Kbox Mini (Subox Kit) Battery Door Issue

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

Hey All.

I received the Black Subox kit a week ago and as I have posted in a few other threads, Im very pleased with it.

The one gripe that I have with it is how my battery door is fitting once a battery is installed.

Without a battery installed the battery door sits perfectly flush and tight with the magnets and very secure.
Once a battery is in place the door doesnt fit the same or flush with the bottom of the mod anymore. The bottom edge of the door hangs down about 1/32 of an inch below the base of the mod.
The door still feels somewhat secure but not like it does without the battery in place. It also sometimes wants to slide down when you grab it and tends to click around a little bit. Obviously having the battery in there is causing the magnets not to line up correctly.

At first I thought the problem was caused by me when I re-wrapped my Samsung 25R's. I used Red all over and then added black on the positive and negative sides. I figured that might be too much bulk and thats what was probably causing the problem.
So I removed the Black tips.
No help...the door still didnt fit right.

Then I removed the PVC wrap altogether and placed the naked battery in there to see how it fit.
It fit fine...and the door now shut just as secure as it does without a battery in place.
So then I thought maybe if I just remove the White Washer from the positive side of the battery and PVC wrap over where the washer used to sit, that it might give me more clearance.
BINGO! THAT DID THE TRICK.

Unfortunately... I found out from Jon at Liionwholesale (great guy)
That running it like that might work but isnt the best idea and it could cause major problems.
So for safety reasons alone...I pulled em apart again, re-installed the washer, and re-wrapped in pvc.

So....
The big question is:
How many of you are having this issue?
I know Im not completely alone on this one because I saw that VapeDick had also complained about this.
How wide spread the problem is...idk.
Im going to post some pictures of the mod to show how the door is fitting (well not fitting) at the bottom when the battery is in place, as well as the gap up at the top of the door that is created because of this.
Hopefully you all can tell me how these photos compare to yours and maybe post some pics of your own for comparison.

After I hear some input from several of you and possibly see some comparison photos Ill decide on how to proceed.
Not sure if it would be better to go through Kanger warranty or through the retailer that I bought it from.
OR if EITHER of them would do anything about it at all.

This sure aggravates the living shit out of me though...
Especially Knowing that I Have a White One On The Way!

 

[RobbieR]

Thanks for the heads up. It might be a minor issue but that would drive me crazy every time I used it!
I hope you get it sorted out. I have my doubts about Kanger or the seller doing anything about it, but I hope I am wrong.

For me the perfect mod has to feel solid in your hand, be rattle free (looking at you Istick!) & have no sharp edges. Any one of those things drives me nuts.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

I called Kanger about it.
The lady I talked to said shes never heard of this happening, told me to authenticate it (already done) take pictures (already have) and send a claim into the warranty department and ship it out to them.
I asked what would happen at that point.
She said they'll look at it. If they cant "fix it" they'll replace it.
The last thing I need is someone messing around with it "thinking it's fixed" then sending me the remnants of whatever OTHER PROBLEM they may have caused in the process.

Don't get me wrong....
I understand that NO Mod is PERFECT, but I don't think I should be forced to deal with this type of issue straight out of the box.

I'm just really curious how many are like this.
I don't want to jump the gun and go through all the hassle of a return and replacement to find out that all of them are doing this to a certain degree.
So Hopefully some of ya will chime in soon and let me know before hand.

I've tried to watch some video reveiws to see if I could see the door sitting funny on any of theirs...and on a couple I think I did. But it's really hard to tell because those guys are flinging those damn things around very quickly and it's hard to get a solid look.

Id really prefer to find a fix for it myself.
The negative contact is spring loaded...
If I could somehow find a way to slightly RAISE the Positive Contact just a Tad by adding something conductive in there, I think it would solve the problem completely.

What to add...and how to add it SAFELY without causing a short of some sorts is the issue with that.
Best thing I've thought of is a small metal washer...but how to rig it in there safely, I'm not too sure.

 

[rdsok]

Something about this just doesn't sound like it's the mod to me... but the battery being used in it. Especially if it fits fine without the battery that has the modified sleeve on it. I'd lay odds that the wrapper used was thicker than the one the battery came with.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

Something about this just doesn't sound like it's the mod to me... but the battery being used in it. Especially if it fits fine without the battery that has the modified sleeve on it. I'd lay odds that the wrapper used was thicker than the one the battery came with.

Negative.
It didnt even close right with the stock Sammy wrapper.
Vapedick also confirmed this with his post.

Now I obviously didn't save the Sammy wraps....
But the originals that I took off the cells seemed to be a better quality than these that I'm using now.
Hence... thicker.

