Mike n Tibs DNA Mods!

[Vince159]

Many thanks to @Cotay for his design, this box is very nice. This wouldn't have been possible without his countless pms with me and his talented efforts in designing an incredibly well thought out box. Thank you @Cotay!

This came to me from sculpteo in white raw finish. Following some advice I decided to use rit dye to color it. The results came out good imo, and if I were to do it again in the future I would order some extra cheap pieces in the same material and finish to test the dye on... The dye colored very differently than the box says and even dark (black) colors have a tint of this or that (ymmv)

I personally had a catastrophic failure after dying both front and rear in the same batch, and had to sand off all the clear coat on the front and redo it. The result of sanding caused what looks like wear spots, but those are where I over sanded to get the clear off to re dye.

FYI : these prints are easy to dye in a pot of boiling water on your stove top without any risk of damage from the heat. These pieces were dyed at medium heat (about 225f according to a meat thermometer) for up to 30 mins. No warping, melting, etc. Again ymmv.

The buttons were supposed to be dark blood red (super dark red) but ended up bright red (why you need test pieces) and the body was intended to be dark grey, but the greys I tried were all tinted purple or blue... So this was as black as I could get it. This was a whole bottle of liquid rit dye in boiling water for at least 30 mins (stirring constantly)

Roughly the same size as my flask. I wish the buttons were darker. Anyone contemplating @Cotay design or this style box (mion I think?) I will say it was the easiest dna200 build I've done (of 3), I think the box is incredibly well thought out, even has a bracket to keep the screen pushed up against the frame so it didn't wiggle or move backwards if touched. Well done.

Edit: it houses a 1400mah battery too! (forgot the c rating)


Many thanks to @Cotay

Looks pretty good from here. Did you add any salt, vinegar, or dish soap to the dye? I use salt and vinegar, it seems to stabilize the color and help in absorption. I tried the dish soap once, but it didn't seem to help.

 

[Phone Guy]

Looks pretty good from here. Did you add any salt, vinegar, or dish soap to the dye? I use salt and vinegar, it seems to stabilize the color and help in absorption. I tried the dish soap once, but it didn't seem to help.

It got dyed so many times... I did try salt and vinegar, I can't personally say those things helped. But maybe they did. (and to be fair, these pieces got dyed many times in this process)

 

[awsum140]

I've been thinking about my problem with the screen location on that 1590G. I think I'll lengthen the cutout 4 or 5mm toward the up/down buttons and either make a plastic lens, blacked out where it need to be, or make a brass bezel to overlay from the fire buttons down to the up/down buttons. If I don't have to re-make the buttons that will be the way I go with it.

 

[SlickWilly]

Tomorrow, it looks like the 1590G/200 will finally get assembled. I've been really busy with a big headache working on my Jeep. Finally got that out of the way yesterday. Today I had chores to get done before I could head down to the basement. I did get the battery retainer cut out, filed down, drilled and holes tapped. It fits like a glove but could be more "beautiful". My basic criteria for it is that it works and it does that very nicely so I'm satisfied with it.

Tomorrow will be soldering and installing the 510. I'm using an FD V4 for the first time and can't say I'm in love with it. I think I came up with a method to get 12 gauge wire on it without drilling anything out. I'll see how that goes tomorrow.

Been a few weeks since I've visited the thread so I'm catching up tonight, don't know why I haven't been getting notices for new posts. On using 12ga on the VT 510, here's what I did. I cut a short length of solid copper wire, the bare ground wire from some house hold 12/2 wire. I soldered that to the 510 pin, cut it just long enough to stick beyond the cap, filed a small notch in the end of the wire then soldered the 12ga on it at 90°with a good bead of solder. I was cramped for space in the 1590A, wanted to have a loop for the 510 poss wire but with the heavy wire the battery was in the way, with the wire at a 90° I was able to get a nice loop and clear the battery.

I've been thinking about my problem with the screen location on that 1590G. I think I'll lengthen the cutout 4 or 5mm toward the up/down buttons and either make a plastic lens, blacked out where it need to be, or make a brass bezel to overlay from the fire buttons down to the up/down buttons. If I don't have to re-make the buttons that will be the way I go with it.

That's a great idea!

 

[awsum140]

What I did with the 510 was strip back the 12ga about 3/8" and put a single wrap of 22ga solid around it right where the insulation ends. Then I "peeled" out enough strands to sill the hole in the 510 and bent it at 90 degrees. Then removed the 22ga "spacer" and tinned the wire. Once it cooled I set the length of that peeled back portion to the depth of the hole in the 510.

Prepared the 510 by inserting solder three times and using a mini butane torch to melt it down. Then, while the 510 was still at melted solder temperature, inserted the peeled out portion and added more solder to attach the un-peeled portion to the top edge of the 510 pin using an iron to keep things hot. After it all cooled down, some trimming with flush cutters, and I have a 510 with 12 gauge attached very solidly, both electrically and mechanically, at right angles which saved significant space.

 

[Vince159]

It got dyed so many times... I did try salt and vinegar, I can't personally say those things helped. But maybe they did. (and to be fair, these pieces got dyed many times in this process)

That's unfortunate.

