~The Billet BoX~

Status
Not open for further replies.

sgenn99

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Aug 9, 2012
988
702
53
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
i've been using the diver in a phiniac to check it out, and the one hole seems to be feeding just fine, even with a thicker juice (like bwb's malty toffee). haven't had the courage to grind it down yet (wouldn't know how without a lathe), but plan on doing so when i can figure out a way to wrap a 2.5-3 ohm coil inside that teeny tiny little cup. but i will be following this portion of the thread closely for tips, as i could use them as well.
 

snoopyjkbx

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Jul 4, 2011
656
675
OC, California
i didn't grind the flanges off, just shaved off the top using wet/dry sandpaper till it fit inside the Billet Box. seems to work fine so far.

quick question about the Diver install though, do the holes line up with the wicks or are they supposed to be perpendicular, i.e. don't line up with the wicks? watching Todd's reviews, he suggests NOT lining up with the wicks, however, mine seems a big gurgly that way.


Hey guys quick question. So I am going to try to install a diver into a billet box. Has anyone done this and if so do you have any tips for me? I'm going to do the following please let me know if any of this is wrong.

I am going to grind the flange off, grind the top down a tiny but so that its the same length as a boge carto.

Is the one feeding hole big enough as it is or should I add another/ make it bigger? Thanks for any help you can give me, I'm excited to try it!
 

Doug Dino

Unregistered Supplier
ECF Veteran
Jun 9, 2009
1,089
5,246
U-taw
www.billetboxvapor.com
looking through the thread for diver info for ya snoop.. i know a handful of folks have crammed a Diver up the BB's tank hole but Vapian was the only one own did any sort of write up on the matter... found this, will look an see if i can find any other posts of his.
Aaaaaalrighty then ... another weekend, another Diver mod update. This here is kinda how I modified the Diver (this time) to ditch the flange, enshorten the tube, and a new thingymabobber I did that might help with an issue I ran into over time.

Behold, the Diver, in all its original nakedness.
This is a good time to caliper the diameter of the tube itself as a benchmark for when you're done removing flange material.
DPP_0023_zpsecaa1548.jpg


And the Diver was ashamed, and did cover itself ... actually, this is just for protection.
A single layer of gaffers tape (kinda like duct tape but thick woven cloth, lower tack and removes clean).
Made sure there was no overlap so as to not to make it eccentric when chucked.
DPP_0024_zps61dc6c9f.jpg


Protected Diver chucked into a drill press, moderate pressure. Don't want to over tighten and damage/crimp the tube, but don't want it to wobble or fall out. During the operations, drill press was set up for 3000 RPM.
DPP_0027_zps61bc7c85.jpg


After trying a few other things, this metal file did the best job of taking material off the flange while providing good control. With two hands it was easy enough to brace on the drill press table and make sure the file only contacted the flange.
This pic was NOT taken during the actual operation -- only so many hands, dontchaknow -- but shortly after starting I put some gaffers tape over the threads too, to make sure a slip of the file wouldn't ruin them.
During the operation, if the lighting is good you can easily see the flange sticking out. Keep filing material away JUST until you can't easily see the flange. Use the caliper to check. Only file away material until what used the be the flange area matches the diameter of the tube.
DPP_0029_zpsb1cbfc4b.jpg


When done filing, while the Diver is still chucked bottom-down, now is a good time to do two more things:
1. Check the bottom edge of the base to see if it's sharp. If so, spin up and use the file to lightly radius or chamfer the edge.
2. Spin up and use very fine sanding/polishing paper until you're satisfied with the finish. It doesn't have to be glass-smooth but it should not be rough.

