Discontinued Pandora Kit from Purple-Days

[Purple-Days]

Willeh, you can do an expert job of soldering but if you bend the wires into each other (and that's why you blew the car fuse) you have a short. The resistor is not 'broke'. You have a short. The wires are touching. If you don't keep them separated the electricity never reaches the resistor.And you will likely fry a wall power supply and you will blow a car fuse.

I know... nobody reads instructions, but I wrote them for a reason.

From the instructions.

"Bottom wiring done? . . .

Check your connections, your screws, check that there is no debris in the bottom cavity.

You may now plug the unit in and test for heat.

Without the bottom plywood in place the unit won't work well as a vaporizer, as the air will come in at the bottom and not through the proper HE airpath as intended. But you can check at this point that things are heating as they should. Easier to make any needed fixes now, before you glue up that bottom.
"

Much easier to make any needed fixes before you glue the bottom disk in and glue the leather on. Checking the unit, for proper function afterward, doesn't make much sense when you think about it. And that's why the instructions are given the way they are. Read and follow the instructions is part of the build. Like anything else, if you choose to go off the beaten path, well, it is your choice.

If you need help sorting your short out give me an e-mail.

If you want to see if you fried the power supply, plug it into a known working outlet, don't plug anything into the power cord. Let it be for 30 minutes, then check with the back of your hand for warmth. Slightly warm? Good it's working. Stone cold, it's dead and will need to be replaced.

 

[Willeh]

I was being dramatic about it last night, afterall it took a few hours with a lotta fiddling with small parts together and I was getting wound up. I followed the instructions looked at the pictures and watched this videos, I didnt' really do anything wrong but I think what happened was that where the heater core goes in the wires got 'kinked' from catcing the body then when I put the clip on the top it spun the heater core twisting the wires into eachother. I got it all apart last night and back together, and the hide is fine. I don't think the wall plugs blown, but I'll get back to working on this. The reason I thought the ceramic resister might have a problem with it is the wries werent visibly touching when I pulled it apart where the long wire meets the resistor a little 'disk' of ceramic the size of a screen fora tube aroudn the wire was loose. I'll figure out of I fried my wall adatpor in a bit, If so I'm sure a new one from radioshack will do.

 

[Willeh]

Woo fried my wall adatpor go will
Whats the polarity on the jack? I don't want to fry my new wall adaptor and the tip piece can go on either way

 

[Purple-Days]

Either. Center Pos or center neg. That's why it works AC or DC. 12 Volts @ 1000 mA or higher.

 

[Willeh]

Thanks=]
Alright moment of truth #2
I got a warranty so they'll replace it up to 3 times.
I really hope the wires didnt end up touching again at the bottom of the resistor, it was my first time soldering and the wires ended up kinda chunky
If I see sparks again, I'm unplugging right away!

Edit: Is it possible to fry your car cord doing the test? ever since the first test the light doesnt go on on it anymore.

 

[Lo]

In case Tom isn't around.... use the car plug to test. It will blow the fuse but not ruin the car plug. The wall adapter WILL fry if there is a short. The car plug is best to test since it will only cost you a fuse if there is a short.

You can buy replacement fuses for the car plug

Good luck and fingers crossed for you. My friend had a similar problem with his and now his is working fine!!

 

[Willeh]

well I have no replacement fuse for my car plug right now but my wall adatpor does have a warranty so I'll just plug it in and see what happens.

 

[Purple-Days]

Thanks Lo, I think I mentioned that earlier, but it bears repeating. A fuse is cheap and that car cord is the best troubleshooter (short of using a meter). Done with my grilled cheese so it's back to the shop, no answers till dinner.

 

[Willeh]

10 minutes and no sign of any heat, I'm thinking I fried myself another wall adatpor
Well, I got a warranty on it so I'll unplug it and see if it gets hot, if not no biggie.
I'm gunna go buy a bunch of fuses for the car cord and try this again. I hope the wires can take all this abuse of being bent and unbent, soldered and unsoldered, lol. I guess 3rd times the charm as far as getting the heat exchanger in without letting those damn wires touch , It really shouldnt be that hard but its getting harder now that my wires are a little bent and I soldered them so thickly ><

Edit: I guess I couldnt get the short with my first attempt. I just tried again, completely took apart the unit, made sure the wires werent touching at the base of the heater core, put it back together, resoldered, went out and bought fuses to test, and blew a fuse. I really don't even know what to do... I've tried 3 times now and I'm certain the wires are not touching anywhere, I can see them all as I removed the heat exchanger while leaving all the solders on.

