The Magic-Flight Box

[TommyDee]

Not to worry @Vapenvy. I am from the Ni-Cad world of off-road racing. I know well about what you say.
I have 6 cells now. 2 that are well 'worn'. And that does happened. I have 2 that really kick ass but they've vented; and I have 2 that came to me at zero volts. Not a trickle, ZEROPOINTZEROZERO. I brought them back to life but they don't hold a charge. I do have a very nice battery conditioner. I just need to find it.

Have you tried the Powerex Pro cells? Do they work as well as the Glyphs? Had trouble with the seller on eBay so no Powerex Pro's yet to test.

I'm thinking we just need a really good MOD for the LB. I'm down to 3x 14500 IMR cells to power the PA. Works like a freakin' charm!

Oh, yea, I do Li-Ion as a hobby too. Did you know that today's flashlights make great vape tools?

P.S. now that my picture and link are completely gone, the image was showing a 3 amp draw at 10 volts. So the power chain, including the PA, draws right at 30 watts for the LB. The Dib box pulls about half that.

[Definitely gotta revisit some of my ABV with the PA!]

 

[pakalolo]

Not to worry @Vapenvy. I am from the Ni-Cad world of off-road racing. I know well about what you say.
I have 6 cells now. 2 that are well 'worn'. And that does happened. I have 2 that really kick ass but they've vented; and I have 2 that came to me at zero volts. Not a trickle, ZEROPOINTZEROZERO. I brought them back to life but they don't hold a charge. I do have a very nice battery conditioner. I just need to find it.

Have you tried the Powerex Pro cells? Do they work as well as the Glyphs? Had trouble with the seller on eBay so no Powerex Pro's yet to test.

I'm thinking we just need a really good MOD for the LB. I'm down to 3x 14500 IMR cells to power the PA. Works like a freakin' charm!

Oh, yea, I do Li-Ion as a hobby too. Did you know that today's flashlights make great vape tools?

P.S. now that my picture and link are completely gone, the image was showing a 3 amp draw at 10 volts. So the power chain, including the PA, draws right at 30 watts for the LB. The Dib box pulls about half that.

[Definitely gotta revisit some of my ABV with the PA!]

I've used Powerex Pros and they do work well. I haven't done testing to verify this, but my opinion is that the glyphs are slightly better.

 

[TommyDee]

In that case there is hope. MF sells only MAHA 2600 cells now which they call 'silvers'. No more Glyphs although no one explained why the site still says they are; https://www.magic-flight.com/club/accessories/battery-set

Anyway, they will be sending a new pair of these MAHA cells.

Still thinking that a finishing box mod is in the works. I basically need to buck a 3.6V source down to 0.9V and close to 30 amps. Should be easy ;p They make some really nice Li-Ion cells that can really wake the box up with juice rivaling their PA. Something on the order of a wristband held mod with a 'hose'[read; bling] to a thumb-ring style 'half-cell'. Basically looking to reduce the 3x-li-ion solution to one fat cell.

You wouldn't happened to know the actual resistance of that LB screen, do you? Anyone?

 

[Tranquility]

You wouldn't happened to know the actual resistance of that LB screen, do you? Anyone?

Use the search function for the term in this thread only:

screen

Limit it to the user @OF. Choose the post with the info you're looking for.

 

[OF]

You wouldn't happened to know the actual resistance of that LB screen, do you? Anyone?

It varies a lot (of course) but a nominal value is about 15 Amps at .75 Volts, by Ohm's law about .05 Ohms. Watch out for contact resistance. Best plan is current limit.

Not a trivial task........

OF

 

[TommyDee]

Thanks @OF The low voltage is the challenge. Agreed on the CC design.

 

[OF]

Thanks @OF The low voltage is the challenge. Agreed on the CC design.

You're welcome, good luck with it. Again, not an easy task at all.

You might consider 'distributed regulators' (sometimes called "POL, Point of Load?). Several of the devices can be run CC, and can be paralleled to get the total you need. Consider the contact warning, you need to run 20 Watts or so to the screen, if you try to do that on the bench you're looking at heavy cable in addition to the dicey contacts with the rods. Which is why MF configured their system the way they did no doubt.

