Discontinued Omicron Vaporizer for oils

[SamuraiSam]

I have been using an Alpha Centauri.
It has developed a problem . The battery will randomly stop seeing the atomizer .
I have done a bunch of troubleshooting , Tried different batteries , and many different atomizers, I have thoroughly cleaned the Alpha almost daily and the problem continues . I have used other atomizers on both batteries and EVERYTHING BUT THE ALPHA CENTAURI WORKS EVERY TIME.
I have tried every troubleshooting tip I could find .

I called W9 and spoke to Ralph who offered NO SUPPORT . Did not give me any suggestions of how to fix it at all .And in fact seemed to have NO knowledge of the product at all.
When I asked why he had no knowledge of the product at all he had no answer .
When I asked him if I could speak with someone with some knowledge of the product he said no.

I had recently purchased some parts for the Alpha . they have not yet been delivered .
I asked Ralph if I could return the parts unopened and get a new alpha instead which was actually less money then the parts I purchased., and not asking for a refund . He said no.

After having to argue with whoever Ralph was texting .
I am sending my products back unopened and hoping for a refund and moving on .
I am very frustrated and am looking for a new system .
Any suggestions?

I apologize if you've already been there and done that, but in the course of troubleshooting had you ever been referred to the step-by-step troubleshooting guides and pictorials that _limbs put together in W9 Tech's Help Center?

https://w9tech.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/204525268-Alpha-Centauri-Omicron-Battery

The "Full Troubleshooting Guide" for the Alpha Centauri is quite comprehensive. If it does not help you to narrow your issue please share further details about what step in its testing do things go awry at and we might be able to get your AC going again.

 

[slozukimc]

When you say you spoke to Ralph at W9Tech and he was not helpful and had little to no probuct knowledge.

You don't seem to provide much info on how the context of your conversation went and are quick to discredit the W9Tech support for which is one of their more highly recognized facilities, but also you name the kind and gentle, laid back and heartwarming reresentative that usually or always answers the phone and has always been helpful and more than knowledgeable in any of my dealings in the past. I have never read anything bad at all about their service at all and am certain other member would agree.

While Ralph is very helpful and usually provides excellent service he DOES NOT have a thorough knowledge of the W9tech product line.
I suggest you not attack members and defend others without all of the facts. W9tech has some great products and has provided me with excellent service in the past but G is not likely to find someone with a thorough working knowledge of the products like @SamuraiSam and customer service will obviously reflect that.

Mike

 

[FUnhouse]

When you say you spoke to Ralph at W9Tech and he was not helpful and had little to no product knowledge I have to question if you presented enough information in the first place and what your tone was like when communicating? I have dealt with them/him many times and they have always been very good at taking care of my issues and going over and above to take care of me on multiple occasions. They have excellent service and if it is not working and the terms of the warranty have been followed they should be offering for you to send in your unit for repair I think. I'm not sure if just the batteries are warrantied as the AC Cart is just an adapter and mouthpiece/cover with a coil which only has a 24 hour warranty before being loaded. You might want to clarify.

The only other thing is to consider your tone when talking to customer service. When you call and are irate and rude or anything like that you can't expect the customer service representative to go over and above anymore for you. An honest and upstanding company would still honour their warranties and help you regardless of how much difficulty you give them or how rude they are. They could disconnect the call if you are being totally out of line which in some circumstances is fair as people on the phone can be quite unruly, but if you call back apologetically and try to work with them and comply with their requirements they should help you in any way they can within the spectrum of what you are eligible for. As in warranty for manufacturers defect? Yes. Warranty for a tampered with product or altered in any way? No. That's the way I see it anyway.

You don't seem to provide much info on how the context of your conversation went and are quick to discredit the W9Tech support for which is one of their more highly recognized facilities, but also you name the kind and gentle, laid back and heartwarming reresentative that usually or always answers the phone and has always been helpful and more than knowledgeable in any of my dealings in the past. I have never read anything bad at all about their service at all and am certain other member would agree.

I have a feeling you may have been rude or inflammatory in some way when talking to them. I would suggest trying again and attempt to clear the negative air that has been stirred up in your past dealings if that was the case.

I will say this my tone started out friendly and just wanting to find a solution to my problem .I gave very detailed information and listened as he repeated it back to me . He did not understand immediately. and was stammering and not speaking in sentences . He said he didn't know and would have to get back to me . I was not upset at all and was hoping for a solution .

