Discontinued Thermovape Cera

Bob- send it in! You def want the flow coming through those holes! When I got my 4th set screw in vs with only 3, vapor production way easier and longer time between loads. Airflow from bottom of cart is how supposed to be I'm sure the guys at TET will make it right!

Side note- i ordered LL cart Monday... in the mail on the way now wooooooo

Finally implemented the latching switch!




Looks a little hack-ish but works very well!

Thanks to JoeKickass for convincing me that no matter how I wired up that stupid switch I would never get the LED light to turn on AND power up Cera at the same time. Very frustrating but I'm happy with it even though I'm not getting the LED to turn on. Yeah I could run a strap back but I'd rather not hack it too much. I would seriously pay TET $100 for a real latching switch that glows when you turn it on.

By the way - still waiting on my custom MP from China. I'm expecting them to ship it any day now...

Looks good NTSH! My only concern/criticism is that a collapsible spring should be used for safety reasons.

havealight101 said:

Looks good NTSH! My only concern/criticism is that a collapsible spring should be used for safety reasons.

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What do you mean? It kind of collapses. I wanted it to be heavy enough to not get hot, per Tim's guidance.

Is there an easy way to check if the switch is bad?

NothingToSeeHere said:

What do you mean? It kind of collapses. I wanted it to be heavy enough to not get hot, per Tim's guidance.

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The spring built in to the Cera and other ecig type power handles have a collapsible hot spring that will collapse at a certain temperature(?), and disconnect the battery from the top. I think its incase your battery goes rogue, and starts effing shit up(technical term).

Pipes said:

By using the screen mag (CNTL mouse wheel) to closely look at OFs pic vs Bob's pic of the area in question it seems Bob's unit is missing the gap. You can see a piece of the hole in OF's shot. Also notice OF's unit's set screw is backed off in comparison to Bob's. Maybe a clue?
An email to TET might be best.

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tavosvo said:

Bob- send it in! You def want the flow coming through those holes! When I got my 4th set screw in vs with only 3, vapor production way easier and longer time between loads. Airflow from bottom of cart is how supposed to be I'm sure the guys at TET will make it right!

Side note- i ordered LL cart Monday... in the mail on the way now wooooooo

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BLAZING OG said:

Bob, I totally understand not wanting to part ways with EO cart, but it sounds to me your right, Your Eo cart works great but with the proper flow from under the cart you will get even better hits , i think its out of spec, it can happen!!!!!
If no air is coming from that gap thats supposed to be there ,then some of your concentrates are probably sitting at the bottom!!!
When i cover my 4 set screw holes I still get A loud hiss of air flow from that gap between screw head on bottom and the core it self!!!!

I still think air not coming in from the bottom is making cera work to hard and even though your getting thick hits , with it properly venting from bottom you'll get way bigger denser hits is what i noticed!!!!!

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thanks guys, was going nuts trying to find non-existent absence of matter, lol.

gonna have to hate sending it in, but don't want to lose anymore quality oil to it either. 'preciate it

havealight101 said:

The spring built in to the Cera and other ecig type power handles have a collapsible hot spring that will collapse at a certain temperature(?), and disconnect the battery from the top. I think its incase your battery goes rogue, and starts effing shit up(technical term).

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Huh. I haven't heard of that.

I switched to protected batteries (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0062ANS7O/ref=pe_175190_21431760_3p_M3T1_ST1_dp_1) because I almost burned myself when I accidentally short-circuited my unprotected battery while playing with the switch. The wire I had hooked up wnet from room temperature to almost glowing hot in 2 seconds flat.

This is exactly what it felt like:

I've found these protected batteries to be better than the unprotected battery from TET. Doesn't make sense but I seem to get more heat out of the protected one.

So if there is some kind of collapsible spring mechanism it shouldn't matter because I'm using protected batteries.

havealight101 said:

The spring built in to the Cera and other ecig type power handles have a collapsible hot spring that will collapse at a certain temperature(?), and disconnect the battery from the top. I think its incase your battery goes rogue, and starts effing shit up(technical term).

