~The Billet Box~ page 1559 continued...

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Hobbs

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@Robfisher , that Billet Box is AMAZING !!!
While I like the look of both panels, I prefer this one on that set up ...

bbe-001-jpg.754531
 

HBcorpse

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Anyone have any spare boro glass laying around? I broke mine and I’m going on vacation in a week! I have some coming from China, but they won’t make it on time. Of course, I will pay and would be happy to restock your glass when mine come in!

Whenever I’ve needed spare glass, I reach out to BBV...

They send your account into some kind of secret portal, and the next time you log in, you get to browse their “extras” page with stuff like spare glass on it.

It was pretty neat! Reach out and let them know what’s up!

It should be to your door faster than SlowTech would get it there!
 

Hobbs

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Paperwork and stickers that come with the SVT Crossbow ...

EDIT: After vaping the Crossbow throughout this evening I can definitely say that it's a MTL set up. If you like an airy draw, you will likely be disappointed with the Crossbow. Still working great for me though ... as I tootle along :) ... first thing that comes to my mind to compare the draw to is an original Aspire nautilus. I'm okay with that. My favorite drop in coil for the BB is a Nautilus 1.8ohm in a Comfort Bridge. My build puts out a slightly denser vape with slightly more volume than a drop in though. Well for the first build and first evening vaping, those are my thoughts on the Crossbow.

37367164_637925979896658_433286806310486016_n.jpg
 
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Susaz

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Paperwork and stickers that come with the SVT Crossbow ...

EDIT: After vaping the Crossbow throughout this evening I can definitely say that it's a MTL set up. If you like an airy draw, you will likely be disappointed with the Crossbow. Still working great for me though ... as I tootle along :) ... first thing that comes to my mind to compare the draw to is an original Aspire Nautilus. I'm okay with that. My favorite drop in coil for the BB is a Nautilus 1.8ohm in a Comfort Bridge. My build puts out a slightly denser vape with slightly more volume than a drop in though. Well for the first build and first evening vaping, those are my thoughts on the Crossbow.

37367164_637925979896658_433286806310486016_n.jpg

The price has me a little turned off. For comparison, yesterday I bought one of Vicious Ant BF with a stab wood door and it was 350. This BB adiction is turning to be pricey. I'll wait until the Doggy and the Vapeshell get me and we'll see. Svoemesto is always pricey. Do you know of any rebuilding videos around to watch?
 

Robfisher

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After vaping the Crossbow throughout this evening I can definitely say that it's a MTL set up. If you like an airy draw, you will likely be disappointed with the Crossbow.

Thanks for that @Hobbs. Forewarned is forearmed and I know it's not going to be for me. Mine should arrive Monday and I think I will offer it to the local South African tootle puffers. I will carry on with my Exocets, Flows and Shells for now... one day someone will create a bridge with more air.
 

Robfisher

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@Robfisher , that Billet Box is AMAZING !!!
While I like the look of both panels, I prefer this one on that set up ...

bbe-001-jpg.754531

You and I are the only ones... everyone else prefers the plain black panels... :p

PS I think you and I are right and everyone else is wrong. :D
 

Hobbs

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If you're happy with the Vapeshell, stick with the Vapeshell. There is a wider range of airflow options with the Vapeshell. I chose the Crossbow for a smaller build deck and that is the only advantage of the Crossbow over the Vapeshell. The airflow size of the Crossbow is fixed, in that there are no airflow insert options. There are different sized swappable external airflow restrictors provided that are incorporated into the condensation plug mounted beneath the boro, to fine tune the MTL Crossbow experience. If you were to run the Crossbow in a wide open air configuration, airflow feels slightly less than Vapeshell's 2mm insert in my opinion.

I could have bought 10 Vapeshells and still wouldn't have had the smaller deck the Crossbow provides that is better suited to my 30AWG Kanthal 8wrap on 2mm @ approx 1.85ohms.

The fit and finish on the Vapeshell is to a closer tolerance. The two halves fit together best on the Vapeshell. If you try and swap out a boro containing the Crossbow and any juice ... it will leak, because the two halves of the Crossbow will separate enough to allow flooding onto the deck and out the airflow opening no matter what you might do. Best to ALWAYS draw off juice before attempting to swap out a boro with the Crossbow. That's the biggest pain of using the Crossbow. Even just removing the boro to wipe away any condensation between refillings of a boro, can be a chore because you must remove as much juice as possible first ... based on my experience.
 
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Dconnor

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Dropping in to say hello. Long time squonker, but just got the SXKUSBBB two days ago. Using the Vapeshell with a 1 ohm SS316L coil and rayon wick. Flavor is great and love the form for out and about.
I travel quite a bit, and the onboard charging sealed it for me. Tired of carrying around rebuild supplies. Hoping to be able to just take a back up factory coil, and be good to go.

e83e33609b9bc8ecf8da64d548d5d195.jpg
 
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Robfisher

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Best to ALWAYS draw off juice before attempting to swap out a boro with the Crossbow. That's the biggest pain of using the Crossbow. Even just removing the boro to wipe away any condensation between refillings of a boro, can be a chore because you must remove as much juice as possible first ... based on my experience.

OMG the Crossbow (which only arrives this week) is seeming more and more like a really bad buy! Oh well, that will teach me to get carried away with the FOMO and not read the small print. At least I have my FLows, Exocets and Shells that I all am happy with!
 

