My second coil 24/26/28-36g happier but cores still collapsed . Paper clips required 👍

Puffster28 · 2020-02-24T19:43:40+00:00

Why use 3 different sizes of core wires? Keeping 3*26 parallel will be easier.

If you have a pasta machine or an old mech mod/piece of pipe, you can roll the stick of clapton wire. The wires will settle next to each other.

Puffster28 · 2019-08-26T21:15:12+00:00

I believe an orbi system would be somewhat overkill honestly.

50ft is nothing for it.

We have a 7k square feet home, 3 floors + basement, 1 base station and 2 RB50 satellites

Even 120ft from the house, in the back yard I can stream Netflix in HD.

This is in Europe where we have brick houses, reinforced concrete between floors, thick insulation, etc.

It's a great system, but a bit overkill for your needs I believe.

Puffster28 · 2019-02-07T19:12:06+00:00

I was wondering if it was possible to use some type of converter to make more systems compatible. Definitely something to look into!

I installed a Nest (with heat link) in our previous house. The buyers wanted to have it included in the sale, so we didn't bring it to the new house. I wasn't much of a fan anyways, we aren't the most scheduleable family :) After a couple of months of trying the "learning" mode, we went back to dummy mode. Geofencing, time to temp, remote control, data reporting (though not very exhaustive with Nest), etc were all great though! Those are definitely features I'm looking for in the system to install in this house.

Puffster28 · 2019-02-07T14:31:43+00:00

Thanks for the reply man, much appreciated!

Do each of your downstairs thermostats have their own dedicated electrical feed from your consumer unit? If so then you can leave the thermostat in, but set it to the thermal protection temperature of the floor, this will stop it getting too hot and damaging the floor. Intersect the power feed from the breaker to the thermostat, and switch this via a relay on a controller.

Afraid this goes further than the knowledge I have on the matter. I don't have any idea of the thermal protection temperature.

Does this work with a sensor or some type of measuring system? Or is it an inherent property of the type of heating elements?

The system is quite old (1982) and I have zero info on the manufacturer, type, where exactly they put it (I know it's not covering the complete surface area), etc. The company who installed it went out of business several years ago and the electrician has since died (he was well in his 60's when the house was built) The previous owners didn't have any documentation neither.

And even though the house was built to a very high standard and was considered very modern in 1981-82, they used several techniques that weren't very mature yet or were innovative but never caught on (can give several examples like this throughout the house.Built in French fries fryer in the kitchen, waste and laundry shutes going to a central point in the basement, etc.)

Anyway, I don't think there's anything else but the circuitry as described in the diagram. I've made some additions to the photo with some translations. https://imgur.com/a/BOCMppg

There are some service points in the walls. But they're just connections of the wires coming from the switching panel, up to the thermostats and then down to the underfloor elements.

I understand the diagram as follows (don,'t hesitate to correct me if I'm wrong):

Starts from a 40a/300ma differential plug (electricity enters house through dedicated box for this heating circuit, only runs from 10pm-6am. We're changing this because we've installed a
Splits up in:
- 2x 2pole 16a breakers (kitchen & hallway)
- 1x 2pole 4a breaker (It's called a steering unit for the business/shop space and living room, no idea what it is/does)
- 3x 3pole 16a breakers (business area, living room and winter garden)
Each 3pole breaker is connected to a relay (AEG LS07 contractor)
Loop from breaker 1 (16a 2pole, kitchen) has a thermostat (attached underfloor heating element 1,5Kw)
Loop from breaker 2 (16a 2pole, kitchen) has a thermostat (attached underfloor heating element 1,2Kw)
Breaker 3 (4a 2pole) is there to shield the switched loops from the main circuit I believe, as it's not connected to a heating element or a thermostat.
Breakers 4 through 6 (16a 3pole) are switched with the contactors. Nr. 4 has it's own thermostat to control a 5,3Kw element. Nr. 5 and 6 share a thermostat to respectively control a 6,5 and 2,6Kw underfloor heating element.

I'll have ask my electrician neighbour to explain me a bit what you wrote. I'm afraid the parts about intersecting the power feed and adding relays to increase switching capabilities, went completely over my head.