A dimple left in the gaffer's tape from the drill press chuck.
DPP_0031_zps3aa0e882.jpg


Proof that the gaffers tape did its job and protected the Diver tube.
DPP_0032_zpscbe324cb.jpg


Gaffers tape removed and re-applied to cover the BOTTOM of the Diver, leaving the top of the tube exposed -- 'cause we ain't done yet. Chuck that puppy again with the top facing down.
DPP_0033_zpsa916af3c.jpg


This kind of thing will probably get me kicked in serious machinist circles. After checking the drill press table as square as I could with a machinist/engineers square, I braced a grinding wheel to a billet of PTFE (checked level/square) on the table, pressed the chucked Diver on to the grinding wheel and zeroed out the digital depth scale on the drill press.
Knowing that about 1.9mm needs to be removed from the top, I spun her up, lowered to zero, and started adding pressure to remove material on the face of the grinding wheel. Periodically I'd move the wheel about to get a fresh cutting face. Stopped when the meter read 1.9mm.
DPP_0035_zps8685f8bb.jpg


After that, used a smaller/finer file to deburr the outside and inside of the Diver tube and hand-polished the end with some fiber optic polishing paper I have handy. Calipered to about 34.8mm with the Diver tube fully tightened down, providing play up to about 35.3mm with the tube not fully tight but still sealing on the o-ring on the base.

About the new issue: After replacing the silicon gasket in my Billet Box the draw on the Diver got REALLY tight with much flooding and poor vapor production. Thought that I'd really messed up my last re-coil, but it worked great when the same Diver/tank was tested on an eGo battery. Did some dry fitting without the tank and found this:
DPP_0036_zps150962a0.jpg


Basically, the replacement gasket seems thicker than the one before (which might have just been compressed over time, not sure yet). The new gasket was pushing up into to the air flow channel of the Diver base and cutting off air flow when the brass ring was snugged down.

To be fair, this probably would not have been a problem had I not shaved a bit off the bottom of the Diver's center pin to make it level with the thread collar (described in a previous post) ... but at the time I felt that was necessary to provide a good seal with the gasket, and did not realize that the Diver is not like a standard carto wiith an airflow hole or two drilled through the base above the 510 threads. The air channels are slotted into either side of the connector with shallow cuts in the bottom. The combined effect is to allow air down through the 510 threads (on a standard threaded mod) and under the thread collar to get to the brass positive pin (with channels cut into the bottom) and up through that into the body.

I think the fix is to make those shallow cuts a bit deeper with a rotary cutting wheel, so it ends up like this:
DPP_0039_zpsb8876e0d.jpg


Just dry-fitted, that looks like it should allow for a bigger gap for air flow when the brass ring is snugged up, while still sealing everywhere else around the collar. This has not been tested yet, but I should get a chance to try this out with a tank tomorrow.

Assuming that is the last of the mods, a summary of all the mods I did to make the Diver more BB-friendly:

- Shorten the Diver upper tube so the total length is about 35mm;
- Shave off the flange so the diameter of the base does not exceed about 9.3mm;
- Shave just a bit off of bottom of the Diver's brass positive pin so it sits flush with the thread collar;
- Cut the air channel slots on the very bottom of the Diver base just a bit deeper so the BB's gasket doesn't block air flow.

How you do all that is up to you. But what I highly recommend, if you are really interested in this, is to lobby Atmistique to make a BB-specific version so you don't have to go through all this crap. Or, just wait for DD to finish designing a custom RBA module. :)
 

Doug Dino

Unregistered Supplier
ECF Veteran
Jun 9, 2009
1,089
5,246
U-taw
www.billetboxvapor.com
i didn't grind the flanges off, just shaved off the top using wet/dry sandpaper till it fit inside the Billet Box. seems to work fine so far.

quick question about the Diver install though, do the holes line up with the wicks or are they supposed to be perpendicular, i.e. don't line up with the wicks? watching Todd's reviews, he suggests NOT lining up with the wicks, however, mine seems a big gurgly that way.

Well, gurgle ='s juice in the air intake hole thingy,,, so more material to slow wick'in would be my best advice. but please let us know any techniques ya find out on the way, we should compile a little relay-able data bank for doing this.
 

Doug Dino

Unregistered Supplier
ECF Veteran
Jun 9, 2009
1,089
5,246
U-taw
www.billetboxvapor.com
ahhh, found more on hole line up.... man, that vapian,,, what a guy...
Last night I set the Diver up for wick lined up to the hole. Seemed to work well with 70/30, but I topped off with something else that is 50/50 and was getting not-quite-dry-but-definitely-not-wet hits - harsher hit, less flavor in very short order.

