Fasttech Veterans

[Bobw1951]

Terry - Tobeco seems better with it removed, probably won't try the Infinite until after the 13th when hopefully everything will be back to normal here.

Vince, I have tried a couple of Linux distros, and most of them look/feel just as crap, Probably the best is Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop, problem is unless you know something about Linux then it is a very steep learning curve, especially if like me, you were brought up on MS DOS 6.1 and get into things like putting User files on another drive, and installing programs in places away from the normal, so trying to find things is much harder with Linux

Can't help with Linux Vince - Plenty of people use it and say it's good, but I never have.
I may be wrong, but I think all online computers need a form of security now in varying degrees.
Kaspersky has something like sandbox, and something called Safe Money. I've not used it but do use the virtual keyboard when logging into things like my bank account.

That's the nice thing with using a password manager, you don't need virtual keyboards, and you don't need to make lists of passwords, because they can generate and store them for you. I prefer RoboForm but also use LastPass, when you go to a site that has a log in they automatically fill them for you.

 

[Brynglas]

Interesting Adam.
I also saw the comment that nobody is sure if the device actually carries that warning until someone has actually seen it.

 

[Bobw1951]

Hi guys,

Been e-mailing cloupor about the mini melting issue and have now received this:

"You can let the device reach at 30w and press the fire button with 15 second.

If the device didn't day "too hot" , that is safe.

Thank you. "

Also seen this news item here saying they got the same response from cloupor and explains it better than their stupid broken English:

Update: Do you have a faulty Cloupor Mini 30W ? | Planet of the Vapes

So I will definitely be trying this when mine arrives shortly haha

Well mine passed the test, so it does look like it was just a faulty batch, which means their QC isn't quite as good as other companies otherwise that would have been picked up, hopefully they will include that in their testing. Must admit I do like the mod, it's what the iStick should have been.

 

[dw117]

Interesting Adam.
I also saw the comment that nobody is sure if the device actually carries that warning until someone has actually seen it.

That's a good point. I'll see if I can find mention of the device having overheat protection on the board anywhere.

Well mine passed the test, so it does look like it was just a faulty batch, which means their QC isn't quite as good as other companies otherwise that would have been picked up, hopefully they will include that in their testing. Must admit I do like the mod, it's what the iStick should have been.

I reckon as soon as I get mine I'll try it multiple times in a row with the battery cover off and see if the area gets hot at all, then keep an eye on it for a few days/weeks as I use it and not leave the battery in it overnight during that time.

Hopefully all goes well because I don't fancy having to battle with the ali express seller I got mine from if I feel it should be returned. Ali express give you reasonable protection against things not being genuine or not being delivered by their sellers but in a complicated case like this I wouldn't be confident.

 

[Pictor]

Have found out that it is the Pump on the liquid cooling that has seized up, so need the liquid cooling replaced, about £80 - £120 for a new unit, can't do it myself as I am an idiot when it comes to anything to do with the CPU, blew one years ago, ruining the whole motherboard, so am waiting for a company to get back to me with a time frame for fixing it, which will probably cost me another £65 - £95.

I can understand you not wanting to tackle that yourself - I've seen others get problems with trying to fix that.
Not a cheap job for fixing, but cheaper than a computer.

Totally agree about Microsnot and it's silly ideas, after all Desktops, Laptops, Tablets & phones are all totally different, so why should they all run the same OS, wish they would just support existing OSes and carry on giving out fixes when required, we could really do with another SP to amalgamate all the existing hotfixes as there are so many now, doing a re-install is a nightmare.

I can't see business users wanting something that looks and works as the tablet/phone ones do - if they all got legs and were able to go elsewhere, Microsoft would have to think again. As it is, it's not possible for a business to just change, so MS win again.
They seem to overlook the fact that we are customers, and should have the right to choose for ourselves to suit our own needs.
The only answer is to have two computers - one that stays offline and doesn't rely on updates for security, and another for email and online things ...not a practical notion.

I know of others who use their computers for similar work related things, and they've found that for some of those things, Apple isn't as good as MS. Pity, because for now, I don't see Apple doing desktops that look like tablets and phones ...or do they?

 

[Pictor]

Hi guys,
Been e-mailing cloupor about the mini melting issue and have now received this:
"You can let the device reach at 30w and press the fire button with 15 second.
If the device didn't day "too hot" , that is safe.
Thank you. "
Also seen this news item here saying they got the same response from cloupor and explains it better than their stupid broken English:
Update: Do you have a faulty Cloupor Mini 30W ? | Planet of the Vapes
So I will definitely be trying this when mine arrives shortly haha

Handy to know that - I'll try it when I need to change a coil!

