Scubagen Mods

[Dalton63841]

That's pretty hot. I thought about putting a fill screw in the bottom of mine like that.

 

[PKZap27]

Well I survived it, was too impatient and did it before you replied.

Oh yeah, step 1, absolutely.
I worked out the length as 9/32 and ground the roll pin down to it.
Pressed the roll pin into the neg post hole with a vise.
Tinned the interior of roll pin, and the end of the nail.
Heated nail and roll pin\scuba body with torch and set it in with a little pressure.

It worked, my solder has an extra blob around the bottom of the nail and my spring is a little too tight, but it seems to really be in there good. I put a little kanthal in and gave it a good yank and it stayed put. I'm happy with it. Thanks!

Dan said to only compress the spring ~1/32", I know why now...

Having the spring tension too tight makes it very difficult when it comes time to attach the Kanthal wire for the coil.

The last thing you want, is to have to fight the coil wire onto the posts.

You'll end up distorting the coil wire, which will make it harder to eliminate the shorts.

On my first build I had to heat my posts up again to relieve the tension on the springs...

Loosen up the spring tension now because you'll end up having to do it later.

 

[mj64]

That's pretty hot. I thought about putting a fill screw in the bottom of mine like that.

Its like the two of you were twins, separated at birth. The mini scubagen brothers.

 

[mj64]

Dan said to only compress the spring ~1/32", I know why now...

Having the spring tension too tight makes it very difficult when it comes time to attach the Kanthal wire for the coil.

The last thing you want, is to have to fight the coil wire onto the posts.

You'll end up distorting the coil wire, which will make it harder to eliminate the shorts.

On my first build I had to heat my posts up again to relieve the tension on the springs...

Loosen up the spring tension now becuase you'll end up doing it later anyway.

Well, I would, but I had 'em tight before, and didn't have any problem getting the coil on, my hemostats popped that kanthal wire in no problem.....

 

[PKZap27]

Well, I would, but I had 'em tight before, and didn't have any problem getting the coil on, my hemostats popped that kanthal wire in no problem.....

Yeah! That'll work...

 

[Dalton63841]

Will the 400 mesh work with 60%VG? I got some of the 325 to begin with because its supposed to be better with VG, but I am having a terrible time rolling a wick that fits through the bic pens with that. With the 400 I can roll a perfect wick in a matter of a couple minutes.

It will be a couple days before I can test it because mine is disassembled atm.

 

[mianker]

Will the 400 mesh work with 60%VG? I got some of the 325 to begin with because its supposed to be better with VG, but I am having a terrible time rolling a wick that fits through the bic pens with that. With the 400 I can roll a perfect wick in a matter of a couple minutes.

It will be a couple days before I can test it because mine is disassembled atm.

I had problems with every part of the build but with patience and re-reading and re-watching videos I FINALLY got it Right. I am only happy that I didn't keep track of the number of trys or the time I spent to finally get it right.

I use 88% VG and 12% distilled water and used the 400 mesh. It is working but I think I will add a bit more water and see if the wicking is better.

Thanks again to Dan & everyone else that has helped me along the way. With out your help and guidance I would still be looking for the electricity elfs...who by the way never showed up to help.

 

[mj64]

 

[raceengine]

Just got mine from the post office today! Woohoo... now the adventure of putting it all together...

Thanks Dan... made it all the way to Malaysia...

 

[Dalton63841]

I had problems with every part of the build but with patience and re-reading and re-watching videos I FINALLY got it Right. I am only happy that I didn't keep track of the number of trys or the time I spent to finally get it right.

I use 88% VG and 12% distilled water and used the 400 mesh. It is working but I think I will add a bit more water and see if the wicking is better.

Thanks again to Dan & everyone else that has helped me along the way. With out your help and guidance I would still be looking for the electricity elfs...who by the way never showed up to help.

My build have gone surprisingly pain free so far. Originally I had the 325 and when I couldn't get the wick to fit through the Bic tubes I just left them out. It still wicked great. I disassembled mine so I can tinker and make the posts and all look a little better. Now I have 400 and I see it makes a much nicer wick, I'm just hoping it handles the 60% VG. If it's working for you with 88% VG is should be just fine for me though.

 

[Zen~]

Happiness is a working scubagen

You better believe it is! Nice work.... now VAPE THAT THING like it's your JOB!

 

[Zen~]

I couldn't get the wick to fit through the Bic tubes I just left them out. It still wicked great.

And it WORKED? I'm sure it wicks, but it's going to short the mesh to the body and the coil will short to it and it's going to be a real battle getting it to work without some kind of insulator between the mesh and the body!

