Fluxer Heaters, induction heaters for Dynavap

started@52

Well-Known Member
Received my 35E’s yesterday, charged over night on external charger. Will let you know how many individual heat cycles and total cap count till the tester that came with my FD reads only one LED and what the no load voltage reads in the cells before I recharge them. BTW, the Opus Charger is great if your a battery geek, if not just get a nitecore or xtar.
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Jethro

Well-Known Member
Should the device or charger show a red light while charging? I stopped by batteries plus on my way home and bought 3 batteries, maybe they are protected cells because the charger just shows a green light but the tester shows nothing.

I don't assume the device does pass through charging?
 
Jethro,

mr_cfromcali

Accessory Maker
Accessory Maker
Should the device or charger show a red light while charging? I stopped by batteries plus on my way home and bought 3 batteries, maybe they are protected cells because the charger just shows a green light but the tester shows nothing.

I don't assume the device does pass through charging?

The device doesn't really do pass-through charging. I think the charger will tolerate it if there is sufficient charge in the batteries.

The device should not show any light while charging. You won't hurt it if you charge it with the switch on, but it is safer to charge it with the On/Off switch off and no LED lit on the device.

The charger LED should show red or orange when charging, and green when charged.

The battery meter should show 4 LEDs when the battery is full. It should be charged again when the meter shows a single red LED, no LEDs, or when you want the performance of a full battery. The battery meter's plug may be a bit short and needs to be pushed in well to seat securely.

Let me know where that gets you, though I may be offline for a bit.
 

Gray Area

Well-Known Member
Should the device or charger show a red light while charging? I stopped by batteries plus on my way home and bought 3 batteries, maybe they are protected cells because the charger just shows a green light but the tester shows nothing.

I don't assume the device does pass through charging?

The wall charger has an led that should be red when the batteries are charging, and green when they are charged.
Is the charger male fully/solidly in the FD charging port??

Edit: pipped to the post (as they say) :D
 
Gray Area,
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Jethro

Well-Known Member
The device doesn't really do pass-through charging. I think the charger will tolerate it if there is sufficient charge in the batteries.

The device should not show any light while charging. You won't hurt it if you charge it with the switch on, but it is safer to charge it with the On/Off switch off and no LED lit on the device.

The charger LED should show red or orange when charging, and green when charged.

The battery meter should show 4 LEDs when the battery is full. It should be charged again when the meter shows a single red LED, no LEDs, or when you want the performance of a full battery. The battery meter's plug may be a bit short and needs to be pushed in well to seat securely.

Let me know where that gets you, though I may be offline for a bit.

I get no red light on the charger. My guess is the batteries I have are protected. I assume that will prevent charging?
 
Jethro,

Gray Area

Well-Known Member
Prevent over-charging, but shouldn't prevent them from charging in the first place. Do you have an external charger to try?
Do make sure the wall charger is pushed into the FD solidly though. I have one of he little battery meters that I thought was doa, but it took that extra push to get it to contact well.
 

Jethro

Well-Known Member
I don't have an external a charger.

How much time do 18650s usually take to charge?
 
Jethro,

Gray Area

Well-Known Member
At a guess 2-4 hrs, depending how depleted they are, but if your wall charger isn't showing a red led, then it isn't charging them...
Any alt batteries to try?
 

Jethro

Well-Known Member
I have a shitload of cr123a's but no other 18650s. So sad! I'll have to place an order online for some batteries.:cry:
 
Jethro,

mr_cfromcali

Accessory Maker
Accessory Maker
It's a 1A charger.
If they are completely dead, ~3 hours IIRC, +/- an hour. (on preview, what @Gray Area said)

With the batteries installed, will the heater power on at all (Green LED), even for a second?

I can't tell yet if this is a battery issue or a heater issue, but if it does turn out to be a heater issue I'd like to move the discussion to PM.
 

Gray Area

Well-Known Member
You got a comparable charger (from something else) to try on the FD? Or another electronic device to try to use the FD's charger on instead? Just to determine what is exactly going wrong...

Also did you check it's plugged in solid (I know I'm going on about that but it almost caught me out with the battery meter).
 
