Not bad at all,you are greatly underestimating yourself bud.
Cant be more compact than that,nice choice of sealed container (tank) will last a long time (5ml?)
Got to get that led working,I am curious.
The tanks are both 5ml versions. The issue right now is I only own 2 tanks and in 18350 configuration, they're a smidge too tall (see the first pict, the top of the tank is SUPPOSED to be flush! I could've made the case a little taller but I wanted it to have a "rib" at the top and bottom. If I'd made it the correct length I'd only have a "rib" at one end and not both) and in the 18500 version they're quite a bit short. Until I can get some tank tubing to cut to the correct length I put a 510-510 shorty extender below the 18500 tank, and it's STILL not flush!
LEDs! ARGGGGG!!!!! I'm so mad about them! I originally never planned to have any LEDs, then at the last moment before putting on the bottom plate I somehow convinced myself to shoehorn in 2 LEDs to backlight a small plexi "slot" (the "slot" is visible in the new pics I'll post below). Since the usuable space my bottom piece amounts to very little I struggled mightily with those darn things. Finally got them working, put on the bottom plate and painted and now they don't!
One nice thing is I did design this so that there's both posititive and negative running to all 3 pieces (top, middle, bottom). I did this because I have some thin textured plexi and I MAY decide to make a middle section with it and put some LEDs in it to light the tank.
That's NICE!I been wantin to do a similar mod,What was that?
LOL, it's pretty much a bunch of plastic, some metal, and a crap-ton of man hours because I'm not handy, most modders here could whip something like this out in an hour or 2, it took me more like 60 hours! Though in my defense, I ended up doing about 5 coats of paint and 2 of clear which took forever since it's 15 degrees here and even with a space heater it takes forever for the paint to set. I also think that that's why my finish didn't turn out as smooth as I'd like.
Nice mod!! I love my Don in 18350... But I love your Battery and tank side by side concept!! Very nice concept!! PM me the moment you decide to sel!
I will NEVER sell because someone else can do a much better job, using much better materials, much quicker! Hopefully though someone WILL sell something like this as to me it's about perfect! The 18500 version, using an 18350 and Kick would rock! Or for those wanting longer battery life, an 18650 version with an 18500+Kick!
OK, OK, really??, what's with the sudden bout of FALSE humility sweeping the modders!!!
Not only is that an awesome mod concept; but it's executed pretty damn well too!
Being mostly plastic, I doubt it could withstand a fall. I agree about the concept, I do really like it as it's about as compact as I can imagine a 5ml tank pv.
hate to ask a stupid question, because i may have missed it somewhere but, what is that case?
FYI, it looks pretty darn nice to me.
LOL, well... it's a long story but since my only tool is a dremel, I started by looking at using 2 cheapo flashlights but I couldn't visualize how *I* would be able to make them work. So I ran across these (
1/2" End Closure at Menards) and that's what I used as a starting point for the top and bottom pieces. They're relatively strong but still flex more than I wanted so I wrapped them with some 1mm thick plastic sheeting I had (you can find it at hobby stores for model building).
The middle section starts with these
(2) 4" Standard Base Socket Covers, White Plastic at Menards which are the perfect diameter for the tanks (though a smidge larger than necessary for the batteries). Those plastic tubes are quite thin and are strong lengthwise but deform too easily when squeezed. So I actually cut 4 lengths and put one inside of another (so each "tube" is actually 2 layers of this tubing - which comes 4" long and so even if doing an 18650 length, one package would be enough. Then, with the tube "wrap" glued to the tube, I then glued 2 tubes together side-by-side. Once dried I filled in the space with epoxy. After that dried I dremeled out a grove running from top to bottom of each side of the middle section. In the grove I installed these (
Bullet Splice, Red at Menards) with wire connecting the top anf bottom together. Note, to be safe (and to lower resistance?) I not only crimped/soldered wire as intended, but I also ran another length of wire soldered to the outside of the connectors. I could have skipped the solder and just crimped (I'm soldering challenged!) but they actually were quite easy to work with. So, once those were wired/soldered up, I glued them into the groves and then covered that with epoxy. When all dry I sanded and sanded and sanded to get it all as smooth as possible. At this point I found that the epoxy made the middles quite strong, but the edges where it was just 2 layers of super thin tubing were way to flexible for my liking. So I wrapped the same 1mm plastic sheeting around the who thing. That has multiple benefits, one it strengthens it (though not as much as you'd want from a commercial mod), second it makes it flush with the size of the top/bottom pieces and third, It allowed me to use some textured plastic sheeting I had! That's what the textured "ribbing" is on the 18350 version. For the 18500 version I just wrapped wood veneer instead of the plastic.
Quite attractive what you got going there, I suppose a 18650 version is just out of the question?
I'm sure I'll do an 18650 (I've got some brushed aluminum paint I may use for it) but for me I rather have something smaller and I care little about battery life. I've been using auto 901 batteries so even an 18350 would be a HUGE improvement in battery life.
Here's some additional pics to show the LED "slot" (arrrrggggg!) and a size comparison to a pack of analogs:
