped in the lake with it in a lanyard and when I fired it the power stuck at 50w and would not turn off. That one sleeps with the fishes.

I clean my connection at every tank refill and make sure it stays as dry as possible. Like any electronic devise moisture is the enemy.

Now back no Knocked Up and sleep lol

 

 

 

 

image.jpg

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Googled the auto firing and it's scary all the accounts out there. Thankfully, I've not had any problems with mine, but I will be keeping a closer eye on them and taking every precaution from here on out.

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I have the 30w version and have not experienced any problems. There have been reports of the 30w version also auto firing. Not as many reports as the 50w version, but there are probably more 50w versions out there than the 30.

I was going to ask a question about the 510 connection other day about it being sealed. Remember way back when it was important to have batteries that were sealed? :lol: It seems with all the improvements to devices, it has become a question or concern from the past. It looks like the past is coming back to haunt us again.

I watched a couple videos where the presenter has taken apart the devices. I guess you can buy replacement boards from Fastech now. Not that I would want to replace the board or the battery for that matter. I would just buy a new unit. The Isticks use the 18650 batteries. These are the non IMR versions of the battery. The internal board/chips is the safety for the unprotected battery. But you mechanical geniuses already know this.

I took a loop and got a pretty good view of the connector. There is a nice rubber looking gasket surrounding the pin. I did notice a very small gap between the gasket and pin on one side. I don't think it is much of a problem, unless there is a large leak that is left unattended for an extended amount of time. Because the pin is spring loaded, it makes me wonder if this could be part of the problem. Can the gap become larger when when a tank is attached? Most of the videos didn't show a close up of the wire connecting to the pin. But from what I could tell, the wire has a shrink wrap like plastic around where it connects. I have come across this type of cover with other electronics, toys are a good example. The wire has to exit that plastic cover, so I am guessing there is a gap there too allowing liquid to leak through the connector and down the wire to the board.

Some people have reported that large tank leaks have run down the side of the device and inside the buttons. The board is right under the buttons. There is not much protection from the view screen cover to the board. Mostly these reports have to do with the 50w version. The 30w has a nice lip on the upper deck that hangs over the buttons. This was added to make a larger area for large tanks to sit. I can see where the lip would help to keep the liquid from dripping over the side and leaking into the buttons.

I guess the best precautions we can take is to keep the device clean and check frequently for leaks. I would also advise not to leave the tank attached when not in use for extended amounts of time. Remove the tank while charging. This is a no brainier for veterans of course. But noobs with one device and one tank, might not know this rule. They plop it on the charger at night with the tank attached and go to bed. This is one old rule we forget about when explaining safety to new vapors.

Thank you for reading my long drawn out research and thoughts! :D Love you guys!

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I checked with my wife (she uses 2 of the 50s). I asked her if she has had any leaking problems and she said no. I inspected them and there's no evidence of any leaking on the case. She loves this device so I appreciate the heads up and all the info. So far so good. 

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Thanks all for your good wishes and concern for my cement house, furniture and self.  :)  Most of my misfortunes in life have sadly been self inflicted.  Experimental homemade fuel in pressure lanterns, jump starting frozen 6 volt batteries from 12 volt donors etc.   I'm sorry to admit in all fairness to the Eleaf iStick 50 watt, that this is most likely one of those instances.  I've been monitoring my vaping habits since this happened and I'm quite surprised that I've not done this to myself long before now which speaks volumes for the great quality of these off the shelf mods.  I notice that in the desire to have the vaping experience mimic the smoking experience in all aspects including convenience that I've just vaped away, filling and refilling without even looking for leaks or ever checking out what's going on between tank and battery.  If a leak became so noticeable as to be annoying I just put the tank in storage, put on a new one and vape, only bothering to fix the leaking tank when I've almost run out of new ones.  Basically lazy.  So not having the mod to check out, I've no real evidence, but my 20 watt examples were quite mucked up in the contact area.  Lesson learnt!  Mea culpa most probably.  

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Yes, i'm usually fastidious about cleaning my contacts.

How many points do I get for using the word "fastidious" in a sentence ? :lol:

That's what I thought. I will be keeping a very close eye on my iStick 50W just to be safe.  You should get a bonus 50 points for using "fastidious" in a sentence. Ten more points for using it correctly!  :)

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My wife and I have 4 and no issues at all but I did kill one when I jumped in the lake with it in a lanyard and when I fired it the power stuck at 50w and would not turn off. That one sleeps with the fishes.

I clean my connection at every tank refill and make sure it stays as dry as possible. Like any electronic devise moisture is the enemy.

Now back no Knocked Up and sleep lol

 

 

 

I don't use that, but every time I change a tank, or take the tank off for any reason I clean where the tank connects.  Since I'm using my SO's mini Provari, he would likely murder me in my sleep otherwise.

 

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