A little help and clarification with preparation for first DIY box mod please!

[nillythejew]

Hello! I have been browsing the DIY modding threads, and have some questions that I couldn't find answers for. I am planning to build a parallel 26650 unregulated electronic box mod. I'm still in the very early stages of planning, and haven't made any definite decisions. Open to any suggestions you have! I do have my mind set on a 26650 mod, though, so please no 18650 alternatives. (-;
My planning so far consists of:

1590b aluminum box from Hammond looks good for dual 26650s. This won't be too tight of a fit, would it? Here's a link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002BBRA4/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?pc_redir=T1

I am going to use a mosfet (which I think is my only option), so any simple switch should do. This is what I've gathered, at least. The one I am looking at is:
http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?x=0&y=0&lang=en&site=us&keywords=EG4722-ND

I've been told this was the best 26650 sled, and haven't looked into sleds any further:
http://www.vape3d.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=26650x2v2Contacts&CartID=1

The 15k ohm resistor for mosfet:
http://www.radioshack.com/nte-qw315...lameproof-resistor/55049437.html#.VMCV8qZOLCS

V4 Basic Set 510 from Fat Daddy Vapes.

and

14AWG copper wire from Home Depot.

My main concern is with the mosfet. I know that they too have amp limits, and all sorts of other restricting factors. Because I am going to be pulling between 50-60 amps, I want to be extra careful here. Don't know the slightest thing about picking a mosfet for this high of amperage, and couldn't find anything I could understand around the forum. Am I overthinking this? Do I need to look for anything other than it's amp limit?

Other than that, I think everything should be pretty simple to figure out and put together. Anything else at all that you think I should know/change/add please let me know!! Thank you all so much in advance!(-:

 

[Rat2chat2]

to ecf nillythejew. Nice to meet you and glad to have ya here. I'm sure someone who knows will come along and help you or you could go to the modders forum.

Modding Forum

Some awful smart people over there. Good luck to you and I look forward to see what ya do.

 

[Uncletattoowhat]

IRLB3034PBF International Rectifier | IRLB3034PBF-ND | DigiKey

Everyone's "go-to" mosfet for amperage redirection for the switch.

 

[nillythejew]

to ecf nillythejew. Nice to meet you and glad to have ya here. I'm sure someone who know will come along and help you are you could go to the modders forum.

Modding Forum

Some awful smart people over there. Good luck to you and I look forward to see what ya do.

Thank you, the modders forum is what got me to where I am! Very smart people to understand this stuff. Hopefully I get there (or at least out of the darkness!) after a few builds. Interesting stuff!

IRLB3034PBF International Rectifier | IRLB3034PBF-ND | DigiKey

Everyone's "go-to" mosfet for amperage redirection for the switch.

Thank you so much - short and sweet. This will definitely be able to handle anything a pair of 26650s could throw at it? Much appreciated, friend!

 

[Uncletattoowhat]

Check out the datasheet, but in short, it handles up to 40V and 195A. Should be just fine.

A word to the wise, these mosfets are SUPER easy to blow when soldering. Too much heat for too long and it will melt the inside of it, causing auto firing. Ask me how I know

 

[nillythejew]

Check out the datasheet, but in short, it handles up to 40V and 195A. Should be just fine.

A word to the wise, these mosfets are SUPER easy to blow when soldering. Too much heat for too long and it will melt the inside of it, causing auto firing. Ask me how I know

I think I already know!! Very inexperienced solderer here, so thank you for the warning! I'll have to get a couple just in case. I've only used my soldering iron a couple of times, and never for anything electrical, so your info is greatly appreciated. Is assembling a box mod as simple as it seems? I've been planning to just follow this guide but with 26650s rather than 18650s, of course.



Thanks again for all your help!

EDIT: Also, should I use a master switch? I don't plan on carrying this beast around in my pocket so I am not too worried about accidental firing, more the batteries. I've left batteries in my mods and without even using it I find the batteries half drained. Not sure if that was just the mod or if most devices have some sort of subliminal drain, but my ipv3 seems to eat at my batteries if I leave them in for long too. This would be great to get rid of.

 

[Uncletattoowhat]

Personally, my first box was built using that same diagram. It took me roughly 6 hours beginning to end with little to no soldering experience. Mind you, I did it in a smaller box (1590G) which is not recommended for a first timer, and was using the only wire I had, being 14ga which is SUPER hard to bend in a small space. That was only a few weeks ago. I've since built over 10 different mods and am getting quicker with each one.

