$5 18650 PV Mod

Hey guys, I had been looking for a power handle which can be left in the "on" position to use with my Bulli vaporiser. I could not find anything out there except for a couple ideas in the DIY format. I found an attempt at this mod in another forum but did not seem to be designed to cope with the high temperatures which is needed for our application. This is a modified version which should better suit our demands.
The great part of this mod is that the only part which would need to be ordered on line is the 510 connector. The flashlights can be had at most dollar stores. You need two of these.

Before:



After:



So far-
The pros: Works, cheap, handles heat well, small and light.

The cons: Actual switch is cheap and longevity is likely not good, no safety features.

How To:

First off the idea here is to have both ends thread-able such that the switch can screw in either end. The way it comes is one end is already threaded and the other end contains the LED holder which is just held in place by the clear window.



Once the window is taken out the LED holder just pulls straight out.

This leaves an open non-threaded end of the tube. Now take the other flashlight tube and you will find the threaded end too large to readily slide into the non-threaded end which the LED holder was just removed. This is the hardest part and time consuming the way I did it. I used a file and slowly took the other tube diameter down as well as the inside wall of the non-threaded opening. Also used sand paper to even out as much as possible. There are likely many ways to thin these parts down but I just used what I had readily available.



Take it down till the sleeve can be pressure fit into each other.



I used a hack saw to cut it. I first screwed in one of the switches to ensure no crimping.




Disassemble one of the push switches which will be used for the connector end. Then screw the cut piece back into the switch. I used a block of wood and a small hammer to tap the tubes together.



Now you should have a tube which can be used either way around.

Next is to use the disassembled switch. I just used brute force being careful not to scratch the casing.




Here are the needed parts for this next part. A nice thick metal washer drilled for the 510 connector and a hole for the LED.



The opening had to be filed the same as the tube mod to get a snug pressure fit of the washer into the opening of the dis-assembled switch. Again, I used a piece of wood and hammer to push in the washer.



I used a small torch to re-enforce the 510 connector by soldering it to the washer. Used a second inside part of a connector and soldered it upside down on top of the center post which extended it for battery contact. Also soldered a leg of a 150 ohm resister to the post at this time.





Mounted the LED using that great JB putty weld. Once all tested I filled in the remaining space with the JB weld as well to help with heat dissipation.

The battery fits a little loose so I found a piece a tubing to help keep from rattling.



And that's it. Have used only a dozen times or so but seems to work OK. At least the only really bad part is the switch which can be replaces for a couple bucks.




Happy modding,
Pipes

I'm finding this little brute very effective. The switch is actually holding up better then I expected. Thought it would go bad quickly but know where to get more. There have been times the heat seems to drop off somewhat and clicking off and on a couple times gets it going.?? Anyway, can live with that.

I have added an accessory to it now which reduces the length and makes it more "pocket friendly".



I just used a couple RCA connectors and 510 connectors. The female RCA was from a simple board mount connector and the male is a cable connector.



No wire was used. The center pins lines up pretty well with little persuasion needed. Just need hot pin iron and be extremely quick not to damage the insulator. (much) This is also where the 90 degree bend is made "true". I had them plug into other connectors to lengthen making it easier to judge the 90.
Once electrically and mechanically sound I used some of the JB putty weld to bulk it up to deal with the heat. Followed with some large shrink tubing to help cosmetically as well as a heat shield. This worked out rather well and does not get too hot to touch. The shrink tubing also helps to give the outside of RCA connector more inward pressure insuring a good ground connector and keeps it somewhat stuff.



The angle ended up being out somewhat with this handle more becouse the 510 connector on the handle is not perfect. The 90 is actually pretty close. Notice I punked it up a bit by blackening the little dimples...Hey, I hear that chuckling.



I've actually made two of these handles now but in light of changing to RCA, many different options start to open up. With working 3.7 volt Bulli's the driver for those beasts will be kinda fun. Have some ideas and will keep it in most peoples budget.


Hope these ideas help some who like to ticker.

Happy Modding,
Pipes

Here is another simple mod which is very incognito and could even take over to the in-laws un-noticed.
Basically, just adding the components to an eye glass case. This is an incomplete project that I have been pulling out once in a while when I have some spare time.

So here is the raw idea when I was assembling in my head.



This is actually what got me going on the RCA elbow technique from above post. Found a couple more pics I had filed in this projects folder. Just shows the other connector make up. female 510 to male RCA.



Assembled as described in above post.

