Drop in component quality, esp. batteries

[solaar]

I'm wondering if it's just me or if anyone else has experienced a sharp drop in quality of the electronic components. I know that quality depends on a number of things, manufacturer, retailer?, but it has been becoming really bad over the summer. I just finished going through eight(!) M401 batteries - 3 auto, 5 manual - in about 2 weeks. Not even a hint of life left in them. In the same period 3 USB PT and 5 atties died on me. It wasn't that bad last year where batteries lasted at least a couple of months.

This is very frustrating and slowly becoming more expensive than smoking analogues. I asked for replacements but in the meantime I don't know what to do. I have a dozen unused atties, half a litre of juice, over 100 carts and a cemetery of 30 dead batteries and 3 USB PTs. All M401.

I'm now looking for the most reliable alternative to those dodgy batteries. I suppose that would be a mod? I'm thinking of some sort of casing for regular AAA accus. Since I'm one of the worst DIY guys on the planet I would prefer to find something ready made on the market. The most compact and reliable possible. And a USB PT that will actually work longer than a couple of weeks.

Any hints appreciated. Cheers.

 

[brandon555]

Any mechanical mod will do the job. My Prodigy and Protege are still going after six months of daily use. I'm even using the oiginal rcr123s that came with my kit.

I bought an ego batt a couple weeks ago out of curiosity from TV. Yeah its already toast. Ill stick with my mods.

 

[dopeless-hopefiend]

I too have noticed that battery quality has seemingly dipped over the last couple months - wanting to cure your battery woes? Go with a mod.

 

[ChuckB]

Look into building yoursellf a nicostick. Great instructions in the the modders battery section. You don't have to be very mechanically orientated, it's pretty simple to make. The other nice thing is that a basic nicostick has so few parts there really isn't much to go wrong, and if it does break, since you made it, you'll be able to fix it. The 14450 battery is easy to find on-line and they hold up.

 

[Nobodyatall]

You might look into building a "Puck". It's down in the MOD section. I've been looking at that and will be heading out to Fry's Electronics in a few minutes myself to see if I can find the needed materials, not to mention a native adapter for the 501 atty.

The whole thing looks too easy and given that the new NiZn batteries are fairly cheap and would boost output beyond NiMH by a small margin, it looks like a "must try" for me. The whole "proprietary parts made in China" thing gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Definitely not a "sexy beast", this puck thing.

 

[solaar]

Thanks a lot guys. A DIY mod seems to be the best option.

It's probably no biggie for most of you but those mods look a bit intimidating to me. I have eyesight problems with small things in close range. I suppose I'll have to get some good magnifying glasses and a crash course in soldering...

About the USB PT. I know there are also DIY solutions out there but what I can't get my head around is how the commercial ones can just crap out after a couple of weeks. There's no battery in there, no moving parts. It's just a piece of cable that transmits USB current to the atty. I always made sure to reinforce the cable ends, always careful not to bend anything etc. It's almost like the manufacturers integrate an auto destruction mechanism, knowing that people will keep buying the stuff.

 

[Agrion]

I agree, a mod is the way to go. The batteries I received with my original kit lasted a month then started deteriorating rapidly to the point where it takes longer to charge them than they last. Replacements are $14.50.

I decided very quickly that I wanted a product that takes removable, standard rechargeable batteries, instead of proprietary batteries with the threads attached. Batteries are disposable and I see no reason to buy propriety ones when there are much better, time tested, less expensive, longer lasting options. The mod pays for itself.

And in a pinch (I travel and forget my charger, my charger dies, my batteries stop taking a charge etc.) I can go to any Walmart or Radio Shack and buy more batteries or a new charger or a set of equivalent non rechargeable ones to get me by. Try doing that with the proprietary ones.

 

[Scott EE]

I own Altsmokes BB and recently purchased the SB. I went to mods less than 2 months after my first ecig. I started with standard 510 then mega 510 then the eGO. The BB uses 14500's and the SB 18650's. They both come in at $85. However the batteries for them are pretty darn cheap.

I ordered Trustfire batteries from Dealextreme which is a chinese vendor with alot of stuff not related to ecigs. The ones you want have the protection circuit for safety. The black ones with flames on them are the best rated batteries they have. 14500's 900mah will set you back about $2.70 each and 18650's 2400mah about $4.84 each sold in packs of two. Less if you order 3 or more at a time and enable the bulkrate pricing coupon. The charger the Trustfire model TR-001 works with alot of different lithium ions and you should probably get more than one just to have a backup. I own flashlights now also from dealextreme that use these batteries so nice dual purpose batteries.

My 14500's for my BB have been used extensively for 6 months and still going strong. Not bad for a $2.70 battery. However I did buy a bunch of them and cycled through about 2-3 per day with 7 total cycling through charger. The 18650 in my SB since I got it last week lasts me the entire day and then some. The BB is not overly large; just a tad larger in diameter than a penny. The SB on the other hand is one big mod however it runs forever on that big battery. Also you could beat a mugger to death with the SB.

Money was a consideration which was why I chose the Altsmoke mods. If I had means I would probably consider the Super T Manufacturing mods. The Precise line of mods machined from stainless steel really look sharp and should last forever.

 

[solaar]

Nice one fellows. I need to catch up a lot of reading about those neat "monsters". Although I'm vaping for almost a year I'm actually still a newbie or call it useless user

If I understand right the Altsmokes BB and SB are actually just battery holders and you have to buy the special batteries in China. (There is no such thing as Radio Shack in my country so I'm always dependent on internet deals). I suppose they only work with 510 type atties? I'm wondering if there's a chance to put my dozen spare M401 atties to use with one of those mods. Perhaps with a thread adapter? Although might they just fry up?

I'm also confused about the voltages, low resistance atties, potential dangers etc.

As I said I need to read up on this.

Cheers

 

[Scott EE]

If I understand right the Altsmokes BB and SB are actually just battery holders and you have to buy the special batteries in China. (There is no such thing as Radio Shack in my country so I'm always dependent on internet deals). I suppose they only work with 510 type atties? I'm wondering if there's a chance to put my dozen spare M401 atties to use with one of those mods. Perhaps with a thread adapter? Although might they just fry up?

I'm also confused about the voltages, low resistance atties, potential dangers etc.

As I said I need to read up on this.

Cheers

Yes most mods are just battery holders and a switch. Yes the BB and SB are 510 threaded. Yes I have used a thread adapter to try out KR808 cartomizers. Not sure about M401 adapters. I got my adapters from Health Cabin in a pack of 5. Yeah you should look for something so all those spare atty's don't go to waste. Not familiar with M401 so have no idea there.

 

[Nobodyatall]

It's almost like the manufacturers integrate an auto destruction mechanism, knowing that people will keep buying the stuff.

They do, friend, they do. It's called MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure). It's all pretty much calculated in advance. Under "normal" usage conditions... whatever that criteria may be said to be for any given component. One of those "fine arts" within the engineering field.

Good luck finding a mod that you feel you will like to try to build. There are a lot of interesting designs.