ReggieB
Well-Known Member
Hi All, I have a faulty one of these: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/ecapple-iv-1.18734/ after the vendor said I could keep the faulty unit after replacing it for me \o/
So rather than just bin it, I'd like to see if I can fix it or make use of some of the parts, I have a little experience with electronics and programming arm processors, along with 8bit MCUs as well.
I've pretty much figured out how the unit is working (although I haven't done a detailed pinout), It's got a stm32F4 030 value chip as the brains of the unit, there's a 4057a li-on charger IC, and an ir2104 half-bridge driver which I believe is driving 4 mosfets via PWM from the stm32F4 chip, I think it's an i2c/spi based oled for the display and a k-type temperature sensor. The ceramic heat chamber/crucible is heated by a braided copper shroud around the outside of the chamber, which is wrapped in kapton tape and a ptfe? sleeve to keep everything nice and snug.
The chamber fits into a recess in another piece of ptfe which acts as the seal for the heat chamber and also provides part of the air path (it's got a hole in the side of the ptfe which is where the metal tube for the hit hole is located).
I'm thinking that realistically, I am probably going to gut the unit of it's PCB but leave the battery holder and everything else intact, the reasoning behind this is that I don't think the board will be easily repairable and the battery holder is actually providing stability for the heat chamber and holding it in place.
So what would you do at this point? I guess at the moment I am trying to figure out the power requirements, anybody got any ideas? I've not really done a great deal of work with power > 5v and certainly not up to the amp ratings I'm seeing bandied about.
So rather than just bin it, I'd like to see if I can fix it or make use of some of the parts, I have a little experience with electronics and programming arm processors, along with 8bit MCUs as well.
I've pretty much figured out how the unit is working (although I haven't done a detailed pinout), It's got a stm32F4 030 value chip as the brains of the unit, there's a 4057a li-on charger IC, and an ir2104 half-bridge driver which I believe is driving 4 mosfets via PWM from the stm32F4 chip, I think it's an i2c/spi based oled for the display and a k-type temperature sensor. The ceramic heat chamber/crucible is heated by a braided copper shroud around the outside of the chamber, which is wrapped in kapton tape and a ptfe? sleeve to keep everything nice and snug.
The chamber fits into a recess in another piece of ptfe which acts as the seal for the heat chamber and also provides part of the air path (it's got a hole in the side of the ptfe which is where the metal tube for the hit hole is located).
I'm thinking that realistically, I am probably going to gut the unit of it's PCB but leave the battery holder and everything else intact, the reasoning behind this is that I don't think the board will be easily repairable and the battery holder is actually providing stability for the heat chamber and holding it in place.
So what would you do at this point? I guess at the moment I am trying to figure out the power requirements, anybody got any ideas? I've not really done a great deal of work with power > 5v and certainly not up to the amp ratings I'm seeing bandied about.
ReggieB - have you ever posted any images of the disassembled unit anywhere? I would be most interested of iV-1 airpath, as I am trying to locate a Chinese unit without the outgassing Kapton-films heater, or more clever design for air intake.. If you still on it, ceramic heaters getting standard now, however they still dont seem to address "purity" as necessity..