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Yes, these "hot" springs are for an additional layer of protection against a short in the device's output. If a battery goes rogue, this spring will not help as it's internal to the battery is that situation.
If the device's output gets shorted the weakest link will burn first and if a hot spring is used it will pull itself back thus breaking connection preventing any continuous current flow. Now if no hot spring is used a short will show up quick as the weakest link will still give. With these high drain batteries something will get hot fast and likely burn up. Still likely the spring but melting would be more of what would happen.

EDIT2: Sorry, had a moment. Thanks for the correction OF. Changed statement from not to worry, to not the best idea to take away any safety measures originally in the design.

NTSH, IMHO, I would not overly worry as not the kind of device that is left un-manned.
However, might keep in mind if you come across a heavy gauge "hot" spring. Or use the original spring?


EDIT: just saw that you are using protected cells now. That will make it safer but will cost a little performance. But if works, fly with it.

Pipes said:

IMHO, I would not overly worry as not the kind of device that is left un-manned.

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I don't agree with this. This is a latching switch, right? My Beta unit, while using a latching switch, was subject to not one but three melt downs when 'distracted' users set it down still on and had it pump the entire load of oil all over. Just to prove it's not all that random, one guy who I loaned it to did it twice! So, not only has it been proven this is exactly the sort of device that can be left un manned at a key moment not even having such an accident can be counted on to educate the user to not do that.

I don't think removing any safety feature is a good casual decision.

GR said:

Is there an easy way to check if the switch is bad?

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Yes, replace the end cap (with switch) with a walnut sized wad of aluminum foil shorting the battery minus to the threaded ring. FWIW, the most likely problem is in the side strap.....

Good luck.

OF

Just an FYI.. When my strap went bad, my spring shrunk down quite a bit.

Hey guys, been a long time since I've posted here - been super busy with work, school and my Cera. She's performing beautifully, run bubble, kief and plant matter through my LL with great success, and both DIY and store-bought concentrates have been absolutely killer in my EO. Can't say enough good things about it. It's helped me cut back on my habit, which is great and has definitely saved me money, and I also feel the benefits of reducing my combustion.

All that aside, I've not had very good luck with my EL core. It's essentially been non-functional since day one, and as a result hasn't helped me at all with my goal of quitting the "analogs." Finally got in touch with Zeki and the crew, who promptly issued me a return label. Haven't had an opportunity yet to mail it back, but I actually spoke with Zeki today to get an update. He had previously informed me that they were waiting on a shipment of new wire (I think?) to build the EL cores "to spec."

Today he informed me that everything is well on that front, but the TET team isn't satisfied with the performance of the current design. To wit, they are working on a brand-new design, incorporating a reservoir like the previous AVA RES tank system! Exciting news. He estimated they were about 3 weeks out, and that all EL customers, whether they have had non-functioning cores rebuilt or not, will be given the option to trade in for the new style. Really excited for this development, I really think it'll be a competitive and functional design. In the meantime, I am going to send back my EL core ASAP for a rebuild.


On an unrelated note, a tip for EO core users. I haven't read of anyone having this issue, and Zeki couldn't recall feedback from customers with this problem, but recently I got my EO core stuck in the Cera body! For the life of me, I couldn't get it out. I was almost at the point of using a monkey wrench or something to that effect, and wrapping the core in a towel to avoid cosmetic damage, but this wasn't a very appealing idea. However, the TET team had a great suggestion. After removing the battery and o-rings, I lightly torched the ceramic body just below the core, basically where the core "interface" is. This did the trick, and finally I was able to remove my core. Just heating it up by holding down the button wasn't enough I guess. Weird.

