Discontinued Thermovape Cera

steama said:

Man, I have had my Cera back for about 3 days and I have to say I appreciate this product more than any other purchase I have made in a long time. I love the way it has been designed and I have pretty much gravitated to a using a stock Cera as designed with a #35 silicon tip. I had put a protective grip but found it destroyed the elegance of the piece so I cut the damn thing off — I have just made up my mind not to drop it (fingers crossed). The materials and the way the Cera feels in my hand is very quality. I can't see how to improve on the LL cart at all. It reminds me of the variables that make a great espresso like grind, tamp pressure, temperature, water pressure, and extraction speed. If you want a great espresso you have to know your business. I look at the Cera the same way. I love the control of grind, draw speed, ability to control the extraction temperature and vapor cloud. I like how you know, with little experience, just exactly how extracted your material is without looking. I have never had something like this being so easy to clean. I had not realized there can be true joy from not have to clean and dig out sticky crap simply to enjoy yourself — with Cera there is NONE OF THAT. Of course how drastically the Cera will cut down on your medicine use and economize it. One user claimed 5X less but I have cut back ONLY 50%. lol

I can think of no other product in this category that can rock ones world like the Cera. For me the Cera is worth every penny and the perfect product for my needs. I am becoming a vapor control freak.

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I see you retired a super vapezilla, I had one of those! Retired as well,thanks for reminding me! I should get my CEO next week so I should get it next week hopefully. It's goin to be harder to wait for my cera if people like steama keep posting these threads on how much they love their cera!

BLAZING OG said:

Sounds like a inner copper strap issue, you might want to contact TET and send her in to get the proper touch up!!!!
Mine did the same at one point ,sent her in and havent had an issue since receiving her back(2months)!


Thanks OF, Iam so horrible with this kinda stuff but you painted a vivd image for me!!!!I somehow understand exactly what our saying........as far as the spring, I though i could solder a spring to the nut the cart screws into that then would allow the battery to make contact, but i think you cleared that up for me(no go)!
I have a few question about the battery connection, once I solder in nut, then file down nut and fitting to allow battery to touch bottom of cart, do i need to add a spring on the inside of the end cap, or is this copper body complete the connection????
My 18650 is partially wrapped at the bottom corners , so iam not sure if this is a good enough connection?
Also can a AW 18350 work this same way just a smaller body, for an ultra mini body?

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The button top on the battery needs to touch the allen bolt sticking out of the bottom of the EO cart. Touching it against the nut won't work. The threaded area is positive and the allen bolt is negative or vies versa.
Mine worked fine without soilder if you wanted to test yours out. I did soilder it once I picked up some silver soilder though.

steama said:

One user claimed 5X less but I have cut back ONLY 50%. lol

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That was me comparing the amount of herb I use in the pax vs the cera. I use almost a full 2pc space case small grinder's worth in the pax. I get between 4-5 bowls in the cera with the same grinder full. The pax is one of the largest capacity vapes I've owned, so it is more like packing a combustion bowl to me. Not very efficient at all in my experiences, but I still enjoy the pax....I just GREATLY prefer my cera.

BLAZING OG said:

Thanks OF, Iam so horrible with this kinda stuff but you painted a vivd image for me!!!!I somehow understand exactly what our saying.

I have a few question about the battery connection, once I solder in nut, then file down nut and fitting to allow battery to touch bottom of cart, do i need to add a spring on the inside of the end cap, or is this copper body complete the connection????
My 18650 is partially wrapped at the bottom corners , so iam not sure if this is a good enough connection?
Also can a AW 18350 work this same way just a smaller body, for an ultra mini body?

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I hope that first part scares you as much as it does me? You're welcome, of course, glad you're having fun with it.

You probably need a spring unless you're using a sliding end cap as a switch by pushing up on it and pinching the battery between the end cap and the tit on the cart above. In such cases the sliding contacts will 'wipe clean' most likely giving good contact. Many 'killer flashlights' are built this way.

Yes, chop 30mm out of the body tube and swap a 18350 for the 18650 and start having trouble finding your vape.....

Delphi said:

Iv'e managed to overfill the oil cart already, I have oil in the main body, is it ok to boil the main body of the cera ?

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Hello again Delphi. Sorry to hear about your mishap, I've never done it personally but twice now I've loaned it out to have the borrower get oil everywhere by leaving the latching switch on (one guy did it twice, just to proove it wasn't a random goof.....). Big mess for sure.