I was not looking for anything free or a warranty replacement I was going to purchase a replacement .
I was just trying to figure out what was the problem and how to avoid it

When he called back and said he had no ideas about the problem and they would not exchange my parts i got upset and had a bad attitude . Then I had to fight to get them even to accept a return on an un opened un delivered item . I was upset and I do not think I was out of line at that point .
So no I don't think this is a "honest and upstanding company " and they did not treat me fair .


I will say Ralph is a pawn in this game this is not on him other that he knew nothing about the product .He was nice and wanted to help but who ever he was communicating with ( being that he is not on site and can not ask someone easily ) had no interest in helping me at all .

 

[FUnhouse]

I apologize if you've already been there and done that, but in the course of troubleshooting had you ever been referred to the step-by-step troubleshooting guides and pictorials that _limbs put together in W9 Tech's Help Center?

https://w9tech.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/204525268-Alpha-Centauri-Omicron-Battery

The "Full Troubleshooting Guide" for the Alpha Centauri is quite comprehensive. If it does not help you to narrow your issue please share further details about what step in its testing do things go awry at and we might be able to get your AC going again.

Thanks Sam
Yes I went through all of that .
I think it a problem with the pin on the AC not connecting properly with the Coil .
I can sometimes put a little pressure on the to of the coil and it will work again but it is very intermittent.

I will say I was much happier when you were there and you actually had knowledge of the product and could help .
Thanks again.

 

[FUnhouse]

While Ralph is very helpful and usually provides excellent service he DOES NOT have a thorough knowledge of the W9tech product line.
I suggest you not attack members and defend others without all of the facts. W9tech has some great products and has provided me with excellent service in the past but G is not likely to find someone with a thorough working knowledge of the products like @SamuraiSam and customer service will obviously reflect that.

Mike

I have said nothing about them having bad products . I used this AC and have had Great results and I am not slamming W9 products at all . They make good products . I was even willing to buy a new AC .
I will even say this could be something I have done wrong .

My complaint it just about how I was treated by the company in this situation alone .
And it is hard for me to deal with a company that treated me this way.

I Know this forum had a lot of W9 fans and that is why I just wanted to share my experience .
Maybe it was this phone call and this issue and they can answer every other possible question but mine .
I don't know . This was just my experience .
I have dealt with them before (Sam) and they were great .
I will say again Ralph was nice and we wanted to help .
he is just a support person who was not given the tools to properly do his job .

I am not trying to tell anyone not to buy there products at all .

 

[slozukimc]

I have said nothing about them having bad products . I used this AC and have had Great results and I am not slamming W9 products at all . They make good products . I was even willing to buy a new AC .
I will even say this could be something I have done wrong .

My complaint it just about how I was treated by the company in this situation alone .
And it is hard for me to deal with a company that treated me this way.

I Know this forum had a lot of W9 fans and that is why I just wanted to share my experience .
Maybe it was this phone call and this issue and they can answer every other possible question but mine .
I don't know . This was just my experience .
I have dealt with them before (Sam) and they were great .
I will say again Ralph was nice and we wanted to help .
he is just a support person who was not given the tools to properly do his job .

I am not trying to tell anyone not to buy there products at all .

. My post was directed @mikek9 not you.

 

[FUnhouse]

. My post was directed @mikek9 not you.

Thanks
.

 

[SamuraiSam]

Thanks Sam
Yes I went through all of that .
I think it a problem with the pin on the AC not connecting properly with the Coil .
I can sometimes put a little pressure on the to of the coil and it will work again but it is very intermittent.

I will say I was much happier when you were there and you actually had knowledge of the product and could help .
Thanks again.

Happy to try, Fun; sucks that you're not having much right now.

1. When you lose connectivity to the AC have you tried removing the AC from your mod and testing its resistance at the Base with a multimeter? This can help narrow if the issue's from the AC to the mod, or inside the AC.

2. Have you disassembled the whole AC Base to see if the center pin being dirty or misaligned is contributing to poor contact? You can use a thin tool to push the pin through and another sort of pick / thin tool to get the silicone grommet out. Try washing the finned base sans all those parts, and the grommet & pin in 99% iso, then rebuild the base by freshly installing the dried silicone grommet, and then the pin.

