My batteries were the correct AW IMR's and it turns out my Insulator needed to be loosened with a screwdriver. My hercules is up and running now thanks to great customer support from Sam!
I received my Persei and Hercules 74x in the mail a few days ago. Since then I have had trouble getting my Hercules unit to function properly since the start. It doesn't seem to heat up or produce any vapor even though I've been very careful to assemble it properly many times and test the stock...