CUBOID Battery Meter Imbalanced Reading

[Spey]

Cuboid is displaying one battery low & one battery high (with fully charged batteries - one below voltage & one above).

When fully charged batteries are installed, the display readout indicates battery empty (left) & battery full (right). (see photos below)

EDIT:
When atty is installed, left battery perimeter displays with empty contents and right battery perimeter with full contents (image below without left battery perimeter almost looks like the entire left battery indicator is just not working at all). Photo below somewhat misleading ...

Going into the sub-menu for Battery Charge Level (Left Button + Fire Button 8-times) results:
Test-1
3.13 Bat-1
5.31 Bat-2
8.44 Total both batteries

Test-2 (see pic'c below)
3.14 Bat-1
5.29 Bat-2
8.43 Total both batteries

So the unit is reading the total voltage correctly, but appears to be indicating an imbalance (this is with three different sets of batteries - all tested good in other mod's and on Efest Charger).

Firmware Version: 3.00
Hardware Version: 1.01

I have updated firmware to v3.14 (running on different Cuboid with no problems). When unit began experiencing problem it was running the OEM Firmware v3.00 Hardware 1.01

I do not think this issues is related to the battery door, or the connecting pin for the door (many others problems). It appears that something on the board is not reading each individual cell correctly (but the total voltage of both battery reading is correct).

The unit seems to fire a 0.13 build comparable to my other Cuboid's.

Wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem, and if a solution has been found?

Not looking for the just RMA it type answers, unless others have experienced similar issue themselves.

Thanks,

 

[jersey_emt]

You could install ClockSelect's myEvic firmware and use the battery voltage offset feature in the Expert menu (+1.00 V for battery 1, -1.00 V for battery 2, which is the maximum offset allowed). But with that much of a discrepancy I wouldn't trust that mod.

 

[Spey]

You could install ClockSelect's myEvic firmware and use the battery voltage offset feature in the Expert menu (+1.00 V for battery 1, -1.00 V for battery 2, which is the maximum offset allowed). But with that much of a discrepancy I wouldn't trust that mod.

Have you successfully loaded firmware written for a different device on a Cuboid?

If so, please explain the process. I have attempted this unsuccessfully in the past (rejected by the firmware update software - I tried to load a firmware with bypass feature.)

It would be nice to be able to offset the battery reading on the Cuboid, as each Cuboid I have had always indicates battery voltage on one battery lower than the other (even with freshly charged & even voltage batteries installed). Effectively calibrating the device, and it's battery meter reading.

EDIT:
So, I have been reading at ClockSelect /myEvic ...
Thank you for the reference. I was previously unaware of these works related to applicable firmware options.

As you eluded to, I agree the issue with the Cuboid referenced in OP is most likely hardware related (mentioned in OP) and still hope to pursue options for this device. I am however interested in the mentioned firmware for other devices.

Thanks again,

 

[Spey]

jersey_emt,

THANK YOU

Initially, because it appears firmware defaults from displaying battery voltage for both batteries to the voltage of lowest battery, the unit went into a low battery default protection mode.

Then I went into BOV setting and could see both battery levels (still reported uneven just like OP) and made a couple adjustments to calibrate the values to know values out of mod and arrived at running BOV +.96 & -.94.

Vaping now exploring the multitude of programming features. Will see how device handles a few cycles of battery replacements (assume clock will zero each time Batt's removed).

Somewhere I enabled clock on home-screen :-/ but most likely just need to scroll the menus to resolve. I suspect will be loading F.M. to my other Cuboid to explore as a daily F.W.

I think this may have been the most helpful reply I have received on a forum - ever ;-)

Good on you mate [emoji106]

 

[jersey_emt]

I'm glad you like it! It's a great and free upgrade that is compatible with a wide range of Joyetech and Wismec devices. Hopefully support will soon be added for the Joyetech Primo and Wismec Predator, both of which use the same chipset as our Cuboids. Because one of those two will most likely be my next mod. ClockSelect (the creator of the firmware) usually adds in support for new devices within a few months of their release. The Wismec RX Mini, RX300, and Joyetech Cuboid 200 (the triple-18650 version) were all added quickly after their release.

There are a lot of new features with this firmware. Preheat can be set as a percentage of the currently-selected wattage instead of just a fixed wattage as in the stock firmware, making it automatically work with any atomizer or coil you use. The "Sweet" TC algorithm is much smoother than the stock TC algorithm, and all but eliminates the "pulsing" you get when you hit the set temperature. There are other TC algorithms to choose from as well.

The power curve feature is like preheat on steroids -- you can set multiple time and power percentage points throughout your draws, allowing you to really tailor the power delivery in wattage mode to your specific preferences. For example, I use the following:

• 0.0 seconds: 120%
• 1.0 seconds: 110%
  
• 1.5 seconds: 105%
  
• 2.0 seconds: 102%
  
• 2.5 seconds: 100%
  
• 4.0 seconds: 98%
  
• 4.5 seconds: 95%
  
• 5.0 seconds: 90%
  
• 6.0 seconds: 85%

This gives a short one-second preheat of 120%, then a rapid but smooth drop to 100%, then a smooth drop down to 85%. It reduces ramp-up time dramatically, and then prevents things from getting too hot if you take a very long (more than ~5 seconds).

