Arizer Solo
- Thread starter Rockwise
- Start date
-
- Tags
- arizer battery powered
TheWhisper
Well-Known Member
The shortest GonG I have is the one from PV.
Yes, IMO, the Air stems are worth trying. They make a useful 'poor man's GonG' and are also good for general use I think. For ten bucks you can find out?
Battery replacement is easy, many of us have done it, but I'd stick with the factory battery if you don't know what you're doing. Batteries from EBay have risks. Pack from CentiZen are a solid call IMO, the man knows his stuff.
Depends on what you want. Yes, for the time being they will easily outperform a dead battery? Happy customers are to be expected. However, consider, if those cells made a superior battery don't you think Arizer would be using them? They 'did everything else right', didn't they? They take a long view on such things, that battery has to last in a tough job.
Some batteries work great alone, but not in matched sets like in a battery pack. As long as they're matched they work like a fine team of horses and the wagon goes straight and fast. But, when one gets weaker than the other, the stronger one 'beats him up all the more'. The good cell hammers the weak one into an early grave. The pack must stay balanced though it's life. Building packs from random (unsorted) cells is sure to build a hot but short lived pack, even if the 'kitchen table makers' used cells with welded tabs like the pros do (soldering to the cell directly is 'playing dice with the devil', no legit maker does that).
There's a big clue that laptops and Electric Cars use the same class of 'low power' cells as well, they too are wise. Go to a 'battery house' and check what cells they sell with tabs (to make packs from), you won't find such 'better' cells.
IMO Arizer did it right. They used the 'state of the art' cells, a solid protection PCB and a (rare) thermal protection unit:
That's the protection PCB between the cells and the thermal protector (the white thing at the top), they didn't include that thermal protection (not normally there.....) to run the cost up, they saw a real need for it? Notice that when I rebuilt the pack above I used appropriate cells with welded tabs (the solder connections are isolated from the body of the cell) of the type intended to build packs, not the highest capacity in the book.
Your call, but my advice is above. Unless you know a LOT about this, and are using selected cells with welded tabs designed for the duty and are including the thermal protection Arizer thinks is important (like I did....) I'd stick with the factory (or Centizen's) offering. I would not be trusting some random guy on EBay who's not even using his real name........
OF
Unfortunately, as I found out when buying my replacement battery, @CentiZen is no longer active on FC or selling battery packs. I sense a business niche reopening!
OF
Well-Known Member
Sadly, that's my impression as well, still a guy can hope........
If someone wants to 'take the plunge' on our behalf, I'm happy to give what advice I can to them. I've sourced appropriate cells, PCBs, connectors and the shrink jackets. The thermal overloads I've found are similar but a different temperature so I've salvaged the ones from factory packs (something not possible making replacements in bulk) but hopefully that too can be found?
And I know how to match the cells to make a long lived pack......or at least think I do. PM me if you want to get into the trade?
Another reliable source in the market is a good thing.
OF
Episode666
Well-Known Member
Using this pack in my Solo for the past 2-3 weeks. Looks/perform A1, shipped prompty, can't say much else. Oh yeah, battery was completely dead on arrival, that was a bummer.
http://xpresstekstore.com/arizer-solo-battery-3400-mah-high-capacity-replacement/
Edit: I see it's the same in the eBay link. 100% feedback and 834 units sold on this listing is solid IMO, but shipping to Canada through their eBay listing was more expensive than directly from their store site.
http://xpresstekstore.com/arizer-solo-battery-3400-mah-high-capacity-replacement/
Edit: I see it's the same in the eBay link. 100% feedback and 834 units sold on this listing is solid IMO, but shipping to Canada through their eBay listing was more expensive than directly from their store site.
Last edited:
Episode666
Well-Known Member
Hence why I mentioned it. Nonetheless, it brought my unit back to life beautifully.
Would you guys like me to go all out and vape 10 bowls in a row see how's the total capacity? Just looking for an excuse to spend the whole day vaped af here!
OF
Well-Known Member
I agree, this is a HUGE red flag to me. This class of cells (only a battery when in a pack.....look it up....) should be stored (and come to you) at about 70% charge. This is well documented. Those coming 100% charged and more importantly dead flat are clear indications of someone not caring about the survival of t he cells in the pack.
Worse still, it may point to a defective cell 'out of the box'. Self discharge could be in play, meaning there's no way in the nether regions the cells are balanced.
Recharge may restore operation by covering up a defect, but it's in no way a correction for what should not be happening. If it were me, it'd be on the way back for a refund. You won't get a dead pack from Arizer or CentiZen.........
Likewise a vape with a built in battery that reaches you dead (or other then about 3/4 charged) is a warning sign that you shouldn't expect normal battery life.
Your call, as always, but IMO the red flags should overpower the little voices and wisdom from the net here.
OF
Alright this other battery sounds fishy enough, I'll pick up an official one. Basically, my airzer solo refurbishment bill was going too far up (new battery, new glass, new charger, new power adapter), so I just bought a new arizer air instead, but all that made me realize is that I want to refurbish my solo and start using it. I might sell the arizer air and get a boundless or a enano or something.
Anyways. Does anyone have experience with 3rd party power adapters and 3rd party chargers for the arizer solo? I want to buy a power adapter that has adjustable amperage and voltage so that I can use just one adapter to charge or 'pass through power' the solo from same power adapter. My arizer solo is an M1B serial number and those didn't have the feature to be used while its being charged.
I'd love to hear a comparison with a solo once it gets here.
Mod note: posts merged.
