PHOENX Raven Modding

[BonnyC]

IT, maybe you should try getting a little more wick out. I'm not sure how consistent the thickness of the wicks are in these things but if they're like the Phoenix BCs, you'll probably see a lot of discrepancies. It's easier to take it away than put it back in so a little at a time until you get the vaping experience you're looking for.

Edit: Oh yeah, you're using 100% VG? Well, you'll probably need more thinning for that. It might make higher pg juices flood, though. Thin one a little extra until VG works on it and keep it for that purpose. That's what I'd do, anyway.

That said, dark juices aren't doing any better in these than they do in the regular Phoenixes for me. Put White Chocolate, an amber colored liquid. Turned black by the end of the tank. Put a completely clear, no color, cocunut in after that and it was black by the end of the tank. Again, put another clear one in, sweet cherry, and it did the same thing but it wasn't completely black. That dark juice just gunks it up as bad as it does the reg phoenixes. And it was giving me wicking issues near the end, but the following two juices didn't even though the color changed.

One other thing to check is whether or not the wicks are lining up withe the wick holes. In both of these, I had to nudge it from inside the barrel with my tweezers until they lined up. It wasn't hard to do at all.

Lastly, don't worry about being a newbie. This is the most in depth modding I've ever done

Wally - you're so right. Low nic juice is a must have. I was able to score some 0 nic juice not too long ago and though I've vaped it here and there for the heck of it, I've found it to be very useful with this testing business. I vape like a freight train and it not only saves my throat, it keeps my nic level down and preserves my higher nic juices. Plus, the cherry cheesecake is out of this world!

The Raven is currently undergoing the 'lemonade test' which melted the ce5 alpha item. So far, it's holding up like a champ!

 

[IrishTexan]

I asked for one of the free samples of flux on my last order. Will try and see if the flux affects me to the point I can't stand it. I did not try very many vendors before I switch to vg, so maybe I can use it sparingly.. and I will try that in the raven when I get it.

Duh... I forgot about you using just VG.

As for trying to raise the coil by feel... I would expect varying results from anyone on that one even when I do it, I don't know what to expect. Not to mention that probably not all of these units will even need it raised... I just hate poor QC...

 

[rdsok]

The Raven is currently undergoing the 'lemonade test' which melted the ce5 alpha item. So far, it's holding up like a champ!

Ouch... I don't expect good results with that... I'm pretty certain the clear one I have is PC... but the smokey colored tube on the smaller one does appear to be PP... so your results may depend on which one you are testing in.

 

[IrishTexan]

Thanks Bonnie...I am going to wait til I get the bottle of flux and try with it...sparingly. If that doesn't work, then I will try removing another piece of wick. I broke my titan yesterday, so I really want to use this pretty tank...lol.

IT, maybe you should try getting a little more wick out. I'm not sure how consistent the thickness of the wicks are in these things but if they're like the Phoenix BCs, you'll probably see a lot of discrepancies. It's easier to take it away than put it back in so a little at a time until you get the vaping experience you're looking for.

Edit: Oh yeah, you're using 100% VG? Well, you'll probably need more thinning for that. It might make higher pg juices flood, though. Thin one a little extra until VG works on it and keep it for that purpose. That's what I'd do, anyway.

That said, dark juices aren't doing any better in these than they do in the regular Phoenixes for me. Put White Chocolate, an amber colored liquid. Turned black by the end of the tank. Put a completely clear, no color, cocunut in after that and it was black by the end of the tank. Again, put another clear one in, sweet cherry, and it did the same thing but it wasn't completely black. That dark juice just gunks it up as bad as it does the reg phoenixes. And it was giving me wicking issues near the end, but the following two juices didn't even though the color changed.

One other thing to check is whether or not the wicks are lining up withe the wick holes. In both of these, I had to nudge it from inside the barrel with my tweezers until they lined up. It wasn't hard to do at all.

Lastly, don't worry about being a newbie. This is the most in depth modding I've ever done

Wally - you're so right. Low nic juice is a must have. I was able to score some 0 nic juice not too long ago and though I've vaped it here and there for the heck of it, I've found it to be very useful with this testing business. I vape like a freight train and it not only saves my throat, it keeps my nic level down and preserves my higher nic juices. Plus, the cherry cheesecake is out of this world!

The Raven is currently undergoing the 'lemonade test' which melted the ce5 alpha item. So far, it's holding up like a champ!

