Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hay gals! ;D <333

So a quick question for y'all - what are the various pro's and cons of having laser hair removal done professionally at a salon (or wherever), vs getting hold of a home solution?

Long story short, I'm looking at home laser hair removers like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Precision-SC2003-11-Attachment/dp/B0096PEO4I/ref=pd_cp_d_0 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Precision-SC2003-11-Attachment/dp/B0096PEO4I/ref=pd_cp_d_0), and I'm wondering if this sort of thing is just as good as having it done professionally.  Obviously both are fairly expensive, but at least the home solutions are typically a one-off cost, whereas having it done professionally is something (as I understand it) you have to go back for several times (I assume it costs each session, right?).

Before anyone asks - I've got fair skin and dark hair, so laser should work well.  The only question I would have there is wether or not the home solutions work on a male body?  I can't see why it wouldn't unless the thickness of it has an effect or something?  ??? lol dunno :P

So yeh, if I could have your thoughts, opinions and experiences ladies, it would be much appreciated  :icon_flower: <333

To start with - Philips Lumea Precision Plus SC2003/11 IPL Hair Removal System is not Laser Hair Removal System. IPL means it is intense pulsed light, which uses different technology and requires replacement cartridges. And thus is not a one-off cost. If You are looking into home lasers, I would suggest Tria 4x or Tria Laser Precision (cheaper but should be fine with face as this is essentially the main area where You will be using it). Unfortunately, I cant really reflect on professional lasers as I have literally no idea about them - never used them, but I am working with Tria 4x and - no complaints so far :). You can see result on my avi pic - I am still dealing with upper lip and chin and some minor hairs here and there, but nothing with should cause too much worries. Besides, there is always the option of doing ~10 hours or electrolysis to clear up those problematic and stubborn areas :). If You are not into flashy products with indicators and displays, then You might consider trying new Tria Laser Precision - but I cant really comment about it - review says that it is the same Tria 4x without "bells and whistles" :). Hope this helps :)

And, btw, we have a looooong thread about Tria somewhere in depths of this forum :).

Hay Emily!

Thanks for the reply hunni, it was most informative :)

Quote from: ♡ Emily ♡ on December 18, 2013, 12:54:52 PM
To start with - Philips Lumea Precision Plus SC2003/11 IPL Hair Removal System is not Laser Hair Removal System. IPL means it is intense pulsed light, which uses different technology and requires replacement cartridges. And thus is not a one-off cost...

Haha well that's a good start! :laugh:  I assumed "Intense Pulsed Light" was just a fancy marketing way of saying "Laser"

Quote from: ♡ Emily ♡ on December 18, 2013, 12:54:52 PM
...If You are looking into home lasers, I would suggest Tria 4x or Tria Laser Precision (cheaper but should be fine with face as this is essentially the main area where You will be using it)...

...If You are not into flashy products with indicators and displays, then You might consider trying new Tria Laser Precision - but I cant really comment about it - review says that it is the same Tria 4x without "bells and whistles" :). Hope this helps :)

And, btw, we have a looooong thread about Tria somewhere in depths of this forum :).

Thanks for the info.  I've had a quick look at the Tria 4x on Amazon and it's not wildly more expensive than what I was looking at already so that's a good thing :)  I'll have a dig around for that thread too and see what's said in there before jumping in at the deep end! :laugh:

Quote from: ♡ Emily ♡ on December 18, 2013, 12:54:52 PM
Unfortunately, I cant really reflect on professional lasers as I have literally no idea about them - never used them, but I am working with Tria 4x and - no complaints so far :). You can see result on my avi pic - I am still dealing with upper lip and chin and some minor hairs here and there, but nothing with should cause too much worries. Besides, there is always the option of doing ~10 hours or electrolysis to clear up those problematic and stubborn areas :).

Your avi pic is looking great hun!  That's actually really encouraging and good to know :D

Out of curiosity - what sort of 'permanency' are you getting out of it?  Are the hairs not growing back at all or are they just growing back really slowly?  I keep reading mixed things about laser (generally - home and professional alike) about how permanent it is.  To be honest I certainly don't mind maintaining it - all I really want is to not have to do it every other day and suffer the razor burns and ingrown hairs like I do at the moment! :laugh:

Once again, thanks for the reply hunni, it was most informative :) <333

Cheers, Kira :)
Thanks for Your compliments - hope I will be able to give some extra advice and You will have smooth face as well - soon :).

I dig up for You that thread - here it is!  https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,136864.0.html (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,136864.0.html)
Actually, laser and IPL are two different technologies (You can google them if You really wanna know technicalities, but there is no diode in IPL kits) and they are assumed to be of similar result but IPL hurts less and needs lamp cartridges, whereas laser is a bit quicker, does not need cartridges but the in-built battery will eventually "die".  Its approximate life span is about 3 years - so keep in mind that You are investing that money into something which will become useless in 3 years... but hey, 400 bucks is not that much given the period of time :). The new Tria Laser Precision is btw even cheaper!
Yeah, both technologies are sort of similarly good, except, they have always been compared when testing on their target audience - cis-females :). Nobody has tested or assumed that transwomen might be using them as well :). I have read different, mixed and contradicting reviews (I was really torn between Tria and Silk'n'Sense IPL kit), but ultimately settled for Tria and I am very happy about it. One run on my face takes 300 hits and then battery needs to be recharged. One lamp cartridge for Silk'n'Sense IPL kit usually contains 1000 flashes... That's 3 sessions in ~ 3 weeks and then I would need to buy a replacement cartridge and they are by no means cheap :(. So in the long run IPL is quite an expensive undertakiing despite its initial cheapness.
I cant really comment about permanency yet as I have been lasering my face for about 4 months IIRC... My cheeks cleared up pretty fast, my neck is clearing now as well - sure there are single hairs popping up from time to time - I would suggest buying cheap magnifying make-up mirror to follow Your progress - but I would say that I have ~95% facial hair reduction. I have no means to tell if hair, which is growing back, has been zapped or not, and I keep lasering my face once per week (upper lip and chin - twice per week). I am thinking to keep lasering till March-April and then visit electrologist for feedback and maybe do some sessions to deal with white hairs... But yeah, if You wish to enjoy smooth skin ASAP then laser is Your first friend and electro - afterwards. Many girls here have suggested to start with 1-2 sessions of professional laser treatment and then to follow-up with Tria, but as professional laser is extremely expensive here (it is targeted at women and costs ~ 10 USD per 1 square centimeter), I just went with Tria from the beginning :). Well, that's it mostly :) And if You have any more questions I will be more than happy to reply :).