Anyways. Does anyone have experience with 3rd party power adapters and 3rd party chargers for the arizer solo? I want to buy a power adapter that has adjustable amperage and voltage so that I can use just one adapter to charge or 'pass through power' the solo from same power adapter. My arizer solo is an M1B serial number and those didn't have the feature to be used while its being charged.
I'd love to hear a comparison with a solo once it gets here.
Mod note: posts merged.
Last edited by a moderator:
OF
Well-Known Member
If your Solo is old enough to be 'true PA' you don't need adjustable current (but you do need 2.5 Amps capability in PA mode, not the one Amp needed to charge). You need to lower the 12 Volts to something in the 7 to 9 Volt range.
Before they went out of style, Pipes was selling a well received "all in one" charger along the lines of the versions I cobbled up. You might PM him and see if he has stock?
FWIW, this is what an early prototype looked like:
It's a simple regulator (voltage reducer) to drop 12 Volts to 8 or so, but it needs a bigger 12 Volt supply to drive it so it can deliver the required 2.5 Amps for heating.
OF
ataxian
PALE BLUE DOT
If your Solo is old enough to be 'true PA' you don't need adjustable current (but you do need 2.5 Amps capability in PA mode, not the one Amp needed to charge). You need to lower the 12 Volts to something in the 7 to 9 Volt range.
Before they went out of style, Pipes was selling a well received "all in one" charger along the lines of the versions I cobbled up. You might PM him and see if he has stock?
FWIW, this is what an early prototype looked like:
It's a simple regulator (voltage reducer) to drop 12 Volts to 8 or so, but it needs a bigger 12 Volt supply to drive it so it can deliver the required 2.5 Amps for heating.
OF
Chill out!
Episode666
Well-Known Member
You're right! The battery lasted 122 minutes (10 whole sessions, + 2 minutes).
sickmanfraud
Well-Known Member
I'll try, but I always use my Solo in a way that mimics convection. I heat my Solo to # 7. While heating Solo I fill the stem. Once the Solo is at top temp I insert my stem, start drawing. I remove the stem while not drawing.
I know Solo is Conduction, this gets the closest to convection.
i know our resident power maven , @OF will state that the Solo is 100 conduction.
@Episode666 I am not sure that running the battery"dry" is great for the battery. @OF will hopefully chime in on that
She does appear CIVILIZED!
Last edited by a moderator:
I was really just hoping for a general purpose power adapter ordered out of china. Those exist right? With knobs and meters and a little led display that tell you what voltage/amperage you're outputting the current at..If your Solo is old enough to be 'true PA' you don't need adjustable current (but you do need 2.5 Amps capability in PA mode, not the one Amp needed to charge). You need to lower the 12 Volts to something in the 7 to 9 Volt range.
Before they went out of style, Pipes was selling a well received "all in one" charger along the lines of the versions I cobbled up. You might PM him and see if he has stock?
FWIW, this is what an early prototype looked like:
It's a simple regulator (voltage reducer) to drop 12 Volts to 8 or so, but it needs a bigger 12 Volt supply to drive it so it can deliver the required 2.5 Amps for heating.
OF
Also, I never fill the solo's bowl to the full, its pretty much 100% convection that way imo.
Last edited:
uhranium
Well-Known Member
when I took apart my old solo for switching the battery, I ditched the black part that covers the battery. Now I also left out the screws and just put a quick strap of tape to hold the bottom. Turned my solo into a vape with replacable batteries. Having 2 batteries lying around I can make a quick change within the session.
OF
Well-Known Member
Sure, you can do that if you want. The connector is a problem, it's not common and 'out of spec' for this Voltage (you won't find say a cell phone charger that works on Solo), but you can cut the end of the old factory charger.
I get what you're saying about how your load doesn't touch the cup so it can't be conduction but my 'take' is based on Thermodynamics. How the heat that does the evaporation flows to the load. You need a lot of heat (in calories, not degrees) to make vapor. Consider boiling a pot of water on the stove. You put heat in for a long time and the temperature slowly climbs to 212F (or 100C if you insist) when it starts to boil. From then on, until the water is gone, it doesn't get any hotter but the heat from the stove still goes into the pan. That heat (in calories) is what's converting liquid to gas (making vapor).
Same happens in a vape. Just getting to load to 390F or so isn't making vapor, you need to continue to add more heat for that to happen.
In order to do that work (brining in the heat) with hot air, the air has to be hotter going in than coming out, right? And it comes out of the load at 390F so it has to be hotter than the cup going in to be convection. Think about convection vapes, like VG or TV. The source of the heated air is very hot, like 1300F? It's kinda like the guys that like to think Vapman uses radiation (again, it needs a large 'delta' in temperatures for that. Them's the rules, Science wise.
Salesmen use a different set of rules, of course, or at least ignore some that don't help their cause.
Regards to all,
OF
ataxian
PALE BLUE DOT
I have a FRENCH Wife!
There must be some CIVILIZED activity ?
The SOLO is great for reading!
ataxian
PALE BLUE DOT
sickmanfraud
Well-Known Member
Lets not forget the parents trying to make the tuition costs. Parents of college kids need to be CIVILIZED (and a bit chilled) too.
OF
Well-Known Member
And they need to remember it's those kids who will pick a 'retirement home' for them and divide up their goods........
OF
sickmanfraud
Well-Known Member
OF
Well-Known Member
A common enough tactic for sure, but IMO not without it's downsides? Without the threat of 'being left out of the will', decisions like 'should we save a little more money on the home where the patients wash their own sheets and bedpans?' become easier to resolve. Gives them a bit more to divide up at least.......
Whatever you do, if the Solo is all you've got left don't tell 'em who gets it?
OF
