Precise ELA Telescoping Mod by Super-T!

[anavidfan]

I hate you all...... just kidding...... yours is the standard of what most ELA owners experience. I did not put oil on the contacts, I would think that would not be good. I dont understand why mine is so dirty. If you go back a page you will see the grim that came off button and locking ring and top contact after washing it with dish washing soap and alcohol. I used cape cod and it brought out that black grime, you would swear I just ran a cloth down the barrel of a gun.

Its not really visible when you look at the parts, just looks rather dull.

I never had to clean my contacts on my Saber like this, maybe every couple days? Once a day when I started using the Odys. It had a sealed 510 connection. My Natural, man I abused it, I cleaned it for the first time in a year because I noticed it barely had power. Washed it and boom its amazing. My Simplicity, doenst get any care, think Ive cleaned it 2 times, again, it doesn't get use my ELAs get. When I do clean the Simplicity its visually dirty, maybe the Ti gets more dirty. Looks oily. I clean it and its perfect.

 

[Nach]

I just hope you don't wear down your ELA til there's nothing left to hold the battery!

 

[wfo_ak]

I can never see anything on mine before I clean it, it always looks just fine. After just a couple of hours though if I run my finger through the button housing it comes back with a black something on it. More than a couple of days and the button acts up. My P+ is the same way.

 

[HauntedMyst]

I just hope you don't wear down your ELA til there's nothing left to hold the battery!

That's the great thing about the ELA though, the life time warranty! My ELA wasn't firing so I opened the car door while I was driving down the Eisenhower and flattened out the rhodium contacts by pressing down on the highway. Wouldn't you know it, I accidentally dropped it (I'm always hanging out of my car with the door open at highway speed and never dropped anything!) and some semi's started playing soccer with it from Harlem Ave. to 1st Ave. before it came to rest on a field of gravel. But with the warranty, David will make it look like new. He'll probably be a little ......, what with having to do it again so soon after the M80 incident. I'm so thankful he forgot to put the idiot exemption clause in the warranty. As an idiot, I can tell you, we need all the breaks the world can give us.

 

[anavidfan]

Haunted you are amazing....... You tell stories like nobody. You out do my Mike. Its a good thing my Mike is so good at telling stories. At least when he repeats himself ( does it quite a bit) its never exactly the same.

 

[Draconian]

Looked at the pictures again. Note that if you clean that compression ring - you are going to get black on the towel, even when it is bright and shiny (aluminum - same thing happens with brass and silver).
I have NEVER polished the contacts or compression ring / etc. Sometimes, when an item is polished, the smoother contact will make worse contact - may no longer be perpendicular and material is removed from the surface when it is polished. It can also lead to trapping moisture that would normally evaporate.
If you have an ohm meter you can check resistance between the tubes, etc. May also want to check battery voltage at the positive post (should see battery voltage). One of the most telling things would be to check voltage drop at the atomizer and compare between a good working mod and this one - keep in mind that I normally see a larger voltage drop with the ELA than a lot of other mods (for example, I'll see 3.92V on a nemesis, and 3.75V-3.80V or so on the ELA).
I am beginning to suspect the compression band. I may have misread, but I think in one of your posts you stated that the tube was wearing smooth? If so, and you have been polishing the compression band, I'm thinking the contact would be less than ideal. If one of your ELAs is running good - I would suggest swapping all of the bottom section (tube and switch) and see what happens - then, of course, depending on what happens parts can be swapped to further narrow it down. Advantage to you is that you have more than one ELA which you can use to narrow down the issue.

 

[anavidfan]

I would never polish the contacts , but I did polish it that one time because it is worn. I messed it up with an atomizer. It has become larger, so I figured if the brass is showing thru than its probably been getting oxidized. I know that the Rhodium should not be polished.

Yes my tube hads some marks, but I polished it with some autosol since it does have a bit of abrasive quality and it doesnt have the marks and it is not slipping like it was. I would not want to use autosol unless something has light scratches as it is a bit abrasive.

I used some polish on the locking ring and compression band out of desperation. I would imagine it would leave a residue and make it more slippery or in the case of autosol, wear them down too smooth and again, slippery.

I suspect that the spring and dirty buttons are the big problem in what Ive been experience. Like I posted , it worked sooooo much better without the spring and after I heated the spring and made it shorter and performance is so much better.

If I can get back to my carefree routine of just vaping the Hell out of them and only cleaning weekly or less, I will be happy.

 

[wfo_ak]

In my case I'm sure it's the button, and I've never really considered it a problems since I could just take it off and clean it real quick. If I can figure out how to get a picture from my phone to here I'll put up a picture of it, maybe my buttons are just wearing extra fast and the black stuff is metal shavings. I do have a lot of wear on both my P+ and ELA button.