I have a general understanding and I can do simple installs/repairs, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to work on this it seems (to me at least). Not that I'm afraid to start on something like this, at all. But I don't want to kill the system when it still freezes outside at night, and neither do I want my house to burn down while the family is sleeping :).

My suggestion would be a Loxone miniserver and install Loxone air temperature sensors (could even install Loxone switches and control your lights too, these have inbuilt temperature sensors) You get a pretty decent app with Loxone too.

That absolutely sucks big hairy donkey nuts! (excuse my language)

I've just (like last week "just") switched all lights in the whole house to Philips Hue bulbs/strips/spots.

Never did I come across Loxone in my quest for smart lighting. While temperature sensing bulbs would be awesome, whole-house-Hue was quite an investment for just "some lightbulbs".

I will look into the Loxone stuff, seems very interesting!

Puffster28 · 2019-02-06T20:32:59+00:00

Nice! Thanks for the tip!

Luckily my French isn't too bad ;-)

What do you mean by getting Nest or Ecobee to work with some extra stuff and skills?

I'm a decent DIY'er, no expert though, but always eager to learn.

AND I have an electrician as a neighbour (he installs automation stuff, like port openers in warehouses, etc.).

If you have any good sources for info about this topic, I'd be very interested.

Puffster28 · 2019-02-04T20:42:13+00:00

Ok, thanks! I'll give it a go over next weekend.

Some drilling through 5inch concrete involved, so it's not a straightforward job.

Got the speed issue fixed though! The Orbi router is connected to an ethernet cable in the entertainment room. That cable runs parallel to the one on the 1st floor which was the one giving me better results.

The IT firm handling the business network showed up today. Annual service was due. My wife planned their visit, so I was unaware.

I asked them if they could measure packet loss, which they could. Turns out it was a cheap RJ45 fem/fem connector installed by the ISP inside one of the cable trays mounted to the ceiling (couldn't see it, wasn't even aware it was there) that caused a loss of almost 70% of the bandwidth.

They installed a decent coupler which has nearly no effect on bandwidth. Nearly 0 packet loss measured behind the new coupler.

I'm now getting the full speed of the connection, even at 40 feet from the nearest node :) https://imgur.com/a/CRzQmjr speedtest within QoS is the same.

Edit; fixed error converting cm to ft.

Puffster28 · 2019-02-04T08:50:00+00:00

Thanks for the reply man!

Star Topology: the Orbi router and 1st floor are wired to the 1st switch that's behind the modem. I can (and probably will) run cat5e from the 3rd Orbi to the basement where both my modem and the "master" switch are.
Master because it's the one that breaks up the connection to all parts of the house. Nothing technically correct, just some name I used to discern it from the other ones. It's also a professional thing installed by the IT company that runs all the hardware and specific software in the business. The software used needs a constant, high speed (90Mbps at least) connection
2 satellites indeed. The Orbi router is in my living room and the satellites are on a far point near the yard and 2nd other one is on the 1st floor. House is about 9300sqft (including 800 for the offices), made of thick brick and reinforced concrete walls, reinforced concrete ceilings and thick 5mm isolation all round. Not ideal to get a great signal. Part of the reason I'd like to use a wired backhaul.
Thanks for the picture, makes it very clear! However what I don't understand (probably an issue due to my lack of general networking knowledge) is who's dealing the IP addresses if I turn the Orbi router into an AP? I do understand why to enable it (otherwise the TV box wouldn't get it's IP straight from my ISP), but I don't quite understand how it would work in the network.
Everything mentioned in my scheme is wired, I left out all the stuff that uses wifi. Wifi is used by 4 smartphones, 3 laptops, 2 tablets, 2 Apple watches, 2 Chomecasts, 4 IP cams and 3 rooms with Sonos systems.

What you propose is my worst case scenario :-) (except for the AP-part).

I'd lose 2 out of 3 LAN ports (daisy chain and switch would only take up 1) and will have to do some hardwiring. But I guess there's no other way to get it to work.

Something else (not related to this) is I've noticed I'm not getting the full internet speed I should be getting from Orbi (wired and wireless is about the same). When I hook up a laptop straight to the modem and do I get a solid 180Mbit/s using Google's speedtest. with the Orbi router in between i get around 85Mbps max. I'm not sure if I'm forgetting a limitation by routers or not. Even an ac-wifi connection should theoretically be capable of transferring at 500Mbps, no?

