Today I will continue to introduce you to the work of engineers from El Thunder. The first mechanical mod represents classics, the second one represents power, and the hero of today’s review represents lightness and carelessness, because it is made of aluminum and painted in a glamorous pink color.
Unlike its “older” brothers, El Thunder Lite is sold in a simple paper bag lined with bubble wrap from the inside. Most likely, it was originally a very ordinary postal envelope, but it performs its protective functions, and nothing more is required from the packaging. On the front side of the package there are two stickers (in the photo above – the second is not), one the size of a bag with a black and white photo of the mod, name, decorative print, barcode and a large inscription “1 PC”. The second sticker is applied to a random place on the package and indicates the color of the mod inside. On the back there is a smaller sticker, which contains the manufacturer’s legal address, brief instructions and a simplified diagram of the mod, combined with the package contents.
Externally, El Thunder Lite looks like a classic “pipe” without any design frills, decorative elements, grooves for a comfortable grip and everything else. vape stores online canada Five grooves in the middle of the body have a practical rather than aesthetic meaning, simply improving the grip and reducing slippage in the hands. This mod has a great many color options, I will not even list them all, because many of them are experimental and were made in extremely small quantities. We can say that half of all Lite are limited editions. I have practically no complaints about the quality of the paint, it is solid, rough-grippy and uniform (there is one feature, but about it below).
The low weight (57 grams without a battery and 107 grams with SONY VTC 5A) is surprising at first, the mod feels like a “fluff” in your hands and sometimes gets lost in your pocket. Sometimes it even comes to comical situations when it seems that there is simply no battery inside – you take off the cover, and it is there. However, then, literally after a week of use, you get used to the low weight and “other” mods begin to resemble small fitness dumbbells.
A hybrid 510 connector is located at the top of the mod, the platform for the evaporators has a diameter of 24 millimeters and is absolutely flat, there is no system that prevents the dripper from sticking to the body. Pay special attention to this, because brass and aluminum form a galvanic pair and over time the metal on the threads of the 510 connector begins to be covered with oxides, which can not only spoil the appearance, but also create problems with unscrewing. Here you can also notice the only flaw in the paint: in a couple of places the paint lay “clumsily”, but this is not visible under the RDA, and therefore I will not consider it a big minus.
The ribs on the side surface feel natural and comfortable (unlike those in the 20700 version, where they literally cut into the hand), the mod does not slip in sweaty palms on the hottest days and even when heavily drenched in liquid (personally tested in conjunction with the CSMNT LAYERCAKE RDA).
El Thunder Lite Mechanical Mod – Button
At the bottom of the mod, as expected, you will be greeted by a brass button with a single gas outlet. Over time, it will lose its factory shine and become covered with patina. Quite wide gaps near the lid directly hint that the button could be painted. But as it is, so it is.
El Thunder Lite Mechanical Mod – Components
The mod is disassembled by simply unscrewing the lid into just three parts or 6 parts: the body, the button (consisting of a silver-galvanized permanent contact plate, a plastic insulator, a spring and the button itself) and the lid.
El Thunder Lite Mechanical Mod – Button Threads
The threads on the lid and body are made with high quality, cleaned of paint (or rather, were protected during this process), do not bite or creak. A small “notch” inside the body was a little unclear to me, it does not look like traces of some technological operation and looks like it was done intentionally, but why is a mystery. If you know the answer, write in the comments.
El Thunder Lite Mechanical Mod – Foolproof
In the tradition of “good manners”, a step is made inside the case (near the hybrid connector), preventing a short circuit on the positive pin of the battery when pressing the button without a screwed evaporator.
The button consists of three parts: the brass button itself with a collet and a gas outlet hole, a steel spring and a plastic spacer with a silver-plated washer in the center. The button and spacer are held on by a spring quite tenaciously and will not fall apart into its component parts when the device is disassembled. However, you should not lose your vigilance completely, this design is not fixed inside the cover in any way and may fall out of it after unscrewing.
The button is placed in the mod, where due to the friction forces on the return collet (the same petals) it provides sliding and constantly self-cleaning contact with the body. The spring between the button and the constant contact washer tends to push these parts apart as much as possible, but on the one hand this is prevented by the cover, and on the other by the battery, this is how constant contact and adjustment to the total length of the protruding positive pin of the evaporator and battery are ensured. When you press the button, you compress the spring and close the circuit at the point of contact of the “stump” of the button and the spacer, when you release the button, the spring opens the circuit.
What I liked:
Hybrid connector
High-quality and tenacious paint
Nice button without distortions in operation
Constant contact
Threads and spring do not participate in the circuit
Light
What is simply good:
There is a hole for gas outlet and a battery protection rim under the hybrid connector
No button lock
Various colors
What could have been better:
No second spacer in the kit
No silvering on the button rod and, as a result, there are carbon deposits during operation.
The outer surface of the button could have been painted
No protection against the evaporator sticking
Requires frequent cleaning of the 510 connector
Result:
Is it worth the money? Judging by how it is being bought up, it looks like yes. I will not raise the question of whether aluminum “fries”; El Thunder Lite was not made for competition purposes, but for everyday use. Small size, light weight, constant contact, a button that hardly needs cleaning, “cheerful” colors and a diameter of 24 millimeters – that’s what’s most important in this mod, the rest is not so important.