Cigarette killed my Server!!!!!

[I.V.]

Hi from a newbie!


I just built a PT thanks to this forum and finally! I been off the real ciggies for the 5th day now. This time I'm really going to quit. New batteries only ever seem to last me a pack of carts before they crap out so the PT makes me feel like a king now, but I'm using some carts that been on the shelf for 3 years.

One more data point for you guys is that I tried plugging a battery charger into my usb on one of my servers and it killed the motherboard dead on a Dell Poweredge 2650 and cost me £500. Mother.......**. I expected the hardware to be bullet proof. I spent two weeks to pinpoint the problem and still didn't work it out (until reading about the 2A draw). The same charger almost killed my Dell workstation and a desktop. I always figured that there would be some protection circuitry to prevent against spikes of power draw from say a frayed usb lead.

Seems like only consumer level machines have such protection because they assume the worst of consumers. So for my PT I used a 2 amp hard drive PSU, made a fancy case out of my E - 5 h 1 t e s cigarette box, and circuit bent a PC daughter board for the PSU momentary switch and it kept failing so I just went ghetto and hold two wires together now

5V to the atomiser and 2A, rips like heaven finally it helped me blast through the third day of non smoking when I normally quit trying to quit LOL.


Also Happy New Year.

Sorry if this needs to be moved but I opened a bajillion tabs of stiky threads.

 

[dormouse]

I never charge ecigs on a PC USB and I would never stick a PT on a PC USB. However unless something was crappy or broken you should have been able to charge an ecig on a PC's motherboard USB or use a commercial PT that has an inline battery. The straight through passthroughs can never be used on a PC's USB and need a 2 or 3 amp USB to AC adapter.

 

[hairball]

Unless you know for sure what the output is on your USB, most modern day computers can't handle a 5V PT. Use a wall adapter to be on the safe side.

 

[dandelionwings]

I'm sorry that you've had so much trouble, but I'd like to thank you for sharing. I've always used my USB chargers into the wall charger sockets and have never thought to put it in my comp ( though I do use it with my car charger)---I would totally freak out if it killed my comp. appreciate the heads up to beware!

 

[5vz]

Here is what you need, don't know if it is the best brand or not, but it will work:

2 amp AC to USB Adapter, ideal for Passthroughs

 

[bigtiime]

Here is what you need, don't know if it is the best brand or not, but it will work:

2 amp AC to USB Adapter, ideal for Passthroughs

I have two of these for both my 3.7 and my 5 volt PTs. Working very well for me.

 

[subliminalurge]

Yeah, 2 amps is way more current than I'd ever want to try to pull through a PC USB port.

Truthfully, it's idiotic and just plain lazy of the designers to even use a USB plug as the connector for these.

 

[Traver]

Yeah, 2 amps is way more current than I'd ever want to try to pull through a PC USB port.

Truthfully, it's idiotic and just plain lazy of the designers to even use a USB plug as the connector for these.

Maybe but I like having one in my truck.

 

[subliminalurge]

Maybe but I like having one in my truck.

Well, sure. But that's not the point.

The point is that USB is an established, worldwide standard. People will expect, quite reasonably, that any cord with a USB connector on the end is perfectly safe to plug into any USB port that they have available.

Therefore, standard design principles dictate that if a device draws more power than a standards-conforming USB port can safely deliver, the device should use a different connector.

Not saying passthroughs aren't great, just saying that a device that draws 2 amps has no business using a USB connector. That's 4 times the power that the a USB 2.0 port that adheres to the standard can provide.

IMHO it simply shows laziness and complete disregard for the customer on the part of the product designer.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

I agree completely but some of the blame also has to rest on the shoulders of vendors. I can buy a cheap $20.00 DVD player and lo and behold it includes a user manual. Spend $100+ bux on a PV and the user has to literally scour the net looking for instructions. Fortunately, for myself, I spent 200- 300 hours beforehand so I had most of the info in hand but for new vapers this is a very weak link in regards to the vaping business IMHO.

Well, sure. But that's not the point.

The point is that USB is an established, worldwide standard. People will expect, quite reasonably, that any cord with a USB connector on the end is perfectly safe to plug into any USB port that they have available.

Therefore, standard design principles dictate that if a device draws more power than a standards-conforming USB port can safely deliver, the device should use a different connector.

Not saying passthroughs aren't great, just saying that a device that draws 2 amps has no business using a USB connector.

IMHO it simply shows laziness and complete disregard for the customer on the part of the product designer.

 

[jdub411]

That really sucks, you don't have a warranty on the dell server? If you try to claim it just broke they will never know the difference as far as why it burned up. Also griffin sells a package deal with a wall + car charger. They are solid, feel well made, I got the package on sale 19.99 for both.

