clutchjunkie's mods

[clutchjunkie]

I decided to make a thread for the mods I have made, so other people can get ideas and so I can contribute. I will keep all my mods in here, unless it just gets out of hand and I make too many, lol.

Anyway...

The BOOMbocks

This is my most recent mod. It looks pretty plain from the outside, the box is from DigiKey (it is a Serpac and it is 4.5 inches tall, I will have to look for a part # later.) Inside is where it counts.

I used a 2200 mah LiPo for the power on this thing instead of liIon. Lipo is not "safe" for those who are wondering, but it is a little teeny tiny bit safer than LiIon (but not much). This is the reason I have the polyfuse in the design, to give a little extra protection. Use LiPo at you own risk. The LiPo can discharge 44 amps constant and up to 66 amps for short bursts, so no worries about whether or not it will not be enough for an LR atty. It can definitely burn some sh-- down if you don't have some kind of protection against that though.

Here's the schematic, with plaigiarized clippings here and there from bigblue30's schematic on the evercool thread.

And a couple pics:

If your thinking it looks tight in there, it is. The battery takes up most of the inside of the box, I had to buy components and build around it. The led is the red/green 3mm that madvapes sells, it has 3 leads. The one in the middle is the +, and one outside is the - for green and the other is the - for red. The red overpowers the green, btw, if they are both on you will only see the red.

You will notice I used the switches on the negative side instead of the positive, I had to do this in order to use the led. It works just fine this way. I also clipped off the pin #1 on the ptr08060 as I am not ever going to use it.

The LiPo battery has lasted me two days so far, and is still at 7.4v. LiIon batteries generally are WAY overstated in their mAh, and the cheap ones tend to have a high internal resistance as well, so this battery should outlast a pair of "2200" mah LiIons easily.

I used:

TI ptr08060
10v 100uf caps (2)
240 ohm 1/4 watt resistor
640 ohm 1/4 watt resistor
200 ohm potentiometer
5 amp slide switch
3 amp pushbutton
MF-RHT650 polyfuse 6.5amp
3mm red/green led
A set of Deans plugs

and obviously the LiPo, case, wireing, and solder

 

[JuiceJunkie]

Nice mod clutch!!! I am wanting to use my TI ptr08060 chip in something.

 

[clutchjunkie]

You should! it's awesome, all the power you will ever need for vaping. Technically, it can handle TWO dual coil carto's at 4.8v if you have a battery that can keep up. That, and assuming you don't pass out from all the vapor at once.

Anywayz, I posted pics of this in the "New SoCal store" thread originally, but it belongs here. It is my ptr04050 mod, using a digital potentiometer. The two silver buttons adjust the voltage up and down, the black one on top is the on/off switch and the red button is for action.

Holds two 14500's and is made out of the Madvapes nimh charger they sell in the "battery holder" area. It doesn't hit near as hard as the BOOMbocks as the trustfires can barely handle an amp each, I am probably gonna get a pair of AW IMR's for it and see if that helps.

And a sneak preview of my next mod, a simple 3.7v boxmod more for the cool factor than anything else. That battery should be good for a couple days of heavy vaping though.

 

[outofjuice]

i was eying that charger for a encloses...
details please sir!

 

[clutchjunkie]

Alright, I am updating this thread because I am going to have some more pics later today (can't right now, no camera) and some of my mods I felt like I should mention a few things about.

The blue "battery charger" mod didn't last so long. The plastic the charger is made out of is kinda cheap and mine kept cracking all over the place. I took the electronics out of it and put them in the NES controller, which ended up being a sick mod for the entire day the ptr04050 lasted. The TI chip died on a dual coil, so that whole mod experience is on the back burner for a while. I still have the NES controller though, it's pretty slick and I plan on doing something with it eventually. I can't honestly recommend those "USB battery chargers" as housings for mods anymore though.

The VVii will get some updated pics here in a few hours, I changed a few things when I put the V-PWM (variable pulse width modulation) circuit in it. It has been my main PV for over a month and it is a sick beast, pure workhorse status. It is just too big for a pants pocket. Which lead me to my latest project I made this weekend...

The real reason for the update will also get some love once I am done here at work, I will save discussing the whole thing until then so I don't get 50 posts of "PICS!?!?! PICS OR IT DIN'T HAPPEN!?!?!" in the meantime.

 

[CraigHB]

The LiPos are great, I use them as well. They have lower internal impedance and higher charge density than other chemistries. Though, they need the same kind of protection a LiCo cell does.

The main thing is over-current protection which you've covered with the PTC fuse. I also use PTC fuses for that purpose. I've used them in various projects besides e-cig mods and they perform very well in bench tests.

