The Toad from Morwood

[Hagbard Celine]

hey there,

I noticed that the wood near the oven has blackened :

I've been using it very regularly for 2 years, so this may be quite normal.
How is yours?

Hey Duba. I’ve used my toad off and on for about 2 1/2 years, and no discoloration like this whatsoever. Honestly, I find the photo a little confusing… Not sure how you’d be and to get the outer shell that black while the wood right underneath the end cap looks perfectly fine? That wood is actually even closer to the heater, if it got that hot how can it look so pristine inside?

Do you have earlier pics of your toad so we can see how much the outer shell color has changed? This is kinda wild!

EDIT: Maybe I am just confused about the nature of the problem in the photo. Now I feel like I’m not sure where the problem is in the picture being shown… The outer shell is probably fine

 

[fangorn]

I don't have this problem with any of my radiators...

I don't think it has much impact, but
5-6 seconds with the high heater, is it every time, or just for the first heat?
I find it a lot if it's all the time.

Can you share photos of your avb and your radiator, please?

Have you ever cleaned the screen near the heater?

For the wood to heat up in this place, I have the impression that the screen is heating up...could you upload more precise photos of the screen... on both sides please, to see at what level it is installed...

 

[Duba]

EDIT: Maybe I am just confused about the nature of the problem in the photo. Now I feel like I’m not sure where the problem is in the picture being shown… The outer shell is probably fine

it is located in the oven area :

Can you share photos of your avb and your radiator, please?

Have you ever cleaned the screen near the heater?

hey,
I don't often clean the bottom screens, but I've removed them and they weren't very dirty, burnt or discolored.
The oven seems clean too, doesn't it? :

On the other hand, the screens may have lost their slightly concave shape over time. I think I would have noticed a discoloration if they had been in contact with the metal of the oven?
the screens are in contact with the small rim provided.

It's also harder for the oven to fit into its dedicated space than it used to, so maybe there's a connection there...

 

[cx714]

Thanks for your feedback.
The black ring goes around evenly. I use high heat most of the time, usually preheating 5-6sec.
I'm curious to hear other feedback.

Just checked mine. It's got the same ring-- I do 5-6 sec preheats as well. IIRC I might be a batch or two ahead of you and have been using mine regularly since I got it.

Hasn't affected use or flavor that I can tell and it probably won't if Vapman Pures are anything to go by.

 

[fangorn]

@Duba

you'll have to ask Dan for his opinion, even if I imagine that it's already done!!

it does indeed look like your heater is deformed.
the spirals seem to touch in several places on the photo you share. but it may be an effect with the angle...
you confirm it by saying that it doesn't fit as well anymore. that means that the outside part has deformed a little.
it could therefore heat less evenly (and for example heat more on the outside, and therefore where there is contact with the wood)

you didn't feel any difference in terms of steam, flavor?
do you always need to preheat for the same number of seconds?

and @cx714
can you look at your heater to tell us how it is, please?
if all goes well, that will eliminate my hypothesis!

and, I guess there was no contact but the concave grids could be annoying, if it was in significant proportions I imagine... and there was contact...

 

[Duba]

it does indeed look like your heater is deformed.

I think it's a question of the angle of the image, because this heater is new and doesn't look distorted to me.

you didn't feel any difference in terms of steam, flavor?

not at all

do you always need to preheat for the same number of seconds?

5-6 for 1st hit a 4-5 after

 

[KeroZen]

It's not the heater that warped or expanded but both the bronze plate and the wood do change dimensions depending on climate parameters (temperature and humidity)

Dan used to provide a small tool with some folded abrasive in order to enlarge the heater hole in case of a tight fit (at some point mine was almost stuck)

As for the discoloration, 5-6 seconds preheating sounds like a lot with the high power heater, excepted for the first hit in the session or going from cold.

 

[fangorn]

@Duba
thanks for the details.
since you've been using it for two years, it's weird that it only appeared now.... you probably wouldn't have missed/ignored it for a long time....

did you change your 18650 recently? maybe you got more power but didn't adjust your preheating time?

same, it would have warped after 2 years...? I'm surprised...

can you let us know Dan's hypotheses, please?!

