E-Nano from Epickai

[Doug]

Aw man. I accidentally pulled it ff the night stand and broke my direct draw. I'm not at my place right now, so that was my only option. Time to place an order..

 

[flotntoke]

Damn you, Andy! And, damn the friggin e-nano with gong!!!

She sits on my desk calling me all day. I try to resist, but even when trying to get work done she calls. "Just a little hit or two", she says. "C'mon... you know you want to. Just put a pinch in and drop me on a bubbler." I can only resist so long, and within a few minutes I'm sipping sweet vapor and too buzzed to keep my spreadsheets straight!

Does your sweet little wood bitch do the same to you? She's just so irresistible! So far I think this is my biggest complaint. Too easy to use, too quick to heat up and too damned efficient. Really need to start putting her out of sight until after work - but not today.

Back to work.... but had to come on here and share.

 

[lazylathe]

LMOA!!!
I am the same way... Luckily i work at a company and my E-Nano has to stay at home.
As soon as i get home and say hi to the family and play with the dogs i feel the urge to turn her on and see the familiar little blue light.
A while later i have no pain except the one in my stomach telling me to get some food and turn on the tunes!!!

It is a win/win relationship!!!

 

[ACE OF VAPE]

Andy, as a Nano owner, I am concerned. As you recall, back in April, gvapes posted this:



Last Thursday, this was posted by Frickr in the Epicvape EV-1/EV-2 thread:


Followed by this post by vtac:

There has been no response from you on this matter in that thread and I am concerned as to how this could relate to the Nano. The electronics, from what I understand, are the same.
Andy, I would like to see the internals, if possible, of Frickr's vape and your determination of what the root cause was of the short/shock. And, I would like to know if this could happen with the Nano.

Here are the internals for the Nano. There are no electronics inside. Only the heating element and Neon bulb. I will post the EV-2 later when I finish it on the EV-2 thread.

 

[z9]

I can't see the picture

 

[ACE OF VAPE]

I can't see the picture

If you can't see the picture try this link:
http://imageshack.us/a/img191/8336/enanocutawaywithphoto.jpg

 

[lazylathe]

Pic works for me on Windows and a Mac

 

[momofthegoons]

Here are the internals for the Nano. There are no electronics inside. Only the heating element and Neon bulb. I will post the EV-2 later when I finish it on the EV-2 thread.

Andy, how can you say that there are no electronics inside the Nano? The LED is an electronic. And it has 120v going across it's wires.

The other thing that is bothering me is that you have, yet again, not answered the question as to what happened with gvapes' Nano. What caused it to shoot sparks when it was plugged in? Have you determined the cause? And how do we know that that same thing will not happen again? Have changes been made?

 

[ACE OF VAPE]

Andy, how can you say that there are no electronics inside the Nano? The LED is an electronic. And it has 120v going across it's wires.

The other thing that is bothering me is that you have, yet again, not answered the question as to what happened with gvapes' Nano. What caused it to shoot sparks when it was plugged in? Have you determined the cause? And how do we know that that same thing will not happen again? Have changes been made?

I appreciate your concern and apologize for not posting sooner. It's not an LED it is a neon light. There are no electronics in the Nano. All the electronics are in housed the externally mounted dimmer switch that is distributed by Phil-Mor and manufactured by Zing electronics including the cord and plug by the hundreds of thousands. I have inspected his nano and can't replicate the spark. There have been no other reported issues of sparks. When I intentionally short out test nanos, the breaker in my shop trips and the triac in the dimmer blows at the same time. Neither of which happened in Gvape's case. My thought at this point is possibly there was a problem in the dimmer which I don't have the capacity to test.

 

[Rebus Canebus]

I appreciate your concern and apologize for not posting sooner. It's not an LED it is a neon light. There are no electronics in the Nano. All the electronics are in housed the externally mounted dimmer switch that is distributed by Phil-Mor and manufactured by Zing electronics including the cord and plug by the hundreds of thousands. I have inspected his nano and can't replicate the spark. There have been no other reported issues of sparks. When I intentionally short out test nanos, the breaker in my shop trips and the triac in the dimmer blows at the same time. Neither of which happened in Gvape's case. My thought at this point is possibly there was a problem in the dimmer which I don't have the capacity to test.

If people are really concerned, couldn't they just plug into a GFCI?

