Discontinued Custom Crafty Battery Packs for Easy Replacement

JCat

JCat

Well-Known Member
Accessory Maker
I have custom Crafty Battery Packs available for easy replacement of your battery pack. I started this project as I felt there should be an easy replacement available, that didn't require shipping your vaporizer back, especially for those of us with a vaporizer out of warranty.

CwPRH2T.jpg


These battery packs come ready to install with a pre-soldered wiring harness that meets or exceeds the specifications of the original. These are perfect for those of you that don't want to spend the time, don't have the tools, or simply aren't comfortable enough, to de-solder and re-solder the wiring harness from the original battery to a new one.

oGIl9rW.jpg


I've also sourced appropriate name brand cells with tabs for optimal performance based on others feedback in this forum, which guided my research (thanks @Vambo1980 for pointing me towards the Sony VTC6 3120mAh cell and for other inspiration and for answering my questions :)) The wire used for the harness is silver plated and rated for high current and low temperature operation.

I'm selling these packs for $40 USD + shipping.


The following are the instructions for installing your battery pack:

http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=09116962006551867733

And here's the video instructions for installing the pack (doesn't cover removing the existing pack completely though, as I'm removing my custom pack and installing another one of my custom packs):



Please let me know if you have any questions or comments!
JCat
 
Last edited by a moderator:
JCat

JCat

Well-Known Member
Accessory Maker
FYI - Based on my calculations using the specifications for the stock Panasonic NCR18650PF battery vs. the Sony VTC6 (found on the online e-cigarette forum, https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com), one will get approximately 15% increased performance over the stock battery. This is not an inflated claim but rather one based on the actual performance of the 2 cells in a real world situation such as this.

Edit: I did look at using some of the 3,500mAh cells on the market, as I'm sure that is what is in the newer Crafty to claim 20% more battery life; I could alternately use the Panasonic NCR18650GA cells, with 3,300mAh capacity and a nominal voltage of 3.6v; however, the Sony VTC6 cell, with it's nominal voltage of 3.7v, although having ~5% less overall capacity than the NCR18650GA, performs better throughout it's discharge and so you are sacrificing a very slight length of runtime for better performance and heat-up/recovery times during use, especially as the battery depletes.

Cheers!
JCat
 
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Hogni

Hogni

Honi soit qui mal y pense
Great mod!
Sorry for my dumb questions, I'm new to this device but will probably get a Mighty the next months, but does it only fit to the Plenty or does the Mighty have the same batts?
 
Hogni,
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JCat

JCat

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Accessory Maker
Hogni said:
Great mod!
Sorry for my dumb questions, I'm new to this device but will probably get a Mighty the next months, but does it only fit to the Plenty or does the Mighty have the same batts?
Click to expand...
Mighty has 2 batteries vs 1. I’m not sure how exactly they are wired though. I’d have to open one to have a look.

I would imagine it’s the same connectors and batteries though ...

I traded my Mighty for a FF2 a while back though!

I think the Mighty batteries tend to last longer as well as being a 2 pack they don’t get pushed as hard since the 2 devices pull about the same current
 
JCat

JCat

Well-Known Member
Accessory Maker
Thanks! I've actually been making this one for maybe a year or so, but hadn't advertised it much. I have hobbies of woodworking and electronics and am a software developer by trade and just generally have always liked to "create" things to solve problems ... this battery pack and the Supreme v3 Electric Mod really fall into those areas.

I wanted to replace the Crafty battery for myself and felt that it should be easier for those without soldering/electronics capability. When I looked into it though, it ended up being a little more involved then I @ first thought as the connector/wire gauge for the current flow passing through there is borderline ok, so I'm using silver plated wires with a very specific high temp coating to be able to handle higher currents then would be typical in that gauge while still fitting the connector. Anyways, my research and trial and error figuring this one out cost me a couple hundred dollars in parts + the crimping tool for the connectors, so wanted to recuperate some of those costs :)

I don't sell a lot of these but I've a little better than recuperated my costs at this point :)

The Supreme V3 Electric Mod seems to be a hotter ticket item! :lol: The reason I built those is I've been thinking about it for quite a while, and one of my concerns was the ability for the coil to maintain a consistent temp at the bowl since it's measuring the temp at the coil instead of bowl ... when I saw Ed's v4, this gave me the encouragement I needed to spend the time machining the first prototype out of some aluminum I had kicking around and to order a flat coil to give it a go. Am I ever glad I did because I love my Supreme v3 Electric! I hope others do as well :)
 
Doktor Dub

Doktor Dub

Well-Known Member
Hogni said:
Great mod!
Sorry for my dumb questions, I'm new to this device but will probably get a Mighty the next months, but does it only fit to the Plenty or does the Mighty have the same batts?
Click to expand...

