Repairable CE2

[ChrispyCritter]

Do any of you pro modders have anything 20ish gauge on hand that you can try and thread through a CE2 cup?

I have all these needles and their no longer packaged/labeled and they do fit, but I have no idea what the gauge is. I want to get something thicker than the 27 gauge I got, its too flimsy, but it works if you're precise.

I just want to confirm that something like 20 will work before I order.

Pretty please!

I thought I would need wire myself but I found I usually can reuse it plus I had a couple dead 510 batteries and the wire in them was about the same size and looked like the same material. I may need some sometime though as the wires keep getting shorter lol..if you had a dremel style tool and a small bit you might be able to enlarge the holes a little. I'm not sure how well my rotary tool will work on those cups but I'll find out sometime as I have an idea for a mod on them...

 

[Teach]

Do any of you pro modders have anything 20ish gauge on hand that you can try and thread through a CE2 cup?

I have all these needles and their no longer packaged/labeled and they do fit, but I have no idea what the gauge is. I want to get something thicker than the 27 gauge I got, its too flimsy, but it works if you're precise.

I just want to confirm that something like 20 will work before I order.

Pretty please!

.015" SS wire (26ga) will work easily... I'm not sure how close you can get to 20ga (.032"). That's a link to McMaster-Carr so hopefully it will work. The doctors have been keeping me out of the shop so I couldn't find my mini Tap and Die set to check it at 20ga... I'm thinking 20g is too big. I did check 18ga and it's too large.

One thing some have tried is drilling out and enlarging the holes in the ceramic cup with rotary diamond point tips from Harbor Freight. The tips are small enough and will cut the ceramic without breaking if you are carefull... once again, need to get back to the shop.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

I have a rotary tool and some diamond burrs but after I wrecked one cup using a drill bit (DUH) I'd rather not even approach that method

Thank you for the info guys! I am certain 18gauge is too big, because I have labeled needles that won't go. 27 works for sure. I'm pretty sure 22 works, but like I said I don't have those needles labeled and my gf swears they are 25 gauge (its the needles we use for flu shots in clinic) but I'm remembering 22ish.

I'm in no rush Teach, so feel better, and whenever you get to the shop let me know

As far as gauge goes, gauge is gauge right? 20 gauge hypodermic tubing = 20 gauge SS wire = 20 gauge silver wire etc?

Looking at the McM link, I'm wondering if 26 gauge SS wire would actually be more snap resistant than 26 gauge hypodermic tubing (which I have, actually 27) simply because its made for bending and twisting and is not hollow...

Or for that matter, 26 gauge sterling may even be more resistant to snapping than the hypodermic tubing because its not hollow

 

[Teach]

Will do Cyrus, thanks.

The ss wire I referred to is 'bend and stay' or soft tempered. Same thing with silver, it can be soft, half hard, and hard. The biggest thing I've learned is that if it's not listed in the info by the vendor, they probably don't know either and you just end up with another spool in the wire box.

The hypo tubing is definitly hard. You'll need something like a tubing bender to get a good curve... it's just a small version of a pipe bender. The one at Harbor Freigt doesn't go down small enough for the hypo tube, but it may work. I have heard that bending works best if the tube is packed with very fine art sand or filled with water and frozen so the ice spreads the stress and stops buckling. Worth a try I suppose.

The guage thing can be confusing and, depending on where something is manufactured, can be listed under different size standards. If you look back on that McMaster-Carr link there was a link to a guage conversion chart. That helps when you aren't sure on sizes. It's a pdf so it's easy to download too.

 

[TomCatt]

I've made hooks in the 27 gauge tubing with needle nose pliers. The tubing I have doesn't seem to be brittle and bends easily. Having said that; the hooks in the two cartos that I've set up are apparently touching the sides of the plastic tube. Cause they've melted holes in the plastic
Gotta re-do them; I'm thinking of trying to make small loops on the end that will stay inside the ceramic cup. I'll let ya know if this works when I can get to it.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

@Teach: thank you for the link to the tool, I'll look into it. Like TomCat I've been using needle nosed pliers and they work. The issue is as I'm cursing in frustration and trying to get the coil and wick in the right position, its happened that I pull too hard and snap the hook lol.

@TomCatt: That's pretty funny. I guess the hook doesn't have to be tight to the ceramic cup for 'good contact'

do you guys knot your coils, or just wrap them 1-2 times?

Also wrt to cursing and frustration: too many jerky movements have caused me to wreck two of my CE2s (kind of) by pushing the air tube down through the base too many times and wrecking the integrity/position of the black tube seal

And trying to get that thing back into place is NOT FUN haha

 

[TomCatt]

I wrap the ends of the coil 2-3 times around the posts.

I'm pretty sure the paper clip posts were touching the plastic tubes also. Probably getting more resistive heating of the posts with the smaller diameter of the tubing, plus the fact that it is tubing. Gotta get me some of that SS wire

 

[Sad Society]

Sad

Copper isn't recommended next to the coil, in a juice tank , or near the heat... track back in this trOno oon the discussion of silver.

Ok so copper is out. I guess I'll try the silver.

 

[Robert T]

I've been using the legs on LEDs that MV threw in with other orders for some time now. Fits the holes in the ceramic cup tight. Easy to solder to the center post. On the negative side it was a little to short so I just cut back the existing wire and solder it to the leg. Works fine and is cheap and easy.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

I feel like such a lucky dummy, there's a harbor freight literally down the street from me LOL

YES!

 

[TomCatt]

I'm not having much luck with the 27 gauge SS tubing. Not sure what the problem is; maybe the resistance wire wraps around the hooks aren't making good contact.