As for the master switch, its all on what YOU prefer. I've done boxes with and without master switches, P-fets (for reverse polarity protection), Zener diodes (for low voltage cutoff), inline fuses, etc. Every box I personally build for myself, I take all the bells and whistles off and do a basic build to get a hold of it first. I have personally carried each mod I've built in my jacket or pants pocket, center console, left it sitting on a shelf with batteries installed, etc and never had an issue. (Although i have had 2 boxes come back that I've built for other people that have fried a raptor 20A chip by putting a battery in backward, or twisting a potentiometer so hard it broke a solder joint lol)

I digress though, as I mainly build regulated boxes now and its a different monster than a simple N-fet parallel/series box.

tl;dr: you don't need a master switch unless you want one. I charge batteries every night so drain is not a factor.

 

[nillythejew]

Personally, my first box was built using that same diagram. It took me roughly 6 hours beginning to end with little to no soldering experience. Mind you, I did it in a smaller box (1590G) which is not recommended for a first timer, and was using the only wire I had, being 14ga which is SUPER hard to bend in a small space. That was only a few weeks ago. I've since built over 10 different mods and am getting quicker with each one.

As for the master switch, its all on what YOU prefer. I've done boxes with and without master switches, P-fets (for reverse polarity protection), Zener diodes (for low voltage cutoff), inline fuses, etc. Every box I personally build for myself, I take all the bells and whistles off and do a basic build to get a hold of it first. I have personally carried each mod I've built in my jacket or pants pocket, center console, left it sitting on a shelf with batteries installed, etc and never had an issue. (Although i have had 2 boxes come back that I've built for other people that have fried a raptor 20A chip by putting a battery in backward, or twisting a potentiometer so hard it broke a solder joint lol)

I digress though, as I mainly build regulated boxes now and its a different monster than a simple N-fet parallel/series box.

tl;dr: you don't need a master switch unless you want one. I charge batteries every night so drain is not a factor.

Hmm. Well I'll just leave off the master switch for this build and see how it goes. Hopefully the button is relatively stiff, and if not, like I said, I doubt it will travel much.

Your mention of a low voltage cut off caught my eye. A Zener diode? I'll have to look into that! I hate over discharging my batteries and having to make the walk of shame to ask my B&M if he can trickle charge it back to a usable state. One of the main reasons I left mech mods in the first place! Hopefully I can jam all this into the 1590b. I'm a little worried about how much room I'll have after the sled is in.

Would you recommend against 14g? That's what I've been planning to use. I heard that much higher of a gauge wouldn't be able to handle as high of a current as I'm going to be using. Maybe 16g would be fine if 14g is too stiff?

One last thing, friend (and excuse me if I'm overstepping here); how can you afford so many builds! This one alone is already going to run me $60+, and that's before adding shipping!! I was originally going with a DIY to save money, but am already getting pretty close to the $100 26650 mod that inspired me. Of course, now that I'm getting into it, I'd still build this if it ended up costing me more than the $100 box i saw. (-;

 

[Uncletattoowhat]

Hmm. Well I'll just leave off the master switch for this build and see how it goes. Hopefully the button is relatively stiff, and if not, like I said, I doubt it will travel much.

Your mention of a low voltage cut off caught my eye. A Zener diode? I'll have to look into that! I hate over discharging my batteries and having to make the walk of shame to ask my B&M if he can trickle charge it back to a usable state. One of the main reasons I left mech mods in the first place! Hopefully I can jam all this into the 1590b. I'm a little worried about how much room I'll have after the sled is in.

Would you recommend against 14g? That's what I've been planning to use. I heard that much higher of a gauge wouldn't be able to handle as high of a current as I'm going to be using. Maybe 16g would be fine if 14g is too stiff?

One last thing, friend (and excuse me if I'm overstepping here); how can you afford so many builds! This one alone is already going to run me $60+, and that's before adding shipping!! I was originally going with a DIY to save money, but am already getting pretty close to the $100 26650 mod that inspired me. Of course, now that I'm getting into it, I'd still build this if it ended up costing me more than the $100 box i saw. (-;

Zener diodes are only a "low level" protection of the battery. I only started seeing them when I started doing regulated box builds. It's a lot to try to understand just getting into it, but for an extra $5ish you can throw in a volt meter. Super easy to install and worth every penny to monitor your batteries.

I wouldn't say you can't do 14ga. The Hammond box i was referring to was the 1590G, its much smaller than the 1590B you're planning on using. Should be fine with PLENTY of room for activities inside when you're done lol.

How have I afforded it? Well, I started building for my own sanity of not spending $200 on an unregulated box mod. After I built one, a buddy wanted me to build him one and paid me generously. From there, I had another friend who "invested" in me to learn how to build regulated boxes. He said "figure out how to build a 120w box, and send me a parts list. I will get 2 sets of everything. One you build me, and the other is yours as payment for building mine." After doing that first one, I started looking at other chips and collecting parts. I've made (2) Raptor 20A/120W boxes, (2) OKR-T/10A 50W boxes, (1) OKL-T/20A 110w box and my most recent TDK Lambda 20A/110w box. Every box I've built for myself when trying a new chipset has eventually sold to an interested party who didn't want to fork out for what everyone else already had. I've been lucky that that pays for what I have invested in that original box and enough for parts for the next one.

