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Roller / Dingo: 10 Tips to Keep in Mind
#1: Do not remove / exchange the main tube or extension that screws onto the metal housing when an atomizer is mounted on your Roller / Dingo.
The switch assembly of the Roller / Dingo is locked in place by the tube mounted directly under the housing. To ensure it’s where you want it to be, always unscrew your atomizer before exchanging tubes.
#2: Do not remove the connector or main tube without cleaning the area around the pole screw from any leaked juice.
The liquid sealing grommet under the 510 connector will do its job only if the connector is pressing firmly against it. It keeps e-liquid out of the switch assembly, so never remove it!
#3: If you need to adjust the pole adjustment screw down too low, remember to remove the o-ring from the pole screw head.
The pole screw head is quite brittle — over-tightening it against the o-ring may cause it to break, since it is not designed to endure excessive stress from below. The o-ring around the pole screw is not needed if you need to adjust the pole low, for example when using the recessed connector supplied with your Roller / Dingo.
#4: Always screw the tube that goes onto the metal housing all the way in.
This ensures that the switch housing is high enough to prevent button jams and keeps sufficient pressure against the liquid-sealing grommet (located under the 510 connector). If your button grinds against the delrin ring around it with the 510 connector / tube firmly tightened, you most likely have a very tight delrin ring installed – this may happen if you got a replacement switch housing with an older unit. Feel free to remove it if you have to – its purpose it purely cosmetic.
#5: Eliminate voltage drop on your mod.
To ensure that no power gets lost on the way to your atomizer, you need to:
- Always adjust the pole screw of the Roller / Dingo high enough to ensure good contact between your mod and your atomizer!
- Keep the spring shiny clean and, if necessary, bend it back to shape.
- Always ensure that the battery is firmly squeezed by the spring / tube / cap of your Roller / Dingo – bad battery pole contact is the #1 cause for voltage drops when using springs in mods.
#6: Invest in tools and backup equipment.
Measuring your resistances is critical to prevent damage and accidents from short circuits. Protected batteries and resettable fuses are also a must for testing. Always test that new coil with a protected battery or fuse, even if you get a correct open-circuit resistance measurement. Putting power through it may reveal an entirely different story than what your ohm-meter tells you. Keep a few spare cartos around for testing – they may not vape as much as a 1 Ohm coil, but they will tell you if your mod fires. And, last but not least, get a 510-to-510 voltage measurement tool.
#6: Invest in knowledge.
Before carrying out voltage drop measurements, learn some basic facts about voltage drop and batteries. And check out Tip #5 again.
#7: Wrap coils that your batteries can handle and don’t go cheap on batteries.
Don’t go below 1 Ohm unless your battery is happy about it. Even good IMR batteries will at some point get stressed / damaged with use. Replace your batteries every 6 months and don’t trust labels blindly – a label is easy to fake. 16340, 14500 and 18350 batteries should not be used with sub-ohm resistances.
Don’t go cheap with batteries and chargers and always watch out for expensive fakes. Keep at least one protected battery aside for testing. Do not trust heavily short-circuited batteries even if they appear to work. Don’t power your mods with anything else than 3.7V batteries.
#8: Watch what you connect on top.
Atomizers with badly designed poles and off-shelf center post screws won’t cut it, even if they cost $200. The positive pole of your atomizer should be machined smoothly. Using off-shelf screws as electrical contacts is asking for trouble: Rough atomizer poles will quickly tear the plating on your mods’ pole screws and may cause overheating. Wire ends should be properly stabilized / fixed on properly designed contacts, especially when using resistance wire that heats up. Unstable wire ends will cause voltage drop and misfires.
#9: Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you.
It’s not bulletproof just because it’s mech. A Roller / Dingo can handle hard drops when assembled just fine, but you can’t expect a thin, threaded tube edge to survive a a hard drop unscarred. If you are clumsy, go for something heavier!
#10: Maintain the switch contacts of your mods.
All make-break (push-button) contacts on mech mods must be routinely cleaned to remove dust and moisture. If e-liquid gets into the switch assembly, disassemble the switch and clean the contacts right away!
Remember to re-fresh the silver-plating of your mod’s contacts once in a while! With use, the silver plating layer on them will start to wear off – don’t let that happen! Take the contacts of all your mods to your local jeweller’s and ask for a thick layer of pure silver at least every 5-6 months.
If left unmaintained for a long time, or if dust enters the switch assembly, the contacts of your mod will start to overheat and eventually get damaged / tarnished. For safety reasons, the switch of the Roller / Dingo is designed to fail at sustained temperatures above 150*C, to prevent the heat from reaching the battery.
Remember that all make-break switches must be operated above a minimum force to ensure a long life. The switch on the Roller / Dingo should be pressed with a force equivalent to 500-700 grams, which is still quite low. Use a kitchen scale to get an idea of how much that is.
Hey guys!
Been using my Roller with a AW IMR 18650 for almost a month and have been working great!
I have only one issue with my Roller:
Tried to using it with a AW IMR 18350 and it didnt worked. Used 3 different AW IMR 18350 and none of them worked. Tried the same batteries on a different MOD and they worked fine.
Checked the pin of the roller and it was fine.
Why my Roller is not working with 18350 batteries? The roller pin is making contact with the battery but it just dont fire.
I will appreciate any help. Thank you!
Hey Manu!
