VV Reos

[the ob]

Must have kicks and VV reos.

 

[jifjifjif]

All I want for Christmas is a VV Woodvil,
A VV Woodvil,
A VV Woodvil.....
All I want for Christmas is a VV Woodvil.

 

[jimho]

I found this about the Buzz Pro electronics. THis was posted by Buzzkill in response to several questions about the Buzz Pro.

Ok to set the record straight voltage regulators control or keep the voltage as constant as possible , so a mod that uses a VR will be more consistent ( some are better than others ) .
the OB ( original Buzz ) used a Linear regulator that produced heat as a by product in the control circuit.

The BP ( Buzz Pro ) uses a switching regulator , it is a BUCK type regulator , we chose this type for several reasons I will explain them here.
1. A Buck regulator uses voltage to produce current ( draws less amps/current from the battery )
2. A battery is a CURRENT storage device with fixed voltage , we use current capacity.
3. We want to conserve CURRENT not voltage
4. THey are MORE efficient than a BOOSTED regulator and draw LESS current to do the SAME JOB.
5. Stacked cells allows you to reduce the voltage and conserve current capacity of a battery.

Boosted devices eat batteries and require higher capacity batts with higher current draws ( hence the AW type batt. on a ProV and others )

We did a LOT of research in this area and came up with what I believe is the MOST efficient regulated device possible. I am seeing 96% efficiency in tests .

A little hype from Buzzkill.. some of us begged him to consider a switching regulator over a year ago with the infinity.... glad he's taking a step (albeit a half step) in that direction ... About time....

Here's some things you should think about if you want to use that circuit-
the comments regarding linear boost as was in the original Buzz and infinity are true, however, there is quite a difference with step-up boost circuits which run alot more efficiently (as high as 95%- averaging around 85%)....

Stacking introduces several issues-
1) Maintenance- stacking requires a bit more care- there are some that say you should swap top and bottom each time you cycle the batterys, while others argue you should always use the same battery on the top vs the bottom. This is due to the fact that in the real world, the top battery drains fully (to a point of stress) while the bottom battery shows very little discharge. Whichever process you use, you should make sure you always follow it....

2) you will be limited by the capaicty of a single battery- Lets say you want to stack 2 IMR 16340's (RCR123a's) where you had an 18650- each has 550mAh and max current of 4A. Stacked, you'd have a 7.4V (nominal) battery with 550mAh and max current of 4A. Vs an 18650 IMR which has a 10A max and 1600mAh and 3.7V nominal-


So now lets say that with Buck only you have 95% efficiency, but with buck/boost you get 80%.... would you rather have 80% of 1600mAh at 3.7V or 95% of 550mAh at 7.4V ? (think about it- hint: p=current x voltage)


I don't want to get into a war about the Buzz Pro, but take the claims (stated or otherwise implied) about it being a superior circuit with a grain of salt.
Buck-Boost has been around and available on chips for a long time- it's not new, or revolutionary. Getting around the boost problem by stacking batteries is a brute force and somewhat lazy way of accomplishing the same thing-.... and as I explained above it comes with a cost ... some people will swear that adjusting the voltage output with a walkman thumb dial is fine while others will accept nothing less than .1 (V or W) increments...

I've never bought into power regulation over voltage regulation argument, but I think the kick is a more practical and elegant solution. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out....


PS: here's a good basic explaination of how buck and buck-boost works vs linear regulators:
http://www.ti.com/lit/an/snva006b/snva006b.pdf

 

[GAC]

Haha, I am not touching this argument, these always get ugly.

 

[WannaGetHealthy]

*pauses......blinks........hits the eject button*

 

[mlinky]

Let's talk about BATTERIES!!

 

[davelog]

Red batteries are way better than blue batteries.

 

[jifjifjif]

Lets talk about beer!

Dark beer is way better than light beer.

 

[mlinky]

I like dark beer.

 

[Rhapsodies Fire]

Me too!

 

[davelog]

Dunno, never developed a taste for beer beer. You know who makes the best root beer on the planet? Schilo's in San Antonio.

 

[Mudflap]

Took one swig of this beer back in the 80's and pronounced it undrinkable.

I like a smooth draft beer every few years.

Also, Michelob Ultra is horrible, but plain ole Michelob is great. Why are people buying that Ultra swill?

 

[davelog]

This is the first beer I ever tried, I was 12 or 13.

Dad was a Schlitz man, but Gluek Stite was his 'private stash' beer. Yuck in all cases.

 

[BlueWater]

It doesn't hold a candle to the queen of beers

 

[tmcase]

Michelob Ultra is horrible, but plain ole Michelob is great. Why are people buying that Ultra swill?

Because it has less calories! I like both.

 

[unsure]

Let's talk about BATTERIES!!

I know .... about batteries but I did notice that with some VVs the stacked 16350s do not drain the same. When I put them on the charger 1 will fully charge way before the other.

 

[beezer]

^ Did you get that person squared away with an 18490 so we don't have to listen to her whine?

 

[misplacedsooner]

i do know as a kid i collected beer cans of different kinds and old frothingslosh had several different ...uh.....models,lol.

 

[jifjifjif]

I don't think there are any decent beer ejuices. Id love for someone to make a Benedictine ejuice. That stuff is gooood.

 

[beezer]

Mary Jane can't be like the real thing so I just go with whats available. Why ruin a good thing after 42 years of research