Discontinued Thermovape Cera

[OF]

I emailed TET asking a question but never got an answer, just to clarify I'm simple terms please. I don't understand all the -PD, etc stuff...

The original 2500 18650 protected ones WILL NOT WORK? Or the new unprotected ones are just the recommended ones now and ones they are selling?

The -PD is just shorthand for NCR18650PD to separate it out from the rest of the similar 18650s. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'the original 2500' but if it's one of the Beta units I was given (which I understand includes the custom built ones they originally wanted) you don't really want that one. Both the first battery they shipped and this new one outperform the Beta test guys. The only one close is a AW IMR 18650 I added (but that one is the 1600 mAh version, the 2000 mAh doesn't measure up in output fully charged).

Yes, lots of different batteries will work OK, more so now that flat tops are allowed. Best performance calls for careful battery selection and keeping them charged.

FWIW I think folks are perhaps a bit over concerned about this whole area, but that's of course fully understandable and healthy. Just not productive? The best batteries for the job (like the two certified by TV) basically can't be beat in the application. However, as they discharge, they can no doubt be beat by lesser batteries with fuller charges.

Given the high stakes I think most owners, 'Power users' for sure, will want to start with the best possible battery rather than a handicap right out of the gate?

OF

 

[jivebuggered]

For sure the switch selection issue is not trivial. That's why I went the other way, starting with an appropriate (from an electrical not mechanical POV) off the shelf switch.

There's no need to break up the epoxy (heat it the key there) since the switch threads into the body of the cap with the spring and epoxy already set, just unscrew it again? However, recovering the spring (if that's what you mean). It's not copper, but a controlled alloy to provide protection by collapsing when overheated which means you can't use heat to get it out if you want to reuse it.

You can get appropriate 'flashlight springs' from some hardware stores (don't have the protection, of course) and can also use normal cylindrical compression springs (the tapered shape helps with stacking but with careful fitting this isn't needed (and is not used on many vapes in fact). I asked for (and got) two of them from TV for my experiments, I can't speak for them of course but I bet if you asked real nice they'd send you a couple? I bet if you offered to send them a SASE to mail them in Tim or someone would mail it back for you without causing them a lot of fuss and expense with paperwork and shipping? Feel free to tell Tim I suggested it, he can't think all that much less of me anyway......

Good luck in your Holy Quest. IMO this is great stuff in the long run, when TV gets ahead of the curve enough to start custom core builds and stuff out ability to exploit the modular basis of Cera will really open up I bet.



First off, howdy, welcome to the excitement.

I'm sorry you rushed out and bought 'better' batteries despite the cautions to the contrary. If these are the same ones I think they are, they will work OK but not as well in this use as the 'Factory Batteries' for the reasons we've been discussing. The protection circuits used will limit performance.

IMO you don't want protected batteries, you really want one or the other of the two units TV has approved. I don't think you're entitled to free stuff but if you insist of a protected battery I bet TV can send you one of the Beta test types they gave me that are protected but don't perform as well.....is that what you really want? They have at least 3 types (Blue, Red and Black) to pick from IIRC. All are protected, if that's the deal breaker.

OF

Thanks for that info. I hope someone finds a acceptable switch before i change it.The big drawback with the Cera is that it can roll easily, which the top of mine did while i was reloading the other end. It hit the wooden "floating floor" and chipped the shoulder, the moth piece was ok. I gotta admit i thought it was tougher then that and now have to pay $40 for another replacement more for the visual side then anything else. I thought after waiting three months and only having tried it a couple of times that they might replace for free (even though it was my fault) but no such luck. Getting back to my earlier post i have now ground it finer and tried various amounts but still end up with a lot of green material. I usually get a decent first two vaps by drawing very slowly but after that the vapor isn`t much and if i try to draw harder the vapor and the unit starts to get too hot. The old rule applies faster draw= more vapor= more heat. Slower draw = less vapor = less heat. When i investigate, a lot of the material is still green so i packed it into the Solo and got another three decent hits. I really believe that mine anyway gets the temp too hot in the middle of the mix. Someone suggested "stirring" well im starting to believe i might have to do that for mine which i dont have to want to do. Confused and not exactly happy with it at the moment. I think it is a whole different ball game with a water pipe connected since the mouth piece never touches the mouth and would be easier to use since being inverted the on button would be easily reached hence the good reports from members useing a WP with the Cera. ta

