radio shack boxmod switch...

[hova]

ok so a little backstory , made my own 3AA mod from a 4AA box from radio shack. atomizer connector is in the 4th position , and a terminal has been removed so its only the 3 batteries.

has worked great for months now , with no problems other than leaving an atty screwed in while driving one day , i either left the switch on , or it slid on the seat , and turned itself on. cooked the atty to death...

anyways , been using it with just the stock on/off slider switch , and havent had one problem....till last night. if i clicked the switch hard , it worked for a second. otherwise i had no continuity or anything coming from the switch... so i figured i was up the creek as they say...

well not really...lately i have been having juice leak out the switch hole , and the bottom of the box. this is probably from the fact that the atomizer hole is inside the box , and residual vapor and liquid collect and condense. thus the leaking...

i remembered this morning that eliquid is not conductive , and maybe my switch was soaked , thus preventing use.

took the whole switch out , ran a cotton swab in each side , and among the gray residue (im sure oxidation of the switch wire inside) , and a good bit of liquid removal , the damned thing works perfectly again...

now , if youre the kind of person who likes box mods , like me , then there isnt really a need for a secondary momentary switch. just switch on , switch off. some people i have read , dont believe the original switch to be of any quality , but that is why i believe it is one of the better switches to use , other than the fact that i dont know if you can actually replace just the switch , or if you have to buy another box.

anyways , all there is , is a slider and a wire on a pcb , that is all the switch is . if it gets tarnished or wet , you can cotton swab it like i did from both sides , and its clean again...


will keep you all updated....anyone have similar experiences with box mods?


-hov

 

[chuckie]

I try to use boxes that don't have on/off switches. this makes 1 less thing I have to do (turn it on/off) and one less part that can break. I have 5 boxes I've made, all without on/off switches and all work just fine after months of heavy use.
When I smoked I never bought the cigs that had the on/off switches.

 

[hova]

lol i hear ya , but it seems redundant to me that you removed a stock switch in a stock hole , to put another switch , in a hole you had to make , and now you have a little square hole...

im just funny likethat , but i do have some switches i bought to use , im just testing how long the original switch holds up , and if you clean it , it seems , it will last quite a long time..

i like that juice pump , lets see some internal pics!

 

[WillyB]

now , if youre the kind of person who likes box mods , like me , then there isnt really a need for a secondary momentary switch. just switch on , switch off. some people i have read , dont believe the original switch to be of any quality , but that is why i believe it is one of the better switches to use , other than the fact that i dont know if you can actually replace just the switch , or if you have to buy another box.

Well I'm the kind of person who likes box mods and would never consider using anything but a decent quality, properly rated momentary switch to activate them.

some people i have read , dont believe the original switch to be of any quality , but that is why i believe it is one of the better switches to use ...

HUH? People don't believe the "original switch to be of any quality" (that's true, they are junk), so for that reason you feel "it is one of the better switches to use"?

 

[hova]

its held up fine. i dont get the point of adding a secondary switch ... but hey , its america , do what you want...im just letting you know that theres no need on a simple mod.

 

[hova]

oh i just re read that , it is a little backwards... i dont think its a good switch to use cause people think its junk. its a very simple switch. it comes with the box. its been working for a couple months with only needing the juice cleaned out of it...

seems pretty reliable to me.. now its not a fancy red button , but thats not my gig...

 

[Brad524]

People use a momentary button inline with the stock on/off switch for safety purposes. Basically to prevent the accidental burning out of attys or even worse it going off in your pocket. Switch it off when not in use or putting it in your pocket. It's not leaving a hole at all and it's still being used.

 

[USinchains]

So, you are using the slider switch from a prefab AA box as your firing switch? Ok, what if you don't use those boxes, then will you drill out a rectangle to mount a slider that you have to activate twice for just one puff, or will you use a momentary button? Just sayin' I don't think the majority's definition of a box mod is specific to those prefab AAs with installed kill switches. Maybe the OG "boxmod" was that way, but a lot of us didn't come around until after that.

 

[hova]

well no obviously im not saying you should put the slider in if its not in the box to begin with , i just find it amusing that people remove a switch that works just fine , only to put in a larger switch , most of which (momentaries) dont last that long .

if your car has an ignition switch , you dont go through the trouble to put a push button switch in just to start it...

and yes, the box is the radio shack with on/off slider that comes with it. i do love the way your mod looks chains , wouldnt mind a link on that banner to see what all you did.

 

[5cardstud]

One it to turn the power on and off the other is to activate the atty. All my box mods have both switches because I don't want it going off in my pocket. and if something goes wrong and I have to cut the power I wouldn't want to have to take the time to open it and pull the batteries while smoke is billowing out.

