1-AA Touch Modbox

[asnider123]

Well, here is my second touch switch MOSFET mod, this time in a 1-AA box just to see if it could be done. It does It includes a bicolor 3MM LED and touch-switch, both side mounted.

Used a modified schematic, and squished everything into the box, it is tight but it is cool too! Don't think a 1-AAA box would be big enough, maybe I'll try that sometime. Even the 1-AA box is palmable, making a stealth mod with a 900mA battery. Or should I say, semi-stealth, cause the LED will give you away.

Cost: box $1, FET $1, all other parts salvaged. TOTAL = $2.00

Only problem I had was drilling the atty connector too close to the battery, which causes the carto to be slightly crooked. That's ok, it was my first one, I will do beter next time.

Hope you like it .... Alan

By asnider123 at 2011-04-22

 

[breaktru]

Hey Alan, another great mod. Can't argue with the price. Very compact too. What are you doing with all those mods you are building? You must have about 100 by now.

 

[duby]

Great job on the packaging. I tried one of these a while back and my clumsy self cracked the battery box so I gave it a rest.

 

[Para]

The crooked connector is fixable and can be fixed w/o taking anything apart....use some of this:

Once you have the hole and connector in the proper position, put a mix in place and let it cure.....hard as a rock.

Hope this helps

 

[asnider123]

The crooked connector is fixable and can be fixed w/o taking anything apart....use some of this:

Once you have the hole and connector in the proper position, put a mix in place and let it cure.....hard as a rock.

Hope this helps

Thanks, I will try that

 

[outofjuice]

i was thinking about something like this... you beat me to it lol
hmmm have you made one with a mosfet/micro switch? always wondered how big that slot was... been looking at the box at madvapes but it dosent seem to have an on/off master switch so i have been on the fence about it... i heard most batt boxes dont have a good on/off switch, so does it matter? should i just go for it and just add a 3a on/off slide switch?

 

[asnider123]

The slot is 1/4" wide by 2-1/16" long by the depth of a 14500 (14mm) .. really quite a bit of space. The main prob is that your atty connector (at least the 510 one) is tricky to mount because of the plastic slot holding the positive battery post. In fact, I had to remove the metal battery post and trim it slightly to avoid shorting out to the body of the atty connector.

I have 4 of these boxes in stock, more experimenting still to come.

Incidently, I ordered 5 each of 1-AA, 2-AA, 3-AA, 2-AAA boxes on Ebay last nite. They ran from about .90 to 1.20 each, shipping included. I know it takes a few weeks to get stuff from HongKong, but I'm in no hurry and they are exactly the same ones you pay twice as much (plus shipping) from my US suppliers. My wife says I am a cheap skate, I think it's just wise shopping



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[outofjuice]

lol that's a very nice find! do you got a link to the page?
...now that i think about it i probably don't need a master on/off switch (i mean i could just unscrew the atty a few turns right?)
and thanks for the picture... nice to know theres a good amount of space lol i mean i heard a few people made a 5v box out of it (with 14250 batts...) so i guess vv wouldnt be much harder (if you can fit a nice 100k pot and maybe a good switching regulator to save batt life of those smaller cells) but making it all fit would be tricky tho...

(just thinking out loud but nothing wrong with wishful thinking)

 

[asnider123]

lol that's a very nice find!
1. do you got a link to the page?
2. now that i think about it i probably don't need a master on/off switch (i mean i could just unscrew the atty a few turns right?)
3. and thanks for the picture...
4. nice to know theres a good amount of space lol i mean i heard a few people made a 5v box out of it (with 14250 batts...)
5. so i guess vv wouldnt be much harder (if you can fit a nice 100k pot and maybe a good switching regulator to save batt life of those smaller cells)

(just thinking out loud but nothing wrong with wishful thinking)

Thanks, Outofjuice .. that's quite a name, you need to start making your own juice too

1. Boxes??? Easy, ebay.com, search for 2-AA boxes, 3-AA, boxes, etc. I like the Buy It Now listings, not in a hurry but watching an auction for 6 days is not my idea of fun Here's one of the links: 5 On/Off Switch Battery Box Holder Case 2 AA 3V Leads | eBay

2. A MOSFET uses a small current between pins 1 and 3 (check the specs) so unscrewing the atty will not, I believe, solve the problem. Besides, I add a 2-color LED which shows Green for GO (power on) and Red for Fire (atty activated). I use a 1K resistor, so the LED doesn't draw much, but it DOES use the battery to light up, so, IMO, a master switch extends battery life.

The math is: 3.7V / 1000Ohms = .0037 amps OR 3.7 mA .. so a 900mAh battery SHOULD last 243 hours .. in truth, the battery protection circuit will cut off when the battery drops to 3.2V so the time is much, much shorter. Bottom line .... turn off power when yer not gonna use it fer a while.

3. Youbetcha, I always use my webcam to take my pics, sorry about the ugly mug in the background.

4. I bought a couple of 14250's to try the same thing. Unfortunately, they are about 27mm long (because of the protection circuit), which makes the pair 54mm long. This is about 1/8" longer than the 14500 I think it's possible, but it would take some major modification to the battery connectors. I will try it sometime, thinking of cutting the negative-side spring shorter to give more clearance ???? The components will fit in the slot, getting the batts in will be the problem.

