510 passthrough

[Kurt]

You mention the Barleby, where are those sold?

Bartleby: Bartleby

Uses the 14500 battery, so longer lasting than the PT batt (10440), and it is USB chargable, so can be a PT. Getting excellent reviews. Kent, one of the vets here, loves his, as do many others. $50-$60 depending on what you want. Will take 510 or 901 atty. I specifically want a 3.7V PT I can use for extended periods offline. Don't want or need higher voltage.

 

[Kurt]

Update: got the 10440 batts from DX. These are Ultrafire "500 mAh" (quotes are there because it is very likely less than this, according to the DX website). Also got a two-batt charger.

I had 5 PTs that had stopped working. With new batts, three are working again, but it seems like at least one of those is not charging off USB properly. One other PT is cold and dead with the new batt, and one is intermittent. I suspect the other two working PTs also have charging issues, and this was the original problem with them. The batts just eventually drained. One of the original stock batts that came with the PT has recharged to 4.2V in the charger.

So while I would like the PTs to charge their batts, this is a workable scenario for the time being. I am guessing that the wiring into the batt box, and also wiring out of it, is shotty and prone to disconnection. If it is on the USB-box end, then a charged batt will still power the atty. If it is at the box-to-atty end, then the PT does not fire up. The batts last considerably longer than the 510 mega batts, so I am somewhat ahead of the previous game with PTs that didn't work at all, but I may do a little exploratory surgery to see how the wiring is inside...looks like there is a phillips head screw holding the box together.

The charger works very well, bringing all batts I've charged to 4.2V, when the red light turns to green. They are unprotected batts, so I probably need to pay attention and remove them when they are charged.

The Bart continues to look tempting, but not a critical purchase just yet.

 

[Wall]

anyone notice the passthrough draws really stiff as well?

 

[Kurt]

anyone notice the passthrough draws really stiff as well?

Haven't noticed that. That should be a function of the atty, more than what it is attached to, at least from my understanding.

Second update: all stock PT batts that I had before, which I thought were unable to recharge anymore, have been recharged to 4.23V with the DX charger, so I now have quite a lot of PT batts. At least one PT is clearly not recharging its batt, and I suspect the other two that are working also will not recharge their batt anymore. I can hear the mods calling, like sirens...

 

[Wall]

I noticed my pass through has no battery compartment, just the actual battery looking thing that the atty screws into.

And as far as it being the atty, I know that my 510 batteries have holes on the end where the LED light is, but the pass through doesnt, and it draws very differently than a normal battery, even with the same atty.

 

[Kurt]

I noticed my pass through has no battery compartment, just the actual battery looking thing that the atty screws into.

And as far as it being the atty, I know that my 510 batteries have holes on the end where the LED light is, but the pass through doesnt, and it draws very differently than a normal battery, even with the same atty.

Ah, yes, you have one of the "straight-wire" 510 PTs. Have seen them, but have no experience. It looks like it is just a full 5V from the USB right to the atty, unless there is a resister in the batt-looking part. If this is the case, and the vendor should know, or you can measure it, this PT may wear out attys faster than 3.7V. I recall one company that sold these claiming it was a 5V device, which is bit much for the normal 510 atty. I think Drew at nhaler sells high-voltage attys if you are concerned about this.

 

[Wall]

Ah, yes, you have one of the "straight-wire" 510 PTs. Have seen them, but have no experience. It looks like it is just a full 5V from the USB right to the atty, unless there is a resister in the batt-looking part. If this is the case, and the vendor should know, or you can measure it, this PT may wear out attys faster than 3.7V. I recall one company that sold these claiming it was a 5V device, which is bit much for the normal 510 atty. I think Drew at nhaler sells high-voltage attys if you are concerned about this.

I measured the voltage from the USB and got 4.6 volts. I then measured the voltage from a fresh battery and got 4.1 volts. I'm not super concerned about that slight amount of difference, really doesnt seem to be much more vapor than the regular battery, I would say slightly less but that might have to do with the draw not getting as much through.

 

[Kurt]

I measured the voltage from the USB and got 4.6 volts. I then measured the voltage from a fresh battery and got 4.1 volts. I'm not super concerned about that slight amount of difference, really doesnt seem to be much more vapor than the regular battery, I would say slightly less but that might have to do with the draw not getting as much through.

You might be careful about what you plug it into, however. If your USB port is not rated at at least 1 Amp, the PT may fry it, and other things attached inside the computer. Many people use an external powered USB hub or an AC-to-5V-USB converted plugged into the wall. A couple people here have fried mother boards from a 510 PT. Just an FYI. The atty is drawing a fair amount of current, probably more than what is required to charge a PT batt.

Electronic Ash sells these straight-wire PTs. I might try one.

