Old kit restoration...

[phatfil]

Most of my vape gear has survived the stashing in the back of a drawer However there have been a few casualties, some of which i hope are recoverable from??  Pics will follow - cameras battery charging atm. 


#1  My Smok Koopor Mini a single 18650 mod with TC and the usual features, the problem is even with a fully charged battery the oled display is way too dim, even in total dark its not bright enough to use while illuminating just enough to indicate its on and the battery is full..   - not holding my breath on this one..  


#2 a cleaning issue, my nice 50w TC hardwood Snowwolf was left standing in ?spilt juice? ive tried soapy water and 99% iso-propanol but the rusty looking stain on the SS base is not wetting?  its not rust as i have managed to pick some off with whats left of my thumbnail, and would rather not resort to simple abrasion ..

#3 The 3 cell lipo powering my H-cigar VT200 is not taking a charge and is swollen and fit to burst, any pointers to alternative suppliers than hobbyking would be great to get..  its small..    same issue with my hotcig dna200 i have 2x plug in batteries both contain lipo cells same age/use as the vt200 so far both seem ok, but 

Any insights will be appreciated..  im way too cheap to replace it all  

[Postmodern Smoking]

RE. #2 Maybe mild abrasion? T-Cut, Brasso or even maybe toothpaste? or fine/ultra fine steel wool grade 000 or 0000

[phtumshk]

Try some White vinegar for stains

[phtumshk]

Whoops!

Click happy double post.

[phatfil]

May 25, 2024 10:22:52 GMT phtumshk said:

Try some White vinegar for stains

Didnt think of that cheers..  

[phatfil]

May 25, 2024 8:30:05 GMT Postmodern Smoking said:

RE. #2 Maybe mild abrasion? T-Cut, Brasso or even maybe toothpaste? or fine/ultra fine steel wool grade 000 or 0000

 Thanks Toothpaste could be a low impact start..  i have barkeepers friend too ...

  

[phatfil]

I can fit the lipo into the empty shell half, but no space is left for the cables and its impossible to close,  its the smallest 3 cell lipo i could find..   

the smock display may just need replacing and its worth having a go..  the tricky bit once opened and exposed is determining the correct type, iirc there are a dozen or so versions of the same sized modules using at least 2 different coms protocols.. 

Not tried the vinegar or toothpaste etc on the snow wolf as its been the mod of the day today, and the 'scars' from storage have been hidden  from view mostly..   

[GunJack]

May 25, 2024 0:12:50 GMT phatfil said:

#1  My Smok Koopor Mini a single 18650 mod with TC and the usual features, the problem is even with a fully charged battery the oled display is way too dim, even in total dark its not bright enough to use while illuminating just enough to indicate its on and the battery is full..   - not holding my breath on this one..  

We've still got a couple of these working, and the display is dim on them too (and on a couple of other mods,sigelei mini book IIRC).. think it's just one of those things tbh, as long as it still works ok, just set it, lock it and use it

[phatfil]

May 30, 2024 17:05:36 GMT GunJack said:

May 25, 2024 0:12:50 GMT phatfil said:

#1  My Smok Koopor Mini a single 18650 mod with TC and the usual features, the problem is even with a fully charged battery the oled display is way too dim, even in total dark its not bright enough to use while illuminating just enough to indicate its on and the battery is full..   - not holding my breath on this one..  

We've still got a couple of these working, and the display is dim on them too (and on a couple of other mods,sigelei mini book IIRC).. think it's just one of those things tbh, as long as it still works ok, just set it, lock it and use it

Cheers, mine is way too dim to distinguish anything unfortunately..

Good news however with the VT200, i could only find 5-600mah cells the same or smaller dimensions of the original '1300 mah' jobby!!, the battery pictured above was sized to fit the shell cavity leaving no room for the connecting cables DOH!! but with a suitably sized battery fitted its back in action..

The snow wolf is also nice and clean on the base too, i resorted to abrasive measures with no detrimental effects   

Just the Koopor to sort out..  i have a few other similar mods from the same era a smock treebox, and a similar SS sigelei too that i have yet to try out, had a oooeer moment reading the above comment..  will just have to keep the digits crossed i guess..  , 

[phtumshk]

Nice!

[phatfil]

Checked out the Treebox and SS Sigelei - Both OK..

Had a Huge atty clean up, many had been left as is with juicy wicks and full tanks.. lost a couple of drippers to rusty post screws (el-cheapo fasttech clones..)

2 x 7ml Subtanks were Very grotty, ultrasonic bath in water and 99% iso-prop (in a jar) later and they are OK.. tho the air control rings are effin stiff, but ive cranked them wide so al is good..


So far i have been existing on pods and the 2 tanks i had filled with good ol lemon sherbert in a drawer ( no uv and dust.. ) a Dead-rabbit and a hellvape destiny,


The last batch of attys are drying still, and i tried to 'clean' a few hard to relace prebuilt coils from smok and ijoy as well as a clutch of kanger subtank coils which i can or could rebuild.. will take days for the cotton to dry so fingers crossed..


still got one dripper thats seized shut after a number of ultrasonic baths and a spell in the freezer, and i killed a nice ohm meter using it as a base trying to twist the dripper open' hrumph!