I'm in the 'don't risk boiling it' bunch, I fear the strip cover coming loose. Instead I did it in multiple passes with ISO and a rag. After wiping out most of it I was left with junk around the screw plate. I packed the cart end with paper towels (which I changed a couple times), stood it on end, and used a syringe to drip some ISO into the gap between the plate and wall and kind of filled that area up slowly letting it soak down through. I angled the tube a bit so the drops would hit the edge of the plate as I rotated the tube. It was a 15ml syringe IIRC. 3 or 4 times had most of it. I used it for a while then a couple more 'washes' got the last of it. When Tim stripped down the tube to put the new version strap in (one of the first, no problems with it yet.....) that area was clean except a tiny bit on the screws themselves.

OF

OF said:

Secondly, after you've done that, simply file the end back (nut and fitting) until the EO threads in far enough?

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Damn! I was about to strut in here going "Ahhh the clever trick is..." but my thunder has been thoroughly deflated

Yup blazing og, after you get the nut soldered, just find a flat file (or faster a bench grinder) and keep filing away the top of the bolt until it's thin enough to let the cera cart poke through and touch the battery.

The soldering is easier if you start with the torch farther away and gently bring it closer to keep control of the heat, melt the solder bit by bit to fill in all the spaces nice and even.

Lastly the endcap, I put a blob of solder in the bottom of my first one to contact the battery but found out I didn't need it if I hammered the end caps flat. When you buy the endcaps they are rounded/buldging out (or at least mine were) so if you just hammer the center of the outside of the cap you'll push the buldge so that it sticks out inside the cap and touches the battery. (If you don't add a switch it can tailstand too just remember to to twist it off!)

I received my Cera back two days ago. Total time away from me was 9 days... Pretty quick IMO.

The first thing I noticed was a quicker warm up and MUCH brighter glow, at least compared to just before it died on me.

It works soooooo much better than it ever did! Effortless almost. My vapor production seems larger, easier and quicker than before. And I can now easily let a battery run for about 18 minutes and be satisfied with production. Before, seemed like I needed/wanted a full battery at the start of every session. I can now easily vape half a bowl and come back to it to finish later with the the same battery. Before, there was no way I could do this on the same battery and it wasn't so effortless with a new battery.

Looks like TET has their production perfected now. I hope it doesn't degrade from this point because this thing now hits every bit of the way I hoped it would from the original pre-purchase. This thing is awesome!

TET just posted this YouTube vid on their FB page. I notice the usage of a thumb-switch in many of these shots. Does this mean they might still be toying with the idea, or are these pre-production units being shown in an advert-style video?

is that the mini on the desktop lcd next to the cera when Nate is talking?

^^^^that must be an old video. It has a thumb switch and a momentary bottom switch.

Yeah, that doesn't quite seem like the same product that they're delivering right now. I noticed the thumb switching shots and the instructional section at the end appears to illustrate the use of a latching switch.

I did find the shot of the guy riding a bike while hitting his Cera to be kind of amusing though.

scottfree said:

is that the mini on the desktop lcd next to the cera when Nate is talking?

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I think that may be a T1.

I'm hoping that the mini will be at most half the size of the original Cera.

coffinoff said:

I did find the shot of the guy riding a bike while hitting his Cera to be kind of amusing though.

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That had me cracking up.

scottfree said:

That had me cracking up.

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He needs a steama special BMX grip, for sure!

UpUpandAway said:

I think that may be a T1.

I'm hoping that the mini will be at most half the size of the original Cera.

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it looks like 3 O-rings like the EO core and I think I see vent holes kind of like the Cera.

scottfree said:

is that the mini on the desktop lcd next to the cera when Nate is talking?

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Upon further inspection as a zoomed still frame it appears to just be the current non-ceramic elements + drip tip + 18650 stacked in a 3D view. It appears shorter because it is not stacked on "top" of a switch assembly and there is no ceramic "body" around the parts.

Always thirsty for more Cera info, even after the honeymoon

The evidence for your own inspection, in original resolution, cropped:

QuantumTimeSpace said:

Does this mean they might still be toying with the idea, or are these pre-production units being shown in an advert-style video?

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No, AFAIK that's still off the books. There's a lot of old video in there, Noah hasn't been there since Christmas or so. Notice half or more of the Cera shots have noting in that switch position? Notice also it shows someone using the latching switch, of which I think I have the only one remaining?

This is, I think, a general promotional video. It's about tobacco and Nicotine, not bud and EO.

scottfree said:

is that the mini on the desktop lcd next to the cera when Nate is talking?

