Purple-Days
Well-Known Member
Again a top notch answer. 
Discontinued Pandora Kit from Purple-Days
- Thread starter Purple-Days
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- discontinued diy log
john.xiong
Well-Known Member
Hi,
I love the battery setup... makes the pandora good for the roads. What is that cable that connects to both the voltage regulator and the battery?
I love the battery setup... makes the pandora good for the roads. What is that cable that connects to both the voltage regulator and the battery?
Hey guys I finnaly finished building this thing, it took me a long time due to complications. I'm going to share some tricks I figured out with you guys that I learned along the way. If everything goes smoothly for you then you don't need them, but if your like me and things go wrong, well here are two solutions.
Problem #1: No ring pliers!
I had my cheapo ring pliers ready to go but one side was curved. I didn't like the curve so I tried to bend it straight and I broke it off
. So now I have this huge ass ring to get into a wooden hole and no ring pliers to do it. I tried many times to sneak them in with needle nose pliers with no success. Then after about 30 minutes the lightbulb went off in my head.
Take a paperclip and big pliers, bend the ring so the holes are close to each other, loop the paperclip through the holes and twist tie the paperclip. Now the paperclip is holding the ring closed and you can place it in with your hand. The hard part is getting the paper clip off once it's in the hole, but you can do it with needle nose and fingernail clippers.
Problem #2: Damn 30w soldering iron is not hot enough to tin the solder.
This was a realllly annoying problem until I found the technique to get the job done. When you touch the iron tip to the solder it should recoil and bunch up into a ball (and not stick to the tip cause your soldering iron is lame like mine
). Get a fairly big ball going and then put the iron on the wire. Now try and balance the liquid solder between the iron and the wire and eventually the wire will be hot enough to allow the solder to stick.
Yes this is very difficult but it can be done!
I hope this helps somebody out there.
Problem #1: No ring pliers!
I had my cheapo ring pliers ready to go but one side was curved. I didn't like the curve so I tried to bend it straight and I broke it off
. So now I have this huge ass ring to get into a wooden hole and no ring pliers to do it. I tried many times to sneak them in with needle nose pliers with no success. Then after about 30 minutes the lightbulb went off in my head.Take a paperclip and big pliers, bend the ring so the holes are close to each other, loop the paperclip through the holes and twist tie the paperclip. Now the paperclip is holding the ring closed and you can place it in with your hand. The hard part is getting the paper clip off once it's in the hole, but you can do it with needle nose and fingernail clippers.
Problem #2: Damn 30w soldering iron is not hot enough to tin the solder.
This was a realllly annoying problem until I found the technique to get the job done. When you touch the iron tip to the solder it should recoil and bunch up into a ball (and not stick to the tip cause your soldering iron is lame like mine
). Get a fairly big ball going and then put the iron on the wire. Now try and balance the liquid solder between the iron and the wire and eventually the wire will be hot enough to allow the solder to stick.Yes this is very difficult but it can be done!
I hope this helps somebody out there.
elmomuzz
That just happened...
john.xiong said:
There are two sets of wires coming from the lipo. One is called the balance tap and is only used for charging. That's why it's not plugged into anything. The second set of wires from the lipo is called the mains. So you see the electricity travels from the mains to the regulator (the red and black wires) and then on to the PD.(The black cable) I simply have the cables heatshrunk together where they connect to the regulator.
elmomuzz
That just happened...
It works great. There are many ways to remotely power the PD and that is what I came up with using materials I already had.
I've really broken in my PD and I can honetly say I love it. At first I was like wtf I can hardly suck through it. I put a short length of tubing over the vapor tube to make it easier to draw and I've learned it takes a very slow draw. Just enough to move air through the device. If it is whistling it's to fast. I am getting very satisfying hits. One per load. Finally a vape that delivers on the promise of conservation.
I've really broken in my PD and I can honetly say I love it. At first I was like wtf I can hardly suck through it. I put a short length of tubing over the vapor tube to make it easier to draw and I've learned it takes a very slow draw. Just enough to move air through the device. If it is whistling it's to fast. I am getting very satisfying hits. One per load. Finally a vape that delivers on the promise of conservation.
Purple-Days
Well-Known Member
Pammy and I are moving our household and shop. 
Lot's to do and a long move and then reset household and shop.
Expect limited e-mail contact till Sept. 5, no e-mail from Sept 5 till probably Sept 15th or later.
We have a Pandora Summer Give Away that ends with orders placed on Labor Day 2010. All Pandora purchasers from day one till then are entered. But since we will be away, the winner won't be announced till we get things set back up. Thanks a bunch to all those that are entered. Sorry about the delayed announcement of the winner.
Lot's to do and a long move and then reset household and shop.
Expect limited e-mail contact till Sept. 5, no e-mail from Sept 5 till probably Sept 15th or later.
We have a Pandora Summer Give Away that ends with orders placed on Labor Day 2010. All Pandora purchasers from day one till then are entered. But since we will be away, the winner won't be announced till we get things set back up. Thanks a bunch to all those that are entered. Sorry about the delayed announcement of the winner.
Purple-Days
Well-Known Member
The move went well, new shop built, production back up and running. Still finding a few items in the wrong boxes... toward the end you just start packing things even if they are unrelated...
