Supercharged 510 "passthrough"

[Elfod]

Several people, including myself, have reported less the hoped for results with the 510 "Passthrough". Just did not produce the vapor of a battery and was margional, at best.
Although,some folks said they worked fine. Still don't understand this. The circuit board in the battery box says "Kissbox".

The 510 USB device is not a true passthrough as the in line battery supplies the power for the atomizer. Without the battery, it will not function. The usb only CHARGES this device.
Here are the voltage measurements I found:
Voltage at the switch= 4.08VDC
Voltage at the inline battery=4.2 VDC
Voltage of a freshly charged battery= 4.22VDC
THESE ARE OPEN CIRCUIT MEASUREMENTS (NO LOAD)
Under load,(atomizer) these will drop a lot as the atomizer pulls about 1 amp.

It was clear that the tiny a** wire between the battery and switch was a problem.
This is what I did to correct the problem:

1) Cut the wire between the USB connector and battery box. Cut halfway to give solder room--you will need it.
2) Cut wire from battery box to the switch. Again, leave pigtails to solder 2.5" should do.
This removes all the tiny a** original wire.
3) Solder a 20-22 gauge 2 conductor (color coded) (I used 5 ft.)from the USB connector to the input pigtail of the battery box--(watch your polarity + -) . On this unit the blue tiny wire is pos. +++.
4) Solder the battery box output pigtail to the switch pigtail. This should give you about 2" from the battery box to the switch.
5) Attach the battery box to the switch..use your imagination here. I have it temp. using some mean tape called Gorillia Tape. They could be secured with epoxy or hot glue. May do that latter.

RESULTS--IT NOW PUTS THE RECHARGEABLE BATTERY TO SHAME.
Big time hit and vapor--The battery does not run down...This is how IT SHOULD HAVE WORKED.

Open circuit voltage at switch now is 4.19VDC..
This is the smallest wire I have ever seen (has to be 30 gauge or smaller) in a power circuit application. Someone needs to go back to school.
Because of the wire, this is a pretty tough job. If you are not good at soldering, I would find someone who is.

Check your solder joints at each solder, before putting the whole string together. Be sure you are getting voltage through the splices.
Good Luck, IT IS WORTH THE TROUBLE.

 

[illspeed]

Nice! i havent recieved my 510 passthrough but is there any way to solder directly to the board rather than leaving pig tails? Im not a big fan of going small big small small big small. Id like to find a way to open the case and use a donor monster cable USB with the end cut off feeding the batt. box directly to the board then some of that same wire to a pigtail off the switch.

 

[KreeL]

Excellent post, Elfod! Thanks.

 

[Elfod]

Illspeed,
I would really have preferred to solder directly to the board. However, the board seems to be glued to the housing and I was afraid to really force the separation. The connection (naturally) is made on the blind side. You probably could remove some of the coating on the board and get a good solder spot. I did not try that.

 

[invidregis]

The board is soldered directly to the battery terminals. If you de-solder those first, the board will come loose.

 

[Elfod]

You are absolutely right, I remember seeing that and thought about unsoldering the tabs. It was late and I was getting tired.

 

[Elfod]

I forgot to mention that the switch "sometimes works and sometimes doesn't" is a thing of the past after this mod. It fires every time now,

 

[pipe6078]

wow thanks i was wondering what was up. i'll just have to take the passthrough class

 

[illspeed]

shouldnt your voltage be higher than 4.22 at the battery box since that should be source voltage or rather the same voltage the usb is putting out? With no load my macbook puts out 4.98 volts so i wonder if a different usb output voltage would make a difference.

 

[Elfod]

The battery box has a charging circuit that does not pass the charging voltage. Once the battery reaches full charge, the USB voltage is cut off.
I am using an AC USB supply that has an LED to show current load. It lights as soon as the switch button is pressed and stays on until the battery reaches full charge.

 

[Elfod]

After living with this mod for a couple of days, this is the downside.

1) Juice consumption is up considerably--probably 25%
2) More "harsh" feel to vapor. Others have reported this when running a hotter atomizer. This may can be tempered by modifying the juice somewhat.

 

[illspeed]

played around with my 510 passthrough today. i bridged the power in + with the power out + as well as bridged the negative in and outs.

i checked voltage and was able to obtain 4.97 volts where the atomizer screws into the switch. using a 1amp iphone usb charger which output is 5v at 1amp. vapor tastes great no real noticable amount of extra vapor NOR any serious decrease in juice usage.

doing it this way also allows the battery to still work when it is disconnected from usb power as well as maintain its charging ability.

Factory wiring was still used. just added the bridge using 16 gauge wire.

 

[a2dcovert]

Has anyone found a source for the single AA or AAA battery box? I would like to build my own passthrough

Kevin