the amount of priming it takes to get the smallest bit of vapor seems too long and the outside of the cart does eventually get warm. the oil melted easily in the fill tool so i'm having a hard time thinking it didn't reach the heater. and i followed the filling directions correctly, but i guess anything is possible though. i don't have a meter either =/ thanks for trying to help!
Actually, I'm not having trouble with the idea the load went bad. It's very common problem for early users. What happens is you get the oil just hot enough to flow and it drains down and hits
cold metal below and 'clots' right there. If the oil is thick enough to not flow well at room temperature, there it sits with an air bubble trapped under it. Every little bit that does make it down low enough get's preheated, fed and vaped away, but the bubble still is there.
The trick is to preheat the cart body below the fill tool and above the seals first then quickly heat the oil. Done right you can actually feel the hot oil slide down and heat the bottom under your fingers. Once this happens it generally feed just fine. But once 'vapor locked', you're screwed until you melt it down further.
The problem is there's seals down there that don't take heat well at all. You can quickly turn a non feeder into a working but chronic leaker. Not a good exchange IMO. You can also 'cook the oil' too much if you're not careful. Your call, you can try to fix it or melt out what you can and start over if this is what's up (and I think it is?).
If you're brave enough, here's what I do (I've suggested this many times here, thus far I think it's always worked??):
Hold the cart in one hand by the bottom and rotate it back and forth while you carefully heat the center section with a lighter. Don't let the bottom third get too hot to comfortably hang onto while keeping the center third as hot as you can. Keep working on it from all sides. Stainless conducts heat poorly, heat doesn't flow down very well at all. If it starts getting too hot, let it all cool and start over. Stop from time to time and give it another try.
Be sure to let it rest 'standing up'.
Some guys have good luck with inspecting from the top with a good light, I've never got much help that way. The air gap can be pretty small in volume, it's narrow in there.
If you get any vapor at all, the center heater is working. Don't run it more than say five seconds without good production. Once it 'burps' the bubble out, it'll sort itself out with the internal heater.
Good luck.
OF