 

[2ndSight]

Freshly charged, it's hard to tell the difference between the -CH and the -PD.
----------------------
Anyway, as of right now I'm still a big fan of the 2250mAh -CH version. IMO it's a top pick. The -PD shows promise (and TV did qualify it) but for now I'd like to see some more testing (under real field conditions to include the deep discharge issue).

Both the first battery they shipped and this new one outperform the Beta test guys

Thanks immensely for all this battery info guys. Trying to keep up with the technical jargon but i think it all makes sense more or less.

So there's 2 officially endorsed TET batteries:
-the gray 2250's that went out with all the pre-orders thus far (-CH)
-and now there's a new type they've endorsed (2900s) (-PD)

I have a few questions around this:
-does anyone know---are all pre-orders getting filled going forward going to be receiving the original gray 2250's (CH) or these newly endorsed ones (2900 PD)? has this info been sent out in an email to customers if so? (still havent heard anything personally but i didnt receive other mass emails so i figure its worth asking)
-if it's the newly endorsed ones, i assume we no longer get an extra battery?

I guess my concern is that the 2250's seem to be the best but now as fate would have it they're discontinued, so the rest of us don't get a chance to use em. 3 CH's seems to be around the same price as 2 PD's (~30-35 bucks?) but 3 batteries would give more overall usage time with a faster warmup time, would be nice to have the option to choose if they still have 2250's in stock but i'm guessing theyre all gone. or does anyone know where to find some of the exact 2250s TET was shipping? i'm still not sure why i paid 50 dollars for 2 batteries in the first place...but so it goes lol.

OF maybe you could be so kind as to put my qualms to rest if you just told me i'm totally splitting hairs here cuz they're both 'pretty much' the same to non-battery pros? I can't really tell if i'm being too critical of the battery situation, i think we all are haha, but you did indeed say there's a top pick so that started me scratchin my head. Thanks a bunch dude!

 

[Trever]

Thanks for that info. I hope someone finds a acceptable switch before i change it.The big drawback with the Cera is that it can roll easily, which the top of mine did while i was reloading the other end. It hit the wooden "floating floor" and chipped the shoulder, the moth piece was ok. I gotta admit i thought it was tougher then that and now have to pay $40 for another replacement more for the visual side then anything else.

Part of the the body or mouthpeice chipped??? Scary i often wondered why the T1 doesnt have a flat part on it so it doesnt roll around cause it has legs sometimes i swear.

 

[OF]

In the end it's hard to say if the 2250 or the 2900 will be a better call. For myself, 3 2250s sounds like a better call than 2 of the 2900s. But I'm not sure by enough to worry about too much?

It bothers me too that the 2250s are going away. Call me paranoid if you will but I ordered a couple more last night after a little thought. The idea that a few years down the road when the ones I'm using give up there might not be a better battery around makes it cheap insurance IMO. I know that years from now those (correctly stored) batteries will still do a bang up job making vapor no matter.

In the end, I think most of us will end up using the battery 'by feel' like with the older TV products and no doubt become pretty good at it. The big plus here is the improvements have made Cera much less fickle to use.

I usually get a decent first two vaps by drawing very slowly but after that the vapor isn`t much and if i try to draw harder the vapor and the unit starts to get too hot. The old rule applies faster draw= more vapor= more heat. Slower draw = less vapor = less heat. When i investigate, a lot of the material is still green so i packed it into the Solo and got another three decent hits. I really believe that mine anyway gets the temp too hot in the middle of the mix. Someone suggested "stirring" well im starting to believe i might have to do that for mine which i dont have to want to do. Confused and not exactly happy with it at the moment.