JCat said:
I think the Mighty batteries tend to last longer as well as being a 2 pack they don’t get pushed as hard since the 2 devices pull about the same current
Click to expand...

Probably not so important and not financialy interesting for the Mighty, for 70 Euro s&b Germany changes your Mighty batteries and deep cleans the whole Vape.

One question / suggestion: Would it be possible to build something that you can change the battery of the crafty and you have a little plug hanging at the outside where you can plug in a second external battery which can then be used like the internal?
Probably not but that would be a great plus for the Crafty. I know you can use an usb battery pack but this can only charge so you have to wait for this...
 
JCat

JCat

Well-Known Member
Accessory Maker
Doktor Dub said:
Probably not so important and not financialy interesting for the Mighty, for 70 Euro s&b Germany changes your Mighty batteries and deep cleans the whole Vape.

One question / suggestion: Would it be possible to build something that you can change the battery of the crafty and you have a little plug hanging at the outside where you can plug in a second external battery which can then be used like the internal?
Probably not but that would be a great plus for the Crafty. I know you can use an usb battery pack but this can only charge so you have to wait for this...
Click to expand...
Agreed on the mighty. For 70 Euro that's a pretty decent price. I've heard the prices for the Crafty battery replaces are ~$100 USD and you have to ship your unit in on this side of the pond :)

As far as wiring an external connector for another battery, to avoid problems with batteries of different levels etc., you wouldn't just be able to put them in parallel, but would have to actually switch off the other one when using the external for it to be safe; and I just don't see the room in an already tight space to add all that (even just the connector would be tricky, let alone the bypass switching electronics)
 
mixchu69

mixchu69

Well-Known Member
Doktor Dub said:
Probably not so important and not financialy interesting for the Mighty, for 70 Euro s&b Germany changes your Mighty batteries and deep cleans the whole Vape.

One question / suggestion: Would it be possible to build something that you can change the battery of the crafty and you have a little plug hanging at the outside where you can plug in a second external battery which can then be used like the internal?
Probably not but that would be a great plus for the Crafty. I know you can use an usb battery pack but this can only charge so you have to wait for this...
Click to expand...
Not in the U.S. If you have an early mighty, they will no longer change your batteries because of the new configuration (they stated that they cannot fit the new batteries in the early mighty's) They offered me a new mighty at $259 but I passed. Im thinking crafty with the @JCat battery hack is a better solution.
 
JCat

JCat

Well-Known Member
Accessory Maker
mixchu69 said:
Not in the U.S. If you have an early mighty, they will no longer change your batteries because of the new configuration (they stated that they cannot fit the new batteries in the early mighty's) They offered me a new mighty at $259 but I passed. Im thinking crafty with the @JCat battery hack is a better solution.
Click to expand...
I can work with my you on replacing the batteries if you like too ... seems to me it’s the same wiring connector so just a matter of finding out what’s in there and how it’s wired.
 
Doktor Dub

Doktor Dub

Well-Known Member
mixchu69 said:
Not in the U.S. If you have an early mighty, they will no longer change your batteries because of the new configuration (they stated that they cannot fit the new batteries in the early mighty's) They offered me a new mighty at $259 but I passed.
Click to expand...

That is sad, i mean they could source some fitting batteries for the older units.... shit like this is one of the reason butane vapes are so appealing... :2c:
 
JCat

JCat

Well-Known Member
Accessory Maker
Doktor Dub said:
That is sad, i mean they could source some fitting batteries for the older units.... shit like this is one of the reason butane vapes are so appealing... :2c:
Click to expand...
Yeah ... I'm really disappointed to hear that actually ... seems really shitty that they won't repair their product and are insisting you purchase a new one ... to be forced to buy a new device because you need to replace the batteries is ludicrous. Even @ 30-40% off, it's still an insult. You pay good money for these devices, then take good care of them so they last, there lifespan shouldn't be limited by how long the company will be willing to change the battery for (at a fee at that!)