That's the nice thing with using a password manager, you don't need virtual keyboards, and you don't need to make lists of passwords, because they can generate and store them for you. I prefer RoboForm but also use LastPass, when you go to a site that has a log in they automatically fill them for you.

I've never used a password manager - I'll take a look at those.

Well mine passed the test, so it does look like it was just a faulty batch, which means their QC isn't quite as good as other companies otherwise that would have been picked up, hopefully they will include that in their testing. Must admit I do like the mod, it's what the iStick should have been.

It is nice, and it does work well - it's heavy, but solid. Don't particularly like the idea of firing it for 15 seconds though to check it.

Hopefully all goes well because I don't fancy having to battle with the ali express seller I got mine from if I feel it should be returned. Ali express give you reasonable protection against things not being genuine or not being delivered by their sellers but in a complicated case like this I wouldn't be confident.

Hope it is fine - and likely will be, but you can contact Cloupor as stated in that link if you prefer to go through them.

 

[dw117]

Handy to know that - I'll try it when I need to change a coil!

It is nice, and it does work well - it's heavy, but solid. Don't particularly like the idea of firing it for 15 seconds though to check it.

Hope it is fine - and likely will be, but you can contact Cloupor as stated in that link if you prefer to go through them.

I suppose it's more of a problem for you to test it as well because the kind of tanks you vape might not especially enjoy being fired at 30W for 15s, so like you said best to wait until the coil is dud anyway and hope you don't burn it too badly. Maybe a nautilus coil would handle it better than one of your smaller coil tanks.

Don't suppose it would be a walk in the park dealing with cloupor either. I think next time I buy a mod it'll be from a good uk site like myepack or maybe FT as even though they're the other side of the world and it would take a while to return something their customer service is usually good.

Oh speaking of myepack, rang them again and they said kanger were sending them some replacement longer 510 pins for the subtank mini to fix the issues that some of them have had so he'll send me one as soon as he gets them. The issue is obviously not really his fault so appreciate the fact he's going to be sending me two extra packages without any quibbles, the first replacement base was even sent royal mail 24hr.

 

[vince01]

Thanks for the help guys, guess I'll remain a sheep

 

[vince01]

The customer services department at Cloupor have issued a statement saying that the welding gauntlets and charging bag being bundled with all future orders of their portable 30 watt barbeque is an attempt to improve the value of the device and has nothing whatsoever to do with any alleged safety issues

 

[Brynglas]

Have you removed the AFC screw on yours george ?

Have now Terry,it is better without it.

Pretty sure my first one can't be a tobeco as it has a bag of spares with it.But no other clues.

 

[Bobw1951]

I can understand you not wanting to tackle that yourself - I've seen others get problems with trying to fix that.
Not a cheap job for fixing, but cheaper than a computer.

I can't see business users wanting something that looks and works as the tablet/phone ones do - if they all got legs and were able to go elsewhere, Microsoft would have to think again. As it is, it's not possible for a business to just change, so MS win again.
They seem to overlook the fact that we are customers, and should have the right to choose for ourselves to suit our own needs.
The only answer is to have two computers - one that stays offline and doesn't rely on updates for security, and another for email and online things ...not a practical notion.

I know of others who use their computers for similar work related things, and they've found that for some of those things, Apple isn't as good as MS. Pity, because for now, I don't see Apple doing desktops that look like tablets and phones ...or do they?

Yes, lot's cheaper, mine was nearly £1500 just for the computer, with SSD, HDD, Blu-Ray, Graphics card & 16Gb memory, no display as I already had one.

I used to have 2 running together and tried that for a while, using one for off-line use and the other just for on-line use, but it was a PITA switching between the 2

As for Apple, the main problem with their stuff is it is overpriced and nearly everything you need for it to operate has to be approved by Apple, otherwise it won't work

 

[Brynglas]

View attachment 409023 View attachment 409022

 

[Pictor]

I suppose it's more of a problem for you to test it as well because the kind of tanks you vape might not especially enjoy being fired at 30W for 15s, so like you said best to wait until the coil is dud anyway and hope you don't burn it too badly. Maybe a nautilus coil would handle it better than one of your smaller coil tanks.

As chance would have it, I have a mini Nautilus that has been giving me a less than good flavour on a two day old coil, so I opened a new mini Nautilus and have begun using that ...the older one is sitting here waiting for me to empty and wash it to give it another chance.

I'm still not keen on taking the Cloupor to it's limit and firing it for 15 seconds though! Bit wary that it'll explode! ...be like one of those endurance things: can I keep my finger on that button long enough or will I crack and give up

Thanks for the help guys, guess I'll remain a sheep

Nowt wrong wi a few sheep!

