Sigelei Mechnical Mods

[Porksmuggler]

Thought this might be worth sharing. I was ready to retire the #8 today. The #19e arrived, and the v drop out of the box was .15-.2v on a 1.8ohm test coil, using a fresh efest 18350.

My #8 after getting all the contacts to brass, all the mods except replacing the spring, was consistently at a drop of .7v with the same setup, but lately I've been testing lower and lower ohm coils, and noticed I was starting to get the hot button. As of today the drop was up to a ridiculous 1.2v, and I knew it couldn't be just the spring.

Long story a little shorter, it's the adhesive between the switch housing and the tube causing the ever increasing drop and the hot button. I'm guessing with lower ohm coils it's either expanding or migrating, making the connection worse and worse. I boiled just the tube and switch housing for about 5 minutes, and finally got it apart. Cleaned it up and now the drop is less than .3v on the original 1.8ohm test coil, not quite what the #19e can do out of the box, but the biggest improvement yet.

So I'd highly recommend clearing the threads between the tube and switch housing on the #8, before bothering with any other modifications.

 

[meowmixmeow]

I got mine a couple days ago. First Sigelei, and I have put down my caravela clone, and my mkb-ts is now retired to home duty. I put a .005 brass shim between the delrin and magnet piece to reduce the button wobble that my 19 has, and it has seemed to not miss fire on me like it did without it.

 

[Spydro]

Anyone know of a US company with a preorder not sold out for a Sigelei #8w? I want one.
Thanks.

 

[ricericerice]

The 19e look dull and had different finishes out of the box. I brushed it (on a drill press), but it oxidized back to a dull shine pretty quick.

I ended up polishing and sealing it, the brass seems to hold it's color and sheen for now.

 

[NamVet68]

The 19e look dull and had different finishes out of the box. I brushed it (on a drill press), but it oxidized back to a dull shine pretty quick.
I ended up polishing and sealing it, the brass seems to hold it's color and sheen for now....

They look nice brushed like that, but brass will tarnish pretty quickly, especially when you handle it a lot. There are a few tricks to keep it looking nice though.

I buff mine out first with a Dremel with a felt wheel using white rouge, then finish it with Simicrome polish. A little time & it will buff out all the scratches completely, and will give you a mirror-like shine. If you like the brushed look, don't use the felt wheel/rouge, just clean it well with Simichorme, or even Brasso....cleans up all the oxidation and gets it ready for sealing.

I seal mine with a couple of coats of good car wax (carnuba if you have it) - apply, let dry, clean off residue. Do it a couple of times for the initial sealing, especially with brushed brass. It will look spectacular, and will stay looking good for quite a while - the wax helps isolate the brass from the acids in your skin, and helps keep the oxidation down without hiding any of the shine or changing the color.

It will still start looking dull over time - but it's easy to bring it back. For routine touch-up (when it get's dull during use), I use Mother's Billet Metal polish, followed by another light coat of car wax.

Its a little bit of maintenance, but some people like the look of a freshly polished brass mod... I know I do. If not - an "aged" brass look is pretty cool too, but takes a while to develop. Whatever floats your boat.....

 

[Hrz Crash]

Here's my variation of the #19 modifications.

Filed down original cap to flush with grinding stone mounted on drill press, then finished with 100 & 200 grit sand paper for brushed look.

Removed Spring and using just the brass screw for battery contact.

Because of how much I filed away from the top cap, the terminal connection actually needs to be backed out quite a bit.

Bottom button modified for shortened throw, fixed misfires, and lowered resistance.

Here are all the parts to my bottom button.

The original brass post is modded to have a brass screw as contacts, 2 o-rings and a plastic washer as spacers to shorten throw.

The post was tapped to fit the screw, but it ended up being too loose for some reason. The o-ring and washer combo made the screw more rigid and level.

You can see that the distance between the insulating cup and the top of the brass post is about 1mm, that space is the button throw

A washer was added below the insulating cup to give a better conductivity for the spring instead of just the sidewalls

Unfortunately the added space of the washer meant that the insulating cup would not screw down all the way.

This caused a problem because if I loosened the lock ring, the insulating cup would loosen and either cause battery rattle or mess up the spacing for the lock ring. This was fixed by adding an o-ring to the insulating cup to compensate the space taken by the added washer.

Here is the finished button in all its glory

All put together with RSST running dual coil with stainless rope and mesh liner setup at .4 ohms vaping 100% VG Hanami Sado (Personal mix)

how did u modded the post so that the brass screw can be put as contact?

 

[eHuman]

Looking for fix on the 19b /w Nzonic cap:

The 510 connector does not sit flush, I know that can be ground or sanded down.
The issue is with all of my IGO-Ls, the male threading is longer than the 19's female threads are deep. It sits up above the raised connector at least as much as the connector sits above the top cap. I just mic'd it, the bottom of the IGO is 1.25mm above the top of the cap.

Any suggestions as to how to remedy this that won't render it useless for RBA with shorter male threads than the IGO-L? I wish this thing had a floating center pin...

