Hi all,
I just put my order in for the Cuboid and wanted to educate myself on the device before it arrived. I found this thread and have spent the last three days reading all 719 posts/36 pages. A theme that keeps coming up is battery efficiency/longevity. For those who may not be as OCD as me and may not have read through the entire thread or may just want a refresher; here is one of the more pertinent posts on the subject (to answer darkshaft's and 52anddone's most recent quiries):
KenD (and others on several other threads and forums) explain the math:
What we seem to forget is this is only true in ideal, identical comparisons. As soon as we introduce ANY variables to this we are no longer comparing "apples to apples." Different wattages, RTAs/RDAs, coils, coil builds, batteries (mfg./age/lot), even connection qualities will influence the results.
Now, as another member has recently pointed out; most/all (?) of us are neither trained nor equipped to scientifically compare non-identical devises. Instead what we offer is (at best) anecdotal results.
What I have not seen questioned in this thread is:
Chip function/features that may effect efficiency - what "real time" monitoring is happening and how does this effect efficiency? Are these features I want/need in my device?
Battery age - Remember that ALL batteries have a finite life (number of charging cycles). The Samsung 25R states "Cycle info: Capacity drops to 60% after 250 full charge/discharge Cycles." The battery will still show a full charge at or near 4.2 volts after a fresh charge but you no longer have a battery able to provide anywhere near 2500mAh.
Do all my contact points have the same surface area?Are the all equally free of non-conductive material? 510 connection, coil grub nuts... ?
And the last that I hadn't even thought about until SirLoki mentioned it in an earlier post and that is build materials:
I had never thought about materials before and I was really hoping someone here that had an engineering background might have shared their understanding about the conductivity of zinc and/or alloys might effect efficiency (my ignorant thinking says that a poorer conductor is going to make a power supply work harder/drain faster to complete the circuit; but then I am just pulling that out of my pocket). Then there is the issue of wire size(s) used inside the MOD; we all know from making coils that a smaller wire generates more heat (and wastes power if it isn't your coil).
Then there's additional issues if I am conducting the comparison in temperature mode: am I in the same environment for the entire comparison? It's going to take more power to get up to temp if I am standing outside in 20 degree weather than if I am sitting in my 70 degree living room. How much? I don't have a clue.
Does one device retain heat more than another? How will that influence the results?
I guess the point I am trying to make is all these variables, by themselves, may not make a noticeable difference but when you start compounding them they very well may. Therefore take a huge helping of "your mileage may vary" and ask yourself if this is "right for me."
I apologize to everyone. I don't mean to go on and on about this, and I certainly don't want to hijack this thread (I came to this thread to learn about the Cuboid), so I'll shut up now.
I just put my order in for the Cuboid and wanted to educate myself on the device before it arrived. I found this thread and have spent the last three days reading all 719 posts/36 pages. A theme that keeps coming up is battery efficiency/longevity. For those who may not be as OCD as me and may not have read through the entire thread or may just want a refresher; here is one of the more pertinent posts on the subject (to answer darkshaft's and 52anddone's most recent quiries):
KenD (and others on several other threads and forums) explain the math:
What we seem to forget is this is only true in ideal, identical comparisons. As soon as we introduce ANY variables to this we are no longer comparing "apples to apples." Different wattages, RTAs/RDAs, coils, coil builds, batteries (mfg./age/lot), even connection qualities will influence the results.
Now, as another member has recently pointed out; most/all (?) of us are neither trained nor equipped to scientifically compare non-identical devises. Instead what we offer is (at best) anecdotal results.
What I have not seen questioned in this thread is:
Chip function/features that may effect efficiency - what "real time" monitoring is happening and how does this effect efficiency? Are these features I want/need in my device?
Battery age - Remember that ALL batteries have a finite life (number of charging cycles). The Samsung 25R states "Cycle info: Capacity drops to 60% after 250 full charge/discharge Cycles." The battery will still show a full charge at or near 4.2 volts after a fresh charge but you no longer have a battery able to provide anywhere near 2500mAh.
Do all my contact points have the same surface area?Are the all equally free of non-conductive material? 510 connection, coil grub nuts... ?
And the last that I hadn't even thought about until SirLoki mentioned it in an earlier post and that is build materials:
I had never thought about materials before and I was really hoping someone here that had an engineering background might have shared their understanding about the conductivity of zinc and/or alloys might effect efficiency (my ignorant thinking says that a poorer conductor is going to make a power supply work harder/drain faster to complete the circuit; but then I am just pulling that out of my pocket). Then there is the issue of wire size(s) used inside the MOD; we all know from making coils that a smaller wire generates more heat (and wastes power if it isn't your coil).
Then there's additional issues if I am conducting the comparison in temperature mode: am I in the same environment for the entire comparison? It's going to take more power to get up to temp if I am standing outside in 20 degree weather than if I am sitting in my 70 degree living room. How much? I don't have a clue.
Does one device retain heat more than another? How will that influence the results?
I guess the point I am trying to make is all these variables, by themselves, may not make a noticeable difference but when you start compounding them they very well may. Therefore take a huge helping of "your mileage may vary" and ask yourself if this is "right for me."
I apologize to everyone. I don't mean to go on and on about this, and I certainly don't want to hijack this thread (I came to this thread to learn about the Cuboid), so I'll shut up now.