Gonna try the magnet wire next and just solder the coil on the wires.

Better get sumthin' working, down to my last working CE2 (should prolly put an order in for some more )


ETA:

"Enameled" magnet wire - types of "enamel":
http://www.enameledwire.com/types.aspx

 

[Cyrus Vap]

Same here. What's happening is all starts out perfectly, then either the CE2 stops firing entirely, or starts firing kind of weak, and only 2/4 coils will light up (the inner ones, not the ones closest to the ss posts)

After a little jiggling and pulling they will fire again, and then stop again after the same.

The main issue I believe is good contact between the coils and SS post. Its hard to get, and its hard to maintain. But then again others seem to have pulled this off with great success, so I figure I'm not wrapping and positioning things properly.

My other thought is, in the original "wrap, no solder" method, bulli used significantly fatter safety pins. The increased thickness would lead to a much tighter fit between the steel post and cup, pressing into the coil and ensuring stable contact. Attempting to use the wrap method with 27 gauge needles as in the OP may be wishful thinking, because they're not thick enough to create the tight fit that a wider gauge post will.

Actually now that I think of it, I had no issues at all with my paper clip version, except the clips turned cruddy after a few days of use and 1-2 rinses. So yeah, I think this is the issue

I'm going to order some 20 and 22 gauge sterling silver half hard from twisted jewels, hopefully they will thread right through the cup. If not I have the diamond burrs for my dremel and I'm just going to go to 16 gauge or something obscenely fat and be done with it lol

 

[TomCatt]

Yeah, that's what's happening with me Cyrus. When I used paper clips for the posts (post went outside of the ceramic cup and hooked into the cup), there was no problem; coils fired fine.

I just ordered some of the 26 gauge SS wire from eBay a couple of days ago

Radio Shack has magnet wire listed - 315-Ft. Magnet Wire Set : Wire Sets | RadioShack.com
The package contains:
40 feet of 22-gauge wire
75 feet of 26-gauge wire
200 feet of 30-gauge wire

Should be able to use one of those

Maybe make a few coils with the magnet wire soldered on, then just run wires through the cup and solder onto CE2 post/base for replacement.

 

[l3oertjie]

Gents, please explain your problem in real simple "blonde" language. I am sure we can help with a solution. Obviously both of you are experiencing the same trouble. I am pretty sure there is a simple solution. I just need to understand the problem. Pics would help.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

So basically, back to wires, back to original design, back to square one? Yeah I think that's where I'm headed lol.

The main attraction of this mod was having a pure plug and play design without fiddling after initial assembly. Coils burn out, no problem, remove and replace. Its not working out that way so far.

Haven't given up yet, I'm gonna get the heavier gauge stuff ordered tonight and in the mean time I have some 22ish gauge needles that I just pulled off their syringe casing, going to rebuild one later and see if it holds tighter

I'm glad we're having the same problem, eliminates the 'wtf is going on' factor

 

[Cyrus Vap]

In a nutshell l3oertjie, we're having issues maintaining solid contact between the coils and the stainless steel tubes. Leads to intermittent misfiring/sub optimal firing. The hypothesis at the moment is, the SS tubes we're using (27 gauge) are too thin to create enough of a 'pinch' effect on the coil near the cup, so they don't have great contact/current.

 

[TomCatt]

I want to try the magnet wire for an additional reason: I mix my own juice which is fairly clear. I take the seals out the my CE2s and 'drip to fill' throughout the day. With the paper clip posts and the 27 gauge tubing posts, towards the end of the day the juice starts to turn darker. This doesn't happen with a non-modified CE2. I'm wondering if there's some degradation of the juice from having an uninsulated conductor in the juice. Although the central post and base are conductors . Possibly heating from small gauge tubing; but why the same with the larger paper clip posts?

Research = search again until ya get it right

 

[BJ43]

I get the feed back on all my PVs the larger the reservoir the darker it gets. I quit using anything over 3ml because it was terrible. That is why i really like the "Line" it is only 1.1ml so it gets refilled before it really gets contaminated. Here is a fairly new 3.6ml vision with the very dark remaining juice that was originally just VG and menthol (clear). Your not getting more feedback because you use low watts,

 

[TomCatt]

Thanks BJ


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapa-tapa-tapa-tapatalk

 

[Cyrus Vap]

I want to try the magnet wire for an additional reason: I mix my own juice which is fairly clear. I take the seals out the my CE2s and 'drip to fill' throughout the day. With the paper clip posts and the 27 gauge tubing posts, towards the end of the day the juice starts to turn darker. This doesn't happen with a non-modified CE2. I'm wondering if there's some degradation of the juice from having an uninsulated conductor in the juice. Although the central post and base are conductors . Possibly heating from small gauge tubing; but why the same with the larger paper clip posts?

Research = search again until ya get it right

All of my juice turns darker in all of my clearos, even the Stardust which is 'wire free'

So I was just googling in prep to order some sterling silver, and wiki tells me its 7.5% copper usually. Fail lol

Argentum is germanium instead of copper, does anyone know if that's "safe?"

EDIT: I widened the cup holes on my CE2 and got some really thick gauge needles through. It made for better contact. Unfortunately I shredded the CE2 plastic on the way pushing it in lol (one of the hooks was protruding a tad).

I'm gonna reuse my CE2 wires and be done with this lol. I honestly get months out of a single coil and wick anyway

EDIT 2: TomCat interesting I do the same thing, e.g. seal-less CE2s. I do it purely for flavor, everything just tastes so much better/warmer without all that junk in the way. Small changes make huge differences in flavor.