One option worth considering is putting a (high frequency) transformer as close to the load as possible and driving it at higher voltage and lower current (step down). AC is fine for heating the screen, DC is not important.

I've used Powerex Pros and they do work well. I haven't done testing to verify this, but my opinion is that the glyphs are slightly better.

In that case there is hope. MF sells only MAHA 2600 cells now which they call 'silvers'.

Makes perfect sense to me. MF is a top notch outfit, clearly capable of excellent Engineering choices. It only makes sense they would only use the very best 'battery' (it's really a cell, since there's only one.....) option available, even if they had to get into a 'sole source' trap. Like Arizer changing to the NCR18650B. "Experts" who second guess their choices do so at their peril?

OF

 

[TommyDee]

Delivery of all that current explains why the head of the PA gets hot. Losses is simply a price they were willing to pay in the delivery of power. I'm thinking a highly flexible coax cable with a very short run at around 14ga will work wonders. Maybe even a 510 connection on the controller.

I will look up distributed regulator. Great tip.

 

[OF]

Delivery of all that current explains why the head of the PA gets hot. Losses is simply a price they were willing to pay in the delivery of power. I'm thinking a highly flexible coax cable with a very short run at around 14ga will work wonders. Maybe even a 510 connection on the controller.

If you say so. To repeat myself: Good luck.

OF

 

[TommyDee]

thanks

FWIW; I get 1.15V across the power head of the V1.0 PA at full power plugged into a new launch box. The input reading to the converter is 10.6V at 2.8A so basically 30 watts; given maybe 80% efficiency including line losses puts us in the 24 watt neighborhood [guessing started] so that leaves ~21 amps; let's call it 20 amps. That puts us closer to 55-56 milli- ohm. You know, I can almost match that with a 50W power resistor, maybe 2 in order to include a boost mode, dumping an IMR Li-Ion cell into a 30A fuse. Again, damn the watts.

V1.0 PA readings:
large dot on the PA: 1.15V
middle dot on the PA: 0.93V
small dot on the PA: 0.66V
"2/3" setting on the PA: 1.09V
"1/3" setting on the PA: 0.73V

Useful modes with the PA for me fall in the 2/3 to full range.
Now to find out what the output voltage of a 18650 IMR cell does when dumped into a 20A load. ...now to find a 20 amp load!

I think I just invented the first vape box mod with built-in hand warming capabilities for those of us relegated to vaping outside.

 

[Vapenvy]

Not to worry @Vapenvy. I am from the Ni-Cad world of off-road racing. I know well about what you say.
I have 6 cells now. 2 that are well 'worn'. And that does happened. I have 2 that really kick ass but they've vented; and I have 2 that came to me at zero volts. Not a trickle, ZEROPOINTZEROZERO. I brought them back to life but they don't hold a charge. I do have a very nice battery conditioner. I just need to find it.

Have you tried the Powerex Pro cells? Do they work as well as the Glyphs? Had trouble with the seller on eBay so no Powerex Pro's yet to test.

I'm thinking we just need a really good MOD for the LB. I'm down to 3x 14500 IMR cells to power the PA. Works like a freakin' charm!

Oh, yea, I do Li-Ion as a hobby too. Did you know that today's flashlights make great vape tools?

P.S. now that my picture and link are completely gone, the image was showing a 3 amp draw at 10 volts. So the power chain, including the PA, draws right at 30 watts for the LB. The Dib box pulls about half that.

[Definitely gotta revisit some of my ABV with the PA!]

Ha ha. Looks like you know much more than me on this stuff...

Yes, i had some powerex batteries many years ago, but also found they were not as powerful as, other ah, cells (sorry, @OF) , in my case the silver glyphs and eneloop XXX. they also didn't last as long, durability wise. None of the powerex cells can power the mflb any more, but the XXX still work, although they are less powerful than the ikea branded Ladda batteries (likely early gen eneloops )

I don't know if this is because the Xxx are old, or actually less powerful, but i think the ladda batteries are far and away the best batteries on a cost performance basis. Especially considering the crap choice we have here unless you want to pay most of the price in postage.

