OMG Info Overload bout MODS (battery/circuits help)

[interestingfellow]

OK, I'm just gonna go on a quick and dirty rant, and anyone can jump in when they feel tickled.
I'm not a doof (apparently "mor on" is a bad word at ECF), and maybe this is intrinsically wrong to say, but there needs to be a "mods for idiots" sticky or something.

I use a Riva510, everyday, and have come to understand alot more about e-cigs through reading here, and getting/using my first e-cig.
And now, i'm on to a fairly ambitious mod. More on that wayyyy later.

so, you have the e-cig (or mod). something to hold juice, something to warm it up, and something to power it. simple enough: until you really start looking.

Juice holder - duh
Atty - duh (kinda)
higher resistances for higher voltages (5v+), and/or lower resistances for lower (3.7ish) voltages.

Now onto the battery(s) and circuits (the dirty part).
Lipo, Life, NMC are probably the top 3 and I'll leave the reader to look up the differences. Protection is HIGHLY recommended (read the sticky) but also is an option while purchasing.
How do you know if it's protected? Space is a constraint so I'm looking at doing 2 batts in parralell, maybe a couple of crc123's or CR2's/15270's. Those batteries are more for series/HV? would there be anything wrong going parralell for LR?
what's wrong with batteries off ebay? like this.
Should I also include another protection circuit in my mod? I was looking at the helix, with the LCD readout as inspiration; does something like that have protected cells, as well protection from its logic board?
what about charging? The redneck DIY peak charger for RC cars is a DMM and standard charger; hook up the DMM in paralell while charging, wait for the .1v drop, disconnect, and go race. Of course you have to make sure you aren't exceeding the charge rating of the cells, but how much can you rely on the cell's protection circuit for charging? I want to build my mod as a pass through with built in charger (this just makes sense); where do I start looking for that info?
Can you just buy a protected charging/operating circuit?



I had the idea of building a mod for my first e-cig just like an Ego/Riva before i knew what they were, which worked out well cause I found it and love it!
But now I'm raising the bar, and want a wicked mod. Please halp (pretend you can hear that in a bad Mila/Leeloo impression).

TIA!

 

[AttyPops]

This is another possible "snails" (no reply) thread so I'll pop in.

First off, welcome to the modder's section. Congratulations on being curious and ambitious enough to want to make a mod. It's really fun, and rewarding too. After you make a mod or two, you will no longer feel constrained to purchasing the off-the-shelf stuff. With that said, it does take some time, equipment and experience.

There are plenty of threads that you can find if you use the search that talk about built-in charging solutions. Most don't bother... they just use an external charger and replaceable battery. The battery usually has the protection circuit, but a separate PCB for protection can be purchased. See the datasheet for that specific device. I think madvapes sells some. I'm sure you can find others in electronics retailers like digikey or mouser.

The basic idea here, though, would be:
1) Batteries have a limited lifetime. If you build a mod, you would want the battery to be replaceable so you don't have to trash the mod when the battery dies.
2) If the battery is replaceable, you can just use an external charger. Although, you don't HAVE to.
3) Along the same lines, protected batteries have a protection PCB built right on top of them. Adds a mm or two to the battery length.

I suggest that you start simply, get your tools together, solder a atty connector or two. Maybe start with a 3.7 volt 2xAA box mod, or if you are more ambitious, a regulated 5 volt mod. Then, once you get the basic circuit going, think about how to add USB connections and charging circuits and readouts.

In most cases (read all that I can suggest)... I'd use lithium ion batteries with protection built-in. Putting them in series doubles the voltage, parallel ups the amps. Usually there's no need to parallel, since you can often just use a larger single battery for more mah. People do use other batteries, search for "battery university". I think it's a sticky somewhere here. In series, you often want a regulator for your solution since it keeps the power curve flat for the vast majority of the charge-life.

Good Luck!

 

[VpnDrgn]

I am not one of the electronics experts, but I can usually follow the tune if you go slowly.
My first thought is that the batt that you linked to has some "fishy" specs.
A few of the PV vendors may still have unprotected batts but most will be protected or IMR.
They will definitely tell you up front though, which ones are unprotected.

For a kind of sideways approach to on-board charging you can take a look at my first mod.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/battery-mods/181640-birth-addiction.html

This will only work for single cell mods though, and the bigger the batt the longer it takes to
charge. When you get into 2 cells or more you run into charging management issues which
will require extra circuitry. There is a plug and play solution for that though.

Battery Junction has 18650's wired into packs in parallel or series
and a univ multi cell charger to charge them with. The packs have PCB built in with extra protection
for the multi cells. Use a power jack ( dc, usb, whatever ) in the mod, and you can charge with the charger.

Hope this helps. If you look through the main modders thread you can find a few schematics
that I posted when asking for advice on feasibility.

 

[interestingfellow]

Actually, those were both quite helpful posts! I was indeed just looking for fairly simple answers to go off, and it looks like ya'll have given me what I need to look at, so I know which questions to ask.

Thanks!