Trying to build a battery box for my 510

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Tytanium

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Jan 10, 2011
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Vancouver
Edit: ended up tearing up an old 3.75v 1000mah nimh cell phone battery that consisted of three cells. Box works good now :)



Hey everyone, I am not sure if this is the right section to ask my question or not but I am trying to build a battery box for my 510 since my auto battery bit the dust I figured I'd salvage the connector and toss something together.. I have lots of electronic components at my disposal as well as other miscellaneous things like battery packs from my RC helicopter (they are 10.8v 650mah nimh) my problem is that I am almost sure that 10.8v would kill my Atty so first I tried using an lm317 to drop the voltage down to 5v but I don't seem to be getting any current to my Atty and I know the Atty is still working since it fires up fine with my manual battery. I calculated resistor values etc to use with the lm317 to achieve 5v at 2amps but Atty doesn't fire when connected. There is power at the connector tho so I am puzzled.. I also tried using a 7805 regulator with no luck as I can't get more than 1 amp.. I have checked my wiring and all is correct so now I am wondering about just using some 1n4004 diodes to drop the 10.8 down to 5v but am concerned about too much heat from current draw. I am not sure if I have written a clear explanation or not so if more info is needed then let me know. Any thoughts/ideas/advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you :)

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drewk302

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Dec 24, 2010
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ok first off what are you trying to achieve? A 5v box? or 3.7v box? Both of those are great. 1st thing to do is toss everything you have, except the batty connectors. The lm317 adj regulator will not handle above 1-1.5amp and will heat up so fast and cut out and die. Same goes for the 7805, that is a 5v 1amp max regulator, it will not work and is you got it to work it will heat up and die. Same with 1n4004, thats a 1amp diode, wont work. With that said your gonna want to base it off some lith ion battys like trustfire 14500, they are 3.7v ea at 900mah. Some attys will draw over 2 amps, and he voltage that the regulators have to cut down, it just turns into heat that the regulator has to adsorb.
start looking here: MadVapes e-Cig 'How To' Tutorials • View topic - My 3xAA 5v Box Mod
thats a good 5v box mod tutorial.
also do some searching on this site, alot of great info.
 
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Tytanium

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Jan 10, 2011
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Vancouver
Thanks for the reply :) ... as I said in my post I want 5v.. I would like to not have to buy anything extra.. I don't see what's wrong with the batteries I am trying to use as they are 10.8v 650mah nimh and all I want to do is drop down to 5v .I don't want to play around with lipos really as nimh would be more practical for me since I have a charger .. thanks.

PS.. I have heatsinks for regulators so heat shouldn't be a big deal..

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drewk302

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Dec 24, 2010
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I guarantee either of the 2 regulators you mentioned will work for a min if a all then over heat and die. The lm317 and 7805 can not handle over 1 amp nevermind the excess voltage. Some attys draw over 2 amps. I have many lm317 that I use for other apps. and have used the 7805 and I have tried it in an e cig setup and didnt work well. You will need a regulator that is rated for 5v and 3 amp. Madvapes has them cheap. Rem you are 10.8v maybe more full charge to a 5v regulator and it turns the excess voltage into heat. You may set it up and it may run but will die fast. Good luck either way, just giving you info that I have learned.
 

Tytanium

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Jan 10, 2011
44
9
Vancouver
Thanks again. I am not doubting you about the regulators as I am already aware that they cannot provide many amps .. my problem though is that the Atty wont even fire when connected even though there is power at the connector and I know the Atty is fine since I am using it with my manual battery as we speak. I am just surprised that the Atty wouldn't activate at all from the regulator and the regulator didn't even get hot almost like it is not functional when Atty is hooked up..I made a USB passthru and when used with a powered hub that works fine with my Atty at least enough to make vapor and its most likely less power since USB is 500ma I believe so I don't get it lol.I do know that the power adapter for the hub is 1200ma tho so maybe that's the answer there regarding USB.I have a near endless supply of electronic components at my disposal so I most likely already have one of the regulators as madvapes .. so 3amps is recommended or should I aim for 5amps?

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Tytanium

Full Member
Jan 10, 2011
44
9
Vancouver
First question that comes to mind is whether the nimh have a high enough discharge rate,
second question is whether 650 mAh would give you very much vape time.

That being said, a lm2596 board can handle the voltage and would make your box VV.

I am not sure about discharge rate but I thought I read a post awhile back about someone using nimh with success,I could be mistaken tho. My goal is to end up with something better than what my 180mah auto battery was before it stopped working (juice killed it) ill be happy. I would like to give the manual battery to my mom with the other Atty so she can hopefully kick analogs. I have a digital peak charger for my nimh/nicads which can be powered from AC and it can also be powered from a DC source like the car since it has alligator clips as well. Batteries charge full in about 10 to 20mins depending.. perfect for me if I can make all of this work for me :)

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Tytanium

Full Member
Jan 10, 2011
44
9
Vancouver
It wont fire likely due to the amps trying to be drawn. I would try for an LDO (low drop out) 5v 3amp regulator. I know you want to work with what you have, and I get that but there many regulators out there from many companies. But yes 5v 3amp is what you want.


Thank you for the advice I am pretty sure that I probably have one amongst everything so I will definitely give that one a shot :)


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TomCatt

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Mar 8, 2011
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I am not sure about discharge rate but I thought I read a post awhile back about someone using nimh with success,I could be mistaken tho. My goal is to end up with something better than what my 180mah auto battery was before it stopped working (juice killed it) ill be happy. I would like to give the manual battery to my mom with the other Atty so she can hopefully kick analogs. I have a digital peak charger for my nimh/nicads which can be powered from AC and it can also be powered from a DC source like the car since it has alligator clips as well. Batteries charge full in about 10 to 20mins depending.. perfect for me if I can make all of this work for me :)

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ThePuck developed a box mod using NiMH batteries. I built a Puck-style mod and am using 1000 mah AAA NiMH batteries. 4 AAA NiMH batts give 3.8V using a 3.7 ohm clearomizer and last 1+ days (I've yet to run the batts down to no vapor. I vape all day on a set of batts; wake up the next morning and morning vape on the same batts; then pop in a charged set.)
 

Tytanium

Full Member
Jan 10, 2011
44
9
Vancouver
Awesome :) . So far with mine I am getting long battery life as well all day and into the next before charging :).. mine doesn't look perfect cuz I had to use a 120v microswitch and have it hanging out of the box and also have the charge jack hanging out too. I plan to transfer to a different project case soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6d5flr0kos&feature=youtube_gdata_player

uploadfromtaptalk1302883951811.jpg

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