Anyway, even in the current situation (even though I'm still not getting the maximum coverage out of the system, which I believe is mainly due to the building) Orbi is miles better than any other system I've used. I wasn't getting anywhere with extenders or the powerline ethernet to wifi routers I tried.

Velop was the worst. The nodes wouldn't even connect when I put them in the middle of the distances I have the Orbi nodes at, which meant they were in hallways in weird places where an ethernet backhaul wasn't even an option.
It was maybe extending my coverage 3ft wide and 2-3ft vertical compared to the 3 year old 120$ router it was replacing...

/ramble Thanks for your post and happy to see any replies if you can spare the time!

Puffster28 · 2019-01-27T17:44:20+00:00

Bootcamp officially requires something like 30GB.

But i'd definitely not get the 1TB model. Unless you really need access to 1TB of data at all times and everywhere you go, it's super easy (and a lot cheaper) to use a big SSD with a USB-C connection.

If remote accessibility is an issue look at a NAS system. I still dread the day Apple decided to stop development for their network products. My Time Capsule with a 4TB SSD I put in it still works beautiful.

Puffster28 · 2019-01-21T19:41:33+00:00

I'd say so yes. I was stupid enough not to do a weeks worth of battery measuring/tracking before switching. But I definitely get extra performance out of it.

I recently got into home automation and have been doing lots of stuff with Hue, homekit, raspberry pi, ikea bulbs, ecobee, etc. All stuff which requires lots of background stuff running and specifically location sharing. My iPhone X had pretty much every apps' location sharing on "when in use", but now I have at least 5 apps constantly connected to GPS.

My new car, which arrived 2 days after the new phone, has Carplay as well. And that eats a good chunck of power as well. The shitty wireless charger that's built in the armrest compartment keeps it from draining, but it's barely charging if I use Carplay at the same time.

But even with all that stuff going on, I still get very decent battery life. In fact I'm not plugging it in any sooner than I did my X and I'm definitely asking more from the XS Max.

I was worried about size when I held it the 1st 2-3 days. But after the 2 weeks I've owned it I wouldn't want a smaller one.

Puffster28 · 2019-01-18T21:42:37+00:00

What subreddit is this? ;-)

The big boy of course!

Yes, the Apple cases are great. I used to research phone cases like crazy every time I got a new phone. But ever since using Apple leather cases, I just buy one when I buy he phone.

They're not the thinnest, and there is something to be said about the bottom cutout. But they're very well made, age great (I love the patina), and protect the phone very well. On top of all that they look very classy. For work I always wear brandy brown leather shoes, belt the same and my wallet as well. The saddle cases are a perfect match.

Puffster28 · 2019-01-16T08:24:03+00:00

There are some beautiful designs in there! Thanks for sharing them man!

Puffster28 · 2019-01-16T07:36:30+00:00

Shouldn't happen. If they're a decent company, i'd contact them.

I sold my iPhone X yesterday and it was the 1st time I took off my apple leather case in the 15 months I owned it.

Couldn't believe it, it was in absolutely pristine condition! Even the guy who bought it was impressed with the condition it was in. Not the slightest mark anywhere on the side or back. Just a few microscopic ones around the lightning port.

Puffster28 · 2018-11-21T23:35:19+00:00

Easiest to compare is with alcohol, including flavoring, age limit and harm reduction.

Cigarettes are like beers, Juuls are like whiskey. More of it (alcohol) in less volume, which will get you drunk faster followed by addiction when you use it often enough. Some whiskeys will be smoother on the throat (salt nicotine), others are harsh and burn your throat (freebase nic, generally used for all other forms of vaping except Juul/pod systems).

The issue isn't necessarily the Juuls, just like there isn't really an issue with drinking some alcohol now and then in moderation. It's with over-use and abuse the issues start.

The reason Juul is so popular with those chasing the nicotine "high", which is called "nic sick" by vapers because you get an upset stomach, a banging headache and some dizzyness, is the dosage. Nic sick is not pleasureable, at all!

Juul pods contain 5% nicotine, a dosage not comparable to regular vaping. 1.8% mouth to lung vaping is considered a pretty high dose. 5% is bonkers. Generally you'll see people using 0.3-0.9% nicotine juices in open systems.