Again, it's pretty hard to diagnose from here, but it sure sounds like there's a temperature gradient going on, no doubt caused by 'channeling'. My advice is to experiment around, stir it and see what happens for instance. Just a test, you don't have to use it that way. Try slowing down even more, taking it in pulses and so on. And of course different grinds and packing. I like to grind pretty fine and not load all that tight. Guys looking for bigger clouds tend to pack tight. Try them all?

Good luck. I doubt it's a 'too much heat' problem, but it's easy to test, run some 'mostly discharged battery' runs? Remember at the end of the charge the core is only putting out something like 60% of what it did at the start. A 40% drop and there's probably no more than 10% total spread on powers in a given family. The steps in Beta tests are usually about 10% apart for that reason.

OF

 

[Tweek]

I've been experimenting with the LL , and I will say that it is medicating me quite nicely Now, this could be a completely useless experiment, in which case disregard me and my baked mind, but I just inserted a hat basket into my LL cart and I can swear I am getting thicker hits.

I need to play around a bit more to confirm these findings, but if anyone else has a chance to try it out, let me know what you think.

Edit: I also snipped a small piece of SSV tubing and attached it to the mouthpiece. Protects my lips when the unit gets hot.

 

[Pipes]

The old rule applies faster draw= more vapor= more heat. Slower draw = less vapor = less heat.

It's actually the other way around. Speeding up the draw will cool the element. Will get an initial heat burst but if draw is not dropped off the heat will.
Just thinking this might be where it's going wrong?

 

[prk]

Just to throw another user mini-testimonial into the mix, I received my Cera today and am a huge fan already. I have a decent amount of experience with several vapes, but I can specifically compare it to the T1 system - big improvement. I have only lightly "broken in" the LL cart with a combo of bud and bubble, but it was a huge success. Just a few pulls were quite effective using essentially the same technique from my T1, but with much better results. I do notice some of the top cap heat, the info came out about the skins the day mine shipped, if I had been offered the option with my shipping notification I definitely would have purchased one. I probably will soon anyway, especially since now I can't find my nonstick loading tool... Anyway I really like the LL cartridge, and look forward to much more usage in the future.

More details to come, but I'm pleased aside from the hot top cap (though at the tail end of the bowl I did notice the mouthpiece itself getting hot unfortunately) and the non-latching switch. This is still somewhat of an annoyance for me. I understand the technological limitations and the potential safety risks, but even more so than the original top sliding switch, no bottom latching switch makes the LL cart much more of an effort to use than it should be. Even with my young hands, I had to contort my pinky or ring finger into a pretty awkward position, and hold it for several seconds to get the appropriate amount of heat. Two hands works okay, but definitely is not always going to be an option with a portable, let alone for the situations of some medical users. I have a lot of hope for some neat 3rd-party and/or DIY solutions to this, from the very creative community here. Having used the device myself now, I can totally understand how a latching switch might have caused some disastrous results (dead batteries, ruined oil, charred loose leaf) and understand the source of their concerns.

I quite like the EO cart. It's very nice, and I think an upgrade from the Dart or standard Rev, I really like how much more you can load in on one go. I had performed some experimentation with a m510 to f610 adapter, and some Omicron carts on top of my T1 body to serve this purpose, but I feel like the Cera EO cart is good enough for my needs. Hits just as well if not better than the previous devices, capable of some really stunning performance. I was never a huge nail guy, but this is easily as effective while much less harsh and conspicuous, and just as if not more flavorful.