Now back to the case. One of the main ingredients needed was a battery indicator as the unit will run on a latched switch. I also liked the idea of some kind of battery level indicator which would make sense in our application. Through my experimentations I have found the vapor production starts to drop off noticeably at about 3.3 volts and is pretty much useless below 3.2 volts. So my idea was to find a way to tell the user of these important spots. Toyed with blinking LED which speed would be indication. But then would be getting too complicated with the VCO and other electronics needed. So to keep it extremely simple I figured I'd use a normal power LED which would maintain it's brightness level fairly constant through the pertinent voltage range. And use a second identical LED with a modified input circuit. Here is the crude development set up.



The main difference to the indicator LED is I added 2 basic diodes in series with the LED which raises the needed voltage to turn it on by 1.4 volts. Since these diodes take a minimum of about 1.8 volts then our target voltage value of 3.2 volts is met before forward bias of LED starts. Pending the value of the series resister is the adjustment to how fast it comes up in brightness. I found a 47 ohm would drive it fast enough that it gets to full brightness at 3.3 volts.

So the idea is there are two LEDs . One is simple a power indicator which also serves as a brightness comparator for the operator. As long as the two LEDs are the same brightness your good to go. Once the indicator starts to get dimmer then the power indicator the operator knows the voltage has just pasted the 3.3 volt marker.

Here are the results. The red looks slightly different from the camera as by eye. By eye they look the same red colour.













So as you can see both LEDs look the same till it get down to 3.3 volts and then you can see the fading of light from the one and pretty much cuts out at 3.2 volts. If an earlier warning is desired a slightly larger resister could be used. In this demonstration a 47 ohm was used, a 68 ohm for example would start the dimming earlier. Like at 3.4 volt warning might be better. These are the values which need to be tested out in real life to see what is best. Changing the 3.2 volt cut off would be trickier as the use of a specific zener diode would come into play instead of the two plan common diodes.

So time to compact the components down.



I thought the best place to mount these would be beside the hole for the Bulli. There fore you can place on a table and the only questionable side of the device can be aimed away from any curious eyes.


Now like I said at the start is project is not complete yet but seems link of cool. Going to install a switch inside. Lots of room, just looking for a switch which suits the coolness factor. Have a simple toggle switch mounted temporally for now.



Just to be clear here is what I paid for this box.



To become:



I will keep this thread posted as the progress of this pup.

Happy Modding
Pipes

+1 for Dollarama props. Pretty sweet mod, Pipes.

Thanks Kingo, I finished it today and gave a few test drives. Pretty cool. I used some copper RF shielding material to stick/wedge on the side that have contact with the Bulli. Used a low voltage but high current (10 amp) rated switch. It's a fairly large switch but easy to toggle. Mounted it close to the top of case so if I feel it needs to be accessable to the outside I can make a hole and add a rubber stopper. Might not be needed.



So I used a piece of aluminium bent to form a rectangle to encase the switch as well as joined to the RCA connector mount. Used that great JB weld putty to fill in the openings.




So far I have only used it 4 times but seems OK. Only thing left really is to clean up the opening for the Bulli to stick out. Might use the JB to form a custom fit and shape it to a smooth lip. We'll see.

Have some more 510 female connectors coming to continue the fun.

Happy modding,
Pipes

Hey Pipes! Awesome tutorial. I got my tubes stripped down and am about to make my top cap but I was wondering what you used for a button?

Well I kept burning out regular flashlight switches (pulling to many amps) so I taped my fuhattan button to the end as I recently stripped the top cap threading of my fuhattan mod. It looks like crap but it works till I can repair the other mod. Would still love to hear suggestions for a better switch though
Edit: Apologies for the consecutive posts the edit button was not available on my post above

Hey there. You are correct that a better switch is best here. I went through a couple as well.
Never did find a direct higher rated replacement. Found some that looked promising but not worth the expense and effort.
However, the good thing is that so much has changed in the ecig type power handles over the last 2 1/2 years that IMO, this route is no longer really necessary. There are mechanical mods out there for under $20.
Not to mention all the new vapes as well....

Hot damn, man, @Pipes ..

Amazing Sir, simply amazing.

Thanks for sharing!!

[QUOTE="Pipes, post: 820703, member: the good thing is that so much has changed in the ecig type power handles over the last 2 1/2 years that IMO, this route is no longer really necessary. There are mechanical mods out there for under $20.
Not to mention all the new vapes as well....[/QUOTE]
Agreed! I grabbed ss SMPL V2 from fast tech for ten bucks along with a heat sink to replace the threading on my fuhattan. I love the SMPL though. The button took a bit of grinding and clean up to prevent it from continuously auto firing but, hell, for ten bucks I'm not complaining