The only thing that allowed me to shut the door like it should without a battery in place was a naked battery...or a battery wraped without the washer as stated.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

Okay...
My problem has been solved in a manner of speaking, but That's just because the shop where I bought it from is going to replace it.
Now that isn't going to help you guys any I know, but THIS WILL:

When I spoke with the shop manager I was surprised that he didn't give me any grief over the issue. That's because he knew first hand EXACTLY what I was talking about. He said that he too picked this up when it came out and HE had the SAME problem. Of course since he is the manager he found himself one that didn't have the problem. He also said that he's seen SEVERAL with this issue so far!

Guys...this thing has only been out a week.
If he's already seen several with the problem I would expect this issue to be fairly wide across the board in up coming weeks.
So there is your word of warning.
I told you from the start that I loved the mod but if there was anything funky I'd let you know.

Anyways...
I'm out of town right now but he said to call next week when I return and he'd replace it no problem. By then my white one should arrive and I can compare the two and see if that one is the same way. Obviously I'm going to return the black, but I already know I won't have that option with the white because it's from a different shop, and he already stated that anything wrong with it will have to be delt with by Kanger warranty.

Overall View:
Is this a deal-breaker?
No. Not for me.
It's a shitty ass annoyance that imho shouldn't happen.
Kanger should know better and have left more tolerance in that battery compartment!
I still think this kit is awesome and well worth the price for all that is included.
But if you're someone that has ocd, or gets pissed about something like this....you should be aware that there may be this issue with your unit.
Hope this helps.

I'm still wanting input from you all either way and pics if you have them.

 

[Barbara E.]

I'm confused. You say the door didn't fit right when you used batteries that you had re-wrapped. Have you tried it with batteries that have the original wrapping? Have you tried it with other, original (i.e. non re-wrapped batteries)? Is it just with the Samsung 25R or other brands too?

 

[OBDave]

Ugh. Thanks for the post - I was almost ready to pull the trigger on this, as I've been severely disappointed in the iStick 50 and still want a small, mid-power mod to fire my on-the-go tanks. Guess I'll wait for a resolution, and in the meantime I thank you for guinea-pigging the Subox - let us know how the replacement turns out.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

I'm confused. You say the door didn't fit right when you used batteries that you had re-wrapped. Have you tried it with batteries that have the original wrapping? Have you tried it with other, original (i.e. non re-wrapped batteries)? Is it just with the Samsung 25R or other brands too?

It did it with stock Samsung 25R's too as well as the ones that I re-wrapped. I dont have any other batteries to try sorry, but its not a battery issue...its an issue with the mod as stated.
Some do it and some dont.
Ill have more info below.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

Ugh. Thanks for the post - I was almost ready to pull the trigger on this, as I've been severely disappointed in the iStick 50 and still want a small, mid-power mod to fire my on-the-go tanks. Guess I'll wait for a resolution, and in the meantime I thank you for guinea-pigging the Subox - let us know how the replacement turns out.

Looks like its going to be a roll the dice type of thing based on what Ive just found as well as that shop manager's statement of have seen several with the battery door issue already.
More below...

(I really dont like being the Guinea Pig...but looks like that's the hat that Im wearing this time.

 

[UncleRJ]

Simple solution.

Just take $50K or so out of your vaping account to purchase a small CNC and must remove about 1/64" worth of metal!

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

Okay everyone.

I received my white kit last night.
I tried All 5 of my re-wrapped Samsung 25Rs.
NO BATTERY DOOR ISSUES!
Everything lines up completely flush all the way around as it does without a battery in place.
This door seems to hold more securely as well.
Probably because everything is aligned properly.

With that said....
This is obviously a Kanger problem and NOT a problem with the batteries regardless if they have been re-wrapped or are in their original wrap.

So I think its really a roll of the dice at this point.
You could get a good one...or you could get a bad one.
Looks like I got one of each.

Now that Ive seen first hand that they all dont fit with that problem and KNOW its not a battery or wrapping issue, Im going to return my Black version for the replacement, and Hopefully I'll get lucky and the new one will have a battery door that sits the way it was intended.
I really wish I didnt have to rely on LUCK...but for right now, it seems to be the situation.

I hope this thread helps some of you in making a decision.
I still think this is a great kit either way...but its complete bullshit for Kanger to put out units that aren't up to par.
At the same time, when things are mass produced like this, there will always be a certain amount of units that fail. Guess its kind of the nature of the beast right?

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

Simple solution.

Just take $50K or so out of your vaping account to purchase a small CNC and must remove about 1/64" worth of metal!

Lets not be so cynical RJ.....
You could do it on a Manual Mill!

