I thought this might be helpful to some folks.
I wanted to figure out a way to try different resistors to find out what voltage I ultimately wanted to use with my 901 atomizers, so I got a bunch of different resistors and soldered in 2 "clips" using earring backs to hold them in place. So now I can swap the resistors out fairly easily and am still able to take the box out with me to try out each variation for a couple of days at a time of normal vaping.
It's a basic box mod (nicostick), with a 3 AA battery box (with built in switch), with the standard "nicostick" style radio shack pushbutton switch and an OEM 901 connector (thanks to Nerf). The batteries are 2 protected 3.6v 14500 Ultrafires (again, standard nicostick, but doubled). Fully charged they put out about 8 volts together, obviously WAY too high, for me anyway.
I've tried a few different resistors now, but so far I think I get the best results using a 2ohm 2watt resistor, which brings it down to about 4.75 with fully charged batteries. Any higher and the vapor starts to taste noticeably burnt (IMO anyway). (If people want that, then just use a smaller/lower resistor, of course, everyone is different)
The resistor heats up a bit, but cools right back down, and I've kept it as far away from the batteries as a could in such a little box, to be as safe as possible. (The atomizer seems to heat up quite a bit well before the resistor gets hot enough to melt anything, at least that's been my experience so far... so I let it cool at that point anyway)
I've also added as much heat shrink tubing as I could get in there, to try to avoid shorts and to give it a cleaner look.
I know that this is wasteful as far as the battery power goes, but all I have to work with right now are AA boxes and 14500 batteries (until I get more stuff anyway), and IMHO it is worth it to get a much more satisfying vape!
This is not a permanent solution, I don't think, for me anyway. Once I find out exactly where I want the voltage I will probably just solder and epoxy it all together like a normal box mod, or even better yet use a 5v voltage regulator, and bring it down a little bit from there maybe, I'm not sure yet.
I hope this helps others in some small way, as I have received a ton of help from all of you and your great informative posts!
Oh, and thanks to Cashmere for helping me find the resistors, and Nicowolf for her great directions and pictures!
I wanted to figure out a way to try different resistors to find out what voltage I ultimately wanted to use with my 901 atomizers, so I got a bunch of different resistors and soldered in 2 "clips" using earring backs to hold them in place. So now I can swap the resistors out fairly easily and am still able to take the box out with me to try out each variation for a couple of days at a time of normal vaping.
It's a basic box mod (nicostick), with a 3 AA battery box (with built in switch), with the standard "nicostick" style radio shack pushbutton switch and an OEM 901 connector (thanks to Nerf). The batteries are 2 protected 3.6v 14500 Ultrafires (again, standard nicostick, but doubled). Fully charged they put out about 8 volts together, obviously WAY too high, for me anyway.
I've tried a few different resistors now, but so far I think I get the best results using a 2ohm 2watt resistor, which brings it down to about 4.75 with fully charged batteries. Any higher and the vapor starts to taste noticeably burnt (IMO anyway). (If people want that, then just use a smaller/lower resistor, of course, everyone is different)
The resistor heats up a bit, but cools right back down, and I've kept it as far away from the batteries as a could in such a little box, to be as safe as possible. (The atomizer seems to heat up quite a bit well before the resistor gets hot enough to melt anything, at least that's been my experience so far... so I let it cool at that point anyway)
I've also added as much heat shrink tubing as I could get in there, to try to avoid shorts and to give it a cleaner look.
I know that this is wasteful as far as the battery power goes, but all I have to work with right now are AA boxes and 14500 batteries (until I get more stuff anyway), and IMHO it is worth it to get a much more satisfying vape!
This is not a permanent solution, I don't think, for me anyway. Once I find out exactly where I want the voltage I will probably just solder and epoxy it all together like a normal box mod, or even better yet use a 5v voltage regulator, and bring it down a little bit from there maybe, I'm not sure yet.
I hope this helps others in some small way, as I have received a ton of help from all of you and your great informative posts!
Oh, and thanks to Cashmere for helping me find the resistors, and Nicowolf for her great directions and pictures!
