Printed DNA 40 Bottom Feeder Mod

[element77]

WOW, you do nice work.

This one TyCreek rebuilt should look familiar, it's the one you built and sold me that went back to you many times trying to get it functional. Had to give up on it, never got a reliable vape from it. I seem to recall you saying it must be user error, nice to know it wasn't just me.

Well it's been a while since I've been able to get some garage time in! Got a dysfunctional gdna in trade and thought I'd bump forward this old thread with a GDNA rebuild. The switch was bad, magnets had too much gap, hobby connectors in the body pushed in and black wire in the top was a bit mangled.

Everything stripped down using acetone. The former clear coat was thick!

Since it was a blue sort of dye I opted for some blue gun paint after tuning the parts for a better fit.

Put it all back together... wires, connectors, switches and 2 magnets replaced with new parts. I added SS feeder tube and a painted air ring just because.

I've never had one of my GDNAs fail after getting past the early faulty DNA40 boards, but if one does it's nice to have a backup!

Glad to see it working as it should finally, even if its no longer mine. Really enjoyed the pics and explanation of teardown and rebuild. Looks fantastic!
The peko (my first) you traded me is working great and was a lot of fun to put together
Maybe when I set to learning how to solder I'll take another crack at a GDNA.
Great holiday picture too!

 

[TyCreek]

Chuckle... small world it is

Anyway, the blue gdna has been working great all day driving a nickel clapton that had a few days of use. The top now snaps together nice and solid. This is my first of a newer printed shell type and was interesting trying to figure out how to take it apart since I'd never seen one before. Nice print design gdeal did with those!

Looked, to me, like the key to these working right is getting the magnets set so they just make contact when fully seated. So, the body side magnets were my last assembly step by setting them into position using a fully assembled top to press them into place for a perfectly matched magnetic contact plane. Also, when checking how the parts fit together, I shaved the whole top of the body by a bunch (maybe 1/32") and the top of the center connecter carriers got shaves too so that the connector faces were flush (provided full seating into each other).

 

[mackman]

Thanks Vince ...

Nope, I missed the fancy bottles oh well, the vapage 9mls have been working fine this last year or so. I did think about ordering some when I saw possum's closed offering but I like my current bottle system tooled into them currently and have been playing with other things. A few DNA200s have occupied a bit of my vape time, though the GDNA40 BF mods with Ni200 are still my daily choice for consistent no fuss use.

Hi Mackman, I've still not swapped my Tibs chip to a DNA40... mostly because other TC mods keep knocking it down on my what to do next list.

Ty find 15 minutes to swap it; world of difference.

 

[TyCreek]

The biggest delay/hesitation is being happy with the swap...
My Tibs is the Lipo that I hard soldered. It has a little spring 510 pin thingy that is unlike the current FD spring pin so, for stabile TC, a better 510 connection is needed. I let a couple narrow screen DNA40 chips go and only have wide screen boards on hand (thought was that a big screen would be better). Cutting that window will mess-up the paint job and while the paint has held up quite well, it is wearing thin on the bottom. Stripping it back to the original black shell means a new charge board and better paint.

Oh... and there's the fact that I'm slow and get sidetracked easily! Oh look... new TC chips... car needs a... I'm quite certain the screw bins need sorting ...

 

[Vince159]

I'm having a strange problem with a new gdna I'm building. It works fine, until I put it in the shell. I know the typical issue for this is the button wires, or some wires touching, but I've tried 3 different sets of wire, snugged everything multiple times, I cannot find the problem! This has been going on for 3 days. Any suggestions? Anyone?

 

[autobiogphnation]

I'm having a strange problem with a new gdna I'm building. It works fine, until I put it in the shell. I know the typical issue for this is the button wires, or some wires touching, but I've tried 3 different sets of wire, snugged everything multiple times, I cannot find the problem! This has been going on for 3 days. Any suggestions? Anyone?

Maybe check the contacts when put together that Thursday wires are good and that the contacts themselves are making good connection with battery when assembled.

 

[mackman]

If it fires outside the shell check to see that when the top cap assembly and the shell are mated they are allowing the mini connectors and battery tabs to make proper contact to complete the circuit.

 

[Vince159]

Thanks guys, yeah, this is the only other problem point that could be the issue. With the 4.3 it's supposed to be basically glue-free. I did not use glue on the top deans, relying on the inner post to keep them in place; BUT they appear to be maintaining position. None the less, this is the only thing I can think of that could be causing the problem; somehow they aren't fully engaging. It's funny, I've got a beater gdna40, flawed finish, I didn't have the right magnets, so I used some that are for the 3.1, the dog ate the ring, but it works like a champ! I just had to have a nicer one, resulting in much grief lol. There's a lesson in here somewhere!

 

[Vince159]

Well, as it turns out, the roughly 2-3mm space left on one side of the upper deans was the issue. It created just enough space to disrupt connection. I went back to the old way, glued them in place, and Bingo! So, just a little note for those of you looking at building a gdna 40 4.3.

 

[BobC]

Trust me, it's always the Deans when you have connection problems with the shells on

 

[BobC]

....................................
Maybe when I set to learning how to solder I'll take another crack at a GDNA.
Great holiday picture too!

Nooooo, please don't!

The world is definitely not ready for that

 

[tiburonfirst]

there's no reason to worry, bob, at least not till i get ready to solder

 

[element77]

Nooooo, please don't!

The world is definitely not ready for that

Hmm, I don't see why you wouldn't want me to learn to build one myself instead of relying on someone else... What would be your motivation in that?

The whole reason I'm not into it is because the one I purchased didn't work reliably. I wouldn't even attempt building one of these until I learned to solder with confidence. Which is why I bought that blue one from a builder in the first place.

Yea I'm missing the punch line on this one.

 

[BobC]

Just teasin ya man,

BTW, it's much more then soldering,

You have to solve for a good fit between the internals and shells, and Deans and battery connectors between the cap and body

 

[BobC]

One other thing,

The DNA40 is definitely not what you want to cut your modding teeth on, very sensitive connection wise, as you already know

 

[element77]

Ahhh, I see more clearly, the jest didn't fit any context for me, so yes and yes, would definitely not be my first project if I ever tackle one myself.
I'm a bit sensitive on this subject as it was quite the disappointment, suppose I'm still a bit butthurt on getting thoroughly jerked around.
You're cracking me up in the other threads Bob except for that one hideous image of a diseased foot

 

[BobC]

there's no reason to worry, bob, at least not till i get ready to solder

Then I'm hopin you at least triple your home insurance with a double indemnity for electrical fires

 

[TyCreek]

TC sensitivity to poor connections (any chip I've messed with so far) does not favor multiple connections and solder points. Though well connected gdna mods do however work quite reliably if everything is tuned top to bottom. Some prints take a lot of tuning for a good solid TC experience. I've put together a few gdna shells and every one has been slightly different.

If a print design eliminated the hobby connectors such as by keeping the electronics connected in the center like the Peko, I think more people would have better success.

Personally I like the smaller early print series better than the later versions. Still, I've not seen a better bottom fed TC mod from purchased parts.

Oh... I found a small screen DNA40 that was tucked away so my Lipo Tibs/Bap mod got TC and a heavier spring in the 510! Here's some TC mods handy on my bench that I lined up the day I did that swap.

 

[artv61]

very nice collective you have there

 

[Aal_]

Funny thing, my first ever solder turned out to be beautiful and working well with dna40, what I failed at is gluing and sanding and making sure the height is right when dealing with a Gdibina . It sits now looking like a Frankenstein with the internals butchered. One day I will go back .