So I know the porous ceramic rings are stacked on top of each other under the top ceramic wafer, but where does the heater coil lay? Isn't there a long and skinny ceramic cylinder somewhere?
It's as coil running up the center of the stack. There's a reflector core/support rod up the center of it. It's pretty small in major diameter, I'd say the OD is about 1/8 inch (?). There's a gap between the coil and the cores, of course, but not a huge one. In use it's the material in the core that does most of the good work.
There's also a gap at the outside of the stack between it and the wall. When overfilled, this gap fills and holds some of the excess for use later.
Hey FC I made a little latching switch mod of my own:
Got latching switch on ebay. It's actually an illuminated switch but wiring the leads for the LED is tricky with the tight space constraints. Otherwise it works great. For the LL core it is a must have IMO. Only rated at 3 amps though so longevity may be an issue but should do till a better solution comes up.
Interesting looking, although I share your concern for capacity, still as you say it's a start.
Do you have a link to share?
TIA
On the topic of timing on the EO cores, I agree with those numbers. Overfilling makes it slower, as dues running dry (funny how that works out). And, since the system retains heat so well the start up for subsequent hits can be quite fast. It can get to the 'start the draw as you hit the button level like with Omicron carts.....sometimes.
If things aren't truly rolling in 15 or 20 seconds IMO it's time to question battery charge and fill level in that order.
OF