Anyways ... not cool of S&B that's for sure ...

At any rate, based on the following picture, I'm 95+% sure that just my standard Crafty battery pack x 2 will work fine in the Mighty. The wire length seems fine (and has more room then in the Crafty to install)

mighty_side.jpg
mighty_side.jpg
 
KeroZen

KeroZen

Chronic vapaholic
Woah, 2600mAh for only 8A CDR, that's a pretty crappy cell they are using!

For $11.50 you can get two LG HG2 that are 3000mAh with a 18A CDR >> https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10004182/2535100-authentic-lg-18650hg2-3-6v-3000mah-rechargeable

And seeing they don't need more than 8A you could even use the Panasonic/Sanyo NCR18650GA for $6 a pop, and you get 3500mAh with a CDR of 10A >> https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001901/3935902-authentic-sanyo-ncr-18650ga-3-6v-3500mah

The Sony VTC6 @JCat selected is indeed a very good choice, although it might have a lower cycle life than the HG2 and 30Q, but in return its discharge characteristics are excellent. If you are considering getting your S&B device factory upgraded and refreshed, I would advise you to contact @JCat instead, unless you enjoy being milked like a (cash) cow!
 
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JCat

JCat

Well-Known Member
Accessory Maker
KeroZen said:
Woah, 2600mAh for only 8A CDR, that's a pretty crappy cell they are using!

For $11.50 you can get two LG HG2 that are 3000mAh with a 18A CDR >> https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10004182/2535100-authentic-lg-18650hg2-3-6v-3000mah-rechargeable

And seeing they don't need more than 8A you could even use the Panasonic/Sanyo NCR18650GA for $6 a pop, and you get 3500mAh with a CDR of 10A >> https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001901/3935902-authentic-sanyo-ncr-18650ga-3-6v-3500mah

The Sony VTC6 @JCat selected is indeed a very good choice, although it might have a lower cycle life than the HG2 and 30Q, but in return its discharge characteristics are excellent. If you are considering getting your S&B device factory upgraded and refreshed, I would advise you to contact @JCat instead, unless you enjoy being milked like a (cash) cow!
Click to expand...
I actually tested both an HG2 as well as a stock Panasonic NCR18650PF before deciding on a Sony VTC6. You are correct that the discharge characteristics of the Sony VTC6 are superior, and you may be correct that it will get an overall lower cycle life (if anyone wants an LG HG2 one though, I have one here that's already made up!)

My main bottleneck on producing these, is there just hasn't been much demand, and my batteries I have to order from overseas. I may purchase a spot welder to weld my own battery tabs on and that would resolve that main bottleneck, but there would have to be the demand to warrant it. Perhaps it would be worthwhile just to offer batteries with tabs for sale somewhere in general ... or custom spot welded packs for a fee ... hmmm ...
 
KeroZen

KeroZen

Chronic vapaholic
I considered getting a spot welder at some point but they were really expensive. But I stumbled on several youtube tutorials to DIY them from scratch using parts from salvaged microwave ovens. The other day I found a dumpster oven in the street and brought it back to the office, I'll see whether I can use it or not.

Might be more involved than what you intended but apparently it's not overly complicated.

Otherwise if you are very careful and quick, it's possible to use a soldering iron. The key is to pre-tin your lead more and just pre-tin a bit the battery terminals. Then when you solder the two, apply the heat only on the wires. If you use some flux, the solder should flow pretty fast and hopefully the cell doesn't see much heat and only for a short while... But yeah, this is dangerous anyways.
 
KeroZen,
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somerandomguy1

somerandomguy1

Well-Known Member
JCat said:
Yes. I just sold my last one in stock, and have another dozen batteries with tabs on their way to me from the Netherlands so should have more available soon. (Hopefully within a couple weeks?)
Click to expand...

Glad to hear. I'll gladly be buying one it seems. SB quoted me $190 for a whole replacement crafty instead of offering a battery replacement. F-That. I'll gladly do it myself with your mod at that price haha. Cheers m8.
 
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