Discontinued Thermovape Cera

Cheerful Dub

Spaced Station
For what it's worth I put teflon tape around my switch threads to keep them from unthreading out of the housing, which would happen "just enough to piss me off" every time I pushed the button. I swapped out my original domed switch which failed on its own volition, and am still on the contemporary flat replacement. Although it has collapsed once it is still going strong. I'm not really sure how the tape could be a problem as it is not conductive and even if it were would not provide a short in that area of the circuit, although I am no electronics wizard by any means. I am also not sure I am even thinking of the same tape in the same area, but this being the only mention of it thus far I figured I'd throw in my :2c:
 

hektik8625

Well-Known Member
I'd try shimming it. Normally I'd go with dental floss or something like that but that's out here due to temperature I'd think. How about a thin strip of aluminum foil? A layer or two under the ring? My guess is it's pretty close.

Perhaps using a bit of water to help hold the foil in place until the ring gets on? The water will easily boil off when you heat it up the first time......

OF
thanks OF, ill try..its really no big deal.... hey now it brought me to thinking that last time i was at harbor freight, they did have high temp o rings. I double checked and bought a box that has 225 assortment sizes for $10 ...on the box it says resistant to high heat ...and made of NITRILE rubber....wiki says it can withstand a range of temperatures from -40 °C to +108 °C (226*F)....think those will be ok? one must fit...
 

OF

Well-Known Member
I double checked and bought a box that has 225 assortment sizes for $10 ...on the box it says resistant to high heat ...and made of NITRILE rubber....wiki says it can withstand a range of temperatures from -40 °C to +108 °C (226*F)....think those will be ok? one must fit...

Hey, I've got that same one, no, not there yet. Handy kit, though, isn't it? We need another 100 degrees C at least. Viton is the next material up the ladder, we need to go to the top here, high temperature Silicone Rubber, please.

OF
 

BLAZING OG

Vaping is a way of life!
Ive been so far behind that iam think Iam going in reverse!!!!
Here another video with a piece I had put away...........Since cera decided to roll over and fall on my bubbler and break it in half, I decided to pull out an unused back up oil rig I HAD STASHED!!!!

ENJOY!!!!


:bigleaf:
 

druminfected

Well-Known Member
Check the battery connection, it seems like most of the faults aren't the switch itself, but rather things like the ground strap or the spring preventing the battery from touching the proper metal bits.

I think OF's solution was to try putting a dime or two on the bottom of the battery?

Thanks kickass and OF. yes I seen the 2 dimes suggestion and tried that but it didnt work. I noticed when I shook the cera it sounded loose ( almost sounded like that shake weight thingy) so I did the 2 dimes method and that didnt work, so then I carefully stretched the cap spring just a tad and HUZZAH it worked again! I went from tears to chears in moments!

So guys make sure your connection is tight ( do a lil shake if ur uncertain) and hopefully you can fix it and not have to send it in doing a simple fix, but yes try the dimes first!


Bummer. I wonder if the battery is using the epoxy 'plug' as a punch to hammer the switch body from behind when it hits? Perhaps something like a thrust washer can be added to transfer that load to the threaded body instead????

Next time I 'wonder over to the shop' I think I'll look at the pieces a bit.....if I remember of coarse

OF


I think you might have something here OF. After a little fall I think this can and has happened to a few people. Good way to see if your cera isn't working is to shake it and see if it makes any rattle noise, and if so its prolly not getting a complete connection.


I found the Viton o-rings to shatter after being subjected to high heat repeatedly. I had to use silicone. The ones you tried were #110's - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FMUU4Y/ref=pe_175190_21431760_M3T1_ST1_dp_2

But try the ones I sent you first. They'll definitely work

What I did with the rings that NTSH gave me is I stretched them out slowly by putting them on a bigger and bigger diameter
Up to the size of the cart, and was good to go. :)
 

skesseks

Member
ive been following this thread for about a month or so (right around when i had to send my cera in for repairs)

every time i felt compelled to ask a question it was already asked and answered (most often by OF, big surprise). was lucky enough to hit up nothing to see here and get my name in the pot for the mouthpiece mod. just received it in the mail today. so much better
Got my NTSH MP yesterday. After the first test run I really like it! The only thing is now my case is not configured to store it :(.

Very nice though.
 