 

[ronji]

hey guys. just signed up to make this post. I bought one of these subox kits in a local shop last week, and I had the same problem - but only with one of my batteries. I noticed that the door wouldn't sit flush, and if I attempted to make it so, the mod would occasionally seem to restart. turns out that was because I was pushing the battery inside away from the positive pole at the bottom.

the problem is pretty basic. look at the door and the way the battery sits, while the door is open. stand them up next to each other. notice how the battery door has kinda excessively tall sections where the magnets are in comparison to the corresponding parts in the battery chamber, on both the top and bottom of the door. the top is fine, because the top negative pole is spring loaded and pushes the battery down in the chamber. the bottom positive pole is stationary, and if your battery has a nub on the pos side then it will probably be fine, but if it doesn't, then the outer edge of the battery might hit the flat edge of the magnet section in the door. check out this photo.

I was able to shave down the corner of the magnet holding section using some good scissors (steel can cut aluminum) so that it doesn't bump into the edge of the battery anymore. easy!! I just kept sliding one edge of the scissors along the corner edge of the magnet holder bit. perhaps the white mod has shorter magnet holding sections which are friendlier to these batteries.

hope this helps someone out who likes the color of their mod and doesn't want to deal with trading in.

 

[tyler.burrows.5]

I found with min that if the battery door is upside down it will leave a gap. My only thought is that ones with issues have the city out done upside down


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ronji]

I found with min that if the battery door is upside down it will leave a gap. My only thought is that ones with issues have the city out done upside down


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Gotta say, it's clear to me when the door is upside down, cuz there's a cutout at the bottom for a fingernail or at least it's something to catch grip to pull the door off, and the K is only a K when it's right side up. Rest assured my door is on correctly, and after shaving the door to give more room to the battery, now it's flush all the time.

 

[locologo]

I have had no issues with mine and I have tried a few different batteries after reading this.

 

[ZL_VAPOR]

hope more guys with this mod can comment here

 

[MikeSully]

I have a black one. I also have the same battery door issue. I'm going to try @ronji fix from above.

 

[MikeSully]

Wow. Literally took about 5 minutes. Now the door is fine. Just used my pocket knife to scrape a little aluminum off the little crescent shaped ledge above the bottom magnets. Used a sharpie to touch up the paint I scraped off. Good to go! Thanks @ronji

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

hey guys. just signed up to make this post. I bought one of these subox kits in a local shop last week, and I had the same problem - but only with one of my batteries. I noticed that the door wouldn't sit flush, and if I attempted to make it so, the mod would occasionally seem to restart. turns out that was because I was pushing the battery inside away from the positive pole at the bottom.

the problem is pretty basic. look at the door and the way the battery sits, while the door is open. stand them up next to each other. notice how the battery door has kinda excessively tall sections where the magnets are in comparison to the corresponding parts in the battery chamber, on both the top and bottom of the door. the top is fine, because the top negative pole is spring loaded and pushes the battery down in the chamber. the bottom positive pole is stationary, and if your battery has a nub on the pos side then it will probably be fine, but if it doesn't, then the outer edge of the battery might hit the flat edge of the magnet section in the door. check out this photo.

I was able to shave down the corner of the magnet holding section using some good scissors (steel can cut aluminum) so that it doesn't bump into the edge of the battery anymore. easy!! I just kept sliding one edge of the scissors along the corner edge of the magnet holder bit. perhaps the white mod has shorter magnet holding sections which are friendlier to these batteries.

hope this helps someone out who likes the color of their mod and doesn't want to deal with trading in.

Good job Ronji.
I knew it had something to do with that damn lip that the bottom magnets sit in.
I just wasnt willing to file or mess with anything that is visually altering this early not knowing if I could get it replaced or not and obviously voiding the warranty.

Im glad you posted this easy work-around for people that dont want to go through the replacement process.

My replacement actually came in today, but I wont be able to pick it up until tonight. Hopefully I got one of the good ones this time.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

Do any of you that are having the battery door issue have button-top batteries that you could try in this Mod?
I'm really thinking that using a button-top battery would solve the whole problem,
But I'm not going to order any until this can be confirmed.

 

[xXraySpeXx]

Haha....I'm so glad I found this thread! I just got the white Kbox Mini last week, and I've been putting the battery cover on upside down because it wasn't sitting flush when it was right-side up. I even began wondering if Kanger's logo was a backwards "K" because it only seemed to fit showing the "K" upside down. Needless to say, after some Googling, I realized it WAS flawed, and then I stumbled across this thread. After reading what worked for Ronji, I pulled out a Dremel and filed away part of the top where the magnet section is. Now it's perfect. Thanks for sharing everyone! I was chucking quite a bit reading all the posts because I was going through the same thing, and really didn't think I'd come across anything that would help me.