The LiPos can dishcarge deeper than other Li-Ions without damage. The ones I use can go down to 2.2V, but you still need to make sure you don't over-discharge them.

It sounds like you're using 10C batts which is good. The 2C ones are more common and with the smaller capacities, it's easy to go over-current with them. Over-currents will cause them to vent same as LiCo. The 10C ones are harder to find and more expensive.

The big disadvantge with them is they're expensive and there's no convenient way to charge them other than a charging port built into the mod.

 

[clutchjunkie]

The LiPos are great, I use them as well. They have lower internal impedance and higher charge density than other chemistries. Though, they need the same kind of protection a LiCo cell does.

The main thing is over-current protection which you've covered with the PTC fuse. I also use PTC fuses for that purpose. I've used them in various projects besides e-cig mods and they perform very well in bench tests.

The LiPos can dishcarge deeper than other Li-Ions without damage. The ones I use can go down to 2.2V, but you still need to make sure you don't over-discharge them.

It sounds like you're using 10C batts which is good. The 2C ones are more common and with the smaller capacities, it's easy to go over-current with them. Over-currents will cause them to vent same as LiCo. The 10C ones are harder to find and more expensive.

The big disadvantge with them is they're expensive and there's no convenient way to charge them other than a charging port built into the mod.

10c?!? Pffft... I'm not sure I own anything under 20c anymore and even those are scarce. Check out hobbypartz.com for cheap but good LiPo's, it's all R/C stuff but everything ships from stateside. I believe you can get as high as 40c from them and every battery I have gotten has held its rated mAh. Also look at hobbyking's USA warehouse, they have a lot of LiPo's as well. Most 2s LiPo's I use cost less than a single cell li-ion. Convenience is a small issue for me, but I am used to taking the batteries out of my heli's and trucks to charge them so I am already set up for that.

Anyway, I couldn't take it anymore so I too a little break to snap some photos. They are cameraphone pics, but they give a good idea what is going on. My first wood mod:

Oak and Bubinga.

Main on/off switch. This may be going bye-bye on my next one.

The adjustment pot. This is also getting changed.

I thought the brass hinge would look more classy for some reason. It is going going gone on the next one, there will be a hidden wood hinge instead.

The battery and how you swap it.

It uses the V-PWM circuit I posted HERE except the tactile switch goes from battery + to pin 8 and not the atty.

I like it a lot, it looks nice and works great, but there are a lot of little things I want to change so I am already building another one. I can get the size down a little and incorporate a couple of features I missed all at the same time. No, they are not for sale (yet) but I will think about it after I build some with all the changes I want to make. It takes a lot of time and effort to make a wood mod nice, I can definitely appreciate what other people put into them now that I have built one.

 

[aziffel]

nice work..

 

[CraigHB]

Nice looking mod there.

I've actually looked at those hobby LiPos before, but they're in packs with the required RC connectors. I'd have to take them apart for my application. The rates are high which is good, but I only need a 10C battery so I don't know what kind of trade-off, if any, is involved there. Might have to pick one up and see what I can do with it. I've been buying then stand-alone for general purpose which is more expensive it seems.

Thanks, that's a good tip. They are cheaper that way and have really high discharge rates.

Edit: Oh wow, I was looking at HobbyKing and they sell 20C individual 2200mAh cells for like 4 bucks, that's super cheap, like you said, cheaper than a round cell. Thanks again, that's way cheaper than where I was getting them before, like a third the price. I'm going to order some.

 

[clutchjunkie]

A new take on my wood mod, V2:

it's about 1/2" shorter, 1/4" less wide and 1/16" thinner.

The blue button is the "hit" button. There is no master on/off switch. But then, what's this litle guy?

The "boost" button. Press it during a hit to get an extra .5v of power.

The back. No more unsightly hinge.

Adjustment pot. I am thinking of making a little knob that I can CA glue on to it to make it easier for end users to adjust.

The battery door is held on with rare earth magnets.

I am already thinking ahead to version 3. The ergonomics are going to be improved a bit, and it is going to take a significantly larger battery but still be about the same size. The entire back won't come off, just the bottom to expose a port to plug in a LiPo charger. Also, it is currently 808 threaded with an adapter to take 510/eGo stuff. The next one will be native ego threaded now that I found a place that sells actual ego battery connectors.

 

[Robert T]

Very nice looking box and wood work, what batt is that?

Robert

 

[jimbalny]

nice job with the lipos! I just ordered myself 2x aw imr 26500's, might have to make my next mod outta one of them as well! POWERR!!!!!

 

[notsmoking]

Clutch.... you sure do have a talent for building mods... I wish I was half as good as you and some of the others I see here.

 

[bydus]

are you selling any of these mods? i would get one if I could maybe a portable 1200 or 2400 lipo batt mod with matt black finish ? xD