New Atomizer Prototype

[jacko]

Here's some information that I found on Nichrome concerning resistance, heat, current...etc. I looks like at 1 A or so, this thing gets really hot!
I believe that the recommendation for connection is braze, or using silver solder to hold up better to the heat. There was also mention (don't know which place I read it) of using crimp joints. If anyone has ever taken a coffee maker apart to replace the thermal switch, you may have noticed that the switch is crimped to the wiring.

[Bubo]

I guess I read too much... This sounds easier and more permanent than anything else...

For those concerned with soldering the nichrome read this by Vaporer post 128 and 132.

[Bubo]

RoadKill - nice pictures - it's great to see someone knows how to focus! :-)
Scottbee - what are we trying to accomplish? Burned fingers of course!

Aspiring Glass Workers - Small pieces of normal glass, like the ones that we are talking about here, can be 'worked' with stuff that you already have. It's not really that complicated.

As RoadKill's pictures show - you can soften thin glass with a normal lighter (Assuming that you still have some lying around somewhere!) or a candle - you don't need torches unless you are working with bigger pieces.

Cutting glass can be done by scoring (okay - so you might need a $1.50 glass cutter) with a glass cuter or file, then snapping the sheet, or rapping the tube.... Heating and cooling can be used too.

Remember Google and YouTube are your friends! And yes, take all the safety precautions and have a couple of band aids lying around.... :-)

[roadkilldeluxe]

Go to the store and grab a fiberglass wick for a oil lamp. Separate out one of the bundles from the wick. Wrap the nichrome wire around it in a vertical position just as you have done here with the bulb. The fiberglass wick should hold up to the heat and work nicely to pull the fluid to the coil. Cartomizers are constructed this way and is about the simplest design I have seen so far to reproduce.

True, but I was hoping to improve on the juice-on-coil design.

Here's some information that I found on Nichrome concerning resistance, heat, current...etc. I looks like at 1 A or so, this thing gets really hot!
I believe that the recommendation for connection is braze, or using silver solder to hold up better to the heat. There was also mention (don't know which place I read it) of using crimp joints. If anyone has ever taken a coffee maker apart to replace the thermal switch, you may have noticed that the switch is crimped to the wiring.

I think we only need 200 degrees Celcius, which apparently only requires 0.38/2=0.19A for a 36ga wire? Seems a bit low, don't most attys do around 1A? It would be nice to keep the temperature somewhat limited, as according to StratOvation VG will decompose at around 280C, possibly releasing some bad chemicals.

Crimp joints will have to do, I guess, for now. I'm worried about my solder melting within the bulb. I might be able to get access to a welder later though...

[Bubo]

We really have to quit posting at the same time Roadkill!

[roadkilldeluxe]

We really do, I have to keep checking before I submit my reply if any new posts have been added

I've been cutting the bulbs by making a small scratch or score, then putting it inside a loop of super hot nichrome, which propagates the crack and (hopefully) results in a really nice break. I bought a triangular file but I think the edges are too dull But I'm glad to hear we can use cheap stuff to work with our tiny glass pieces!

[roadkilldeluxe]

Bought a 50 mini lights set for $2... back to experimenting!

I wonder if we might be able to implement a really crude temperature control by using the same method that flasher bulbs work--once the temperature reaches a certain point, power is cut off, until it cools down again. They use a bimetallic strip, more details here. It would be hard to calibrate but it would be like an extremely cheap PWM system.

[jacko]

I wonder if we might be able to implement a really crude temperature control by using the same method that flasher bulbs work--once the temperature reaches a certain point, power is cut off, until it cools down again. They use a bimetallic strip, more details here. It would be hard to calibrate but it would be like an extremely cheap PWM system.

I'm not sure that a temp control is needed, since these heating periods should only be for 3 or 4 seconds. Do you think it would get too hot in that time frame?

EDIT- just thinking... that may be why the batteries have a shut-off.

[Bubo]

I'd save that for v2!
Once this beast gets operational, then we gotta figure out how to mount it...

And RoadKilll - you BOUGHT lights? Don't you have 20,000 dead ones lying around? I know I will come December.... (And they where all new last year!)

[jacko]

I have dead ones too. Hell, I gotta get some Nichrome to get busy..... I also have some ceramic tubes that came out of mercury vapor lamps I want to cut up to experiment with.
This may take a while, but think about what Edison went through to get a working filament.