 

[TommyDee]

I was making power resistors yesterday. Got one that came out to right at 200 milli-ohm. I decided to test my lot of cells to see why I was seeing so much variation. Turns out the load is right at 5 amps for a really good cell... the one and only that I have. I have two others that trail it. This one cell generates good dark ABV out of a single unpacked trench.

I put the v1.0 PA to the load and crap, peg'd the needle. 5 amps on this load was only the middle dot. I might have something going here with this coil. I can parallel another and have 100 milli-ohm. If that can handle current without glowing, it might just work.

Oh, and good enough I got plenty of now. I want juice! I am already thinking this just needs a V3.0 PA with a battery case attached and a serious makeover. Definitely a cleaner power head.

I can just about squeeze dark ABV out of the one good cell. It is a Glyph. The new load will help me cycle some of these other ones. But if they can't deliver the 5 amps into this load like the 'baseline' then I don't have to look further. It is time to make a box mod. But I want it to be cool, fitting for a LB.

 

[TommyDee]

Its been another week and a few new events. First of all I figured out the cell issue. Not solved but basically took a 10,000' view. All I need is a high draw Sub-C Ni-CAD or Ni-MH. Put that on a short leash and bam ...juice. But wouldn't you know it, a NOS set of cells landed my way. Even have a set of goldies in the original packaging unopened. Any die-hard collectors here? I don't even know if they hold a charge. These are out of a Muad-Dib kit. Anyway, also had some good cells so I'm stocked. Oh and MF is sending me a new pair of silvers too. For now, my battery powered PA wrests out that last bit. That bit is important to me on a medical level. But it is also the verge of combustion if you suddenly draw oxygen into a hot spot.

And as to earlier comments on characterizing vaping with the VapMan and Vapor Genie... I realized I had the magic trick right there in front of me. The vape is gone when the vape stops fogging up the cover! ...just before you see a bluish fog which quickly renders the viewing window opaque. Hasn't scortched the screen yet but sure tastes like shit when it combusts. But yes, I am able to get very dark ABV using the PA. I still look forward to trying a VapMan for sure.

And I got an official Muad-Dib to try concentrates. This medium is not helping the reek problem similar to what I have with flower. Good thing I have plenty of those metal boxes. But from a first timer guys and gals... it's going to take a lot to beat flower for this stoner... this first go didn't do it.

On a common front with the Launch Box, Muad-Dib doesn't have battery problems. I can take the junkiest cells and it steams up a storm. Muad-Dib only uses a little over 1/2 the power of what the box needs. Maybe I should try 3 screens across the rails ;p How purely evil!

 

[TommyDee]

3D Printing meets Vaping...

Standard box mods could easily become a portable PA for the LB/MD collection. This unit covers 0.2 ohms so it covers the Moad Dib with perfect power control (...cells work but vary) and 0.05 ohm mods could do the Launch Box.

 

[Choices]

3D Printing meets Vaping...

Standard box mods could easily become a portable PA for the LB/MD collection. This unit covers 0.2 ohms so it covers the Moad Dib with perfect power control (...cells work but vary) and 0.05 ohm mods could do the Launch Box.

@TommyDee are you going to start making these for purchase? I love my MFLB and would find something like this of interest.

 

[TommyDee]

I need a little more experience with box mods but I suspect you are right in that solving a portable power issue with Launch Boxes using box mods would be a sought after feature. I am really liking the portable power pack for my V1.0 PA with the exception of bulk and constant charging of smaller cells. Using box mods could solve this. Only problem I have now is having to press two buttons. A little tighter fit and removing the donut is probably the right answer.

There is nothing magic about this solution. A more reliable 510 connection maybe. But I can release the files and you can have parts printed at a local library if they have a service set up or a local school. The only purchased part is the wire which is doubled up 22awg solid wire. This is good old common telephone/doorbell cable.

I do wish I knew the size of the LB community. I tend to cater to niche markets but that is the hard way to get product out there.

