Safety Alert time
Hi all,
I take safety seriously, and I know you do, too. I just became aware of a Flux Deluxe safety concern, and I need to address it with you ASAP.
To prevent unexpected electrical contact, I am asking all current Flux Deluxe owners to please install a small, additional piece of insulation (basically a thin barrier) between the battery pack and the two inductors (the twin wire-wound yellow toroids). This will prevent the battery pack from making accidental electrical contact with the toroids, which could result in sparks, smoke, or potentially worse. 
The fix is simple and straight forward, and I will be sending out an "official" part for you to install ASAP. I am making them this weekend, and they will go out on Monday. There is also a simple fix you can make yourself until my part arrives - more on both below.
The pictures below should make the situation and fix clearer:
In the above picture, the area of concern is the interface between the left and middle battery contacts and the wire-wound inductors that sit below them. It's a tight space and it allows the potential for contact, as the wires alone aren't adequate or proper spacers.
The solution is to add a simple shim/spacer like the one above. This will prevent the parts from making contact.
With the batteries removed (!!!!!), installation is very straightforward, and the new part slips in between the battery pack and the inductors.
I will send the new parts out beginning on Monday, but it will be a week or two before these new insulators reach all of the FD owners.
Since most of you will want to continue to use your heaters while waiting for the new part, I am going to suggest you implement the following temporary solution on your own, ASAP.
You can make a very similar, temporary insulator from the type of square, rigid plastic bag closure "clasp" you can find at the grocery store, or perhaps in your kitchen or pantry:
These are easy to trim with a pair of scissors (I trimmed those in the right column) and they work fine as a temporary shim.
It's temporary and kinda ugly, but it will be an effective insulator until the official part arrives.
You could also make a similar temporary insulator from an old credit card, a stiff piece of paper, a playing card, etc.
Thank you for also taking safety seriously, and making a similar fix to your own heater before you use it again.
I'm sorry I didn't realize this issue existed until now, but now that I am aware of it, I would like to see everyone fix this vulnerability ASAP! I strongly encourage you to make and add an insulator like the one shown above before you use your Flux Deluxe again - please! It takes about two minutes to make one of these shims, including the time it takes to find a pair of scissors.
Thanks!!!
Other stuff:
The current batch is coming along, and heaters will start going out from it after I complete these insulating shims and get them mailed off. I'll have some other batch-related updates later today.
Cheers,
