PHOENX Raven Modding

[SolemnPenguin]

I thought I would start a thread separate from the Looooong one that Bad started to announce the arrival of the Ravens where we could discuss how we're trying to get it to work. Hopefully we can keep the other thread going for "out of the box" field reports in case the manufacturer or GV crew find them useful.

The orriginal thread is here:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...pes-phoenix-ravens-arrived-available-now.html

Let's try to post as many pictures of what were doing and talk about how well what we've done is working. Keeping in mind that since these went out to so many people this might be a lot of folks first attempt at modding something.

What I've tried so far:
Thinking that the air path needs to go from wide to narrow and back to wide to improve pressures in the air pathway I put some of the mouth pieces from Phoenix XL (or any other carto with the soft removable tip) down into the carto. I did it with one at first, then with little noticeable effect I added a second one. It may have let me get one extra hit before it started to go dry. It did cause the draw to be a little gurgley. I think that's because it's not a smooth pathway. It may be causing turbulence.


Mouthpieces inserted into carto.

Since that didn't work very well I decided to take it apart. I used two pairs of pliers with some electrical tape on the pads of the pliers to avoid damaging the cart tube or threads. I did dent the tube and bugger the flange a bit (just a bit though. Everything is press fit together but it's very tight and I had to use quite a bit of force to get it to come apart.


Tube and Atomizer.


Couldn't get it to focus well down into the bowl but the coil and wick looks pretty much like what we're used to. On one side the wick wasn't very well seated in the slot (meaning it was tucked inside the bowl and not making good contact with juice. The other side was okay looking though.

It's not letting me upload another photo that I took looking up into the carto tube. There is another piece inserted there that looks like it's meant to control airflow, like I was thinking the mouth pieces would do. I have not been able to get that piece to budge up or down. Could be because I crimped the tube a bit when taking it apart.

That's all I have time for now. Work to do. I'll keep tinkering later though. Let's see what you've done and tell us how well it's worked for you.

 

[SolemnPenguin]

Another attempt to upload the photo looking up into the tube at the air flow restricter/juice flow adjuster.

 

[Njt07]

Ill repost my post in the thread here.

1st post.

Whats everyone complaining about, mine works great, good vapor at 4v, good flavor...? I kid i kid,*duck*

ok heres what i did to make mine work very well. Ill post an update tonight.

First make sure the holes/slots are lined up with the wicks, mine werent. I used two pair of pliers to twist, and a 510 adapter so i wouldnt mess up the threads.

Took the top seal of a fluxo/phoenix TC and a air tube from a BC. Put the seal so the smooth side is down nd pushed it all the way down with the air tube. Air tube will stick out of the tube.

Grabbed the RUBBER drip tip and pushed down over the air tube and into the carto tube, it will seat all the way down.

Pulled the Drip tip with air tube attached out, inserted the carto ino 3.5 ml tank, filled tank.

Took a couple of unpowered drgs to test, air bubbles! No leaking either so far.

Vaped. At first i still had water in the wicks from washing and despite my dry burning. Now vapes fine, little bit of a tight draw though.

2nd post
Btw i completely destroyed one raven trying to get the tube off... Ended up ripping it in pieces to get down to the bottom.

The atty has a ring that pops on top similar to the way the air tube oes on the phoenix BC, but the BC air tube wont fit in it, i tried VERY hard, lots of swearing was heard...

The coils are tightly wrapped with no spaces in between, and the coil is also pulled down to the bottom of the ceramic cup, also pulling the wicks down and out of position.

Update, im using one of the 2.8ohm ravens at 4v. Been chain vaping it, not inhaling cause the juice is not so good, and have gone through about a half tank, 3.5ml tank, with zero dry hits and doesnt seem like any flooding. The flavor is good and the vape isnt as cool as the Phoenix BC.

Ill keep updating unless someone says to stop.

 

[SolemnPenguin]

I Looked closely at the carto in my tank and found that the slots in the atty cup were well aligned with the holes in the tube. This is the one I had the mouth pieces stuffed in I took one of the mouth pieces out and slid the other one all the way down to seat at the bottom. Similar to what Njt07 described.

This tightened up the draw a bit but I haven't had a dry hit since! I chain vaped it for about 10 hits then went back to my normal pace. The flavor isn't great, TH is good and vapor production is good. This is on a 5ml tank that's about 1/3 full. There was some gurgling going on. I fished the inserted mouthpiece out with a paper clip (harder than it sounds) and ran a paper towel down the tube. That took care of the gurgling, We'll see if it comes back.

