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Maintenance Time!

Discussion in 'Rebuildable Atomisers' started by debatedude, Sep 7, 2019.

  1. debatedude
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    debatedude Thread Starter Mech Moderator Staff Member

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    Unless you use nothing but disposable equipment, maintenance should take up a part of your vaping time. Equipment needs to be cleaned, batteries need to be charged, coils made, wicking . . . the list is long. Today is wicking day for me. I use an atty a day, so wicking is a little time consuming. I use Watson's 100% organic cotton pads for wicks. I love the stuff AND the price is right. Watson's usually has a two-for-1 or a bogo on them.

    upload_2019-9-7_11-34-57.png

    Y'all get bound down with wicking? Come on rebuild guys! How much wicking do you do in a week?
     
    debatedude, Sep 7, 2019
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  2. debatedude
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    debatedude Thread Starter Mech Moderator Staff Member

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    What about batteries? Now there's a high maintenance item. Gotta charge them, gotta keep them out of the sun, gotta keep them dry . . . I swear, batteries are as hard to maintain as a woman! Charging batteries is the most important part of maintaining a battery. Heck, you spent 300-500 THB on a quality battery (you did buy quality batteries, right?), why go cheap on a charger? Get a good one. Nitecore makes a quality charger at a reasonable price. I've used E-fest chargers in the past, but they can over-charge a battery and I've yet to have an E-Fest charger last longer than a year. @Siam Diesel recommended Xtar chargers to me years ago, and I'm hooked on them! My 2-bay travel charger from them has lasted almost four years. I'm pretty hard on batteries, so I use the Dragon VP4 Plus. This thing does everything and whispers "goodnight" as well!

    upload_2019-9-7_16-12-37.png

    It's not cheap (FastTech and Illumn.com stock them) but it gives a fantastic measured charge and can recondition overdrained batteries!

    Another important maintenance issue with batteries is the wrap. Worn or torn wrap can cause a battery to hard short. That leads to a big boom that really hurts. If I ever see a tear, worn spot, hole, or peel on a wrap, I change the wrap. Thankfully, battery wrap is cheap and available from FastTech and (I believe) a couple of local Thai vendors. Heck, it even comes in colors!

    upload_2019-9-7_16-22-30.png

    So what's your battery maintenance plan?
     
    debatedude, Sep 7, 2019
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  3. Siam Diesel
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    Siam Diesel Nauti Moderator Staff Member

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    None! :D
    Yep, swear by XTAR. My VP2 was getting tired so I got a Dragon earlier this year, too. Best thing is the beep at the end of the cycle!

    XTAR has an official store on AliExpress...got a good discount on mine.
     
    Siam Diesel, Sep 8, 2019
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  4. debatedude
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    debatedude Thread Starter Mech Moderator Staff Member

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    I love the recondition feature! I was able to salvage a bunch of VTC4s with it. Best charger I've ever had
     
    debatedude, Sep 8, 2019
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  5. SooKee
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    SooKee Contented Single Coiler

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    Haven't looked at chargers for ages. I use Xtar at the moment. I did buy a Nitecore i4 a while back which, while a great charger, didn't accept quite a few 20700 batteries despite the blurb saying it was compatible. Luckily swapped it out with a member for an Xtar (VC4?) that does (no issue for the other member as he uses only 18650). That was when I also found that the Ali Express Buyer Protection wasn't worth jack (send it back to exchange at YOUR expense, despite the advertiser posting wrong information or accept a partial, like VERY partial, refund). The Dragon looks like a new version? The old one looked very basic, but I'm not sure if takes 20700s with ease.
     
    SooKee, Sep 15, 2019
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  6. debatedude
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    debatedude Thread Starter Mech Moderator Staff Member

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    I don't know how new it is. I know it's been out for at least a year. The contacts on it are large and long, so I don't think it would have a problem with large batteries. Plus the bays are oversized as well. Here's the info from the company I bought it from:

    upload_2019-9-15_9-27-26.png

    Xtar Dragon VP4 Plus Li-ion/NiMH/11.1V 3S Charger and Battery Analyzer
     
    debatedude, Sep 15, 2019
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  7. Siam Diesel
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    Siam Diesel Nauti Moderator Staff Member

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    It has been out for a while. At the end of last year, XTAR ran a contest to name the "new" iteration of the Dragon...but they haven't rolled it out yet.

    @SooKee - Sod's law being what it is, that means that the day after you order the old one, they'll introduce the new one. :D But seriously, it charges 4 x 26650's with ease and there's still additional room lengthwise so it should handle the 20/21700's without any problem
     
    Siam Diesel, Sep 15, 2019
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    SooKee Contented Single Coiler

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    That's good news then. I'm in no rush for a new charger but IIRC when I last looked at the Dragon it was longer than a year ago, IIRC it just looked like a box with no meters or whatever then though I could be mistaken. I'll likely opt for one of these if I need to replace.

    The Nitecore would take some 20700 (just and I mean just) and only then if the top contact was dead flat and flush to the battery case. It was still a tight fit as the chambers were just not long enough, significant risk of tearing wraps when inserting or removing.
     
    SooKee, Sep 16, 2019
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  9. Okaa

    Okaa Active Member

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    Your coils build are super clean, really nice and tight. I find myself changing cotton nearly every day but usually have 2 or 3 mods running each day to get different flavors. Right now I have a peanut butter on a single Flow rda, cheesecake on a coil art rda, and FiveO glazed on the dead rabbitxheathan rta.
     
    Okaa, Apr 8, 2020
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  10. -V-
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    -V- Administrator Staff Member

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    That's how he likes it :hot:
     
    -V-, Apr 8, 2020
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  11. debatedude
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    debatedude Thread Starter Mech Moderator Staff Member

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    Love this juice. Unfortunately I'm down to my last bottle and no replacements in sight
     
    debatedude, Apr 8, 2020
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