Edit2: Ok so I found the short. what's happening is theres a glob of solder too wide to fit through the hole cleanly so the he presses up against a part of the Heat exchanger, which then creates a short. I got it creating heat without the heat exchanger or sleeve on. I'm going to have to take it all apart for the last time xD

 

[Purple-Days]

Just stopped to walk the dog and saw you continue to have problems.

That is why i sent you an e-mail a few posts ago. Troubleshooting your repeated problem, on a forum, where I might be the only help is a waste of everybody's time includisng yours and mine.

I can help solve your problem, if you want. You have already said you think you broke the resistor. And piling the expense of replacement transformers on Radio Shack (and it's customers) isn't fair. And doing the same thing over and over isn't going to help either. You can try 100 times and if you are doing something wrong or using broken parts you can expect the same result... You need to slow down and e-mail me. The kit is simple and the solutions are straightforward.

 

[Willeh]

Sorry tom (and forum), I rarely check my email and I felt the pandora kit thread would be an apporpiate place to get some help with it without being any one persons nag, as I figured more people had built it and maybe run into problems. No intention to be a pain in anyone or everyones asses.YES the problem was very simple and this kit was definitely not hard to put together, and the problem I ran into came from working too quick and globbing on too much solder. And thanks tom, you've been a great help in getting this all together, I think I've got it from here and I wont be asking any more questions. Once its all together I'll edit some pictures into this post

*Ps I'd also like to note that I did use my brain and went out to buy fuses to test it rather than just blow the new wall adaptor, I knew it would of been downright wasteful/stupid but I was once again, frantically wanting to get this thing together and working ;D*

Edit: I'd also like to note that it's now not blowing any fuses with all the solders in and the clip locking it on! I think my PDP is a go! And with the buzz butter on, man does this thing look beautiful great!

 

[Purple-Days]

I never mind answering questions.

Glad to hear you are getting it straight. Our Pandora FAQ has a good picture taken by a builder showing his solder 'glob' as you called it. Of course when bent into place they were touching. Let us know if you need any help.

Excess solder is easy to get rid of. I'm out in the shop put 18 together this afternoon and have used this tech on a couple of harnesses that had a bit more solder than needed. Just get the workpiece hot and the solder molten, strike the piece on your work surface and the solder will rain off. Be sure to use safety glasses, because a splatter to the eye would be bad.

Now, back out to glue the bottoms in... after checking for function.

 

[hereatlast]

I hope all works out Willeh, luckily you've obviously got a good support group in Tom.






I won't detail my build from start to finish but a few salient points:
-just like everyone else I'm in love with the wood, glad I went with Alder. My shrink-wrapped Alder body had a pretty good chip in it, I took pictures and stared at it for a while before breaking open the plastic, I'm sure Tom/Pammy would've replaced the unit but I found it to be a unique flaw, more on that later.
-I too had a little trouble at first getting the heat exchanger tight, I moved outside onto the cement which was a slight improvement, once I placed the HE on a metal dumbell though I realized the mistake. An unforgiving metal surface makes all the difference just as Tom says.
-The pair of pliers I bought off Amazing for the C-clip were incorrect so I ended up picking up a pair at Home Depot, my own fault. I damaged the wood on top trying to get the clip in the first time and in the end decided against sanding it as it doesn't bother me at all. Unfortunately the cheapest pair Home Depot had were $22, all the more incentive to build another PDP It may be insightful for some that I found these in the automotive department, the interchangeable tips worked fine for me, the pair I got were for both Internal and External rings.
-most of the build was 10 minutes here and there since it's arrival coincided with family visiting, in the calamity (too dramatic? ) I misplaced my solder; at this point I had already soldered the first set of joints and just had to solder the wiring on the bottom. Tom and Pammy were incredibly nice and responsive about my requests for product information, they shipped out an extra piece of solder as Tom couldn't verify Radioshack's appropriate solder. Even though Tom and Pammy shipped out the solder USPS first-class as soon as I notified them it took a while to get here, I agree that it must have been a lazy week for the post-office leading up to the holiday weekend. After all I just couldn't wait any longer once the weekend (and my one day off) rolled around and decided to go with the RS brand; I did a little research and put myself at ease that Radioshack's 96:4 tin/silver solder was safe for this use (RS's salespeople were nice but pretty unhelpful in that regard). Obviously this was a choice of my own and Tom was very honest in saying that he couldn't verify Radioshack's product, I just couldn't stop looking at the half-ready unit. I actually ended up plugging the unit in without soldering the bottom just to make sure all of the previous work was ok, mostly checking for crossed wires.
-Once I finally decided to go with the RS solder it was a slow and steady race to the finish, I made sure to give enough time for glue to dry and that was probably one of the tougher parts of the build
-The first coat of Buzz-Butter and my appreciation for the wood and leather was twice-fold, it really made the grain pop

