Quality of components

[escapetovape]

Hi All,

So this weekend I'll be cleaning my Tauren (it patina'd pretty darn quickly tbh). Mostly because I'll have new coils to drop in and want it going gangbusters (clean slate so to speak). Something that's occurred to me when it comes to cleaning and the reality that in the process you're removing a small layer of the metal from the parent piece. Now for something such as the body when it's solid it's really negligible as it would take a long time to be eroded to the point of a drop in performance/structure.

However for things like inside the firing mechanism such as plates or in my case - ball bearing, they aren't solid pieces of the conductive metal but instead plated. With that in mind has anyone ever removed ALL of the plating? and if they have - how do you get replacement parts for some of these items or repair the existing ones (re-plating the components)? Even things such as insulator rings or springs or even button parts should they require it? I have a look during my downtime and it's only certain mods that I see with an actual spares list and even less in the way of suppliers that carry them.

 

[Zaryk]

The plating on contacts can be worn off. I know a guy that intentionally polishes his off.

A misconception most people have is that the plating is somehow decreasing voltage drop or increasing the flow of electricity. It does not do that. The electricity is going to follow the path of least resistance, which would be the thickest part of the metal (a silver plated copper contact for instance, the electricity will flow through the copper and not really through the silver plating because the copper will have much lower resistance than the thin silver plating). The outside plating is typically a metal that is less prone to corrosion so it doesn't need cleaned as often. So even if the plating wears off, you shouldn't see much, if any, of a performance drop. It just may need cleaned up more often. Sometimes that plating can cause arching as well (which is why that guy i mentioned polishes the plating off of his switch contacts) but I have no solid evidence to back that up, it's just something I heard from others.

 

[escapetovape]

The plating on contacts can be worn off. I know a guy that intentionally polishes his off.

A misconception most people have is that the plating is somehow decreasing voltage drop or increasing the flow of electricity. It does not do that. The electricity is going to follow the path of least resistance, which would be the thickest part of the metal (a silver plated copper contact for instance, the electricity will flow through the copper and not really through the silver plating because the copper will have much lower resistance than the thin silver plating). The outside plating is typically a metal that is less prone to corrosion so it doesn't need cleaned as often. So even if the plating wears off, you shouldn't see much, if any, of a performance drop. It just may need cleaned up more often. Sometimes that plating can cause arching as well (which is why that guy i mentioned polishes the plating off of his switch contacts) but I have no solid evidence to back that up, it's just something I heard from others.

Thanks for that - it was something that really occurred to me as I was going through my search for my first tube mod, that parts were next to non-existent and with some of the higher end ones being small batch runs (Deathwish Mods) you're fine for things like springs or even ball bearings but for some of the plates for instance of if (Gods forbid) you lost the button mechanism or broke it - what then? That then led to "well you may not lose them but you may use them up"

 

[untar]

Sometimes that plating can cause arching as well (which is why that guy i mentioned polishes the plating off of his switch contacts) but I have no solid evidence to back that up, it's just something I heard from others.

Any kind of mechanical contact switch will arc, doesn't matter what it's made of. Simply a byproduct of the tiny airgap right before the contact is established, the closest area of the switch will arc.

But yeah, silver doesn't corrode as much and is easy to clean. Transitional resistances will be a tiny bit lower. Also, it's shiny

you lost the button mechanism or broke it - what then? That then led to "well you may not lose them but you may use them up"

If you tend to lose a lot of stuff - better don't get into the really expensive gear, it'll give you a heart attack. Most high end manufacturers are nice and will provide a replacement as long as they still have the parts (if the company still exists of course).

Before you vaporized/corroded any of the metal parts into nothingness the material of the insulators will be donzo and those will be pretty rare.

 

[Zaryk]

Thanks for that - it was something that really occurred to me as I was going through my search for my first tube mod, that parts were next to non-existent and with some of the higher end ones being small batch runs (Deathwish Mods) you're fine for things like springs or even ball bearings but for some of the plates for instance of if (Gods forbid) you lost the button mechanism or broke it - what then? That then led to "well you may not lose them but you may use them up"

It would take a lot of vigorous cleaning to wear out a metal part. At first they will wear against other parts, which is the break in period, but after that the parts dont take too much wear from use.

If you buy a rare mod, the lack of replacement part is just an unfortunate part of owning a rare piece. This is one reason some people will buy and never use such pieces.

 

[escapetovape]

Any kind of mechanical contact switch will arc, doesn't matter what it's made of. Simply a byproduct of the tiny airgap right before the contact is established, the closest area of the switch will arc.

But yeah, silver doesn't corrode as much and is easy to clean. Transitional resistances will be a tiny bit lower. Also, it's shiny

If you tend to lose a lot of stuff - better don't get into the really expensive gear, it'll give you a heart attack. Most high end manufacturers are nice and will provide a replacement as long as they still have the parts (if the company still exists of course).

Before you vaporized/corroded any of the metal parts into nothingness the material of the insulators will be donzo and those will be pretty rare.

Definitely don't lose things such as that, but using them is something I definitely do.

 

[Zaryk]

Any kind of mechanical contact switch will arc, doesn't matter what it's made of. Simply a byproduct of the tiny airgap right before the contact is established, the closest area of the switch will arc.

I know. All conductive materials can allow for arching in the right conditions. It works the same way as a lightning bolt, jumps the gap from one conductive surface to another.

I was just saying that the guy I know who polishes off the silver on his contacts claimed that the silver layer was causing more arching problems than it did without the plating. He claimed his contacts would show burn marks when the plating was on the contact, but after removal he would get no more burn marks. I also mentioned I was not sure how true that was, just something I heard.

 

[escapetovape]

I know. All conductive materials can allow for arching in the right conditions. It works the same way as a lightning bolt, jumps the gap from one conductive surface to another.

I was just saying that the guy I know who polishes off the silver on his contacts claimed that the silver layer was causing more arching problems than it did without the plating. He claimed his contacts would show burn marks when the plating was on the contact, but after removal he would get no more burn marks. I also mentioned I was not sure how true that was, just something I heard.

Just made me think - with some of these rare mods, why someone hasn't gotten the idea to just make the parts is beyond me. I'm sure there's legalities and clones probably have some of the correct parts that you'd need but it would be like aftermarket parts for a car or bike; if something wasn't quite right.

 

[untar]

why someone hasn't gotten the idea to just make the parts is beyond me

It's not worth it for a 3rd party to specialize in manufacturing spare parts. They'd have to be made on demand and nobody would want to pay for that. There's not only the setup and working hours at the machine but also the research and measurements that would have to go into that micro series production.
Don't believe it? Go to a machine shop near you and ask them what they'd take to make the parts of your switch (and not a friendly "ahh come on he's only asking for that tiny part" kind of price, serious business price).

 

[escapetovape]

It's not worth it for a 3rd party to specialize in manufacturing spare parts. They'd have to be made on demand and nobody would want to pay for that. There's not only the setup and working hours at the machine but also the research and measurements that would have to go into that micro series production.
Don't believe it? Go to a machine shop near you and ask them what they'd take to make the parts of your switch (and not a friendly "ahh come on he's only asking for that tiny part" kind of price, serious business price).

No I'm very much aware as I have worked in engineering. Specifically custom and mass-production setups. The smaller shops do the one-offs because it's actually more economical to make things by hand or with limited tooling than the larger enterprises. For the big mobs they don't want to know about it unless the quantity is in the many thousands of pieces per design. Which is why it would be a niche only, and the majority would be re-sourcing (i.e. springs etc.) and I'm guessing around 50% in actual manufacturing from their end.