Disturbing Incident With My Protege

[dlynne]

I bought a Protege from PureSmoker, and have had it a few days. I really liked it, until today.

Late this morning, I noticed a bad smoke smell in my office. I look over at my purse on the floor next to my desk, and it was smoking really bad. I mean really, really bad. The protege was in a side pocket of my purse, and I pulled it out and dropped it on the floor. Using a cloth, because the casing was so hot, I unscrewed the bottom, and let the battery drop out. That solved the problem. My Chanel leather purse has a burnt hole in it, though. The cartridge is all melted down.

I emailed PureSmoker, and they were very nice and said to send the Protege back and they would fix it. However, that is not the point. The point is that this could have easily started a fire. What if this happened in the middle of the night?

The folks at PureSmoker said one reason for this is that the button could have been pressed down, but it was in a very loose pocket, and there is not enough pressure in this pocket to press on a button.

My question is this: Is this a common problem in general with modifications? I have ordered a Black Beauty and am getting ready to order a Spade. But, I don't want to use a modification if these types of incidents are common.

Thank you for your input.

[Brian]

I've been a little paranoid about this after reading somewhere on here about someone having some paper on their desk burn up. I don't know anything about the Protege, but the Spade button has pretty good resistance, and it kinda snaps back out when you release it. I could see it getting pressed accidentally, but not staying pressed unless constant pressure was applied. For example, I could see it getting pressed is you squeezed your purse under your arm, but it would pop out as soon as the pressure was released. Still, can't be too careful. Maybe you could try some type of case for it, like a pen case???

Edited December 22, 2009 by Brian

[nana]

Wow! That's awful. And scary. I have never even thought about something like that happening. I think I might be taking batteries out at night now. I've been leaving the whole thing put together overnight (you know, in case I need a vape in the middle of the night - ha ha) and now I think, just to be safe, it will be disassembled.

Thanks for this post. I do believe I will be a lot more careful and watchful from now on.

[Sinikal]

My question is this: Is this a common problem in general with modifications? I have ordered a Black Beauty and am getting ready to order a Spade. But, I don't want to use a modification if these types of incidents are common.

Hey dylnne! Im sorry to hear about your protege melting. I had a similar problem with my pass through, one of the transistors apparently blew and turned on automatically and the only way to stop it was to unplug before it melted. Luckily i was walking by my desk when the light flicked on and i heard a sizzling noise. With all the new battery mods coming out now, its only expected that a few are going to be faulty at one point or another. Keep in mind, in the world of electronics, nothings lasts forever.

The best thing to do is to take the atomizer off your battery unit before you store it. Its a little more of a hassle but thats the safest thing to do. I now unplug my pass through from my computer when im not using it and havent had any problems since. Also when i carry around my Joye 510 in my pocket i always make sure my atty is disconnected from the battery no matter how baggy my pants are. We dont want an incident us VT's call "Hot Pants"

Another plus side on purchasing a spade is that the buttons on them take a good push to get them fired up. Plus the button doesnt not stick out far from the battery mod. You should have better luck with the spade.

[dlynne]

I am fairly certain that the burning incident was not due to a pressed or stuck button. For now on, I will not leave batteries in modifications overnight, or if I am not using them. I will not be using the Protege again.

[ddavelarsen]

We had a similar experience with one of the initial Chinese units; button stuck down and the thing fried. I think you folks have a good idea to disassemble things for safety, though I know me and I probably won't do that regularly. I keep my VP2 beside the bed at night just in case I wake up and want a vape, so at least if it started to burn it'd be nearby and I might figure out something was wrong before too much damage was done.

That is a sobering story; thanks for sharing it. But while caution is always in order, please don't judge all work by a single example, even all Proteges. Anything that comes from human hands contains the potential for error. Entropy rules; statistics happen. I'd bet that you'll never have an experience like this again - but better safe than sorry!

[Christopher]

Let me say because Vapor Talk sells custom mods you should research and confirm what I state, with that said it's very well known that the Protege has button issues. (I would could it safety issues to be honest) The fact they said it was probably pressed down in your purse, is well, total BS. Those units seem to have crap mechanical switches. There are a number of stories floating around on the web about the Protege, in fact one guy said he almost set his car on fire.