I've only had a couple of goes at laser on my beard but gave it up because the hairs are too light for it to work properly. Professional is probably way more expensive but from what I can gather they would cover the whole area in a single session and should do it in such a way that avoids problems with skin pigmentation (common when botched apparently). Maybe try a professional session at a proper hair removal clinic instead of a local beauty parlour and see first hand before deciding on DIY.

Do you believe tria 4x is good for eyebrows??

The battery of my Tria was dead about a year ago. I had used it infrequently for 2 years.

I still see a few fine but long hairs growing in my feet. Also many fine hairs in my beard area, which are not so much noticeable. Also some hairs left in my armpits. When I see those fine hairs, I shave or pluck them.

I am not quite sure whether I should purchase another Tria to remove those few fine hairs. Probably not, but I am not quite sure.

A merit of Tria is that you can treat by yourself whenever you have leisure time. Time is an important factor to me. Also it is far less expensive than professional laser, which requests ca. US$ 300 for just the beard area alone, and does not guarantee the complete removal (extra charges).

I am satisfied with my Tria.

barbie~~

Quote from: eliza36 on December 22, 2013, 11:18:22 AM
Do you believe tria 4x is good for eyebrows??

Do not put it anywhere near your eyes! A wrong angle could blind you. Just wax or pluck.

Quote from: barbie on December 22, 2013, 02:36:37 PM
The battery of my Tria was dead about a year ago. I had used it infrequently for 2 years.

I still see a few fine but long hairs growing in my feet. Also many fine hairs in my beard area, which are not so much noticeable. Also some hairs left in my armpits. When I see those fine hairs, I shave or pluck them.

I am not quite sure whether I should purchase another Tria to remove those few fine hairs. Probably not, but I am not quite sure.

A merit of Tria is that you can treat by yourself whenever you have leisure time. Time is an important factor to me. Also it is far less expensive than professional laser, which requests ca. US$ 300 for just the beard area alone, and does not guarantee the complete removal (extra charges).

I am satisfied with my Tria.

barbie~~

If you still have your Tria, search online and there are tutorials on how to replace the battery. A new one only goes for about $20 US.

Quote from: michelle666 on December 22, 2013, 03:53:05 PM
If you still have your Tria, search online and there are tutorials on how to replace the battery. A new one only goes for about $20 US.

Michelle,

Thanks,
But I could not find the web site of tutorial.
I will appreciate any help.

barbie~~

Quote from: adoradeny on September 11, 2014, 03:39:32 AM
NO, Tria do not sell replacement batteries. Once the battery dies, you can not use the laser and the producer don't sell replacement batteries. They argue that the device's life is more than enough to treat completely the entire body of a single person. In years, Tria will last close to 4 years or approximately 90,000 pulses. You can find more about it on http://www.goodepilator.com/reviews/Tria-Hair-Removal-Laser-4X

They are not selling replacements, but I have heard that there are ways how to "do-it-yourself" instead of feeding greedy capitalists by buying another kit :)

Quote from: ♡ Emily ♡ on September 11, 2014, 03:56:57 AM
They are not selling replacements, but I have heard that there are ways how to "do-it-yourself" instead of feeding greedy capitalists by buying another kit :)

I am eager to know the method to save US$500.

barbie~~

Quote from: barbie on September 11, 2014, 02:08:50 PM
I am eager to know the method to save US$500.

barbie~~

I'm struggling to find anything on how to actually do it, but from a few scattered pics I've seen it should just be a case of opening it up and giving the battery a little tickle with a soldering iron :)  From there you can either wire up a new battery or a mains adaptor.  Should be straight forward in theory but I won't know until I get one myself (soon™ lol :P ). If we didn't live in completely different parts of the world I'd offer to fix it for ya hun :) <3

Quote from: KiraD on September 23, 2014, 07:03:42 PM
I'm struggling to find anything on how to actually do it, but from a few scattered pics I've seen it should just be a case of opening it up and giving the battery a little tickle with a soldering iron :)  From there you can either wire up a new battery or a mains adaptor.  Should be straight forward in theory but I won't know until I get one myself (soon™ lol :P ). If we didn't live in completely different parts of the world I'd offer to fix it for ya hun :) <3

Yes, Kira. I could open it by using the two screwdrivers.

(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3875/15184277730_386c319c44_o.jpg)

And, the next step is to find an online store that sells it.
Where??

barbie~~

And, I could disconnect the battery. ifr 26650 3.2v rechargeable battery.

(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2942/15184651218_9ac9251517_b.jpg)

barbie~~

Actually, it consists of a pair.
More complicated to purchase.

(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3918/15185024017_aa2c7469ca_b.jpg)

barbie~~

It says 4.4 Ahr, meaning 4400 mAH. As the pair of rechargeable battery is connected in parallel, each of battery has 2200 mAh power.
Searching the internet, most products are 4000 or 5000 mAH each. No problem in purchasing and replacing with these over-powered rechargeable batteries in Tria?

barbie~~

Oh fantastic hun!  I wasn't sure what your technical skills were (most people would be scared to just dive in and do something like this lol).

If the 5000mAh one is 3.2V then that would be great - all it means is that the charge will last longer basically, so as long as it doesn't have more or less voltage than the old one (although you'll probably get away with +/-10%) and has the same physical dimensions it should be fine.  If you can get it with the same connectors that's even better, but if it comes to it you can always chop the connectors off the old one and solder then onto the new one :)

Have you got a link to the new battery you're looking at?

<3

Quote from: KiraD on September 28, 2014, 05:46:22 AM

Have you got a link to the new battery you're looking at?

<3

Sure. Thankfully, Facebook ad immediately showed me the links.

(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3883/15379199055_9d67d136e8_b.jpg)

Oh. High mAh is a good news. Thanks! I will try to order a pair. I am considering the following one:

http://www.dx.com/p/trustfire-rechargeable-3-7v-5000mah-26650-li-ion-batteries-pair-107232#.VCgC6_l_t8E

barbie~~

Haha yeh, the mAh is basically a measure of how much of a charge it holds.  For example, a 3.2V battery at 5000mAh will hold more of a charge than a 3.2V battery rated at 4000mAh.  It's highly analogous to Litres when it comes to a drinks bottle :) When it's different voltages of course things get a little more complicated, but voltage-for-voltage you can think of it this way :)

Speaking of voltages: ooh, that one you linked there hun is 3.7V - that's about 15% over, which your Tria's circuits may not be happy with (because like I said, circuits normally aren't designed to have more than about a 10% tolerance).  I'd say you want to keep it between 2.88V and 3.52V at most.  If you want to play it safe then we can assume a 5% tolerance instead, which would be 3.04V to 3.36V (keep it within these limits if you can as you're more likely to be successful).

