@ Most everyone: Thanks for your support/input. It means a lot to me knowing that people are excited for this. While sometimes I do bite off more than I can chew, I'm getting increasingly confident that I can make a functional design. Right now my largest concern is whether or not I can make a screen/rod heating element that will work well enough. I plan to use stainless steel mesh and stainless steel rods, soldered together with aluminum. If that doesn't work, I'll try something else (eg. Silver-based electrically conductive silicone or brass rod/screen). As parts roll in, I'll get the complete guts working, then figure out how to case them to be compact and look nice. In the end I hope this will be about 2x the size of a magic flight launch box, but no thicker. @ apapier12: It depends if you're looking for a finished product prototype, or a proof of concept. Currently I only have a proof of concept... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Bw8B8F1sA]Midea: Vapourizer Proof of Concept - YouTube[/ame] Sorry for not rehearsing. I know I suck at explaining things. Basically, I am trying to demonstrate that with a simple circuit, you can control the temperature from maximum to minimum over the entire life of the AA batteries, a major advantage over magic flight's unregulated temperature based on battery level. We care about the 2-3C discharge curve. As you can see, at 80%, the battery is no longer useful. A simple test revealed one cell to be only 70% empty when it conked out on the MFLB.
Interesting idea, but modding an existing vape and building one from scratch is a bit different. It will be interesting to see what you come up with and the price point you will be able to hit, especially considering the warranty that you are saying that you will provide. Nice teaser posts. Awaiting to see a working model, and possibly some beta reviews. Good luck to ya........
True company loyalty should not be "until death do you part" but i believe that Magic flight works everyday to improve their design and make great accessories. I think making the battery be completely inside the LB could drastically increase the size and reduce the stealth. The controllable temp would be nice. A consistent draw isn't the best way to get good milky vapor either. Micro-hits are widely accepted as the best way to achieve those kinds of hits. Lastly you just CANNOT compare a portable vape to a desktop and i always get angry when people compare the LB to a desktop. I rarely see anyone do this with the iolite or any other portable vape, but somehow the magic flight is spose to be competition to a desktop. The magic flight box strengths lie in its ability to provide a low priced (compared to any other portable non-flame vape) Its simple and robust design and also its versatility. The PA makes the LB a force even when compared to desktops. Won't hit as hard as a SSV or a DBV but those vapes are not even close to portable. Won't conserve quite as good as a PD or MZ but hey its not bad at it and the heat up time is no where close to a PD ( although they are meant to stay on 24/7 some people can't do that) Won't milk a bong like a supreme but with the WA it can milk a smaller tube fairly easily. The MFLB is like that character you get on a game demo. Not the best attack but not bad and not the best defence but not bad. Instead of focusing on 1 niche it effectively fills nearly every niche if needed. Also THE best stealth vape on the market....idk if your design would be able to retain that ( hope it would) Great 1st vape to figure out what kind of desk top to invest in. An upgraded version of the MFLB with some of the features you mentioned would be great, but it will be hard to include ALL of the features it currently has while working in new ones. I wish you GL OP in your ventures and hope to see frequent updates.
I'm interested in how you plan to slim down that rig to the size of a current LB or something close. Considering the 2 batteries are as large as the box itself and i need to reread the OP but i think you mentioned housing the batteries inside the vape. If it isn't possible to cut down the size that far then i dont see how 2 batteries is ideal. If 2 batteries aren't going to work and you go with one and the variable temp....i 'dont see how you really have anything new. ATM you can vape at the highest possible temp that your batteries will allow. As the charge dies the temp decreases. In your model, under a 1 battery setup, you would be able to vape at a very high temp until your batts can no longer support it and then you are forced to lower the temp or no vaping. Well i guess it takes away the learning curve and that's good for alot of users. I kinda like the fact that i change the temp with my draw speed as i can reach ANY temp i want with enough practice. The temp control would be good for vapor bonging since there would be no chance of combustion. Your design to be is essentially a built in PA. No more having to plug it in to have complete temp control, but it bulks of the box quite a bit. My advice is to really focus on slimming the design down. Most people are sold on a LBs portability and stealth. Most people can palm a box and hit it without anyone ever seeing it. Edit: Just had an idea. I've always thought there should be a XL version of the box for those who want something they can move around, but don't have to hide. Would be in the same market as the arizer solo ind of. Not the MOST portable but is enough to get by. Much like a 100ml bong small enough to move around and not break, but not the most compact water filtered device (bubbler). I don't know if you would be willing, but taking a design concept and prototype to magic-flight could not only make alot of people happy with some new features and quality assurance of a company with good rep, but make you a nice chunk of change on the side.
You're thinking of the design the way it is now, except it just holds the battery inside it. That would be pretty wide, and be weird to hit. But if you were to make the batteries sort of go along the MFLB rather then sticking out the side of it you don't make it wider for your hand, maybe a tad longer and a larger height so all the components can fit together. Right now the traditional MFLB could do what I am talking about if the batteries were say taped right under the MFLB, except in this case, encased in wood and hooked up to a conductor. Edit - I just want to say that design isn't a problem, the MFLB would gain in size, but you could balance it easily to keep it stealthy.
