This Nikita clone looks stock, which is fine with me because I like its looks. I had to put some time into tuning the switch and the 510 though. The switch lever arrived sticking out at the top, which is a bit of your typical cloning dumbness. It's supposed to sit flush and fire inward in a kind of seesaw action. I fixed that and shimmed the inside of the contact pin so the throw was right.
I also modified the positive brass contact strips so rather than overlapping they sit aligned with each other, flush with the insulator, with a .5 mm gap between them. Now the contact pin of the switch engages both strips at the same time and doesn't need to deflect one. This makes for a more positive and consistent contact with less force.
The 510 had and adjustment screw that was fussy and insecure (hate them). I saw a missed opportunity for easier adjustment and took advantage of it. I tightened the adjustment screw all the way down and loosened the press fit of the contact pin in the insulator so it would float. Now to adjust an atty you loosen the battery adjustment screw, screw the atty all the way down or to wherever you like it (for the Fountain V2, with the squonk bottle pointing outward) and then tighten the battery screw again. Pressure from the battery pushes the floating 510 contact pin against the atty pin and, bingo, positive secure contact. No more screwing the atty on and off to get it sitting right.
Really happy with the function now. The mod is rounded and smooth, feels great in the hand, and is nicely downsized from the bigger and heavier Dimitri, which it has replaced as my favorite, though still holds an honored place of in my lineup of preferred mech boxes.
Nikita is a clever space-efficient design in so many respects. The clone just needed a bit better execution and a little love--though for the $ is pretty damn impressive. Looking back at 2015, I have to say it's turned out to be my favorite mech box of the year.
I also modified the positive brass contact strips so rather than overlapping they sit aligned with each other, flush with the insulator, with a .5 mm gap between them. Now the contact pin of the switch engages both strips at the same time and doesn't need to deflect one. This makes for a more positive and consistent contact with less force.
The 510 had and adjustment screw that was fussy and insecure (hate them). I saw a missed opportunity for easier adjustment and took advantage of it. I tightened the adjustment screw all the way down and loosened the press fit of the contact pin in the insulator so it would float. Now to adjust an atty you loosen the battery adjustment screw, screw the atty all the way down or to wherever you like it (for the Fountain V2, with the squonk bottle pointing outward) and then tighten the battery screw again. Pressure from the battery pushes the floating 510 contact pin against the atty pin and, bingo, positive secure contact. No more screwing the atty on and off to get it sitting right.
Really happy with the function now. The mod is rounded and smooth, feels great in the hand, and is nicely downsized from the bigger and heavier Dimitri, which it has replaced as my favorite, though still holds an honored place of in my lineup of preferred mech boxes.
Nikita is a clever space-efficient design in so many respects. The clone just needed a bit better execution and a little love--though for the $ is pretty damn impressive. Looking back at 2015, I have to say it's turned out to be my favorite mech box of the year.
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