Discontinued Thermovape Cera

[Soflo]

Im guessing I dont want to touch that white top plate I can seen when looking down in the cart? say if I wanted to load it using my dab tool for example

Heat up your dabber above the concentrate, let it drip down onto the ceramic plate after you have hit the power button for 5-10 sec. Load 5-6 bb size dabs then weigh the cart.
If you are using Co2 or any runny concentrate be careful, it's easy to overfill. I usually unscrew the cart and look for leakage from the bottom after I get a few dabs into it

 

[c76man]

So I managed to overfill my cart with CO2. Had what I thought was a fresh battery, so I was mistaken that it was time to refill. Other than cleaning up the overflow, do I need to be worried about anything else?

I was reading that it usually takes 10-12 seconds to heat up to point where it produces vapor, any other recommended steps from there?

Once it's hot, it should produce vapor easily with each hit, big or small. IMO one of the smallest learning curve of any vape I've tried.

 

[caporoot]

~

Yeah, I'd be real careful with metal. The ceramic is very porous meaning the walls are very thin. Like a dried out kitchen sponge, it's easy to break bits off. Even a toothpick can break it if you give it a chance.

BTW, the top plate is also loose usually, don't worry, it'll get stuck down when the concentrate hits.

OF

So the ceramic plate moves down? because mine is pretty much covering the "entrance" of the cart

So keep adding until it slides down or..?

 

[Severmore]

~

So the ceramic plate moves down? because mine is pretty much covering the "entrance" of the cart

So keep adding until it slides down or..?

The ceramic plate is free floating on top of the ceramic rings/heating element. It won't move down, but if you find yours to be slightly wiggly or free to spin, adding some concentrate should "lock" it in place. Your concentrates should melt through the top ceramic plate and be held in close proximity to the heating element via the ceramic rings.

 

[OF]

So I managed to overfill my cart with CO2. Had what I thought was a fresh battery, so I was mistaken that it was time to refill. Other than cleaning up the overflow, do I need to be worried about anything else?

A common mistake. Always question the battery charge (swap out a fresh one if you're not sure first).

Aside from loosing concentrate nothing to fear. Sometimes keeping it on it's side can let the extra pool up just outside the core rather than leaking out the bottom. Awkward, but not as wasteful.

Good luck.

~

So the ceramic plate moves down? because mine is pretty much covering the "entrance" of the cart

So keep adding until it slides down or..?

As was just said by another poster it sits on top of the core and can't move up or down much. But it has to be loose so it doesn't shatter with heating and cooling. The point is not to worry if you notice it's loose, that's normal.

OF

 

[caporoot]

Fuuuuuuuuuuck, excuse my french but I cannot wait to get home to try this beast!!!

 

[c76man]

A common mistake. Always question the battery charge (swap out a fresh one if you're not sure first).

Aside from loosing concentrate nothing to fear. Sometimes keeping it on it's side can let the extra pool up just outside the core rather than leaking out the bottom. Awkward, but not as wasteful.

Good luck.

OF

Thanks for the reassurance. Just a little lost concentrate. Otherwise, no big deal. Nice design as the leakage is very contained to a limited area. Props to TET on the design. I have a used battery that doesn't hold a charge when sitting around, it turns out.

 

[OF]

I have a used battery that doesn't hold a charge when sitting around, it turns out.

I know that one. Time to send it to battery heaven. Let it hang around and it's gonna try to get you again. It is no longer your friend.

I had one like it and didn't know it. I dug it out of the bottom of the box, when it didn't fix the poor vapor I put way more than I should have and ended up with a very seriously flooded Cera and two useless batteries. Fortunately I had other vapes to console me.....

Taught me an important lesson, batteries are part of the system.

Anyway, your job is to vape up as much of the excess oil as possible. I suggest you work it in shifts. Suck it up, tough duty, but all for the cause.

If you survive, you'll be the better for it.

OF

 

[caporoot]

Just had my first session with the Cera + EO cart. Wow.

Monster hits when this thing gets going - 10/10.

Taste is pretty clean, I get a bit of a ceramic taste here and there using wax/budder but can't complain when it produces clouds like that - 9/10.

The only thing I have an issue with is the loading product in the chamber. Especially since I'm using it with wax/budder atm.

I tried melting it a bit before dropping on top of chamber but the entrance of the cart is extremely small, I was thinking about buying a mini torch to melt the product down, but then realized it would probably damage the ceramic plate. Any work around for this issue?

 

[OF]

Taste is pretty clean, I get a bit of a ceramic taste here and there using wax/budder but can't complain when it produces clouds like that - 9/10.

The only thing I have an issue with is the loading product in the chamber. Especially since I'm using it with wax/budder atm.

