Attempting my first mod teardown and rebuild

Got a really nice looking all bloodwood Sneaky Pete last week on the other forum and just received it today.Threw the 18350 AW battery on my charger and showing a full charge so I open the back and pop it in there and NOTHING!!

Guess I know why she sold it now.I pull the battery out and start fiddling around making sure the center post is making contact and checking for any loose wires and I still cant find anything.So I grab my exacto knife and start carefully cutting the hot glue out and within a few minutes I notice the first problem.The horn switch has cracked on the back by the negative wire and its only making intermittent contact.

I bypass the switch and get the device to fire for the first time but its still only firing every now and again so I dig out the rest of the hot glue and see the second problem.The battery connector has been soldered on the outside ring instead of on the inside causing a bad connection.

Ive got this thing torn 99 percent of the way down right now.Only thing still attached is the drip cup.

I just ordered all the parts from Madvapes this morning and will post updates and progress pics on my first build as I get time.

 

Just finished cleaning up and oiling the inside and outside of the wooden case while Im waiting on parts to arrive.There are a couple of expensive oils recommended for wood but I just used some vegetable oil I had in the kitchen.Will post pics tonight after work.

 

Gotta say you sound pretty cool for someone who got 'ripped'. Hope it wasn't expensive and the seller was honest. I'd be freaking as I have no skills for any of this stuff.

 

I bought the Sneaky Pete as a backup and had planned on trying my hand at modding anyway.Had already purchased everything I need to fix this the day before I got it.Im also making a Peanuts Altoids tin into a mod so its really no big deal.Im pretty mechanically inclined, do most of the work on my truck and motorcycle myself so this way I can make it better than it was originally and know Ive got a backup I can count on.

 

You have a fantastic attitude about a broken product that you paid for.

 

You would have been better off going with some plain old cheap mineral oil if you wanted cheap. The advantage here is it won't spoil or get rancid like vegetable oils will.

This is my fav wood treatment,



You wanna lay it on thick, then wait. If parts look dry (soaked up) add more. You finally want to rub off the excess as it starts to thicken. Check back at intervals to see if any is bleeding back to the surface and re-wipe.

 

I agree with Billy here. Veggie oil will turn rancid quick and smell. I would take a mild solvent and try to remove what you have put on there and re oil the wood. Bad thing is though even with something as mild a mineral spirits you risk removing the good oils as well so do so very gently and do not allow the wood to sit to long without the re application of a good finishing oil or at least mineral oil to condition the wood to help prevent moisture from getting back in to the wood.

 

So you knew before you bought it that it wasn't working?

Tung oil is another good product to seal your wood and give it a nice satiny finish. You can soak the back and wipe it on the front,sides,top and inside and keep applying until it stops absorbing into the wood, then wipe it off.

I've bought 2 Sneaky Pete's, 1 assembled but unfinished and the other I put together myself and finished. I'm sure glad I didn't have the problems you did. I really love these little mods.

 

No I didnt know it wasnt working.I bought the parts to use in a Peanuts altoid box mod and got a couple of extra in case I messed up.

There shouldnt be any danger of the vegetable oil turning rancid since I buffed the entire mod with a cotton cloth after the oil had penetrated.Im also resealing the wood with a light coat of urethane.Im still waiting on a stainless steel mechanical horn button to come in but everything should go together smoothly after that.The black horn buttons that are sold at Madvapes are utter crap IMO and have a tendency to break at the contact points where the plastic is very thin.This causes a problem with the button firing or only firing intermittently.Mechanical horn button should fix this problem nicely.

Thanks for the interest in this thread.Will post pics tomorrow as Ive just found my Kodak Zi8 this morning