All in all, as a user of the older products, I feel the Cera is a significant improvement in pretty much every area, except for the unknown durability of the thing. I know I'm not gonna be the one to test it. I think I trust that the ceramic material is very hard, but it feels similar to the ceramic stuff that we're all used to (plates, mugs, etc.) which is very breakable. I don't think this stuff is. My main beefs with the T1 system was how hot the entire device got, especially around the battery area, the weak battery life, and having to stir the load. I feel all of these issues have been corrected, especially the first item - while the Cera sometimes gets hot around the top cap and/or mouthpiece, the lower section of the device is totally cool in my usage. The smaller bowl (I don't mind the slightly smaller size) is easier to both pack and unpack, hits better, and vaporizes the load more evenly.

I took some video of me unboxing the thing, but I need to review it as it might be too awful of a video to show to anyone! I will however take some video of it's usage when I have some free time late Sunday or next week. Sadly I don't have a WP with me at the moment to show it through, but I've got a great LED lamp for seeing the vapor clouds (oops did I just say that word? )

 

[Darb]

I sure hope the silicone sleeves come out soon.
There is a crack in the body of my Cera already.
I love this thing so much I'm debating on ordering another for back up.

 

[Tweek]

I sure hope the silicone sleeves come out soon.
There is a crack in the body of my Cera already.
I love this thing so much I'm debating on ordering another for back up.

How did the crack appear? Just from use or was it dropped? If you have some silicone tubing, you can attach a piece to the mouthpiece to keep your lips cool.

 

[Darb]

How did the crack appear? Just from use or was it dropped? If you have some silicone tubing, you can attach a piece to the mouthpiece to keep your lips cool.

It was dropped on pavement from my lap getting out of a vehicle.

 

[Tweek]

Who else likes the glass mouthpiece attachment I cobbled together? Also acts as a downstem...

It was dropped on pavement from my lap getting out of a vehicle.

I feel for ya bro.

 

[iamn3ko]

It was dropped on pavement from my lap getting out of a vehicle.

Well I guess she did the job then if you managed to forget about her already and drop her.

 

[ekulaj]

Hey guys!

Just another update, we are still putting together Cera's! Hopefully we aren't going to come across any more hurdles as production starts speeding up!

About the batteries. The Two batteries we are using are both the unprotected 18650 NMC's, The 2250 is discontinued from Panasonic and being replaced by the 2900Mah -PD.

The reason for such a specific battery is just as OF has said, performance! While there are some other batteries that will work and fire the cores, we want the most optimal performance as possible from all Cera's which is why we are shipping with the Unprotected NMC's. They give us a very high Amperage rating while still being a safe chemistry, the one thing you should keep tabs of is how dead your battery is. I like to use my core as my battery gauge, if it takes more than 6 seconds to start glowing then the battery might be low and its time to charge. (these times will change with temperature and humidity)

The thread adapters are something on the board, we just arent quite ready to start production on them.

Now to start putting together some switches!!! WOOT!

Cheers,
Tim

I pre-ordered a battery along with my unit, and have yet to receive it. Will I still receive 2 2500's, or have things gone back to the original plan of 1 2900?

 

[prk]

I pre-ordered a battery along with my unit, and have yet to receive it. Will I still receive 2 2500's, or have things gone back to the original plan of 1 2900?

I received just a single 2900. As I understand it that's the plan they originally wanted, and it's where they've ended up. Sounds like only the very first few orders ever actually went out with 2 2250 mAh batts. FYI, for anyone else reading, the 2250 mAh batteries were grey I believe, and the newer 2900 mAh are kind of a lime green-colored wrap.

 

[TheRobbo]

a week ago or so I was fiddling with Ceras bits and pieces (ohh that sounds so naughty :-P ) and managed to drop the top cap with out MP from about two feet maybe 2'6" ish onto the tiles in my back room, and it felt like time had stopped. It took about 5 minuets to reach the floor and I couldn't do a damn thing but watch (disclaimer: times may be exaggerated). When it did hit it was like a bouncing ball and came straight back up to pretty much where it started from and I was able to catch it, any way after close inspection it was free from damage (thank God) although I did have a dream that night that there was a crack half way up.
I also made Cera a promise that I would treat her better as she had given me this chance for free because I'm sure that was my only one :-)

R

 

[Shrike]

I like Tweek...How's it working?