The customer services department at Cloupor have issued a statement saying that the welding gauntlets and charging bag being bundled with all future orders of their portable 30 watt barbeque is an attempt to improve the value of the device and has nothing whatsoever to do with any alleged safety issues

Oh right then, no worries!

 

[e-pipeman]

Can't help with Linux Vince - Plenty of people use it and say it's good, but I never have.
I may be wrong, but I think all online computers need a form of security now in varying degrees.
Kaspersky has something like sandbox, and something called Safe Money. I've not used it but do use the virtual keyboard when logging into things like my bank account.

Chromebooks don't need security. They're essentially just a dumb terminal or thin client. Each tab acts as its own sandbox and I've had no security issues with mine whatsoever. In fact - I'm using mine now! It excels at web, forums and email in my view - very fast (ssd drive, no bloatware to load, boots almost instantaneously} and holds a charge for a good eight hours. Not bad for just under £200. Imho they won't replace a pc for everything but they're a jolly useful second device.

 

[Bobw1951]

View attachment 409023 View attachment 409022

Presumably that KF4 has a Kanthal build, have heard they are not well suited to Ni-200

 

[Pictor]

Yes, lot's cheaper, mine was nearly £1500 just for the computer, with SSD, HDD, Blu-Ray, Graphics card & 16Gb memory, no display as I already had one.

Same here! I already had all the peripherals and a LaCie monitor, and I got the Chillblast Fusion Photo111 ...now it's this one: http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Photo-OC-VI.htm mine has 3 drives (1 SSD and 2x1TB) and I upgraded to W7 Pro and a few other things such as fans, tower etc.
Our son checked the price of everything, and found he could not build it himself for me for much less than they could, and of course that wouldn't have had the 2 year warranty either.
By the way, I can highly recommend Chillblast for first class pre and after sales service and fully customisable PC's. Even after I'd had it past the warranty, they still help with any problems. (I had a problem with the graphics and my monitor adjustment, and their engineer managed to fix it by remote - installed some extra LaCie management software and adjusted it for me, so not even a problem with their components )

I used to have 2 running together and tried that for a while, using one for off-line use and the other just for on-line use, but it was a PITA switching between the 2

As for Apple, the main problem with their stuff is it is overpriced and nearly everything you need for it to operate has to be approved by Apple, otherwise it won't work

Exactly - I knew of two people in the art business: one a portrait painter who also produces books, the other a painter who also had a photographic & print studio, and both went for MS rather than Apple for photography editing and printing. The latter used Apple for the two websites she maintained, and the former did all his admin work on his Apple machines.

I'd find it difficult to use two computers, and I do have a Notebook that Chillblast built for me a year ago, and also our younger sons Dell desktop computer sat idle in a box upstairs.
The notebook will sync with my desktop, but I still need to physically move things between the two, especially if only one was online. ...then there's the Wi-Fi to think about too! Everyone in the family has iPads or phones that the router recognises as soon as they arrive, and my TV in here is a smart one that updates itself via the Wi-Fi ...all too complex these days!!! I like a piece of equipment for a specific job, with an on and off button and no 'Tardis' type menu ....those days have gone.

 

[Brynglas]

Presumably that KF4 has a Kanthal build, have heard they are not well suited to Ni-200

Yep,just had to give it a blast Bob,you know how it is

 

[Pictor]

Chromebooks don't need security. They're essentially just a dumb terminal or thin client. Each tab acts as its own sandbox and I've had no security issues with mine whatsoever. In fact - I'm using mine now! It excels at web, forums and email in my view - very fast (ssd drive, no bloatware to load, boots almost instantaneously} and holds a charge for a good eight hours. Not bad for just under £200. Imho they won't replace a pc for everything but they're a jolly useful second device.

That does sound good! I'll take a closer look at them. Is this Android? (All this is something I only touched on with getting a phone last year) I got an android phone and didn't like it, so ended up getting a Windows phone (Nokia 625).

There's an awful lot of technology that has slipped past me because I didn't need it. I got a Hudl over a year ago and it's still in it's box!

 

[vince01]

I'm still not keen on taking the Cloupor to it's limit and firing it for 15 seconds though! Bit wary that it'll explode! ...be like one of those endurance things: can I keep my finger on that button long enough or will I crack and give up

Dont try it yet Trish, give me a chance to open a book and take some bets first

On a serious note be very careful, maybe do it out in the garden, just in case

 

[Brynglas]

heard they are not well suited to Ni-200

I read it's something to do with the spring that helps operate the juice control deck.