Help-How to wire up a Maglite AA?

[Metalhead]

As I have seen them on here- I wanted to make a quick system(simple style- using just the twist for the on/off and the lens to put the battery/atomizer connection in) while I'm waiting for my next shipments of stuff to come in....

I have plenty of spares...901's or penstyles...but when I took apart the Mag lite expecting to see a circuit board there was none, so now I'm confused on how to get it connected...anyone have some insight?

Thanks
josh

 

[Metalhead]

Ok...I just had a thought(scary!)...but couldn't I just attach the wires using the prongs on the bulb? ( I was actually thinking I could cut the prongs off and then connect the red and green wires to the prongs and then insert the prongs AKA like the bulb? would this work or am I making it too simple or complicated?)

 

[quaa]

Ok...I just had a thought(scary!)...but couldn't I just attach the wires using the prongs on the bulb? ( I was actually thinking I could cut the prongs off and then connect the red and green wires to the prongs and then insert the prongs AKA like the bulb? would this work or am I making it too simple or complicated?)

i dunno, im kind of new to this, but get a multimeter out and measure voltage to see what kind of voltage the Led connectors are getting. I think it it was around 3V it would be good! could be wrong but yeah.. hmm i might try this!

 

[radiokaos]

i dunno, im kind of new to this, but get a multimeter out and measure voltage to see what kind of voltage the Led connectors are getting. I think it it was around 3V it would be good! could be wrong but yeah.. hmm i might try this!

I think 3 volts might not give you enough punch. I could be wrong but other modders were above 3.6 and some went up to 6 volts (wow).

 

[Metalhead]

Thanks guys....so supposing it has enough power would that be the correct(or at least a way) to connect the wiring?

 

[Metalhead]

also I gotta think that 2 AA's would have more punch than these silly 901 batts..no?

 

[radiokaos]

also I gotta think that 2 AA's would have more punch than these silly 901 batts..no?

The 901 batteries are small but they have the right voltage and chemestry (ie. Li-ion). Plus the 901 batteries are at least 3.2 volts on a good charge. Simple AA batteries are at 1.2 volts, and if you do the math it will come up short. Go ahead and give it a try and report back. I have a strong feeling that the voltage will be weak and not give you a ton of vapor. There are some special AA's out there that have higher voltage which might do the trick. Try looking into the magum mod and see what he used.

 

[fenez]

aa 3.6 true fire

 

[quaa]

try 3 AA's

 

[nicowolf]

Metalhead, if no one has posted the how to for you by the time I wake up, I will type a very detailed one for you. I just don't have the patience to do it at this moment. You are on the right track with using the existing bulb contacts. Now you have to figure out which is negative and which is positive. That is the part that gets into detailed description. It is 2:22 AM here and I must get to bed. This thread will be the first thing I check when I wake up, so keep me posted if you figure it out without me.

 

[nicowolf]

Ok, first remove the flared part of the flashlight (like you were going to change the bulb) and the tailcap. Stick an inkpen or something similar into the battery compartment (there is a plastic piece you will need to hold in place with the inkpen). Pull the bulb out. There is a black piece of plastic that the bulb went into that says "Do not remove" (of course, we must now remove it). Using tweezers or a knife, gently pry this plastic part off while holding the inkpen firmly against the end of the battery compartment. You will now be able to see the plastic piece that your inkpen is holding in place. This plastic part will tell you where to put your positive and negative wires. When you look at the plastic part, you will see a metal tab that makes contact with the edge of the hole you are looking through. This is your negative contact. It ends near the center of the plastic part you are holding in place. That end point is where your bulb made its negative contact. Take note of which side it is on, then gently replace the other plastic part that you took off. Feed a wire into the hole in that plastic part that corresponds with your negative contact. The other end of this wire goes to the outside of your connector for the atomizer (the part usually salvaged from a dead e-cig battery). Feed another wire into the other hole. This is your positive wire. The other end will go to the center of your atomizer connector. In most mods we would put a switch in the positive line, but you have stated you want a simple twist on like the flashlight already had. So, no switch, just a straight shot from the battery to the atomizer. Replace your tailcap as it is part of the negative side of the circuit. Mount your atomizer connection as you had planned. Reassemble flashlight and enjoy.

Here is my two cents on the battery issue. Two AA batteries will produce some vapor with a 901 atomizer, but not efficiently, quickly, or abundantly. It will take more time to heat up the atomizer than the original 901 battery did. You can get a lithium battery the same size. It is called 14500. You cannot use two of the lithium batteries with it though. Two 14500 batteries stacked like that is about 7.2 volts. I have tried this with 901 atomizers and it kills them dead instantly. If you go for the lithium battery, you will need to use a spacer of some sort (rare earth magnets work nicely) to fill the space of one battery (50mm).