You can make the wattage up/down buttons change the setting in 1-watt increments instead of 0.1 watt increments. I absolutely love this, because I'm a bit OCD and need to have the wattage set to a whole number; having the wattage "land on" 74.6 watts when I want to set it to 75 watts annoys me. And similarly, in TC mode, you can choose from
±1°C and ±5°F or ±5°C and ±10°F for the temperature setting.

Regarding the clock, you are correct, it will lose its setting when you change batteries. You can hook the mod up to your PC via USB (turn off the USB battery charging in the Expert menu -> UCH option first) to keep the mod powered and prevent the clock from reseting when changing batteries, but I just don't bother with the clock at all. That's what my watch and cell phone are for.

And there are loads of other features too. Everything is explained on the firmware's GitHub site. It turns your simple and basic Cuboid into something almost as powerful and configurable as a DNA mod.

 

[Spey]

RE: "I'm glad you like it! "

Hmmm ..., that so far is the understatement of the year I "liked" the Cuboid FW and the fact that they give users the ability to choose from various update versions. Ya, in each there are things I like & things I don't. Clock Select so far appears to address all the things I don't like (huge improvement), and add a number of things i have wished for for years

Couple questions in bold below.

For the most part, I am going to try and keep this thread on tract related to the subject of the OP (related to solving the CUBOID battery imbalance display of the device in question). Comments & questions here related to that goal, questions related to ClockSelect FW also related to that goal.

As we have already discussed, after using FW thru a battery cycle, I don't think this (FW change) is a solution to the problems referenced in my OP. I am still interested in anyone's input related to fixes solutions, workarounds, and still under the assumption the issue is hardware related (hoping maybe something like solder connection internally in the battery/power circuit)?

Testing FW first battery cycle & using the BOV (Battery Offset Value).

1st BOV Setting:
B1: +0.96 = 4.2v Mod display voltage match VOM
B2: -0.94 = 4.2v Mod display voltage match VOM

Part way through initial testing I noticed flashing in home-screen battery bar (appears this is indication of imbalance in battery charge). VOM (Volt Ohm Meter) test both battery were same voltage. Vaped a little while at initial BOV before I realized what the flashing "bal" was trying to tell me as I was working through the multitude of FW options & settings. Somewhere into the vape I made another BOV adjustment to even out the mod's voltage reading display of both batteries (after again confirming even voltages with VOM). I think I needed to go approx.
2nd BOV Setting
B1: +0.85v
B2: -0.83v

Then later into vape;
3rd BOV Setting
B1: +0.66v
B2: -0.65v

So, now after playing around in the firmware a bit ... and liking the PreHeat functionality (especially the % of set-temp functionality, and how it auto-ranges based on Power setting I am finding what seem to be some glitches. A number of the functions are either not accessible or they need to be used in combination with another feature before they are accessible (example: the % Pre-Heat would not let me adjust until after I had vaped using Pre-Heat in Wattage ...). A number of other features of the FW responded somewhat similar, to some degree almost like I needed to teach the FW that I really wanted to do these things (I "think" I read somewhere related to the FW that the FW has some type of "learning" functionality - meaning do something 2-3 times before it makes appropriate setting adjustment). Example: first couple times running TC SWEET Mode the vape was extremely rough (inconsistent), to the point I just discredited the option (later returned to it and found improvement. Running in TC mode and finding what seems a valid starting point for SS316L TCR I had a fairly consistent vape (it took bringing down the TCR from the default 120 and also bringing down the TC Wattage from 200w, but regardless the vape was consistent across a range of temperatures). Along the way I stumbled into the +/-5 & 10 degree temp adjustability and also the +/- 1-watt (vs 0.1-watt) adjustment increments (hallelujah, I have been asking for this for years). Still trying to figure out what's really going on with the adjustment stepping (rate of change, Watts in POwer for example), I like the feel so far but once I understand I will better be able to adjust with deliberate intention and greater accuracy. I like the on/off for auto resistance setting and the ability to override and lock resistance for various wire compositions. I like the option to be able to turn off USB Charging (so port can still be used for other functionality). Much to like here; AND the ability to turn off (Y/N) display of functions you wish not to see so as to unclutter your daily vape experience

Throughout the vape, testing various features of the FW, the battery charge indicator continues to be depleting quite quickly (batt % rapidly decreasing). Additionally, the "bal" will start flashing (still assuming this is a battery imbalance indicator). Each time it appears this was due to the mod sensing one of the batteries having lower voltage than it really did (home-screen battery indicator appears to only display the lowest of multi-battery voltage vs. perhaps the total voltage - see question below).

4th BOV Setting
B1: +0.22v
B2: -0.21v

So, I like the FW and continued to explore other functionality in that first FW/mod test session.

I presume there have been systematic FW updates to ClockSelect since first release ...? From a user upgrade standpoint how do I know what version a .bin is (current myevic.bin = Build 170201 v3.30 by device ID) without being installed onto device and using device to display version info. (I am considering renaming the .bin to include a date-code, or numeric related to version of download or ...)?


Is there a way to have home-screen battery voltage display total battery voltage (vs. lowest)? This I believe could be an effective workaround from the issue with this mod as referenced in OP (the total voltage displayed by the device appears to be correct, the split voltage appears to be where the issue manifests itself). I understand this would leave a user with a condition where a true battery imbalance could develop without a tell-tale (but it seems there are a number of these types of features/functionality in the Expert Menu, and this might be the place to embed an option like this).