I realized that it must have leaked, as I remember last week I had an extended session with my EO, and laid it down on its side. When I picked her back up after cooling off, there was a good buildup of oil inside the top cap and side wall of the core. I suppose some must have leaked out the bottom? When I got the core out, there was a lot of oil in both the interface and the bottom of the core including the threads. So, just a tip for anyone else who might experience this issue - use a torch! Just another benefit of the awesome materials that make up our beloved Cera.

prk said:

recently I got my EO core stuck in my body! For the life of me, I couldn't get it out.

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Oh man I can't stop laughing



It took me a second read to realize which "body" you were talking about

JoeKickass said:

Oh man I can't stop laughing



It took me a second read to realize which "body" you were talking about

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Don't dab and post guys. I'm tempted to edit for clarity, but that's pretty hilarious.

Got my cera back and used the cera at coachella. Have the LL cartridge. It actually works really well. I always have it on me now. Thing i figured out is if the battery ever becomes loose, hold the base of the spring down and pull it up a little and hold it in place then let go. Be sure not to pull it off, pull it from the base of the spring just to expand the spring a little. It compresses a little every once in a while, especially if u use the safety pin.

Another thing, they are making a new ELiquid cart! I ordered one and they just told me that in 3 weeks they will have a new e liquid cart that has better performance and can hold a lot more liquid than the last one. Its another must have! Havent gotten the oil cart. Probably gonna get that later, but honestly, i like the invisible vape high i get from chilling on a bowl of bud for a long time, casually hitting it here and there!

b0rd2dEAth said:

Thing i figured out is if the battery ever becomes loose, hold the base of the spring down and pull it up a little and hold it in place then let go. Be sure not to pull it off, pull it from the base of the spring just to expand the spring a little. It compresses a little every once in a while, especially if u use the safety pin.

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Glad your unit is working well for you.

IMO this is very bad advice. As we've discussed before, such pushing a spring past it's "elastic limit" and 'giving it a set' results in a weaker spring afterwards. The "spring constant" (pounds of force for an inch change) goes down a bit each time making the next occurrence all the more likely. You need to heat treat the spring (out of the question here) to restore it.

At the atomic level this is the same as bending a wire back and forth which we know leads to weakening and failure......

Doing it once or twice in it's lifetime might be OK, but routinely will lead to more problems than it fixes. Using a shim (like a dime) is a much better plan IMO.

OF

OF said:

Glad your unit is working well for you.

IMO this is very bad advice. As we've discussed before, such pushing a spring past it's "elastic limit" and 'giving it a set' results in a weaker spring afterwards. The "spring constant" (pounds of force for an inch change) goes down a bit each time making the next occurrence all the more likely. You need to heat treat the spring (out of the question here) to restore it.

At the atomic level this is the same as bending a wire back and forth which we know leads to weakening and failure......

Doing it once or twice in it's lifetime might be OK, but routinely will lead to more problems than it fixes. Using a shim (like a dime) is a much better plan IMO.

OF

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I know exactly what you mean. However, I don't put too much force on the spring, just a little, then hold it in place for a couple seconds. And yeah you only really need to do it once. You have to be gentle when you do this too and be sure you're not pulling the spring in any way off the switch. It has to be a really slight stretch, like you won't see the spring even expand really.

I personally just had to do this once. The ceras battery used to just rattle around inside the cera. It felt really weird, every movement would be a shaky battery. Now, after one slight spring decompression, my spring actually holds the battery steady. Thanks for the advice though, now I know for sure to be even more careful with my spring. No regrets here though, really glad I did what I did. Will use a shimmy from now on though, sounds like a good idea!

b0rd2dEAth said:

I know exactly what you mean. However, I don't put too much force on the spring, just a little, then hold it in place for a couple seconds. And yeah you only really need to do it once. You have to be gentle when you do this too and be sure you're not pulling the spring in any way off the switch. It has to be a really slight stretch, like you won't see the spring even expand really.

