My Coffin Box 18650 Mod

[MilkyG]

This is my 4th mod but my first using an 18650. madvapes coffin box, silver 510 connector, 6mm 3A NKK tact switch, leftover batt connectors, Trustfire 2400mah 18650, some 24g copper from old CAT5 cable, and some epoxy.

What I really like is the flush-mounted switch...you can carry this in your pocket without worry as it's on an angle tilted away from the vertical of the body. What I don't like is the snap-on back of the box...those 4 little leg posts snap easily, so I'll be cutting these and adding magnets.

Sorry for the poor quality pics...LG Optimus camera quality sucks. Definitely worth trying!

 

[brewsterfrank]

very nice and clean, good job. if only they made a switch in white.

 

[jmanning]

That's very nice. I've been wanting to see an actual mod made from one of those.

 

[WillyB]

6mm 3A NKK tact switch

How bout a link?

 

[brewsterfrank]

@WillyB, all that stuff is at Welcome to MadVapes LLC, except the switch. Electronic Components Distributor | DigiKey Corp. | CA Home Page has 3a tact switches.

 

[WillyB]

@WillyB, except the switch. Electronic Components Distributor | DigiKey Corp. | CA Home Page has 3a tact switches.

Thanks but all I could find was a switch listed as 3VA, under it in the datasheet it says:

Applicable Range 10mA ~ 125mA @ .01V ~28V

?????

 

[MilkyG]

Here's the link...the top one is the through-hole switch: NKK Products

If you configure the switch, you need the silver contacts for the 3A rating. And here's the best part...they'll send you up to 3 samples of 3 different switches for free! I got 3 of these, 3 mini pushbutton, and 3 LED momentary. Click on the "Samples" link with your 3 configured part numbers.

 

[MilkyG]

very nice and clean, good job. if only they made a switch in white.

Thanks...aside from my less-than-stellar soldering skills it turned out quite nice. With the silver plate the black actually looks pretty nice. The box is also available in black but has been out of stock at MV...I think black with that tact switch would look pretty nice.

 

[MilkyG]

That's very nice. I've been wanting to see an actual mod made from one of those.

LeggoMyEars has a YouTube vid using this box with one of the large horn switches for an 18500. I love those switches but they're just too big for this box...great for standard battery boxes though. Here's the link:
YouTube - ‪QCAssociates's Channel‬‏

 

[KSV]

Here's the link...the top one is the through-hole switch: NKK Products

If you configure the switch, you need the silver contacts for the 3A rating.

Unless I'm reading the datasheet wrong, that is not a 3A switch. See post #6 from WillyB. If I'm wrong, though, I'm buying a reel of them.

 

[brewsterfrank]

yeah dave does have some good vids and mods. he also does a show on stickam.com/vapetalk

LeggoMyEars has a YouTube vid using this box with one of the large horn switches for an 18500. I love those switches but they're just too big for this box...great for standard battery boxes though. Here's the link:
YouTube - ‪QCAssociates's Channel‬‏

edit. just ordered 6 switches thanks for the link

 

[WillyB]

Here's the link...the top one is the through-hole switch: NKK Products

If you configure the switch, you need the silver contacts for the 3A rating. And here's the best part...

If you note it doesn't say 3A, it says 3VA.

That switch.

HP02 Series Subminiature Tactile Switches
3VA DC and & 0.4VA Low/Logic Level; Straight PCB Mount

Another one.

SB4011 Series Miniature Pushbutton Switches
3A Power Level & 0.4VA Logic Level; Bushing Mount, UL, CSA, cULus

There must be a difference between the two. Any info I found on volt-amps was quite confusing.

Reading their Supplement didn't help, but it is a good read.

http://www.nkkswitches.com/pdf/electricalratings.pdf

The SB4011 Series are more my style anyway. Thanks for the link.

Oh well.

 

[bstedh]

Well I went and checked out NKK and found a couple of switches that look good. I am getting 9 as samples. They didn't even ask for shipping. I got a couple of wild looking light up push buttons. they may be too big for practical use but I will try anyway. =]

I looked into the tactile and from everything I read the silver contact ones are still only 3Va so they will not hold up to full power applications but will probably work longer than a standard.

 

[WillyB]

I just talked to someone who said that tacts are often rated that way and it has something to do with when the thin silver/gold plating wears off the tiny contacts.

 

[MilkyG]

@WillyB - Yeah, along with the tact switches I ordered 3 of the SB4011 mini-pushbuttons as well as the LED push buttons that bstedh mentioned...those LED switches are pretty large though. Better for a top-mount for a project box mod. I'll be trying those next in a RS 4x2x1 box with 2 18650s in series using the TI regulator for the EverCool mod. As far as V vs. VA ratings, I'll leave that to someone who understands it better...I think VA ratings apply more to AC than DC. Could be wrong though.

All I know is that this tact switch is working very well at 3.7V (closer to 4.2 on a full charge) with everything...LR 510s, standard res, and dual-coil (1.6ohm) cartos, with no voltage drop or performance issues. We'll see how it holds for the long run. It would be interesting to see if it holds up at HV though...anyone enjoy trying to blow switches for fun? If so, let me know how it holds!

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[CraigHB]

VA or Volt-Amps is the same as Watts for all intents and purposes here. If it says 3VA it means max current is, for example, .5A at 6V or 1A at 3V. Still too low for directly switching an atomizer, but quite high for a tactile switch. They use a spring steel plate as the main contactor and the contact point is usually quite small. That's why you typically don't see very high current ratings on them.

 

[Jim211]

I just built an 18650 with the coffin box also but used a horn switch. Was a little tight but could solder the spring to 1 leg of switch and pin from center of 510 connector to positive.

 

[Quigsworth]

Unless I'm reading the datasheet wrong, that is not a 3A switch. See post #6 from WillyB. If I'm wrong, though, I'm buying a reel of them.

No kidding, I skipped a beat when I thought maybe someone has invented a 3A tact switch...3VA (VA essentially is the product of Volts x Amps) as you can see the silver contact is rated to 28V DC and 125mA, 28VDC X .125A = 3.5VA

Craig beat me, disregard

 

[Ruledo]

This is the last black coffin box that was in stock at MadVapes.
Sorry the pictures aren't great.

 

[Quigsworth]

Agreed, a true 3 A tach switch is a modders holy grail..This has been brought up a million time no doubt but this switch will fail, it's just a matter of time, how ever, sometimes out in the field in industrial gear we use "flyback" diode's to soften the arc potential of a collapsing inductor (coil) when opening non HP rated switches. This isn't meant a a permanently solution but may prolong the tacts survival. wikipedia "flyback diodes" there are some schematic as to how they are wired...