GR

Well-Known Member
EO cart question. Does anybody else get the near black oil slick that bubbles out? It is a mess when it happens when using the Cera upside down through glass. It was happening when I would get 2-3g into a clean cart. Last night I did a deep clean ( can't get the last 500th of a g out) and with a .2g load to wet the ceramic and another .2g to fill the reservoir, using it this morning black sludge, .17g of it. I am thinking I must be overheating while loading, I do take my time but what else could it be?
 

Soflo

Only birdshit and fools
EO cart question. Does anybody else get the near black oil slick that bubbles out? It is a mess when it happens when using the Cera upside down through glass. It was happening when I would get 2-3g into a clean cart. Last night I did a deep clean ( can't get the last 500th of a g out) and with a .2g load to wet the ceramic and another .2g to fill the reservoir, using it this morning black sludge, .17g of it. I am thinking I must be overheating while loading, I do take my time but what else could it be?

My EO tends to get Little dark oil/wax on the ring around the wafer. I just grab a dabber and scrape around the walls and hit it with a little heat and drop it back on the ceramic. Good to go! If you examine it closely, its still transparent, I wouldn't worry unless it looks like crude oil, then id say use better extract
 
Soflo,
  • Like
Reactions: OF

GR

Well-Known Member
My EO tends to get Little dark oil/wax on the ring around the wafer. I just grab a dabber and scrape around the walls and hit it with a little heat and drop it back on the ceramic. Good to go! If you examine it closely, its still transparent, I wouldn't worry unless it looks like crude oil, then id say use better extract
Thanks.

Not my oils. Have you tried a dab of the darker? I scape and use it for cooking or wipe and throw it away if I am on the go.

I scraped the dark away and reloaded more oil and everything is back to normal. The oil that gets on the UFO is light in color and so is what gets on the side of the bowl, this I will scape and reload.

I am going to view this as a self cleaning action. maybe that .05g I could not clean out mixed with the fresh oil and bubbled to the top? I am about purest of flavor and not concerned about some waste and right now Cera is hitting at full flavor.

Next purchase for the Cera is a heated ultrasonic cleaner and a second EO cart.
 

jdee

Well-Known Member
Hmm, I just picked up a heated ultrasonic cleaner for other uses (steeping e-liquid, liposomal encapsulation, cleaning brass) Is it supposed to provide a more thorough cleaning to the carts than boiling/soaking in iso, and is there any purpose to doing that with the ll cart ever, or just the eo cart?
 

GR

Well-Known Member
Hmm, I just picked up a heated ultrasonic cleaner for other uses (steeping e-liquid, liposomal encapsulation, cleaning brass) Is it supposed to provide a more thorough cleaning to the carts than boiling/soaking in iso, and is there any purpose to doing that with the ll cart ever, or just the eo cart?

I was asking Zeki about theirs. They keep distilled water in it and put the EO cores in a jar of ISO and put that in the tank. This means I can keep a solution ( distilled water, vinegar, and a drop of dish soap) for the wife's jewelry and put a sealed jar of ISO with the cart in the heated solution. For me all things clean faster and easier with heat then cold.

As for the LL cart I don't know nor has mine been so dirty that a paper towel with a bit of ISO didn't just wipe away.
 

Soflo

Only birdshit and fools
Thanks.

Not my oils. Have you tried a dab of the darker? I scape and use it for cooking or wipe and throw it away if I am on the go.

I scraped the dark away and reloaded more oil and everything is back to normal. The oil that gets on the UFO is light in color and so is what gets on the side of the bowl, this I will scape and reload.

I am going to view this as a self cleaning action. maybe that .05g I could not clean out mixed with the fresh oil and bubbled to the top? I am about purest of flavor and not concerned about some waste and right now Cera is hitting at full flavor.

Next purchase for the Cera is a heated ultrasonic cleaner and a second EO cart.

I don't mind the darker stuff a long as its clear with a light under it.
Kinda like healthstone reclaim, its just been purged an extra time lol!
 
Soflo,
  • Like
Reactions: NoName

JoeKickass

Well-Known Member
I use a few inches of silicone tubing when I hit the eo through my big bong so I can just hold it upright and the tubing bends into the bong.

Pinnacle WT doesn't have this issue :D
 

OF

Well-Known Member
Thanks kickass and OF. yes I seen the 2 dimes suggestion and tried that but it didnt work. I noticed when I shook the cera it sounded loose ( almost sounded like that shake weight thingy) so I did the 2 dimes method and that didnt work, so then I carefully stretched the cap spring just a tad and HUZZAH it worked again! I went from tears to chears in moments!

Wow! That sounds like a 30 cent breakdown, maybe even 40.....getting mighty expensive.....

