Heya fellow Pax addicts!
What an amazing thread, soooo much good info in here, I feel like I actually know some of you at this point! Thanks to all of you for all the contributions, ideas, etc. I have lots of things I'd like to talk about and share on the Pax, but don't want to write a novel here (or bore the hell out of everyone!), so I'll stick to one item and write more later.
I have been a long time vape head, and like most of you, have owned a dozen or so, most of which are in a drawer or box somewhere. Before I bought my Pax, my Volcano and my iOlite were my go-to capes for home and portable use.
The Pax changed all that in a big way, and for all the reasons we all already know, I love this device like a family member, so much so that I bought a second one as a spare, brand new, sits in the box. I can't imagine life without the Pax (I've been a medical cannabis patient for over a decade and a recreational user for 40+ years).
After reading this amazing thread (no mean feat, sheesh!!) I wanted to give back something to the FC PaxFamily here, so here's my first contribution, I didn't see this addressed directly here or anywhere else on the innerwebz , so hopefully this helps out those who are curious about...
An External Battery Pack to Charge the Pax Anywhere!
So, in my line of work, I have a few battery packs of various spec. For this project, I chose an Anker Astro 3 5v/9v/12v, 2a, 10000mAh battery.
On the Pax wall wart, the relevant specs are that its a 9v, 1.3a supply with the center post being the (+), outer shield is (-).
As you can see from these specs, we can use this battery to charge the Pax safely and effectively.
Set the battery to a 9v output, and use the appropriate output on your battery!
Here is how I proceeded. You will need a dremmel, or some appropriate files would do the trick, but the dremmel made it easy. This project will take you ~30 mins, and requires no special skills, soldering, or mucking about with the Pax.
1. Cut the arch across from the internal plugin on the charging base:
2. Grind off some material of the appropriate barrel adapter so iit will lay flat once its in place. (an assortment of aadapter ends comes with the battery):
3. Insert barrel end through the arch you created and on into the socket in the charger base. I did take a bit material off the other side of the adapter barrel (not shown in the pics) so it would go in straight and smooth without putting any sideways or undue pressure as it goes into the socket. This is just done by eye and feel...push it in..if it looks or feels like its not quite lined up, take a little more material off the appropriate area of the connector and try again. NEVER force anything, take your time and do it right.
4. In this image we see all the parts: the modified charging base, the battery, the cable, and the Pax itself. You can see that the base lays perfectly flat on the table, and the barrel adapter adds a bit of weight as well. Solid. The connection end for the cable is just sticking out past the edge of the charging base:
5. The Final Image: Completed and functional! Here we see everything hooked up, charging (this is fully charged at this point, but I charged it from yellow to green in about 30 minutes):
I have been using this now for a few weeks as a charging method, and of course it gives me amazing freedom to charge anywhere I need to, and from what I can tell, it would provide 6-8 "red to green" charging sessions on a single full battery pack charge. This means you can take it camping, hiking, wherever, and not have to worry about running out of power. No need for a vehicle cig lighter socket, or an outlet.
You'll also note that the only molestation of any of the gear the arch you cut out of the back of the base. This means that when you're NOT using this mod, you can still use the device exactly as advertised, plugging in the charger to the adapter and charge in a traditional method,simply remove the barrel adapter from the charging base, plug in the stock adapter and go to it.
Another plus is that you can use the battery for many other uses! Charging your phone, your mp3 player, Kindle, etc. you make the $42 investment, and a bit of time for this modification, and not only do you get the external charging solution for your pax, but you can charge your other gadgets too!!
Amazon doesn't appear to have these3 Anker Astro batteries in stock at the moment, but I found a link to an identical battery pack, looks like Anker may have rebranded these. Here is a link to that battery pack, it's about $42 US (about what Ploom charges for a replacement base/adapter, or a 12v car adapter/base) This seems like better money spent if you're looking for a portable solution:
http://www.amazon.com/XTPower-10000mAh-Recorders-Sensation-Connectors/dp/B00935L44E
Well, I hope I helped some of my fellow Pax enthusiasts here regarding an external battery pack solu7tion. This has been working really well for me and I hope you find it a useful solution for your charging needs as well. also happy to answer any questions, and intend to particpate much more in the FC forums. I would LOVE to hear back from anyone this enlightened or who will proceed with doing this for their Pax.
Pax well my brothers and sisters!
G
Now I feel foolish, but hopefully some new users can benefit