I personally just had to do this once. The ceras battery used to just rattle around inside the cera. It felt really weird, every movement would be a shaky battery. Now, after one slight spring decompression, my spring actually holds the battery steady. Thanks for the advice though, now I know for sure to be even more careful with my spring. No regrets here though, really glad I did what I did. Will use a shimmy from now on though, sounds like a good idea!

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Edit: actually a shimmy feels kind of dangerous. The spring is tougher than you think and trying to wedge something in it feels kind of wrong. I feel that doing this can bend the spring in a wrong way. Even trying to use something thin feels pretty dangerous. You don't want to make the spring uneven or crooked. Doing it the way I did it, you really only need to do it once them the spring retains the slightly decompressed state pretty much permanently. It also stretches it a bit more evenly if the force is distributed evenly on it.

mod note: Please avoid back-to-back posts, use Edit instead. Two posts merged.

Got my cera back. Very nice unexpected surprise. Threw a bit of bubble hash in it, not even 1/4 of a bowl full I'd guess, and I got huge hits off of it a few times last night, another hit or 2 before work this morning. I'm going to guess I'll get even more hits after work as well.

I guess now is as good of a time as any to check out how to clean this LL cart.


One thing I haven't figured out yet is how to use this in an 18mm bong. Anyone got a good pic showing how to set that up? I'll look around.

b0rd2dEAth said:

Edit: actually a shimmy feels kind of dangerous. The spring is tougher than you think and trying to wedge something in it feels kind of wrong. I feel that doing this can bend the spring in a wrong way..

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It's a shim (shimmy is a auto front end problem....), you don't wedge anything in or bend anything. Just put a dime on top of the end of the battery after you drop it in before you screw the end cap on. The dime goes flat, between the battery minus end and the spring?

OF

Just received shipment notification from TET.

just got my cera eo in the mail. the cerz sure feels solid. mine didn't come with mine didn't come with the safety pin thingy for traveling is that normal? charging the battery up at the moment.

even though its not really need i still would kinda like one. i'm one of those person who like to save everything, hahha i know i got problems. batteries are charged time to gave it a test drive.

ilovebOObs said:

. mine didn't come with mine didn't come with the safety pin thingy for traveling is that normal?

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steama said:

I threw that thing away. I think that pin is worthless/pointless. Just remove your battery if your are concerned about it accidentally turning on.

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It should have been there. While I too no longer use it (I also disassemble it somehow to render it safe) TV will, I'm sure, be happy to mail you one. IMO each owner should at least try it.

Enjoy your Cera at any rate.

OF

thanks for the help guys. but it was a false alarm, i found the saftey pin, it was on the floor, i only found it after being hi, hahahah first test run is a success feelin pretty good right now .

I have kept quiet on the cleaning of the EO cart since my opinion is not a popular one. I torch my EO cart clean but I can afford to buy replacements. I have been cleaning combusted and vapor gear for a very long time, some build ups won't disolve even after days soaking in 91% alcohol. Even glass sometimes needs the shake and break method with 91% ISO and coarse salt to scrub it off. Torching reduces hard to get resins to ash. The point is I have also found that the impurities in my oil seem to sink to the bottom and build up after a few grams in the EO cart which results in me heating the cart hotter to get it to soften to allow air to pass through. On two occasion after a few grams of oil through the cart and loading some fresh oil I had black sludge bubble up, it also leaked out the bottom above the threads. I knew my contaminates had to be somewhere but they never seemed to effect the taste upon loading new oil. The second time it happened was after my first boil 30mi, 91% ISO for 10min, 10min boil, and oven to dry and on the second load of oil, so the cleaning I did did not clean out the air path. Torching has solved this problem and has kept the airflow much more free flowing.

Sadly after 2 weeks I must part with the Cera so it can visit its makers for awhile. In this two weeks I have barely touched the nails or health stones, 10 g has been run through the Cera and I could use a serious pause in oil consumption. I know I will be looking forward to picking back up where I left off when it returns.