I do plan to further this but I need a 510 mod to do 0.05 ohms. Until then there is not much I can do in development. And on a side note; I don't do products like this for profit. These endeavors are purely for sharing in the hobby. By the same token, I take no ownership of ideas beyond appropriate recognition for solutions.

I am still enjoying the Walnut LB and the MD. Coaxing the spirit from herb in the LB is a nuanced affair highly dependent on just the right amount of power. I find the range between brown and done (dark brown) to hold half the medicine. The only cell I have that can do that has a 45 milli-ohm internal resistance. The difference is running out of oxygen before you get a full draw to trying to keep up with the heater. That is to say, day and night. The PA at 4/5th is perfect!

@Choices I am happy to set up something similar for you to play with. Mailing things around the USA is always under $5 so let me keep playing with this a bit more and we can talk. If you have some ideas, please feel free to share them. Box mod capability info would be very valuable.

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

I need a little more experience with box mods but I suspect you are right in that solving a portable power issue with Launch Boxes using box mods would be a sought after feature. I am really liking the portable power pack for my V1.0 PA with the exception of bulk and constant charging of smaller cells. Using box mods could solve this. Only problem I have now is having to press two buttons. A little tighter fit and removing the donut is probably the right answer.

There is nothing magic about this solution. A more reliable 510 connection maybe. But I can release the files and you can have parts printed at a local library if they have a service set up or a local school. The only purchased part is the wire which is doubled up 22awg solid wire. This is good old common telephone/doorbell cable.

I do wish I knew the size of the LB community. I tend to cater to niche markets but that is the hard way to get product out there.

I do plan to further this but I need a 510 mod to do 0.05 ohms. Until then there is not much I can do in development. And on a side note; I don't do products like this for profit. These endeavors are purely for sharing in the hobby. By the same token, I take no ownership of ideas beyond appropriate recognition for solutions.

I am still enjoying the Walnut LB and the MD. Coaxing the spirit from herb in the LB is a nuanced affair highly dependent on just the right amount of power. I find the range between brown and done (dark brown) to hold half the medicine. The only cell I have that can do that has a 45 milli-ohm internal resistance. The difference is running out of oxygen before you get a full draw to trying to keep up with the heater. That is to say, day and night. The PA at 4/5th is perfect!

@Choices I am happy to set up something similar for you to play with. Mailing things around the USA is always under $5 so let me keep playing with this a bit more and we can talk. If you have some ideas, please feel free to share them. Box mod capability info would be very valuable.

Some else had this idea a while back http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/mflb-mod-dock.34318/
Be careful cause i managed to destoy the screen on mine while trying to run it in TC,make sure you limit the wattage. I used a velocity rda base and a piece of wood for mine,but one can do with way smaller 510 base ,even just a cheap 510 adapter . I didnt try it back then but it would be cool to run it with TUBO software,i bet the muad dib could perform as the Straw with it.

 

[Choices]

@TommyDee I haven’t used the foam donut in my LB for years. If it were me I’d remove it and solely use the box mod controls to power on and off.
As far as my box mod capabilities go, uhmmm I don’t even own one. Obviously I am going to need to do some learning and shopping.

 

[TommyDee]

Maybe we can share notes @Choices . I am using these various printed 510 connections so I can play with halogen bulbs, etc.

@Abysmal Vapor - yea, I thought of a LB just going up in smoke. Already did that to a couple of MD screens. they're still viable though. Bottom line is that it won't take too much power. 40W is already overkill. I am running MD at 8 watts and getting clouds on a very nice clip so. The LB wants about 1.15V at maybe 15 amps max. Note that I am keeping the wire short. What I would like to program into the system is a 40W 'kick' for maybe half a second when you press the button. Kind of a shock load pre-heater.

Oh, and yes... any mod 510 base with screw terminals would work just fine for making the adapter on the mod end. I don't have any of those. Someone should sell those (hint!).

Files can be gotten from here if interested.
Zip file with 2 STL files and an image.

