Fluxer Heaters, induction heaters for Dynavap

mr_cfromcali

Accessory Maker
Accessory Maker
@mr_cfromcali, thanks for the info, I thought it couldn't hurt to ask, politely.

Thanks. Your ask was extremely polite, no problems there. I'm just very shy about sharing some of my specifics, as they are the result of a lot of work by my and @TommyDee . TommyDee has a thread for discussing DIY IH and associated concepts, so if your question is general in nature, you can bring it here: https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/diy-induction-heater-builds-and-references.49760/

If it is specific, you can try asking me via PM. I don't want to give away the store or gift a potential competitor, but if I can answer a question without doing those things, I will. Thanks, and I hope that helps.
 

Zoltani

Well-Known Member
A little steel wool to the cap cleared up my issues engaging the CaS. Right now it is working quite well. I have to say that I think I will like having both the button and CaS.

Edit: on a side note I love how the m fits snuggly in the front pocket against the flite. Idk if that was intentional, but it's a nice detail.
PXL_20210105_211223149~2.jpg
 
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n0tu2

Well-Known Member
Hi Everyone,

I got my flight the other day and have only minimal testing with it (been super busy, only a few sessions so far) - So now you know why I was asking all my CaS/push button questions way back in the thread - as I ordered with both options on a feeling and I am happy I did :) Charged up the batteries in my NiteCore..

For those wondering, I think having both options is best (sorry for the extra building work mr_c!) or at least get the button only version so you can control the on/off at will if you can't decide on either. As others have stated the CaS runs hot hot hot (for me at least). Although it could probably be my old faithful 19' stainless tip that I favor - I have a feeling this tip always ran hot. Have yet to try PWM (that's next), but my time to click with fully inserted CaS ran about 10.5-11s from cold out of the box. I could see vapor seeping from the tip around 7 or so seconds in. As soon as it clicked I pulled out (as I read others threads that it was hot) and as I was holding DV in hand a second or so before taking first hit I had the 2nd click occur (def not the cool down click, stainless really retains that heat!) I could tell some combustion occurred tho. It was probably the hottest native hit I've had in a long time, lol. I opened the cap to inspect after done and I had dark tobacco colored AVB already - after 1st heating!.. did not see any blatant signs of combustion although I could smell it slightly. It wasn't a major flare up, must of been some specks on the sides or bottom that combusted that I couldn't see. I also did the sniff test - you know when you combusted when DV has old dugout one-hitter odor. That dirty bong water on your finger smell that doesn't quite go away for a while even after washing your hands. So after finishing that session (waste not!) I cleaned the DV up with some ISO and started again. On the next attempt I only halfway inserted the DV empty to see time to click using push button. A halfway dip into the glass tube gets me a click in about 6 or so seconds give or take. So loaded back up and went 8-8.5s or so seconds and pulled before click with CaS / fully inserted - perfect. It's totally usable like this, but I will try to tune down the CaS eventually. Don't take this as a negative - it is absolutely usable like this and it's a very powerful IH for its size. Nice work! I just have to get it to time right with my favorite DV click as I'm a little obsessive like that.

I did attempt to tune down CaS without removing the board. Just gently pushing down the coil all around and managing to strip about a half second off the time to click from cold - so 10-10.5s from cold. Still a wee bit hot for my tip. I can see the bottom coil is touching and possibly squishing a little into the black bumper pad(s), looks like its corner is ever so slightly bending upwards from inside the glass tube looking down - from being squished on the outside by the lower coil. Not sure if I can go any lower then that?

Does it need the bumper pads? can I remove them and go lower? My thought is if I go too low I will definitely start heating up the CaS contacts as well? I attempted to remove the board to see if I could go any lower with it out of the case anyway, but after lifting the board partly up using a paper clip at the relay pad (i hooked under it and lifted) I realized since I have the button also it doesn't want to come out (duh) - can I just unplug the button from the board and slide board out to the right? or does the entire button have to come completely unscrewed/out before removing the board? I will probably have another go at it over the weekend, but it's totally usable and good as is.. gives me something to do :)

That leads to another question, I wonder if they sell some tiny circular bumpers that would be .2-.5mm thick (heat resistant) that I could drop down into the tube to cover the CaS -- could be a quick way to tune up or down without having to move the coil and and use the button to heat. Could drop a .2mm sliver in and test, add another .2 and test , until I get the exact place that my favorite tip likes with button while still having the options of full insertion/CaS by removing the slivers :)

Don't hesitate to buy this guys, it works well.

