• Do NOT click on any vaporpedia.com links. The domain has been compromised and will attempt to infect your system. See https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/warning-vaporpedia-com-has-been-compromised.54960/.

VapCap Induction Heater for Desktop and in Car Use

DataRocks

Well-Known Member
My shot at this:
4eJQdrf.jpg

jE5va46.jpg

mS7mlZk.jpg

Full res gallery: https://imgur.com/a/S4Dop
 

rz

Well-Known Member
@DataRocks looks like a beefy supply! What're the specs? What is the gasket on the other side of the wood made of? I'm glad you have a tact switch in there as this circuit definitely needs to be normally off. How many amps is it pulling?

As a future upgrade, you can try get a tact switch under the coil for insertion activation. Either use it to control a mosfet, or if you dont mind modifying the IH board a bit, you can directly power the gate resistors, which will only need 50~100mA.

Enjoy! :D
 

DataRocks

Well-Known Member
@DataRocks looks like a beefy supply! What're the specs? What is the gasket on the other side of the wood made of? I'm glad you have a tact switch in there as this circuit definitely needs to be normally off. How many amps is it pulling?

As a future upgrade, you can try get a tact switch under the coil for insertion activation. Either use it to control a mosfet, or if you dont mind modifying the IH board a bit, you can directly power the gate resistors, which will only need 50~100mA.

Enjoy! :D
It's an xbox 360 power supply. It's 12V an about ~14amps, the specs change quite a bit between xbox models. I need to check how much is pulling right now as I have been making small changes to the coil. The gasket on the other side of the wood is 3d printed PLA. Is mostly to guide the glass tube into the hole, and it doesn't get hot at all since it wraps the glass from the outside.

Do you have a diagram of the wiring in order to use a tact switch?

Thanks!
 

hooglas

New Member
So ive gone down my own venture with this and built a decently tuned machine out of a jar. centered around a 10a 12v power supply and 14awg wires- using high amp switches.

I see a lot of others not using thicker wire and higher rated jacks. Am I being overly paranoid? I realize the juice is only flowing for a few seconds but im the worrying type. All my google-fu tells me that higher rated internals are a safety need but im also a bit green to this,


this is what i built:
https://imgur.com/a/jnY0F



The last photo is the 5 amp prototype. I found the 10a supply worked
jnY0F
jnY0F
 
Last edited:

Dustydurban

Well-Known Member
Damn you Canada Post Corp:
I know my mini is close by and
They charge you 20 bucks for this::rant:
Last entry 17 Feb
( Your shipment is on its way to the country you sent it to.
We rely on local postal services to share tracking information. There is no further tracking information available for this item yet)
Sooooon:tup:

I'm quite sure its the same going the other way for my Canadain bro & sisters
edit:
SO Close but SO Far Away
 
Dustydurban,
  • Like
Reactions: Hogni

rz

Well-Known Member
@DataRocks

Here is a the circuit which should be pretty much what you have on the little board you're using:

royerIH.gif

from: http://kaizerpowerelectronics.dk/general-electronics/royer-induction-heate

I don't want to just go off about capacitors half full of electrons, so to keep this post somewhat relevant to non technical folks, I'll confuse you all with a partial mixed analogy of what's going on here..

The circuit is *kind* of like a swing. If you take a fire-hose and spray the swing from the front or back, it will push it a little. If you spray it from the front, then from the back, then the front, at the right time, that swing will accumulate some energy in it's swinging. A real swing transfers energy between kinetic (swing moving fast) and potential (swing is high up, and has potential to be dropped down and accumulate kinetic energy). The swing is like the work capacitor and coil, exchanging energy between an electric field in the capacitor, and a magnetic field in the coil.

That mechanism which makes sure the front and back hoses don't both turn on at the same time is D3 and D4, which is crucial to the circuits functionality. Basically, by one being on, it turns the other one off. The transistors are like the tap on a hose. Easy to turn on and off, but with enough water pressure could pack quiet a punch. D1 and D2 are there to limit how hard you can turn the taps on and off. They're only necessary if you have enough energy to brake the taps. R1 and R2 are to prevent the taps from slowly slipping into the wrong state.

Now R3 and R4 - those are the little elves trying to turn the taps on. Somebody has to turn them on, so we need those. They don't need to be terribly strong cause all the energy is in the water pressure. This is where you can use a smaller tactile switch. If you cut the voltage off from R3 and R4, the circuit will be OFF.

In the circuit above, you would have to detach the left side of R3 and R4 from the supply voltage, and connect them through a switch.

On the ZVS modules used, like on the image below, my bet would be to lift one side of resistors R1 and R3, and connect them to the voltage source via a small tact switch. Which side is left up to the modder to figure out. If there's ANY uncertainty after my confusing babbling, this mod should be avoided.

s-l1600.jpg



As for rating, @hooglas it... depends.

