Arizer Solo Battery Mod Tutorial

This is a guide on how to DIY a replacement battery for the Arizer Solo. If you want a drop in replacement that does not require soldering then you can pick up one from this website. They last a lot longer than the Tenergy batteries do as well.
 
So, the parts came in, and I've replaced the battery in my solo. I noticed the improvement the very next day, usually I turn on my solo at my desk and go downstairs to go outside for a 'smoke'. Usually my solo would just be getting to temp 2 by the time I was outside. I was at level 4 before I even got out of the elevator. I get about two extra cycles with the new battery as well.

Now for the con, the battery pack I received was about 5mm larger than the one that was in the solo originally. I didn't even notice the change in size when I tested the batteries to make sure they would fit before I started the swap. While this may not seem like a huge issue, it is, because the extra 5mm pushes the housing upwards ever so slightly which causes the heating element to not properly align with the hole on the cap. I've used a dremel to widen my cap's opening but it is still pretty tight up there. I would run it without the cap but the stems are just so loose that walking or moving around with a stem isn't much of an option and you need two hands to ensure the stem dosen't stick to my lips and pull the stem out.

If you are interested in making this swap yourself, please, please, PLEASE put alot of careful thought and consideration in doing this. If you don't know how to solder or are unfamiliar with batteries in general there are alot of things that you can do wrong which will render your solo unusable. As with any online tutorial I am not responsible for the condition your solo comes out of this transfer in.

Now to brass tacks;



This is what you are going to need if your doing things my way. Left to right we have a Sautering Iron, Rosin Core Sauter, Wire Crimpers, the Arizer solo, heat shrink tubing (hard to see), the replacement pack and a fine tipped phillips screwdriver. The Solder Caddy in the middle is optional, but makes the rather difficult task of soldering two wires togther possible. Your not going to need MFLB batteries or a CVault label. I don't know why those were there.

The first thing to do is to remove the four screws from the bottom of the solo. These screws have a very fine receptacle, so you need a really tiny one, or an eyeglass screwdriver. Afterwards, the sheath slides right off:



There's a plastic cover held in place by four tabs. I used to have a really hard time getting this off untill I realized that you can slide a credit card or razorblade in to the tab like a shim and twisting lightly. Taking it off reveals the battery:



The battery is held in place by a JST brand RCY connector. These are standard to the electronics industry and if you have access to a really good hobby store they are almost certain to have them. Unfortunately, I could not for the life of me get these ordered in an amount less than 100 dollars so I went with direct soldering. If you can get these, USE THEM, they will make things so much easier. But they pull right apart easy and revealing the circuit board:



The battery that you are getting to replace the solo's stock battery needs to be a lithium polymer pack. This pack is consists of two 18650 cells at 3.2 volts double teamed to output 7.4 volts at once. The stock battery in your solo is 2200mah. I know alot about batteries, and I have chosen a 2200mah pack to replace it with as well. There are many, many pack suppliers who will claim things like 2800 or 3000 or even 3500 mah on their batteries, and I will tell you straight up they are either bold face lying and selling a 2200 as a higher capacity cell, or are running the batteries so far outside of their safety threshold its like trying to nascar in a nissan.

Comparison shot:



It is important to make the cut giving as much free wire as you can towards the JST connector, this gives us the change to cut off a little bit to try again if we make a mistake sautering. But don't cut it all the way down or we will have to much wiring to put back into the solo. This is where I cut it. Also be warned unless you do them 1 by 1 there is going to be a huge flash of sparks when you cut the wires.



Cut the wires on the battery down to about an inch, and turn on your sauter gun. It works best to interleave the wires before you solder to make a good connection. As well, I added a small bit of heat shrink tubing to the battery wire, this will protect the soldered wires from coming in contact with each other or the metal wall of the unit which would have a disastrous effect on your solo. Ready the wires for soldering and lets go! If you don't have a solder caddy, then crimp the leads a little longer and try wrapping them around each other to keep them in place.



I have no pictures of the soldering process because, obviously, I needed my hands for that. But if you need tips on how to solder, you should NOT be doing this. After soldering and shrink wrap:

And there you have it! A solo that is going to perform just like it did when it came out of the box. Again, please don't do this unless you know what your doing. If you have any questions ask away and I'll answer as I can.

Have fun and happy vaping!

 

There's no big difference between models, I've opened several and they all use the same battery. I have an M102 which I've used to death and needed to replace the battery on.

And yes, it's up on FC

 

But that's the thing, there are no legit higher mah cells, they are exactly as I described in the post. I've had a Sanyo eneloop explode in my hand after a normal charge so I am never going with those cells ever again. 2200mah is pretty much the highest concentration of power that you can fit into a 18650 cell without making serious alterations to the cell and it's safety features.

 

I'd also like to add one issue that I have encountered. The battery pack is about 5mm longer than the stock one, which causes an almost unnoticeable tilt at the top of the unit. This causes stems to fit extremely tight to the cap and makes it hard to get them in or out.

I used a dremel (and a toonie, lol) to widen the cap so that the stems fit easier and that has worked quite well. Just something to think about if you decide to try this.

 

When I first got it, it worked alot better. Mabey not within 30 seconds but definatly less than a minute. I just used the thing to death.

But with the new batt its better than ever

 

[quote name='"Highnstein"']Centizen, thanks for your contribution! I have a question; I have a DC adapter for my car. It lets me control the voltage and fits in the Solo.

Supposedly, 9v is supposed to let you hit it without using the battery while 12v charges it. 12v charges it no problem, but when I switch it to 9v, it sometimes work and the majority of the time it blinks the first 3 lights and turns off. Any fix on that?

Also, I figured if I found a random car adapter that works, is it possible to go online and buy the outlet for cheap? Paying $45 for an adapter that lets you hit it while plugged in is quite... ridiculous. I have heard of people using the PS2 chargers, but if I can control the voltage, sounds gnarly.

Thanks for the help.[/quote]

Hey man, I know exactly what your talking about; I've had the same thing happen to me in certain situations.

The battery pack charges at 12vdc and needs a charger that can put out at least an amp.

To run the element we need alot of power. That's why we need such a powerful charger in the first place. The power brick costs 45 because its actually a very high quality unit and outputs a lot of power. The heater needs 9vdc at 5 amps, which works out to 45 watts constant draw. That's alot of power.

The three flashing lights happen when the wattage/amperage drops to low to run the element without damaging it. Your power unit may be rated above 45 watts, but usually companies only list 'peak' or temporary high draw levels or just outright lie. The PlayStation brick may work but I've heard horror stories of them melting down and bricking solos so I'd be careful.

All in all, the power brick is not priced ridiculously, the amount of power it puts out is massive and the cost to make it is in line with that. I have never gotten it to work with anything other than that psu and I even tried using a bench power supply rated at 60w constant.

 

Yeah, with those details now I can see why they were melting down and bricking solo's. Its probobly just above the threshold arizer cuts off trying to power the element, but slightly below what it actually needs. So the arizer, expecting 9 would overload it which would end badly for both of them.

 

Yeah my man, you need to find a charger that has a yellow tipper EIAJ-1 connector which is about 4mm in size, and that can put out at least 1 amp of current. I've replaced my solo charger with a universal power supply I got at wall mart, just make sure to bring your solo with you and test it out before you buy.