The cradles that I ordered are supposed to be delivered today. So, now I have a DNA30, cradle, switches, wire, fuses...basically everything needed to make one of these EXCEPT the enclosure. Not sure when those will get here. I think FT says they ship on the 21st.
Building a "hana" style mod with the fasttech enclosure: looking for tips, tricks, and suggestions
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Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I've been working on finishing up a co-op I've been hosting. I'll try and work on it this coming week. I'll let you know when I post it up on shapeways.com and sculpteo.com
Edited to add: THANK YOU for picking up a couple of my cradles, please let me know if you have any issues with them
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Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I've been working on finishing up a co-op I've been hosting. I'll try and work on it this coming week. I'll let you know when I post it up on shapeways.com and sculpteo.com
Edited to add: THANK YOU for picking up a couple of my cradles, please let me know if you have any issues with them
The look like that are going to work perfectly. It will go into a Hana box with the dna 40 chip.
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Thanks for all the info in this thread. I ordered a blue case a while back from FT on a whim "just in case". Now it comes in handy with the new DNA40 It looks really pretty!
I'm still waiting for a M10x0.5 tap for the varitube connector. Ordered some 14mm a while back, would love to sink it but that is going to be rather difficult. The 22mm varitube would really look perfect but anyways.
I soldered all wires now. It was easier than expected. I used 0.75mm² cross section multistrand wire which is slightly thinner than the recommended AWG18 but it's the maximum I was able to to fit in the DNA40 holes. It would be about AWG18.5. The supplied wires are theoretically fine, the ends are even tinned, but the power leads won't fit into the DNA40 board.
The soldering of the 510 center pin of the varitube is indeed finicky because the hole is way too small for AWG18. Now I have a big lump of solder there and probably not the best connection. It should be fine and it holds but it impedes the movement of the center pin a bit lol. I might desolder and drill out the center pin a bit to really stick the wire into it, and then solder it right.
Going to use the supplied buttons, going to glue them in with JB kwik weld. I certainly hope I won't screw THAT up...
I'll try to fix the screen with tape and the board with hotglue. What I'm not sure about is if I should use the supplied screen. Since the dna screen is kind of recessed, is this neeed? I guess without the screen you'd have a gap where air could come out though. The cradle is nice but now way I'll be able to wait for a cradle Also the results seem to vary. Hot glue it is.
Back to waiting on my tap... ohmmmmmmmm.
It looks really pretty! I'm still waiting for a M10x0.5 tap for the varitube connector. Ordered some 14mm a while back, would love to sink it but that is going to be rather difficult. The 22mm varitube would really look perfect but anyways.
I soldered all wires now. It was easier than expected. I used 0.75mm² cross section multistrand wire which is slightly thinner than the recommended AWG18 but it's the maximum I was able to to fit in the DNA40 holes. It would be about AWG18.5. The supplied wires are theoretically fine, the ends are even tinned, but the power leads won't fit into the DNA40 board.
The soldering of the 510 center pin of the varitube is indeed finicky because the hole is way too small for AWG18. Now I have a big lump of solder there and probably not the best connection. It should be fine and it holds but it impedes the movement of the center pin a bit lol. I might desolder and drill out the center pin a bit to really stick the wire into it, and then solder it right.
Going to use the supplied buttons, going to glue them in with JB kwik weld. I certainly hope I won't screw THAT up...
I'll try to fix the screen with tape and the board with hotglue. What I'm not sure about is if I should use the supplied screen. Since the dna screen is kind of recessed, is this neeed? I guess without the screen you'd have a gap where air could come out though. The cradle is nice but now way I'll be able to wait for a cradle
Also the results seem to vary. Hot glue it is.Back to waiting on my tap... ohmmmmmmmm.
Just curious on why you want a tap. I understand why I think, your going to tap the case so you can screw the body of the 510 into the box. I installed mine in a hammond and just drilled a half inch hole. I soldered a ground wire on the nut and tightened it down. So if you tap the case is it more of a sturdy connection, or maybe more stable? Also I agree the hole in the 510 for the power wire is teeny, I used 20 guage and it was marginal at best. Mine had a lump under it, I thought it would give me trouble but it didnt works great I like it.
Because the FT case, even if it looks great, has a really thick wall below the 510 hole. If you would just drill out the 510 hole to 10mm the body of the varitube connector would not reach to the inside, so you have nowhere to put the nut on. You could mill away a lot of the body of course, but tapping is easier and less messier overall. I really didn't expect having to tap the stuff.
so i started the hana mini build yesterday got the small buttons glued in and started to get the chip in to try if everything works. but ther ground dident work. i think it is the paint that makes a bad connection so i will have to grind and drill the hole out and the solder the ground wire to it ill take some pics and add them here when i get that far =D
Yeah you should definitely sand away the anodizing in the ground connector and the 510 connection.