Dissambled the Roller, cleaned it up, and now it just works great man!
Thanks!
Hey there!
The Roller is a mechanical device, so if it works with 18490 batteries, it should work fine with every battery. Issues with 18350 batteries in the Roller are always a result of a collapsed or heavily oxidized spring, since the spring is required for battery contact in 18350 mode.
Hello Atmizoo staff!
Just want a tip to clean up my Roller.
What is the best way to clean the Stainless Steel?
I want to clean the tubes (inside/outside).
Thanks guys!
Any mild, general-purpose, non-corrosive cream or wipes for inox / brass / silverware should be fine!
There are products made for cleaning inox cutlery that can do a great job with mods.
Avoid abrasive products and products that contain Clorine (Cl) and remember to wipe well.
HI guys, okay can use some help. The roller worked well day 1, but by end of day 2… can get it to fire. The other point is I can not easily get it to lock – button in terms of pushing in no issue. What I noticed prior is that litttle by little it stopped hitting as hard …like a battery loosing juice so I kept changing with fully fresh Mnkes. What is the next step?
Indeed.
Using a 14500 AW IMR or better, I would refrain from sub ohms as this could cause other more serious problems as these batteries aren’t meant for such loads.
Hey Manu,
Yes thanks, it is a brand new unit bought directly from the company site…will do and if you could pass the info on – as just purchased, to help expedite the process that would be much appreciated.
I think the combination of chain vap at low ohms – the Arrow is 17mm small chamber – dual coil on ss cable 28 gauge Kanthal – it gets hot, great vap but it gets hot.Most noticeably on the Bagua – didn’t notice much on any heat build up on the Roller – but thanks for the data – lot of good stuff there.
Hey Richie,
Is this a brand new unit?
We have had reports of this happening – I think 3 or 4 so far out of many hundreds units produced so far. Although none of these units was sent back to us, we have a pretty good idea of the possible causes.
Under borderline, extreme conditions, excessive overheating of the contacts may cause the thermoplastic insulation to get damaged. The thermoplastic parts are actually built from the same material as the ones in the Poldiac, whose switch is based on the same principle of operation.
These plastics are designed to work at a constant temperature of 110-120*C, so the damage you describe requires quite a bit more than that to happen within seconds. While it would be possible to use more heat-resistant materials, that would be a huge safety concern as all mod switches are in direct contact with the battery. A 150-200*C hot pin against a discharging battery is asking for trouble.
Mechanical make-break contacts may overheat for a number of reasons, including oxidation and the deposition of contaminants on their surface. So, for example, applying Noalox or vaseline in a make-break switch is a recipe for disaster. Even “conductive” greases won’t help a non-sealed, make-break contact because they tend to soak up all kinds of environmental dirt.
The contaminated layer basically introduces a bit of resistance on the surface of the contacts, which heats up when current passes through it. The higher the current, the more heat will be produced.
This is why it is very important to keep everything clean, especially when vaping with low resistance atomizers. When vaping a carto, for example, a switch that has juice leaked into it will deteriorate very progressively within many days or weeks. With a 0.6 Ohm atomizer, the same switch may overheat quite fast due to the high wattage losses concentrated there.
Please send an e-mail to support[at]atmizoo.com with some more information about where you purchased your Roller from, and we’ll do our best to help you with this!
Hi mate,
Okay here is the prognosis…not good – new parts are needed. The contact pin melted to the axle and in trying to free the contact pin from axle the axle snapped. Contact pin maybe okay still haven’t been able to dislodge it from broken axle which broke at the point above contact pin There is also slight melting at the contacts point of the housing – so if this needs to be butter smooth for proper function I will need that replaced as well. FYI – I was vapping a dual coil Arrow atty – switching it between the Roller and the Bagua (14500) low ohms – still vapping that atty on the Bagua and Poldiac . All other parts look fine – let me know what is needed or any questions so I can get the roller back up and operational.
thanks – Richie
Hi there! This might help: http://demo.afternet.gr/atmizoo-old/support/support-roller/?lang=en#vdrop
And this, too: http://demo.afternet.gr/atmizoo-old/blog/roller-dingo-use-maintenance-tips/?lang=en
If the switch contacts are not clean, check the previous link about how to clean them and follow the tips of this blog post to avoid leaks in the future. Remember to give the switch internals a good clean with compressed air, or simply look for delrin machining leftovers which might have come loose during the first hours of use.
If the switch contacts look shiny clean, the voltage drop or misfires will be related to something else, not necessarily on the mod itself.
Other things to check on the mod:
1) The condition of the collapsible spring (a brass spring should be shiny clean around the top / bottom, and longer than 15mm when resting on a flat surface – silver & rhodium springs need no cleaning).
2) The pole screw – is there good contact with your atomizer?
Things to check on the atomizer:
1) Loose/bad wiring. Kanthal wire has a lot of contact resistance and needs to be properly fixed. A badly set atomizer *can* and will be a cause for misfires or excessive voltage drop.
2) The condition of the positive pole. Is it properly adjusted? Is it clean? Is it flat and smooth?
Locking mechanism stiffness is related to the condition of the spring under the ball bearing. A stiff pressing / locking action can usually be fixed very easily by compressing the ball bearing spring a couple times between your fingers, so that it sits *slightly* deeper when inserted.
When you place the ball bearing on it, more than half of the ball should be hidden in the hole.