Newegg.com - Griffin Technology Power Duo 2Amp Car & Home Charger Adapter for apple iPhone 4 / iPhone 4S - Black

 

[karmakatie]

I was worried about plugging in a pass through to my PC, so I just got a wall adapter and works well.

 

[bobdog]

What about charging my battery on my computer? I have an ego coming. Will that blow the computer too? Reason being is I'd like to use the PV at work, and thought I'd just plug it in in between uses to keep the battery charged up. BUT, I sure don't want to blow up my work computer. Newbie here BTW.

 

[I.V.]

I have to say you guys are an excellent bunch - so many good quality replies in such a short space of time. I think I feel a lot more comfortable experimenting with better set-ups now.

Good news I found a spare motherboard on ebay for £15 yay Long Live Ebay and ECF

 

[denali_41]

What about charging my battery on my computer? I have an ego coming. Will that blow the computer too? Reason being is I'd like to use the PV at work, and thought I'd just plug it in in between uses to keep the battery charged up. BUT, I sure don't want to blow up my work computer. Newbie here BTW.

i have an 900mah ego batt plugged in and charging on this laptop right now..been charging all my ego's that way,,
charge my phone on this laptop also.

 

[martinc]

Use a 7 or 10 ports usb hub;some are feeded with the very same adaptor as shown on page 1 (5V 500mah)

I use 2x7 ports with each channel switchable

What a mess uh

 

[araczynski]

lots of good info/warnings, thanks, makes me leary about using my 3.7 passthrough on my computer

 

[subliminalurge]

What about charging my battery on my computer? I have an ego coming. Will that blow the computer too?

Most likely not. The USB standard specifies that a port must be able to supply up to 500ma, so as long as the charger doesn't draw that much, you're fine. And you can get away with going a "little" over.

For example, the charger for my little gas station e-cig here says it outputs 120 ma. Now that's what it's putting into the battery, and battery chargers aren't 100% efficient, so it's actually going to be drawing slightly more than that. Probably in the 130 ma range, just as a wild guess.

When you get yours just look at the specs on the charger. As long as the output isn't drastically higher than 500 ma you're perfectly safe using it on any computer with a USB port.

An actual USB compliant device will actually negotiate the amount of power it draws with the USB controller in the computer. That's how your cell phone that can draw lots of power and charge fast when plugged into the wall can still be safely charged on your computer (although it will be slower).

But these cheapy little chargers aren't going to have the intelligence to do that. They're "dumb" devices that just draw all the power they can right off of the connector pins.

 

[subliminalurge]

i have an 900mah ego batt plugged in and charging on this laptop right now..

Just for clarity, it should be pointed out that a mah is not the same thing as a ma. 900mah is the capacity of your battery. It has nothing to do with how many ma your charger puts out. As long as the charger doesn't draw more (or much more) than 500 ma, you can safely charge ANY size battery off a USB port. Some will just take a very long time.

Think of your battery as a barrel. It holds 55 gallons (mah). Your charger is a pump pushing water into a garden hose. The number of gallons per minute (ma) that get pushed through the hose will determine how long it takes to fill the barrell. Even one drop every 5 minutes will fill the barrell. Eventually. Similarly, if you have a big honkin' pump and try to force a thousand gallons per minute through that garden hose, the hose will burst and you have problems.

(It's more complicated than that, but as quick analogies go, it'll do.....)

So, the capacity of the battery has absolutely nothing to do with whether you can safely charge it from a computer's USB port. What matters is how quickly the charger is trying to get it done.

 

[Trucapri]

Just for clarity, it should be pointed out that a mah is not the same thing as a ma. 900mah is the capacity of your battery. It has nothing to do with how many ma your charger puts out. As long as the charger doesn't draw more (or much more) than 500 ma, you can safely charge ANY size battery off a USB port. Some will just take a very long time.

Think of your battery as a barrel. It holds 55 gallons (mah). Your charger is a pump pushing water into a garden hose. The number of gallons per minute (ma) that get pushed through the hose will determine how long it takes to fill the barrell. Even one drop every 5 minutes will fill the barrell. Eventually. Similarly, if you have a big honkin' pump and try to force a thousand gallons per minute through that garden hose, the hose will burst and you have problems.

(It's more complicated than that, but as quick analogies go, it'll do.....)

So, the capacity of the battery has absolutely nothing to do with whether you can safely charge it from a computer's USB port. What matters is how quickly the charger is trying to get it done.

GREAT clarity!! I was wondering what the difference between ma and mah was. Thanks!!