@KeroZen
does the abrasive pad work well with brass?
I only have one battery that fits in my Nomad #008...
I just added an airflow reducer to it... if I can fit a new battery, it's going to be a beast!!!
I'm going to go back and read some ancestral passages from the Nomad thread!

I placed my annual order for 18650 yesterday... how exciting!

(ps: I have every confidence in Kerozen's knowledge... but when I received my Nomad #008, it had lacked maintenance. It was heating quite poorly (too hot too quickly) and Dan diagnosed a deformation of my heater. I stopped using it and replaced it with another heater that I had with my toad... it works great today... but I plan on buying two new heaters to upgrade all my units with a newer heater...)

anyway, sorry for you @Duba
but I'm interested by this story !!

have a great start to the week everyone!

 

[Electrofever]

usually preheating 5-6sec

Doesn’t this seem a bit too much ? I recall that the high heater was 3 sec pre heat ? But if the taste is fine, this length of heating shouldn’t be a problem. I agree that seeing where the wood has blackened tends to make me think that something might be going on near the mesh screen.

 

[Duba]

thanks for the details.
since you've been using it for two years, it's weird that it only appeared now.... you probably wouldn't have missed/ignored it for a long time....

did you change your 18650 recently? maybe you got more power but didn't adjust your preheating time?

same, it would have warped after 2 years...? I'm surprised...

can you let us know Dan's hypotheses, please?!

I've only recently become aware of this, but the phenomenon is much older. It has to do with the recent change of oven (a few months).

I can see that I'm not the only one in this situation. My technique has been the same since the beginning, and the results have always been consistent, without me noticing any changes in extraction or avb.

Doesn’t this seem a bit too much ?

i don't think so, and especially not for the cold start.
I didn't notice any loss of flavor or burnt taste, just this dark ring on the wood around the oven.

 

[KeroZen]

does the abrasive pad work well with brass?
I only have one battery that fits in my Nomad #008...
I just added an airflow reducer to it... if I can fit a new battery, it's going to be a beast!!!
I'm going to go back and read some ancestral passages from the Nomad thread!

I placed my annual order for 18650 yesterday... how exciting!

(ps: I have every confidence in Kerozen's knowledge... but when I received my Nomad #008, it had lacked maintenance. It was heating quite poorly (too hot too quickly) and Dan diagnosed a deformation of my heater. I stopped using it and replaced it with another heater that I had with my toad... it works great today... but I plan on buying two new heaters to upgrade all my units with a newer heater...)

I believe the alloy to be bronze rather than brass, but yes it's the same abrasive sponge material as the one from the maintenance kit so it's very light. But it didn't require much, Dan's tolerances are so tight any minute variation can be felt.

The battery hole on the other end, being part of the very first Nomad batch, mine is like your 008: many cells don't fit. It's hit or miss on a model by model basis. But had good luck with Samsung 30Q (pink) and LG HG2 (brown) More recently Molicel P26A is limit and enters only with positive end facing out (as they should ideally be used anyways) and Samsung 25S (blue) fits too. I used the abrasive tool several times but it didn't seem to have much effect (mine is blackwood and it's a very hard wood) would need something stronger but I don't want to risk it tbh.

When I said likely not deformed for @Duba's heater, I meant the outer shell. Could be a partial short like you describe but then with a lower resistance it would run much hotter and above all super uneven and Duba would likely have noticed a scorching pattern on their bowl?

Also I vaguely recall Dan claiming that the heat treatment he did on the ribbons created an oxide layer that prevented such kinds of shorts. So I assumed it was not dramatic if the windings lightly touched at times. I wonder to what extent this is true or if I can trust my memories or not lol.

Anyways I wouldn't sweat the discoloration too much.. The wood sleeve inside my Impcognito also changed color and it didn't affect taste nor performance. Could be just the repeated heat cycles lightly charring the wood, but could also be layers of reclaim slowly depositing then being baked in.

Don't forget that in all our vapes when we stop drawing there's always some amount of back-draft and some vapor goes down-stream towards the heater and passes through the grill. Even on my oldest conduction vapes like the FlowerMate 5S etc I was surprised to see so much ABV/reclaim in places where it shouldn't be when I disassembled them for inspection.