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I seriously doubt it, at that time there were no solid plans for the mini (there was a discussion I was party to, they didn't even know what battery it would use at that point). I make it out to be an Evolution on an Ultra body? Or a prototype I never saw that well. There were boxes of random parts around in those days. Some looked like the final ones, some were truly strange.

My 'take' on the random stuff I've been told is the mini is more a matter of lighter than smaller. I believe it uses the same core and battery which pretty much dictates something similar size wise? There's concern, I think, that Cera is not 'pocket friendly' enough for the e-cig guys who keep it all day in a pocket.

coffinoff said:

I did find the shot of the guy riding a bike while hitting his Cera to be kind of amusing though.

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You mean the guy riding a bike on the street without a helmet? How safety conscious (or legal in California) is that? BTW that's the shop in the background I think, for sure it's one of the similar buildings within a block or so.....

OF

OF said:

You mean the guy riding a bike on the street without a helmet? How safety conscious (or legal in California) is that? BTW that's the shop in the background I think, for sure it's one of the similar buildings within a block or so.....

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I do believe you are right, looks like their office complex. If I am not mistaken, the guy on the bike re-soldered my collapsed spring!! Also see Zeki in one of the shots.. Good vid but only makes me want a different switch!

I was about to post the same observation ("is that the mini"), but everyone beat me to it. If you look at a closeup of the blueprint (@2:00 and @2:38), rather than the image on the monitor earlier, you'll see the drawing of the Mini next to the Cera; don't know if they ever made a prototype though. It's also the first time I've seen the coil close up (@1:25 in), and I'm astounded how tightly wound it is (i.e., how close the turns are to each other). Gives me a new perspective on why OF has been saying how hard it is to bring the resistance up to 1.0Ω or higher!

Oh, and I suspect the reason you're seeing the top slide switch used once or twice is because some of the clips in this piece were shot before the decision was made to change the switch arrangement. Same thing with regard to the latching bottom switch. There is one section (@ 2:15) where the voice over is explaining how to use the Cera by "turning on the [bottom] switch for 30 seconds" (which is ambiguous as to whether she's talking about a latching switch or a momentary switch), while the video clearly shows the use of a bottom latching switch.

I miss Noah's clouds and smashes though. I hope he's doing well.

toros23 said:

I do believe you are right, looks like their office complex. If I am not mistaken, the guy on the bike re-soldered my collapsed spring!! Also see Zeki in one of the shots.. Good vid but only makes me want a different switch!

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Correct both times I think.

FWIW I use either the standard momentary switch (for EO) or a kluge alternate action one I made up (for LL use). I keep the prototype latching one in running shape for comparisons and all. Something that doesn't show in the videos about it is it doesn't screw in all the way and still work. Right now it's got a fat o-ring Tim put on it for a spacer. I'm sure if they went that way they'd modify the end cap to remove that.

I'm still confident someone will find a useful switch, the one I used is OK but not really the sort of thing that belongs on a Cera:
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/40-4325-00/512PB-ND/254287
http://media.digikey.com/photos/Judco Mfg Photos/40-2385-01, 40-3145-01, 40-3422-04, 40-4315-00, 40-4316-00, 40-4325-00.jpg

Haywood said:

It's also the first time I've seen the coil close up (@1:25 in), and I'm astounded how tightly wound it is (i.e., how close the turns are to each other). Gives me a new perspective on why OF has been saying how hard it is to bring the resistance up to 1.0Ω or higher!

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Yup, it's tight in there all right. The spindle it's wound on is 1/16 inch in diameter. The overall size is a bit bigger than a toothpick but smaller than a matchstick. All hand fitted into a bitty area.

Tim and I have hatched a scheme to try a very slightly larger diameter (I've got the stuff on order). The max effort Tim managed is about 1.3 Ohms, so a 20% increase in wire length should seal the deal. I hope there's enough room (remember in EO it all has to fit inside the 'doughnut rings). It's only going to be useful if we can figure out how to make it happen without lots and lots of fiddling of course.

Otherwise it's time to order up some slightly thinner wire. That will not only be more Ohms per foot but we can get a turn or two more in hopefully? All you have to do is buy a few thousand dollar spool of wire (but you get enough to make a lifetime of cores......).


OF

OF said:

Two thoughts. First off you need to solder the nut in. Hard or soft. Swaging a steel nut into copper and trying to pass lots of current though it in the face of heat and corrosion won't work. You need a better connection (electrically) and need to seal the metals away from Oxygen or it won't be stable.