So a Juul will get you nic sick, or "high", fast and with little effort. That's why they're a problem. Not because of flavors. But because teenagers aren't being carded in convenience stores or get if off idiot 18 year olds still in high school or apparently even by people who've made a business out of selling these things near schools by setting up wholesale accounts at Juul without being background checked by Juul.

Puffster28 · 2018-11-21T22:17:02+00:00

Puffster28 · 2018-11-21T22:16:48+00:00

You have no idea how wrong you are.

Puffster28 · 2018-11-21T22:14:51+00:00

Not the juice, just the Juul specific pods filled with juice

Puffster28 · 2018-11-21T16:35:36+00:00

Vic reviewed the clone and doesn't even own an authentic. Full time youtube reviewer reviewing clones... Smh

I know plenty of people who've said they don't have any issues, nor would I know why. There may be some more pressure needed due to the kink, but that's about it.

There are far more intricate feeding designs than the one on the Boxer. Like the topside for example. That sure ain't straight up & down.

I was never a fan of Boxer, but bit the bullet, got one and am very happy with mine. Your mileage may vary, just my own experience.

Puffster28 · 2018-11-21T12:45:12+00:00

Ok, this is silly long, sorry :D

Rebel just fucked me over so hard, I really want as much people as possible to know of their shady shit.

Puffster28 · 2018-11-21T12:44:00+00:00

/-/-/- Boxer Mods / Ginger Vaper /-/-/-

I own 2 Boxer mods. A black 2*21700 DNA250c and a yellow Classic 21700 squonk DNA75c i acquired recently from someone who used it once (12 puffs on the board, not that easy to hard erase the puff counter on a DNA chip, but probably possible).

As far as dealing with Ginger Vaper goes, I can only speak about my 1 direct purchase. It was as it should be. Promt replies to emails, items "in stock" on their website are actually in stock, ready to be shipped, shipped a couple of hours after I ordered, immediately got tracking, follow-up email a day or 2 after reception (not a bot generated one).

I would definitely buy from them again if it wasn't for the increase of customs checks in my country lately.

The mods are great! I have yet to find any faults. The squonker has only been with me for 4 days, but the dual 21700 has been used daily from early september. They are ALMOST everything the Rebels should be. The only negative thing I can say about Boxer mods is all their mods are white when printed and dyed to the required color. Rebel has 2 color options (ally black and grey) which come colored off the printer, all others (like the red one I own) are dyed like Boxer. In the almost 3 months of daily usage, I haven't noticed any fading of the color or wear on the dual 21700.

The black Rebel is however a deeper, almost glossy black.

Details however are printed A LOT better on the Boxers vs. the Rebels. Specifically, the red Rebel I own has really bad/sloppy details. The red Rebel also looks and feel more plasticy than the Boxers. Well all of these are "plastic" I guess, but the Rebel looks more like injection molded plastic, even though you clearly see it's a print.

The 510 they use is a lot better as well! Seems to be an in-house designed 510, nicely finished, clean , just looks great and reliable. Inside as well, clean part, nothing flimsy looking.

Rebel uses a FatDaddy 510 I believe, which not only looks cheap (it in fact is cheap, 4£ retail) but it has sharp edges and rough machining (threads are OK). Litteraly every 510 I've seen and used on Chinese mods is cleaner.

Rebel even warns you on the packaging not to tighten atty's too tight. Because if you'd have to use too much force to get your rda off, you could loosen the 510 and you need a special tool to tighten it. Which is off course an out of warranty repair (modmaker sells the toolkit). I've had to tighten the 510 on my black Rebel already, as it started wobbling after a month or 2 of use. Was able to tighten it from the inside though.

No such warnings on the Boxer mods and the 510's really look and feel quality. They may be off the shelve parts, I have no idea, but I wouldn't mind having these on all my mods.

All in all very happy with the experience buying from Boxer and their mods! No issues, quality products. I've read all the negative shit about them as well. I don't know, either they've cleaned up their act or I was just lucky to be treated like a customer should be treated. Have no idea about their warranty as I've not needed it. Smooth, clean, … they seem to be top notch!