I'm going to fill this tank back up with a juice I like but not my favorite and see how it goes.

 

[Njt07]

My wife found tht her light draws on the raven resulted in harh dry hits no matter how low the voltage was set. I guess i draw pretty hard. Imm thinking about stuffing some wadded up cheese cloth on top of the coil, just a little to help with wicking, the wicks and oil in this thing are pulled pretty low.

Be back later with results

 

[VaperEd]

What I've tried so far:
Thinking that the air path needs to go from wide to narrow and back to wide to improve pressures in the air pathway I put some of the mouth pieces from Phoenix XL (or any other carto with the soft removable tip) down into the carto. I did it with one at first, then with little noticeable effect I added a second one. It may have let me get one extra hit before it started to go dry. It did cause the draw to be a little gurgley. I think that's because it's not a smooth pathway. It may be causing turbulence.

I did the exact same thing and the dry hits stopped when I inserted two of the soft removable tips from a Phoenix XL . I vaped on it about an hour or so. The taste was terrible though but I am blaming that on the juice I used. I have not messed with it since early this morning. I am going to clean it and try some better juice and see how that works out.

 

[SolemnPenguin]

Quick update.

When I took the tank off my ego twist I noticed the battery connection was a bit wet. I thought it was condensation but when I wiped it off the paper towel was the same color as my juice. So, some leaking had occurred.

When I pulled the carto down to fill there was a faint "pop" like a seal got broken. Indicating there had been a pressure difference inside the tank. Filled it up to about 2/3 closed it put it back on the battery and was sent straight to dry hit city.

I blew in it a bit. Saw bubbles enter the tank and it was fine for about 5 hits. Then dry again. I had put the mouth piece back in upside down this time to I fished it out again (pain in the rear with a little paper clip). It was wet. Flipped it over so the cone shape was down towards the atty and reinserted it. Dry hits again. Tried blowing in again got the usual 5 hits then dry. Tried sucking without hitting the fire button and asme thing 5 hits then dry.

Throat is sore now so I'll wait a bit before trying anything else.

 

[silversx]

is it possible to fit the center tube of the phoenix bc in there? i have a ton of those from dead phoenix bc i took off

 

[harleydiva]

I'm thinking I'm gonna just wait for the new cartos to show up....whenever that might be. Now if my titan would just show up from "lost in USPS land"......

 

[rdsok]

I wouldn't call what I did a "mod" but it has improved what mine is doing...

Using a small wire ( .75mm ) I gently pushed the coil up from through the 510 connection hole... Since the unit is still together, I can't see how level the coil is in relation to the holes... nor can I see how the wicks are situated. I also can just start to get the dry hit flavor if I vape normally but as I mentioned it is isn't as bad as it was before I did this.

On the Phoenix XL's I got... the coils were pushed down into the cup instead of being level with the wick holes... the wicks were also a mess... After I straightened them, these started working great.

The point... Considering how many people mention the holes not lining up and what others that have taken these apart mention about the state of the coils etc... I'm starting to think the issues are more a matter of the QC of the build and not so much from the changes that were made to these

 

[dodari]

I did the exact same thing and the dry hits stopped when I inserted two of the soft removable tips from a Phoenix XL . I vaped on it about an hour or so. The taste was terrible though but I am blaming that on the juice I used. I have not messed with it since early this morning. I am going to clean it and try some better juice and see how that works out.

Following y'all's work, very interested.

VaperEd, is it possible the tips you inserted down there are heating up, maybe burning, thus the bad taste? By the tips from the XL are these the ones with little syringe needle hole in them or just the sort of end/mouthpiece end plugs? Thanks for the info and this thread, SolemnPenguin and all.

 

[BonnyC]

I've been thinking about getting in there with a paper clip and trying to lift the coil. I have no idea how the wicks are situated. They look like they're coming out from under something in mine, but it's impossible to see into it.

I killed one trying to get it open to no avail. Sigh.

I've had a BC tube in mine with the fluxo seal pushed down to the bottom and a rubber tip on as a previous poster mentioned, but it's not doing me any good at all.

 

[SolemnPenguin]

Following y'all's work, very interested.

VaperEd, is it possible the tips you inserted down there are heating up, maybe burning, thus the bad taste? By the tips from the XL are these the ones with little syringe needle hole in them or just the sort of end/mouthpiece end plugs? Thanks for the info and this thread, SolemnPenguin and all.

I would say it's unlikely the the tips are getting very hot at all. Sitting ontop of the atomizer piece is another piece that caps part of the holes in the carto. This piece and the atomizer cup meet about in the middle of the holes. You can see this other piece in the photo in my second post. So there's some separation between the coil and the mouth piece tips.

