A year ago, I posted a thread called the Low Cost mod, which was an experiment to see just how low-cost I could go from "zero to vape." http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/371357-cheap-vaping-low-cost-mod.html The thread has since been closed to replies -- it drifted off-course and someone (not me!) apparently broke the "No Sale" rule, which invoked the shutdown.
But for those who have been interested, here is an update, twelve months later! It's gotten more or less continuous use, and it still vapes very well, producing large clouds of vapor. The ViviNova tank has turned out to be quite the little beast. It holds juice for days, and can handle long draws without overheating -- I'm still on the original atomizer without a burnout with only one disassembly and cleaning! This demonstrates how low-stressed the atomizer is with this setup.
So far, it's been rock-solid reliable. At first, I wasn't sure if the shape of the box would be easy to use, as it looks kinda awkward at first. But time has proven it to be very comfortable in-use. It falls easily to-hand, has a pleasant old-school heft to it, and being able to put it down in a solid tank-up position has its benefits. I've had no problems with leaking at all, and it can be left plugged in indefinitely and just puff as the moment takes you. (An added benefit of the cord -- it never gets lost!)
I didn't count on this, but it's a definite "plus" -- the Cermet power resistor heats the box slightly in your hand to "telegraph" when you're vaping too hard, and it's time to give it a rest for a few minutes. An unplanned consequence of this is that as the resistor heats and swells, it's popped loose of the JBQuik that glued it inside the box. It clunks around inside a little, so if I were to do it again, I'd add a little pad of felt inside to keep it in place, but having it loose inside the box doesn't affect the operation at all.
People had asked about variable voltage boards and such...I really wouldn't recommend that setup for the LCM, as you can fine-tune the wattage with the different resistances of atomizers that already come with the ViviNova. The single Cermet resistor has just turned out to be so cheap and easy, and designed to be so well suited to my optimum vaping wattage, the complexity of adding a varistor doesn't seem worth it, in either added price or complexity.
The one thing I haven't done that I mentioned I was planning, is to make a swappable tail that will plug right into a 12V car outlet. It turns out I haven't needed to: having it tethered to the wall is just too convenient to mess with.
So, amortized cost-per day so far works out to about eight cents and falling. Not bad!
But for those who have been interested, here is an update, twelve months later! It's gotten more or less continuous use, and it still vapes very well, producing large clouds of vapor. The ViviNova tank has turned out to be quite the little beast. It holds juice for days, and can handle long draws without overheating -- I'm still on the original atomizer without a burnout with only one disassembly and cleaning! This demonstrates how low-stressed the atomizer is with this setup.
So far, it's been rock-solid reliable. At first, I wasn't sure if the shape of the box would be easy to use, as it looks kinda awkward at first. But time has proven it to be very comfortable in-use. It falls easily to-hand, has a pleasant old-school heft to it, and being able to put it down in a solid tank-up position has its benefits. I've had no problems with leaking at all, and it can be left plugged in indefinitely and just puff as the moment takes you. (An added benefit of the cord -- it never gets lost!)
I didn't count on this, but it's a definite "plus" -- the Cermet power resistor heats the box slightly in your hand to "telegraph" when you're vaping too hard, and it's time to give it a rest for a few minutes. An unplanned consequence of this is that as the resistor heats and swells, it's popped loose of the JBQuik that glued it inside the box. It clunks around inside a little, so if I were to do it again, I'd add a little pad of felt inside to keep it in place, but having it loose inside the box doesn't affect the operation at all.
People had asked about variable voltage boards and such...I really wouldn't recommend that setup for the LCM, as you can fine-tune the wattage with the different resistances of atomizers that already come with the ViviNova. The single Cermet resistor has just turned out to be so cheap and easy, and designed to be so well suited to my optimum vaping wattage, the complexity of adding a varistor doesn't seem worth it, in either added price or complexity.
The one thing I haven't done that I mentioned I was planning, is to make a swappable tail that will plug right into a 12V car outlet. It turns out I haven't needed to: having it tethered to the wall is just too convenient to mess with.
So, amortized cost-per day so far works out to about eight cents and falling. Not bad!