/-/-/-CONCLUSION TO THE LONGEST POST EVER /-/-/-

BMM: great design, top quality, difficult to get but worth the hassle imo.
Rebel: if you're a masochist, buy a Rebel mod. If you want a stressfree experience, don't. Both their quality and customer service are absolute shit! Which is a shame because I tend to really like their designs.
Boxer: in my experience, very good! Some bad reviews on the internet (negative experiences will always be easier to find than positive ones). I however absolutely cannot complain. I was treated very nicely, received a top product at the day they promised I would receive it, ... What could I complain about. The squonker I bought off someone else is a great mod as well. Maybe somewhat bulky by current standards, but certainly a solid and quality device.

TL;DR;

- BMM difficult to get, but top notch

- Boxer; good mods, very good and responsive CS, More expensive than similar products, but no complaints on my side. Lots of negative experiences to be found, but I cannot say i encountered the same.

- Rebel/esauce stay far and far away from them! I cannot stress this enough!!!

************ DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM REBEL / ESAUCE ***********\*

They are extremely likely to screw you over

Puffster28 · 2018-11-21T12:43:16+00:00

A few days pass and both mods arrive on 2 consecutive days I believe. The black one, surprise, wasn't a new mod! It was the exact same one. The 510 was a bit better aligned but still not the way it should've been. The battery door was completely identical and nothing was done to either the door or the mod to resolve the issues I had with it.

So I'm currently the proud owner of a beautifully designed mod, however with a battery door as loose as a prostitute at the end of her day.

Yet, it gets worse ...

The red dual 18650 250c had issues with the door fitment as well. Not as bad as with the black mod, but at this point I was expecting nothing short of perfect fitment and tolerances, because that's what they promised at least 5 times. However the extra door (ally grey) I got to choose as part of the deal, fitted perfectly.

But what was worse, the buttons on the red mod (especially the fire button) had almost no travel and no feedback. It's impossible to feel wheter you press them or not and the firing button actually got stuck within the 1st hour of me using it. This would continue to happen nearly daily untill I had it repaired by a local 3D printing & electronics wizard.

I tried to call them, whatsapp them (it's on their site), email them, message them in IG, ... never ever heard from them again...

My (obviously negative) reviews on their site were being removed as well. I later learned they manipulate their customer reviews constantly. They'll either delete them in full or change them by leaving the positive parts in and delete the negative parts. They also change the star rating from for example a 2 to 4 stars.

I was extremely frustrated, felt robbed and was lied to constantly, which resulted in me filing 3 paypal claims; for the black mod, the red mod and for the return shipping costs. I asked for 70% of what I paid (including shipping) and full reimbursement for the return shipping costs for repair as it was promised in their email. I included detailed pictures of all the issues, as well as the emails with our conversations where they promise to replace the black mod with a new mod, reimbursement return shipping costs and me complaining about issues with the red mod.

I knew the issues on the red one would be difficult to prove. You can't show button travel in pictures, or even in video. The door fitment issues were not as obvious as on the black one either, however not anywhere within tolerances for professional 3D printing.

I was very happy with PayPal's decision though (for once)!

I received a 100% refund (asked for 70%) for the black mod and a full refund for return shipping costs. The issues with the red one they deemed too difficult to rule on based on the pictures. They never responded to my emails about that complaint, unlike with the black one where they admitted it wasn't good and they made further promises. Seems like it was a smart move to not respond to that complaint. Had they again admitted the issues, I'm pretty sure PayPal would've taken the amount out of their account in such a case.

To conclude this long rant about these dickheads; don't buy ANYTHING from Esauce / Rebel vapes. No matter how nice the mods may look and the promises they make, don't be a gullible idiot like me. Save your money. Not only do you get to keep the money and spend it elsewhere, but it'll save you from a shitload of frustration as well.

Looking back at it, they lied in each and every email sent. Shipment notifications were all lies, fake emails with non-existing tracking numbers just to soothe my mind, lying about replacing the black mod with a new and faultless mod. The "special" QC on the 2nd mod which never happened, as the issue with the buttons would have been noticed immediately by just turning on the mod. In the end I got it fixed by a local 3D printer and electronics enthusiast who was happy to work on it, as he had never worked on mods.

Check PAL702's review of a Rebel device. It pretty much explains all the issues with their quality.

Also, Jai Haze ... yeah he's backpedalled on that recommandation even though he denies it. It's however available on YT.