 

[Uncletattoowhat]

Also: I've found it much cheaper to buy everything you can from one source. When i build boxes, I tend to get most everything needed at say just digikey or mouser (depending on which site has everything for a one shot). That way, the only other place I need to go is fatdaddyvapes or varitube for the 510.

 

[nillythejew]

Zener diodes are only a "low level" protection of the battery. I only started seeing them when I started doing regulated box builds. It's a lot to try to understand just getting into it, but for an extra $5ish you can throw in a volt meter. Super easy to install and worth every penny to monitor your batteries.

I wouldn't say you can't do 14ga. The Hammond box i was referring to was the 1590G, its much smaller than the 1590B you're planning on using. Should be fine with PLENTY of room for activities inside when you're done lol.

How have I afforded it? Well, I started building for my own sanity of not spending $200 on an unregulated box mod. After I built one, a buddy wanted me to build him one and paid me generously. From there, I had another friend who "invested" in me to learn how to build regulated boxes. He said "figure out how to build a 120w box, and send me a parts list. I will get 2 sets of everything. One you build me, and the other is yours as payment for building mine." After doing that first one, I started looking at other chips and collecting parts. I've made (2) Raptor 20A/120W boxes, (2) OKR-T/10A 50W boxes, (1) OKL-T/20A 110w box and my most recent TDK Lambda 20A/110w box. Every box I've built for myself when trying a new chipset has eventually sold to an interested party who didn't want to fork out for what everyone else already had. I've been lucky that that pays for what I have invested in that original box and enough for parts for the next one.

Ah, maybe I'll save the Zener diode for next time. A volt meter sounds a lot easier to wire. I'm a bit worried that I'll have trouble (making either way to big of or way too ugly holes) when drilling the holes in the box, and making a rectangular space for the volt meter sounds like something that should be left to someone more skilled with a drill (???) than I. Maybe if I can't figure a way to let the volt meter show I'll include it anyways to check the voltage when I take the cover off.

That must have been great! I love tinkering with stuff. Years ago I took apart my old game controllers and spray painted the shell or messed around with the innards. I had tons of fun, and ended up with a little business painting (and once cleaning milk out of, but that's another story) my bud's controllers. Brings me back! Anyways, thanks for all your help. I'll be sure to show off my mod (or come back for more help! (; ) when it's completed. I haven't seen any reputation system here at ECF, but I would love to give you a +1 if there were a way!

EDIT:
I want to do this, but I am getting very frustrated with Digikey right now, and I can't hardly find anything on mouser either. Seems like there's a million and one of every product but with a different product number and some minor difference that I probably wouldn't understand if I took a course in it. I have a couple items from Digikey right now so hopefully I can find a couple more items from my list there. I sort of gave up when I couldn't find a resistor for the mosfet that was priced less than $11 Maybe I'm just being impatient with their search system. Oh well, thank you!

 

[Uncletattoowhat]

a basic parts list for what you're trying to accomplish. I have used all these parts in a box with no problem.

Hammond 1590B do a search and pick a color.
MOSFET N-CH 40V 195A TO220AB IRLB3034PBF-ND
RES 15K OHM 1/4W 1% AXIAL S15KCACT-ND (any 15k 1/8w or 1/4w resistor will work)
SWITCH PUSH SPST-NO 2A 48V EG4728-ND (any switch will work)
Sled you said you are using a vap3d, there are other companies out there also
510 fatdaddy or varitube

 

[nillythejew]

a basic parts list for what you're trying to accomplish. I have used all these parts in a box with no problem.

Hammond 1590B do a search and pick a color.
MOSFET N-CH 40V 195A TO220AB IRLB3034PBF-ND
RES 15K OHM 1/4W 1% AXIAL S15KCACT-ND (any 15k 1/8w or 1/4w resistor will work)
SWITCH PUSH SPST-NO 2A 48V EG4728-ND (any switch will work)
Sled you said you are using a vap3d, there are other companies out there also
510 fatdaddy or varitube

Wow - thank you so much! I'll be placing my orders soon! (-:

 

[skull cracker]

Hello i was reading a post from 1-22-15 and was wondering how things went,as i myself embark on 2 different builds the okr 10 amp chip and a mosfet unregulated with a hammond 1590 b enclosure, the okr build i will machine similar to a eleaf 50 watt with a potentiometer since i have acess to a horizontal milling machine,just wondering how yours is coming if thats ok with you?thanks mark.