 

[TommyDee]

I gave up looking for my Opus charger and bought a new one. This Opus BT-C3100 is a pretty good unit as long as you don't get the screeching fan one. Easy enough to replace though.

I am starting to see just how critical the cell's internal impedance is. This charger has two great functions; it monitors current draw and it does internal impedance tests. And with those features they also built in a few common test parameters to help cycle cells. Oh, and it doubles as a Li-Ion charger too. But now that we know the LB impedance is in the neighborhood of 0.056 ohms... and I did do a Moad Dib screen test (0.25 ohms) showing consistent impedance throughout its temp range. So the only math-thing left here is the internal impedance of the cells. And I now have the means to at least get a baseline. And yes, I do know about contact resistance skewing these tests when seated in the charger. This particular reading just means that this is -about- what the internal impedance is -right now-. And I also know that maintaining a charge over time and low internal resistance appear to be polar opposites. Basically, this tech hadn't held the test of time. Cells were simply not means to be shorted into an impedance that is closely matched to the cell And this particular size was never a popular NiCD offering.

I mentioned having received several newer cells directly from Magic Flight. they call them Silvers. I don't like them. There, said, just to be clear. They measure up but I can't get them to perform on duration in particular. I need more empirical data but basically they overhead on use and their internal resistance changes causing a cascade event providing insufficient output.

These are the reading I got from these new cells. They are Powerex and they are up to the task for a short period on your first, maybe second draw. After that, when more power is needed, they just flake out. They're not made for this type of load. Just saying it as I see it. YMMV

Now I do have a collection nearing a dozen of the older glyph cells. Some very old originals which will make for a great bottom end baseline but also some NOS stock as well as unknown stock. Here's what I do know; I put my best performing cell to get a internal impedance measurement and it read 45 milli-ohm! YES! Basically, you want the internal impedance to be less than the impedance you are shorting against.

I did get more results that will probably just bore you even more. But I did break into the pack of goldies and got a charge into them. And they too have a nice low internal resistance (they're glyphs added to early Muad Dib kits) but their capacity is half their rating on a refresh charge cycle. These were NOS and sealed in the bag! What the Hell! Okay, so they are good for coaxing out the last bit of vape on a charge. Not much more than that.

Bottom line, I may have 3 good cells after all this effort. Not worth the trouble. If you want all the vape from your LB turned dark brown, you need the power adapter. I only have one cell that -can- do it. It takes at least two charges to complete an entire trench.

I have a 3800mah Tenergy sub-c NiMH cell in the mail (tomorrow). It is said to work to 30+ amps (5C) I'll see what that does. I have an idea

How many of you good people would revive their launch box if they had a robust and reliable hand-held power solution; either as remote cell or a box mod adapter?

 

[OF]

I am starting to see just how critical the cell's internal impedance is.

How many of you good people would revive their launch box if they had a robust and reliable hand-held power solution; either as remote cell or a box mod adapter?

You're absolutely right. Ir (it's technically a resistance, not an impedance since we're talking DC, Impedance needs a 'power factor' or 'phase angle' included in the measurement, and generally a frequency when that happens) is the most important factor in cell use in the LB. Larger internal resistance cells do fine when the current is low, but at 15 Amps it counts big time. They all have the same Thevenin Voltage (nominal 1.25 Volts, give or take) and differ only in their Rth (Thevenin resistance in series with that source) when more complex circuits consisting only of sources and resistances are reduced to their "Thevenin Equivalent (a single voltage source with a single series resistance in the 'black box'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thévenin's_theorem

The competing Circuit Analysis technique, Norton, is a current source with that very same value (in Ohms still) in parallel this time.

In both cases, the circuit will exhibit full voltage potential (Vn/Rth in the Norton case) with no load. As the load increases the voltage drops, not because the 1.25 Volts decays but because some of that voltage is 'lost' (actually use heating the battery itself) by Ohms Law of that current acting on Rth. Or in the Norton case, current sharing between the external load and the theoretical internal resistance in parallel.