You may even find in the Tria's instruction book somewhere (usually either in the back or the front) some kind of table listing power requirements / tolerances etc which will help here.  I don't suppose you have that kicking about still do you?  I'm assuming there's a more technical manual in the box that tells you more about the device than the general user guide I'm finding online lol, but if not don't worry too much - just assume a 5% tolerance and you should be fine :)

<3

Its awesome watching you fix your Tria, Barbie!



I've been using this thing for a while and it seems to be working pretty good for me.  I would recommend seeing a professional even though I am too cheap to.  The professional thing didn't work for me after about 5 months of sessions but the I-Light did.  If you can get past the corny pictures on the box and the warning that specifically says "don't use this on your face!" then maybe it can work for you too. :)


Edit: Forgot to add the link. :)

http://www.remingtonproducts.com/womens/ipl/i-light-pro/i-light-pro-intense-pulsed-light-hair-removal-system.aspx

Quote from: KiraD on September 28, 2014, 08:36:36 AM
Haha yeh, the mAh is basically a measure of how much of a charge it holds.  For example, a 3.2V battery at 5000mAh will hold more of a charge than a 3.2V battery rated at 4000mAh.  It's highly analogous to Litres when it comes to a drinks bottle :) When it's different voltages of course things get a little more complicated, but voltage-for-voltage you can think of it this way :)

Speaking of voltages: ooh, that one you linked there hun is 3.7V - that's about 15% over, which your Tria's circuits may not be happy with (because like I said, circuits normally aren't designed to have more than about a 10% tolerance).  I'd say you want to keep it between 2.88V and 3.52V at most.  If you want to play it safe then we can assume a 5% tolerance instead, which would be 3.04V to 3.36V (keep it within these limits if you can as you're more likely to be successful).

You may even find in the Tria's instruction book somewhere (usually either in the back or the front) some kind of table listing power requirements / tolerances etc which will help here.  I don't suppose you have that kicking about still do you?  I'm assuming there's a more technical manual in the box that tells you more about the device than the general user guide I'm finding online lol, but if not don't worry too much - just assume a 5% tolerance and you should be fine :)

<3

Yes. I noticed the difference, cancelling the order. My new order is as follows:

(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3855/15379570452_2913d126b5_o.png)

I hope a pair of this will work.

barbie~~

That will do the trick hun :)  The mAh is lower of course, so you will likely find yourself charging it up more frequently than you did before, but you will probably find that it charges quicker than it did before too, so swings and roundabouts I guess :)

If you wanted to be really clever, you could actually get a second pair which you can swap in and use while you put the other set on charge.  That way you don't have to wait for the whole device to recharge while you finish your session.  Just a suggestion because that's probably what I would do lol :P <3

Quote from: Lara the Lover and the Fighter on September 28, 2014, 08:42:08 AM
Its awesome watching you fix your Tria, Barbie!



I've been using this thing for a while and it seems to be working pretty good for me.  I would recommend seeing a professional even though I am too cheap to.  The professional thing didn't work for me after about 5 months of sessions but the I-Light did.  If you can get past the corny pictures on the box and the warning that specifically says "don't use this on your face!" then maybe it can work for you too. :)


Edit: Forgot to add the link. :)

http://www.remingtonproducts.com/womens/ipl/i-light-pro/i-light-pro-intense-pulsed-light-hair-removal-system.aspx

Ooh interesting.  I'll definitely check that out when I get a sec hun.  Thanks for that :D <3 *hugs* <3

Couldn't one just run the battery lines to a barrel connector, an d buy a wall AC-DC power adapter with the correct rating?

Have not quite gotten the brass up to activate my Tria and nuke the beard yet.

How much does it mess up your face one and two days out?


- Jaded (Crap!  The programmer has the soldering iron again!) Jade

I'm glad to see you're fixing your Tria, Barbie. From the label on the Tria's original battery pack, it looks to me like the two batteries combined must produce 3.2V. That means if it contains two batteries they should be 1.6V each. I would think that 3.2V battery you are ordering would work, but you would only use one of them and, thus, probably hold a charge for less time than two 1.6V ones in series as the machine apparently had originally.

Maybe there's something I missed, so straighten me out if I'm wrong here, but that looks like the situation to me.

BTW, Jade has a good idea. If I were tinkering with one of these (being the hardware geek I am) I would add a battery bypass connector so I could use an external power supply when I want.

Quote from: Jaded Jade on October 03, 2014, 02:49:01 AM
Couldn't one just run the battery lines to a barrel connector, an d buy a wall AC-DC power adapter with the correct rating?

Have not quite gotten the brass up to activate my Tria and nuke the beard yet.

How much does it mess up your face one and two days out?


- Jaded (Crap!  The programmer has the soldering iron again!) Jade

Putting this in as an addition would definitely be a great idea, but it depends how savvy Barbie is with a soldering iron lol :P  Don't forget also, there's nothing stopping her adding such a feature at a later date if she so wishes :)

Quote from: Lyric on October 03, 2014, 10:23:04 AM
I'm glad to see you're fixing your Tria, Barbie. From the label on the Tria's original battery pack, it looks to me like the two batteries combined must produce 3.2V. That means if it contains two batteries they should be 1.6V each. I would think that 3.2V battery you are ordering would work, but you would only use one of them and, thus, probably hold a charge for less time than two 1.6V ones in series as the machine apparently had originally.

Maybe there's something I missed, so straighten me out if I'm wrong here, but that looks like the situation to me.

BTW, Jade has a good idea. If I were tinkering with one of these (being the hardware geek I am) I would add a battery bypass connector so I could use an external power supply when I want.

I thought the same thing when I first saw the pics, but after I looked a little closer I noticed that the batteries seem to be hooked up in parallel (notice how the black wire connects the two outer ends, and the red wire connects to both of the middle parts?), which means the voltage coming out is the same as it is for each individual battery (i.e. it doesn't add like it does in a series setup).  What will add though is the capacity.  If it is a serial setup on the original, there's no reason Barbie couldn't make the new ones parallel and increase the mAh of the whole setup, assuming there's enough room to do it of course :)

<3 *hugs* <3

Quote from: KiraD on October 03, 2014, 11:04:45 AM
I thought the same thing when I first saw the pics, but after I looked a little closer I noticed that the batteries seem to be hooked up in parallel...

Thanks for jogging me back to electricity 101. I should have noticed that. You rarely see batteries connected parallel, but it's just a matter of wiring. Never mind, Barbie. I'm sure you've got what you need there. Let us know how it works out, though.

Quote from: Lyric on October 03, 2014, 11:52:21 AM
Thanks for jogging me back to electricity 101. I should have noticed that. You rarely see batteries connected parallel, but it's just a matter of wiring. Never mind, Barbie. I'm sure you've got what you need there. Let us know how it works out, though.