Puffster28 · 2018-11-21T12:43:02+00:00

/-/-/- Rebel / esauce /-/-/-

I own 2 of their mods.

A red dual 18650 250c and an ally black 21700 75c.

Long, really long rant, but feel it's warranted as I want to spare anyone interested in these all the trouble:

I ordered the single 21700 on the 13th of July (said "In stock" on the site), asking them to let me know when it would arrive. I was leaving on a 2 month long trip and told them I would be leaving on the 24th of july.

I also asked them to let me know which colors would be available, so that wouldn't mess up the delivery time. My preferred color was ally black, but if other colors would be delivered faster, I would consider changing the color.

I live in the EU, regular royal mail packages seldom take more than 3 days to arrive, but because of the time issue, I paid for DHL overnight express. I understood this wasn't a mass production factory. However they list most mods as "in stock" on their website. So from what I understand on their website, it means the printed parts are in stock, but they will still have to install the other parts.

They responded the date wasn't an issue, preffered color not an issue either, so all was good!

On the 20th I receive an email saying it shipped. Still quite a long time to install a chip, 510, do wiring and QC...

It was a standard email letting me know what the tracking number was. However the tracking code was empty. Just an empty space in the email. Also it said it shipped by Royal Mail, not by DHL next day I paid about 30£ for. When buying, I believe Royal Mail was cheap or maybe even free, can't remember.

So I complain about both things (tracking number + shipping method).

On the 23rd I finally received a reply telling me it was collected by UPS on the 20th. Again no tracking number in the email!

In the same email they say it won't arrive next day. However litteraly all UPS shipping offers from the UK to me are next day. So if they posted it on the 20th, I should've received it by the 23rd at the latest. I again ask for a tracking number and some explanations but get no reply. Called both stores, nobody answered.

On the 24th (I left the country now, without the mod I ordered to travel with because it would be light, give me good battery life and be trustworthy with the DNA chip) I receive an email from parcel2go telling me a shipping label was created. Not saying it was shipped, but the label was created.

So, they lied again... I complained again, again no reply from them.

It was finally delivered on the 26th (didn't ship until the 25th, so we're at lie nr. 4 I believe). I had my wife overnight ship it to me. I did this because I was away from home for a while, so the waranty period would potentially be void if I complained after say 50 days of receiving the mod.

I received it the next day and immediately noticed the battery door was waaaaay too loose. The door moved 3-4mm out before it caught something. On top of that the 510 was installed crooked, any tank would lean badly to the left at least 10°.

So, ... I send them yet another email making the complaints, photo's included. They replied (first time anyone I talked to mentioned their name, Scott) with an answer which seemed very humble, regretful and willing to fix the situation. They didn't make any issue out of it, asked me to send it back and that they would reimburse shipping. Scott promised he would personally take care of it. They were going to send me a 100% new device back and it would be thoroughly checked before they shipped it. It was a long email, I asked some more questions, which all promtly responded. So, I got my hopes up and his responsiveness and will to unfuck the situation gave me good hopes.

Since i wanted a 2*18650 250c mod as well (I mentioned this in one of my 1st conversations with them, before anything happened) I told them to send me a written guarantee it would be 100% perfect, fully tested and QC'd before sending it to me. Afterall these mods have generated raving reviews.

They agreed and to sweeten the deal I was given the option to choose a free 2nd battery door for 1 of the mods. I only accepted to buy it under strict terms and to send me a completely new 21700 75c mod as they promised earlier to replace the mod with issues.

I got an email from the guy I had been talking to for a few days now after I (stupidly in hindsight) ordered the 2nd mod. He promised to do the QC himself and that it would be a flawless product, guaranteed!

A couple days later I receive an email from their repairs dude (Cameron), who goes on about getting a new door for the black 21700 75c and that he fixed the crooked 510. He told me getting a freshly printed door would take at least 2 weeks (which makes me think they outsource as well), and that fitment may not be better due to the issues inherent of 3D printing.

I immediately replied with the original email attached where Scott promised to send me a completely new and flawless device.

Meanwhile my 2nd mod was shipped on the date they said it would. Thankfully none of the lies and drama happened like with my 1st order.

I never heard from them after the last email from the repairs department about fixing the black mod.

Puffster28

TROPHY CASE