All in all tho a very successful day i just need to relearn all the builds now..

[phatfil]

I now have 7 x tanks sat on stands above a paper towel, all rebuilt and partially full of juice waiting to see if they leak or gurgle...
And tomorrow i can see if they vape and wick ok, if they hold overnight that is ..


I made the mistake of looking for new coils for my old out of date tanks, oh boy ;( I have rebuildable decks for some.. gonna have a lot of paperweights soon..

[phatfil]

So Far so good, had some fun pairing up the tanks with mods that look 'kool' or at least appeal to my aesthetic.. the lemmo tanks taste a bit cotton-y as do a couple of the others leading me to think i have used too much cotton in a few cases, but so far the taste is Very mild and could be the product of the cotton pads i use as they are unbleached and can contain the odd seed or husk, and as the hint of cotton taste isnt getting stronger with longer more powerful pulls, hmmmm ???

Im either brave or stoopid as i am leaving the tanks on the mods for easy reach and selection .. so fingers crossed for no leaks.. tho ive only filled a couple of tanks near the limit filling most just enough to keep the wick fed while testing and allowing a refill of a different juice and hopefully a pleasant blend while the new soaks in..

All thats left for me to clean up and sort out now is the squonk mods.. hmmmm sticky... leaving the worst to last as usual..

When complete and i have taken stock and polished the turds, i will bore the few of your still dropping by with a picture or 2 of my pride n joy.

[phatfil]

Tragedy!!! My HCigar VT-Squonk Mod is also suffering from uber dim display syndrome , at least i can set this one via pc s/w...
Thankfully the LostVape DNA200 squonk is a-ok.. IM currently balancing a pair of batteries for the SX mini X Class auto squonk so fingers crossed for its electrics, mechanics and display.. 
The budget plastic mech squonk mod is a-ok, and ive given it and the bottle a good clean. 
The Geyscaino Very square in the hand is missing its bottle (think its in the s-body)
The S-body's bottle appears too big and irrc it had electric controller issues..  (no spare batteries atm...)

My first 7 tank builds all seem to be a-ok and no leaks (yet, could change when partially filled tanks get a full top up) 

And my attempts to coil and wick my 8th and 9th tanks well One leaks like a sieve and I just destroyed the soft nickel coils i tried to fit in t'other after trying to pull too much cotton through them...
The leaky one just needs re-wicking its a Goblin style build deck and needs cotton stuffed down the juice channels, thankfully i left it on a stand not a mod so no harm, just a bit of juice lost..
The last one with its complex wick routing isnt suitable for soft nickel coils so i just need to wrap a couple of more robust coils possibly with a compound wire like clapton or similar..

I also have rebuildable decks for the Kanger subtanks and clones/copies as well as the smock TFv4 (tho thats a 3 x coil deck and ???) and the Uwell crown, all of which i have ample coils for (well for now at least), so no need to get stuck into these just yet..

But i have a smock TFv4 mini with no coils, and half a dozen or so more tanks that i have 1x, or perhaps a few coils for, which dont appear to be available hmm

Meanwhile ive collected I think all the vape odds n ends filling 3x £shop odds n ends trays one with drip tips, a 2nd with tools spare glass tubes, seals etc from atomizer packs and the 3rd with a few odd coils and pre coiled wires, a separate box for coils of wire and extra pre wrapped coil packs And a further larger box for the juice Mostly 10ml bottles with nic between 3-12% and a few 30ml 0 nic bottles so i need to look up how much of my 72mg vg base to add for various target results

Ive sorted the drippers into 3 sets, 1 too tight to draw, squonk pins fitted, and the rest, all cleaned many with coils just needing wicks..  


I've got a Good selection of mods, and batteries in pretty good shape (so far  2 confirmed casualties with dim displays..  and 3 devices awaiting batteries to check/test) 

In addition i also have 2 x wismec dna-go pod devices, and a few other pod devices which have been keeping me going while i get back in the saddle so to speak.

So the stocktake is almost complete, and its looking Very good from my budget point of view, little need for further outlay, I have ample devices tanks and drippers in working order and a good supply of juice and coil building sundries.. 

Just need to sort out all the juice bottles that got dumped in the one big box as i recovered them from odd stashes all over..  (all  good flavours with only the odd unsuccessful experiment (not found a 'nice' cherry flavour yet..)  

[phatfil]

Pictures as threatened IM not a photographer..


The Two drawers full of vape kit...


Under the bags of cotton in the first drawer is a box of mods that pass muster (squonk bottles in the triangular box) including a few pod devices..


A box of odd tank coils and pre coiled wire..


A box of drip tips alternate air rings etc..


And the box of spare orings tools and spare tank glass


More pre coiled wire and spare wire for diy coils, batteries, battery chargers and usb leads..(still a few to chase down)



Under the cotton in drawer #2 are Tanks, drippers, and boxed spare coils..

the drippers and tanks are roughly sorted into BF drippers and not BF and the only tanks in the drawer atm are the ones using prebuilt coil modules, all the rtas are out for practice..


The tanks i have recently built kept in a plastic box just in case, the one in need of attention pulled out in front on a paper towel to absorb the leak..