a Twisting issue

[harmonic]

ok i dont get out into the main forum lately and i figured since you great folks can have a say in some manufacturing details i figured this would be a good place to drop it.
i have several of the 1000mah ego twists (from various places sorry) and have noticed a wear pattern that could be improved with a slight manufacturing tweak.
after the get broken in the top of the unit with the threads and button tend to become a tiny bit looser from the battery tube getting slightly expended where they come together due to regular stress on that joint. because of this slight loosening it then becomes likely that the head will spin in the tube of come out all together if you have a tank or carto 'stick' when you try to unscrew it from the device. it is usually no big deal to simple push the mess back into the battery tube and keep on trucking
BUT
in 3 seperate devices i have had the head come loose and the pos and neg wires to the curcuit board have simply let go because they were not securly soldered to the board or have snapped off at the solder connection due to the solder connection being insuffecent. also in 2 cases they became intermittent and just quit working and when i pulled the head off the wires were only just touching the connection and had broke themselves loose i guess from the battery shifting in the tube and bending them a tiny bit.
in any case the units were repaired by resoldering the wires and the new connections lasted much longer. one is sitting on the bench cuz they snapped off again when a nova tank stuck and i accidently pulled the head off trying to unscrew it. but the wires didnt pull off they broke from bending at the solder connection a couple of times and then just broke off.
THE FIX
obviously they could use a larger wire but that could pose a problem fitting in the tube and you couldnt change the ones on an existing unit.
so what i have done to mine that made all the difference in the world was to pot a drop of glue on the solder connection after its cooled and create a ball of glue around the connection and end of the wire to keep it from moving. i used thick super glue and did several coating to build it up rather than try and make a big blob all at once but with something like hot glue or silicone (maybe the best option) you could just glop some on there and it would keep it all secure.
in the units being currently manufactured adding this silicone or other glue could increase the longevity and reliability of the unit. and simply increasing the length of the part that inserts into the battery tube (there is plenty of room to do this) would greatly decrease the chances of the head from slipping or comming loose while in use.
sorry for the rant but i just broke another one this same way and it ...... me off its been a long day lol

 

[nathkiira]

what made your nova get stuck? and how tight are you screwing the threads?

 

[antfuzz]

Out of curiosity you have Genuine Joy egos?

 

[harmonic]

yes they are all genuine eGo-C Twist with the logo on the bottom. i dont over tighten them just snug till they dont wiggle around and i use a D type thread cover with the noches and unscrew that a hair from the ego so it snugs up against the tank to help support it even in case of a drop or something (i have had one strip out the nova threads cuz i dropped it and it came off then it wouldnt stay threaded in any more and the thread cover helps prevent this - the ego threading was uneffected)
i tend to only take the tank off to charge the battery and ive been at it a while so i'm pretty sure its not an overtightening issue. ive been a bit lazy with stuff lately due to moving and school so theres prolly a bit o crud on the threads. the nova tops seem to get stuck a lot too but if i leave those any looser then they leak but its still only hand tight but its frustrating to have to reach for the pliers to get it off and i hate taking a chance on scratching it up....

the head getting loose from the batt tube is just normal wear and tear its a weak spot since its only a pressure fit and after several months on a lanyard and what not the tube streches a tiny bit and they just dont stay as tight. if the contact area of the head part that goes into the bat tube were longer it might make it more secure but the wires comming off are the biggest problem ive had. and like i mentioned the one unit the wires broke loose BEFORE the head was loose or ever came off.
just one of those things that only turns up when they start getting aged. but i'll be darned if i am going to replace them after a few months of use when the battery cell and electronics are still perfectly fine and it just a bad connection. i cant afford replacing them so i'll keep fixing them until i cant.
but a few manufacturing tweaks could go a long way to eliminating these problems and allowing the units to last as long as they should - untill the cell will no longer charge or the chip fails. i would expect at least say 9 months or a year of constant use (excluding accidents and such) i mean they are supposed to last 300 charges right.... ive got other batts and mods still going strong after more than a year of slightly less consistant use.
since all my units came from different places and at different times its not like there was say a bad batch or something like that lol

 

[nathkiira]

*inserts made in china joke*

in all seriousness tho ..any improvement to extend the life of a device is a great thing..and can only help the industry

 

[harmonic]

yup and if anybody could do it it would be these guys

 

[TomiGirl]