 

[bapgood]

Looking for fix on the 19b /w Nzonic cap:

The 510 connector does not sit flush, I know that can be ground or sanded down.
The issue is with all of my IGO-Ls, the male threading is longer than the 19's female threads are deep. It sits up above the raised connector at least as much as the connector sits above the top cap. I just mic'd it, the bottom of the IGO is 1.25mm above the top of the cap.

Any suggestions as to how to remedy this that won't render it useless for RBA with shorter male threads than the IGO-L? I wish this thing had a floating center pin...

I'm sorry I'm not that familiar with the nzonic head, I'm assuming that it doesn't have the adjustable center pin like the original head. Or that its not enough.

If the threads are deep enough in the nzonic head (assuming they go all the way through), is there enough material on the delrin insulator to take some off to give enough clearance for the Igo-L and still thread into the head?

I haven't taken an Igo-L apart, but I would imagine it could be modded to be a little bit shorter.

 

[st0nedpenguin]

The nzonic head has the same center pin as the original.

Just unscrew it from the bottom.

 

[eHuman]

The nzonic head has the same center pin as the original.

Just unscrew it from the bottom.

Thanks!

 

[Porksmuggler]

I buff mine out first with a Dremel with a felt wheel using white rouge, then finish it with Simicrome polish.

For routine touch-up (when it get's dull during use), I use Mother's Billet Metal polish, followed by another light coat of car wax.

Do you think the Simichrome is more abrasive than regular Mother's Mag polish? I know the Billet is less abrasive. Just wondering about the difference between Simichrome and Mag, if you've used both, as I've never tried Simichrome.

 

[NamVet68]

Do you think the Simichrome is more abrasive than regular Mother's Mag polish? I know the Billet is less abrasive. Just wondering about the difference between Simichrome and Mag, if you've used both, as I've never tried Simichrome.

From my experience, Simichrome has a little better cutting power for a final polish, but breaks down very fast so it doesn't leave any fine scratches. It's basically Red Rouge in some kind of suspension media. I've used it extensively for brass, nickel & chrome since the early sixties and love the stuff, but I like the Mother's Billet Metal polish for routine maintenance of already cleaned metal because it won't strip the wax off as easily...at least that's what I've noticed.

Both work just fine, and give great results. If you have one of them, no need to go out & buy the other. If you want to extend the time between polishing, don't forget a light coat of wax after you clean them. I just have a lot of each laying around from years of polishing my bikes/cars/guns/jewelry/etc. , plus I always forget where I put my can/tube of polish & end up going out & buying more, only to find my stash later on.

Getting old sucks....

 

[Sackskin]

Do you guys know where I can get any replacement parts for a #8...specifically a brass fire switch. Maybe a new bottom?

Any help would be great.

 

[chadsmo]

Sorry guys, but I just don't have the time really to read this whole thread. I got a 13a (i think, the one that the button has to be on the bottom) yesterday and I'm wondering what I should I do to the switch to make it better.

Did I see that some people put a screw/bolt in there and rest the battery directly on it instead of using the spring. Does it just screw in where the part that normally holds the spring does, or do you need to pry the black plastic piece out. I really love the look of this mod, and it seems to be performing fairly well out of the box, but obviously if I can make it better I want to.

Thanks.

 

[Cavere]

I just ordered a #8 with Nzonic head. There's a lot to this thread so anything I should know besides sanding down the contacts?

 

[Porksmuggler]

I just ordered a #8 with Nzonic head. There's a lot to this thread so anything I should know besides sanding down the contacts?

Easier than explaining http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...93-modding-sigelei-8-maximum-performance.html
but see my post above #2521, highly recommend removing and cleaning the glue off the switch housing.

 

[Thraizer]

Just got my tracking number from exhale! my 8W caravela clone is on its way!

 

[Cavere]

Easier than explaining http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...93-modding-sigelei-8-maximum-performance.html
but see my post above #2521, highly recommend removing and cleaning the glue off the switch housing.

Thanks! It's a huge thread and eventually ill go through it. I got my tracking number today! I'm excited for my first mech.

 

[NamVet68]

Just got my tracking number from exhale! my 8W caravela clone is on its way!

Same here...I got notification that my pre-order 8W shipped from Vaportek this morning also. Lets hope they don't screw this one up like they did with my last #19 (I ordered a BRASS 19e/Nzonic and they sent me a 19B!).....not bad enough, but after opening two trouble tickets & sending them a direct e-mail, I got no response at all for four days ....finally had to blast their Facebook page to get someones attention.

Now I have to wait again for them to send me a return label, send it back, and hopefully get the right one a few more days after that (assuming I don't have to wait for another one from China!). Enough to piss-off the Pope.....

Oh well....one of the disadvantages of ordering stuff on-line I guess. I really want to see what they came up with for the switch mechanism on the 8W (and if its interchangeable with the 19).

 

[Thraizer]

Namvet, which tube did you get? I got the 18650 tube, it would be nice if they would sell the tubes alone.