Today I shifted from in-line to 90-degrees out and things are MUCH better with this slightly thicker than 70/30 liquid mix. Still a very slight gurgle on the first draw but every draw after is better. After a bit of use the coil has "settled" a bit. At just the right voltage the hits are warm, smooth and VERY tasty with lots of vapor.

My guess is that three setups are worth considering:

1. Wick-in-line: Wick at 0/180 degrees, in line with the hole, for very thin liquids;
2. Wick-at-90: Wick 90 degrees out/perpendicular to the hole, for thicker liquids;
3. Wick-to-edge: Only some portion of the edge of the wick touches touch the hole, offset determined by user, allowing for some flexibility in how much of the wick is near or on the hole to increase/decrease liquid flow and wicking.

Pondering on it, another factor to consider is how much the wick is trimmed / how much wick is sticking out from the ceramic cup. Too much wick could result in poor wicking, too little could result in easier flooding.

Combined with the (apparent but not verified by me) need for NR/R/NR coils and depending on one's views, the Diver looks to be either very flexible, or very finicky. Probably both.

Prepping NR/R/NR coils looks fiddly but do-able. FWIW, I found that the included 2.0-ish ohm coil uses about 1.5" of resistance wire. Based on that I have three spools of wire on the way: 34ga Nickel NR wire, 34ga Kanthal (which should make for a ~3.3 ohm coil at 1.5") and 36ga Nichrome (which should make for a ~2.8 ohm coil @ 1.5").

... to the Vape Cave, Robin!
 

snoopyjkbx

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Jul 4, 2011
656
675
OC, California
wow, thanks for the help!

i don't have any of that machinery and had to do everything by hand. with regards to Diver, setting it up perpendicular, it was a little gurgly upon initial draw, but honestly i have to reroll the coil since mine is currently at 1.2ohm...

not sure why we would need to file down the flanges, seems to me having it there actually helps improve the bottom seal of the inside plastic tank. just have to have a little extra from the top which seems a heck of a lot easier than shaving the sides.

Well, gurgle ='s juice in the air intake hole thingy,,, so more material to slow wick'in would be my best advice. but please let us know any techniques ya find out on the way, we should compile a little relay-able data bank for doing this.
 
Last edited:

Doug Dino

Unregistered Supplier
ECF Veteran
Jun 9, 2009
1,089
5,246
U-taw
www.billetboxvapor.com
wick is supposed to be perpendicular to hole. sometimes i get gurgling if i have 2 much wicking material.

seems like its been answered, sorry for stepping in.
step anywhere you like, these carto sized rebuilds have lots going on to make um tick... so many variables, but the more opinions the better. It's funny how what works great for one don't work for poo for another.. but all of our ideas of a great vape is super different, so it' nice we have all these setup options,,, the problem with options though, is that we have the opportunity to not get what we want... tinker, tinker, tinker, find what ya like, rock it.
 

fraghole

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Dec 31, 2012
629
653
Tennessee
I've installed my modded diver in the billet box, and holy crap. I'm really digging it so far. No flooding as of yet. I'm going to leave it standing for a while, and see what happens.

Update: It vapes like champ, and with the flavor that I'm used to, but leaks like .... with 70/30 juice. I'm using the hillgiant's wicking method. I will try the standard wicking method tomorrow, and report back.
 

jmarkus

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Mar 3, 2011
1,387
1,126
53
CA USA
Update: It vapes like champ, and with the flavor that I'm used to, but leaks like .... with 70/30 juice. I'm using the hillgiant's wicking method. I will try the standard wicking method tomorrow, and report back.

i too was using the hill grant and noticed leaking (with 70/30), when i trimmed the wick short on both sides it seemed to elevate a lot of that leakage. then again, im only using a carto-tank and not the beloved bb, i can only hope to get in on the next lot.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread