Precise ELA Telescoping Mod by Super-T!

[Symbolik]

Okay, good news.

I decided to clean it again. Now mind you I cleaned it last night thoroughly and dried with my blower. Took it all apart, except of course the top contact. I would not attempt that with out an in depth instructional video by Super T.

Washed with Dawn, brushed with my micro brushes all the threads and inside and outside the tubes and everything else. Went over everything with 98% alcohol. Next I blew out the parts to make sure no water/moisture was left. Then I inspected everything to make sure I did not leave any cotton threads anywhere. Took a Cape Cod and went over the inside of the locking ring and compression band and man, black stuff. Went over the button part that slides and more black. THen went over the parts to get rid of any Cape Cod residue with alcohol till swabs came out with no trace of cleaner or black gunk.

I then took a good look at my top contact. I damaged the surface months ago because I was attaching my Odys the way the maker said to which ended up lightly scratching the surface of the Rhodium. It has slowly after months worn off even more. SO that lit an idea in my head. If the Rhodium is worn, that means it is exposing the copper? ( looks to reddish gold to be brass, but not important) So I did what should not be done under this unique circumstance.
I cleaned it with a touch of autosol, I mean just a tad...... It came out filthy, black, I then rubbed it till my cloth came out white, and cleaned with alcohol and dried again.

I put a tiny micro bead of gun oil on the tip of the steel ball pin and on the threads of the lower button contact last time and this time no rust. So that works great. I cleaned and did that again.

Put ELA back and noticed the locking ring , locked really strong with out a lot of pressure and is so far holding tight, ELA is hitting harder than the Simplicity and my Natural , like new. I dont know how long it will continue, but so far Im doing a mental "Safety Dance" ( old folks will know what Im talking about) Im keeping fingers crossed. If I can go back to only having to clean weekly and of course wiping the top pin a couple times a day ( I have to clean it because of the Ody having 510 air intake, gets a lot of condensation) I will be happy.

I just wanted to show a few picts, of the swabs after the bubble bath, to show that it is still dirty or oxidized. I will put up the photos of the grime.

I want to THANK you all for your suggestions and Im glad Symbolik suggested to clean it again, and for changing the o-rngs and those other suggestions on previous page by a couple people last night, I have a bad memory or Id post your names too.
So for you youngin's here is the Safety Dance:



Here is a photo of the gunk just from the locking ring and compression band and the buttons that I cleaned off after going over them with cape cod. The red circles are what came off the top contact , and the large black marks on the left are what came off the telescopic tube. That was after I scrubbed with Dawn and alcohol.

I'm glad everything worked out! I also noticed after I cleaned my ring and band that I don't have to twist nearly as tight to get a good fit, and it's not having this crunching feeling anymore either

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[anavidfan]

LOL, I tried Hoppers gun bore cleaner, seemed to clean it well but left a bit of flim, and yes, it affected the taste, again because my Atty of choice is Ody, as it took in air from the connections it took in some of the residue, yuck. No problem with my dripper or KFL.

 

[anavidfan]

Glad you're at least making progress on fixing it, if not all fixed up already! I've been using all-in-one gun cleaner/oil on mine lately with good results, dissolves all the buildup really well. Hoping there won't be any long term ill effects, can't imagine it could cause too many problems though. Real pain to clean off the compression ring/tube if you accidentally get some on there, and also taste a little funny so have to be careful when I use it.

And the new o-ring under the battery seems to have fixed my odd battery problem. Not sure what I did to that old one but it was a very unhappy ring when I finally got it out of there. Maybe I should have been pulling that out of there when it was getting baths?

Im thinking the same. I didnt think about hot water and residue and Dawn does to the o-rings, but Im sure it swells them while most and warm, then we jam our batteries and press them and we sort of remodel them. Plus all that soap and alcohol makes them get dry and crack. I worry about my orings on the top contact..... I should replace them too. I just dont know how to and how many there are. Im thinking 3?