 

[yiddleboge6]

Got those mouth piece tips in there. Still no go. Acrid tasting, dry hits. UGH!!!

 

[rdsok]

I've been thinking about getting in there with a paper clip and trying to lift the coil. I have no idea how the wicks are situated. They look like they're coming out from under something in mine, but it's impossible to see into it.

I killed one trying to get it open to no avail. Sigh.

I've had a BC tube in mine with the fluxo seal pushed down to the bottom and a rubber tip on as a previous poster mentioned, but it's not doing me any good at all.

BonnyC,

While my vape was improved... pushing the coils up didn't fix it completely. So my post was more for information on a direction that may help in resolving the issue... Of course, someone duplicating the result however minor would still be of some use I guess.

 

[dodari]

I would say it's unlikely the the tips are getting very hot at all. Sitting ontop of the atomizer piece is another piece that caps part of the holes in the carto. This piece and the atomizer cup meet about in the middle of the holes. You can see this other piece in the photo in my second post. So there's some separation between the coil and the mouth piece tips.

Good pic., that one. I see what you mean. Thanks.

 

[VaperEd]

Following y'all's work, very interested.

VaperEd, is it possible the tips you inserted down there are heating up, maybe burning, thus the bad taste? By the tips from the XL are these the ones with little syringe needle hole in them or just the sort of end/mouthpiece end plugs? Thanks for the info and this thread, SolemnPenguin and all.

The mouthpiece plugs are what I am speaking of. I am thinking it was the juice causing the bad taste. It did not taste burnt at all. I used some juice that was questionable as I did not want to waste any good juice. The two mouthpiece plugs did get rid of the dry hits for me though. FYI, I pushed them down far enough that I could get a drip tip to fit correctly and I had the flat surface of the mouthpiece plugs facing up. I think the real problem is with the wick holes and the wick. If the wick holes were lined up with the coil and the holes were big enough to allow the wick to protrude just a little out of the tube, I think this setup would work. I am about through fiddling with it anyway. I have five of these cartos and being as they cannot be replaced anyway, I am pretty much just fooling with them for the learning experience. I do enjoy all the creativeness I am seeing here though.

 

[dodari]

The mouthpiece plugs are what I am speaking of. I am thinking it was the juice causing the bad taste. It did not taste burnt at all. I used some juice that was questionable as I did not want to waste any good juice. The two mouthpiece plugs did get rid of the dry hits for me though. FYI, I pushed them down far enough that I could get a drip tip to fit correctly and I had the flat surface of the mouthpiece plugs facing up. I think the real problem is with the wick holes and the wick. If the wick holes were lined up with the coil and the holes were big enough to allow the wick to protrude just a little out of the tube, I think this setup would work. I am about through fiddling with it anyway. I have five of these cartos and being as they cannot be replaced anyway, I am pretty much just fooling with them for the learning experience. I do enjoy all the creativeness I am seeing here though.

Thanks for yer reply. Yeah. lotsa good ol' American ingenuity going on here. Good to see!

 

[BonnyC]

BonnyC,

While my vape was improved... pushing the coils up didn't fix it completely. So my post was more for information on a direction that may help in resolving the issue... Of course, someone duplicating the result however minor would still be of some use I guess.

Well, you may have inadvertently helped me quite a lot. While I couldn't quite hook the coil, I noticed some movement of the wicks as I tried. What's the fix (not band aid) we use when a phoenix BC refuses to wick well even after raising the post?

We thin the wicks.

I used some tweezers to poke and prod at the wick holes until enough was sticking out so that I could get hold of it. I managed to pull about one strand of the wick, which seems to be the same size as the bc's wick in terms of length and diameter of the strands. At first I was worried that I had pulled too much out. Now, I'm thinking that I might have pulled out just enough. Maybe.

I've switched to 0mg juice because 24mg is ridiculous with this frequent testing. I have 50/50 cherry cheesecake 0mg in it right now. It's crackling like a fresh phoenix, a very good sign. It almost seems like it could flood, but my battery is dry. Draw is a bit tighter. Vapor and flavor are significantly better. Or maybe this juice is just that good

I've hit the 10 long draws mark and I feel kind of hopeful. I'll finish this tank and follow up. I also intend on doing some chain vaping.

Edit : holy cow, bubbles! When I vape AND when I primer puff! With 50/50 juice! I wonder if thinner juice would flood it?

 

[wwturner]

The factory also did a piss-poor job of centering the coils above the main air hole.