Thanks!
n
 
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TommyDee

Vaporitor
I’ve never really tried to measure how many clicks I get from the FD; can anyone tell me how it compares to the Flite? I know it’s mostly math, but I’m not sure I have all of the right numbers...

I‘ve seen a couple of people say 150+ clicks, but the math doesn’t seem to add up and unless my light’s eating through a lot of battery while it’s on and idle I don’t think I’m close to that.

<snip>
@VaporWare - I have not taken numbers on the Flux Dlx heaters. The numbers I am quoting are Flite specific. They also represent a means to calculate such information but it is quite academic and requires a few tools to collect data, not to mention a subject like the IH you are evaluating.

I have done significant measurements on the standard issue MiniZVS IH modules which Fluxer heaters are obviously based. This developed a few baselines for understanding the ins and out of a battery powered IH. Part of that consideration is "usable" watt-hours per pack. When the pack drops below the minimum voltage is when their usable charge is depleted. The resting voltage may well be far above this cutoff voltage because of internal resistance of the cells and the load demanded by the circuit. Designing the circuit to make maximum use of all that energy is a tough thing to do. Jeff and I spend a lot of time making sure we made Flite as efficient as possible in this regard. This can be considered a hyper-tune to not only make any cap & tip combination work for a good bake, but to make it work throughout the battery's voltage range. There wasn't a watt-hour to loose in this compact little brick.

So as to Flux Dlx, you can use similar data to figure out exactly what it can do. All that is required is a Li-ion charger that can keep track of Watt-Hours charged. Opus makes a BC3100 that does analysis and I highly recommend for the price. Discharge the FD to your liking - say 9V for someone that loves their cells or let the BMS kick in before you kill them, either way, stop using the FD when the voltmeter hits 9V [traditional cutoff for evaluations] WHILE FIRING using the hottest cap you have. The only time the cap matters is when you are measuring battery life. Some caps draw a lot more power and they will cause the 9V mark to be reached sooner by causing a higher voltage drop across the internal resistance of the cells. Very technical but that is part of the consideration for making the specification. I have some monster caps to test with now along with some wimps to make sure the limits are accounted for.

Every cap and tip still only require a constant measure of power for each click in the same configuration of the heater. I verify this by using a real-time charger on the cells. With the digital charger I posted earlier, I can see down into milliwatts-hours how much energy I took from the cells to reach the click. it has been an invaluable tool to understand how efficiently my circuits were working... and now how efficiently Flite is as well. 150mwh per click is average for any DV VC you want to stuff in there. May 170mwh/click if it is tuned a little hotter, but bottom line says that it takes anywhere from 130-170mwh to heat a cap with herb to a reasonable level to draw vape in any decent IH. It's a range for calculation purposes only. Each device must be tested for their use case. My theories were tested and they match amazingly well.

Back to establishing FD performance - we just tested the WH capable for a full charge of -your- choice of cells. With 18650, that is a wild ride. But let's go with your final WH calculation of what your cells are capable of, typically being rated at 3X Flite's cells, lets go for 30WH of energy available. lets say that FD is just as efficient as Flite, which it could be!, and you get a budget of 200mwh for each click, and I still equate sessions to 5 clicks, so that we are still operating at 1WH per session. That's 30 sessions at 5 clicks is 150 clicks. Again, all things being equal. I don't have the data to say they are equal.

Who actually followed all that and what did I miss?
 
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mr_cfromcali

Accessory Maker
Accessory Maker
Lots of info flowing in this thread today!

Here's the info on batch #2: Flite Batch #2 will go on sale tomorrow at ~10:00am Pacific Standard Time (GMT-8) in the Fluxer web store: https://fluxerheaters.com/store

I'll post in this thread when they actually go on sale. This will be a smaller batch - probably 16-18 in all - as I prefer to face a shorter queue of pending work. My preference going forward is for smaller but more frequent batches.

I will have 2x of each colors: black, gun metal, dark green, red, blue, hunter green, gold, and light green. Some colors may get a few more.

Expected turnaround time for batch #2 is going to be 7-10 days, as I am waiting on a few key components to arrive.