 

[Scubabatdan]

Ok was playing with Google Sketchup, here is the DSU5 in a simple cad. This might make more sense.

Dan

 

[Dalton63841]

And it WORKED? I'm sure it wicks, but it's going to short the mesh to the body and the coil will short to it and it's going to be a real battle getting it to work without some kind of insulator between the mesh and the body!

See...This statement doesn't make sense to me. Perhaps it's just my rudamentary electrical knowledge, but if the wick is properly oxidized, then NO electricity will pass from the coil through the wick to short out. It seems to me that if the coil isn't just heating the wick, but is actually passing electricity through it, then the wick is not properly oxidized.

In any case it worked just fine for me. Vaped on it for a while even.

 

[mj64]

You better believe it is! Nice work.... now VAPE THAT THING like it's your JOB!

Thanks man. I was happy to get a decent build. It ain't perfect, but I can tell I'm in the right area. I vaped on it quite happily for a couple of hours last night and actually had about 3 different 'levels' of good performance going depending on some minute adjustments.

I'm gonna build my second one now so I have one to vape on and one to experiment with.

 

[Zen~]

See...This statement doesn't make sense to me. Perhaps it's just my rudamentary electrical knowledge, but if the wick is properly oxidized, then NO electricity will pass from the coil through the wick to short out. It seems to me that if the coil isn't just heating the wick, but is actually passing electricity through it, then the wick is not properly oxidized.

In theory, yes... in practice, there may be (actually, it seems there WILL be) little shorts here and there as we go. When the wick is shorted to the body, the coils closest to the positive post will light up like a bulb... that completely goes away when the mesh is insulated.

It's a delicate balance, and I'm not entirely sure that the oxidation is a particularly absolute insulator by any means.

 

[UA72Riddle]

My build have gone surprisingly pain free so far. Originally I had the 325 and when I couldn't get the wick to fit through the Bic tubes I just left them out. It still wicked great. I disassembled mine so I can tinker and make the posts and all look a little better. Now I have 400 and I see it makes a much nicer wick, I'm just hoping it handles the 60% VG. If it's working for you with 88% VG is should be just fine for me though.

Dalton....I only vape KBV as well, and have no issues with the 60 VG ratio using 400 mesh. You are going to be amazed at how much MORE vapor you get.

If the sun gets to be too much...pull out the Scubagen filled with KBV and make your own cloud cover!

 

[Dalton63841]

In theory, yes... in practice, there may be (actually, it seems there WILL be) little shorts here and there as we go. When the wick is shorted to the body, the coils closest to the positive post will light up like a bulb... that completely goes away when the mesh is insulated.

It's a delicate balance, and I'm not entirely sure that the oxidation is a particularly absolute insulator by any means.

Ahhh I see what you are getting at. I guess for me it was a combination of being .... retentive about burning it, and putting joose on it and burning it some more, as well as being slightly lucky, because it worked pretty great for me.

However the points you bring up would make me not want to run it like that on a regular basis.

Dalton....I only vape KBV as well, and have no issues with the 60 VG ratio using 400 mesh. You are going to be amazed at how much MORE vapor you get.

If the sun gets to be too much...pull out the Scubagen filled with KBV and make your own cloud cover!

LOL That's good to know! I am waiting on a few parts to make it look a little cleaner(Viton O-rings, Shoulder Spacers to use in place of Bic peices), and then I will put it together with the 400 mesh and finally call it done.

 

[Zen~]

Ahhh I see what you are getting at. I guess for me it was a combination of being .... retentive about burning it, and putting joose on it and burning it some more, as well as being slightly lucky, because it worked pretty great for me.

However the points you bring up would make me not want to run it like that on a regular basis.

When I first built mine, one of the mesh legs was barely touching the center post of the body, and the coil was more or less working, but the slightest touch of the coil to the really well oxidized mesh caused it to light up like a Christmas bulb. Once that mesh/body short was eliminated, it tamed right down and worked much better.

I'm certainy not saying yours didn't function correctly, it just surprised me that it did!

 

[santo19586]

hey guys , i finally got mine working good. took it all apart and started over and took my time , on the first build i found that the pos pin was grounding out at the bottom of where it sits, on the next build i sealed the bottom of the pen tube sleeve to make sure not to ground out, after a five hours of vape the coil and coil has alot of build up to insulate and keep from shortin. WooHoo!
I also drilled a small hole in the top cover tube ,just about where the mesh is, lovin it,.
oce i had it all set , it only took like 4 drags to get it all seasoned..
Thanks everyone for all the help and suggestions..