regulated vs unregulated power supplies for "log vapes"

[hazy]

So will I have to complete the circuit on the footswitch for the unit to work?

Maybe As an option I can always pop the lid off the PSU remove the footswitch and solder the power leads together inside the PSU too right? pop a rubber plug where the footswitch socket was and tape up the leads inside to stop them shorting on the casing..should work I think

You won't get any power out of it unless the footswitch is closed. I had the same idea as you, I opened the power supply to see if I could short it internally, but even though I'm comfortable with soldering etc, it looked like more trouble than it's worth. It's much easier to just get another plug and short that instead, leaving it plugged into the front panel. It's not so elegant but it works and is reversible, just in case you ever decide to become a tattoo artist one day...

 

[u bwade wunner]

thanks hazy Ill see when it gets here.

at $160 an hour as a tattoo artist..mmmm... .It wont be pretty.

 

[OhTheAgony]

Well, it's here

It's not as small as I hoped, but not as big as I feared neither. Love the display. It's really clear and also very accurate according to my multimeter. It says my UD only takes half an Amp so I guess I have room for 29 more

There was an annoying fan I had to turn off first though. I can't stand fan noises as an HSP, and I became specialized in building silent computers as a consequence when I kept getting head-aches after long sessions behind the keyboard. I'm not gonna let this cheap small noisy fan ruin the quietness I worked so hard for in my home. Luckily I had a matching forked screw driver to open this thing with so I didn't have to cut the fan wire from the outside, I simply unplugged it in case if I need it again in the future.

I hope it won't get to hot without the fan, I figured I can risk it when I stay under 2amps as this thing is rated for 15 or so.

I set it at 13V first in search for my sweetspot, testing time begins

 

[u bwade wunner]

Hey OTH

glad it all arrived pronto for you.Hey um f you are getting headaches get yourself one of those orange colored salt lamps.They are made to help with electrical discharge from transformers etc. negative ions and stuff and to stop u having headaches.if nothing else, They are real cool to have on at night too.very relaxing.Mine sits right next to where my 6 way powerboard is.mine was $20 from a local market.Happy testing

 

[OhTheAgony]

My head aches purely came from the fan noise Bwade. I switched to a completely silent PC almost 2 years ago and that was the end of it.

I was actually about to buy one of those salt lamps just for the looks of 'm. But a few weeks ago I was visiting an old friend who lives in Germany but is about to emigrate to the USA in a few months, and he has a really big one he can't take with him, so I'm getting his instead

I didn't have the luggage space on my bike to bring it with me back from Germany though, so I'll bring it back with me next time I visit him or when he comes over to the Netherlands, whichever comes first.

Testing goes well, thanks, haha. The PSU still doesn't even feel warm to the touch without the fan, and 13,5V seems to be my sweetspot so far. It leaves a bit more taste in my vapor and makes it less harsh than my 13,8V adapter (which probably is actually more like a 14V one). But I may turn it down a bit more after it's been on longer, well see

 

[hazy]

I can't stand fan noises as an HSP, and I became specialized in building silent computers as a consequence when I kept getting head-aches after long sessions behind the keyboard.

I agree I hate fan noises. For years I've been a regular over at the silentpcreview forums. I've built a few silent computers during this time. My girlfriend thinks I'm a bit crazy.

Glad to hear the power supply is working well. I really like the look of that display too.

 

[OhTheAgony]

Haha, what happened, did she catch you stealing her clothing elastics to hang your hard-drives in?

I know what you mean though. I have a gaming setting for my fans that turns both of them up to their maximum speed of 500rpm, and everyone that hears that doesn't even hear it, but it would be way to loud for me if it made that noise all day. A sensitive hearing is highly overrated imo. I tried killing it with loud music and hi-speed-motorcycling, but even that only helps temporarily unfortunately

I use that site a lot to review new hardware when I need it. I bought a lot of stuff without regrets based on their recommendations too.

It's not really what I expected it to be though, this PSU. When I opened it up I saw a lot more electronics than I expected, and a much smaller coil than I thought there would be. It's also not very heavy, I thought it would be all transformer and not much else. I haven't weighed it yet but it's definitely under a kg, perhaps just a pound even. Not sure if I'd feel comfortable pulling the full 15A it's rated for through this, but it seems to be fine for what I'm using it for now and that display is great indeed. Like I said in the UD thread, you can tell straight away when your vape isn't plugged-in properly which is a nice bonus too.

 

[hazy]

Yes I have tried the elastic trick, it works quite well. Years ago I made an enclosure for the HDD using an aluminium box and gel packs. That worked even better. Nowadays I use an SSD and a laptop drive for storage, so I don't really need to do anything.