Took the scenic route and enjoyed the back roads.
The Pandora Summer Give Away ended on Labor Day and the winner was a Canadian that ordered on July 27. Congratulations !
HighSti the resistor is a 25J20RE available at Digikey.com . No, not common enough to be at the local hardware. But easy enough to order online.
Oh hell, Kelf, that was funny!
Welcome to the forum. 
Took the scenic route and enjoyed the back roads.
The Pandora Summer Give Away ended on Labor Day and the winner was a Canadian that ordered on July 27. Congratulations !
HighSti the resistor is a 25J20RE available at Digikey.com . No, not common enough to be at the local hardware. But easy enough to order online.
Oh hell, Kelf, that was funny!
Welcome to the forum. 
Purple-Days
Well-Known Member
Thanks Beezleb, happy days indeed, 107F tomorrow. But, healthy air for Pammy. A real change, nice neighbors, and even some good food. Arizona has it's problems, but most places do now days. Having lived in Van Horn, TX and Carlsbad, NM we are feeling good to be in some heat.
Still have Pandora bodies wrapped and ready, but ordered more wood today for shipment to our turner and laser man, keep the flow going. Looked at local lasering but our man in Oregon is too good to cut out of the loop. Nice to keep the business in the area too. A little extra shipping cost but that's OK for the best quality work.
Still have Pandora bodies wrapped and ready, but ordered more wood today for shipment to our turner and laser man, keep the flow going. Looked at local lasering but our man in Oregon is too good to cut out of the loop. Nice to keep the business in the area too. A little extra shipping cost but that's OK for the best quality work.
Purple-Days
Well-Known Member
65F was a warm day in Port Orford so it's quite a transition. Lot's of water drnking and pacing, no dogs in the car, bring water (always, even short trips)... Hot weather sensibility (and obsessive boy scout). It's worse in Summer, but we can acclimate and use plenty of sunscreen and avoidance, the (small) back yard is North facing and shaded most of the year, pre-requisite around here if you get a choice.
Later, Amigos...
Later, Amigos...
Deadhead101
I am the Vapor King--I can do anything
To be honest, the build did present several frustrating issues for me. Eventually I did prosper and I'm very glad i did. If I were to build another I do think I would do better. The major problems I had were that I was having trouble getting the heat exchanger tight even on metal and hitting it the proper way. Countless times I tried to adjust washer patterns to make the HE tighter. Eventually I got it decently tight but I never did get it very tight. The other main problem I had was with a crappy pair of auto parts ring pliers. After a while of struggle I was able to rig the pliers to get the clip in and seated in the right spot. In the process I slightly damaged the wood. Those were the main two issues I faced. Usage wise this thing is great. Compred to my alu vg this thing is much more efficient while still hitting strong but very soft too. While I do love my vg as it's my first vape, this walnut pdp is beautiful and I can't wait to try it with my EHLE 250 ml and diffy.
hereatlast
Well-Known Member
I had a little trouble getting the Heat Exchanger tight at first as well, I ended up placing it on a metal dumbell (on concrete) and hitting it a little harder, I think the surface has to be completely unforgiving.
Finding the right pliers seems to have been an issue for some people as well. I know I ended up buying two pair (mostly because I built a second PDP) and from there it was real easy. My wood was/is pretty scratched up in that regard too.
Finding the right pliers seems to have been an issue for some people as well. I know I ended up buying two pair (mostly because I built a second PDP) and from there it was real easy. My wood was/is pretty scratched up in that regard too.
Deadhead101
I am the Vapor King--I can do anything
There is no doubt that the end result of a finished pd is worth the stress building it. Plus I can definitely say that I do feel a stronger admiration for it having built it myself
hereatlast
Well-Known Member
That's for sure Deadhead. Nice to know what went into it. Congrats on the build. 
A Vaping Ape
Well-Known Member
Hey guys I just recently got a vape[DBV] but I'm going to save up to get a pandora! Any advice on a good solder set? Wouldn't mind spending a bit, I love crafts and working with my hands(but I suck at it, ha) and the pandora looks great!and awesome to use after too! But yeah any advice would be great!
DevoTheStrange
Ia! Ia! Vapor Fthagn!
by solder set, they mean soldering iron (and possibly a solder station as well), Which is required to make the pandora.
Any iron should work well. I used the $5 radio shack one. Unless you have a ton of other things you need to solder I would just go with a well built cheap iron. If you plan on modifying your iron into a vape, then I would suggest getting a Hakko.
Any iron should work well. I used the $5 radio shack one. Unless you have a ton of other things you need to solder I would just go with a well built cheap iron. If you plan on modifying your iron into a vape, then I would suggest getting a Hakko.
hereatlast
Well-Known Member
Devo's right (think he gave me the same advice), you don't need anything but a cheap one for this project. That said, I've found the slightly better (and more expensive, like $10-15 range) iron's heat up quicker and more consistently and the heat is more concentrated. Really though the cheapest one you can find will last well past the couple minutes you'll need it for Pandora.
DevoTheStrange
Ia! Ia! Vapor Fthagn!
I'd invest more on getting the proper ring pliers to use in your build. that seems to be were people seem to have snags. Some of the ring pliers out there are POS's that are frustrating to work with.