That's the plan for tomorrow. Thanks for your support!

@n0tu2 -Thanks for posting that! I have to run out at the moment but will reply later, when I have time. Short answer - yes, you need to leave the pads in place, amd yes, you mneed to fully remove the push button to remove the PCB when the PB is present. I'll post a write up of hoe to do that and reinstall it when I have a little time, but the main trick is to use a pair of tweezers to pull the switch connector in a straight line away from the socket. Better coming answer when I have time to write it up.
 

Vaporware

Well-Known Member
Number of clicks is highly variable and depends on your batteries, your coil size and position, your cap, your stem, and other environmental factors.

Some time ago, shortly after I introduced the FD, I sent one to YouTube blogger/review Wavy Vapes for him to check out and review (a real nice guy, fwiw). He posted a review, and among other things in the review, he discussed getting 150 clicks from a single charge. Even I was impressed, and obviously, "your individual results may vary." I think 100+ clicks from a full charge is more typical. Hope that helps.

That does help and it’s more in line with what I’d expect. :)

I tried before to figure out where that 150 number came from or what most people were getting, but I couldn’t find it so I figured I’d ask while we were on the subject.

The FD is great, but I’d bet that most people would also do well with the Flite and its improvements, size and weight make it a pretty appealing option!

Edit: Thanks for the details @TommyDee ! I’m not sure I’m ready to dive that deep into testing this right now, but it’s good info to have and if I do any real tests I’ll refer back to it for sure. Hopefully other people will too. :)
 
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TommyDee

Vaporitor
Hi Everyone,

I got my flight the other day and have only minimal testing with it (been super busy, only a few sessions so far) - So now you know why I was asking all my CaS/push button questions way back in the thread - as I ordered with both options on a feeling and I am happy I did :) Charged up the batteries in my NiteCore..

For those wondering, I think having both options is best (sorry for the extra building work mr_c!) or at least get the button only version so you can control the on/off at will if you can't decide on either. As others have stated the CaS runs hot hot hot (for me at least). Although it could probably be my old faithful 19' stainless tip that I favor - I have a feeling this tip always ran hot. Have yet to try PWM (that's next), but my time to click with fully inserted CaS ran about 10.5-11s from cold out of the box. I could see vapor seeping from the tip around 7 or so seconds in. As soon as it clicked I pulled out (as I read others threads that it was hot) and as I was holding DV in hand a second or so before taking first hit I had the 2nd click occur (def not the cool down click, stainless really retains that heat!) I could tell some combustion occurred tho. It was probably the hottest native hit I've had in a long time, lol. I opened the cap to inspect after done and I had dark tobacco colored AVB already - after 1st heating!.. did not see any blatant signs of combustion although I could smell it slightly. It wasn't a major flare up, must of been some specks on the sides or bottom that combusted that I couldn't see. I also did the sniff test - you know when you combusted when DV has old dugout one-hitter odor. That dirty bong water on your finger smell that doesn't quite go away for a while even after washing your hands. So after finishing that session (waste not!) I cleaned the DV up with some ISO and started again. On the next attempt I only halfway inserted the DV empty to see time to click using push button. A halfway dip into the glass tube gets me a click in about 6 or so seconds give or take. So loaded back up and went 8-8.5s or so seconds and pulled before click with CaS / fully inserted - perfect. It's totally usable like this, but I will try to tune down the CaS eventually. Don't take this as a negative - it is absolutely usable like this and it's a very powerful IH for its size. Nice work! I just have to get it to time right with my favorite DV click as I'm a little obsessive like that.

I did attempt to tune down CaS without removing the board. Just gently pushing down the coil all around and managing to strip about a half second off the time to click from cold - so 10-10.5s from cold. Still a wee bit hot for my tip. I can see the bottom coil is touching and possibly squishing a little into the black bumper pad(s), looks like its corner is ever so slightly bending upwards from inside the glass tube looking down - from being squished on the outside by the lower coil. Not sure if I can go any lower then that?