Yes. The pair are connected parallel. The capacity of the original batteries is 4.4 Ah (2.2 + 2.2). Now, the batteries delivered yesterday have 2.7 Ah each, meaning the paralleled pair will have 5.4 AH, which will not cause any problem (probably better than the original).

I also had an soldering iron ordered, and will try the job next week.

barbie~~

OK, Am I the only one that does the old fashioned way? Nice bubble bath, glass of wine and so on? Or quickly in the shower in the morning? Other than the face, I think I would rather do it the other way. Waxing screws my legs up. Permanent on the face would be nice but the legs and underarms, if you have a boyfriend, he can even help if you trust him enough. :-\

By "old fashioned way", do you mean shaving?  I tried shaving to start with but my body didn't react well to it.  Razor burn, stubble rash and ingrown hairs all over the place.  Granted though, that'll probably change once I start HRT, but until then shaving doesn't really work for me.  The only parts of me that are kinda ok with it are my face and under my arms.  Everything else I'm using hair removal cream at the moment.  It's not perfect and it does burn me a little in a few places (nothing a bit of Savlon can't fix though ;) ), but it's much better than using razors for me at least.  I plan to move up to waxing in the near future (only reason I don't do it now is due to discreteness - kinda hard to hide wax strips lol :P ), and at the same time start using the Tria to gain that permanency (obviously I'm not going to wax and Tria the same area at the same time lol).  That's my plan anyway :)

Besides, I'm a tech girl - lasers are cool! :D <3

Quote from: KiraD on October 05, 2014, 03:30:11 AM
By "old fashioned way", do you mean shaving?  I tried shaving to start with but my body didn't react well to it.  Razor burn, stubble rash and ingrown hairs all over the place.  Granted though, that'll probably change once I start HRT, but until then shaving doesn't really work for me.  The only parts of me that are kinda ok with it are my face and under my arms.  Everything else I'm using hair removal cream at the moment.  It's not perfect and it does burn me a little in a few places (nothing a bit of Savlon can't fix though ;) ), but it's much better than using razors for me at least.  I plan to move up to waxing in the near future (only reason I don't do it now is due to discreteness - kinda hard to hide wax strips lol :P ), and at the same time start using the Tria to gain that permanency (obviously I'm not going to wax and Tria the same area at the same time lol).  That's my plan anyway :)

Besides, I'm a tech girl - lasers are cool! :D <3

Yeah shaving. But really you have to get used to it. The skin whether waxing, shaving laser or electrolysis, in the beginning will be extremely sensitive. I cant wax. I hate having to let the freakin' hair get 1/4 inch. Unacceptable. Laser is expensive up front. Electrolysis I never checked into. I have light hair on my face so... But twice a day does me good. Most girls that I know shave. Some are even pretty hairy at that, some have more hair on their arms and darker than I do. I think if I went for laser it would be face and chest only but not too much there anyway. The face? yeah it would ben nice but it is awfully light. But b\givem a bubble bath, bottle of wine and a razor. Inexpensive and once your skin gets used to it ain't no big deal. Well inexpensive initially anyway. Besides your boyfriend may enjoy helping you make your legs smooth. It can be a sensual experience. :embarrassed:

Legs I use an epilator, and touch up with shaving.  Other places I shave.

Some places I get ingrowns, want to thin/clear with the Tria.

Shaving is a bit of a disphoria trigger for me, the beard must die.  Plus the shadow.  :P

If it only thins/lightens that's fine, I am more NB/MTF than anything, if I need more removal later, I can get at least a 70% start with the Tria.  :)


- JJ

I decided to use the VISS IPL Advanced System at home and I´m amazed!

http://vissbeauty.com/viss-advanced-ipl-hair-removal-system

Using the device since March this year and though I´m pre-HRT (granted, I never developed major amounts of corporal hair and even on my chin I always had bald spots) the achievements I made with this device were stunning. Hair on my legs disappeared almost completely since!  And I  got to use the device on my "beard" too. While at the under-chin and the upper-lip a slight beard-shadow is still visible, sideburns disappeared almost completely. What a progress in just a few months! Nevertheless, if my beard shadow at the upper-lip and under-chin won´t dissapear completely by use of VISS IPL, I´m considering getting removed it by epilation needle.

For me VISS IPL  was an investment all worth it.

Did anyone made similar experiences with VISS IPL?#

xoxo

Anna-Maria

Quote from: barbie on October 03, 2014, 01:02:26 PM
Yes. The pair are connected parallel. The capacity of the original batteries is 4.4 Ah (2.2 + 2.2). Now, the batteries delivered yesterday have 2.7 Ah each, meaning the paralleled pair will have 5.4 AH, which will not cause any problem (probably better than the original).

I also had an soldering iron ordered, and will try the job next week.

barbie~~

Soldering iron was the most difficult part. Anyway, my graduate student worked it for me.
The results?

I do not know. I am now trying to charge the battery, but the indicator lights are not normal. All of the three lights are flashing. The indicator lights should flash one after the other. I suspect the higher 5.4 Ah as the reason. Anyway I am trying to charge the battery.... I will post the final verdict.

(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3937/15480664486_dcc6db1eea_b.jpg)

barbie~~

Quote from: barbie on October 11, 2014, 07:01:35 AM
Soldering iron was the most difficult part. Anyway, my graduate student worked it for me.
The results?

I do not know. I am now trying to charge the battery, but the indicator lights are not normal. All of the three lights are flashing. The indicator lights should flash one after the other. I suspect the higher 5.4 Ah as the reason. Anyway I am trying to charge the battery.... I will post the final verdict.

It's usually best to eliminate the simplest solution first. The problem could just be a cold solder joint. Try clipping temporary jumper clips between the battery connections to double check. If it works OK that way, you just need to redo the soldering. Soldering is a bit tricky if you don' do it often. You have to heat the larger piece of metal until solder will melt on it, then hold the heat to it until it forms a solid (shiny) joint. If you don't do it right it makes a flat colored "cold" joint that may not connect properly.

Quote from: Lyric on October 11, 2014, 09:59:29 AM
It's usually best to eliminate the simplest solution first. The problem could just be a cold solder joint. Try clipping temporary jumper clips between the battery connections to double check. If it works OK that way, you just need to redo the soldering. Soldering is a bit tricky if you don' do it often. You have to heat the larger piece of metal until solder will melt on it, then hold the heat to it until it forms a solid (shiny) joint. If you don't do it right it makes a flat colored "cold" joint that may not connect properly.