 

[Metalhead]

Nico- great info! thank you! Happy Bunnies! Josh

 

[Ramblin]

Here is my two cents on the battery issue. Two AA batteries will produce some vapor with a 901 atomizer, but not efficiently, quickly, or abundantly. It will take more time to heat up the atomizer than the original 901 battery did. You can get a lithium battery the same size. It is called 14500. You cannot use two of the lithium batteries with it though. Two 14500 batteries stacked like that is about 7.2 volts. I have tried this with 901 atomizers and it kills them dead instantly. If you go for the lithium battery, you will need to use a spacer of some sort (rare earth magnets work nicely) to fill the space of one battery (50mm).

Seems like you could rig up a system with caps and wires to have 2 14500 batteries in parallel. Battery 1 negative to battery 2 negative, same for positive. Still putting our 3.5 volts but twice the reserve power?

 

[ceo51378]

Seems like you could rig up a system with caps and wires to have 2 14500 batteries in parallel. Battery 1 negative to battery 2 negative, same for positive. Still putting our 3.5 volts but twice the reserve power?

That's the way to go. It would probably last about a week of vaping too.

 

[nicowolf]

Seems like you could rig up a system with caps and wires to have 2 14500 batteries in parallel. Battery 1 negative to battery 2 negative, same for positive. Still putting our 3.5 volts but twice the reserve power?

I know it is possible to do, but seems silly to me as I am still carrying that battery around with me. I could just use one at a time and have the same effect... I think? Anyhow they are already about 4 times the capacity of an OEM battery, that gets me through my long days rather well. It would probably be a good idea though for someone who wanted to go camping in the wilderness for 3 days at a time. My version of camping, though is no internet access. I stick to climate control.

 

[blackopz]

I'm Building one of these as we speak.. My advice is read madog's post and use the Magnum.. there isn't a whole lot of room in the mini..
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modders-forum/3759-my-diy-dse901-magnum-power.html

 

[MoonMan]

Metalhead, if no one has posted the how to for you by the time I wake up, I will type a very detailed one for you. I just don't have the patience to do it at this moment. You are on the right track with using the existing bulb contacts. Now you have to figure out which is negative and which is positive. That is the part that gets into detailed description. It is 2:22 AM here and I must get to bed. This thread will be the first thing I check when I wake up, so keep me posted if you figure it out without me.

If he's just using the existing bulb contacts, I don't think polarity matters. The atomizer is just a wire that heats up, it has no polarity.

That goes for all mods, really. It shouldn't matter which sides of the battery you hook to the atomizer inner and outer contacts, as long as the circuit is completed correctly it will light up.

 

[blackopz]

The problem that I ran into is the bulb wires are really thin a it was difficult (with my very limited soldering skills) to solder to these wires. I have also added a couple of 1N4001 Micro 1A Diodes to reduce the voltage since I plan to use 2 14500 batteries.. If anyone doing this the I found out that it does matter which way the diode is orientated otherwise it won'twork. Also, I'm adding a LED... and of corse after soldering is when I discovered that there is a positive and negative wire for the LED. you live you learn I guess

 

[KoS]

Think of a diode as a funnell with a ball in it. Electrisity flows from the neg (-) to the pos (+) . A diode looks like this (+) >| (-). Now if their was a ball in the funell and water flowed from the neg to the pos. But if water tried to flow from the pos to neg the ball would block the flow

 

[RadarLuv]

I thought I would pass this along , although I know it's been done. Just to answer the question of the poster who asked about a two triple a supply. Imho you should use three AAA batteries at least and possible four. If you use the rechargeable version NiMH battery they are rated at 1.2V. Put three in and you have 3.6V, exactly the rated voltage of the lithium batteries in the original e-cig. I am using a box from Radio Shack #270-1802 and battery holder 270-412. Seems to work well. I pried the connecting end off of an old battery (901 style) and drilled a hole in the box just big enough to press it in. I soldered the wires in place before doing this. Then press it in place and wire a sub-miniature momentary contact switch also from the shack between the supply line, either one should do but I used the center one. Then install 3 AAA in the box using a rubber band or tape to hold the batteries in (from experience). You have to block the hole in the center of the connector or you will get too much air. Then close up, screw on an atty and enjoy. Hope this helps. If you don't like the look of the box, then you may want to try thw "two dollar torch mod" as seen on Youtube. Same number (3) AAA batteries, but in a small flashlight case. The fellow did a nice job on the video works great costs little.