P.S. Hey, you changed the look of the Cera from a vibrator to a Fleet enema...

Who else likes the glass mouthpiece attachment I cobbled together? Also acts as a downstem...

I feel for ya bro.

 

[BLAZING OG]

http://www.dampfakkus.de/akkuvergleich.php?akku1=72&akku2=99&a=3
check it out!!
2250 vs 2900

Thanks Pipes,very informative
here is the link pipes posted

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...y-information-these-batteries-ncr18650pd.html


http://www.dampfakkus.de/akkutest.php?id=99

**EDIT** Just ordered some back up NCR18650PD's from callies customs!!!!!
whooohoooo


http://callieskustoms.com/CalliesKustoms-Batteries.html

 

[Skeena]

Can someone confirm if the momentary switch is flat so you can stand the cera upright?

 

[OF]

Can someone confirm if the momentary switch is flat so you can stand the cera upright?

For a dollar......

OK, you can owe me, it's flat but a bit wobbly still since the flat is only about 3/4 inch across, not the full inch. Once stood up it's fine, of course.

OF

 

[thegoo]

Skeena. The Cera can stand on its own but its kinda wobbly........i wouldnt leave it on its own for very long. I learned the hard way unfortunately bc i left it upright and it fell off my kitchen table and cracked the bottom rim of the mouthpeice. Fortunately it was a minor crack and is still usable. FYI the device seems really sturdy otherwise.

 

[kevin]

Can someone confirm if the momentary switch is flat so you can stand the cera upright?

Yes it is. But how long will it take to get enough stuff into the switch before it stops working, better to lay it down.IMO
Kevin

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations,

What part of this warning doesn't apply now that Panasonic has abandoned the CGR18650CH (and hence ThermoVape Cera users will eventually need some alternative)?

​

http://industrial.panasonic.com/www-data/pdf/ACI4000/ACI4000PE7.pdf​

Perhaps we'd be well advised to remind ourselves of this warning which reads as follows:

WARNING:

​

​

Battery may explode or fire if mistreated.​

​

Do not dissassemble or dispose of in fire.​

​

Do not charge except specified charging condition.​

​

Do not heat above 212 °F, or Short Circuit.​

​

Do not crush or modify.​

​

​

By the way, what's the worst maximum temperature possible inside the battery chamber?

Also, i gather 100 °C (212 °F) only applies to storage, what about normal operating conditions???

Finally, considering there are people like me who won't feel comfortable while holding an unprotected battery near their face while its being tortured, euh... The battery i mean!...

What protected options are going to be offered exactly???

 

[Belgianvapor]

Second day with my cera and I really love it.
I had a minor switch problem that is taken care of.
For the moment I have to insert a bit of tin foil in order to get my cera to work (because of the switch problem) but it works great !
And fast too ! It medicates well with not much herbs at all and with my last session I timed it
and from cold until first vapor was 45 seconds.
The hot mouth piece is going to get resolved once I have the cover and I think I know now why Noah kept it in the side of his mouth, your lips are thinner there so it's a bit easier to keep them on the little mouth piece tip without touching the rest of the mouth tip wich is much hotter.
I noticed that this beauty needs her beauty treatements on a regular basis.
The mouthpiece and bowl tend to get a bit sticky rather fast but it's nothing that can't be cleaned with a fast wipe. I found that not long after a session, if I remove the abv, the bowl isn't as sticky as when I keep it in untill the next session.
There is one thing where I'm not succesfull in up to this moment is to get an evenly browned abv
i took a pic, anybody got some tips?

 

[Darb]

Can someone confirm if the momentary switch is flat so you can stand the cera upright?

I must have a different switch. Mine is round and will not stand up at all.