Hobbs

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OMG the Crossbow (which only arrives this week) is seeming more and more like a really bad buy! Oh well, that will teach me to get carried away with the FOMO and not read the small print. At least I have my FLows, Exocets and Shells that I all am happy with!
Maybe after repeated use, the Vapeshell halves will wear enough to encounter the same circumstance? ... but out of the box at least, (my) Vapeshell halves snap together and stay together when installed in the boro and whenever the boro is removed or swapped. The/(my) Crossbow halves just fall apart when held in the hand.
 

hobbes4

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If you're happy with the Vapeshell, stick with the Vapeshell. There is a wider range of airflow options with the Vapeshell. I chose the Crossbow for a smaller build deck and that is the only advantage of the Crossbow over the Vapeshell. The airflow size of the Crossbow is fixed, in that there are no airflow insert options. There are different sized swappable external airflow restrictors provided that are incorporated into the condensation plug mounted beneath the boro, to fine tune the MTL Crossbow experience. If you were to run the Crossbow in a wide open air configuration, airflow feels slightly less than Vapeshell's 2mm insert in my opinion.

I could have bought 10 Vapeshells and still wouldn't have had the smaller deck the Crossbow provides that is better suited to my 30AWG Kanthal 8wrap on 2mm @ approx 1.85ohms.

The fit and finish on the Vapeshell is to a closer tolerance. The two halves fit together best on the Vapeshell. If you try and swap out a boro containing the Crossbow and any juice ... it will leak, because the two halves of the Crossbow will separate enough to allow flooding onto the deck and out the airflow opening no matter what you might do. Best to ALWAYS draw off juice before attempting to swap out a boro with the Crossbow. That's the biggest pain of using the Crossbow. Even just removing the boro to wipe away any condensation between refillings of a boro, can be a chore because you must remove as much juice as possible first ... based on my experience.

Thanks for the input. The small deck = shorter coil leg length, is still very tempting but I think I’ll pass. If it was around $100 I’d give it a go but as is I already have a ton a vape gear to clear out. I’m much, much more picky about what I buy now a days. Glad it’s working for you though even with the small issues. At least you can work around them. I wonder if the top part of chimney where it exits the boro is just too thin? Maybe with a tighter fit it wouldn’t slide up so easily.
 
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Hobbs

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I think the chimney/o-ring is a good fit, because the top half of the Crossbow stands off just a couple of thousandths (very small space) from the bottom half due to contact tension between the o-ring and chimney during installation into the boro ... even when the boro top o-ring is lubed with juice. The two halves do not completely and firmly fit together until the boro is placed into the BB and drip-tip screw is tightened down.

EDIT: I've now tried 5 completely different build decks over the last couple of years for the Billet Box and they ALL require some work-around or another, either due to the small build I use and/or the bridge design. For me and in my opinion, there is no perfect build deck yet for the Billet Box and work-arounds are to be expected.

The only set up that has worked relatively flawlessly for me and with little hassle is a drop-in Nautilus 1.8ohm coil in a comfort bridge. With that said, I did destroy one comfort bridge during a coil exchange because the bridge was stuck/seized to the coil, the metal of the bridge near mirror smooth and no area for grip purchase.

I'd prefer to go completely with build decks and avoid the added expense of a drop in coil but after trying 5 different build decks, I realize I could have bought a whole dang bunch of 1.8ohm Nautilus coils. Still ... the Nautilus coils may become unavailable someday, maybe taxed heavily by legislation or something else and I'm glad to have backup build decks.
 
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GeekyGeezer

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Maybe after repeated use, the Vapeshell halves will wear enough to encounter the same circumstance?

At this point I have at least 15-20 rewicks on my Vapeshell. For some reason I stopped feeling or hearing that little "snap" after maybe 4 or 5 rebuilds, but it has never once come apart when I didn't want it to. Just the seating of the top of the chimney into the boro o-ring is all the pressure it takes to keep the halves together.

When the chimney is pushed back up through the boro into order to rebuild, the two parts fall apart pretty easily. But by that time I've drained any remaining juice anyhow.

I wish I had some suggestions to help you find a build that works for you. I originally used the 1.8 coils, but when I moved to rebuildables it seemed like 1.2 -1.5 worked better for me. And before long, I found myself at .8 to .9 which is the best I've had. Yes, it uses more battery but for my style of MTL the throat hit, density, and flavor is the best I've had.

FWIW, my standard build is 27 gauge Kanthal, 2.5 mm and 5 or 6 wraps.
 

hobbes4

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When I bring a BB on vacation, I only bring the Comfort bridge and nautilus 2, 0.7ohm coils. Can’t be bothered with rebuilding and carrying around vape supplies. I really like the nautilus 2 coils, which was a huge surprise to me because a never build lower than 1.10ohm in anything I have but for whatever reason these 0.7ohm coils just work in BB for me.
 

Robfisher

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OK, the Crossbow finally arrived today. Fitting a 2.5mm Alien was easy enough and wicking was pretty simple too. One has to make sure the legs are trimmed very close otherwise it won't close... straight away I know the Crossbow isn't for me and is a TRUE MTL bridge.
Crossbow 001.jpg
Crossbow 002.jpg
Crossbow 003.jpg
Crossbow 004.jpg
Crossbow 005.jpg
Crossbow 006.jpg
Crossbow 007.jpg
 

GeekyGeezer

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I'm not trying to pile on the Crossbow, but that closeup shot of it installed in the boro is pretty interesting in light of Hobbs' remarks about the fit of the two halves.

I first thought it was my imagination but when I took a close look at my Vapeshell, the line where the halves meet is barely visible. On your shot, it's really distinct. Again, sometimes you can't trust your eyes but the line also seems to be a lot tighter in the center where the logo is than on the sides. Perhaps it's just an early production glitch, who knows?
 
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