Does it need the bumper pads? can I remove them and go lower? My thought is if I go too low I will definitely start heating up the CaS contacts as well? I attempted to remove the board to see if I could go any lower with it out of the case anyway, but after lifting the board partly up using a paper clip at the relay pad (i hooked under it and lifted) I realized since I have the button also it doesn't want to come out (duh) - can I just unplug the button from the board and slide board out to the right? or does the entire button have to come completely unscrewed/out before removing the board? I will probably have another go at it over the weekend, but it's totally usable and good as is.. gives me something to do :)

That leads to another question, I wonder if they sell some tiny circular bumpers that would be .2-.5mm thick (heat resistant) that I could drop down into the tube to cover the CaS -- could be a quick way to tune up or down without having to move the coil and and use the button to heat. Could drop a .2mm sliver in and test, add another .2 and test , until I get the exact place that my favorite tip likes with button while still having the options of full insertion/CaS by removing the slivers :)

Don't hesitate to buy this guys, it works well.

Thanks!
n
Consider letting Jeff help you retune a little. There is no reason to be afraid of CaS. I have one of the hottest caps around and being 10 second out tells me that all it needs is a little less ingress - IE the coil adjusted. For the meantime, if you have a small cork disk, you can bypass CaS and see if the difference in the gap helped and if it went too far. A small silicone disk will work as well. 1-2mm will make a huge difference. Please try this and I promise, that tune can be improved.
 

Zoltani

Well-Known Member
Glad the steel wool did the trick @Zoltani :cheers:

It works great at full power, with PWM it is glitchy. It attribute this to the cap and the fact that I haven't dared to press on the contacts at all. I'll try a light pressure next time around, and if that doesn't do it it's the cap. I think I will find myself using CaS at full power when I need quick extraction and PWM with button when I want to fine tune and extend the experience.

Yes, I agree with @n0tu2 that having both is the way to go!
 

TommyDee

Vaporitor
Pressure is expected. The contacts are rated to deflect 1/2 their height. I believe there is a stop before you reach that level of compression.

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mr_cfromcali

Accessory Maker
Accessory Maker
It works great at full power, with PWM it is glitchy. It attribute this to the cap and the fact that I haven't dared to press on the contacts at all. I'll try a light pressure next time around, and if that doesn't do it it's the cap. I think I will find myself using CaS at full power when I need quick extraction and PWM with button when I want to fine tune and extend the experience.

Yes, I agree with @n0tu2 that having both is the way to go!

With a smooth cap, a flat surface, and some luck, the CaS will often operate on the weight of the DV alone. When used this way, the Full power setting is going to be more reliable. You can get PWM to work this way, but it can be touchy to set things down just right. Typically, CaS will work much better and more reliably if you apply some light downward pressure to make a solid connection.

As Tommy said, the contacts (aka, "shunts") are sprung and will compress up to 1.0mm and rebound just fine.

The pads I've installed under the glass insert and next to the shunts are 1.5mm thick to allow for a good electrical engagement. If you press down more than 0.5 mm, your tip will encounter the pads, which don't compress very much. You can press down until the tip meets the pads. Contact is fine, but avoid grinding and/or crushing.

For a comparison, the pads for the push button are 1.0mm; thicker pads with the push button only = hotter hot zone due the the ability to move the tip even further from the bottom loop of the coil. Not that ANYONE wants this heater to be any hotter than it is, lol.*

OK, so how much force is "light"? Just how hard can or should one press down?

The shunts in the Flite can be closed (operated) with about 100g-150g of force. By comparison, the tactile switch in the Flix and the Flux Deluxe requires 200g of pressure to activate. So how much weight is 150g? The Flite, minus the batteries, is about 165g; yes, I just weighed one. That's an appropriate amount of pressure to apply, though less may also work well. Try to use the minum amount necessary to maintain a good connection.

Also, know that PWM is a bit glitchy by nature in this environment. The magnetic field created by the heater dominates the circuit and also couples with the item being heated. This is why stuff "wiggles" a bit electronically when the cap clicks - the field reacts to the disturbance, and the PWM, whose timing relies on charging and draining a capacitor, gets a quick reset as a result. Though annoying, glitchyness doesn't cause any harm, and can be overcome by a bit more pressure and/or a different position/ add'l rotation of the cap.

*Finally, the first 18 Flite are hotter than any that came later. A few people within this cohort specifically requested a cooler setup, and they should have gotten that. But overall, my default setup for the first 18 or so was too hot, in retrospect. Lesson very much learned!! Default setup is now "coolest", and you will have the option to request a hotter setup if you want one.

