Conductive glue to minimize voltage drop?

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Derrick Wang

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Dec 2, 2014
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I have a nemesis and stingray x, both clones. I'm not satisfied with the amount of voltage drop I have with them and having learned how a one piece mech is more efficient, can anyone confirm if using conductive glue on the tubing threads will lower the VD? i already cleaned the tubes as best I can, along with using a strip of copper foil on the inner tubing. i only use 18650 batteries so losing the size adjustment is not an issue.

http://www.amazon.com/Parker-Labs-Tensive-Conductive-Adhesive/dp/B0011YY9YM/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AEKN4BJBJ2XBL
 

Visus

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What 18650 batteries do you use and cleaning how do you clean it?
My recommendation is to use a mr clean magic eraser on the threads and ☟
You can find a 3 pack in the dollar store they work awesomely and maybe some noalax

The best way to stop voltage drop is a direct battery connection.
$2.26 510 Adapter for Nemesis Mod - brass at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

Conductive gels should not be used in a mech mod as it may short your battery and cause it to auto-fire..
You would be surprised at how thin film can heat that .... up.
 

Derrick Wang

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Dec 2, 2014
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I use sony vtc4 batteries
I clean them using soap and water, metal polish, and rubbing alcohol. i do have the mr clean erasers. they do well with picking up the oils on my keyboard and mouse.

i'm returning the stingray x, as i just ordered a SMPL clone.

i'm not sure how a conductive gel could short the battery though. currently i have a copper foil adhesive strip running down the inner tubing to help with the voltage drop. wouldn't conductive gel simply be more effective since it'll be evenly and thoroughly distributed between the threads of each tube threading?
 

Visus

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When youu take the battery in and out it will sometimes pull some of the gel off with it. If that gel makes ground it will auto fire.
If it contacts positive its a dead short and will get hot so fast its unbelievable how fast they go almost red hot.
Sonys are known to not vent but it will swell and ruin the battery and probably bulge your mod.

Conductive gels and grease are a definite no-no in mechs.

The magic eraser will remove oxidation creating better conductivity on the threads, soap and water creates oxidation unless you use distilled..
Alcohol wont remove oxidation nor will soap and water.. Polish the outside use the erasers on the threads.. Keep the soap and water for dishes.
Noalax will stop the threads from oxidizing for a long time and a thin sheet of copper haha is not anywhere near as conductive as a whole mods body thats like putting a drop of water on a volcano eruption..
 

JimmyDB

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What metal are the mods made out of and what metal are the contacts?

Noalox is generally intended to prevent the resistive oxides that form on Aluminum... it wasn't intended/marketed toward copper since the copper 'tarnish' is conductive. Currently there IS a Noalox that lists copper-to-copper connections, although I don't think it's different and I have never seen it 'in-the-wild', but I'm sure it helps them sell a little more (or it is fake). For no-Al-ox (get it, No Aluminum Oxide) to do it's job though... you really need to sand back down to the bare Aluminum and apply it pretty quickly as Aluminum starts oxidizing immediately in open air.

If you do a web search for 'The Myth that is Noalox', you will see some one who spoke to the customer service reps for Ideal...

here is the MSDS for NoAlOX as well...

I think No-Al-Ox is only going to be as conductive as the 20% by weight of Zinc in it, btw.

Edit: I would be interested to check this out though...
http://www.nyelubricants.com/products/elec_conductive.shtml
 
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Quigsworth

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Another thing you could consider is brass shim material...you can get the stuff in thicknesses that's almost like tin-foil (or thinner) cut a piece that will wrap around the tele threads and grind it in...I've done this with an old Sigelei 19E brass...works pretty good, though obviously makes adjustments much tougher to do...it's tight...just saying
 
Three devices have had a noticeable voltage drop? Relevant voltage drop on three separate items that are clean, properly assembled and are made copper, SS, or brass is anomalous.

There is a huge fake battery market out there right now. VTC batteries are popular to fake I might double check them and whatever RTA/RDA you are hooking to these mods as well.

How much drop are you measuring?
 

deach

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I don't think I'd leave that copper strip in there. One loose torn piece in the wrong place could spell disaster. If your mod isn't conducting good enough I'm not sure that little strip would help anyway. I personally don't use any conductive gel but I've read in some places it helps. I've personally found keeping the mod threads and switch contacts clean as well as cleaning all switch contacts has worked wonders. I cannot personally comment on either of the clones you have as I've never owned them, I will only say this. My lady's son had a sting ray clone (not sure which maker) and when we got him a different mod for Christmas,(authentic vanilla) he said he couldn't believe the difference. Good luck to you in getting your devices going. Vape Safe!
 