Let's take a wire for example. A specific gauge wire has a 'rating' - usually determined by the maximum amount of CONTINUOUS current that can flow through it before it gets more than X degrees hotter (and starts to melt the insulation, or itself and more..). However, you could almost definitely get away with a lot more than the rated current (or a much smaller wire), *****IF**** it's for a very short time, and the wire won't overheat. The circuit designer needs to take all sorts of things into consideration though, like what if someone leaves it on, or if something can't shut itself off, so use case is KEY. Ideally, a circuit should survive a fault condition indefinitely.. either by turning something off itself, or dissipating enough heat to prevent itself from overheating at least till the batteries run out. You also need to take the end user into account. For instance, if the circuit designer or builder is operating his or her own device, and can supervise themselves (yes, a difficult task to do in vape design when you're continuously testing :science:), they will more likely use it correctly. In the absence of supervision though, someone else may not do things right. So I allow myself to build things way out of spec sometimes and use it cautiously, but I'm not likely to give them to my friends to play with by themselves until they've been built to a certain spec, and I know it behaves. Often you can design in a weak spot - something that will give way before things go poof. This can be a proper fuse (which are also tricky to 'rate'), or a thin trace on the board that will just burn out (a printed fuse). Adding a warning system is also beneficial, like a very visible LED that's on while the device is on, so it won't sit there burning up unnoticed unil kapoof.. don't go kapoof, just click click puff mmkay :D

This is similar to a batteries continuous discharge rate, which is much lower than the pulse discharge maximum. all depends what you're doing with it..

hmmm.. ok enough babbling for now :)
 

Dynalowrider

Well-Known Member
I just got my Mini. Where's the charging instructions? I got pretty lights and pretty buttons, but not a clue. Switch on or off? Red light or green light on the wall-wart? I vaguely remember seeing some where explaining the lights but can't find it. Little help please. Doc
 
Dynalowrider,
  • Like
Reactions: Hogni

Pipes

Addicted DIY Enthusiast
Accessory Maker
Plug the charger into the wall, and into the Mini.
The led on the charger indicates if charging or not. Green is not charging or batteries are full. Red means it's charging.
Power switch needs to be on to charge. Should be full in 1/2 - 1 hour.
To get an accurate battery measurement, press the test button while VC is inserted and heating.
Enjoy!
 

Dynalowrider

Well-Known Member
Are the lights supposed to be three blue, one green, and one red? The plug was kinda loose, but I overcame that. This thing is sweet. I think I'll make it look like a juice-box. Thanks Pipes. Doc
 

passenger

is this thing on?
Just to finish what I started last page:

With a full charge of the LG HG2 batteries in the Portside I'm able to finish around 50+ bowls. When the charge is nearly depleted, the performance drops significantly. The LED readout behaves a bit strange, as it seems after reaching 4 LED it contains less than 50% charge. Doesn't matter, when it reaches 2 LED it's time to plug the machine into the wall. 50+ bowls is awesome, ain't it.

Shall I repeat with the PSMini? Could take a while though. :)
 

Rez

Member
To begin my first post on FC, thank you @Pipes, I managed to build my own IH thanks to all the information found in this thread. This thing is great !

But I screwed up with a bare wire, and the BMS board has fried. I have to order a new one.
Could you please tell me if the 10 Amps BMS board could be used with the 3 18650 cells mount or if it was intended for lipo cell only ?

About connectors, are these ok ?
 

Pipes

Addicted DIY Enthusiast
Accessory Maker
Yes, that BMS can be used. In fact, going to start using them with the Skellys and PS as well. A better match for the amps we use. Still figuring out how to physically mount it, but intend to use the same wire types to match the RC type battery. Basically making the battery holder into the same as an RC battery with pig tail wires coming from it. That 10 amp BMS will have the mating connectors. Thus, making the Skelly and PS, RC type battery compatible.
That connector you posted is not good for high current. More for the small micro drones. The one I'm using is in the parts list in the FAQ. They are even pushing it. Longer red type. The XT larger ones are best if you have the real-estate.
 

Rez

Member
That connector you posted is not good for high current. More for the small micro drones. The one I'm using is in the parts list in the FAQ. They are even pushing it. Longer red type. The XT larger ones are best if you have the real-estate.
Thanks ! I'll go XT30.
 
Rez,
  • Like
Reactions: Pipes

vizion

Member
Pipes, I have to compliment you on your workmanship on this Mini. It is very well made, solid, well put together. I am very proud of my Mini. Works perfectly. Doc

Hey Doc have you been using the induction heater or the Vector Pyramid triple flame more? Do you still use both? Just curious because I started with the vector pyramid triple flame but haven't touched it since the skeletor came in.
 
Top Bottom