If your new heater is too hot - especially if you are one fo the first 18 lucky Flite owners - it is very easy to fix, though it may require a trip back to my workbench (on my dime) to fully resolve the issue, if coil repositioning alone doesn't take care of it. Please PM or email me individually, and I will work with you to get your new heater dialed in. Also, any CaS owners who want to convert to the PB, we can do that, too. Send me a PM if this sounds like something you want.

Thanks for the very credible feedback and user experiences, @Zoltani , they really help me refine this and make it better. :tup:
 
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TommyDee

Vaporitor
Now I'm going to have to get out the weights and measures. :science:

I might suggest the range is 10-150 grams. I've come to feel the deflection and I can keep good contact with very little pressure akin to pushing a keyboard key. I spin the cap, slide the cap, center the cap and it just absorbs the glitches for the most part. Having PWM reset is a different story only in that it resets sometimes. Plenty of testing shows the circuit is quite tolerant of this.

Of course inspect for some sticky leaf getting stuck to the contacts. Shouldn't take much to clean a bugger if needed. I might suggest a bald Q-tip* with a little ISO wetting. Jeff may have other suggestions for this.

*Bald Q-tip - remove the fuzz and use the cardboard shaft as the abrasive and the ISO to dissolve the bugger.
 
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TommyDee

Vaporitor
That's why it looked familiar :D yea, that is a hot cap and a great bake. Stir and it will provide a 3rd draw. PWM will even out the bake a bit.

I just thought of an interesting technique you good people might be interested in. As stated before, battery charge levels change the behavior of the heater but only in how long it takes to click. The bake remains fundamentally the same.

The reduced iron caps of 2020 pull less power. By default, they take longer to click. Schedule your 2020 caps after a full charge as they are a bit cooler to start with. After a couple of bowls, the peak charge will have burned off from the cells and the hotter caps will really take off. Then you finish off the cells with the 2020 because, again, now you want the internal resistance advantage. If this made sense, you are my kind of geek!
 
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Hey guys, new member to FC but I've lurked around a few times.

I'm grabbing a Flite tomorrow (not telling you what color LOL). After researching deep in to the IH realm I like what I see here with this project and that these are being made in small, manageable batches. The devs are here commenting and keeping up with questions. As a solo multi-business owner I can totally relate to trying to manage customer service and putting together & shipping product.

That said I don't even own a Dynavap yet but I'm going to be getting a 2020M to go with this heater. I currently use a Mighty w/ adapter & hydratube and it's awesome but am looking for a alterative/different vape to work in to my rotation. I've done the torch thing before and it's not for me, so IH like this Fluxer Flite opens up the Dynavap & Simrell as options for me. I'm contemplating a Simrell Vortex XL for a handheld vape whereas I intend to use the 2020M through glass.

Cheers!
 
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Zoltani

Well-Known Member
That's why it looked familiar :D yea, that is a hot cap and a great bake. Stir and it will provide a 3rd draw. PWM will even out the bake a bit.

I've been preferring using the PWM and getting about 4 cycles. It provides avb that is like above without the black bits. It provides more tasty hits, but the CaS full power quick extraction is hard hitting. Just think I will find uses for both under different circumstances. As the battery drains the full power is not quite as hot and the CaS can give me 3 cycles. I'm starting to notice when the LEDs are dimmed and can adjust technique. I definitely did too much experimenting yesterday :freak:
 

mr_cfromcali

Accessory Maker
Accessory Maker
Hi all,

Batch #2 goes on sale at 10:00 PST. I will be making 16 heaters in this batch: 3x black, 3x gun metal, and 2x each other color.

The default setup for these and future Flite batches will be cooler than the first heaters from the first batch. Default coil setup is "FULL COOL", but I have added a question to the order form, and you can tell me if you want a hotter than normal coil setup.

These will ship in 7-10 days, and sooner if I can manage it.

Thanks!
 
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Aos3327

Well-Known Member
Hi all,

Batch #2 goes on sale at 10:00 PST. I will be making 16 heaters in this batch: 3x black, 3x gun metal, and 2x each other color.

The default setup for these and future Flite batches will be cooler than the first heaters from the first batch. Default coil setup is "FULL COOL", but I have added a question to the order form, and you can tell me if you want a hotte than normal coil setup.

These will ship in 7-10 days, and sooner if I can manage it.

Thanks!
I’m on the hottie side, appreciate the option to choose!
 
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