Open Source E-cig project

[BarryK]

I raised this subject in another message but, being buried deep in another discussion, it seems to have not raised much interest, though I'd re-post to see if members think that there may be some merits in such a project.

There have been some wonderful ldeas on here, most of them by non-technical people, but some of those ideas are very valid.

What I'd like to see is an 'open source project' type of discussion on e-cigs, batteries & atomisers in particular.

The aim of this would be to investigate some of the ideas that people have had, but who are unable, for whatever reason, to advance their ideas.

Hopefully the group would consist of a good sprinkling of people with knowledge of Electronics maybe, or the ability and tools to build/machine any mechanical device required in the quest for a better e-cig.

This would mean that anything discussed would be considered to be in the public domain and not the intellectual property of any one person (or even the group, as a whole)

The project would need to be fairly well disciplined - and posts would have to be kept strictly 'on topic' to make it work.

Not sure if this could be achieved on a forum such as this, I think that a Yahoo group may be a better bet.

Initially, if anyone is interested please reply to this thread.

If there is enough interest, and after some discussion here, I'll set up a Yahoo group, which would be open to all.

PS - in case anyone is wondering, I'm a retired instrument technician with many years experience of repair and maintenance of fine mechanical, pneumatic and electronic instrumentation.

I now have a small but very well equipped workshop capable of producing those little (and not so little!) components that are often needed for projects such as this.

I also have a working knowledge of basic electronics - any help I can offer along these lines will be given freely.

(Wasn't someone recently enquiring about a 'universal adapter' gismo that would allow any atomiser to fit any battery? - this is the sort of component i'm talking about)

I'd hope that we can get one or two more like me, and some electronics experts prepared to help in similar ways.

Thanks for reading this........
Barry
_____

[MagusSteele]

Not a bad idea to consolidate different and useable ideas in one place.
I was a machinest but seem better at design and engineering.
I understand electronics, but never finished the classes. Only got as far as electrician.

There isnt many things needed for a good e-cig design.
Good battery
good switch
good atomizer
Large reservoir
Cigar size or smaller

[bribri]

Well I for one think the quest has ended. We have the Janty Kissbox, The Screw Driver, the puresmoker 901b... Honestly any more nicotine and I would be getting sicker not better. I already get to the point of slight stoned on these things which is a level I never achieved on any analog cig. We saw I already changed my mind - I wanted the quest for the smallest model that worked. It ended up being a stupid idea, not only do the small ones suck, but really we have found that they are more socially acceptable the less they look like analogs ,not more. We have defeated our charging issue, we are about to defeat our disposable atomizor issue... we dont have a vapor issue anymore, I mean you saw how much vapor just4747 let out from the SD, it was nearly a disturbing amount. almost grotesque. And we found that juice for these things is easy to make, and you can buy some of the best stuff at organic markets. I think except for the unrealiability of manufacturing and sales we have grown to the point where we don't need anymore "beat the manufacturers at their own game" technologies. I get enough fill and I feel no frustration with the ecig industry any longer.

[Grenage]

I would say there is a hell of a lot of work to be done on e-cigs. The liquid delivery method for starters; so I think this is a nice idea.

[MagusSteele]

All things can and should be improved, even the SD and KB.
Infact, Janty is updateing and researching all the time.

The SD is a good idea, but personally i dislike the switch configuration.
I am pretty sure you can get different types of batteries as well making it thinner.

Atomizers really need a redesign or update, but that is probably beyond the garage machanic.

[dc2k08]

I think its a fantastic idea BarryK. in fact you might want to get in touch with a dutch poster named knutselpeter. unfortunately he does not post here often but his friend and accomplice called yo han does. what i hear from yo-han and i hope he will correct me if i am wrong, is that it was knutselpeter who created the proto-type for what the kiss box is designed around and it was also an open-source project initiated by him.

It seems to me that Trog has solved the battery problem in as much as lithium cell technology will allow, giving us a simple device that takes a robust sized battery that can be changed as necessary and offers users at least a day's worth of vaping on a single charge. In an open source project, I would like to replicate this model unless we can think of newer power source of which there are currently a few options though perhaps a little expensive.

As for the atomizer though, I think Jarvis has really brainstormed some worthwhile ideas to pursue, my favourite of which was a cartridge which was filled only with liquid which was then transfered to the atomizer coil via a wick almost like a zippo. He even knocked up some drawings which i hope i could find again, if i looked.

He also had the idea of an atomizer that could be opened without difficulty and allowed the user to replace the part which had broken for a few of pennies worth of parts. its no secret that manufacturers would rather have consumers replace entire devices than be able to fix the one or two broken parts to keep the cycle in action and profits large, so i think any open-source project we could create should be configured to be made very easily modifiable.

unfortunately im not very deft at electronics in general but i do dabble in illustrating them. so i would be happy to help out by knocking up some clean vector blue prints as needed. I can send you a link to some examples of my work to show you what i mean. I hope this project gets up and running and with the combined brain power that is evident on this well-used forum we should be able to come up with the mother of all e-cigs.

[Bertrand]

Sounds like a great idea. As others have mentioned, the battery and switch problem isn't so much of a problem any more, but a more effective cartridge and reliable atomizer definitely are.

I'm not sure that interchangeable parts are really possible or even desirable, though: obviously smaller designs will demand smaller components which will not suit larger designs.

I'm also a bit unclear about the "open source" thing. In this case, it would be a patent rather than a copyright, so if you wanted a GPL style license you would be looking at USD5000 and several years just to get the patents you would need to do this internationally. Having created prior art would prevent others from patenting it, though, and in that sense would keep it in the public domain.

In the other sense of "open source" - being able to look inside the design - all the e-cigarettes are effectively open source, in that ripping them open is as good as if not better than reading about how they work.

I guess there is a third meaning of "open source": having a bunch of people willingly work on something for no monetary reward.. hehe. That's probably the one.

[MagusSteele]

I was thinking "Open Source" like Sourceforge.net
Just an open exchange of ideas, and if someone wanted to make them for the group that would be fine. If they wanted to sell them openly fine too.
No Patents needed.

One thing you could start with are adaptors.
The 901 and 801 are kings, so threaded adaptors from one to the other would be great.

Wanted to add this too.
I would have to ReRead trogs notes, i know he used a bunch of different batteries, but I was thinking something like this might be a good start. Its the same width as the Pen battery, but would need a container/cylinder of course.
http://www.szwholesale.com/ultrafire...ble-p-745.html

[Di]

here is a little project for you guys who want to try.
several people on this forum have said that the best atomizer is the DSE 901 and best battery is DSE801
soooooooo
hows about a nice little adapter to attach 901 atomizer to 801 battery ?????

would it be possible,
just a thought.....
dikerry

[MagusSteele]

Umm, Good Idea