 

[wfo_ak]

FWIW I'm using Otis 085, also leaves a film but doesn't seem to create any resistance. Going off just pure feel seems like might actually make a slightly better connection. Been using it hoping it might help with carbon buildup on the button, though otoh might just collect more dirt... Figured it would be an interesting experiment.

 

[Cucco]

FWIW I'm using Otis 085, also leaves a film but doesn't seem to create any resistance. Going off just pure feel seems like might actually make a slightly better connection. Been using it hoping it might help with carbon buildup on the button, though otoh might just collect more dirt... Figured it would be an interesting experiment.

I like Otis products.

 

[Draconian]

Will you be making more flat bottom caps for the ELA?
Saw a pic - and all I can say is...I have money....

 

[anavidfan]

Been chaining it and so far, still performing like day one. Only thing I feel is an occasional spring crunch. I barely have to apply any pressure on the button now. Fingers crossed that I have "fixed" them.

 

[tnt56]

Fingers crossed here to.


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[anavidfan]

well, I hate to post this, but polished ELA was performing amazing, now its declined. I cleaned the locking ring with alcohol and the top contact too. Its a little better for a while, but declines. I have changed batteries, adjusted things. Its better than it was the last few weeks , but still not what it should be.

Some one is sending me some OEM rings ( thank you ) So I will see if that helps. It just perplexed me.

So tried something I havent tried yet... I tried it without any spring and it works great. ?

Having it work better without the spring, i figured what the heck, took my OEM spring and compressed it with pliers and heated it with a torch and shortened it. Its a bit crooked but its working great. Crossing fingers

 

[wfo_ak]

Mico-arcs at the button causing buildup? Without a spring it will naturally ride the side of the button housing making a better connection there even though you've eliminated the second ground from the spring. I get a lot of buildup on the button, can't see it but wiping with a coarse cloth would take it off and be good for a day or so, hence why I've been experimenting with the oil on the button to see if it helps slow down the buildup. Haven't decided if it is helping at all so far, but definitely hasn't made it worse so it's looking promising.

 

[anavidfan]

I have been using the oil on the inside of the threads of the button where you screw in the button contact and so far both ELAs , even the Satin are working nicely. I think what you posted makes a lot of sense. THe button does build up , could be from the metal on metal touching. But micro arching sounds like what i felt for a while, I swear I could feel a light buzzing feeling sometimes. WHy would that happen? Could it be that the spring is getting misshapen and causing it?

And how could the spring be getting longer by itself with time. I noticed that the spring on the polished, (older ELA) was at least 5mm longer than the one on the satin?

 

[wfo_ak]

I've felt that too, my best guess is something keeps the button from pushing tight against the side so you get some tiny arcs until the button seats itself against the housing, normally by me pushing it to the side or spinning it. I think the stock spring actually helps to keep the button slightly more centered, while the HD requires more force increasing the chance of you pushing it to the side naturally so don't see it as much. Plus I'm sure it can carry more current than the stock one so wouldn't be as noticeable in any case.

No idea on making it longer, anything I can think of would make it more compressed. Mine sits at 13mm uncompressed, how long is yours?

ETA: I'm using the oil on the sides of the button itself, and inside the housing where it contacts the button. That's the biggest area for buildup that I have.

 

[anavidfan]

My springs are about 20mm uncompressed. Edited, was not using a ruler with centimeters.

SO you put oil on the outside of the button? Does the oil cause more build up or less? Its confusing me right now. I think its "thought overload "

 

[wfo_ak]

Hard to say if it's really improved at all yet, but it's not creating any more buildup than it was before.

Pretty bizarre that a spring could stretch that much more, maybe someone else will have an idea on that one. I have another OEM and an HD at home as well, I'll have to measure them tonight after work and see where they are at.

ETA: It does seem to be more consistent across the charge of a battery though, I don't feel that the performance is falling off as much as it did before once the battery charge got low. I find my batteries are at a slightly lower level now when I put them on the charger normally, so there is probably a least a small improvement.

ETAA: I picked the Otis 085 as I feel it adheres better to metal than others, even after wiping it dry. Since it's designed to prevent and dissolve buildup of gunpowder, I was hoping it would have a similar effect on the buildup on the button.

