A more durable Shielded design, a rebuildable chassis style atomizer

[mikeham]

Hello Modders, I’m a first time poster. I’ve been vaping for a while now, and for most of that time I’ve been reading through these modding pages because this is where the good ideas are. The one thing I’m certain of is that the collective will and wealth of knowledge among this group is impressive. You have taken on and solved one problem after another. I am by no means an electrical engineer, or even smart enough to be called a novice. But I’ve had a few ideas floating around my head and I thought perhaps you fine folks could give me some feedback and your thoughts.
· What would happen if we encased/shielded a NiChrome coil in something like Aluminum (that would transfer heat quickly) to protect it from liquid build-up and premature wear. This would be similar to the design of a stove-top burner element that uses an element encased inside of a black steel tube, or under a ceramic or glass stove top. This would allow the liquid to boil off the aluminum instead of the NiChrome when it’s red hot and precariously delicate. Wouldn’t this protective layer give our atomizer a long life like our stove burners?
· This is for another separate idea. If we have to accept the idea of short lived NiChrome pieces, could we made a modular atomizer design with a pull out chassis with two screw terminals to attach the NiChrome instead of soldering for easier rebuilding? The chassis could also have an area for replaceable wicking, making it reusable.
I believe that an ecig/ecigar should be like a Zippo, with a little work, and replacing a few parts and refilling it should last for years. It’s a great idea that will obviously save lives, extend life and quality of life, as well as keeping families together longer. The cost of health care saving alone if all smokers switched is genuinely mind staggering. If we can jump the hurdle of the real 5 year atomizer, used with any liquid, and standard off the shelf batteries the masses will follow and thank us. If a $10 stove burner can last 20+ years, can’t we make an atomizer that lasts at least 2 years? My first goal would be to make a more durable atomizer. If that proved impractical, then I’d focus on a reusable/repairable design. Has anyone had any successes in this area? I’d like to see Zippo take on the e-cigarette. Zippo still has a Lifetime warranty on their lighters, it would be nice to see that in an e-cigarette, wouldn’t it?
Thank you gentlemen and ladies, for your assistance and your time. And for bearing with a windy newby like me. I’m looking forward to your input. Please, be kind, I’m new. -WWFL[FONT="][/FONT]

 

[kinabaloo]

Hi Mike, welcome

Encase the coil - possible, if it doesnt increase the heat-up time too much.

Replaceable coil - in future atomizers, hope so. In the existing tubular ones, disassembly is too tricky.

 

[jeffakamax]

Encased coil is definately going to extend the warm up time just due to heat transfer. Longer heat cycle will lower it's life expectancy and kill batts faster.

Replaceable coil? Unfortunately (or fortunately) the whole part is $6. The time involved in the replacement would outweigh the cost unless a cartridge design was established.

Give this 6 months, with the popularity and demand we are going to see an explosion of improved devices that will make what we are using now on par with the bag phones of yesteryear.

The Modders on this forum alone have revolutionized vaping in just a few months and 99.5% of us are non-funded and working out of our garages just trying to build a better mousetrap out of necessity. Just imagine if a few of us mod-a-holics actually had a budget that wasn't our own.

 

[kinabaloo]

Encased coil is definately going to extend the warm up time just due to heat transfer. Longer heat cycle will lower it's life expectancy and kill batts faster.

Replaceable coil? Unfortunately (or fortunately) the whole part is $6. The time involved in the replacement would outweigh the cost unless a cartridge design was established.

Give this 6 months, with the popularity and demand we are going to see an explosion of improved devices that will make what we are using now on par with the bag phones of yesteryear.

The Modders on this forum alone have revolutionized vaping in just a few months and 99.5% of us are non-funded and working out of our garages just trying to build a better mousetrap out of necessity. Just imagine if a few of us mod-a-holics actually had a budget that wasn't our own.

I disagree that a longer heating cycle would shorten life; extend it if anything, I'd say. The problem though is how to get a good thermal contact of the coil while still allowing for expansion and contraction.

Agree though that great things could be achieved with a nice budget

 

[jeffakamax]

I too was a firm believer that the continuous cycling hot/cold is what eventually causes the failure. Seems consistent with tungsten and the like in incandescent light bulbs. Leave them on continuously and they last longer than repeated cycling.

My last batch of atty's from Ruyan have me doubting this. I was getting 3 weeks out of them with cleaning and controlled burns to "cook off" redidue. I just had 2 of them in the last week die during a short controlled burn. The last one was working stellar until it got HOT for the first time. Clearly the lack of cooling from the draw allows it to reach much higher temps and did both of them in.

I know you have done tests with getting them white hot for 10-20 min, so in theory... there is no theory?

Or maybe I just got a bad batch. I have not yet performed an autopsy on them.

 

[mikeham]

Ok, I understand a large piece of metal would take up time, and perhaps battery power, but has anyone tried just placing a piece of aluminum foil over the coil? Would a piece of foil in direct contact with the coil cause a short, or affect the resistance or function of the NiChrome? Foil may not be a super durable shield, but then again neither is a latex condom, but they usually work.