 

[hova]

People use a momentary button inline with the stock on/off switch for safety purposes. Basically to prevent the accidental burning out of attys or even worse it going off in your pocket. Switch it off when not in use or putting it in your pocket. It's not leaving a hole at all and it's still being used.

thats my point. its just as easy to leave the switch , but then why add a secondary. if youre worried about it going off in your pocket , a momentary switch that sticks out even 1/8 of an inch isnt giving you that real security...

i just unscrew my atty when not in use...but by all means , add the extra switch if you like , i was just posting to inform that the switch that comes with the box isnt "inferior" ... its worked longer than my big name ecig batteries , and cost me all of 3$...

 

[hova]

One it to turn the power on and off the other is to activate the atty. All my box mods have both switches because I don't want it going off in my pocket. and if something goes wrong and I have to cut the power I wouldn't want to have to take the time to open it and pull the batteries while smoke is billowing out.

i get your point , and maybe im the only one who doesnt screw the cover on , but like i said right after you posted , just unscrew the atty...


-hov

 

[5cardstud]

i get your point , and maybe im the only one who doesnt screw the cover on , but like i said right after you posted , just unscrew the atty...


-hov

On my Buzz and other round ones I do. But what if the atty is so hot you can't grab it? Like you stated it's America and everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I respect yours. But whatever you do keep building bro.

 

[USinchains]

Edit: Ok hova, I must have been off in wonderland when reading the title and missed the Radioshack part. Didn't realize you were being specific.

My RS doesn't carry those, I'd have to get it at madvapes or some other place, in which case I think most people choose it as an option for a box mod with an additional kill switch. I would imagine it being a pain to switch the slider on then off again but I suppose it's probably as hard as holding a button down for 4 seconds.

 

[USinchains]

i do love the way your mod looks chains , wouldnt mind a link on that banner to see what all you did.

Thanks, it's not much, just tried to squeeze my bare essentials into a small package. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/battery-mods/110061-small-5v-box.html

That link is for the black box, the white one is posted over on the dying forum which cannot be linked or spoken of here at ecf, under the user name slow mo horatio.

 

[chuckie]

lol i hear ya , but it seems redundant to me that you removed a stock switch in a stock hole , to put another switch , in a hole you had to make , and now you have a little square hole...

im just funny likethat , but i do have some switches i bought to use , im just testing how long the original switch holds up , and if you clean it , it seems , it will last quite a long time..

i like that juice pump , lets see some internal pics!

The pump is a 4ml clear PETG mist bottle,ebay has em for about 7$ for a package of 5.
Search UPAC mod, I think I posted some pictures in that thread.Enjoy your modding

 

[hova]

dying forum eh? lets hope doesnt turn into a black hole...

 

[Matt79jd]

I would keep the switch and cover the hole on the connecter I had the same problem until I bought connecters with no hole from madvapes

 

[hova]

that would be possible if i hadnt epoxied and solder-sealed the connector. i will probably just break it loose , and put it in a new smaller 4AAA box anyways.if not , i guarantee that i wont recess it so much next time...

 

[DenniZ]

Hi Hova,
I hear what you are saying, and I agree that on a limited budget, anything that works is good to save. I do however have to disagree with not using a momentary switch to control V out to the battery connector. I say this for 2 reasons, arcing and safety.

If you like using the stock switch that's fine, some will last a long time, others die a very quick death, but by using the switch in this manner you are effectively hastening its death. One thing that you are not accounting for is that the switch's contact points are TINY. If you pair this with the fact that you are definitely causing arcing every time you fire the switch, the lifespan of your switch will be dramatically decreased. I've seen 8 month old marine batteries have their battery post blasted away to the point of being unusable because of arcing, scale this down and the same thing is happening every time you flick the switch on/off. Place a momentary switch in the circuit and voila those electrons have nowhere to go until the momentary switch is pressed, granted the same thing is happening to the momentary switch so choose a properly rated momentary switch and both of them should lead a long and happy life.

Secondly not using the slide switch as a kill switch is just not the best thing to promote. I've dropped enough lit cigarettes while driving to know that when bad things happen, it's usually at the worst possible time. Think of the momentary switch as a reverse dead-man switch, while it isn't perfect, it does it's job well a majority of the time and has side benefits. Let's revisit your original post, if you had been using a momentary switch, it would have shut down the unit when you set it down,and your atty would have lived to see another day, logically, purchasing a 3 dollar component to lengthen the life of a 9 dollar component is a good idea. I know this only happened once, but it would have already paid for itself three times over, not including shipping.

I know you have stated that you unscrew your atty now, but accidents happen and usually when your concentration is fixed elsewhere.

I'm not going to tell you that you need to put a momentary switch on your mod, but I'll kindly ask you to consider the benefits versus the money and effort involved in placing one in your mod, at least now you will be making an informed decision.