I kept thinking of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi when considering the wood and the unit in general...yanked from wiki.

"Wabi now connotes rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness, and can be applied to both natural and human-made objects, or understated elegance. It can also refer to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction, which add uniqueness and elegance to the object. Sabi is beauty or serenity that comes with age, when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear, or in any visible repairs...Wabi sabi can change our perception of our world to the extent that a chip or crack in a vase makes it more interesting and give the object greater meditative value. Similarly materials that age such as bare wood, paper and fabric become more interesting as they exhibit changes that can be observed over time."


Thanks for the build Tom and Pammy, I enjoyed it a lot and have been loving using the unit so far; TBH I can't imagine not building another. A gift or upstairs/downstairs units might be a good excuse

 

[Purple-Days]

Wow, that gouge isn't right. Wish you would have said something. Send me an e-mail, I am curious what caused that and can use the info to prevent such from happening again, though I try to pack carefully. Plus I want to make it up to you somehow. Glad you enjoyed the build and thanks for choosing us.

Oh and a side note on glue. Picture above. ^^^Use any normal wood glue Elmer's, Tite-Bond, white Elmers All-Purpose glue is good too. Watch out with Gorilla brand. They make a dark urethane glue and a white wood glue. The urethane foams, is a mess and when it dries it is very crystalline and will shatter in some circumstances IME. The White Gorilla Wood Glue is a fine product

 

[Willeh]

hmm, something isn't right, it's heating and all, but the tokes are way more airy than any video I've ever seen, and it's been heating for 40 minutes. It looks like the ceramic heater might of slipped out of being all the way in heat exchanger while I was putting it together, is that possible or would the heat exchanger go all the way down and just push it up? it's definitly not seated against the crossbar. Should this really affect the temperature? Without xray glasses it's kind of hard to justify ripping it apart again, it'd definitly ruin the hide this time.

 

[minnesnowta]

Why aren't you testing it before you glue it back up??? That seems like it would solve so many of your problems....

With the bottom open you can tell if it works right after 5 min of heating. You'll feel it getting warm. I made damn sure mine worked completly before I even got close to the glue and it works just like my Tom built pd. I guess I got lucky...

 

[Purple-Days]

No, you didn't get lucky, Minnesnowta, you followed the instructions.

Willeh, I hate to say it, but my very first post in this thread says, "It's obvious the Pandora isn't for everyone. A few mechanical skills and mostly common tools and you should be good to go, but only the buyer can be the judge."

I also give folks a generous 14 days, after receiving the kit, to look at the parts, to review the DVD and instructions, before deciding to commit to building this product.

It is a very simple build and very few folks have any trouble. But like any model or kit there are those that can't or won't follow the beaten path (instructions).

Patience is needed to build the kit. A little anyway. You also have to stop and read the instructions.

Nowhere does it say the resistor should be up against the crossbar. You seem confused at every turn. You must read and follow the instructions. The captioned pictures are there as a guide. The videos show the proceedures. I made these instructions, re-made them, and re-made them again, before release so they would be clear and give you all the info you would need.

Pammy and I took a few days when we first got this style vape to get the technique down. Other do too. The reason you see so many vids of this thing working is cause it does. This style has been working for folks since 1978.

