Discussing the NicoStick

[Mary Kay]

Am I right in assuming that a cartomizer will fit the fitting for a nicostick..in place of a 901 atomizer? I know the 901 adapter allows a cartomizer to be used on the Nico..but I want to know if you fit it directly (a wider hole being drilled) do you still need an air hole?

[Brazilleon]

Has anyone added an LED to their Nicostick? If so, could you post a pic of how you did it?

Thanks!

I just tried and couldn't work out how to do it.
I bought a bunch of LEDs from dealExtreme i also have the 100ohm resistors from RS.The LEDs don't work with the resistor. But work great direct to the battery.

I have it in serial positive running through it from the switch. When I presss the switch the lights comes on nicely. But it doesn't power the atty?, when the LED is not in the circuit the atty works fine? Is the LED taking too much of the power? Maybe I have the wrong ohms resistor? Not an electrician so i am just experiementing. So words of wisdom would be appreciated.

[Bubo]

Brazilleon - I downloaded a schematic from some thread which shows a 100 Ohm 1/4 Watt resistor on the positive side of the LED.....

Might help - might not!

[Brazilleon]

I just tried and couldn't work out how to do it.
I bought a bunch of LEDs from dealExtreme i also have the 100ohm resistors from RS.The LEDs don't work with the resistor. But work great direct to the battery.

I have it in serial positive running through it from the switch. When I presss the switch the lights comes on nicely. But it doesn't power the atty?, when the LED is not in the circuit the atty works fine? Is the LED taking too much of the power? Maybe I have the wrong ohms resistor? Not an electrician so i am just experiementing. So words of wisdom would be appreciated.

Ok so I managed to get my LED working. I soldiered a little neg wire to the (-) of the LED and the (-) of the battery connection. Then soldered the (+) of the LED to the Out of the momentary switch.
Both the LED and Atty now work. But is there something I should be worried about? Seems to be good, but electrics can be tricky in the way they prefer to be setup.

[Brazilleon]

Brazilleon - I downloaded a schematic from some thread which shows a 100 Ohm 1/4 Watt resistor on the positive side of the LED.....

Might help - might not!

Thanks, that's exactly the resistor i bought based on your post. Maybe these LEDs don't need it because when i add it in the circuit the LED doesn't shine?? Bit weird. Its pretty damn bright and weird to have LED back after using my Nico stick without for a couple of weeks now. I may just not bother, I found the batteries last forever (Well ok about 7 hours) and as soon as the vape reduces I just switch the battery. So there is no real need for the LED IMO. But it does create a cool blue smoke when puffing in the dark. 8)

[opuscroakus]

Maybe these LEDs don't need it because when i add it in the circuit the LED doesn't shine??

The LED doesn't need it but will burn out faster without it.

[Brazilleon]

The LED doesn't need it but will burn out faster without it.

Ah, good to know.
Ok so I managed to get the resistor setup working but it must be too strong as the light is very low. You have to look straight at it to see it's illuminated. But without it is almost too bright. Making all the vapor glow blue, but not very discreet.
I am only using a single 3.7 volt battery. Would the resistor be only needed in a 5+v setup?
Cheers
***edit***
or maybe it does work and it was actually informing me my battery is down. Switched the battery and now it is a more acceptable discreet glow. 8)

[Guitarslinger]

I use a 100 ohm resistor with my 5 v passthru Nicostick mod and it works good-not overly bright but adequate. I also made one with a dual colored LED-the red one stays lit to indicate power on, and then it turns green when you push the button to activate the atty/vape. (Kind of unnecessary, but I think its cool, lol.) However, it's a different wiring setup, and I found for that application the 3 wire LED works best (long wire goes to the negative lead on the atty connector). I'm not sure what LED you're using, the ones I used ran at around 1.7 v optimum. The 100 will just make your LED a bit dimmer and possibly last longer.

[lunaras]

Hi all, I just built my version of a nicostick after not being satisfied with the battery life on my Blu and ran into some problems:

1. My atty is functional, but won't heat, even when connected directly to the battery.
2. The LEDs I built into the circuit shut off when activating the atty, and light back up when the button is released.

Here's some details behind the problems. For some reason, it worked fine for about 5 minutes after I first built it, but now I can't get either of my attys to fire when using it. I've double checked all connections, and none are bad and there are no short circuits. They don't even heat up at all if I connect wires directly from the battery to the atty, but both still work fine when attached to the normal Blu battery. I'm using a non-rechargeable 14500 3.6v li-ion battery if that makes adifference.

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the battery has short circuit detection built into its protection circuit and cuts out to prevent venting with flame, but I'm not even sure if non-rechargeables have protection circuits built in to them. In addition, since the atty has at least a few ohms of resistance, I would think that wouldn't be an issue. Hooking up an LED directly to the battery lights it and I would think has about the same resistance, if not almost 0, so I'm rather confused.

Here is the circuit diagram I used was using if it helps. I built in two UV LEDs into it; one so I can tell when the safety switch is on at a glance, and the other to light when the momentary switch that activates the atty is on. Here is the circuit I am using (hopefully the ascii art is still readable after posting):

┌────────────────/\/────┤►├───┐
│ּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּ10ΩּּּּLEDּּּ│
│ּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּ│
│ּּּּּּּ─┴─ּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּ│
├───────OּO──┬───/\/────┤►├───┤
│ּMomentaryּּ│ּּּ10ΩּּּּLEDּּּ│
│ּּּּSwitchּּ│ּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּ│
│ּּּּּּּּּּּּ└──────&&&&──────┤
│ּּּ3.6vּּּּּּּּּּּּAttyּּּּּּ│
│ּּּBattּּּּּּּ/ּּּּּּּּּּּּּּ│
│ּ+ּ│ּ│ּּ-ּּּּ/ּּּּּּּּּּּּּּּ│
└───┤││├─────OּּO─────────────┘
ּּּּ│ּ│ּּּSafety Switchּּּּּּּּ

Any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.

[Ez Duzit]

BIG THANK YOU to Nico. Finished my first nicostick a few hours ago. Nothing fancy, no led, just a basic stick. Used a 401 atty, but drilled out the center of the positive battery connector, just a hair, for better air flow. The difference in the draw is amazing, and the extra oomph from the battery helps make a big difference.

I have some more battery boxes on the way, and some voltage regulators from TI, so we'll see how that goes, But right now I'm loving the basic box.