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Major snag with the Focalecig 4nine mod, the top cap is too thin.
If the thread on your atty is not continuous ie it stops short of the base, when the atty is screwed right down tight onto the top cap the male part of the thread runs past the female thread and just about disengages with it, in other words you have a free spinning atty.
Maybe threading the insulating washer that comes with the top cap might be a cure, giving twice the thickness for the 510 thread to grip, otherwise it's add a washer to the top of the cap.

Disappointed hardly covers it.

4nine in brass just arrived from Focalecig ordered as part of a group buy on 2nd July.

Pro's
First impressions are good, the finish isn't bad a few fine scratches that should polish out without problems, the threading on all tubes is done quite well, smooth with no sharp edges. The mod has the new top cap with a threaded delrin insert and a threaded brass centre pin, the copper switch button is weighty enough and the 4nine logo is well defined on the button, it's not an acid etch.
Cons,
Is the central hole in the button meant to be a vent? if so it leads nowhere as the switch magnet is positioned directly above it! I can't find any route for gasses to vent other then the twin holes in the top cap.

I can't comment on how it works yet as I haven't had time to try it out but it looks pretty cool fitted with the UD AGA-TD that also came this morning! Pics to follow.

For perfectly spaced coils this idea takes some beating Machine screw coil

I'd go one further by cutting the head off the screw and fitting the threaded section in a handle of some sort, a pin vice is ideal. Then instead of winding the wire around the screw I'd twist the handle while holding the wire in tension with the other hand, so the screw is revolving rather than the wire feeding hand (if that makes any sense).

Thanks for the input everyone, I've ordered a new Vamo board from Fasttech, the old one can go into a box mod I'm planning.

It's been a sharp learning curve, however I'm used to dubious kit having repaired guitar pickups that hail from China, Taiwan, Korea. In fact most 'big name' gear originates from the far east and is just re-branded.

I have learned however that a lot of vaping stuff that's bought and sold is pure eye candy. Mechanical mods are simply tubes with a connector at one end and a switch at the other, they all started life as torches. Give me a length of 22mm copper tube some stop ends and add bit of ingenuity and I'll make a 'vapes like a steam train' for a couple of quid.

As far as I'm concerned the 'art' in all this is finding a balance between generating enough current to efficiently vapourise your chosen 'Juice', and distributing the resulting vapour to the lungs.
Rocket science it isn't.

I purchased a used Vamo from a member on here a few weeks back. I knew there had been some trouble with the fire button but I wasn't expecting to find all three buttons kaput!

The fire switch has no plastic button left, it fell out as I removed the board, the switch itself is knackered all the innards have been compressed and it no longer works. The two wattage/voltage up-down buttons look OK but they have both had it as well

A new bottom switch wasn't a problem, I had a few the right size in my reclaimed bits box, but finding tactile switches the right size and configuration for the top buttons was becoming a mission. They measure 4x4mm but most small tactile switches are 6x6mm, way too big.

I found a board from an old car hands free wireless unit that had some small tactile switches, they were the right size but only had two leads instead of four, however four connections aren't really needed as the switch connect the top pads as a pair with the bottom pads, so as an experiment I soldered them diagonally across the pads.


Soldering components this small is a mission and I managed to bridge the pads in the centre so I had to scrape away the solder bridge with a scalpel blade, the fire switch also needs the square button cutting off so everything will fit.
I fitted the board back into the tube and held it all together roughly while I installed a 18350 battery, the display flashed when I screwed the bottom cap on, and I got the system startup message when I pressed the fire button five times, both up/down switches actually worked!

I took a quick vape at 8.5 watts just to make sure! I now have a working Vamo instead of a rather expensive paperweight!

If anyone needs the tiny switches Farnell do suitable ones ALPS - SKQYAAE010 - SWITCH, TACTILE, SMD, 1.57N.