Desktop Unit ???

[robtest]

So I have seen a couple tutorials on DIY mods and thinking about doing one.


I was pondering the pros and cons of maybe a desktop/tabletop device that would sit beside the computer...

Has anyone done such a thing?

I tried searching, but it seems that they were doing big desktop batteries and running the current to a hand held unit. I want to do a fully self contained desktop unit with a tube running up to a mouthpiece only...



Is it possible to using tubing like from an aquarium in a 2' length with a mouthpiece on it?


I guess I could start with that on one of my existing PVs but wanted to know if anyone has tried it before buying tubing...

Thanks in Advance!

 

[Java_Az]

The problem with having the vaporizer so far away from the tip is it will lose a lot of the heat and some of the vapor by the time it gets to your mouth. That has a profound impact on the quality of the vape. It is almost like your vaping air. This is one of the main reasons most of the hookah projects i have seen and heard about have failed. So you might want to save yourself the cash unless you don't mind really weak vapor

 

[Cyrus Vap]

sorry misread lol

 

[user808a]

I agree that a long tube is a bad idea.

 

[MadmanMacguyver]

Tested that theory...Very bad Idea...will not provide any TH by the time it gets to ya and condensate will drip down inside tube and pretty much ruin the atty...on the other hand run wires inside tube and use the shell of a cheap tube mod and a good button on the end...

The advantage to an E hookah is really having it powered by A/C ....using batts in such a device is optional...if you use a good quality regulator and and a realtime voltage meter you wind up w a very nice device...switching batts when you are just sitting at your desk or watching TV is such a pain...

 

[robtest]

Okay, so on to new thoughts ...

PowerPal eGo-T USB VV Mini-PT Battery
1 x PowerPal eGo-T USB Mini-PassThrough Battery Variable Voltage

High quality and easy to use. It has the 5-click Variable Voltage feature with 4 different voltage settings:

3.2 Volts

3.7 Volts

4.2 Volts

5.0 Volts

This is a stylish little PassThrough Battery with a long 1.2m USB Cable, although small this baby packs a big punch! The Voltage can be changed on the top of the battery by simply 5-clicking the battery to your preferred voltage up to 5.0V! Vape all-day from your USB port without worrying about recharging any batteries.

This battery is available in Stainless, with a lighted color LED button that displays the selected voltage when in use. It has a 510/eGo thread and can be used with any 510 or eGo Atomizer/Cartomizers - (Sean's choice- Stardust V2 Clearomizer with 3.2ohm Heads).


And Add a:

Product Description
PowerGen Mobile Juice Pack Duo-Power has a convenient dual USB port design for charging two device simultaneously. IIntelligent circuitry provides safe and highly efficient charging. Top quality battery cells assure long life. PowerGen Mobile Juice Pack is fully compliant with international safety standards.

Specs:
- Fully Charged by 1A Adapter: 9-10hrs
- Fully Charged by 10w Adapter (Not included): 5-6Hrs
- Life Cycle > 500 Times
- Input: DC 5V / 1500mA
- Output1 : DC 5.3V / 2000mA and DC5.3v / 600mA
- Dimension: 3.8 x 2.5 x .87 in.



ANYONE done anything like this? Not really a mod at this point, but a system with off the shelf components...

I guess since I get a couple days out of my 18650 battery, one might ask "What's the point" ...

 

[robtest]

Okay, so I broke down and ordered a usb battery pack...




Amazon.com: EasyAcc 12000mAh Power Bank 4 x USB Port Portable External Battery Pack Charger for Tablets: Apple iPad; Kindle Fire HD, Google Nexus 7; Samsung Galaxy Tab; for Mobile Phones: iPhone 5, 4s, 4, 3GS, 3G; Samsung Galaxy Series S3 i9300, S2 i

The multiport is the constricting problem, but this one had a feature that the others didn't seem to have...

"Overload Protection Current: The max output current is 3.5A, it will auto shuts the circuit when the output current exceeds 3.5A, and turns to normal when overload lifted."

Now is when I get "iffy" on my electrical knowledge... How do I figure out how many amps a passthrough will draw? Is there a formula that can calculate it based on voltage and the resistance of the tank... I know that is how the watts are calculated for the VW mods...