Secondly, after you've done that, simply file the end back (nut and fitting) until the EO threads in far enough?

I can't follow the spring idea, it can be done, but soldering springs has to be done with some care, flexing will tear the solder joint up.

OF

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JoeKickass said:

Damn! I was about to strut in here going "Ahhh the clever trick is..." but my thunder has been thoroughly deflated

Yup blazing og, after you get the nut soldered, just find a flat file (or faster a bench grinder) and keep filing away the top of the bolt until it's thin enough to let the cera cart poke through and touch the battery.

The soldering is easier if you start with the torch farther away and gently bring it closer to keep control of the heat, melt the solder bit by bit to fill in all the spaces nice and even.

Lastly the endcap, I put a blob of solder in the bottom of my first one to contact the battery but found out I didn't need it if I hammered the end caps flat. When you buy the endcaps they are rounded/buldging out (or at least mine were) so if you just hammer the center of the outside of the cap you'll push the buldge so that it sticks out inside the cap and touches the battery. (If you don't add a switch it can tailstand too just remember to to twist it off!)

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Thank you both, this helps me tremendously!!!
on a side note i ordered some sample silicone sleeves for the cera, here are the pics and website!!!!
www.componentforce.com





I ordered the clear in 0.96 inches and it fits too perfect its actually a PITA to remove, and the black cap is 1.00 inch and fits great and much easier to take off!!!
Both these sleeves are rated well over 400 degrees just in case!!!!
More pic to come once I can cut out the proper holes!!!!

I also ordered some heavy duty heat shrink in black and white to wrap the cera in and see whats a better fit, the heat shrink wrap or these silicone sleeves!!!!

Blazing OG, is there a 'minimum' amount of these you have to buy? Or can you buy whatever?

These really are a great find. I'm digging the black. I'm not a very colorful guy, more of a shades type of guy, but even a red Cera sounds pretty sweet.

Or neon green.

For the clubs ya dig?

Fuck glow sticks, I want a glow in the dark neon green Cera!

iamn3ko said:

Blazing OG, is there a 'minimum' amount of these you have to buy? Or can you buy whatever?

These really are a great find. I'm digging the black. I'm not a very colorful guy, more of a shades type of guy, but even a red Cera sounds pretty sweet.

Or neon green.

For the clubs ya dig?


Fuck glow sticks, I want a glow in the dark neon green Cera!

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Ilmao Glow in the dark would be pretty EPIC lol

Here's a little secret, yes you have to buy at least 50 to 100 but what I did was ask for a sample , and they sent them to me!!!
There were other websites that you can order 1-5 pieces, let me see if i can find it again!!!!

***EDIT***
Here are a few pics of my first attempt,I ran out of the clear silicone messing around so i had to add the black one to the end cap for now!!!!
A couple with the body sleeve i made and some with the full body sleeve including TET's mouthpiece cover(really looks like a woman's toy now)
And the tool I bought to make the holes, a standard hole punch probably would of worked!!!













**Edit#2**

without the momentary switch sleeve

Can someone explain like I'm 5 years old why an "on/off" style switch (latching?) is hard to make? Its clear that there is huge demand for it, I just don't get what the challenge is in doing so.

darkrom said:

Can someone explain like I'm 5 years old why an "on/off" style switch (latching?) is hard to make? Its clear that there is huge demand for it, I just don't get what the challenge is in doing so.

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Lawyers. All sorts of whoops could happen to the consumer and TET could be held responsible. Imagine how hot the unit could get if left sitting in the on position. TET does not have control over what battery a consumer will put in the unit, if there was a latching switch and a non protected battery failed because it was on for to long lawyers would have a pay day.

GR said:

Lawyers. All sorts of whoops could happen to the consumer and TET could be held responsible. Imagine how hot the unit could get if left sitting in the on position. TET does not have control over what battery a consumer will put in the unit, if there was a latching switch and a non protected battery failed because it was on for to long lawyers would have a pay day.

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If this is REALLY the only thing holding them back why not just sell it separately with a disclaimer and explain their concerns? I'd like the device infinitely more with this switch, and I'd gladly agree to not sue them if I leave it on somehow.


EDIT:

I'll go one step further and ask Tim/thermovape to please address this. Even if it is simply to say NO CHANCE, can we please have a conversation about what (if anything) it would take to make this an OPTIONAL reality? If not, does anyone know any third party places who might be able to design and sell a toggle style switch for this vape?

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