Glad you're getting it sorted out. Any taste issues are not "a ceramic taste" this class of ceramics has no taste at all (one of the reasons it's used). Inert for our purposes. I'd look elsewhere.

Trouble loading waxes and similar is very often a purging issue. It won't melt in if it's 'kicking back' too much. How does it do in the foil test? Pay special attention to the 'melts quickly and flows freely' part. This is where this problem is often indicated. You can try a torch, the ceramic is plenty tough for any heat it can deliver (be sure to pull the rings) but with good concentrates it should load fine from self heating.

Be careful with torches, however, as you can cook the oil at that point, tainting the taste before it gets a chance.

I'd try a more 'oil like' concentrate (if possible) next before worrying about it much. For whatever reasons lighter colored ones seem better suited? My personal favorites (we get a great assortment in California Dispensaries) are CO2 oils that pass a fair amount of flashlight light in the vial. My main EO core is basically the same as it was when last cleaned a couple dozen grams ago.

Cool machine all right.

Regards.

OF

 

[Custom Flower Hardware]

Just had my first session with the Cera + EO cart. Wow.

Monster hits when this thing gets going - 10/10.

Taste is pretty clean, I get a bit of a ceramic taste here and there using wax/budder but can't complain when it produces clouds like that - 9/10.

The only thing I have an issue with is the loading product in the chamber. Especially since I'm using it with wax/budder atm.

I tried melting it a bit before dropping on top of chamber but the entrance of the cart is extremely small, I was thinking about buying a mini torch to melt the product down, but then realized it would probably damage the ceramic plate. Any work around for this issue?

i pulse the button for 15 sec bursts while gently working the wax/ budder in and around the ceramic wafer with a wood round toothpick itll go as the core gets hot. Rinse with co2 oil every other load! yum.

 

[Nimrod]

No, please do. If you think you know what you're talking about and I'm wrong, please explain how?

The numbers you cite are way off too, AFAIK, if I'm in error there, kindly include those details?

The proof of the pudding is in the heating ?

mod note: Please make sure to post your content outside of QUOTE tags. Fixed.

 

[OF]

The proof of the pudding is in the heating ?

I would tend to agree with you there, which is why I built the test fixture and tested one such '30 Amp wonder battery' and found it's performance as we use it to be nothing special at all. In fact, while better than the commonly recommended CGR18650CH (gave two more 'hits' in EO simulation) it fell far short of the NCR18650PD outperformed it by 13 extra 'hits'. Out of 118 total for the VTC5

But TTH says I'm speaking gibberish, indicating to me he knows more on the subject? Hopefully he'll back that claim up with something we can examine. I don't want to clutter this already unwieldy thread with the details of my tests, but if interested folks want to PM me I'm happy to send the raw data along for their inspection.

But if the measure of value is indeed in providing heat it seems the VTC5 is not the ultimate answer....... It has a capacity to do something we don't need (or are able to use), but at the expense of useful heating we could take advantage of.

OF

 

[Qwerty]

I just received my cera back from TET today. It was trip number three for my cera, all trips in a relatively short amount of time. Iv had my cera for about 2 months now. Although it does get annoying having to go through the return process over and over, the company does take care of you.
Sometimes It's the details that do make a big difference. when I called to inquire about my cera, the call kept getting dropped, and Z called me from his cell phone right away, to give me the day it was due to be delivered to me, which surprised me.
Also when I opened the padded envelope, I found my cera in another plastic tube,besides the padding that it comes with.
looks like someone took the time to cut the plastic tube and stuff a lot of tissue paper to cushion the switch. It had me crack a smile. Iv been using it as I write this, feels great to have it back. The pax I have has seen heavy use, but it always lacked the vapor quality that the cera has. Happy to put the pax on hold, great device but 'feels cheap' lol.

 

[Soflo]

Noooooooo!

 

[Severmore]

Noooooooo!

Maybe inquire with @kushcabbage in the classifieds? I saw that he was including a ceramic top cap with his Luna for sale. Maybe it can be sold separately, as I do not see a real use for it on the Luna body?

 

[kushcabbage]

Maybe inquire with @kushcabbage in the classifieds? I saw that he was including a ceramic top cap with his Luna for sale. Maybe it can be sold separately, as I do not see a real use for it on the Luna body?

indeed would love to help, let me know @Soflo and good eye @Severmore !

 

[nopartofme]

I just got confirmation from TET that it is possible for a 7.4v "Luna" EL cartridge to be used in a Cera with two 18350s. It is also possible to get a CEL cart rewound to 7.4v as part of a $25 cartridge rebuild.

I'm wondering now about the pros and cons of having this done. This is as much as I've got:

• + Faster heat-up
• – Dealing with charging battery pairs
• – Cost of purchasing 18350s

I'm probably missing something here.

