Kicked Reo Grand & 18490?

[nerak]

Just kicked my shiny new grand that came in today Used your method and instead opted for aluminum instead of brass. Picked up a small piece of aluminum bar from lowes: Shop The Hillman Group 1/2" OD x 6" x.016" Aluminum Bar Flat at Lowes.com

Took a while to find it in store, has several employees say they didn't carry it, but we found it in their parts bins (where their misc screws, washers, etc are). It was in one of the "hard to find" bins.

Also note, I tied it directly into the ground screw on the spring (drilled a small hole in the aluminum bar), so it makes a full contact with bottom plate of the spring.
Anyways picture time:

I don't own or plan to own a kick. But just an observation here. Why not run the grounding metal up the opposite side of the battery? The metal strip between bottle and battery should offer support. If the grounding metal goes up past that metal strip it would hold the kick in place. I understand that some of these metals might be too thin to do this but just wondering if it might be possible.

 

[Warped3k]

Awesome solution! Neat and Tidy!!
It doesn't look like the kick will come out of place either...no need for a kick stand?
Also, just wondering if that extra bit of aluminum pushes compresses the spring to much or not- hard to tell from the picture.

I have only had the reo for a few hours, but so far I see no movement of the kick once installed, will keep using it to see how it stands over time. Also, the aluminum piece is only 0.016in thick so it should not compress the spring much, there is still a good gap at the bottom, which looks like it would still allow the spring to compress quite a bit if needed.

I don't own or plan to own a kick. But just an observation here. Why not run the grounding metal up the opposite side of the battery? The metal strip between bottle and battery should offer support. If the grounding metal goes up past that metal strip it would hold the kick in place. I understand that some of these metals might be too thin to do this but just wondering if it might be possible.

That is a good suggestion, but honestly I don't think this piece of aluminum would hold up over time at the point above the support strip, this aluminum is VERY thin, doesn't look like it from the picture cause its so close up, but it really is. Might try it just to see though, the pack I got had two strips, so I could easily make another strip, or just reverse the existing strip and drill a new hole.

 

[rc10mike]

The sanding method is much easier. Plus it reads a perfect short. No need to fab metal strips..

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[jimbalny]

I tried running a wire directly to the spring and soldered it all nice direct and I didnt get very good performance for some reason (and they were good solder joints/an 18 gauge wire). Might have something to do with the way the circuit is designed and how the reo gets its ground. When I settled on using the piece I designed haven't had one misfire. Notice that applying noalox to everything helps too, every time you clean your reo take a piece of cloth and work it into the sanded area of your reo, spring, pos/neg contacts on your batteries, firing pin. Doesnt have to be a big mess of the stuff, just a coating to prevent oxidation.

 

[JoeD4]

Great job, Warped3k!!!! You are truly the wisest,most skilled, most knowledgeable, best dressed person on this forum that goes by the name "warped3k". Also, you smell terrific!!

Cheers!

 

[Sterno]

if i have a non anodized reo grand would i have to mod anything to make a kick work with it ?

 

[ltrainer]

I think you'll have to find a way to keep the Kick from moving around. That ground spring has to keep contact and the Kick sits loose in the Grand. Choices seem to be the eraser, the Kick Stand, the kick stand extended or a wire.

 

[Sterno]

are there pics showing any of that ?

 

[Sterno]

how do i get a kick stand ?

 

[AaronY]

Just kicked my shiny new grand that came in today Used your method and instead opted for aluminum instead of brass. Picked up a small piece of aluminum bar from lowes: Shop The Hillman Group 1/2" OD x 6" x.016" Aluminum Bar Flat at Lowes.com

Took a while to find it in store, has several employees say they didn't carry it, but we found it in their parts bins (where their misc screws, washers, etc are). It was in one of the "hard to find" bins.

Also note, I tied it directly into the ground screw on the spring (drilled a small hole in the aluminum bar), so it makes a full contact with bottom plate of the spring.
Anyways picture time:

Looks great W. How long does that battery typically last you with the wattage you use?

 

[Sterno]

here is the kick working fine with nothing special to hold it

 

[rc10mike]

Even though I have 5 Kickstands on the way, I doubt Ill even use it. I simply added some more shrink wrap over the already shrink wrapped part to make it a hair thicker. This causes it to fit snugly against the center divider. I then added some small strips of tape to the back side to keep it even steadier. It took about 10 min and works great. No movement at all......(but all of this doesnt matter now since I think my Kick just died...)

 

[Sterno]

Even though I have 5 Kickstands on the way, I doubt Ill even use it. I simply added some more shrink wrap over the already shrink wrapped part to make it a hair thicker. This causes it to fit snugly against the center divider. I then added some small strips of tape to the back side to keep it even steadier. It took about 10 min and works great. No movement at all......(but all of this doesnt matter now since I think my Kick just died...)

oh man that sucks sorry to hear that

 

[Quigsworth]

Just wondering about the mortality of Kicks in Reo's, the death rate seems higher than in other installs...Kicks are a pretty small piece of tech with a lot going on in there with a microprocessor sampling feedback loops and adjusting hundreds of times a second. An intermittent ground, especially under load, can't be good for it . I would suggest that even though your Kick may seem secure and functioning normally the constant micro make/break ground connection which under load may cause arcing we can't see will ultimately bring about it's early death. I can appreciate that not everyone has the skills or materials to make a Kickstand or my extended version of it, but I think for the sake of your investment use at least the modded eraser to ensure a reliable connection...just my humble opinion is all...

 

[Blueaussie]

Quigsworth, forgive me of lack being informed. What is a modded eraser, does that just means making surface ready inside by removing surface to aluminum. Is it better to use the kickstand for better grounding instead of aluminum?
Thanks for the advice everybody!

 

[TennDave]

The eraser and the kick stand- all they do is push the kick against a grounding surface and keep it there....the stand that was made, is a precision made device unlike an eraser that is just carved away to hold the kick in place. Some don't use anything but find the kick is wobbly and could end up with an intermittent ground which has the potential for foul-ups.

 

[ltrainer]

Quigsworth, forgive me of lack being informed. What is a modded eraser, does that just means making surface ready inside by removing surface to aluminum. Is it better to use the kickstand for better grounding instead of aluminum?
Thanks for the advice everybody!

This is the eraser mod. I've refined mine a bit since these pics were made but its worked well for me.;

Its not realy easy, nor is it difficult to remove the Kick to change the wattage. THis isnt a problem for me because I pretty much leave the wattage the same.

 

[bydus]

I wanted to ask if anyone here could give me a realistic battery life of 18500 when using kick also how much juice are you going through. I want to have some sort of view on how long the 18350 with kick in reo 18490 would last me..

 

[ltrainer]

With a Joye 2.2 ohm 510 I go through 5-6 mlof juice a day. In the morning I put in a fresh AW IMR 18490. I change it out one to two times a day. YMMV

 

[Blueaussie]

Hello Everybody, I just received in the mail a few days ago a new Reo Grand. I had ordered it to use my kick with it I got a couple a weeks earlier. I have it installed but not very well. I was looking through this thread and saw all on the great ways to secure the Kick. I especially liked the way people used the kick stand with a lexan piece. Does any body know who I can buy these modifications from. I would appreciate this very very much. Thank you everybody! Craig
Loving my Reo Grand.