While common testers that measure Rth (or try to) are useful they have a built in fault when they use the 'two point contact' fixture they do. The current path between the contact (typically a variable anyway) and the point internal where the voltage is sensed is added into Rth without a way to resolve it. The tester will, therefore, always read too high. If you put the same cell in five times you get several answers? The lowest is most accurate, but still two high. You really need four point, separate probe sensors not in the current path while different contacts draw the current.

In operation they sense the no load voltage, then put a known load on and see how much it 'sags' and use Ohm's Law to convert to Ohms.

MF did their home work. The Rth of the cell selected, plus the source resistance in the contact (notice the ring has lots of contact and the plus runs the full width of the button?) and rails (steel as I recall, not the lowest resistance in the table.....). Such that about 2/5 of the original 1.25 Volts 'never makes it to the screen, only about .75 does, the larger we can make that, the hotter the box will run.

Fun stuff.

Anyway, some of have your wonder weapon, the PA and a 12 Volt battery pack to run it. I'm known to carry this guy in a coat pocket on trips to the garden when the urge strikes:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ME3ZH7C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It gets some use, but there's something cool about the stripped down NiMH cells, I'm not above swapping them out mid session.

Regards to all.

OF

 

[TommyDee]

I'd say your my perfect candidate customer @OF . And a sincere appreciation for the correct terminology and corrections/clarifications in general. This stuff really does interest this old goat.

It took awhile but I got the LB nuance down pretty good. I also noted its similarity to the vapeman and recalled a review saying that good regulated power even for the vapeman made a huge difference.

I'm looking at two options both of which have a common element; the 'wand' for the box. That can be done to fit very well with the MF style. A short tether to a 510 fitting or a hardwired Sub-C should be good to keep things palmed [read; no tether]. If NiMH does actually perform, I'll be surprised. Never had much love for the chemistry. My NiCD days were all about Sanyo pushing out more current. But the capacity is easily double for NiMH over NiCD. I just need to see if I can get that voltage to remain ~1.15V at the cell contact. That would meet the PA v1.0 capability at 100% which easily makes black ABV. Tenergy currently claims 5000mah NiMH at 46-amps in a sub-c package! That should be equivalent to the best ever glyph cell x2. We'll see how true their specs are when the 3800mah cell meets Opus.

Anyway, happy to have the Opus charger available again. Fully appreciate the lack of remote voltage sensing for the internal resistance test. -That- is business I deal with daily. Opus was very forthcoming about this fact in their included literature.

Someone has got to have a simple 510 connector source... I'm shooting to terminate a silver plated braid casing wire and a 14AWG high-strand count core. This is not in the vape path. I can use simple coil terminations. I don't want to machine 510 connectors for simple cabling. I'll make a pretty cap

 

[TommyDee]

And to continue; I charged the new Tenergy cell today. I also picked up some wire braid to improve somewhat on the previous 510 adaptation. The plus side is still a paired 22 awg wire (19 awg) but in this case, maybe only 3-1/2" long. The contact end it continuous with a simple knot to keep it in place. The overall barrel diameter still allows the actuation of the 'switch' by foam.

First impressions of the function just based on the lighting up of the unused LB; WHOHW!

Second impression; Nice palming w/ a comfortable hold and certainly back to stealth

I did forget to add one piece of the shrink tubing to maintain the wires so I added some copper wire near the positive end of the cell.

The 3D print is the same as I posted earlier for those interested in trying this. I got the tabbed sub-c cells. I don't know if this will ever be 'pocket-able' without the MF cell cap. The cell can be shrink wrapped with a cover disc over the bottom if desired. The top can use a similar treatment as described for the bottom. Eventually the wand needs to be made of wood and I envision a copper sleeve for the first contact. Maybe a crimped copper or silver plated rivet for the far-side contact. The silver plated braid will work up a nice patina over time well in keeping with MF's vision. Also considering burying a 30 amp glass fuse in the barrel.

The cell side needs to be kept simple. As it is configured now it fits beautifully in Opus charger, and with a slight alteration (final version), it should also be able to charge as-is in the stock MF charger. I'm thinking that could be done by plugging in the wand-side in the charger.

I'll be testing this when the Sun sets. However, I will say that I am stoked about the initial findings. Now to start doing some extensive 'research'.

