Which is better?

[CraigHB]

Check out the sticky thread with soldering tips. The key to electronics soldering is what you use, iron, tip, solder, flux and then keeping the tip clean. It's more that than skill.

The OKR-T and Evercool mods are highly efficient, but it's not going to be a huge difference, 20 to 30% better run time at typical voltge settings. The 3 pin regulators are easy to wire up and build so go for it. You can do something more advanced next time. The "Poorvari" thread will provide a good guide. Enjoy.

 

[CapeCAD]

Or, if you want to use a switching converter, you can keep it simple:

Cut the enable pin, bend trim pin and solder one resistor from trim pin to ground pin for the voltage you want. The remaining 3 pins are the same as a 3 pin regulator without any heating or loss of efficiency.

 

[asdaq]

Yeah the poorvari is recent and easy to find, for a 3-pin plan madvapes no longer has the how-to's or schematics, and searching ecf is not the easiest task either. Aside from being v-in, v-out and ground, I don't remember which pin is which, plus I used a 4-pin. Sorry bout that.

 

[mv2envy]

Pizza is better than both IMHO!

 

[locke2121]

Ok...now that is a diagram I can follow lol! I'm really not deeply into electronics...just some jack-leg soldering here and there. But if I have a pic in front of me I can learn darn fast! Thanks for being so patient with me lol. I have more questions of course lol. How would I go about heat-sinking the regulator? The only heat-sinking I've ever done was putting a bit of arctic paste on a CPU..I would probably cut open the back of the mod to let the metal back peek out and get good airflow...that and a few slots cut into the case.

 

[mv2envy]

If you use a okr-t 6amp switching regulator, you won't need to heatsink anything.

 

[locke2121]

Where do you find them??

 

[WillyB]

Cool...that answers my questions..Ok..here is the deal. I'm wanting to make my own variable mod...but I've never soldered more than a standard nicostick-style 3.7 mod. LED, Resister...etc. So..what want is to take a 3AA battery box and wire the batts in series with a...I think its called a POT trimmer....switch and so-forth in the center channel. I'd like to be able to to change the voltage on the fly from 3.7 up to 5. So...is there a good tutorial or schematic I can follow? As few circuits as possible please lol. I'm still new at this.

Just get this.

3A Adjustable step down switching voltage regulator

Well built, efficient, great guarantee, no sourcing of parts needed and if your time is worth anything it's actually cheaper. Just an IN/OUT/GND to deal with.

Note you can remove the cover and file the PCB a tad and it fits just fine in an AA slot.

 

[CraigHB]

Those are handy, just 3 pins to wire and a nice worm drive pot. Though, they are a bit pricey, but I suppose they're worth it if you want to simplify things as much as possible.

 

[locke2121]

So...positive in, positive out...where does the ground go?? I can see mounting that to the bottom of the case with a small hole to turn the POT. Not sure about the price lol...but if i can swing it that would work really good.

 

[WillyB]

Verify the pin-out from the datasheet. This is typical 7805 assignments.

At the blue 'X' (choose one) you can add a master/kill switch.

 

[locke2121]

Ah....got it. I always call the ground just the negative lol. So the power comes out of the battery, through the switch and the regulator acts like a gateway to allow only the the power I want. If i like I can wire an LED between the switch and regulator and run a ground lead off from the negative end of the battery, through a resistor into the LED. How heavy a resistor should I get to protect an LED? My last one was a 5mm Bright green LED with a 470 ohm resistor...would that be strong enough to resist that much current or should I step it up a bit.

 

[Creniker]

Just get this.

3A Adjustable step down switching voltage regulator

Well built, efficient, great guarantee, no sourcing of parts needed and if your time is worth anything it's actually cheaper. Just an IN/OUT/GND to deal with.

Note you can remove the cover and file the PCB a tad and it fits just fine in an AA slot.

So I'm not the most experienced guy out there, so forgive me for asking. On the link it shows the unit, but I don't see a "pot" (I believe it is called) to adjust the voltage. Do you have to add that as well?

Edit: I see, its a small screw pot. Nice!

 

[WillyB]

... If i like I can wire an LED between the switch and regulator and run a ground lead off from the negative end of the battery, through a resistor into the LED. How heavy a resistor should I get to protect an LED? My last one was a 5mm Bright green LED with a 470 ohm resistor...would that be strong enough to resist that much current or should I step it up a bit.

Wire it after the reg, before the atty connector, less and more consistent volts. But putting it before it will act somewhat like a battery check indicator. When I use LEDs I want them dim and small. Last time I used one it was 3mm with ~680Ωs running at ~4.5V loaded volts (a PT).

 

[locke2121]

Ok...getting my parts list together. I have to ask, what is the difference between the regulator you showed me and this one: 3A Adjustable step down switching voltage regulator
I can see lower volts...but i don't need 25 volts lol! Will the change from 25W down to 10W make any real difference? I'm just looking for something that can let me go from around 3.5v to 5v.

 

[locke2121]

Lol...I meant this one: Adjustable step down switching voltage regulator

 

[WillyB]

Lol...I meant this one: Adjustable step down switching voltage regulator

* 1A output at 1.25 to 10V

Useless. get the 3A one.

 

[locke2121]

Ah...so I need higher amps to get a harder vapor...ok lol!

 

[Hambone68]

Ah...so I need higher amps to get a harder vapor...ok lol!

Actually, a specific resistance at a specific voltage draws a specific current (Ohm's law, I=V/R). So for example, for a 2.5 ohm atty at 5v, the atomizer will always draw 2 amps of current. With a 1 amp regulator, you're pulling twice the amount of current through it than it can handle, and poof, you release the magic blue smoke that powers all components... once it's out of smoke, it doesn't work

 

[locke2121]

Ah! So I make it work harder to do less...and it overheats and dies