 

[Steamer861]

Everyone who knows my posts knows I have been looking for a single 18650 enclosure for my SX350J chip.
Well after looking for what seemed like ever this is the best I could find
It was expensive it's not that great and I wouldn't recommend anyone buy this enclosure.
The only good thing I can say is it's better than the dual 18650 brick I got from VapOsphere
The size comparison has a original Hana DNA30 a Zero and a Fuax Beta box DNA200
As you can see it's not that small the battery compartment is way over sized for no reason.
With the money I spent on this I could have got an M Class. what can I say it is what it is

 

[tiburonfirst]

you know, steamer, you gotta learn to be more patient. so many new, small box mods are coming out, one of them could have made a good home for your chip.
eleaf's newest - the tc 60 watt istick - has no dimensions given yet but i always felt the isticks were just right size-wise

and priced right!

 

[tiburonfirst]

drat!

 

[tiburonfirst]

double drat!

 

[SlickWilly]

Looks good to me Steamer! Hey... wait a minuet..... your not whining about spending a little coin are you?

 

[turbocad6]

Everyone who knows my posts knows I have been looking for a single 18650 enclosure for my SX350J chip.
Well after looking for what seemed like ever this is the best I could find
It was expensive it's not that great and I wouldn't recommend anyone buy this enclosure.
The only good thing I can say is it's better than the dual 18650 brick I got from VapOsphere
The size comparison has a original Hana DNA30 a Zero and a Fuax Beta box DNA200
As you can see it's not that small the battery compartment is way over sized for no reason.
With the money I spent on this I could have got an M Class. what can I say it is what it is

wow that's like enough room for one and a half 18650's??? you sure that's not a 26650 box???

 

[Steamer861]

wow that's like enough room for one and a half 18650's??? you sure that's not a 26650 box???

You know now that I checked the FB page. I think it is a 26650 battery Mod.
Some times I get on a mission and don't really do my due diligence.
I wanted a new enclosure for the J chip so bad I guess I didn't really pay attention I looked forever for some thing that could replace the ugly box my chip was in.
Anyone have experience with 26650's? Is it worth getting one? I know I would have to get a new charger along with it

 

[turbocad6]

yeah didn't think that looked right for an 18650 bro, it's swimming in there, def looked like a 26650 to me

if your ok with the size of that thing then yeah, get a few 26650's and enjoy ~30% more battery life and less voltage sag, will also help if you vape over 50 watts for sure, also double check your charger, many(most) will take a 26650 even though it may not look like it to you now...

 

[Steamer861]

yeah didn't think that looked right for an 18650 bro, it's swimming in there, def looked like a 26650 to me

if your ok with the size of that thing then yeah, get a few 26650's and enjoy ~30% more battery life and less voltage sag, will also help if you vape over 50 watts for sure, also double check your charger, many(most) will take a 26650 even though it may not look like it to you now...

Thanks turbocad6
30% more battery life? This could really work out good. I can all most get a full work day out of a 18650, so it sounds like a 26650 mite last last all day. I have a Nitecore 4 bay charger and it has a comparability sticker and it don't say 26650. I would go for a few 26650 if my charger would work on them?
Is mnke a good brand?
here's my charger think it would work with 26650's?

 

[turbocad6]

sticker don't list 26650 but 26650 fits that charger no problem, only thing is you may not be able to use an adjacent slot at the same time, and yeah, in your case this will def be an all day mod now. the only drawback is the extra size really but other than that I bet you'll wind up liking it for the extra juice

 

[Steamer861]

sticker don't list 26650 but 26650 fits that charger no problem, only thing is you may not be able to use an adjacent slot at the same time, and yeah, in your case this will def be an all day mod now. the only drawback is the extra size really but other than that I bet you'll wind up liking it for the extra juice

Thanks man you made my night. I have a guy on eBay, I have got batteries from before, he has 2 Mnke's for 20 bucks shipped to Canada. in the cart they go
Thanks again

 

[turbocad6]

honestly the sx chips go too high for a single 18650 really, the 26650 is really a better match if you really push the watts up high. mnke's are great but I haven't researched 26650's in a while, I believe there are now like 4,000mah 26650's out there. I think the mnke's were 3,500 but do a little research on the latest ones I haven't played with 26650 in over half a year so don't know the latest greatest tbh

 

[Steamer861]

honestly the sx chips go too high for a single 18650 really, the 26650 is really a better match if you really push the watts up high. mnke's are great but I haven't researched 26650's in a while, I believe there are now like 4,000mah 26650's out there. I think the mnke's were 3,500 but do a little research on the latest ones I haven't played with 26650 in over half a year so don't know the latest greatest tbh

I looked into the 26650's a bit and the ones that claim 4 to 5000 mAH aren't good brand names
With batteries I like to go with a reputable name and seller, after all there the most dangerous part of vaping gear.
I run single coils on nickel at .15ish 20 to 35 watts/ joules. Yesterday my DNA40 mod with a single 18650 lasted till all most quiting time. I'm curious to see how much more vape time I can get from a 26650. I guess I will know soon enough

 

[turbocad6]

awesome, can't go wrong with the mnke's, I know they were the best available when I was playing with 26650's. it's nice to see you go from disappointed to excited, good luck with it