So my Bagua came in today. I had a slightly different idea of how to cure this issue with contacts and battery vents. First thing I did was throw in a battery, adjust the + contact, and make sure it worked. 2 or 3 puffs and yes, it vapes. Off to the garage!
Now before I start, I'm feel I need to say a few things before I get yelled at and told how stupid I am for the modifications I made.
First, I use RDA's, and RDA's only. I haven't taken the plunge into "fancy" RDA's yet, as my Igos (L, S, and as of today, W) work beautifully, and are all under $20. If you ask me, I don't see how you could get a better bang for your buck. All 3 of these have the same basic 510 connection and depth, so I modded my Bagua to play nicely with my Igo's, I don't know how they'd work with an atty that has a deeper or shallower 510 connector.
Second, I use 18350's. I've got a few flat tops and a few button tops. I've got ONE 18650 that I use when my 350's are ALL needing a charge (that never happens) or when I'm vaping SUPER low resistance coils. My Bagua didn't come with an 18650 tube, which doesn't bother me. Without the 650 tube however, I can't speak to how these mods will affect the fit of a 650 with the proper tube.
Third, I like my mods SMALL (hence using 350's). Part of the reason I bought the Bagua was because it's short, and after reading about the issues here, I thought it might be possible to make it even SHORTER. It is (keep reading).
Lastly, I only spent $20 on this mod. 20... dollars... I have no issue whatsoever hacking this thing up for experimental purposes. Worst case scenario, I'm out $20. And as a fabricator by trade, I like dicking with stuff and trying to make it "better". I have a tendency to get balls deep in a project and forget to take pictures, which is what happened this time as well. You'll have to use your imagination. Sorry!
This is how the Bagua arrived, completely original. It measures about 72mm tall with the button.
OK, now for the shop talk. (I don't have measurements on hand, so I'm estimating). First thing's first, open a beer. Everyone knows you can't use power tools without a little alcohol in your system
First thing I did (besides the beer) was properly adjust the + pin, and measure how far out past the threaded + sleeve it was. It was somewhere around 5.2mm for a button top Efest 350.
Then I removed the top cap and problematic "airflow ring" (back a few pages), took the top ring off of the cap, and screwed the cap back on without the ring. I then measured the distance from the top of the battery tube to the bottom of the top cap (where they would sit together if the top cap could keep threading down to meet the battery tube).
Bagua (mostly) disassembled
This measurement was somewhere just beyond 6mm I believe. I proceeded (not going to add ALL the details here unless someone asks for them later) to remove material from the threaded portion of the top cap where it screws into the battery tube. I ended up removing (I think) just under 6mm. This allowed the top cap to sit nearly flush with the battery tube (remember, I'm not using the ring). I ditched the + screw, instead using the pressed in threaded sleeve as the + contact. I also removed about .4 (?) mm from this sleeve to allow more material to be removed from the top cap. Here you can see where I removed material from both the top cap AND (what is now) the + contact.
I also removed about 1.7mm of material from the sleeve where it contacts the atty. This allows my Igos to sit *almost* flush with the top cap. ********If you remove too much, you will need to find a new plan for your + atty connection, because your male 510 will no longer reach the + battery connection!********
Discarding the battery vent ring and seating the top cap further into the body also covered the battery vent holes, which is bad, mmmk? I knew this going in, and it was part of my plan.
What I did was drill 2 #30 holes in both the bottom cap, and the button to allow gasses to escape should your battery vent. ********This is very important******** I may add more holes later, but I'm pretty sure I've got more vent area than the mod had originally, with it's 5 tiiiiiny holes.
Here is the "finished" result. I may remove a bit more material later so that the top cap sits completely flush with the battery tube, but it really doesn't matter to me. I'm a function over form kinda guy.
As I said earlier, the Bagua comes in at a measured 71.75mm. Mine is now 66.11mm overall.
A few (poor quality) reference pics for size comparison. A Joyetech Ego-C 650mah, Efest button top 18650, Smoktech Natural in 350 mode, and a 15ml juice bottle.
Smoktech Natrual w/Igo-L, Bagua w/Igo-W, Ego-V w/Igo-S, and a 400mah Ego w/510 bridgeless.
**phew** that was long winded. Hope someone finds that useful. All in all it took me about 2 hours to do this, and for $20 I've got a mod that works *quite* well. I still have to figure out what to do about the bottom button that unscrews seemingly by itself, but I can set it upright with an Igo-W and it will not fire itself. This isn't going to be my pocket mod, so I'm not planning on locking it that often. Overall, IMO a very good buy for those that don't mind diddling a bit!