I haven't had that problem but have had 3 where the plastic button gets pushed in and stuck or caves in and won't come back out to play or if it does, not for long...eventually is a killer. All mine are the real deal too. I for one miss the replaceable squishy ego buttons :/

 

[harmonic]

you "can" carefully pull the head unit from the batter tube and tweak the button / circuit arangement. sounds like the board moved down in the head just a tiny bit. and if the button gets stuck in there it can still be revived the same way cuz ususally all the guts are still fine. if its never been apart before or you dont have much experience doing it it can be hard to remove the top and if you are using a lot of force and it comes out unexpectdly you take the chance of ripping the wires all off so try to be gentle. also if you have some dead egos with the different button that you prefer they can be switched out very easily once you get the unit apart. most of the buttons are interchangable once in a while a tiny bit of filing my need to be done if its a plastic button. finger nail file is more then adaquate for the task. any problems just ask or if you need somebody to take your dead ones off your hands i would be more than happy to recycle them for ya (or some similar arangement lol)

 

[TomiGirl]

Harmonic, thank you! I will give that a try and if I can't make it work they are yours! Is there a trick to getting the head off?

 

[TomiGirl]

YAY!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I did it!! Now I just need to find a source for the squishy buttons! The board is actually wobbly/soft and that seems to be the problem..almost like cardboard...like once you put a moving box together and bend the box tops they are no longer stiff but floppy...just like that. Hmmm now what to do to support that board?

you "can" carefully pull the head unit from the batter tube and tweak the button / circuit arangement. sounds like the board moved down in the head just a tiny bit. and if the button gets stuck in there it can still be revived the same way cuz ususally all the guts are still fine. if its never been apart before or you dont have much experience doing it it can be hard to remove the top and if you are using a lot of force and it comes out unexpectdly you take the chance of ripping the wires all off so try to be gentle. also if you have some dead egos with the different button that you prefer they can be switched out very easily once you get the unit apart. most of the buttons are interchangable once in a while a tiny bit of filing my need to be done if its a plastic button. finger nail file is more then adaquate for the task. any problems just ask or if you need somebody to take your dead ones off your hands i would be more than happy to recycle them for ya (or some similar arangement lol)

 

[harmonic]

the board is soft? ive never encountered that. depending on your mechanical ability you could fill the space under the board witha piece of plastic or something cut to shape from some scrap or something. the bits that are used to hold toys and such to packages can be a good source of scrap plastic - if you have any kids around who just opned toys on christmas then you should be familliar with that or perhaps clip some pices from a ziptie or such...
and i might add be carefull not to wiggle the wires too much while playing with it or you might find the wire come off just like on mine.
i am not sure where to get things such as the button piece unless you have a dead unit with the button you like to take the button out of.
i have lots of misl parts but i dont really recall any squishy buttons but i do have a couple of dead things in a box i havent really been paying attention to so i will have to do some digging and perhaps i can find a rubber button to send your way. might take me a day or two though since i'm still moving and such. at least all that stuff is in the same box and i know where it is cuz i just moved it

 

[nathkiira]

just be absolutely careful you don't cause a short.

 

[keelalagirl55]

the board is soft? ive never encountered that. depending on your mechanical ability you could fill the space under the board witha piece of plastic or something cut to shape from some scrap or something. the bits that are used to hold toys and such to packages can be a good source of scrap plastic - if you have any kids around who just opned toys on christmas then you should be familliar with that or perhaps clip some pices from a ziptie or such...
and i might add be carefull not to wiggle the wires too much while playing with it or you might find the wire come off just like on mine.
i am not sure where to get things such as the button piece unless you have a dead unit with the button you like to take the button out of.
i have lots of misl parts but i dont really recall any squishy buttons but i do have a couple of dead things in a box i havent really been paying attention to so i will have to do some digging and perhaps i can find a rubber button to send your way. might take me a day or two though since i'm still moving and such. at least all that stuff is in the same box and i know where it is cuz i just moved it

I'm so glad you are moved and a little more settled in.... getting you back here more often!!! You have been missed and all your helpful techy info

 

[AG51]

I'm so glad you are moved and a little more settled in.... getting you back here more often!!! You have been missed and all your helpful techy info

yeah what doggie said and be nice to doggie or she'll tricks n treats at you place all year rounds

 

[harmonic]

hehe the move isnt quite done and its going to take a looooong time for the dust to settle and everything to be found and accounted for but the everyday stuff has all made it and mostly been gone through so things are starting to get back to normal (whatever that is LOL)