 

[anavidfan]

I will have to try the Otis, I had Hoppers on hand , I know it cheaper than the Otis. I will put some on the sides of the button after I clean it up with some with the cape cod and go over it with 98% alcohol and see if it stays cleaner.

Thanks so much, for sharing your thoughts Funny how a little insignificant thing like a spring can hinder or enhance the voltage. Do you think cleaning or putting some of the oil on the area between the outer surface of the compression ring that comes in contact with the locking ring might help the carbon build up?

 

[wfo_ak]

I've thought about it, and will probably try it at some point. A little hesitant though after how hard it was to clean off the tube and compression ring when I got some on there by accident. Get any on the wrong side of that compression ring and it's impossible to lock. Probably not really going to be worth it, don't get nearly the buildup there and I have a feeling most of it is aluminum wearing off the ring and pocket lint. Would probably help slightly, but just don't think any benefits would be worth the hassle.

 

[anavidfan]

Thats what I was thinking. Im still thinking why some of us are getting our ELAs so dirty? Is it our water ? Is it us? I dont eat pizza and french fries and use my ELA with food oil or pasta sauce etc. Do you use an atomizer with air intake at the 510 connection, wfo_ak? Just curious if my theory of condensation and backvapor going into the tube causes more filth?

I think I might have figured out why my springs have been mysteriously "growing" I just put one down and Miss Kitty 's eyes got big and I caught her holding it with her paw and pulling it her teeth. She does play with my stuff and I figure she cant hurt it. I do tend to drop my springs and find them because she finds them first.

 

[wfo_ak]

I normally use a Kayfun but sometime do use atomizers with a bottom air intake or a geni. I also use it with filthy hands fairly often, and it lives in my pocket a good amount of time. I use it out in the rain, under the car, on the rare occasion I'm cooking and it's getting splattered with grease... My feeling has always been it's a mech that I can clean up if it's dirty so not too worried about babying it like I would a mod with electronics. Generally only careful that I don't get grease or oil on the extension tube so that it'll still lock until I can get around to cleaning it.

I was cleaning the button every day more or less, and the locking ring every week with a full bath maybe once or twice a month. Been fighting the urge to clean my button just out of habit the last few days to try to get a better feel for if this oil is really helping.

Too funny about Miss Kitty, I could see that causing some spring problems.

ETA: ELA is much harder to dent than a P+

 

[Draconian]

Interesting reading regarding the problems some are having with the ELA and keeping it clean / etc.
Arcing will create black pits that will not clean away like regular grime and they will eventually eat through any plating on the base metal. Arcing is normal and unavoidable on most mods - when the button makes contact with the battery, it WILL arc (basically, whatever is the last contact to complete the circuit will arc).
Hot button - there is a short or you are running VERY low resistance coil (low resistance=high amperage).
Strange that I read people are having to clean it every day, use oil, etc. I have never had to clean mine other than a simple wipe down - no rust, no issues, and the aluminum compression band is still shiny. Rarely find any dirt or grime on the mod at all although I don't use it all the time due to being a modaholic.
Would be curious to see pictures of the grime that you are routinely finding. There has to be a reason why this is occurring as the parts are machined at very tight tolerance - no reason my ELA should be any different than any other.
I would be hesitant to use any oil / substance on contact surfaces - clean and in good contact should be all that is ever required. Anything else is masking a problem and could make it much harder to determine the cause.
I'll go through my ELA tonight and see if I notice anything at all - will go through it very well.
Good luck, I'll stay tuned and help if I can.

 

[Nach]

Pris,

I wonder if your ELA is just too spoiled rotten by you! I mean after all the regular bathing you do to it, all the repeated polishing and caressing... If you don't do it every single day, it gets grumpy and dramatic and misfires just so you'll do it all again!

I have yet to tear down any of my ELA's and bathe them, save for the occasional button wipe when it gets nasty. 9 months and going strong with little to no effort on my part.

Just sayin'!