A Power Mod for Cigarette Lighter Plug

[Pipes]

OK, this is a real cool, cheap and easy mod for getting the proper power for your Vaporizer device in your automobile.
I have been using my power supply which is designed for high power 6 volts devices such as T1 or EVO in the car by using a "true" AC inverter.
This has been working fine but the needed hardware is a bit cumbersome.

I decided that there must be a better way. I have mentioned about the OKR step down regulator in other threads and now finally received a couple from Digi-Key here.
Really nice device for $10 and rated for 10 amps. Now for the car plug I had lots to pick from but decided to pick one that I figure folks here will likely have and never use. Specifically, the unit which comes with charger packages like the ThermoVape car charger adapter. It is a very simple car type plug which is actually very cheaply made and not my first choice but seems to work OK despite the wire being fairly thin. Found about 1/2 volt drop due to the wire gauge but not a problem as I just adjusted the voltage to 6.5 volts.
First off here is a picture of the car unit all taken apart. Very easy to take apart. Remove the fuse (which will be replaced with a 5 or 6 amp when complete), took off the metal ring at the end and pried the 2 halves apart.

I started soldering the needed wires to the OKR as well as a 1 KOhm potentiometer. I think a 470 Ohm pot would be a bit better as 1 KOhm is quite sensitive to adjust. You basically want to be able to adjust from 200 ohms to 500 or so. 6 volts is around the 220 Ohm mark and as the resistance increases the voltage drops. Actually if one wants to play it safe one could add a 180 Ohm resistor in there to limit the voltage from going too far over 6 volts. A lower value pot could then also to make adjustment easier. But I'm not one to always play it safe. Beside, once adjusted for your device it should never need adjusting again unless you change your device.

The whole time I was soldering I was thinking about how to mount this into the plug case. Originally thinking of using hot glue. However, it ended up being much easier than that. Once all was soldered I just set it in there and let it rest where it wanted to sit. All seemed fine so I just made an opening to be able to adjust or trim the voltage. I had it pre-adjusted to be 220 Ohm.

Testing is still in progress but so far works great. Not getting hot or melting anything. This is due to the OKR being well over 90% efficient. Where as other regulators need massive heat sinks and/or fans. Gotta love the newer convertor technologies. And comparing the hardware that I "was" using to this. Well.....
I will be using this regularly and if run into any hiccups I'll report back. IMHO, it's a pretty cool solution for the $10 or so.
Happy Modding,
Pipes

 

[OF]

Really nice device for $10 and rated for 10 amps. Now for the car plug I had lots to pick from but decided to pick one that I figure folks here will likely have and never use. Specifically, the unit which comes with charger packages like the ThermoVape car charger adapter. It is a very simple car type plug which is actually very cheaply made and not my first choice but seems to work OK despite the wire being fairly thin. Found about 1/2 volt drop due to the wire gauge but not a problem as I just adjusted the voltage to 6.5 volts.

Small world, and a funny one. I fiddled with that little guy with the goal of making a PA head.....someday will get back to it I hope.

Interesting solution to the drop problem, but as I read the specs your half a volt over maximum?

OF

 

[Pipes]

Small world, and a funny one. I fiddled with that little guy with the goal of making a PA head.....someday will get back to it I hope.

Interesting solution to the drop problem, but as I read the specs your half a volt over maximum?

OF

Yeah, I wondered about the 6 volt upper limit myself. Just got this going yesterday.
Started with measuring output at the end of the 5.5 mm DC connector and adjusted to 6.1 volts and took out to car for a real test. Seemed to run a little cool. Brought it back in, hooked up the meter again to the 5.5 mm DC connector and adjusted to 6.35 volts. It seemed to adjust with no problem? Although the specs do say upper voltage is 6 volts. Tested on my way home and found much better but still slightly cooler. Still good but initial warm up seemed a little slower.
This is where I'm at right now. May have jumped the gun a bit as was planning on tweaking up to the 6.5 volt which should be good. And hopefully that ceiling is a little higher. If not then a better cigarette plug (better thicker wire) would be the solution if really I find it necessary.

EDIT: Thinking more about this and this voltage drop effect would get much more with the use of higher power devices. Note my device is 3 ohm. For example a T1 would need thicker gauge wire for sure.

I like your idea of putting this little guy up at the power handle end of the wire. Would sure solve any wire voltage drop problems. And make it easier to use the build in softswitch which the device features.

Pipes

 

[OF]

I like your idea of putting this little guy up at the power handle end of the wire. Would sure solve any wire voltage drop problems. And make it easier to use the build in softswitch which the device features.

Yup, closer to remote sensing, in a funny way just what the part was designed to do.....

My thinking was to make a 3.7 Volt PA head you could also run at 6.0 Volts in (like from the currently used Wall Wort).

Like I said, 'someday'......

OF

 

[Pipes]

Upon a couple uses I decided the 6.35 volts is good for the car unit for me at least. The reason being that I am now using a 510 power handle in the car which has no switch and I just leave it going for 2-3 hits in a role. Then I just pull the DC cord from the handle until I'm ready for another go. So the little less heat in the car is fine.
However, to see how far one can push this unit and see if that 6 volt spec has some elbow room, I brought in in and adjusted it up to 7.25 volts. Only left it on for a second as no need to blow it up when not needed. It seemed to go up without any problem. I'm suspecting the 6 volt spec is where the device can deliver it's advertised 10 amps? Beyond that maybe the max current will drop off. Just guessing but regardless is working so far.
Here's a couple pictures of the handle I use in the car.

It is just an audio connector like this one.
I just put a 5.5 DC connector on one end and a 510 connector on the strain relief side. If really hot the plastic the 510 connector is in gets a little rubbery but hardens right up again when cools a bit. Honestly I rarely run it to that point as it really needs to get quite hot to happen. As for the DC side, the connector comes with a plastic stain pinch off on the inside which I cut to size such that it all screws together tight.
The result is a nice cool to hold handle.

I also jumpered my fuse box in the van so that the lighter switches off with the accessory power. I just bent up the leg of the lighter fuse which is the "input" side of the fuse and soldered a wire to it. Soldered the other end to the fuse for the rear blower fan fuse without bending it out of circuit. This provides the lighter fuse with the same power as the rear blower which is on the accessory relay. Sorry, no pictures for this one. I lucked out a bit as those two fuses were right beside each other in the fuse box. On the blower fuse just made sure I soldered the wire right at the top of pin so it could be pushed back in enough for contact. Did this mod for safety as well as now my GPS will turn off by itself. About frickin time.

Anyway, so far so good. Seems like a winner so far.
If I find anything needs changing I will update.

Pipes

 

[Pipes]

Couple notes:
To follow up, I had no troubles at all using for a 6 volt source. I have now switched over 100% to 3.7 volt gear and made an interesting observation. Relates directly to OF's post regarding voltage drop on the power line, the lower voltage has higher current so this effect becomes much more noticeable. The solution is to set the voltage at the device end while under load. Or at least measure under load to see what the voltage drop is after adjusted to a know value. (3.7v)
In my case, for my 1 ohm bulli to run at 3.7 volts the no load voltage ends up being 4.8 volts. Meaning the cable has 1 volt drop do to resistance. (likely around .1-.2 ohm??) Again, better cable would also help greatly.
I have also felt for heat after using and found it gets quite warm but nothing to write home about.
Just thought I'd give an update.
Much more stealth then my old set up.

Pipes