USB mod with pneumatic switch

**jdrancor** · 11-14-2008, 05:16 AM

So.. I did the USB mod that was posted earlier by Bastage. It was great, and the power was excellent, never having to change batteries and all, great smoke, I was happy with it. But, the one thing I missed was having the cig in my mouth and puffing away with it while I worked. With the switch mod, I had to press on the switch to drag. I didn't like it, but I dealt with it because the smoke was much more reliable that with the batteries.

Then I got thinking. The batteries all have switches in them allready!! They have lovely pneumatic switches that are pretty dependable. SO. I used a dremel to cut apart an old battery, and soldered up the usb plug to the pneumatic switch. I even wired the LED light wired so that it lights up when I take a drag. The smoke is as plentiful as with the manual switch, without the hassle of 1) procuring a micro-switch and 2) pressing said switch each drag. It was easy. Honestly somebody with just a little tinkering experience could do it. I'll take pictures when I make version 2, and post a tutorial

After soldering it all up, I realized that I should have taken assembly photos.. but this is really just a proof of concept, not the best working device. But the concept is proven - the smoke is plentiful, the drags are easy, and the taste, probably because of the plentiful smoke, is good.

Improvements. Right now it's wired with solid copper telephone wire - its thin, but unfortunately it's really stiff. I'll be getting some super flexible headphone cord for Version 2, and some white shrink tubing to put around the butt part. Also I just ordered one of the MintyBoost USB power supply kits (a USB power supply with the form factor of an altoids gum tin) from the MAKE store, so pretty soon I'll have smokes on the go with plenty of power.

Here are some photos. In the disassembled shot, you can see the usb connector, the RN4801 (super mini.. on PureSmoker, it's called PeeWee) atomizer, and then there's a little tube of brown that I cut off of a cartridge.. this is just cosmetic. And then, a nice little bonus trick, the brown mouthpiece is from ecig.com penstyle.. it fits perfectly on the end of the rn4801 atomizer, and makes it easy to hold between one's teeth. It doesn't work with the cartridge, but I drip, so that doesn't matter

I like this very much, and I especially enjoy the small size - it's like a half-smoked butt, and it's so lightweight that it's effortless to keep in my teeth.

**CaSHMeRe** · 11-14-2008, 05:53 AM

MUST SEE VID IN ACTION !!!!

Looks AWESOME!

**Bastage** · 11-14-2008, 10:59 AM

Good job! As long as the auto switch keeps working you're in business. I actually prefer a manual switch because I press it 1 second before I take a puff - but I really like your idea. I thought about shortening the battery casing as well. BTW Cash, how's your USB battery holding up? Any trouble with it?

**paxes** · 11-14-2008, 11:41 AM

Looks great, looking forward to USB Mod Version 3. I wonder will it be bluetooth/Wireless :-)

**yo han** · 11-14-2008, 02:55 PM

I really like what you guys are doing!
But wouldn't it be nice to take the ideas a bit further and also show a finished product as well? I don't mean this to bash your work at all, I'm just trying to encourage you to keep on going and trying to make it look good as well.
I've done a USB battery as well and after some mods it looks like this:

**Bastage** · 11-14-2008, 03:25 PM

I believe he already has mentioned that this was just a proof of concept. I have to put a switch on mine, which makes it a little bit harder to make look good. My atomizers are black, so taking the finish off of every atomizer I use isn't something I want to do personally, but it looks great on yours.

**yo han** · 11-14-2008, 04:09 PM

Yeah I know, making something small with a switch really is difficult.
I'm busy figuring out how to put a switch on my pipe without making it look stupid

**jdrancor** · 11-14-2008, 05:23 PM

Yo Han, that's beautiful! What kind of cord are you using? Version 2 is on hold until I find a good cable. I'm on the hunt for a thin and flexible wire with 2 leads in it.. basically one side of a thin headphone wire would be good. The thinner and more flexible the better.