And then deciding if I want the stubby passthrough like in the pic above or one of the slimmer ego types... Since I can't just let it be, I will use some plexi-glass and try and build some type of stand on top of the unit that would hold 2-3 passthru/tanks and maybe a couple bottles of juice...

 

[Thompson]

Amps = Watts/Volts in the DC world

So you'll need to calculate out the wattage (dependent on the Ohms/Resistance of your atomizers/cartomizer)

Say a 2.8 Ohm @ 4v:

Watts = (4*4)/2.8 = 5.71
Amps = 5.71/4 = 1.43

At least, I'm pretty certain.

 

[robtest]

Thanks! Yes, I found that formula too... And been playing with it some...

My 2.4ohm head on the Nova tank placed on the lambo at 4v worked out to 6.67 watts and 1.67 amps.

BTW, I appreciate the Watts formula!!! I was cheating on the Vaping Power Chart 2.0

https://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9dkanCt0I1qc8949o2_1280.png

So it looks like 2 passthroughs is doable, but probably not 3 of them... Maybe I can find a higher amp output battery, although I am sure that it is reduced as these devices are really made to recharge expensive gear like tablets and smart phones... LOL

And now I am back to my noobie knowledge base on "how much wattage is a good vape" ... I have been playing with my zmax a bit, and learning my way through the menus, and seem to have settled on a 5.5-6.0watt as a good range for me on vaping... So everything still kinda matches...

But my dreams of a digital hookah that would blow a couple peoples heads back with vape is diminished somewhat...

 

[Thompson]

I think its still a feasible idea to make a hookah type device, but you would have to have electrical leads up to connectors on each tube, instead of having the tube fed some where on the device. Which is where I see your going with the battery pack and passthroughs (i'm a bit slow today ).

It seems that passthroughs generally have to have a battery inline instead of just directly passing it from source to connector. So I'm now a bit curious if there is a work around or if a hookah type device would have to have a battery in place.

But currently I'm the only person in my social group who uses a PV, so it wouldn't be too applicable for my situation except just being kind of bad ... haha

It would be cool to have a digital screen and dial to adjust voltage across the board. Everybody could use their own flavors, choice of atomizer or carto/clearo, etc.

I'm sure with some electrical knowledge (mine is very finite heh) it would be possible.

I really enjoy using my hookah but I refuse to use it inside now (I've put a few burns in some carpets haha) and with it snowing outside, that isn't much of an option either. Plus the general fragile existence of hookahs.

 

[robtest]

The project may have taken an evil turn...

But I need to get v1 done first before starting v2,,, Anywho I was in Lowes yesterday and found a car/usb adapter with 2 ports, one being a 2.1amp ... for $8

I wonder what would happen if you put a set of 3 of those on a 12v system... The little car/usb has the electronics to step down the voltage... Perhaps a small motorcycle battery, or maybe some of those RC Plane batteries I have sitting in the "toy room"

I guess I need a formula now to calculate 3300mAh 11v batteries to the equilvalent XXXXmAh on a 5v system... And maybe some 3ohm+ cartos ... LOL

 

[MattBott]

Do you need your desktop unit to be battery powered? I'd think getting some sort of power block (think power cord from a laptop) to power it would be nice. Then the box could spit out a few RCA female connections, then build a stick with an RCA female connection -> button -> 510 connector.

You'd have to do some calculating to get the voltage right from the power brick though.

 

[robtest]

Trying to go for some portability, so battery powered would be best. Thinking about a unit to sit on the table on the back porch to be used by the vapers in our singles group at parties...

 

[robtest]

Everything seems so much bigger on the internet...

Okay, so I got some parts in... My battery pack and my vv passthru's and some of the new 1ml nano tanks... My heart fell a little when I was reading the instructions and came across the following in the documentation:

usb1:2.1A, usb2:1.0A, usb3:1.3A, usb4:0.5A So it appears that only usb1 is full 2.1A power, so back to the drawing board, searching for a usb Y cable with the proper genders (2 male, 1 female)... Found plenty with the little usb mini-male on the bottom of the Y cable, but you can't find a female mini usb to reg F usb... Or atleast not the couple places I tried, and "mini usb" returns too many hits... Then I found this...

