The Chinese SJK Induction Heater and The VapCap

[LesPlenty]

You reckon? How do I explain my usage?

Don`t tell them anything apart from it is not working. If they do ask, just tell them you use it to warm you nipple rings on cold nights.
I have actually used mine to heat a box cutter knife for trimming up some industrial heat shrink, it literally cuts like a hot knife through butter (it also melted the blade into the handle).
You could also say you make miniature train figures from wax, plenty of uses.
Another use is to warm up my dab tool, makes playing/dispensing with reclaim easier, not that you would tell them that one.
Go the warranty, nothing to lose, plenty to gain.

 

[JigMelon]

Come to think of it, my nipples could use a nice warming...

 

[Hackerman]

I agree that you should return it. Especially since they may have sent you a bad unit in the first place. Plus, if you bought it on eBay or Amazon, the return process is totally automated and no one will ask why or what or who about anything. It's all automated.

I can't send back the one I bought because I already cut the cord and replaced the plug. I ordered the signal relay that I believe is cause of the failure and I'll solder that on when I get it.

The way I smoke, my fan almost never stops running all day. I am inserting my VC every minute or so all day long (if I am home and at my desk). If we are over-tasking it..... I will know. LOL

 

[JigMelon]

I replaced my cord, too, with a beefy 8-footer. Works great.

 

[LesPlenty]

I buy lots of stuff from China that nearly always comes with an adapter, I usually just bend the prongs of the plug a little so they seat tighter in the adapter and I also put a drop of super glue in between the prongs before I plug it into the adapter, no tools or expertise required and they do not work themselves loose.

 

[JigMelon]

I buy lots of stuff from China that nearly always comes with an adapter, I usually just bend the prongs of the plug a little so they seat tighter in the adapter and I also put a drop of super glue in between the prongs before I plug it into the adapter, no tools or expertise required and they do not work themselves loose.

The issue with the US adapter is how the adapter fits into the outlet, and not how the plug fits into the adapter. Otherwise, I would've done the same probably

 

[Ricardo]

Mine is working again -in fact it was ok the following day. I'm getting some wispy vapor leaking out of the top.hat, which at first I thought was smoke but there's no recognizable smell of burning electronics, although there is also an occasional sizzling sound - the weed, or the unit???

 

[LesPlenty]

occasional sizzling sound

I think it could be the vapcap sizzling, it only does it with my XL Ti stem, never with my s/s m18 or either WS stems. Good to hear the gemlins have left....for now.

 

[Hackerman]

It is a little bit of vape escaping. You're the third one (including myself) to mention it. I'm not sure if it's the angle of the tip/cap when it is heating or what. But, I have 3 caps and it only does it on one out of 3 of the caps. ???

I will have my replacement signal relays next week. Hopefully, that will fix my unit that failed.

 

[Hackerman]

@Pipes and @stardustsailor Hey guys, I got some new relays today and I plan to replace the relay in the induction heater circuit (not the one in the proximity sensor circuit).

I am guessing that it's the relay. I tested it in circuit and they both seem OK but I know testing components while they are in circuit is seldom accurate.

Is there a way to test the relay while it is in circuit?

Thanks

Edit: Well, I am totally thrilled to report that I replaced the relay and the induction heater is back to working 100%.

Time will tell if that was a bad relay or if the unit itself is not designed for our abuse/use and I fuse another relay. I have 5 of them, just in case. LOL

Thought you might like to see what's inside......

This is one of the relay switches I replaced. I cut the top of the package off so you could see what's inside.

What's a little discerning is that after removing these relays, I tested them and both of them worked fine. All I checked for was continuity using 5v to open and close the gate and they were not under load but I'm at least curious why the switch works fine now but didn't work under load. They definitely were not fused or damaged as I could determine visually.

Pretty neat.

 

[stardustsailor]

@Pipes and @stardustsailor

What's a little discerning is that after removing these relays, I tested them and both of them worked fine. All I checked for was continuity using 5v to open and close the gate and they were not under load but I'm at least curious why the switch works fine now but didn't work under load. They definitely were not fused or damaged as I could determine visually.

Pretty neat.

You made your moves pretty fast ,before I had the chance to note this :
These cheapo -chinese relays are notorious for their contacts "sticking " together ,
from time to time ,especially when high inrush currents are involved.
The solution is the famous good ol' knocking at the relay,with the handle of a scredriver for example.
The violent shaking / vibrations from the knock ,usually free the contacts .
Still ,since a relay has that behaviour the best solution is to be replaced with a better quality one .

cheers.

 

[Hackerman]

Cool, once again, thanks for the information.

Unfortunately, the replacements looked exactly like the originals. Same logo and everything. Oops LMAO

I was around in the 50's when Dad 'fixed' the TV by smacking it on the side. Funny how little technology has changed. LMAO

If it happens again, I'll try Dad's technique.

 

[stardustsailor]

Cool, once again, thanks for the information.

Unfortunately, the replacements looked exactly like the originals. Same logo and everything. Oops LMAO

I was around in the 50's when Dad 'fixed' the TV by smacking it on the side. Funny how little technology has changed. LMAO

If it happens again, I'll try Dad's technique.

Smacking almost always works with relays which have their contacts ....fallen in love !

 

[Sickboy420]

Hi
Just trialling the SJK Technic that I've just got from China, for the last few days.
Yep, I'm getting the 'leak' of vape when heating too. Its annoying as it wastes a bit, especially the 1st tasty couple of clicks. The leaked fragrance left behind is a dead giveaway that'd you've toked
I get more accurate results via a decent single jet lighter, but its still early days yet. With use, i think i'll be able to fine tune the SJK Heater for better results.