Don't take my word for it though, check out Puresmokers personal forum: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/puresmoker/index2.html

I wouldn't worry about buying custom units, in fact most of them are far superior to the Chinese units, just make sure you research who your going to buy from first. Then when you watch and read reviews, make sure the reviewer isn't a fan boy, then once confirmed research again. No just with our store but with any store.

I would detach the atomizer after use just to be on the safe side (with any unit(, but try to purchase a unit with an LED, this will give you a visual right off the bat if something isn't turning off.

[dlynne]

Thanks for this information, Christopher.

I can't emphasize enough how dangerous this incident with the Protege could have been. There is no question that if I was not in my office, and this burned long enough, a fire would have started.

If PureSmoker knows about this as a potential issue, the owners should not be selling the Protege until they are assured the problem is fixed. At the very least, they should send a written warning with the hardware if they know there is a potential problem with their unit.

I am looking forward to receiving the Black Beauty, and I will order a Spade. I do urge people, though, to disconnect the units -- any unit -- when they are not in use, and especially overnight. It would be really ironic if a mechanical issue jeopardizes someone's life, when the concept and use of e-cigs is, in fact, saving lives.

[NeRo9k]

I've had my Protege for 2 months now and I haven't had one problem with it yet. I ordered the DSE905 just to test it out and for three days the unit worked great, then I went to vape, and drop it on the ground it was so hot. Twice that night I melted the tip and burned my mouth. The strange part is the LED didn't show that it was on, so I don't know how it was heating it self. Stay away from the Chinese mods as the MOD community makes them pretty solid.

[Christopher]

Thanks for this information, Christopher.

I can't emphasize enough how dangerous this incident with the Protege could have been. There is no question that if I was not in my office, and this burned long enough, a fire would have started.

If PureSmoker knows about this as a potential issue, the owners should not be selling the Protege until they are assured the problem is fixed. At the very least, they should send a written warning with the hardware if they know there is a potential problem with their unit.

I am looking forward to receiving the Black Beauty, and I will order a Spade. I do urge people, though, to disconnect the units -- any unit -- when they are not in use, and especially overnight. It would be really ironic if a mechanical issue jeopardizes someone's life, when the concept and use of e-cigs is, in fact, saving lives.

Well I'm glad that you noticed in time! To Puresmoker credit I think they have since fixed this issue but I'm not 100% sure. For the most part I do hear good things about them. At the very least at least they are taking care of your unit

[nana]

This is another reason I'm so happy with this forum. We learn such great information. I'm sorry you went through this dlynne and I'm glad it wasn't any worse than it was. You made such a good point about ecigs saving lives and yet if this had happened during the night it could have started a fire and perhaps taken lives. I lost my grandparents in a fire that happened in the middle of the night 15 years ago. I am super cautious about anything that might start a fire now and yet I never even considered that ecigs could. One of the things I was so excited about ecigs in the first place was that they wouldn't or couldn't burn anything or start a fire. Now I know what to do to insure that never happens.

Again, I am sorry you went through this and I know it was awful, but just think, you may have saved some lives by going through it and telling us about it.

Thank you. Sincerely.

[Travis798]

I'm pretty sure they now have a new switch that fixes the problem. I don't believe the problem was really known or became much of a problem until recently, and to their credit they came out with a fix I believe pretty quickly. I've heard a lot of good things about the Protege and have been thinking of getting one after I saw they replaced the switch.

[BirdDog]

I agree about this forum I learn something new everyday.

I am a plug paranoid freak! I unplug anything that I might think start a fire. I unplug my coffee pot, tea kettle, small radios and all my ecig stuff before I leave my home. I think my paranoia started with my folks. When I was younger, my parents used to wire lamps and changed out damaged plug connectors etc. My dad would then have me plug it in the wall to test it. I guess that is why my hair is so curly now!

@dylnne - Sorry about the accident with your Protege. I am so glad you caught it before any one or thing was seriously hurt! I hope they get it fixed for you.

[StevenP]

Woah.... this is certainly a concern of mine. That sucks, it's good to get info about this, glad to see we have a resource to check on. I'm sure the Protege is a good mod, but from my experience nothing is always perfect.

[j4g3rb0mb3d]

I bought a Protege from PureSmoker, and have had it a few days. I really liked it, until today.