Gray Area,

Jethro

Well-Known Member
Ok, now I'm getting some charging! Have to spin the center battery just right to make contact. Its charging now. And the little tester shows 1 light. I think these batteries might be junk. I'm gonna order the ones you linked earlier, Jeff. But I do believe its charging! Stay tuned!
 

started@52

Well-Known Member
Please people LEARN ABOUT 18650 batteries before you burn your house down! 99.9999% of the 18650 battery desasters are user error because people think battery cells are all the same. These things will cause damage if the USER doesn’t know what he/she is doing with them. 18650s are all different and can’t all be used in the same device just because it takes an 18650. You must understand ohms law and the specs of your device AND the 18650 battery your thinking about usung. They are NOT just big AA, batteries. I hope I scare some of you into some research. They can be dangerous if the USER is lazy! If burning your house down doesn’t scare you, you might loose your weed in the fire :D Sorry for the rant.
 
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Jethro

Well-Known Member
Good to have options. Just bought 6 of the Samsungs above. I think I'm gonna buy a charger too as well so I can charge a set while discharging another! Gotta be a good investment anyway.

And I'll admit to checking progress with the tester, I'm up to 3 bars! Getting my vapcaps all cleaned and ready for the induction experience :brow:

Edit:
Received my 35E’s yesterday, charged over night on external charger. Will let you know how many individual heat cycles and total cap count till the tester that came with my FD reads only one LED and what the no load voltage reads in the cells before I recharge them. BTW, the Opus Charger is great if your a battery geek, if not just get a nitecore or xtar.
0-D898-B1-C-65-FE-4487-9-EA9-BF5-AFA0-B920-D.jpg

E519-CD22-E71-E-4-F7-D-98-EC-FE2-D03-D4-C4-E3.jpg

Amazon is sending me an xtar vc4 Thursday.
 
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started@52

Well-Known Member
My tester only has 3 green leds. Looks like the top one(#4) broke. If it is I don’t really care as I really only need to know when two or one is left. Been like this since new, thought there was only 3 to begin with, lol.
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Jethro

Well-Known Member
I'm loving my FD#60!! What a great upgrade to my Vapcaps.

Can't seem to figure how to post my img from Smugmug on Android. Will try tomorrow!

My tester only has 3 green leds. Looks like the top one(#4) broke. If it is I don’t really care as I really only need to know when two or one is left. Been like this since new, thought there was only 3 to begin with, lol.
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Mines got a red at the furthest.
i-zwf9vvR
 

mr_cfromcali

Accessory Maker
Accessory Maker
Safety Alert time

Hi all,

I take safety seriously, and I know you do, too.
I just became aware of a Flux Deluxe safety concern, and I need to address it with you ASAP.

To prevent unexpected electrical contact, I am asking all current Flux Deluxe owners to please install a small, additional piece of insulation (basically a thin barrier) between the battery pack and the two inductors (the twin wire-wound yellow toroids). This will prevent the battery pack from making accidental electrical contact with the toroids, which could result in sparks, smoke, or potentially worse. :o

The fix is simple and straight forward, and I will be sending out an "official" part for you to install ASAP. I am making them this weekend, and they will go out on Monday. There is also a simple fix you can make yourself until my part arrives - more on both below.

The pictures below should make the situation and fix clearer:

IMG-7296-private.jpg


In the above picture, the area of concern is the interface between the left and middle battery contacts and the wire-wound inductors that sit below them. It's a tight space and it allows the potential for contact, as the wires alone aren't adequate or proper spacers.


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The solution is to add a simple shim/spacer like the one above. This will prevent the parts from making contact.


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With the batteries removed (!!!!!), installation is very straightforward, and the new part slips in between the battery pack and the inductors.

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I will send the new parts out beginning on Monday, but it will be a week or two before these new insulators reach all of the FD owners.

Since most of you will want to continue to use your heaters while waiting for the new part, I am going to suggest you implement the following temporary solution on your own, ASAP.

You can make a very similar, temporary insulator from the type of square, rigid plastic bag closure "clasp" you can find at the grocery store, or perhaps in your kitchen or pantry:


IMG-7298-private.jpg

These are easy to trim with a pair of scissors (I trimmed those in the right column) and they work fine as a temporary shim.

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It's temporary and kinda ugly, but it will be an effective insulator until the official part arrives.

You could also make a similar temporary insulator from an old credit card, a stiff piece of paper, a playing card, etc.

Thank you for also taking safety seriously, and making a similar fix to your own heater before you use it again. :nod:

I'm sorry I didn't realize this issue existed until now, but now that I am aware of it, I would like to see everyone fix this vulnerability ASAP! I strongly encourage you to make and add an insulator like the one shown above before you use your Flux Deluxe again - please! It takes about two minutes to make one of these shims, including the time it takes to find a pair of scissors.