Absolutely great for getting there quickly with the vapcap, no waiting
You can easily toast a load to charcoal if you're not careful tho
A bit noisy, but not prohibitively. Ease of use easily outweighs that one

Champagne cork depth stop works a treat too

It is a little bit of vape escaping. You're the third one (including myself) to mention it. I'm not sure if it's the angle of the tip/cap when it is heating or what.

 

[Hackerman]

I have 3 caps and only one does it. Something about the shape of the one cap, no doubt. Maybe too round. Maybe not round enough.

Try squeezing the cap one way or another and see if the wisp stops.

I notice the one cap I have that wisps is the most round of all 3 caps.

 

[LesPlenty]

All 3 of my caps leak, yours would have been leaking with a torch too, you just can`t see it because it is being consumed by the torch.

 

[LesPlenty]

That is why I put a cork puck in the top hat, to move the Vapcap out from the heat, mine only has the wispy vapor when unloaded if it has reclaim build up, nothing can be seen with a clean vape, with mine anyway.
Glad to hear the old tap tap tech still works!

 

[Hackerman]

Screwdriver and relay tapping worked wonders......fan is back and the light show and clicking is back......

cheers @stardustsailor and @Hackerman ..... IH SJK is back in biz....

Which relay was it? One is next to the large capacitor and the other is next to the smd proximity ic.

 

[Hackerman]

A word about the failure of these relays......

When mine failed it failed to the NON-DEFAULT where the heating coil remained ON when the unit was plugged in and the on/off switch turned ON.

If the switch had failed to the default of NO (normally open), it wouldn't be so bad because the unit simply wouldn't work. However, in this failure, the light does not blink and the fan does not operate, both giving the impression that the unit is OFF. However, the the switch is actually stuck in the ON position and the heating coil is actually ON and getting hotter by the second. If you have this condition and walk away from this unit, I expect it might eventually catch fire.

So a word to the wise should be sufficient.... when you are not using this heater, turn the on/off switch to OFF. And, I have mine plugged into a surge protector that is also switched off at night and cuts power completely to the heater (and some other things I have connected to the surge protector).

Take it with however many grains of salt you wish.

 

[-dab8-]

Yes this is how it was for me
green light on but getting hotter
I always turn it off at the back after every sesh anyway for safety sake
With the power switch off there is no connection I can see even plugged in
But yes always turn off at back I also recommend

and tap your relays if fan and lights/clicking stop....

Any chance you have a picture of what the relays look like for those of us who have no business tinkering with electronics?

 

[Hackerman]

@stardustsailor or @Pipes or one of the other more knowledgeable people here......

Why would a design even use a relay switch like this instead of a logic gate or other digital means? Seems archaic but I presume there is a reason why a mechanical switch is better in this case. I didn't see anything on Google about it.

Anyone?

 

[Hackerman]

Nope, that ain't it. The logic gates are way cheaper than these relays. I'm sure there's an 'electronics' reason.

 

[LesPlenty]

I may hit them up for a replacement and see

I would for sure, hope you get a win and I hope mine keeps working!

 

[-dab8-]

I posted a while back that mine didn’t seem to register past the first clicke due to my @DDave mod. Some new info:

Even without the mod, for some reason there is enough metal to start the first heating cycle, but not to tell it to keep heating past that. The workarounds I have found involve taking it out quickly and putting it back in again after each click, or...

Just recently I found if I hold a pen with a metal tip near the opening as I spin the vapcap in the induction heater, it does not stop heating. It frequently still takes 5-7 cycles to click when cold, so it often turns on the blinking overheated pause which requires turning it off and on again, and it means I’m using two hands for an induction heater, but...

Still easier than torches for at home use. I think.

I should probably buy a pipes IH and be done with it.

 

[Hackerman]

@felon167inc I was going to return mine when it died but I had already cut the cord and replaced the plug so I felt it was better not to return it. LOL

Where are you? (I mean what country).

If you are in USA which do you like, eBay or Amazon? I'll point you to some replacement relays. I bought 5 of them for $7 including shipping.

A soldering iron, a solder sucker and some solder. It's a really easy task. The relay is located on the edge of the board, away from the other stuff. It pops off it about 30 seconds and the new one goes on in about 10. It's literally a one minute job.

Did it fail to the ON position?

What are the symptoms? Green power light works but never flashes? Fan is quiet but heating coil is ON?

I think we can count on these relays going bad. I own 3 units and replaced 2 so far. Apparently, the constant pounding on that relay is more than it can take. I'm going to check the duty cycle because it doesn't seem like it's more demanding than any other task. I'll check the datasheet.

Perhaps a different component would work better. @stardustsailor , based on how this relay is used in this circuit, am I correct in saying it is simply an SPDT switch?

I am thinking about this and I am wondering if an IC would be better. I have used IC's as gates and switches many times (7400 series, I think??) but I was always in a 5v environment. I wonder if all those IC's I'm thinking of would handle the 110 volts we require?????? I need to go read some datasheets.

I posted a while back that mine didn’t seem to register past the first clicke due to my @DDave mod. Some new info:

Even without the mod, for some reason there is enough metal to start the first heating cycle, but not to tell it to keep heating past that. The workarounds I have found involve taking it out quickly and putting it back in again after each click, or...

Just recently I found if I hold a pen with a metal tip near the opening as I spin the vapcap in the induction heater, it does not stop heating. It frequently still takes 5-7 cycles to click when cold, so it often turns on the blinking overheated pause which requires turning it off and on again, and it means I’m using two hands for an induction heater, but...

Still easier than torches for at home use. I think.

I should probably buy a pipes IH and be done with it.

It almost sounds like the proximity sensor pot needs adjusted.

Try this... instead of holding the Vapcap in the center of the tophat, hold it real close to the edge (but not touching) and hold it there.

Does it cycle properly, now?