3. How much rotation do you get while test firing your coil and threading it into the AC Base? Extend the pin so it's barely not falling out, and reinstall; you should be able to thread while feeling light resistance for at least 540 degrees coil rotation going in. Pulse the power every 90 degrees as you feel the coil thread in, and the pin slide in; don't just tighten the coil until you feel contact and test fire.

If you're still having issues you might need to take the coil apart and tighten the crimps on the non resistance leads: https://w9tech.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/236095268-Inspecting-Crimps

 

[FUnhouse]

Happy to try, Fun; sucks that you're not having much right now.

1. When you lose connectivity to the AC have you tried removing the AC from your mod and testing its resistance at the Base with a multimeter? This can help narrow if the issue's from the AC to the mod, or inside the AC.

My meter is currently broken have to go get a new one .

2. Have you disassembled the whole AC Base to see if the center pin being dirty or misaligned is contributing to poor contact? You can use a thin tool to push the pin through and another sort of pick / thin tool to get the silicone grommet out. Try washing the finned base sans all those parts, and the grommet & pin in 99% iso, then rebuild the base by freshly installing the dried silicone grommet, and then the pin.

I have done this many times.in my first post when I said cleaning almost daily this is what I was doing .

3. How much rotation do you get while test firing your coil and threading it into the AC Base? Extend the pin so it's barely not falling out, and reinstall; you should be able to thread while feeling light resistance for at least 540 degrees coil rotation going in. Pulse the power every 90 degrees as you feel the coil thread in, and the pin slide in; don't just tighten the coil until you feel contact and test fire.

f you're still having issues you might need to take the coil apart and tighten the crimps on the non resistance leads: https://w9tech.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/236095268-Inspecting-Crimps

I have not tried this in this way . I will try this and see what happens .
I suspect the coil is not a problem as it happens with every coil I have (6 or 7 right now In fact I probbaly thought I had burned out a few coils and threw them away before realizing they are not the problem )
So the fact that is is every coil (dual ti and donuts) leads me to believe its not the coil .
But I am going to try this if I can get it to fire at all .



Thnaks again Sam I appriciate your time and ex

 

[slozukimc]

So, there are only 3 parts to the AC v2 base. The base, the pin and the insulator. There is nothing to go wrong as long as the insulator is not damaged and everything is clean.
The only possible problem you could really have with the base itself is dirty connections.

 

[slozukimc]

Thanks Sam
Yes I went through all of that .
I think it a problem with the pin on the AC not connecting properly with the Coil .
I can sometimes put a little pressure on the to of the coil and it will work again but it is very intermittent.

I will say I was much happier when you were there and you actually had knowledge of the product and could help .
Thanks again.

I just caught this...... you said you push down on the coil and sometimes it works. Are you pushing on the chrome coil housing or the coil inside the cup?

 

[FUnhouse]

I just caught this...... you said you push down on the coil and sometimes it works. Are you pushing on the chrome coil housing or the coil inside the cup?

The housing, and very lightly .
But usually I only need to push one side , So I think the pin is slightly off center . not enough to see even it looks fine . I have removed and reset it many times .

By The way If I have not said it already Thanks to everyone for the comments and tips .

 

[THC SCIENTIFIC]

The housing, and very lightly .
But usually I only need to push one side , So I think the pin is slightly off center . not enough to see even it looks fine . I have removed and reset it many times .

By The way If I have not said it already Thanks to everyone for the comments and tips .

Can I ask if your pin is self adjusting or solid?

 

[FUnhouse]

Can I ask if your pin is self adjusting or solid?

Solid

 

[slozukimc]

Solid

Screw the coil into the base tight. The coil should not be loose enough to wiggle at all when it is threaded into the base.

 

[SamuraiSam]

I have been writing the whole time as if you were using an AC V2 ( like the one that comes on the current Omicron.)

Do you actually have an AC V1? Sorry for not asking earlier- I'm way outta practice...

If so, @THC SCIENTIFIC might be able to fix your issue by replacing the solid pin in your V1 base with a newer spring loaded pin that makes better contact with all newer AC coils.

 

[FUnhouse]

I have been writing the whole time as if you were using an AC V2 ( like the one that comes on the current Omicron.)

