Show and Tell

[a2dcovert]

Thought I would share a tip on keeping your "P..." running at full throttle. I noticed today that my brand new PS PT performance might need a little tweaking. I've had it for less than a week and it really is doing the job great but I thought I would clean the adapter and atty connection. I only removed the adapter and nothing else. Steve said the switch was hard wired so there's no maintenance required below the switch top contact.

Below is the q-tip I used. I sprayed one end of the q-tip with DeoxIT contact cleaner so that is whats responsible for the slight red tint you see. But just look at the black residue I removed with this cleaning. Afterwards the big hit returned to back to full throttle. Most people probably wouldn't have noticed the small drop in performance from almost 1 week of use, but I did, it's a curse.

I cleaned the Protege and Prodigy afterward and you wouldn't believe how much crud I removed. If you want them to run a full throttle you might try cleaning the threads and brass contacts every now and then. You will be amazed at how much it will improve the performance.

Kevin

 

[CJsKee]

I was just today thinking about cleaning my Protege...glad you posted this! I don't have any of the DeoxIT (whatever that is LOL) - is there anything else that can be used to clean...rubbing alcohol maybe?

 

[a2dcovert]

Yes, standard alcohol will do just fine. If the brass switch contacts are dirty a standard eraser will work on that.

Kevin

 

[CJsKee]

Thanks a2d...appreciate your help!

 

[shivadance]

I agree! Thought my Prodigy and Protege were vaping fine, then just got a bug and did a 'thorough' cleaning with alcohol the other night... WOW!

I really do want to get some of that DeoxIT though. I don't like the eraser b/c of the little bits it leaves behind. I worry I'm going to get some bits somewhere they shouldn't be. The alcohol works but doesn't seem to get the black tarnish off like on your q-tip. I want that deep clean.

Thanks for the visual!

 

[BrockJ]

I've used Brass-O and also Tarn-X. They both work well. Always clean again with everclear to make sure all the cleaning gunk is gone.

The guy at the liquor store must think I'm a hard liner. I'm always buying everclear *Nothing else*.

I've bought a couple of PS PV's that people had complained about not working and the only thing wrong with them was they'd never been cleaned. One was sooooo bad I had to replace the adapter.

The electricity has to flow!!




.

 

[a2dcovert]

I've used Brass-O and also Tarn-X. They both work well. Always clean again with everclear to make sure all the cleaning gunk is gone.

The guy at the liquor store must think I'm a hard liner. I'm always buying everclear *Nothing else*.

I've bought a couple of PS PV's that people had complained about not working and the only thing wrong with them was they'd never been cleaned. One was sooooo bad I had to replace the adapter.

The electricity has to flow!!
.

You are so right. That's why I keep harping on this subject. I know that some of the complaints people make on this forum about their P... are due to gunk (or whatever you want to call it). It is so simple to clean the Protege because it is made of SS.

The Prodigy V1 is a completely different animal. Being made of aluminum makes the Prodigy V1 more prone to oxidation and therefore requires more cleaning.

From one of my previous posts.

The Prodigy V1 has another issue that you need to know about. All metal parts of the prodigy tube are made of aluminum. This means that you have 2 aluminum to aluminum threaded connections. This is important to know because aluminum threaded connections will oxidize which means you will need to clean them a little differently. Aluminum threads tent to bind up and sieze if not lubricated.

I just got through making a mistake of cleaning my Prodigy V11 too much. I reassembled the Prodigy after a squeeky cleaning. Later I remembered that I didn't apply anything to the threads. I tried to unscrew the adapter, it turned for several revolutions and stopped dead. It would not unscrew any further. I tried gently to move it in both directions but it wouldn't move very far without stopping. I thought it might be siezed up or worse the threads might be damaged. If this hapens to you do not attempt to force the movement any further. What I did was to set the Prodigy on it's nose (adapter down) and take a q-tip with lubricant on it, like WD-40, and apply a small amount to the top of the threaded connection so that it would seep into the threaded joint with a gravity assist. Soon after that the connector came right apart and disaster avoided. I used alcohol to remove all of the WD-40.

I recommend a product called Noalox to use as a lubricant on the aluminum threads of the Prodigy V1. Be careful if you use anything else becasue most lubricants like grease in most all forms and oils like WD-40 are insulators and will stop your Prodigy from working. There are some electrical contact cleaners that also have a lubricant but be caseful to avoid anything that might harm the delrin parts. Noalox is designed specifically to be used in applications like this.

It's worth repeating.

Kevin

 

[lotus14]

Good post. I clean my Protege at the adapter and the atty threads several times a day and take it apart for a thorough cleaning every 2 or 3 days.

What's the point in having a nice mod if it performs like a stock PV?

 

[a2dcovert]

Good post. I clean my Protege at the adapter and the atty threads several times a day and take it apart for a thorough cleaning every 2 or 3 days.

What's the point in having a nice mod if it performs like a stock PV?

Exactly. Also when a stock battery goes bad your only choice is to throw it away and buy another one. Over time the Protege will pay for itself by the savings on the cost of batteries alone. I expect my Protege will be a lot cheaper than the stock batteries since the cost of new 14500 batteries are, depending on where you buy them, about 75% cheaper than stock batteries. So the Protege is not evpensive based on that comparison.

Kevin[/LEFT]