Lyric,

Thanks! I will try it again after testing it by temporary jumper clips.

barbie~~

Sorry. I gave up. I am a novice in iron soldering. Still I do not know whether it is a connection or Ampere problem.
Certainly, the connection is not complete.....

barbie~~

Well, you might find a 3.2V wall wart power supply and try bypassing the battery to see if it works that way. At the worst you might even install a connector for the supply on the case so you can operate it with wired power. Of course, that takes some soldering, too. I'm still thinking your problem may be a solder contact, but after these fixes don't do it, you can try replacing the batteries as you said.

Quote from: Lyric on October 15, 2014, 09:30:35 AM
Well, you might find a 3.2V wall wart power supply and try bypassing the battery to see if it works that way. At the worst you might even install a connector for the supply on the case so you can operate it with wired power. Of course, that takes some soldering, too. I'm still thinking your problem may be a solder contact, but after these fixes don't do it, you can try replacing the batteries as you said.

Lyric, thanks. Yes. I may be able to figure out, but I have already invested too much time. Sometimes I earn US$500 within a few hours. Usually I seldom give up, but time goes. If necessary, I will purchase another one. Sorry for no inspiration on replacing the batteries of Tria.

barbie~~

When testing it, the 3 indicator lights flash one after the other exactly two times, and then all of the light blink. I repeat this, but the results are the same. This means that there is no problem in the connections. The 3 lights flash even after unplugging the power outlet, meaning that the battery works, but the ampere or something else is not normal to the circuit.

barbie~~

Yes, it sounds like the electronics are telling you something there. Sometimes the circuits on these laser-related gadgets can be finicky, all right. And, hey, even if you end up buying another one it's still way cheaper than having hair removal done for you.

Hi,

thanks for the useful Haynes manual for Tria 4x (one for the UK members  :D), but I'd like to ask Emily about permanence as I guess it's been a year since she started using it.

Soph x

Quote from: sophiesogood on October 29, 2014, 01:30:48 PM
Hi,

thanks for the useful Haynes manual for Tria 4x (one for the UK members  :D), but I'd like to ask Emily about permanence as I guess it's been a year since she started using it.

Soph x

In my case, I still see a few long hairs in my legs and pluck them by my fingers or tweezers, although they are not so much noticeable. That same is true for my beard area. I guess I removed 95-99% of hairs in my legs and face by Tria.

barbie~~

Quote from: ♡ Emily ♡ on December 19, 2013, 02:59:25 PM
I have been lasering my face for about 4 months IIRC... My cheeks cleared up pretty fast, my neck is clearing now as well

Hi Emily, are you able to report any effect of using the tria on your skin, in the sense of it either improving skin quality, or not-improving skin quality - in terms of subcutaneous fat layer and/or collagen.

I'm also curious about how well this battery replacement worked out. It sounds scary to me with something that zaps my skin to do that, like I might end up burning myself. I'm much more willing to do it with things that are less personal.

Quote from: sweetkellie on March 13, 2015, 08:29:53 PM
Hi Emily, are you able to report any effect of using the tria on your skin, in the sense of it either improving skin quality, or not-improving skin quality - in terms of subcutaneous fat layer and/or collagen.

Umm, I am not sure Tria does anything to that effect except zapping Your facial hair. The rest is pretty much taken care of HRT and how You respond to it.

Quote from: ♡ Emily ♡ on March 14, 2015, 01:37:05 AM
Umm, I am not sure Tria does anything to that effect except zapping Your facial hair. The rest is pretty much taken care of HRT and how You respond to it.

Thanks Emily - putting my question more clearly, I'm interested to know a bit more about the process you experienced. For instance, with clinic based lasers, I've read accounts where men describe their facial hair becoming very patchy, and thus their face, even when remainder shaved, looking very patchy as well (especially because of skin being different texture in the various areas). Also, some report pigmentation issues.
And what about grey hairs on the face (if by chance you had any of these!), I heard that the tria can sometimes deal with some of these, though the manufacturer doesn't state this as a claim.

So in summary, it's more about the whole process you experienced (in terms of above type factors) that I'd be grateful to hear about.

Ok, I think I am getting it now. Well, in comparison to clinic lasers, Tria is very very weak laser (someone posted the same recently in another thread dedicated to Tria and I would subscribe to 98% of things that were said there). My facial hair never got "patchy" - I cannot even imagine how such condition would feel or look like :). Tria worked on cheeks very well - and one day I noticed that hair was pretty much gone there with no shadow left. Since starting HRT and getting my hands on Tria pretty much overlapped timeline-wise, then I also cannot say which effects resulted from using Tria and which ones should be attributed to HRT.
No pigmentation issues but I was careful to apply sunscreen lotions during summer-time.
And grey hair has to my knowledge stayed where it was - I can feel those grey hairs as stubble along my jawline and some are on my chin - I can burn the entire area over and over but they are still there - I examine them clearly when I pluck them out and by no margin have they become thinner or softer. Also, Tria is quite painful to use, especially on upper lip area - I do have some stubborn hairs there as well and I am looking into the option of getting a coiuple of hours of electrolysis to get rid of these as well as the grey ones.

For anyone who lives in the US at least, I'd recommend purchasing your Tria from Sephora, which has a completely open ended return policy. When your battery dies in three years your can simply return it with the original receipt and get cash back.  I don't know how much of an international presence Sephora has or if their policies in other countries might be different.

Quote from: ♡ Emily ♡ on March 14, 2015, 09:38:14 AM
Ok, I think I am getting it now...

Thanks Emily, that's exactly what I was seeking to understand.

Have to say, from reading quite a few personal reports and experiences, I wonder if the clinic type lasers are often too strong (and/or operated at too high a level), and that maybe the tria, given it's lower output, offers an advantage in many ways.

Ok I am confused.... People are saying they have used the Tria 4x for facial hair?  I have one of these and they say it isn't designed to do this? Is it scatter shoot all over the place so you don't burn.... Or? Are they just saying it for legal issues?

Quote from: Autumn Faith on March 14, 2015, 03:53:15 PM
Ok I am confused.... People are saying they have used the Tria 4x for facial hair?  I have one of these and they say it isn't designed to do this? Is it scatter shoot all over the place so you don't burn.... Or? Are they just saying it for legal issues?

I don't have, and haven't used one, but I'm sure I read on this site or another, that in Japan, the tria is advertised for use on the face as well as the body.

I have personal experience with the Tria 4X.  I have used it for 5 months and I will share my results and thoughts on this product:

Everybody wants their hair removed yesterday.  My advice is to take whatever time frame you have in your head of how long it's going to take and multiply that times 4.  It's a long and slow process no matter how you do it.