OEM UTStarcom USB Y Adapter Cable for HTC HD2 - YC150B $6.50 shipped from Amazon...

And yes, I realize that my earlier projections were in the 1.667 range, so usb3:1.5A isn't too awefully underpowered... But with the cable, I will get the ability to combine usb2&usb3 for a 2.3A rating... usb1&usb4 would combine for a 2.6A rating... So atleast it is back to normal...

So hooked it all up and tried it. It seems to work. Waiting to hear back from tech support what the nano tubes are rated at... My Lambo v4 says 3.0, but that seems high for a "nano" tube... This thing may be cool out on the deck at a party soon...

Now I am trying to fabricate a stand and will finish by making a plexi stand, once I find a design I like... Here is what it currently looks like. Thinking about maybe a shelf piece around mid-way down to store a couple bottle of juice, extra tank/clearomizers, etc. Use the cross members as drawer sides... But given the size of my juice bottles, it would need to be lower to not hit the two nano passthrus... Oh well, that is why we fabricate in cardboard...

 

[robtest]

Okay, so cutting plexiglass has turned into a new skillset... that I do not yet possess ... Seems my little cardboard tray does allow slide together assembly/disassembly for portability but is a little too intricate ... And perhaps the thin piece I got to practice on is a little too brittle... So digging out the dremel tool and playing with some tips I have never had use for yet... And it is rough but getting there. Plexiglass isn't too expensive, thank goodness... For now, it all fits just fine in a little plastic hobby box with 4-5 bottles of juice.

Ran into a second issue, revolving around the current flow... Seems the little battery unit has a cutoff timer. So if it has no current draw for 15 seconds, it shutsdown... Damn, just damn... I understand why it does it, but still... So it needs a current draw to stay active. Charging a cell phone (intended use of the battery pack) works great, but I have been playing with an old rechargeable 510 style battery as a key...

As far as functionality, the battery is awesome... 12000 mAh calculated at 100 mAh per hour vape time, would yield 2 people over 2 days straight vaping!!! I have given up on the little nano tank. It is nice looking but the little holes are just too small to feed juice effectively. I thought I had found the perfect little deal to taste test with, but just wont feed enough juice to the head... I have swapped to my Nova/miniNova tanks and they work fine. The little passthrough is great and tiny at the same time. I was surprised how small they were. They dwarf attached to a Nova tank. It is a standard 5 button push... I like running them on the 3rd "Red" setting, which is 4.2v I think. Produces plenty of vape...

Pricing has been very good if a couple wanted a setup to sit and watch tv with... $45 for the battery, $20 each for the passthru units, $12 each for the nova tanks ... So ~$120 shipped for the whole thing...


Okay, back to the shop to work on my dremel/plexi skillz...

 

[TheVap3Junkie]

I have easy access to 5v ac adaptors and have made a couple ac power passthrus. I've also thought about making a desktop unit with a potentiometer on it to do vv but it would be a 510 connection with a button coming out of a control box. A long tube is a bad idea.

 

[robtest]

So we broke in the "Digital Hookah 12k" at trivia last Tuesday... It vaped awesomely !!! Biggest issue is the "key" to keep it running without shutting off. We had a little 450mAh ego battery, which charged back up pretty quick. One of the ladies had her ego batteries with her and we charged all 4 of them in the 2 hours that we sat and vaped and played trivia... I tried the little desktop LED light that plugs into a usb port, but it doesn't draw enough current to keep the battery on... I may have to fabricate something with a dome light from a car or something???

So we were sitting there and the waitress walks up and says "What the Heck, is that like an electric hookah or something?", I replied "Yes", and she says "That is so cool!!!"

 

[robtest]

Ordered a 3rd passthrough unit on BlackFriday! And figured out my "key" issue... $1 for a usb cable and $1.99 for a 4.7v 700mAh lightbulb from RadioShack and a little electric tape... It is not pretty but does the job... I may have to make a nicer one later (maybe run the bulb up into the plexi-glass if I ever get that done...

The unit will run 2 passthroughs at 5v and 1 passthrough at 4.2v ... With them all three on 5v, it trips the 3.5amp limit and cuts off the unit... But it should be good now for 3 people to sit around for a few hours and vape away!!!

 

[Rnoserious]

The Digital hooka kicks ash!!!