Sounds to me like the power supply is probably a switchmode design. They only use small coils and there is a lot more electronics involved. I think it would be ok to use the full 15A, but you'd want to hook up that fan again.

 

[OhTheAgony]

Yeah, I was hoping for a non-switching one, but I guess this works too.

I switched to a SSD too some time ago, but I still use a few 5.400rpm 2Tb drives suspended in elastic as well. It's an awesome solution imo. Did you pair that notebook drive via USB or do you have a special cable for it?

 

[djonkoman]

glad I don't have to pull the elastics out of my pants for my harddrive
loud computers don't bother me that much, but on the other hand, one fly in my bedroom and I can't sleep. even if it's buzzing on the other side of the room.
mosquito's are annoying too since they keep buzzing around my head close to my ear.

in summer I often am hunting for an hour in boxershorts pointing lights at the ceiling at angles to reveal mosquito's by the shape of their shadow, standing still wauting for one to reveal it's position by flying up, etc
I don't even get stung that much, but it's the noise for wich I hunt them

worst is when a fly keeps escaping me, then sits still at a place where I can't find it, then eventually I give up, am almost asleep... then it starts buzzing, lands on my cheek and everytime I'm almost asleep it lands on my cheek again... don't know what flies' obsession with my cheek is but they always land there just as I'm trying to get asleep

following this with much interest, will probably get a variable adaptor myself soon so I can also take higher temp hits with my UD if I feel like it. but I'm saying that for a while already would probably still have it on the current temp often, but sometimes I would like some higher temp too.

 

[OhTheAgony]

I already love my variable Djonko, but if it's just for an occasional hit you might want to consider that 13,8V I posted.

Haha, move to a place that's further away from the water when you get tired of chasing mosquitoes, you won't know what happens to you I maybe get 2 or 3 mosquitoes a year in my house now, instead of the 20 per day I got before.

 

[djonkoman]

I think I would mostly turn it to a higher temp on nights during weekends(or free days), but in that case it could still be on higher temp for multiple hours, I could switch back to 12 volt adaptor between uses but I don't really have sessions, I just take hits troughout the night, I do often finish a stem of weed in one go but can still take me a while, since I still keep plenty of time between hits.
so I'm thinking the 13,8 volt is maybe a bit too high, since you adviced not to leave it o that for multiple hours straight?
I think you said it took 20 minutes to get up to temp from first being on 12 volt?
a variable sounds better, since I could also just put it a little lower between stems but only a little so it would heat up to the desired higher temp in 10 minutes or so

lots of ditches around here where they breed... that's what you get in a rural area, especialy in the wâlden where fields are seperated by ditches with treelines..
and I likwe to open my window at night in summer to get new cool air in, can't sleep if it's too hot
once one wall was covered in mosquito's, think I caught a few hundred that night, and didn't take long to catch that much. and still missed some

also a pond on the other side of the street wich is still water too so they probably breed there too
would probably have to move into the city to get away from water, and I'm not a cityperson. a while ago a friend was bragging about the big backyard at his new house, saying ot was so huge etc, when I finally visited it turned out that backyard was tiny to my standards at least
and I rather have roasters making noise at 5 at night than carnoise at night, not that it bothers me that much just feel more at home and comfortable with roaster and birdnoises
and I also like being able to see plenty of stars, and go longboarding on a nice summernight on a dark, quiet road with no cars in sight
still too much light at night around here in my opinion, I really like darkness and hate streetlights(cars aproaching you with lights on are even worse), nights in the forrest are especially awesome, that pure darkness you don't find anywhere else here in the netherlands I think
once in elementary on a camp we did living stratego in a piece of forrest in the evening, turned out everyonewas afarid to go into the forrest in the dark and they all stayed on the paths that marked the edges of our playing field, wich sucked since I was the highest rank but didn't meet anyone so I couldn't use that rank...

 

[OhTheAgony]

2 or 3 hours on the 13,8V should be fine, but anything over 4 hours would be pushing it I think. I've done a 6 and a 8 hour test session myself and my UD still works, but it did get very hot and I think there was a faint smell of charing wood as well after 8 hours or so

I can notice the temp is going up after 5 to ten minutes, but it takes a little longer before it's up to full temp.

But a variable is still the nicer option of course, it just depends on how much you want to spend and how you want to use it. It's more flexible when vaping different strains or concentrates, and I like the option of turning it down to 9 volts or so at nights as well. That way I can just turn it up a notch if my insomnia acts up again but I don't have to leave it on full temp the whole night.