Thanks!!! :tup:

Other stuff:
The current batch is coming along, and heaters will start going out from it after I complete these insulating shims and get them mailed off. I'll have some other batch-related updates later today.

Cheers,
:leaf:
 
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AtomicPB

Well-Known Member
@mr_cfromcali thank's for the warning and the detailed instructions on how to fix this possible issue and sending us parts again. You always manage to fix everything and make the FluxDeluxe a better device. :clap::tup:

I have to admit that when I put my batteries in the FluxDeluxe for the first time, I was asking myself if it might be a problem if the batterie holder touches these conductors but thought that it probably wouldn't be, since you left it like it was. :freak:

I apply your suggested fix (probably cutting an old credit card) and will report tomorrow (end of T-Break) how my lovely green FluxDeluxe (#25) is holding up.

Again, thank's for everything @mr_cfromcali . :)
 

Obsessed 2

Well-Known Member
@mr_cfromcali thank's for the warning and the detailed instructions on how to fix this possible issue and sending us parts again. You always manage to fix everything and make the FluxDeluxe a better device. :clap::tup:

I have to admit that when I put my batteries in the FluxDeluxe for the first time, I was asking myself if it might be a problem if the batterie holder touches these conductors but thought that it probably wouldn't be, since you left it like it was. :freak:

I apply your suggested fix (probably cutting an old credit card) and will report tomorrow (end of T-Break) how my lovely green FluxDeluxe (#25) is holding up.

Again, thank's for everything @mr_cfromcali . :)
Happy End-of-T-break!!! Mine begins on Monday. :ugh:
 

mario

Well-Known Member
When I woke up this morning I said to myself "You know, I haven't checked on the FC thread recently. I should see how everyone is doing." My FD has been functioning perfectly and amazingly. I have taken it everywhere with me and I haven't touched a lighter since I got it.

There have been a couple times when I have put my batteries in and I saw that they were very close to making contact and I kind of wiggled the sled away from the coils. But this solution makes much more sense. I'm really glad I checked the thread this morning before using my FD at my lunch break like usual. I'll take an old credit card out there with me today and cut it to size.

Also for all the battery discussion. My Sony VT6 batteries last me almost 3 days. I charge them on an external charger at night every other night and when I leave the house I take the charger with me. So far it has performed perfectly for every hit and I haven't combusted once in it. Even with the 14mm coil. I can't say enough good things about my heater and I show it off to all my friends when we get together. Even my dad is considering a Vapcap now because he loves how it hits compared to smoking. Probably going to have to get him his own induction heater before too long lol.

Anyways, thanks as always to @mr_cfromcali to warning us and taking care of all of us.
 

dynauser

Member
When I woke up this morning I said to myself "You know, I haven't checked on the FC thread recently. I should see how everyone is doing." My FD has been functioning perfectly and amazingly. I have taken it everywhere with me and I haven't touched a lighter since I got it.

Wow that is 100% me this morning. The only minor thing I've had is since installing the pyrex disc on the switch it has come unglued. No biggie though, I had some Lavalock and glued it back down. Other than that it's been going strong and I use it almost daily. I haven't noticed any issues with it heating without pushing the button. For reference I have the 16mm (I think, I know its not the 14mm). Overall I'm still loving the device.

Anyways, thanks as always to @mr_cfromcali to warning us and taking care of all of us.

Completely agree. I was glad to see the open dialog about improvements, status, etc. Really appreciate the continued, candid and honest follow up on everything. I'll look or the spacer in the mail. In the meantime I'll make one.
 

Jethro

Well-Known Member
Anyways, thanks as always to @mr_cfromcali to warning us and taking care of all of us.

Absolutely! Thanks goes to his dedication to making this device perfect. I've waited forever for Amazon to send me these batteries so I've put my FD aside until I get them. I did get the Xtar charger. Batteries should be here tomorrow. I'll make me a spacer today for temporary use.
 

started@52

Well-Known Member
Absolutely! Thanks goes to his dedication to making this device perfect. I've waited forever for Amazon to send me these batteries so I've put my FD aside until I get them. I did get the Xtar charger. Batteries should be here tomorrow. I'll make me a spacer today for temporary use.
I don’t trust 18650’s from Amazon. For some reason Amazon is as bad as EBay for fake rebranded 18650’s. At least that’s how it was a couple years ago when I was all into flashlights.
 
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