Late this morning, I noticed a bad smoke smell in my office. I look over at my purse on the floor next to my desk, and it was smoking really bad. I mean really, really bad. The protege was in a side pocket of my purse, and I pulled it out and dropped it on the floor. Using a cloth, because the casing was so hot, I unscrewed the bottom, and let the battery drop out. That solved the problem. My Chanel leather purse has a burnt hole in it, though. The cartridge is all melted down.

I emailed PureSmoker, and they were very nice and said to send the Protege back and they would fix it. However, that is not the point. The point is that this could have easily started a fire. What if this happened in the middle of the night?

The folks at PureSmoker said one reason for this is that the button could have been pressed down, but it was in a very loose pocket, and there is not enough pressure in this pocket to press on a button.

My question is this: Is this a common problem in general with modifications? I have ordered a Black Beauty and am getting ready to order a Spade. But, I don't want to use a modification if these types of incidents are common.

Thank you for your input.

I just wanted to shed a little light on this situation.

For the most part, the first run of Protege's did have a defect in them. The problem wasn't the switch itself, it was the switch housing. The first run's switch housing was made out of phenolic, not plastic. In case you aren't familiar with phenolic, phenolic is a fiberglass-like material. Steve had mentioned that after the phenolic was milled into the shape that it needed to be to fit the switch and fit inside of the Protege, the phenolic was sprayed with a lubricant that cooled down the phenolic. Little did Steve know, the phenolic piece actually absorbs the lubricant. After the the lubricant absorbs deeply into the phenolic housing, the phenolic and lubricant are capable of conducting electricity, overriding the switch, and completing the circuit to power on the atomizer.

If you still have the switch, pop it out of the Protege. If it is still covered in the greyish - blackish lubricant, clean it off with a paper towel. Run the paper through the Protege tube to soak up any excess lubricant. If you don't know how to take apart the Protege, first take your adapter off, then unscrew the battery cap and remove the battery. After that, stick a pen or a small screwdriver up the battery port and carefully knock the the switch out of the tube.

After you clean the switch up, would you mind reporting back what color the switch housing is? If it is dark brown to light brown, you have a phenolic switch. If it is jet black, you have the updated delrin (plastic) switch.

Incidentally, the lubricant that was on the phenolic also caused the sticky switch problem. The lubricant leaks into the switch and eventually seizes the switch.

This same problem happened to me. I was in class one day and smelt something burning. I ignored it for a little while, but then it dawned on me that I might be tripping the switch on the Protege. I reached into my hoodie pocket and grabbed the Protege. It was soooooo hot that it left a cock-shaped blister on my hand. I dropped the thing back into my pocket, excused myself from class, and went to the washroom to take it apart. It took some self control on my part not to yell anything in class when I first grabbed it - haha.

If you have the phenolic switch, shoot Casey a ticket on Puresmoker's website. They will hook you up with a brand new delrin switch that will fix the both the switch from overriding and the sticky switch. If you want something that will reliable forever, Puresmoker is coming out with an all new "mechanical" switch that will never break, unless you break it yourself. Supposedly the switch also gives out a better overall hit because there is no soldered parts and the contact plate is bigger that the current tact switch's plate. I found it a little hard to justify spending another $20 on my Protege, but I did order it. I intend on reviewing when Puresmoker ships them.

Incidentally, Christopher, the sticky switch problems have been fixed with the 2nd run of the Protege.

[mcquinn]

I guess we should disconnect our batteries when not in use ,you never know.

Edited December 23, 2009 by mcquinn

[Christopher]

Put your left foot in your left foot out I guess.

Either way I'm glad they fixed the button issue on the second run.

[kwaione]

same thing happened to me a week ago with the screwdriver from TW.. It melted the tip down to nothing, the way I found it was because of the nasty smoke in the air.. now I am scared to keep the battery in it!

[profbeard]

same thing happened to me a week ago with the screwdriver from TW.. It melted the tip down to nothing, the way I found it was because of the nasty smoke in the air.. now I am scared to keep the battery in it!

The Mk2 Screwdriver button can unscrew itself which results in the device turning on in your pocket (or wherever) - If you check the button is screwed tight whenever you change your battery you won't have the problem. (Some people have put locktight or similar on the button threads to stop this, but since I realised it could happen and check it when I change the battery I had no problems)