 

[morphector]

the only way I could get mine to work as it should is to remove the battery in it and solder a 18650 directly on the board and tape it to the casing, so now I have a 18650 mod that work flawlessly and a usb pt in a small package. It's REALLY long to charge on usb so unless I'm sitting in front of a usb outlet for a long time I don't plug it. I soldered it with a small amount of solder on the tab so the batt will still fit in my 18650 charger.... this is my primary device as my lost my 1st box mod and my second one catched fire while I was driving so my only choice was to throw it out the window

 

[Kurt]

the only way I could get mine to work as it should is to remove the battery in it and solder a 18650 directly on the board and tape it to the casing, so now I have a 18650 mod that work flawlessly and a usb pt in a small package. It's REALLY long to charge on usb so unless I'm sitting in front of a usb outlet for a long time I don't plug it. I soldered it with a small amount of solder on the tab so the batt will still fit in my 18650 charger.... this is my primary device as my lost my 1st box mod and my second one catched fire while I was driving so my only choice was to throw it out the window

Interesting, and nice work! Makes me think I could do something similar. How can I tell with a meter whether or not the batt is getting charged by the USB power to the box. Seems the only issue is charging, as most of the PTs I have certainly vape well with a fresh 10440 in the box, but I have to change them, and overnight does not add to the batt's voltage, at least in the ones I've checked.

 

[morphector]

Interesting, and nice work! Makes me think I could do something similar. How can I tell with a meter whether or not the batt is getting charged by the USB power to the box. Seems the only issue is charging, as most of the PTs I have certainly vape well with a fresh 10440 in the box, but I have to change them, and overnight does not add to the batt's voltage, at least in the ones I've checked.

if you want to know if the battery is charging just put your multimeter on both end of the battery, if the voltage change when you plug the usb your charging. you should read around 4-4.2v. simple as that

 

[Belhade]

I'm concerned with the reports people have been giving about the USB passthrus blowing out motherboards. My wife would be permanently plugged into her laptop with this thing as a pacifier...is it going to kill her three year old AlienWare?

 

[Kurt]

if you want to know if the battery is charging just put your multimeter on both end of the battery, if the voltage change when you plug the usb your charging. you should read around 4-4.2v. simple as that

Yeah, thanks, I figured that out myself, and the batts do not increase voltage over time in the box. I have a bunch of 10440s and can always just have a few extra with me, and then use the charger in the evening.

I guess I was more wondering about checking and perhaps fixing whatever is inside the batt box...output is fine, input is not for some reason. Ok, time to get out that tiny phillips head and see what's under the hood...

 

[Ralph Hilton]

I'm concerned with the reports people have been giving about the USB passthrus blowing out motherboards. My wife would be permanently plugged into her laptop with this thing as a pacifier...is it going to kill her three year old AlienWare?

I personally would only use a PT with an AC adaptor. They are a lot cheaper than new motherboards.

 

[AlexTM]

I use my PT with a self-powered hub, not exactly expensive, either, can serve up to 7 devices, and it is even connected to my computer, just in case I use it for a storage device.

I got that one when I had a USB ventilator that somehow did not want to stick to the USB specifications. Whenever I used it, it messed up all my USB ports, and only a complete restart solved the problem. Which was obviously not entirely practical.

 

[MAHER]

litecigusa.com they have the 510 pt for 12.95$ . i'm going to order one now (great price)

 

[JuniorNA]

i just received one today, popped in blue battery in batt box, plugged into USB and i was getting amazing vape clouds over a standard 510 batt. I didnt allow it to charge , i just plugged it in and vaped away. It was then connected to my work laptop for 9 hours while at work, but i was vaping every 20 minutes or so and i was getting constant vape, no drain or diminshing vape at all.

 

[JaYBoNeS]

I've been using the 510 PT for a couple weeks on the continuous. Plugged in to PC's USB port or AC adapter or unplugged. I kinda pump the battery casing around some. So the first time I notice a power decline. I reseted the battery. That seem to work. A few days later I lost continuity completely. Okay something craped out.? Maybe the battery.. So I took the battery out n took a piece of wire n shorted the battery out. One end of wire to neg n tap the other end to pos a few times. The put it back in. That did the trick. Haven't had prob since. Although I did buy some back up batteries

Great tip!

I had mine all packed up and ready to ship back and tried this method, and it works! Fingers crossed that it stays working.

Cheers

 

[Kurt]

i just received one today, popped in blue battery in batt box, plugged into USB and i was getting amazing vape clouds over a standard 510 batt. I didnt allow it to charge , i just plugged it in and vaped away. It was then connected to my work laptop for 9 hours while at work, but i was vaping every 20 minutes or so and i was getting constant vape, no drain or diminshing vape at all.

They are nice devices. The USB is topping off the battery all the time, so you could practically chain vape all day and be fine. And if you unplug it you will get a few hours of vaping offline. They were cheap enough that I actually bought a few of them...well, 5 ...and always had one charging without vaping and the other online. And one for work and one for home, that sort of thing. With backups. Eventually after about 5 months they all either died completely, as in some resistor got fried, or they would not charge from the USB, but worked if I recharged the batts myself on another charger. Most of them I payed $9 for during a sale, so not a big money problem, but they do not last forever. Totally worth the money though.

I mention these things because "dead PT" does not always means nonfunctional PT. And it is very possible to use up the batt before the USB can charge it, in which case you just let it charge for a few hours.

 

[Remjin]

I bought my PT through madvapes, they list it as a 5V. Its just a straight wire and I use it on the aux usb.

The motherboard warning is a thought, though. I run a pretty big power supply and a major motherboard, so I'm thinking I should be okay... but a powered USB hub is cheap insurance. I'll have to pick another one up.