Your Friday Fluxer Update:
Hi all,
It was a busy week behind the scenes at Fluxer! I have a few items to cover in this update.
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Batch #1 Fulfilment Items:
Batch #1 Fulfillment items are finally going out tomorrow.
I was waiting for the last item (new stickers) to arrive before sending these out. The stickers were delivered today, so these will be shipped tomorrow.
These are the items assembled for fulfillment, minus the stickers:
- Pyrex switch cap
- battery meter
- rubber band
Those who received the earliest units are also due to receive different red O-rings for the top of the glass insert, as I found a better size after the first five or six heaters were completed.
If you think I'm supposed to send you an additional part and I have not yet made any reference to it in this post, please let me know ASAP via PM! Thanks!
There were 25 heaters in batch #1. Of those, 13 were shipped to US addresses, while the remaining 12 were sent to addresses in Canada, UK, Germany, Australia, Cyprus, and Greece!
As far as I know, all* of those heaters were delivered safely to their new owners, including the four that were sent to Germany.
* The one that got away: I sent one heater to a wrong address in California because Paypal helpfully inserted an old address, and I didn't catch the mistake. Oops - shit happens.
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Flux Deluxe batch #2:
FD batch #2 is well under way. This is going to be a big batch and will total around 65 heaters when it is complete!
One of the most time consuming parts of the build is assembling the battery packs - they take longer to build than any other component, including the PCB. I build them by hand and they require a number of separate steps. This is an overview of parts of that process.
The battery pack assembly process looks like this:
- Cut short lengths of colored wire as preparation
- Assemble the battery pack pigtails using solder and heat shrink tubing. NB: A "pigtail" is a short length of wiring with a finished connector on one end and bare wires on the other.
- Extend the lead on the thermal fuse using more solder and heat shrink tubing
- Mount the battery management system (BMS) to rear of battery pack (drill and rivet)
- Mill the rivet top to provide lower clearance
- Install the battery contacts
- Install the bus wire for the series connections (solder)
- Install the thermal fuse and other BMS-to-battery pack wiring (solder and assembling in multiple passes)
- Install the pigtails (solder)
A lot of steps, but that's what it takes.
Making preparations for a batch of battery packs
Pigtail assembly #1
One pigtail done.
A batch of pigtails soldered and ready for heat shrink tubing.
Pigtails and thermal fuses after heat shrink tubing has been applied.
Partially completed battery packs - these are about half done.
The other side of the tray - I have not begun wiring these, yet, but should have them done by the end of the weekend.
The good news is that I have already completed some cases and PCBs for batch #2, so
I will begin shipping some batch #2 heaters next week, as I complete the above battery packs. 
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Mother Fluxer: Several people wrote to me last week, asking about the status of the Mother Fluxer - when would it see the light of day, etc.?
The Mother Fluxer has been sitting on the sidelines for the last two months while I worked on the Deluxe. The two heaters share a lot in common, so many of the improvements I've made to the Deluxe (different debounce circuit, some other wiring changes) needed to be applied to the Mother Fluxer, too.
I was also aware that I designed the Mother Fluxer circuit board for old school through-hole components. After seeing the benefits of SMD components on the Deluxe, I knew I wanted to update the Mother Fluxer's PCB to use SMD components, and that was going to be a bit of work. It was all very doable, but it was not going to be a quick win.
To make this long story a bit shorter, I was
also notified this week that my PCB manufacturer is going to be closed at the start of February for almost two weeks to celebrate the Chinese New Year. After they come back from their holiday it will take them a while to clear their backlog, so the effects of this closure will roll into the week(s) after their return. Basically, if I want to receive a circuit board before the end of February, I need to order it ASAP.
Faced with the prospect of that additional delay,
I finally did what I had intended to do a few months ago and revised the Mother Fuxer's circuit board, converting it from through-hole to SMD components while also incorporating the circuit changes from the Deluxe.
Look for more news on this in another week or two, after I've received the new boards and have had a chance to build one out and see if it works, lol. The MF has some loose ends to tie up, too, so it will be interesting to see what it takes to go from building out the newest circuit board to assembling a Mother Fluxer testing candidate.
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Odds and Ends: Thanks again to those Fluxer owners who posted about their Deluxes to Reddit and/or other vaping forums! I appreciate it!!
That's it for now. Thanks again for your support!
Have a great weekend!