Admin! Sorry but the edit just disappears way before I can get my new finding formulated. I hope you don't mind me taking over this thread for a while. I'll use edit when it allows me to.

.

..

...

.... okay, so the Sun's been setting since noon ... and no reason to postpone a good experiment.

!!YYEESS!!

.... Okay, just had to get that out of the way.

..

This is the solution! It matches the best bake yet. And with convenience!

I noted a couple of design tweaks to the prototype. First of all the nub is slightly too tall. Had a firing remain which isn't hard to know when you draw but not when you let off and drift. It was an easy touch though. Kinda nice. Double donut will cover me for now.

The wires need to come out elsewhere too. The wires want to exit toward the palm. That also happens to be where my best contact is, right around 4:20 on the dial as a matter of fact!

I'll zone on this for a while and see where that might lead me but Tenergy is kick'n it! 5000mah/tabbed will be in my cart soon. The resistance readings are pretty much varied between 36 and 120 but they are averaging to around 50 milliohm [and]or better. They come partially charged and I added another 2500ma at a 500mah charge rate.

I can honestly say that this solution matches the upper end of the power adapter. A very steady power band and gobs of vape . This just works! Looking forward to Proto II to improve comfort for the trial period. I am very pleased I tried this.

 

[OF]

The resistance readings are pretty much varied between 36 and 120 but they are averaging to around 50 milliohm [and]or better.

I think I just predicted that (variable resistance readings)? But, perhaps you missed the part that the most accurate is the lowest, not the average? I still believe that is so. It certainly represents a 'worst case' in the simple series circuit you're using.

This has, of course, been explored before and is surely worth revisiting if you're of a mind to. Intentional additional resistance will no doubt be needed long term. Combustion is a potential problem otherwise. Or even damage to the box. If we go on the idea that the LB is normal at .75 Volts or so, this means about four times that must be elsewhere..... 20% efficient, give or take? More importantly that is heat somewhere we don't want it?

Secondary cells are not the only option. Primary cells also fit the bill and many are capable of 15 Amps. In the day I played with D cells, with some success. Perhaps also worth revisiting? I didn't like the extra stuff hanging on the sleek box, but some might? I find the factory PA with it's 'normal size' head and slender cable to be at odds with the spirit in a way. Convenient, but not authentic?

Anyway, glad you're finding success you seek. Good luck with your adventures.

OF

 

[TommyDee]

I did forget but I was aiming for under 56 so I was happy. 'preciate the boot to the head'. I was definitely looking for a little extra umph and found it. Even with 2x 22 awg, which is plenty, I could make that the built-in resistor. The braid is a good conductor.

I grind my herb to dust. A trench is 0.2G. I vape an easy 15% volatile matter from the trench when fully dark. All that's left is a flakes sucking moisture from the air. Modulation on the wand works well enough. Need to fix that reach. 2 donuts are a bit hard to depress reliably for a long draw. Running the charger now to see how much juice a trench consumes We're up to 1500 ma already!

I do think this comes much closer to the original 'simplicity' intent than any of the PA's although I like my v1 as part of a desktop set. I don't like the heavy head though. Dropped that many times on a shake. By all means, use good cells if they're available for the gentle starting draws. But to move from brown to done, you need Bertha. Combustion is certainly possible but there is a peak V-curve reduction early in the cell's cycle so when that burns off you get a nice oven going that is easy to detect with the standard tube. Fresh herb really gets an kick in the pants from that extra peek using this cell fully charged. It would be tough to burn as duffy as my stash is. By the time the dust has vaped away, I'm enjoying the gentle slope of the cell's profile doing a fine job keeping up with my desire for vape. That is what I've been after! Longer hold rather than burning oxygen drawing.

As to regulation - a 510 mod. Capable units are easy enough to adapt. Even a re-packaging of the MF circuit would do wonders with 3x Li-Ion bundled up. I could hold that on a short tether packaged right. Some 18500 IMR's for source power?

Factoid; 6V lantern cells posses carbon rods suitable for arc casting...