I just realized I will have to touch up some solder on the 555 side. The holes are not through holes so I need solder on both sides =] for the wires and the POT. I did remember to solder both sides of the two via's.
My First Pulse Width Modulator Mod
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Yeah i should have said something the input wires and pot needed to be soldered both sides. That is also 3 oz copper per a side board so that wont help soldering since it will sink alot more heat then 1/2oz or 1 oz copper clad board. But i guess it is a good excuse to upgrade the Iron.
Shhhhhhhhh .....dont tell anybody this is top secret info here. But here is the link. I even have got some 4 oz per a side fro him but, it is rare that he has it. The price is not bad either.
10 shts Copper Clad Laminate, FR-4, .060, 4.5 x 6, 3oz | eBay
OK, guys the suspense is killing me, let's see a picture of some vapor.....
Well, board one was a fail. It's not oscillating. I must have killed the 555 because everything else checks out. It works as a complicated mosfet switch but not much else at this point. I am going to check it over one more time and if I don't come up with anything I will try again with board 2.
I do get great plumes of vapor from 8+ V but it doesn't taste very good.
Thanks man, never thought to look for that stuff on eBay.
I think the 3 oz is a little overkill for what I typically do with it, but the 2 oz stuff is good for me and that seller has it super cheap. Gonna order some.
If you visit that seller's store, it looks like there's tons of stock so I don't think there's any concern of it running low.
Oh, and I looked, he does have the 4 oz in stock, that's some seriously thick stuff, how do you even etch it?
Sorry to hear that man. Hopefully you'll have better luck with #2.
I've never vaped over 6V. I imagine 8V would be horribly hot.
I'm assuming I oriented the 555 chip correctly but there are no indexing spot. The only thing is that one edge has a line across it that I assumed indicated Pins 1 & 8. I "assumed" that if I look at the printing on the chip and it is sitting so that I am reading normally from left to right the #1 pin would be at the bottom left. This would put the line on the chip on the left edge.
You're correct about the line pointing to pin1. What brand is it?
Can you reproduce your circuit on this simulator and post a pic of it? This is a really cool little tool for small projects like this.
Circuit Simulator Applet
You can export a url from this applet linked above that will show your circuit pre built to other viewers
. This is an example of a higher part count 555 PWM circuit. Use the resistance slider on the right to watch the Pulsewidth changes in the scope.
555 PWM circuit
. This is an example of a higher part count 555 PWM circuit. Use the resistance slider on the right to watch the Pulsewidth changes in the scope.
555 PWM circuit
That applet is pretty amazing. Check out the author's applets page. Lots of cool stuff. I found the links section most interesting, especially this one.
Fascinating reading! I bet that guy is a hoot at a cocktail party
I consider myself somewhat intelligent, but every now and then someone like this James Beaty comes along and resets my perspective.
You can find stupid Doctors and stupid Lawyers, but you won't find a stupid EE. Rote memorization and studiousness just won't work in that field.
EDIT: I see what you were saying now that is correct. I just have a different top as to the way the board was designed. When i posted the board in here i considered how it looked in here the top of the image the top. Just 90 degrees difference....
Pin 1 should be top left. Pin 8 is Top Right. Here is the data sheet drawing of what it is supposed to be. Cant really tell from your pictures what side has the beveled edge. Other then that if in my experiances on the bread board if the diode gets turned around the circuit wont work right and you will get full output power. I will go over the circuit again pretty sure we got it exactly the same as the schematic.
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I dont seem to be able to get the circuit working corectly in the simulator, i think because the 555 chip is not programed with a ground pin.
Sent from my Nook Color running Honeycomb via tapatalk
I did not notice the beveled edge. So i do have the chip correct. I will try the diode prior to starting a new board. I would like to have this working tonight as i am heading to fargo tomorrow for a couple of days.
Sent from my Nook Color running Honeycomb via tapatalk
Sent from my Nook Color running Honeycomb via tapatalk
I got the board working. It appears the culprit was the diode being backwards. It seems the printing doesn't indicate direction on the ones I have. Also the contacts are underneath instead of on the ends making soldering difficult. I was testing on a couple of old burnt carto's as I don't have a battery setup for it yet. I have some 18350's on the way so I can test it out properly. My MM says I am getting a range around 2.5Vrms to 6 Vrms loaded. The range is different depending on the resistance of the carto.
I am currently working on fitting it into a switch housing now. I think I have two layouts figured out. I should be able to do the lever adjust and also just drill a hole to adjust it with a small screw driver. I will post pics of the finished product once I get it in working condition. I still have to find a good wire to run to the board and some small drill bits to enlarge the holes a bit for the wire.
I am currently working on fitting it into a switch housing now. I think I have two layouts figured out. I should be able to do the lever adjust and also just drill a hole to adjust it with a small screw driver. I will post pics of the finished product once I get it in working condition. I still have to find a good wire to run to the board and some small drill bits to enlarge the holes a bit for the wire.
I just checked tracking on my madvapes order and my batteries will be here this afternoon. I guess I will have to get moving on my switch body build and get it finished up now as I have no more excuses. That damn procrastinitus is hard on progress. I should say unless the honeydoo list has grown by the time I get home.
Glad to see it working. How does it vape ? Was pretty sure i transferred the circuit over to SMD correctly. I guess SO far the pot just needs to be moved forward a little bit. I might be etching again later today so let me know if you want a rev. 2 board or two. The slow boat from china finally came in Saturday and i got my 100 Ultra Bright UV LED's. So solder masking should go much smoother now. I whipped up this board yesterday, soldering 100 LED's is so much fun.
If you have extra boards I will have extra components, I would never turn them down. =] Hopefully I can get a mod up and running tonight when I get home from work. I was using a burnt carto while testing so I am not sure how it vapes yet. Wasn't willing to put a good one on until I got the Vrms down to a useable level =] It does look like just under 3Vrms is going to be the sweet spot however. Fighting battery sag under load is going to be the biggest headache with this setup. May need a large variably in the adjustment for different cartomizers.
I have 1K and 500ohm pots to try also to see what I get with them. Plus I am going to give Clutch's 1 resistor setup a try also to see what that does. I am assuming "boy is that an evil word" that it will change the operational frequency of the 555.
I have 1K and 500ohm pots to try also to see what I get with them. Plus I am going to give Clutch's 1 resistor setup a try also to see what that does. I am assuming "boy is that an evil word" that it will change the operational frequency of the 555.
I also noticed my crap Ultrafire 14500's don't do so well under this load.... They sag real bad. Hopefully the 18350 Trustfires do a better job. Otherwise I may have to spring for some IMR's. Where would be the best place to get them?
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