Want tips on how best to use the product, see the Purple-Days experience. Many posts about getting the most from this kind of unit.

 

[bstar]

We have a weak electrical system in our apartment building. Most or all parts very old-fashioned. Turn on too many appliances and we end up changing a fuse. I've noticed my PD runs hotter sometimes at night or odd hours. I think it gets more power when I have other stuff turned off. I want a little extra heat, just turn off a few lights, lol.

So if you're having heat issues and your cord is okay, you might also live in a 100 year old building.

 

[j42d0gg]

Is the only way to get a black walnut PD through the Pandora kit?

 

[Gink]

At this time the Pandora kit is the only way to get a PD, period. Since Tom isn't currently taking orders for prebuilt PDs, the Pandora is the only option.

 

[Willeh]

Minnesnowta, I did test it for heating before glueing it back up, but it can't work as a vaporizer until you do glue the bottom as it is not air tight, air would go through the heat exchanger wrong so it's not like I knew it wouldn't produce the thickest vapor or whatever I thought the problem was, but that's not the problem, or a problem-

I think it's actually working fine. After 40 minutes on the first heat up, it was producing a very thin cloud or two, and would leave the avb still green. I initially thought the resistor might of slipped out of the heat exchanger partially, inbetween the sleeve and the top chambers floor, leading to less surface area that the resistor was touching and a less even heat. I did have to work with wires that too much tugging could cause that to happen. I left it plugged in as it seemed to be working fine otherwise and left it to tomorrow to figure out. I also left a couple buds out to dry.


When I got up in the morning after a night of heating the whole unit felt a lot warmer from the outside, as compared to even an hour of heating on the first night. In my two days of experience with it I find giving it a good hour works best. I ground up my stuff to a powder and packed it very lightly, then topped it with some kief. I used the slowest draw I could and got caught completely off guard. I got one very big hit and three smaller ones, and didn't need anything more all morning. I believe that it's working as intended

However I've used other vaporizers before (I had an extreme, a cheap box vape, have used a volcano a few times, etc but never this style) and I find this vaporizer, at least at this point in the breakin, hits much lighter, yet somehow more efficient than others. You gets you one big hit and one medium one off of what would give you two or three unsatisfying hits in an extreme or old box vape, and have the avb come out slightly yellowish green. Putting four or five stems of avb out of this in the vapor genie yields another big two or three draws of pretty good tasting (Not popcorny!) stuff, that feels potent enough. The avb from that goes straight to the ash tray though, a well spent medium-brown (Never darkbrown-black, I know burnt avb when I see it =p).

 

[Purple-Days]

Exactly... You have built it right , this time, and have the tech. Good deal !

We have always been here as a support team. Other folks can follow your lead,
or better ( ), ask as they go, if they are having trouble, e-mail us...

Your experience has helped many, I am sure.

Like many have said, the instructions are adequate. The captioned pictures set the stage. The videos give you a complete setting. And then you have 14 days to decide... You just have too accept responsibility for your build. It isn't that hard.

 

[minnesnowta]

mines still runnin as strong as day one. I got another pandora coming that im going to build for a friend plus some new leather to redo mine. Got a big box of glass yesterday and got a new set up to use with the pdp. its a gridded showerhead ash catcher with a mouthpiece .

 

[Purple-Days]

Wicked Glass...^^^ Ohhh, lala...

And to answer, J42d0gg, Black Walnut is only available as a kit.

Gonna answer some questions about the give-away.

These great art pieces are available in very limited quantities.
I can check about replicas, but... this person is an artist and
makes unique pieces. Probable that you suggest a theme
and let the artist loose.

This is another of our artists helping artist projects.

 

[j42d0gg]

Ugh. My favorite mediums for any art work are glass amd wood, and my standards for paraphernalia are no different. I currently own a few glass pipes, a no name bong, an ed's TNT black walnut toke pipe and black wal nut dug out with a quartz glass bat. I also have two black walnut bowls and a black walnut tray for storage/break up/etc. A black walnut PD, not only for look, but also efficency, would be the perfect addition to my collection. I could get a glass stem from some one like clear dome or the artist above and accomodate both of my loves! My only fear is that I have no experience building any thing is there any alternative methods of getting my hands on a black walnut PD?