Yay I finally got my DNA40 in a fansatech case working. My last problem is with the supplied buttons. I just press fitted them for now, it works I just have to take care to press the buttons rather gingerly haha. How do I glue them in without messing up everything?
Someone on the fasttech forum suggested epoxy for the buttons since hotglue is to elastic, and to apply a thin ring of glue around the outer button sleeve and press them in. I just can't imagine that this would work without splattering the black Kwikweld I have all over... I need to nudge the already soldered buttons gently to their place and the press them in because the leads are so unwieldy.
Currently I'm thinking to just press fit them and then apply some kwickweld around the button base and the case with a thin wire or something.
Also the pins I soldered the leads to look rather brittle. If I ever need to replace the buttons and glue them in with epoxy it's going to get ugly.
Someone on the fasttech forum suggested epoxy for the buttons since hotglue is to elastic, and to apply a thin ring of glue around the outer button sleeve and press them in. I just can't imagine that this would work without splattering the black Kwikweld I have all over... I need to nudge the already soldered buttons gently to their place and the press them in because the leads are so unwieldy.
Currently I'm thinking to just press fit them and then apply some kwickweld around the button base and the case with a thin wire or something.
Also the pins I soldered the leads to look rather brittle. If I ever need to replace the buttons and glue them in with epoxy it's going to get ugly.
Where did you pick up your DNA40? I just got an email from Evolv that they are currently out of stock for sale on their website. Also let me know how you mounted your tactile buttons, I'm curious because I don't want to use the ones from FT. They work but quality is not that good IMHO! On my first box with a DNA30 I drilled out all of the holes for mini push buttons and still waiting for a couple that I order from a company in China that is a nice looking 12mm domed style.
I ordered from bargainvapor.com in ireland (I live in europe). They delivered very fast to europe but it doesn't make much sense to reimport them into the USA lol. Maybe you can find the chip from a third party vendor.
I used the FT buttons because I very much like their size and feel. I might order the C&K originals though and replace them. Currently I have only pressed them in, it's a precise enough fit that they didn't fall out yet while I'm using my mod. And I don't know how I will secure them yet lol! I'll probably glue them in with J-B kwikweld.
I used the FT buttons because I very much like their size and feel. I might order the C&K originals though and replace them. Currently I have only pressed them in, it's a precise enough fit that they didn't fall out yet while I'm using my mod. And I don't know how I will secure them yet lol! I'll probably glue them in with J-B kwikweld.
Pretty sure evolv can't do anything about it. I have tapped the 510 and scratched the ground connector pain and it world. It might also be a bad solder connection on your chip? Soldering and getting the wire in there certainly was difficult. I checked all my solder connections with high magnification and luckily they look great.
You can get a DNA 40 from House of Vapor, Hyperion Vape, or Vape Dojo. Those are the ones I know of anyhow.
Good to know
I changed the 510 on my okr box yesterday and have put a varitube 510 on it. Put my tugboat on it and it dident fire eather the spring in the 510 is to weak or to short so when i skrew it on i passes the delrin insert and loose connection. I will look at my hana today if that is the problem with that one too....
I changed the 510 on my okr box yesterday and have put a varitube 510 on it. Put my tugboat on it and it dident fire eather the spring in the 510 is to weak or to short so when i skrew it on i passes the delrin insert and loose connection. I will look at my hana today if that is the problem with that one too....
Do you have a multimeter? The ground connection should be easy to measure. I'll actually test it in mine later.
I actually would wait for the second batch for DNA40... I've read multiple reports of DIY DNA40 builders about the screen issue (in the errata section of the datasheet). It's highly annoying... I might be able to fix it, but I might have to buy another chip, rip the old one out and solder everything up again. Will be a huge PITA :/
I emailed Evolv on release day because I didn't see them available on their site. They said they wouldn't be selling on their website for awhile. They said to purchase from their authorized dealers. The House of Vapor, Vape Dojo or Hyperion Vape. So I bought 2 from VaporDojo. I ordered them on Oct 15 and they were at my door in California the 20th.
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I just picked up a couple of Sanjosse cradles at Shapeways. Can't wait to try them out with the two DNA 40s I have. Of course I will have to remove the side rails, but the was the plan all along.
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