5. VV .. you took the words right outa my mouth .. been looking at the LM350T-ADJ chip, which the specs say should do the job. Thinking of picking up 10 of them and trying them out. Listing right now on Ebay .. 10 for 9.99 at this link: 10,LM350T LM350 Adjustable Voltage Regulator NEW m | eBay

Now, if you want to make a 5V mod, Madvapes has a 3-amp 5v reg with a control pin. I forget how much they are, but they are sure neat!

Thanks again for the kind words.

Alan

 

[outofjuice]

i was looking at the evercool vv mod
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/battery-mods/114901-evercool-variable-voltage-mod.html
and had a plan to use that regulator in a 1aa box but it seems the PTR08100W is too big for the box... hmmm i guess thats one of the advantages of a linear regulator is the small size...
but enough about that a vv mod that size is amazing enough lol
found a data sheet on that LM350T http://www.futurlec.com/Linear/LM350T.shtml
this has made my list on mods to make lol
[Edit] just thought of this... so your mods led stays on without the atty? so the power is still going through the mosfet lighting the led is this because of it being wired in parallel to the atty so the a small charge would still pass right (well when it turns red)? but if its green without the atty (seeing that the green bypasses the touch switch) well i guess your right about the switch... hmmm your mod needs the switch in this set up.... i see thanks for explaining
hmm... is it the led that closes the circuit (only thing i can think of)? what if you go without the led? and go with no switch and just unscrew the atty a few turns to turn off? (i dont have a problem with on/off switches but ive been concerned about how long they last)

p.s. i really am out of juice lol down to my last bottle but got more on the way form a guy in the state after he gets it all mixed... tried to diy but it tasted..... quite bad lol ill stick to buying for now and dabble in diy mixing

 

[TomCatt]

Hey Alan,
How about a group picture of all your mods?

 

[asnider123]

Hey Outofjuice... I have a couple of different TI devices (including the evercool you speak of), but am saving it for that "special .. gold-plated ultimate mod", you know what I mean It's not a chip but, rather, a module and yes, it's way too big for the 1-AA box.In fact, I got samples from TI, you should get signed up. Search the forum for more info on that. In the mean time, my goal is to make the best mods for the least $$, it's more funner that way ...

The LM350T-ADJ looks promising, think I will go ahead and order a few to play with. For $10, it will give me many hours of entertainment (what else am I gonna do with my time), we live in rural Oklahoma. Gotta have a hobby.

Regarding my diagram .. my LED + ties thru a 1K resistor to the batt+, the green - ties to the master-switched -, the red - (indicated by a blue wire) ties to pin 2 of mosfet (the - output). Master switch off = no lights, master switch on = green light, when the atty is firing = red light. The LED is red-dominant, meaning that if both red and green are activated it will go red by default. The + lead (anode/cathode ... can't remember what you call it but you get the idea) is common to both colors so it requires only 1 resistor even though you could put one on each neg leg if you wished to.

My particular modbox draws power, when on, for my indicator green light plus 3.7mA source/gate current. The reason I wired a power light was to remind me to turn off when not in use. So even without the LED, it would draw a tiny amount of current constantly. The circuit, I believe, needed the reminder light, it's not necessary just handy.

Since the switch, so long as you use it only to turn on and off the circuit, will only be conducting <4mA, it should last for years.

Darn .. rambling again. I am NOT an expert, just a few electronics courses in college, I am a computer repair teacher so we usually replace an entire board if something goes bad, working with these mods has really brought back things I haven't messed with since 1973.

 

[asnider123]

Hey Alan,
How about a group picture of all your mods?

You know, that sounds neat I will have to break out the old digi camera and do that

 

[outofjuice]

oh i see! thanks for clearing up all my misconceptions, hahaha thanks for answering all these questions. i was misunderstanding the way current flows in a mosfets... (and a miss trust of switches lol)
a "special .. gold-plated ultimate mod"... mod of all mods! isnt that why people start modding

thanks ooj

 

[outofjuice]

You know, that sounds neat I will have to break out the old digi camera and do that

 

[asnider123]

Hey Alan,
How about a group picture of all your mods?

Here are some of them


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[TomCatt]

Awesome work Alan!!!

 

[jmanning]

You guys might want to look at this regulator. It needs no external caps and is right at 1/4" tall. I have used it in a vv mod and it works great. I would bet you could fit it in that 1-A battery box.

 

[Dalton63841]

Where would I go about locating this IRL3103 MOSFET? Everywhere I look claims it is an obsolete part.

 

[asnider123]

Where would I go about locating this IRL3103 MOSFET? Everywhere I look claims it is an obsolete part.

I bought them at Quest Components you can get them for 82 cents each if you buy 16 or more .. they have a $30 min order, so I bought 25 plus some resistors ... here is the link
Quest Components Part Details

I have also bought some IRLZ34N .. they seem to be pin-for-pin compatible and work fine in a boxmod. You can get 5 of them for 5 bucks on Ebay .. you may be able to get them locally too ???
5 pcs IRLZ34N