 

[Frickr]

If people are really concerned, couldn't they just plug into a GFCI?

a GFCI plug will measure a "loss" of electricity, or a differance of around 1ma between the conductors. this would protect the user if the power from the circuit went to ground and is primarily used where the circuit could come in contact with water. an AFCI breaker would protect against arcing and is required in all new construction in habitable rooms per the NEC 2008 edition and after. still without proper grounding, there can still be a chance of shock. although a GFCI receptical 'can' be used in older construction where there is only 2 wires going to the outlet to provide a 3 prong "grounded" outlet.

so short answer would be yes, it would add a bit of extra protection but at the end of the day without proper grounding, there could be a chance of a short that could lead to injury. and this is not related just to this vape, but to all electrical appliances.

 

[momofthegoons]

Andy, you have stated again there are "no electronics" in the Nano. However, there is electricity going to the neon light. Perhaps we are arguing about semantics here?

From the EV-1/EV-2 thread:

all i could see on my unit without taking it apart was a burn mark on the inside of the unit around the indicator lamp. it looked to me as if one of the wires attached to the light had made contact with the side of the hole that the light emerges from.

Here is a picture of the inside of my Nano. The wires to the neon light are slightly exposed there. There is nothing holding the neon bulb, fixed, in the hole (no glue or adhesive). There's also nothing holding the wires going into the Nano in place, meaning that they could jam or shift inside the Nano if someone tripped on the cord or the Nano fell.

Also, Andy, you should modify your diagram to include the resistor on the electrical wire to the neon.

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

Andy, you have stated again there are "no electronics" in the Nano. However, there is electricity going to the neon light. Perhaps we are arguing about semantics here?

Electronics deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies.

I think Andy means "electronics" to be motherboards/such things. Obviously there would have to be electricity flowing to power the light and the vape. A little dab of an epoxy or silicone of some sort on the exposed wiring bit would help assuage any worries and keep it in place, but then again I'm 1) getting higher by the second and 2) I forgot what point 2 was. Would that wiring touching the plate at the "bottom" (perspective looking down like that) cause some sort of short-circuit or complete unit failure?

 

[z9]

I think Andy means "electronics" to be motherboards/such things. Obviously there would have to be electricity flowing to power the light and the vape. A little dab of an epoxy or silicone of some sort on the exposed wiring bit would help assuage any worries and keep it in place, but then again I'm 1) getting higher by the second and 2) I forgot what point 2 was. Would that wiring touching the plate at the "bottom" (perspective looking down like that) cause some sort of short-circuit or complete unit failure?

Quetz got it. Electronics = circuit board in this case. It would cause a short if the exposed wire comes into contact with the metal base but I can't see that happening given its location. I think the wires would disconnect or break from the light before they came into contact with the base. A dab of silicone on the wires would prevent both of the above from occurring.

 

[ACE OF VAPE]

Andy, you have stated again there are "no electronics" in the Nano. However, there is electricity going to the neon light. Perhaps we are arguing about semantics here?

From the EV-1/EV-2 thread:



Here is a picture of the inside of my Nano. The wires to the neon light are slightly exposed there. There is nothing holding the neon bulb, fixed, in the hole (no glue or adhesive). There's also nothing holding the wires going into the Nano in place, meaning that they could jam or shift inside the Nano if someone tripped on the cord or the Nano fell.


Also, Andy, you should modify your diagram to include the resistor on the electrical wire to the neon.

You are correct there is a resistor on the neon bulb. I should correct that.
You will notice since you opened up your Nano that the current is completely isolated from the metal.
Did you notice the crease on the shrink wrap over the cord when you opened it up? That's from the pressure of the base on the cord holdiing it in. I'm sure if you pulled as hard as you could directly on the cord, or tripped on it you might get it to move, but you would have to pull it harder than I can, and I'm pretty strong and I can't pull it hard enough to get wires to come loose. There is no way possible to 'jam' the wires. How would you do that?
Now let's consider if your scenario accually did occur. Let's say you managed to pull the wires in such a way that you not only pulled hard enough on the cord but hard enough to get the wires to unravel out of the connectors and they did cross (and I've tested this) The dimmer shorts out,(which is enclosed completely in plastic) and the breaker trips in your house circuit. Because the Nano body is isolated from the current you feel nothing.