However, I'm more inclined to think it's something from arcing on the button. There has been at least one person that noticed an arc on their button, and there is a video around here somewhere showing one arcing. With the wiggle in the button I think it's a reasonable place to look.

 

[Cucco]

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'!

Nach is an ELA slob, like me! See Pris, I'm not the only one.

 

[anavidfan]

I think 3 people in the past were having arcing problems, One did say he found a short. All I can think of is that I / we are screwing the button contact in either too tight or too loose? Or maybe a micro burr? or like Haunted said the contact happens to be uneven or too sharp on one corner.

 

[anavidfan]

Nach is an ELA slob, like me! See Pris, I'm not the only one.

LOL, I wish I didnt need to clean. I mean, I dont care if my ELA is in " museum , mint condition " I wear my scuffs like a badge of honor, It getting used, a lot. It when it start to misfire or I get little ego type puffs , you start to do what ever it takes to get her going hard.

 

[Cucco]

LOL, I wish I didnt need to clean. I mean, I dont care if my ELA is in " museum , mint condition " I wear my scuffs like a badge of honor, It getting used, a lot. It when it start to misfire or I get little ego type puffs , you start to do what ever it takes to get her going hard.

Just messing with you Pris.

 

[wfo_ak]

Not sure if this will work, but here's an attempt at a button picture. Kinda just looks dirty to me on the pic but the only actual crud I can see is on the band under the lip at top of button.

 

[anavidfan]

Thats how mine looks after a week. Mine had those wear marks too, but a bit of autosol once a month takes them away. I know eventually it will look polished and not satin.

 

[Draconian]

Tore my ELA completely down - only visible grime was o-ring and where it sits, but not even enough for a qtip.
Not seeing where the spring "should" affect performance at all - it acts as a spring and not a conductor.
Tried putting / removing a washer on the firing button to shorten / lengthen the throw? May get you out of a low conductivity spot possibly or help the switch contact the body better.
Know this is going to sound silly, but here it is anyway. Seems that those of us that don't clean our mods all that much don't have the problem of them getting dirty. Is it even remotely possible that what you are dealing with is residue or reaction of the chemical with the metal? Again...silly..but what the heck...

 

[anavidfan]

I dont think its a silly idea, Im seriously thinking that the water may be leaving some residue of minerals. Most of time I just wash it with soap and water and no polish, like the cape cod. This last time I cleaned I used cape cods and maybe it took off the water deposits then alcohol and thats why its performing so much better?

 

[wfo_ak]

I would say that's a possibility for some of it, but I don't think that's the main problem. Most of the time I had used just paper towels and my t-shirt for cleaning.

On the spring, I'd agree with most of that, but it does act as a second ground. It can and will carry some current, especially if you're drawing lots of amps or have a problem with your buttons connection.

Other than that, it's late and my brain shutdown so will have to think about it more tomorrow. I will add that I cleaned my button tonight and seemed to have much less buildup on it after using the 085 on it. Will have to sleep on that and worry about why tomorrow.

 

[snork]

Nach is an ELA slob, like me! See Pris, I'm not the only one.

You're surely not the only one. One of the things I value the most about Super-T products is my ability to ignore them for months and months on end. I swear. If I clean one it's a rare and exciting event like the birth of a child.

 

[forcedfuel50]

Thats how mine looks after a week. Mine had those wear marks too, but a bit of autosol once a month takes them away. I know eventually it will look polished and not satin.

If you'd like, I can even use your unit(s) in the cleaning/maintenance video I'm going to do up. I did read it mentioned earlier by a member and there is truth to this, highly polished surfaces actually dont' conduct as well as rougher (within reason). I don't use cleaners to freshen up, I use light friction (very fine sandpaper, bead blasting, fine steel wool, some even use erasers, though I've never tried it, suppose to work though).

 

[Draconian]

Agreed - but that also means there is a problem with conductivity if the spring is carrying anything other than negligible current. Yes - the spring CAN carry current - but it SHOULDN'T, and that is what we are shooting for. Voltage / current take the path of least resistance - if it is taking a path through a spring, as opposed to the 2 large wonderfully plated conductors that directly contact the battery - then there is a PROBLEM.

I would say that's a possibility for some of it, but I don't think that's the main problem. Most of the time I had used just paper towels and my t-shirt for cleaning.

On the spring, I'd agree with most of that, but it does act as a second ground. It can and will carry some current, especially if you're drawing lots of amps or have a problem with your buttons connection.

Other than that, it's late and my brain shutdown so will have to think about it more tomorrow. I will add that I cleaned my button tonight and seemed to have much less buildup on it after using the 085 on it. Will have to sleep on that and worry about why tomorrow.