Is it supposed to provide a more thorough cleaning to the carts than boiling/soaking in iso, and is there any purpose to doing that with the ll cart ever, or just the eo cart?

This might be a bad idea. A year or so back we were messing around with Ultrasonic Cleaners and Revolution/DART. You'll no doubt find me recommending it somewhere. After a guy had two go open on him (very rare for a repeat failure....always a clue in troubleshooting worth looking at) suspicion fell on the cleaner and vibrations. He did this weekly. So Tim carefully wound him a new one to test....which he broke....so we stopped recommending it. Playing with mine and some models showed nasty resonances that could flex the coil way more than normal use. So the advice was retracted. AFAIK there have been no such failures with Cera (probably few doing it?), and none happened with T1 (who would put it in the Ultrasonic anyway?).

About that time there was a fellow in some remote part of Europe that had 3 fail, suspicion fell on vibration in transit, but that was never shown and AFAIK never happened again.

I'd be careful and would avoid it unless 'necessary'?

I was asking Zeki about theirs. They keep distilled water in it and put the EO cores in a jar of ISO and put that in the tank.

I should probably just take the rap for that suggestion up front. It's the way we did it in a lab I worked in, often in some nasty solvents. It works better with some detergent in the water bath, it couples better if the liquid 'whets' the surface of the container better.

Be careful not to cap it, though, some solvents will build up pressure through friction.

Great tool, but it does sometimes have a downside. I remember a 'new guy' who put a couple thousand dollars worth of microscope apertures (tiny Platinum plates with unbelievably tiny holes in the center) rattling against each other and forgot them. Got distracted, went to lunch after that, by the time he got back some helpful soul pulled them out (needed the machine I'm sure). They'd beat each other into scrap metal at a microscopic level. Some of them came from Germany, some from Japan, lots of 'splaining to do.

OF
 

PhotoRider

Diagnosed with level 11 G.A.S.
has anybody tried the "Smooth Flow Moisture Conditioner" for the Cera. Is it work or improve the vape?

So ThermoCape is in San Carlos, I'm in Redwood City next week. Too bad I can stop by and pick my order up :) but there would be sales tax which in CA is like over night express shipping prices :(

Wonder if I could check out a demo or something. It would be fun.

mod note: Please avoid back-to-back posts, use Edit instead. Two posts merged.
sorry my mistake.
 
PhotoRider,
  • Like
Reactions: OF

Dogman

Vaporist Extrordinair
Well, I'm finally in the club! As a proud owner of two Thermovape T1s, I cannot tell you how excited I was to finally be able to purchase a Cera. I don't think I have to say I have had dreams about this day coming.

Before I get really started, I have to say I hate the switch. It is hard to get depressed while holding it in what I consider to be a natural position. I am an automotive repair shop owner and work every day on vehicles, so it isn't like I have the strength of a 7 year old. But for me the switch is a pain in the ass. I think I shall follow OFs advice and put some foil at the switch end.

I wanted to start with my complaint because the rest of my review is glowing. From the minute I picked it up, I was impressed as hell. This thing is amazing! The heft is excellent, and the feel is very ritzy feeling. It was not a cheap vaporizer, and you can tell the minute you pick it up.

I put the stock battery on charge and pulled one of my other 18650s out and went to work. Since I have had it a year and a half and absolutely love my T1, I assumed this was going to be a 'pick it up and be a pro on the first hit' guy. Although the technique is similar, there are subtle differences. The first I notice was that the first couple of hits are very cool, I assume because of the ceramic mouthpiece absorbing the heat. I opted to not use the silicone cover on the first bowl, a mistake I will not make again. The cap gets pretty seriously hot!

The first couple of bowls were not that impressive, wispy hits and disappointment and a little fear that I had purchased a white elephant. $300 is a lot to spend on a disappointment. But I have extreme faith in Thermovape and knew that it had to be my technique, not the unit.

So last night I went bowling with my brother and a buddy of ours. I took Cera along, she loves going places and seeing new things. About halfway through the evening they went outside to do a couple of hitters, and I decided that it would be a great time to see if Cera raised any eyebrows. So while sitting at the scoring table I turned her on and she reciprocated. I was starting to get the hang of her and I was loving it. We enjoyed three really nice rips together and then I layed her down on the table next to my ecig mods. Not one person the entire evening had a clue. My brother sat down and I enjoyed a couple more rips from the old girl, and even he had no clue.