I think Andy means "electronics" to be motherboards/such things. Obviously there would have to be electricity flowing to power the light and the vape. A little dab of an epoxy or silicone of some sort on the exposed wiring bit would help assuage any worries and keep it in place,

Because I don't use any glues, silicone, or epoxy in my Vapes, I have a solution. Mr. Zip tie.
From now on all Nanos will have this mod. Mom or anybody else with a Nano I will put this mod on for free if you are concerned. PM me.
Andy

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

 

[satyrday]

^^^I can see how this usually would be OK, but shit happens, so I would plug this into a GFCI outlet before getting personal with it. I'm a seatbelt kind of guy from way back too though.

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

I agree. Looks like it would hold well, given the pressure of the base and even the ziptie, but we're playing with lives here, let's not forget that. Is that area in any way in the airpath, or is the airpath above the plate in the picture?

 

[ACE OF VAPE]

Is that area in any way in the airpath, or is the airpath above the plate in the picture?

The airpath is above the plate and sealed off by a ceramic flange on the heating element

 

[Enchantre]

My husband was an electrician in the Navy.
He spent a few years as a professional appliance repairman (now, he just does it for friends & relatives).
He fixes consumer electronics for me.

He's looked at the photos, our E-Nano, the diagram, and his response is that, this unit doesn't NEED a grounded plug, and the only way it's going to short out is if someone abuses it to the point that the wires on the heating element cross (twisting it?), or if a wire cap comes completely loose (hard to actually do in that small of a space).

You all do what you want. I'm gonna keep using my E-Nano.

 

[Frickr]

My husband was an electrician in the Navy.
He spent a few years as a professional appliance repairman (now, he just does it for friends & relatives).
He fixes consumer electronics for me.

He's looked at the photos, our E-Nano, the diagram, and his response is that, this unit doesn't NEED a grounded plug, and the only way it's going to short out is if someone abuses it to the point that the wires on the heating element cross (twisting it?), or if a wire cap comes completely loose (hard to actually do in that small of a space).

You all do what you want. I'm gonna keep using my E-Nano.

i would completely agree with that if it wasnt for the fact that metal parts are in close proximity to the wiring and exposed to touch. if the aluminum base were to be changed to a non-conductive material or an insulating layer added between the aluminum and all the wiring, i would have no issues with this design being ungrounded. but as it stands over time the insulation around the cord (wear point from moving back and forth though may take alot of time and use but accellerated by heat) could crack causing the aluminum plate to potentially become energized. once again while the problem may not be presenting it self as of current, after years of use, this may become an issue.

 

[Rebus Canebus]

Quoted from Electrical Safety Foundation. Fatality Statistics:
"Each year, there is an estimated average of 60 electrocutions associated with consumer products. The three most common product categories associated with electrocutions are small appliance, power tool, and lighting equipment." Compared to all the other dangers we face in life this number is miniscule. Personally, I've got bigger things to worry about than getting electrocuted by my vape. If you are worried, wear leather gloves, and rubber soled shoes, plug into a GFI circuit protected outlet, or get yourself a portable GFCI for shock protection. If you are worried an electrical arc will cause a fire get a AFCI and a fire extinguisher. BTW a 3rd ground wire in the Nano isn't necessarily going to protect you from electric shock anyway. Depending on the circumstances the ground wire may, or may not be effective against shock. Myself, I'm not concerned in the least.

 

[satyrday]

I'd say probably a good precaution to plug into a GFCI power strip any vape that uses full AC instead of transformed, lower voltage DC current. Pretty cheap extra level of protection.

 

[Rebus Canebus]

I'd say probably a good precaution to plug into a GFCI power strip any vape that uses full AC instead of transformed, lower voltage DC current. Pretty cheap extra level of protection.

Sure couldn't hurt! 110v @ 60hz can be deadly. 12v DC x 8 watts isn't. One probably shouldn't vape in the shower with the Nano. Practice common sense safety precautions and you won't get the wrong type of buzz.

 

[Dafni]

Practice common sense safety precautions and you won't get the wrong type of buzz.

This!

When the wire on the nano does age, from time and heat, just keep an eye on the insulation where it enters the unit. Just like you do with any old electric device of similatr nature.

I'd give those wires a couple years at least, though, nothing to worry about in the short term for sure.

 

[pakalolo]

...nothing to worry about in the short term for sure.

Since someone has already suffered a potentially fatal shock, I strongly disagree.