Transplanting an Evolv DNA 40 into Kangxin ZNA 30 Clone

[gkenney]

The following series of pictures shows the steps taken to put a DNA 40 board into a stainless ZNA clone. Nikkita6 identified the manufacturer as Kangxin. Instead of keeping these images on my hard drive (and useful only to me) I decided to put them up so they might help someone else interested in this swap. This has been done successfully by a number of people so it isn't ground breaking but it still may be useful as a reference.

The folio:

1. The clone as received:



2. Removing the tube and looking at the insert cover with its 12/2014 Date of Manufacture tamper sticker:


3. Preparing to remove the plastic insert after taking off the tube connector:


4. Inside the skull:


5. The hot glue removed. The body of this clone has been well thought out and nicely designed. I consider the addition of tapped grounding screw holes above the screen, on either side, and just below the base of the board to be an upgrade. The wiring is concisely laid out making it very easy to disconnect the wiring:


6. The board removed from the body:

I reused the plastic board cover with hot glue attached and it positioned the buttons perfectly while protecting the Evolv board from frying itself with a short . . . (not that I would be so careless as to have this happened to me before )


7. DNA 40 and OEM boards side by side:


Reached my file upload limit for this post will follow-on in the next post starting with step 8.

 

[dre]

The buttons line up with the evolv board?

 

[gkenney]

The buttons line up with the evolv board?

Yes, they are perfectly aligned. I'm still in the process of uploading the post as I hit my file image limit. So, there is more to follow.

 

[gkenney]

8. After clipping off rails the burrs are removed by gently running the sides over a finishing file.


9. The board is set in place with the plastic board guard between the board and the body (the guard is not visible):


9. The wires are soldered to the board and a pieced of the pink foam from the DNA 40 box is used keep the display in position:


10. The plastic cover is put back in place . . . yep. . . it's between tampered with :


11. The tube connector is put back in place, the tube installed, a battery inserted and I prepare for my first blue smoke test . . . eureka . . . it's alive! I performed a quick function check and all is well - up, down, fire, lock, screen flip, etc. The buttons are clicky and fully extended for easy access. The black line through the display is not visible in real time, it is a product of capturing the scan in process.


12. A quick check to make certain I'm somewhat safe with an 18490 AW IMR battery using the .19 ohm nickel coil atomizer tank. From www.kritikalmass.net/battery-calculator/index.php


I get the warning that these aren't official stats but its the best a wanker like me has at his finger tips. I see an AW 18490 is capable of a continuous discharge of 8.8 amps. My coil, though, is below the recommended safe ohms . . . I chose to risk it for a test vape. Later, I wrapped a single coil in the Kanger temp sensing body reaching .4 ohms and I'm using that presently. It's still under the .5 ohm safe ohm to run but it's a lot closer than .19 ohm.


Running 11.1 watts with a .19 ohm resistance pulls slightly over 7.6 amps. It's under 8.8 so it shouldn't explode.



and finally the source for my avatar is revealed.

The fully functional battle mod and its big brother which is an authentic ZNA. Both have the DNA 40 boards installed.


I hope there are those who find this useful.

 

[dre]

So the 510 ground on the dna40 doesn't need to be wired up? Only the battery ground,positive batt and 510 + out is needed?

 

[gkenney]

Correct

 

[gkenney]

So the 510 ground on the dna40 doesn't need to be wired up? Only the battery ground,positive batt and 510 + out is needed?

That is correct. With this clone having a ground screw it made such good contact that I did not need to use the atomizer ground. The authentic ZNA does not use the atomizer ground either.

I had to connect the atomizer ground as well as the battery ground to the stainless body of the authentic ZNA that I put a DNA 40 board in. I had a heck of a time soldering to stainless. I have studied this more and learned it requires a flux like Superior #71 or #78 to prep the metal then you apply silver solder. The standard lead/tin solder for electronics is then attached to the silver solder.

I finally resorted to using conductive silver epoxy to attach the ground wires to the body (I still soldered the wires to the board). I roughed up the stainless with 300 grit sand paper, fanned the 18 gauge wire to increase surface area contact and adhesion, then pushed the epoxy over the wires and onto the body. After it cured it has proven to be quite effective and stable. The conductive silver epoxy comes from MG Chemicals.

 

[gkenney]

For those interested in working on the exact same clone this seller on eBAY has them for $50. He's trying to unload his stock and has cut the price. The complete transplant took less than 2 hours.

www.ebay.com/itm/ZNA-30-Watt-Variable-Wattage-Mod-ZNA30-mechanical-mod-US-SELLER-SHIPS-FAST-/261747309460?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cf15afb94

 

[UncleRJ]

Nicely done sir!

 

[gkenney]

Nicely done sir!

Thanks!

 

[Anus Braun]

Jolly.....GOOD.

 

[Giraut]

Very good job. Excellent!

Also, it's remarkable how similar the form factors of the Chinese board and the Evolv board are.

 

[gkenney]

Jolly.....GOOD.

Thanks!

 

[gkenney]

Very good job. Excellent!

Also, it's remarkable how similar the form factors of the Chinese board and the Evolv board are.

Thanks! Yes, the Chinese board is very similar to the Evolv DNA 30 pin outs and the button placement was spot on. The part that made the transplant so smooth was the threaded grounding post. If you are interested in performing this transplant on a clone, these knockoffs are nicely engineered. They did it right.

As an update, I picked up another used "authentic" ZNA for an excellent price and used Superior #71 flux and put two spots of silver solder on the body; one by the Atty ground and the other by the -B- pin out ground. I first attached the board using just the -B- ground pin out with regular lead/tin solder to see if the ground was sufficient and it was excellent; I didn't need to use the atty ground. The process of silver soldering to the stainless body then using regular electrical solder to bond the ground wire to the silver solder worked great.

There is a slight caution though for any who choose to go this route. The authentic ZNA body is not mirror polished and I got the torch too close to the outside of the body when melting the flux and silver solder. If you're a perfectionist this will be an area of concern. The image below shows two areas of browning on the metal. The spot next to the top is the most noticeable, as it was the first to be done and I saw my process error. I was more careful with the area next to the -B- pin out but still got it too close. It is much less noticeable though. If I did it again I believe I would not have a heat spot at all. Hopefully someone will benefit from my experience.

I'm not certain how to remove these other than polishing and I don't want to do that. I'm concerned I will end up with a bright, mirror finish at those spots. The only solution for that would be to completely polish the entire body so I end up with a mirror finished ZNA; I'm not inclined to go that route.