It has been a good 24 hours since she came into my life, and I have fallen head over heals in love. I am still using the same battery that I started with, and have run 7 or 8 bowls through her without a problem. It is tough for me to say if she hits better than the T1, I want to say yes, but it could just be the excitement of a new toy.

I am not a medical user, I use it to calm my nerves and keep me from killing lots of people every day. I also know this device was made for the medical community, not for the average guy like me. It is a lot of money, but I paid as much for another vaporizer that required constant cleaning and parts and switches were always sticking and causing problems. It does seem to be a lot easier to use than my T1, I like that it doesn't need shaking and stirring, another big plus. The flavor it produces is as good as if not better than the T1, which has always been my favorite for pure flavor.

I will give Cera a 9 out of 10. She is a little big and heavy for most pockets (not for mine) and the switch is a definite drawback IMO, but she drives like a Ferrari and with a little patience will reward you with great rips and a lifetime of service.

I have said this many times before, I hope I do not sound like a broken record, but the Thermovape team fucking rocks!:rockon:
 

PhotoRider

Diagnosed with level 11 G.A.S.
I am not a medical user, I use it to calm my nerves and keep me from killing lots of people every day. I also know this device was made for the medical community, not for the average guy like me.

First you are killing me, second define medical user :) cause I believe that fits the bill my friend :D

I know a few people that need the same thing especially a motorcycle buddy. He almost shot a driver who didn't see him and he carries. I was worried and I almost stopped and told him to hit this little friend...
 

darkrom

Great Scott!
So my custom mouthpiece, thought I'd hate it but I really enjoy it. My friend agrees much more airflow.

I think that if this same mouthpiece was made with the screen PERMANENTLY integrated into the mouthpiece it would be perfect.

It is simply a little bit too big to carry around assembled, but taking off the top now I have to worry where I'll put the screen to not lose it. Over all it is functionally working better IMO, it really is a big improvement, but it is a bit of a hassle to carry around while it is bigger. Like I said this same design with the screen permanently attached would be AMAZING... you hear that Tim :)

Another plus that I didn't really think about until now is with the higher airflow and seemingly bigger hits I can finish a bowl faster, which should definitely save some battery life.
 

nopartofme

Over the falls, in a barrel
I got my NTS mouthpiece today, but wouldn't you know it, my Cera recently stopped heating up without pressure placed on the cart. I've been busy and haven't gotten a chance to ship it out to TET yet, but it seems like I might have the same problem DR had with his second unit: a failure of the strap itself rather than the soldered connection as I understand it? The new weld design wasn't made to particularly fix this issue I think, but here's to hoping.

Thank goodness TET's customer service is so stellar; it really helps soften the pain. Can't wait to be up and running again! In the mean time I'll be giving my launch box its due once more. As an owner of the MFLB and the Cera, it's nice to feel fully covered by the customer support of both TET and MF. Great companies!

The NTS mouthpiece is a beauty, by the way! Really looks nice and feels nice in the hand, can't wait to give it a spin. Thanks again NTS. This community is the bee's knees.
 

Sonics420

Well-Known Member
I got my NTS mouthpiece today, but wouldn't you know it, my Cera recently stopped heating up without pressure placed on the cart. I've been busy and haven't gotten a chance to ship it out to TET yet, but it seems like I might have the same problem DR had with his second unit: a failure of the strap itself rather than the soldered connection as I understand it? The new weld design wasn't made to particularly fix this issue I think, but here's to hoping.

Thank goodness TET's customer service is so stellar; it really helps soften the pain. Can't wait to be up and running again! In the mean time I'll be giving my launch box its due once more. As an owner of the MFLB and the Cera, it's nice to feel fully covered by the customer support of both TET and MF. Great companies!.


So crazy the same thing happened to me. Zeki told me mine wasnt laser welded yet so I hope that is the fix. Already got mine sent out to TET the following day.
 

OF

Well-Known Member
a failure of the strap itself rather than the soldered connection as I understand it? The new weld design wasn't made to particularly fix this issue I think, but here's to hoping.

At a guess, that's it, it's the only failure I know of in soldered straps (although it's been a couple of weeks since I visited and had a chance to ask).

The strap is 'glued' to the side wall, and now securely soldered to the screw plate...which floats a very small amount on the pins. My theory is it's that motion that's causing the breaks. Copper only flexes so much before it breaks along grain lines....like when you break a wire by bending back and forth several times. A bit is fine, but there are limits here, in fact called "elastic limits". It stops being a good spring. One thing I would not consider a good thing is pushing the cart (and therefore the plate) around a lot. Just thinking out loud here....

OF
 
Top Bottom