Derrick Wang

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Dec 2, 2014
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Got rid of the stingray. My current setup now:
1. Nemesis (upgraded magnets, no springs), Doge rda
2. SS SMPL, Dark Horse rda
3. Copper SMPL, Copper Plumeveil 1.5 with chuff enuf drip top
All clones. All on 22 gauge. Dual coil 5 wraps @ .09 ohm

I've removed the copper foil and no longer use it. For cleaning, I dissemble everything and do an initial cleaning with soap and water, dry them, rub a mr clean eraser on the threads and contacts to remove oxidation, and do a final wipe down on everything with alcohol.

VD is best on setup #2. Roughly .6VD
#3 is a tad worse which surprised me cause I figure it should do better but maybe I'll do some sanding.
#1 still has the worse VD of about .8-.9. My nemesis is painted black chrome. It should be brass under it but I believe the 2 piece tube design plus the paint really messes with the conductivity.
 

Derrick Wang

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Dec 2, 2014
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Are you measuring the voltage drop with the atomizer attached or without it attached? (just curious) Also sounds like you're off to a pretty good start on getting things working with the cleaning up you did. Way to stick with it and get it going...

Everything is tested on load (honestly that's the only way I know how to test it) with my multimeter. I use a fresh vtc off the charger, pop it in, and take the average number while firing it.
 

Derrick Wang

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Dec 2, 2014
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off topic but i'm trying to tell myself to not get any more 18650 setups. at this point, even if i managed to get 0 VD through the mech and rda, the battery is the limiting factor and where the majority of the VD is coming from. This really isn't an issue for people who are vaping at higher ohms but at .09, the vtc's are being run fairly hard and therefore lose its efficiency.
i have my eyes on building the first build (that I know of) where a box mod has both a multi-cell LiPo pack and bottom feed kit. I have no wiring experience so I'm actually stuck. All the step by step tutorials online I see are for wiring 18650/26650 setups. I only have figured out that with a 1590N1 hammond box, I'll be able to fit a 7.2V (8.4V fully charged) 2cell Turnigy 4600mah 90c LiPo pack and jus barely squeeze in a 15ml juice bottle. This kind of setup, with a 30mm rda, should be the end game vaping experience for me considering it should be overkill with features that I hope to see manufacturers come out with in the future.
1. 2cell 8.4V battery pack with a 90c rating should be incredibly efficient and won't break a sweat since it has a 414 amp limit compared to 30 on the vtc's.
2. maybe all day power with 4600mah (maybe only because i would intend to vape somewhere around 300-400watts), and charging takes only an hour on a depleted battery.
3. no more dripping with a bottom feeding.

chasing power/clouds is taxing. my setups should be about 130watts post VD. when i see people talking about being satisfied with vaping at 7-30 watts, it blows my mind with envy cause i could never go back or be satisfied with that kind of power.
 
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There are several factors that go into satisfaction from vaping and how it is achieved. There are also options that involve factors we rarely consider when building rigs and coils.

As far as satisfaction goes, I vape 18 mg juice, I used 24 for years and throat hit was (and mostly still is) a huge factor in satisfying my urge to vape, clouds are very low priority for me. My buddy that I twist coils with is the opposite, he needs to see a cloud but a mild throat hit is good by him.

Be very very careful using more than one battery, you should check out the safety thread on it.

That said many rarely take into account the full range of thermal effects occurring in their devices, I certainly dont, its too much math for me. We tend to focus on electrical terms that create those effects.

A say 3 ohm coil made of 20 gauge kanathal would be monsterous in size. Turn it up to 50 watts and its running at 12 volts (approx). Think about the size of that coil, heck think about two six ohm coils running at the same power.
Many rda s don't have deck space for that much coil.

The surface area of the above coils would be large and yes they would probably take a bit to heat up, but the mass of them relative to the space they are in vs the amount of juice and wicking causes them to have an abundant thermal effect on their surroundings. Once they get hot they will also take some time to cool.

The same three ohms in 30 gauge is tiny, if you really bury it in wicking and submerge it in juice it will still work but with a lot of spitting and eruptions with good vapor coming only when eruptions of juice on its surface let out the heated material.

A flourecent light bulb has particles in it that are over 1000 deg f. Heck its plasma in there, but you can touch the surface because of the thermal dynamic occurring between the relative interactions of the materials present.

Vaping is the same way. There are several ways to achieve clouds and throat hit and flavor. If you want to be an all time world champion cloud blower get a 260 watt device and put the lowest ohm coil on it that it lists as safe made of the most surface area you can fit. Part of cloud chasing involves your lungs too, your biology may limit a record. Remember that satisfaction takes many forms and success with these items is more than just the electrical end of the devices calculations. If your having too much trouble getting satisfaction consider some other approaches. Oh Don't Smoke The Juice! Get it too hot and you will be burning it, its probably bad for you, real bad!
 
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