I bought the Tria laser 4X in November 2014.  First of all Tria is NOT a laser.  It's an IPL Intense Pulsed light.  It shares the same frequency in the near infrared range of 910nm as 910nm lasers, but the distinction between IPL and laser is important.  NOT because it's not effective.  IPL is every bit as effective as Laser.  How could it not be?  Same wavelength, same power: produces same results.  It's a safety issue.  Physics speak:  Laser is in phase, IPL is not.   Layman speak:  You know when you point a laser pointer in the sky and you see a beam?  That's because the light beam is in sync with each other.  It's in phase or concentrated in one direction.  It allows energy packets in lasers to be delivered over long distances without losing power.  IPL scatters very quickly when leaving the optical end of the instrument.  So, IPL is safer in some respects.  A direct shot to the eye from 12 inches will not deliver the same power as a laser.  OK, physics lesson is over.  Now to the practical results. 

Does the Tria 4X remove hair?  Absolutely it does.  pressing the Tria directly to your skin delivers a good amount of energy on setting 5.  You will feel it like a snap of a rubber band.  If you don't feel it, you are probably not doing anything to remove hair in that area.  You either have the setting too low or have blonde or light hair.  I noticed about a 25% reduction of arm hair after the first treatment.  This was encouraging, but don't get too excited.  3 weeks later it hardly seemed like any impact at all!  Why?  because hair grows in cycles.  3 to 6 week cycles.  So that first treatment removed 25% of 1 of 3 to 6 cycles of hairs.  reducing the real percentage to somewhere between 25% of 16% to 33% of my hairs.  Does that make sense?  Each time you do it, you are killing cells that produce hairs, but since only 1/6 to 1/3 of your hairs are actually in a growth cycle, the others will come back.  25% of those actually in the growth cycle never come back.  It does work, but it can be frustrating and you may think you are getting no where.  But you are.  I do once a week for the last 5 months and I have about a 60% total real reduction in my arm hair.  I plan on continuing to blast it.

For the face:  Tria says you are not to use it on your face, but everyone knows that it is OK in Japan, Europe and Canada.  My opinion?  It's a legal thing that they don't allow it in the US.   And there is considerable more risk putting this instrument on your face which is close to your eyes.  You may think it's just a home product, but it carries a punch.  BE CAREFUL if you do use it on your face.  Never around your eyes.  Personally, I use it mainly just below my chin and all my neck.  I have been doing electrolysis to augment this for my face in other areas.  My opinion of why they don't recommend it:  IT HURTS LIKE HELL!  hairs are very concentrated on the beard.  I noticed an extreme difference between beard areas and areas of the body.  I have hit my upper lip with about 4 treatments and it helps to weaken the hairs for electrolysis.  That said, I have never been burned by the laser using it on my face even on the highest setting, but I can tell you even with a close shave it WILL HURT.  I just can't duplicate the regimen of weekly blasts that I do on the rest of my body.

I saw a review of home laser treatment once. They said that in their experience they found it to only be half as effective as professional treatments. With that said it could reduce the cost of professional treatments if you still need them. I have no idea if it was IPL or not though. Thanks to marketing I could see them getting screwed up by that.

I have one as well since Nov of 2014.... Yes hurts like hell at times but seems to be working.  Batteries can be replaced or powered direct. If you don't want to mess with it buy another one at 500. Still guarantee that it will be wayyyyy cheaper than the trip to the clinic to get zapped. It DOES work if you are in the right hair color blend.

BTW Awesome  response KelliL!!!!

Ok so fun story. I've been getting laser hair removal at a salon for chest legs and arms. I needed to do my face but it was going to cost about $3000 USD for 8 treatments. So I ended up buying a tria 4x for just under $500. Much easier on the credit cards.

This is where it gets fun. I tried to do half of my face with the tria. YOLO. Why not right? Part of me wanted to know how well it was working the other part was like if the shadow gets too wierd I can alway stop that side and do the other. It did thin it out but it was slow going.

The tria manual suggests using it every two weeks. I also had issues with my shadow being too dark to where a buzzer went off. There's no trigger, it just zaps you when you put it next to your skin. The other thing I noticed was it is a pain to zap yourself quickly when you have a dark shadow - that's more a comment on doing it yourself rather than how well it performs. It might have been easier if I had a second person zap my face for me. I'd zap myself 3 time, put it down for a minute to pout about the stinging pain, pick it back up and go again.

I tried the Tria for three sessions on half my face and then got frustrated with it. I still use it for my areas on my chest and legs that the laser technician missed, but I decided to go to the professionals for my face.

The laser salon I'm going to is local, it's called Columbus Laser Spa (I live in a town named Columbus.) I don't know the type of laser the salon has (I can ask and take pictures if anyone is interested) but it was as big as a good sized copy machine. The actual laser light was fed into a black cable with a wand at the end. When you get zapped, a burst of "cooling spray" blasts out of the laser wand and hits the target area. It really helps with the pain. They started with my upper lip and the spray blasted up my nose. The first one scared the heck out of me, I was expecting the sting just not the blast of cooling spray up my nose.

It was so quick though, it took 15 minutes to do my entire face. I could immediately smell burnt hair even though I was closly shaved, actually dry shaved in the car right before I went in (I'm weird I carry shaving razors with me because I hate facial hair.) The hair shedding happened for me pretty quickly, much quicker than the tria. In one session my left side basically caught up with my right side. Another thing to note is that while the Tria treatment is every two weeks, the professional treatment is every 4 to 6 weeks.

What I learned: professional laser is very effective and much faster but expensive. Tria takes longer but seemed to be effective. I only used Tria for about half the recommended minimum of 3 months. Because I didn't wait for the full set of treatments, I can't be more definitive on the details.

Lastly, everyone has different skin and hair. Your experiences will vary. In my humble opinion, I think the salon is worth it for the face. Tria is good for body hair.

Thanks for the report, Kova. It should be very useful to anyone consider one of the methods.

Why is it so much? I went with a groupon and 6 treatments cost me about $300.

I'm also glad I chose professional over in home. When I epilated my arms and legs the first time, there were times I couldn't both deal with the pain AND use the machine. When I got my face lasered, I can tell you right now there is no way in hell I could have dealt with the pain AND used the machine at the same time. I know the in home stuff is weaker and therefore less painful, but from what I've heard it sounds like the session takes longer and the pain bursts last longer.

My sister tells me its not as bad as an epilator, but she's never had it on the face before. So I don't know maybe I'll consider it for use on the rest of my body, but for face? No I'm super glad I'm having a pro do it.

Quote from: Kova V on April 01, 2015, 06:50:06 PM
Ok so fun story. I've been getting laser hair removal at a salon for chest legs and arms. I needed to do my face but it was going to cost about $3000 USD for 8 treatments. So I ended up buying a tria 4x for just under $500. Much easier on the credit cards.