 

[mogium]

Just to repeat that on my testing... I'm using a 80/20 PG/VG mix. On each of the carto's, once they started working, I initially got a very slight gurgle but never developed any leak on the bottom connector. This "slight" gurgle did go away over time. So the question would be, using a thinner juice would thinning the wick end up causing leaking... this probably needs testing but I probably won't buy an all PG juice myself just for this test.

I ask because I heard somewhere china sets everything to use pg so using 100% pg would probably help alot when testing.. I ended up filling mine up with 100% pg flavor.(one that does not taste very well anymore) it seems to be working pretty well when I start getting getting that dry hit feeling I just do some draws without pressing the button. a few air bubbles come up and it is good to go for another 10-15 hits.

 

[WallyO]

LOL... Ok, you are allowed to substitute your own reality ( Mythbuster's saying reference ).... Of course that still can't dispute the successful results that BonnyC and I have had in our limited tests ( I think BonnyC "fixed" 2 and I know I "fixed" 2 ).

My limited testing gave the following results...

1st carto - Just raised coil - result that the dry hits happened less but was still frequent.

Next BonnyC mentioned thinning wicks...

2nd carto - Raised coil and thinned wick... Result was much better performance but at first would start ( but not reach ) a dry hit taste... This later change without additional alteration and worked without any dry hit flavor starting to show. Finished a full tank without further dry hits or dry hit flavor that typically showed up before it became a dry hit.

Going back to my first carto after cleaning... I now thinned the wick ( on the one I only raised at first ) and this unit works flawlessly.


I do need to go back to the second carto with a clean and dry burn before testing it further... The juice I'm testing with will gunk a coil within a tank full or two... so I normally clean after each tank. I'll continue to test on these two carto's through the week to see how they continue to perform ( or not as it may end up being )

You can LOL! all you want.
You must have been or are an engineer to defend this product as is. Just because we are tinkering and getting them to work does not mean the design is good. Yeah, I got five going now and am using them exclusively. They work good but not great.
OK you are thinning wicks and getting it to work.
Isn't that because some design engineer designed the restrictor cup to go in the coil cup too far? Actually restricting the wick more than the airflow as intended.
Or is it because some design engineer decided to use a heavier wick than they should have?
How in the world do you call these issues quality control and not design?
One of the few quality control issues I see is that some coils were turned during assemby , not fully matching the tube opening. That's QC.
The coil's wrap spread vary from unit to unit. That's QC.
They are loaded with crap primer. That's QC.

The biggest improvement I had after raising the restrictor to allow better wicking was adding the center tube from an 808 in there.
These Raven's will never fly (pun intended) unless they go back to a small center tube to give it some draw.
Maybe if the engineer made that hole in the restrictor smaller it would have benefitted, but I doubt it.

Do you have a favorite top coil carto? Make sure it's one you are very familiar with, and like. See if you can find a tube roughly 1 1/8" long and the same diameter of the carto you are using and put it over it's mouth piece so you will essentially be drawing into a large void as these originally designed Raven's are doing. You let me know if your vaping experience does not drop off dramatically. If you say there is no difference, you'll be lying. If nothing else the tons of condensation in the large tube eventually going back to the coil will have an adverse effect on the experience.

I have worked on the mechanical maintenance side all my life. And I can not stress enough how much needless work is created by some silly engineer's. Sorry if you engineers out there take this the wrong way, but that's life. There are good ones, but there are very few sensible, real world engineers. Uh-Oh...veering off again.

Anyway if you want to blame anything for the Raven's failure and not living up to it's hype, blame R&D and testing. Sure as hell not quality control.

 

[BonnyC]

Ouch... I don't expect good results with that... I'm pretty certain the clear one I have is PC... but the smokey colored tube on the smaller one does appear to be PP... so your results may depend on which one you are testing in.

Oh, it passed. but I'm sure it's because of the PP plastic. See, I got a purple one and a blue one. So far, the blue one did perfectly just like my Phoenix BCs did. No signs of clouding at all and I even chain vaped it for a bit. I would NOT expect the PC plastic (i.e. clear tanks) to pass the test at all.

Just switched to 50/50 0 nic juice to give myself some time to adjust Speaking of, these are good at switching flavors like their older brothers.

 

[Ctor]

I only ask because on the Phoenix XL's that I was having issues with, thinning the wicks only didn't help but raising the coil and thinning them did. Of course on the XL's I had the advantage that I could disassemble and see what I was doing... with the Raven carto's I had to prod around with the wire in order to find out the orientation of the coil first so I knew were I needed to push up at.

Are the Phoenix XL carts still coming in where you need to make these adjustments? Or has that issue been solved on the production line and/or with better QC?