I would like to move out of the city too, but I haven't found my new house just yet. Or well, actually I think I have, but the current owner won't lower the price enough

Light-pollution is a silly thing though. I still don't understand why there has to be so much light on at certain hours. It use to frustrate me a lot years ago, but to be honest I can even forget about it now I don't wonder outside in the middle of the night too often anymore.

 

[hazy]

Yeah, I was hoping for a non-switching one, but I guess this works too.

You really wouldn't want a non-switching one. If your power supply was not a switchmode supply, then it would waste a lot of power and get really hot. It would need fans and/or a massive heatsink to get rid of the heat, and would use way more electricity than the vape itself. It would also be large, heavy and expensive. Seems that Dave has put the fear into everyone about switching supplies, but this is completely unwarranted. I think he had a problem with just a particular batch. The excuse given to him by the "engineer" at Jameco was just bullshit. No doubt Dave will be surprised to find that the variable power supply that he recommends is also switchmode

 

[OhTheAgony]

Well, no need to worry about that anymore then

Not sure if this is normal or not, but I noticed my UD takes about 0,3A < 11,5V then goes up to 0,4A until you reach 13V before it starts taking 0,5A. I wonder if this would be similar on American 110V or not?

 

[hazy]

There is a relationship between ohms, volts, and amps called Ohm's Law so the current drawn will change with voltage, given that you have a fixed resistance (the heating element in the vape).

There is absolutely no difference between "American" power and "European" power. The only numbers you need to worry about are at the output of your power supply; the input voltage is irrelevant. 12V in America is the same as 12V in Holland. Some confusion has been created because the power supplies that come with the American log vapes are unregulated (which I don't think is a good move btw). So although they have a label on them saying "12V", they are actually putting out 13V or so when connected to the vape. People think they are feeding 12V to their vape when they are not. Then if they get a regulated or switchmode supply that is rated at 12V, it will really be outputting 12V, so the vape will run much cooler than they are familiar with and they will think that the power supply is no good. The fact is, most of us who like cloudy hits are running the vape at well above 12V, whether we realise it or not.

I switched to a SSD too some time ago, but I still use a few 5.400rpm 2Tb drives suspended in elastic as well. It's an awesome solution imo. Did you pair that notebook drive via USB or do you have a special cable for it?

I use one of these. I've got the SSD in one slot and the laptop drive in the other. I can't hear it until I put my ear right next to it. I don't need a lot of storage so a single 500GB laptop drive is plenty.

 

[OhTheAgony]

That actually sounds like a pretty good explanation for our power-riddle man, that must be it!

Pretty cool enclosure too, hadn't seen that one before, thanks!

 

[Hippie Dickie]

a regulated power supply should hold the rated voltage regardless of the current draw (up to the current rating). Whereas an unregulated power supply will drop the voltage somewhat depending on current draw.

by the way, a $10 BBQ thermometer can read up to 300°C to be sure what temp you are vaping at.

 

[hazy]

Yes, and that's why an unregulated power supply will deliver more volts than advertised at anything below full load.

 

[OhTheAgony]

I don't see how I could effectively use one of those thermometers with my UD to be honest. Got any thoughts on that Hippie?

 

[djonkoman]

I don't think I've ever seen a BBQ-thermometer(seems like unnecessary hassle for BBQ-ing..), but I would think that it has a stick or so wich you could stick in the heatport/at the top of the heatport?

 

[OhTheAgony]

I think he means one of these:

I can stick it in the heaterport for about a cm before it touches the screen. I don't think that will give me the exact vaping temperature though. I could make two holes in a stem and stick through the pin of the thermometer so I can suck hot air along the side of the pin, but I'm not sure if that would heat it enough to give a proper read out or how long I would have to suck on this before it would. Plus, I would rather not suck on it at all. I can think of beter things to suck on. No, not that you perv

What would you do, Dickie?

 

[hazy]

Maybe poke it through a hole in the side of one of Dave's silicone stems?

EDIT: Sorry I was vaped when I wrote this. Just reread your post above. The thermometers do take a while to get up to a stable temperature reading.

 

[Hippie Dickie]

i prefer a digital one. it has a 6" metal spike to stick into the meat. i take it apart and place the thermocouple probe into the middle of the herb, or against the heater.

The BBQ Thermometer is the black and gray disk in the middle in this photo -- the probe is the wire that loops up to the top edge of the picture:

 

[Alan]

Here is a link to a discussion I started on cheap ($3) voltage testers.
http://www.fuckcombustion.com/threads/cheap-voltage-tester.3994/

It is nice to always know the voltage you are applying.

Very cool to see the entire Bud Toaster laid out Hippie Dickie. Thanks.