This is where it gets fun. I tried to do half of my face with the tria. YOLO. Why not right? Part of me wanted to know how well it was working the other part was like if the shadow gets too wierd I can alway stop that side and do the other. It did thin it out but it was slow going.

The tria manual suggests using it every two weeks. I also had issues with my shadow being too dark to where a buzzer went off. There's no trigger, it just zaps you when you put it next to your skin. The other thing I noticed was it is a pain to zap yourself quickly when you have a dark shadow - that's more a comment on doing it yourself rather than how well it performs. It might have been easier if I had a second person zap my face for me. I'd zap myself 3 time, put it down for a minute to pout about the stinging pain, pick it back up and go again.

I tried the Tria for three sessions on half my face and then got frustrated with it. I still use it for my areas on my chest and legs that the laser technician missed, but I decided to go to the professionals for my face.

The laser salon I'm going to is local, it's called Columbus Laser Spa (I live in a town named Columbus.) I don't know the type of laser the salon has (I can ask and take pictures if anyone is interested) but it was as big as a good sized copy machine. The actual laser light was fed into a black cable with a wand at the end. When you get zapped, a burst of "cooling spray" blasts out of the laser wand and hits the target area. It really helps with the pain. They started with my upper lip and the spray blasted up my nose. The first one scared the heck out of me, I was expecting the sting just not the blast of cooling spray up my nose.

It was so quick though, it took 15 minutes to do my entire face. I could immediately smell burnt hair even though I was closly shaved, actually dry shaved in the car right before I went in (I'm weird I carry shaving razors with me because I hate facial hair.) The hair shedding happened for me pretty quickly, much quicker than the tria. In one session my left side basically caught up with my right side. Another thing to note is that while the Tria treatment is every two weeks, the professional treatment is every 4 to 6 weeks.

What I learned: professional laser is very effective and much faster but expensive. Tria takes longer but seemed to be effective. I only used Tria for about half the recommended minimum of 3 months. Because I didn't wait for the full set of treatments, I can't be more definitive on the details.

Lastly, everyone has different skin and hair. Your experiences will vary. In my humble opinion, I think the salon is worth it for the face. Tria is good for body hair.

Quote from: awilliams1701 on April 30, 2015, 04:11:34 PM
Why is it so much? I went with a groupon and 6 treatments cost me about $300.

$300??? OMG. Where is THAT? I'm doing laser right now and it's costing me $2000 USD for 6 sessions. Just the facial hair.

It was a deal on groupon. From what my sister tells me, it was an OK deal, but not a great deal. She's in California. I'm in Alabama. I got to believe if you check you might find something.

Quote from: Emileeeee on April 30, 2015, 04:30:18 PM
$300??? OMG. Where is THAT? I'm doing laser right now and it's costing me $2000 USD for 6 sessions. Just the facial hair.

*edit*
Oh yeah, this is the laser at the place that zaps me

That looks a lot newer than the one they used on me. The display was made of large blue dots. I suspect it doesn't really matter if it works.

Just going to say, I appreciate this thread and I read the whole thing.

I manage engineers, and I know a bit about electronics.  I think a couple of things need to be said about those cells in the laser hair removal device.

Those are Li-Ion cells, and pretty big ones at that.  To the woman who replaced the cells and it didn't work, I honestly don't know what the issue is.  It's microcontroller-based, so maybe it needs a reset after the batteries have been changed or any number of things.  But the cells themselves should be able to be replaced with 26650s or even 18650s.  Good new panasonic 18650s still don't have as much capacity as the 26650s, but might be easier to find.  All those cells are 3.3v.  The difference is how many milliamp hours of charge they hold in them, which should not affect the circuit other than how long it stays charged.  If they're in parallel, as everyone else pointed out, the Volts are the same, the amps are added.

Also, though, the voltage is going to differ when the cells are fully charged.  This is just a byproduct of how these things work, the voltage isn't perfect, but decreases on a curve as you drain the battery.  Now, that system has a method of overvoltage protection inside of it, because otherwise those cells can actually blow up (you cannot put cells like that in the checked baggage on an airplane, and you cannot ship them via airmail).  It's the same kind of battery that's inside your computer, also with loads of protections on it.  So, the system inside is looking for a max and min voltage to operate in.

She said that the voltage read higher on her replacement cells (sorry, I forgot and it's a few pages back on the thread) and the unit did not work properly.  So, one possibility is that the overvoltage protection on the system is getting tripped somehow.

Anyways, if I were going to replace those cells, I would probably use protected cells, and try to put them in pre-drained if possible and let the machine charge them up all the way.  Of course, you could run it direct off a DC source, maybe at 3v, since that would surely fall into the range that the machine wants to "see."

I hope that helps anybody else out there who is trying to save 500 bucks on a new machine.  You can PM me if you wish, though I very seldom log on here and it could be a year before I respond.

--L

Quote from: phdinfunk on March 11, 2016, 04:29:29 PM

Just going to say, I appreciate this thread and I read the whole thing.

I manage engineers, and I know a bit about electronics.  I think a couple of things need to be said about those cells in the laser hair removal device.

Those are Li-Ion cells, and pretty big ones at that.  To the woman who replaced the cells and it didn't work, I honestly don't know what the issue is.  It's microcontroller-based, so maybe it needs a reset after the batteries have been changed or any number of things.  But the cells themselves should be able to be replaced with 26650s or even 18650s.  Good new panasonic 18650s still don't have as much capacity as the 26650s, but might be easier to find.  All those cells are 3.3v.  The difference is how many milliamp hours of charge they hold in them, which should not affect the circuit other than how long it stays charged.  If they're in parallel, as everyone else pointed out, the Volts are the same, the amps are added.

Also, though, the voltage is going to differ when the cells are fully charged.  This is just a byproduct of how these things work, the voltage isn't perfect, but decreases on a curve as you drain the battery.  Now, that system has a method of overvoltage protection inside of it, because otherwise those cells can actually blow up (you cannot put cells like that in the checked baggage on an airplane, and you cannot ship them via airmail).  It's the same kind of battery that's inside your computer, also with loads of protections on it.  So, the system inside is looking for a max and min voltage to operate in.

She said that the voltage read higher on her replacement cells (sorry, I forgot and it's a few pages back on the thread) and the unit did not work properly.  So, one possibility is that the overvoltage protection on the system is getting tripped somehow.

Anyways, if I were going to replace those cells, I would probably use protected cells, and try to put them in pre-drained if possible and let the machine charge them up all the way.  Of course, you could run it direct off a DC source, maybe at 3v, since that would surely fall into the range that the machine wants to "see."