 

[rdsok]

Are the Phoenix XL carts still coming in where you need to make these adjustments? Or has that issue been solved on the production line and/or with better QC?

I hadn't purchased any more since the first batch came in... I do understand that they have become more consistent since that time.

 

[BonnyC]

I don't know what the heck was up with this last batch of XLs. I had some with the coil so crooked, they couldn't hardly be used without straightening it. One was so bad, it flooded everywhere.

Not only that, every single one had such a tight fit with the post it took quite a bit of effort to push it back in after cleaning.

 

[Ctor]

I don't know what the heck was up with this last batch of XLs. I had some with the coil so crooked, they couldn't hardly be used without straightening it. One was so bad, it flooded everywhere.

Not only that, every single one had such a tight fit with the post it took quite a bit of effort to push it back in after cleaning.

You know what? After reading this combined with the issues with the Ravens, I think I'm going to just stay away from Goodlife products. It sounds lile they have a track record of bad QC.

 

[mogium]

But the tanks look good just toss a carto in it and you got a nice looking tank

 

[Ctor]

But the tanks look good just toss a carto in it and you got a nice looking tank

I can't stand filler cartos. They ruin the flavor of juices for me.

 

[BonnyC]

You know what? After reading this combined with the issues with the Ravens, I think I'm going to just stay away from Goodlife products. It sounds lile they have a track record of bad QC.

Once I straightened the coils, which 3 outta 5 needed (though only one dumped juice), they worked fine. The post thing just sucks. I absolutely love Phoenixes and I'll deal with this stuff, but I don't like having to since the earlier ones were perfect.

It seems like BetterLife has a habit of trying to fix things that aren't broken which is NOT a good thing. Some may disagree that the first version Phoenixes weren't broken, but I've never had any trouble with them 99% of the time. This last box was just a travesty in comparison.

My opinion: If you want to improve upon a product that is generally loved, just re-brand it for crying out loud! Your "improvements" may or may not actually make the product better and then everyone who loved the original are just S.O.L.

 

[Ctor]

Honestly, I don't want to align coils, thin wicks or otherwise muck with what's essentially a consumable. I don't mind cleaning them to get the most life out of them, but if I want to tinker and tweek with coils and wicks, I'll do it on the Hyper SRT or something similar.

I'll stick with the Novas and Stardust-R for now and see if and when the Titan comes out with a mini version. It's a shame, as this unit had potential to fit my vaping style like nothing else on the market, but I'm not willing to put up with stuff that should just work and doesn't.

 

[dwcraig1]

I suppose someone has already said this but I will say it again just in case, if the product would have been as original shown it would have taken off like a brush fire in the wind, CE3's really have potential but not when you try to manufacture them for almost nothing!

 

[dodari]

Any thoughts on the quality/volumetric capacity of the 3.5 ml.(HAHAHAHAHA) tank and its wretched caps?

 

[WallyO]

Any thoughts on the quality/volumetric capacity of the 3.5 ml.(HAHAHAHAHA) tank and its wretched caps?

If you were able to fill the 3.5 tank full (cap to cap) it would hold 2.3ml. Effective working capacity is about 2 ml. I believe all advertised ratings are for the empty vessels themselves. This applies to tanks and carto's. Anything inside them takes away from the claimed capacity. Two ml is about perfect for me anyway so that does not bother me. Two of those get me through most days.
As far as the caps they are purdy, but a pain to remove. But they never really need to be taken off during normal usage. If I need to remove one I use pliers. One time I got lucky with only my fingers.

 

[mogium]

If you were able to fill the 3.5 tank full (cap to cap) it would hold 2.3ml. Effective working capacity is about 2 ml. I believe all advertised ratings are for the empty vessels themselves. This applies to tanks and carto's. Anything inside them takes away from the claimed capacity. Two ml is about perfect for me anyway so that does not bother me. Two of those get me through most days.
As far as the caps they are purdy, but a pain to remove. But they never really need to be taken off during normal usage. If I need to remove one I use pliers. One time I got lucky with only my fingers.

easy way to remove top.. pull carto down push back up at a slight angle and catch the cap press slowly up and cap pops off

 

[badkolo]

Whatever the issue is it will be handled, we have been in contact with them all week and are getting to the bottom of this, just have a little patience, everyone who had isuses is being taken cared of so no reason to go off the deep end, they screwed up and now they are working on making them the way they should have been, im not there in china so i cant see everything but we are dealing with it and making sure they come shipped to us and work properly.