Do you actually have an AC V1? Sorry for not asking earlier- I'm way outta practice...

If so, @THC SCIENTIFIC might be able to fix your issue by replacing the solid pin in your V1 base with a newer spring loaded pin that makes better contact with all newer AC coils.

It is the V1 I guess I didn't say that ..sorry .

That is an interesting Idea .
I am doing what I can to get this worked out with them now . Hopefully everything will work out .

 

[SamuraiSam]

The older AC, with newer coils, can be a bit tricky. I needed G's help myself in troubleshooting more than one AC V1, and recall some customers (not sure if on here or Reddit) that had to have their AC V1's sent in for testing and rebuilding.

You put your trust in W9 Tech when you bought your gear- don't doubt them now. Their entire staff, starting with the owner, want the end user to have an awesome experience. Some times getting to perfection does not happen over night but I am certain they will do what they can to get your situation worked out.

 

[FUnhouse]

The older AC, with newer coils, can be a bit tricky. I needed G's help myself in troubleshooting more than one AC V1, and recall some customers (not sure if on here or Reddit) that had to have their AC V1's sent in for testing and rebuilding.

You put your trust in W9 Tech when you bought your gear- don't doubt them now. Their entire staff, starting with the owner, want the end user to have an awesome experience. Some times getting to perfection does not happen over night but I am certain they will do what they can to get your situation worked out.

I'm working with them and hoping for good things.
Also I tried #3 in the above post. It will not fire at any point.

 

[slozukimc]

I too was assuming v2 seeing we are in the Omicron thread. Now I see the problem. The solid pin will not allow the coil to thread fully into the base causing a loose connection.
The spring loaded pin looks like the proper solution to me as well.

 

[THC SCIENTIFIC]

Guys the issue is he has a adjustable center pin.

When the v1's where manufactured we later enlarged the air holes on the coil, this in conjunction with production tolerances have caused some v1's to not function properly.

I have instructed funhouse to follow my directions and all of his issues will be resolved.

 

[FUnhouse]

Guys the issue is he has a adjustable center pin.

When the v1's where manufactured we later enlarged the air holes on the coil, this in conjunction with production tolerances have caused some v1's to not function properly.

I have instructed funhouse to follow my directions and all of his issues will be resolved.

Thanks @THC4N6

 

[mikek9]

I do apologize my late replay as lately because of my health I am not around to answer questions.

The residue can be a few things but after cleaning if it does not come off i would suggest you toss it, but before you toss it do a experiment for me.

Dunk the unit in iso for 24 hours to soften up the residue then take a toothpick and see if you can take it off, I am interested to see how the coil looks under that.

Like i said i cant say what it is without having a lab take a look at it but im sure we can narrow it down with a simple toothpick and 24 hours.

@THC SCIENTIFIC As promised, though quite some time later, sorry I wasn't really very well. However, I am better enough to get around to this. So I soaked it the coils previously pictured for a good 24+ hours in some 99% iso and then when they were removed I scraped at them with a hard pointed glass dabber to remove as much residue. Now the coils just have a different colour to them in the center but maybe the Ti hasn't fully oxidized since it was coated with the residue you just soaked and scraped away? I sort of hope it work because I feel the burners still have some good life to them. But I have resigned to the fact it likely isn't worth tempting fate when I have a few clean ones and KISS carts so I am not really understocked on necessaries.

I will try to add some better ones with daylight tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

 

[slozukimc]

@THC SCIENTIFIC As promised, though quite some time later, sorry I wasn't really very well. However, I am better enough to get around to this. So I soaked it the coils previously pictured for a good 24+ hours in some 99% iso and then when they were removed I scraped at them with a hard pointed glass dabber to remove as much residue. Now the coils just have a different colour to them in the center but maybe the Ti hasn't fully oxidized since it was coated with the residue you just soaked and scraped away? I sort of hope it work because I feel the burners still have some good life to them. But I have resigned to the fact it likely isn't worth tempting fate when I have a few clean ones and KISS carts so I am not really understocked on necessaries.

I will try to add some better ones with daylight tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

They look like they are still in great shape! Give them another good cleaning like they describe on the uptech site and they should look near new.

Mike

 

[FlyingLow]

Which option do I choose for Omicron V4?


I see a lot of references on the website for Omicron V5, what is the difference between v4 and v5?