Sorry to bring this up again with no response in between, but I thought about it some more and think I should correct a possibly false assumption I made.

I'm not an electricity guru by any means, and I'd made the assumption that more volts means faster heat-up. However, they are rewinding the cart to handle the extra voltage. I imagine that this rewinding would lead to a change in resistance, and thus perhaps the same number of watts in the end? Meaning no difference in performance?

I recall someone mentioning that the 7.4 volt change had been made in the Luna EL Cart because that's the way things are going in the e-cig realm. Maybe it's just a matter of allowing e-cig users to keep using the 18350s that they might have on hand?

Anyways, just wanted to toss this thought out there, in case someone else took my speculation as gospel...

I still wonder if there's any benefit to be had in rewinding for 7.4 volts, for someone that doesn't have 18350s lying around itching to be used.

 

[OF]

I imagine that this rewinding would lead to a change in resistance, and thus perhaps the same number of watts in the end? Meaning no difference in performance?

I still wonder if there's any benefit to be had in rewinding for 7.4 volts, for someone that doesn't have 18350s lying around itching to be used.

Exactly so, the size of the wire (diameter) is changed to keep the powers in line. With T1 there was a modest difference, but I think mostly because of the much larger power levels (about twice). By the time you get to Revolution/DART it's a push. I would expect Cera/Luna to be the same.

At one point there was also a connection issue with the center pin. The diameter of the wire can't be changed in the EO connection design. The new EL core uses a different scheme. I guess it's OK with fatter wire?

IMO there's a serious disadvantage to 7.4 Volts in that it needs two cells in series without a protection circuit. This means the weaker one will be overdischarged before the total drops a lot. Every time. It will get weaker and weaker because of this. The only way out is to religiously keep them paired up and never push the charge to the point the weaker of the two drops to say 3.0 Volts? The scary part is in such systems you can actually try to reverse charge a battery if you're not careful which is instantly fatal. Without the PCB we have no protection from this, the very reason such boards are made.

If it were mine I'd keep it at 3.7 Volts.......come to think of it that's exactly what I did. Now you know why?

OF

 

[nopartofme]

Thanks very much OF. I was fine and dandy until I thought of the option, and then I couldn't stop thinking about it of course... Knowledge is power (measured in watts?).

 

[OF]

Knowledge is power (measured in watts?).

Yer welcome. FWIW Tim had a theory (which I think I support) that the thicker wire used in LV carts being stiffer and stronger helped give mechanical stability. He said he saw more of the finer heater wires flat out broken at the connections. That, too, tends to favor 3.7 Volts in my mind.

I agree knowledge is power, no doubt. Informed choices are the best ones. In a punny short of way I suggest it's not measured in Watts as much as "What?"s? That is eventual understanding often starts with a healthy '"WTF" is going on here?'.

OF

 

[Krazzykid]

Yer welcome. FWIW Tim had a theory (which I think I support) that the thicker wire used in LV carts being stiffer and stronger helped give mechanical stability. He said he saw more of the finer heater wires flat out broken at the connections. That, too, tends to favor 3.7 Volts in my mind.

I agree knowledge is power, no doubt. Informed choices are the best ones. In a punny short of way I suggest it's not measured in Watts as much as "What?"s? That is eventual understanding often starts with a healthy '"WTF" is going on here?'.

OF

I fully support Tim's theory.
I too have seen the same in my ecig use. I started with using 32g kanthal (long ago) and it can't hold up to a dry burn let alone long use, the coils pop too easy. I long ago switched to 28g kanthal and stopped having issues with coils popping. I then moved to 26g kanthal and I can dry burn until my heart is content and I have never popped a coil, my longest lasting coil is a 26g kanthal 0.7ohm micro coil wrapped on a 1/16th bit that has been going for over 1.5 years strong in a dripper of mine (and the resistance has never changed either, any large enough for me to measure anyways)

 

[Psybero]

Reading all those posts makes me salivate, awaiting the arrival of my Cera Ti...
Hopefully our Dutch Customs does not prohibid importin it.
Any EU based buyers with bad experiences?
Bought the LL for use with classic hash, did I choose wisely?
Thanks for all the info, reall fun to read all your comments.

 

[Custom Flower Hardware]

Reading all those posts makes me salivate, awaiting the arrival of my Cera Ti...
Hopefully our Dutch Customs does not prohibid importin it.
Any EU based buyers with bad experiences?
Bought the LL for use with classic hash, did I choose wisely?
Thanks for all the info, reall fun to read all your comments.

You have chosen...WISELY!

 

[Psybero]

Thanks SWG, no only for comforting me (I get nervous when I pay these amounts for -to me- unknown technology) but also got my first points awarded... YEAH