Steam Crave Mini Robot Combo Review

http://youtu.be/pgglruPhV2Q

Take the space out of…http:// youtu.be/pgglruPhV2Q

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Good review, Mark! The only thing that bother’s me is the 510 pin being mounted solid.

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That would have been better, looking at it there isn’t enought space to do it as it looks like the 510 plate is on the top of the chip.

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Isn’t the need for a spring eliminated by the provision of the windup negative contact?

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I thought the same thing, at first, but as @EatMaBB showed in the video, the ‘positive’ end of the tube has a flange inside which set’s the battery location, so the adjustable end cap can really only apply pressure to the battery against that flange, and not the board.
My concern is, that every time the tank is threaded on and push’s against that unsprung pin, it will eventually cause it to loosen inside the circuit board. Just thinking out loud here @anon79121637 …without having the device in hand, it’s hard to know.

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Good catch. I missed the significance of that.

Unless {thinking out loud here too}, the positive pin protudes slightly below the position where the flange stops the top of the cell.

But then, different cells have slightly different dimension – flat top -v- button top etc…
And it would also mean that you should not tighten the negative terminal without the tank screwed in place…

So, I agree. Spring loaded would be better.

And as is, care should be taken to only tighten the negative terminal once the tank is screwed fully home.

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Great mind’s think alike :laughing: I actually started typing that exact thought in a reply last night, but decided to sleep on it, first! lol
Actually though, if the battery cannot be forced against the board, because of that flange inside…then it shouldn’t make a difference if that tensioner is adjusted before, or after mounting the tank. Make any sense?

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Trouble is, the dimensions of different brands and models of 18650s can vary quite widely.

Eg. Flat top:
image

Button top:

Even for a single type, the tolorences are quite wide:
image

So if the shoulder inside the tube is designed so that when a flat top is inserted, and trapped hard against the shoulder, the contact between the battery top and the circuit board button is perfect:

Then if a button top is inserted and the rattle screw done up to trap it tight against that shoulder:

Then when you screw the top cap on, the extra protusion of the button top will likely crack the circuit board --either immediately, or over time – depending on how hard you screw it down:


image

And some '18650’s – eg. those with built-in protection – are longer still:
image

Upshot (from my perspective)is that ensuring that the headcap is in place before inserting the battery and tightening the ‘rattle screw’, is essential with this mod to prevent damage to the circuit board.

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