Ya i could see ways you could work the bat design to make it less bulky. For me being able to hit the box with 1 hand, being able to hit it from any position, and being able to palm the box are all important. Imo if you are going to go with an in house design i wouldn't even attempt to keep the size the same as the current box. It's said very often and is very true; Every vape has its strengths and will preform better in one catagory and less in another. I wouldn't mind seeing something like a little over sized LB with the batts inside and the controllable temp wheel half way in the housing and half way out to change temp. Will preform better at poratable vapor bonging then a box(easier anyway) and will have less of a learning curve (better in one aspect) , but be a bit more bulky and less stealthy (less in another) Also would love to see the AA bat design completely thrown out in loo of something like a very powerful cell phone type bat (not to bat savy so not sure if this would work) Have to plyg the box in to charge and a long lasting high capacity battery pack. Maybe like one of those you get in wireless house phones. Like maybe 2 powerex 2700s in one bat pack would be SICK.
Here is a diagram I wipped up. And that is again keeping strictly to what we know with the MFLB and adding the battery somewhere else. If you had a serious think tank for even a twenty-four hour period you would have a much, much different design.
diagram helped alot. Thanks for taking the time. Good idea take a look at my last post. I'd like to see what you think
Yup, yup, yup. I would definitely want to see a powercell design for sure. The AA batteries are really bulk considering stealth is one of the goals. Downside is I don't know of rechargeable cell's off the top of my head, though I'm sure if I did a quick google search I'd find otherwise. I wouldn't fret, I mean as this thread has shown there is definitely interest in redesigning the MFLB, there are people out there with degrees that are looking into it. And as I mentioned before I expect Magic to soak up anyone who one ups them.
I looked in to using lithium polymer batteries. They are small, thin, and store a high amount of power. But they have a few disadvantages: (1) They do not have readily available chargers. (2) They are not swappable (See 1). (3) They are only rated for 500 cycles (Just like NiMH). In addition, they lose 20% of their charge capacity per year. Also, high-current and full-drain applications reduces this life further. Not to mention that the operating current is around 8 times higher than the maximum charging current, which makes for some interesting workarounds when talking about charging at the same time as using. It is possible, but I opted for a different design: 2xAAs. By using a universal lithium/nimh charger, you can easily swap batteries. By the time you've used up your first pair, the second will be done charging. And since a set of LiFePO4 cells lasts four times as many cycles as any other rechargable battery, you save money and keep performance for 1500 more cycles after a polymer or NiMH battery has weakened. (NiMH/Other Li Batteries are rated at 500 cycles) If there is still serious interest in using Lithium Polymer batteries, I can take another look at it. It wouldn't slim the design, but it would make it smaller. Batteries would likely not be swappable, therefore reducing the life of the vapourizer to 3-5 years before the battery needs to be replaced, something I would not cover under warranty.
While I really like GC and I'm very active here, you really would be doing yourself a favor by posting all this up over at FC for it is a dedicated vaporizer site with more people who own multiple vapes that have more vaping experience than here. Also, there are many manufacturers that are very active there along with many, who like you, are in the process of creating their own designs or improving on others. While you may get some valuable input here, you would get more there. Just a thought. But if you do, be prepared to engage with those that are very inquisitive as well as very knowledgable in regards to what goes into, and out of..........vaporizers, regardless of design.
What the FUCK ?? Kurt, I suggested that you go over to FC, start your own thread, and post up the ideas that you posted up here, but instead, you go over there, and go into the official Magic Flight thread that is supported by the factory themselves, and you ask, "What is special about the trench of the magic flight box that makes it heat up?" (see post#12991 http://www.fuckcombustion.com/viewtopic.php?id=909&p=520 I don't get it. You come in here with all these great ideas about how you are going to improve an existing product and even go so far as to tell us that you are going to be offering a comparable warranty along with stating a specific price point, and you don't even know how the fucking box heats up? Fuck, now I feel like shit for even making the goddamn suggestion.
You don't have enough faith. I've solved problems that magic flight hasn't figured out yet. Have some faith.
How can you possibly say that when you don't even have a clue of how the Box does what it does, for if you did, you wouldn't have asked how the fucking thing heats up. Mods............close this thread. It's a fucking waste of bandwidth.
Come on, give em a chance. I did kind of guess that you had figured out the basics of the box though. I'm going to second that you should post up your idea on FC. I'm actually going to post mine about the XL box on the thread over there. A bit of advice, before looking into ANYTHING else try making a working version of a normal MFLB; once you can do that it would be easier to move on to improving it. Edit: NVM just read FC.....bro you don't go into a developers threads , after you've been ragging on the company, and ask them how to make THEIR product so you can then improve on it. lwien said it best over at FC ""Hey, I got this GREAT idea on how to build a better combustion engine. I've got the whole thing figured out. I even know how much it will cost and how to warranty it." He then writes a letter to Ford asking them what a piston is." - lwien
It's kinda like, "Hey, I got this GREAT idea on how to build a better combustion engine. I've got the whole thing figured out. I even know how much it will cost and how to warranty it." He then writes a letter to Ford asking them what a piston is. He already blew it at FC. Rather than create a thread like he should have done and bounced around some of the ideas that he presented here, he would have been welcomed with open arms, but instead, he went into the official LB thread where the factory is very active and rather than stating WHY he was there.........well, read this response: post #12996 in the following thread: http://www.fuckcombustion.com/viewtopic.php?id=909&p=520
I have never seen anything mishandled like this was. Too bad. The OP really did have some good ideas, but his execution on how to go about this just fell off the cliff. While I suggested that he should go to FC to bang around some of his ideas, I didn't have a clue that he would do what he did.
100% agree. I'm planning on dumping most of the contents/ideas in a thread im going to make at FC later something like what would you improve about your favorite vape thread. So all the customers can drop ideas they've had about improving vapes so companies can check it out and use some ideas. Of course this could go in each vapes on thread, but i feel like that would derail it a bit.