 

[DgN'R]

as they should ideally be used anyways

Yeah you're right, normally the positive pole is always located as close as possible to the safety degassing hole. The outgassing escaping from this pole and if it's inserted from the other side and the tolerances are so strict, the problem is that if the battery starts to degas, it can swell and cause the positive pole to seal. So the pressure builds up inside, as there's no way for the gas to escape which leads to a dangerous explosion in no time at all. Stay safe!

 

[BubbleDrop]

The battery hole on the other end, being part of the very first Nomad batch, mine is like your 008: many cells don't fit. It's hit or miss on a model by model basis. But had good luck with Samsung 30Q (pink) and LG HG2 (brown) More recently Molicel P26A is limit and enters only with positive end facing out (as they should ideally be used anyways) and Samsung 25S (blue) fits too. I used the abrasive tool several times but it didn't seem to have much effect (mine is blackwood and it's a very hard wood) would need something stronger but I don't want to risk it tbh.

While I do have a couple of 30Q and HG2 cells, I haven't tried those with the Toad.
But I noticed that my Molicel P28A cells cannot fit, I can only use my P26A (luckily enough, I have quite a few of those).

 

[Duba]

 

[Electrofever]

by the way, this is the first time I've seen this message directly on the batteries!

I saw that message on your batteries. It sounds strange, would someone know why it is written on it ? Maybe to prevent any legal problem ?

 

[coolbreeze]

I saw that message on your batteries. It sounds strange, would someone know why it is written on it ? Maybe to prevent any legal problem ?

Yeah, I've seen that for awhile now, I think it's just a disclaimer aimed at injury lawsuits and selling/shipping. A result of the various vape bans.

 

[KeroZen]

Yes it's a disclaimer. Those 18650 cells were never meant to be used outside of a battery pack (ie. with a proper BMS circuit at the minimum, but possibly with temperature probes and cutoffs, fuses etc for what would constitute a "proper" battery pack, like you find in power tools for instance)

The novelty is that they also need to write the capacity and voltage on the wrap itself and this part is due to the air freight rules (you need to know the total embarked capacity easily, and it was not possible in the past when that information was missing on the wrap) There was a transition period where resellers had to slap a capacity sticker on the cells.

 

[FlyingLow]

Any one have a recommendation for a smell proof case/pouch for the TOAD?

Bonus if it is pocketable.

Thanks in advance.

 

[CanikUser19]

Any one have a recommendation for a smell proof case/pouch for the TOAD?

Bonus if it is pocketable.

Thanks in advance.

Haven’t used their pocketable ones, but I have used their pouch, lockable carry, and backpack. All stellar products that mitigate smell down to undetectable by people around me. Let us know if you try one, my Toad should be shipping soon.

Pocket Size

skunkbags.com

 

[FlyingLow]

Thank you. For many years, I have adopted my MiniVap case to other vapes and it has been perfect (holds a handful of batteries 1-2 vapes and several Jyarz classics), but it is saturated with years of skunk and due for an upgrade.

 

[fangorn]

hey there,

I noticed that the wood near the oven has blackened :

I've been using it very regularly for 2 years, so this may be quite normal.
How is yours?

hi @Duba

any news from dan about this?

i hope everything is going well for you!

 

[Duba]

hi @fangorn
i didn't contact him yet...

 

[Electrofever]

For quite a while I wanted something to put my Toad batteries in, came across those lovely pouches made by @Duba ! Thank you so much, it fits pretty well with my Toad, I love the color technic Here is a pic, I couldn’t resist

 

[fangorn]

@Electrofever

Indeed, it goes very well with your Toad!
A great acquisition!
thank you for sharing...
It really makes me happy to see a Toad in its natural environment!!

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Come on, ladies and gentlemen, proudly display your Toads, they are works of art, in the true sense of the word!!
Please let us enjoy them!!!

 

[Falconflys]

@Electrofever

Indeed, it goes very well with your Toad!
A great acquisition!
thank you for sharing...
It really makes me happy to see a Toad in its natural environment!!

---------------------

Come on, ladies and gentlemen, proudly display your Toads, they are works of art, in the true sense of the word!!
Please let us enjoy them!!!

Did someone say.....Toad!

https://imgur.com/a/NJ59CsY