I hope that helps anybody else out there who is trying to save 500 bucks on a new machine.  You can PM me if you wish, though I very seldom log on here and it could be a year before I respond.

--L

I definitely think you may be on to something, phdinfunk. I'm a hobbyist/geek with lots of experience soldering, repairing, modifying, and troubleshooting basic digital electronics, so maybe I can be of help as well...

As phdinfunk said, it's likely the TRIA's circuitry will have an over-voltage protection system. It may even be set purposefully conservative at ~3.7-4.0V. Li-Ion have the potential for danger, but just as often manufacturers put voltage limits to keep the sensitive li-ion cells from being "stressed" too hard in either direction. Stress can shorten the usable life of the battery/it's storage capacity. Overcharging or deep-discharging a li-ion is very very bad for it's performance! They are extremely sensitive as far as battery tech goes, so manufacturers of end products (e.g. Apple, Samsung) keep a tight grip on their battery charge tolerances lest they come to be known as wildly unreliable. :)

The batteries might have been "topped up" right before shipping and are now at something just slightly out of normal spec like 4.35V. Sellers online do a lot of strange things. I hear that a lot of the 18650s and similar batteries out there are fakes, with unrealistic capacity ratings.

Bottom line - Voltage of the new battery "pack" needs to be measured. I would also carefully inspect the wiring of the other pack. Perhaps there's a resistor or something that we're missing...

I believe nominal is ~ 3.7 volts. Range of 3.3 to 4.2 and typically 4.2 is fully charged.

Perhaps a call should be made to TRIA support to ask what the lights mean. Maybe ask before mentioning the battery modification...  :angel:

Also - What happens with the old battery installed?

As far as connecting the device to the wall - I suspect the amperage draw of the TRIA during the light pulse may be too high to reliably power it with any common 3.6V ~1000ma DC power adapter. Those li-ion cells can supply a much higher current for a split-second than any small DC adapter. I mean, look at the size of those wires attached to the batteries. I'm not sure what other circuitry the TRIA uses but I see there is a heat sink AND a fan inside the machine which takes up quite a bit of room. That implies a lot of energy dissipation which means power  >:-).

If the batteries are 4400 mah and it can discharge a lot of that into heat and IPL very quickly, I suspect the amperage draw during those short bursts will be pretty high. Perhaps somebody with more information on how quickly you can "use up" the TRIA's battery during a session can do the math to find the average current draw. However, it still tells us very little about the sharp increases in load that the power source may see over a brief interval.

I'd stick to the battery replacement, it seems pretty straightforward once the details get ironed out. We'll reverse engineer this thing yet :)

For those who are looking into less reverse engineering, there are basically at least two systems which are said to have permanent results.

One is the tria and the other is the silk flash n go. (from silk only this one according to descriptions)

The silk flash n go are mains powered and have changeable cartridges, some with a high number of flashes.
If its only for a small area fewer flashes should do.
They are available used. All at your own risk ... look at what you buy and from whom.
There are people who aquired nice devices for less than 100 usd.


*hugs*

Quote from: LadyDrifterLana on April 08, 2016, 11:16:09 AM


I definitely think you may be on to something, phdinfunk. I'm a hobbyist/geek with lots of experience soldering, repairing, modifying, and troubleshooting basic digital electronics, so maybe I can be of help as well...

As phdinfunk said, it's likely the TRIA's circuitry will have an over-voltage protection system. It may even be set purposefully conservative at ~3.7-4.0V. Li-Ion have the potential for danger, but just as often manufacturers put voltage limits to keep the sensitive li-ion cells from being "stressed" too hard in either direction. Stress can shorten the usable life of the battery/it's storage capacity. Overcharging or deep-discharging a li-ion is very very bad for it's performance! They are extremely sensitive as far as battery tech goes, so manufacturers of end products (e.g. Apple, Samsung) keep a tight grip on their battery charge tolerances lest they come to be known as wildly unreliable. :)

The batteries might have been "topped up" right before shipping and are now at something just slightly out of normal spec like 4.35V. Sellers online do a lot of strange things. I hear that a lot of the 18650s and similar batteries out there are fakes, with unrealistic capacity ratings.

Bottom line - Voltage of the new battery "pack" needs to be measured. I would also carefully inspect the wiring of the other pack. Perhaps there's a resistor or something that we're missing...

I believe nominal is ~ 3.7 volts. Range of 3.3 to 4.2 and typically 4.2 is fully charged.

Perhaps a call should be made to TRIA support to ask what the lights mean. Maybe ask before mentioning the battery modification...  :angel:

Also - What happens with the old battery installed?

As far as connecting the device to the wall - I suspect the amperage draw of the TRIA during the light pulse may be too high to reliably power it with any common 3.6V ~1000ma DC power adapter. Those li-ion cells can supply a much higher current for a split-second than any small DC adapter. I mean, look at the size of those wires attached to the batteries. I'm not sure what other circuitry the TRIA uses but I see there is a heat sink AND a fan inside the machine which takes up quite a bit of room. That implies a lot of energy dissipation which means power  >:-).

If the batteries are 4400 mah and it can discharge a lot of that into heat and IPL very quickly, I suspect the amperage draw during those short bursts will be pretty high. Perhaps somebody with more information on how quickly you can "use up" the TRIA's battery during a session can do the math to find the average current draw. However, it still tells us very little about the sharp increases in load that the power source may see over a brief interval.

I'd stick to the battery replacement, it seems pretty straightforward once the details get ironed out. We'll reverse engineer this thing yet :)

Hi LadyDrifterLana, I've owned about four tria device of different sorts, two of them 4Xs. One of the 4Xs went unserviceable (all the more so after I'd taken it apart and accidentally damaged the very flimsy/fragile ribbon cables!). However, from this experience and gaining some familiarity with the 4X's innards, I reckon most trias blow, for the same reason I speculate mine did - and that is using them on setting 4 or 5 straight after turning them on - because of this placing far too great a load on a 'cold' battery.

As was noted above, the wires from the battery are huge, and this struck me as soon as I saw inside the unit. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a capacity of 30, 40 or 50 amps. This made me suspect that what had happened to the unit which blew (especially given it was in perfect condition with only a few hours use on it) was that using it straight off on 4 and 5 had just pulled too much out of the battery (when it was cold) and had thus caused it to malfunction inside.

This also ties in with how the unit would seem like it was charging fine, but then seemingly have no power in it.

So the 'moral' of this experience, I believe, is to let a tria warm up for a few minutes, by starting it out on 2, then move to 3 for a while and then when fully warmed up, only then move to 4 or 5. I think it's no so much the warming up of the electronics and the laser unit which is important, but rather the warming up of the battery - so that it is better placed to have a very large current draw placed on it.