VapCap Induction Heater for Desktop and in Car Use
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MinnBobber
Well-Known Member
?? what's "2 blues, 1 green, 1 red " testing under load?? Bottom blue is not lite.
@MrMonss , I just got back from US to Amsterdam to Budapest , Munich to US with my Portside mini.
I stowed it in checked bag. It was an AWESOME combo in Europe---thought I'd use Mighty the most but
ended up using this combo. The induction heater was not an issue for my trip
At home I rarely vape away from home so VC was lightly used---the trip allowed me to get to know it better and
my opinion went WAY UP on the VC!!
Portside mini and VC are actually very stealthy. I did a lot of vaping in some awesome places:
-- Church from 1635 steps , midnight
-- Heroe's Square in Budapest, midnight
-- 10 feet away from river cruise pilothouse, on top deck of river ship 1 AM
-- many public places at sunset
-- Vondel Park in AMS
-- many public benches while taking a break
??? Anybody else use the "Thomas Edison method" with induction heater?? Note: Stu will give you 5 bonus points for first to identify "Thomas Edison method"
@MrMonss , I just got back from US to Amsterdam to Budapest , Munich to US with my Portside mini.
I stowed it in checked bag. It was an AWESOME combo in Europe---thought I'd use Mighty the most but
ended up using this combo. The induction heater was not an issue for my trip
At home I rarely vape away from home so VC was lightly used---the trip allowed me to get to know it better and
my opinion went WAY UP on the VC!!
Portside mini and VC are actually very stealthy. I did a lot of vaping in some awesome places:
-- Church from 1635 steps , midnight
-- Heroe's Square in Budapest, midnight
-- 10 feet away from river cruise pilothouse, on top deck of river ship
1 AM-- many public places at sunset
-- Vondel Park in AMS
-- many public benches while taking a break
??? Anybody else use the "Thomas Edison method" with induction heater?? Note: Stu will give you 5 bonus points for first to identify "Thomas Edison method"
frankbhelger
Active Member
?? what's "2 blues, 1 green, 1 red " testing under load?? Bottom blue is not lite.
@MrMonss , I just got back from US to Amsterdam to Budapest , Munich to US with my Portside mini.
I stowed it in checked bag. It was an AWESOME combo in Europe---thought I'd use Mighty the most but
ended up using this combo. The induction heater was not an issue for my trip
At home I rarely vape away from home so VC was lightly used---the trip allowed me to get to know it better and
my opinion went WAY UP on the VC!!
Portside mini and VC are actually very stealthy. I did a lot of vaping in some awesome places:
-- Church from 1635 steps , midnight
-- Heroe's Square in Budapest, midnight
-- 10 feet away from river cruise pilothouse, on top deck of river ship
-- many public places at sunset
-- Vondel Park in AMS
-- many public benches while taking a break
??? Anybody else use the "Thomas Edison method" with induction heater?? Note: Stu will give you 5 bonus points for first to identify "Thomas Edison method"
Trial and error?
Summer
Long Island, NY
With a fresh charge & no load, there are 3 blue lights; under load, 2 blues lights that dip to 1 within the 1st 3 sec. Is this what everyone else is experiencing?
No load means you press the battery meter to check the level when unit is not in use. Under load means you press the battery meter & observe what happens to the lights when you engage the switch by inserting a vc. 3 blues when not under load means fully charged, followed by 2 then 1 blue light. Don't specifically know what green means, but it means the battery is waning & red is coming, which signifies you to charge. I go to 1 blue, then make sure I charge.
It's important to add which model we are talking about. @Summer, you have a PS and your own 18650 batteries. The voltage "sag" or dip from being under load will be different depending the battery rating. In theory, the higher the current rating the less sag will be observed. IMO, if fully charged, and dropping over 2 LED, the battery is not rated high enough or are getting old.
Summer
Long Island, NY
IMO, if fully charged, and dropping over 2 LED, the battery is not rated high enough or are getting old.
Yes, I have the PS. Have the LG HG2 so I'm sure the battery is rated high enough & surprised that being purchased in August '17 from Liion, a reputable source, that the batteries would be considered old, especially since unit is pretty much only used one evening a week for 12 dips at most, and I've only needed to charge less than 6 times in the past 10 months. So, I guess I'm gonna have to replace them fairly soon. What is the critical replacement stage -- when under load the meter shows 1 blue & dips to green or green & dips to red?
If anyone has a PS & fairly new LG HG2 batteries, I'd be interested in knowing how many lights you get under load from a fresh charge.
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If the performance is good and your getting reasonable battery life, I'd stay status quo.
There are things to try/check to maybe give a little boost. Clean the battery contacts and check/reseat the main bullet connectors. Also, check the kill switch blade connectors for good bite. Anything a little loose along the main current drive path can cause voltage sag or contribute to it.
I really don't think you have any major problems at this point unless your noticing a performance issue.
There are things to try/check to maybe give a little boost. Clean the battery contacts and check/reseat the main bullet connectors. Also, check the kill switch blade connectors for good bite. Anything a little loose along the main current drive path can cause voltage sag or contribute to it.
I really don't think you have any major problems at this point unless your noticing a performance issue.
Hippie
Well-Known Member
I meant to ask when I saw the new skelly battery connections ...
Do the new skellys need to be under load to test the battery power in either battery configuration?
I'm using HG2s in my Skelly which I think has the same circuitry as the Portside
All the LEDs light up on full charge with no load. Under load it lights up 2 blues and the red.
@Pipes did say something about the chargers trickle charging the last 20% or so. I wonder if that's something to do with what you're experiencing.
Do the new skellys need to be under load to test the battery power in either battery configuration?
I'm using HG2s in my Skelly which I think has the same circuitry as the Portside
All the LEDs light up on full charge with no load. Under load it lights up 2 blues and the red.
@Pipes did say something about the chargers trickle charging the last 20% or so. I wonder if that's something to do with what you're experiencing.
Yes, any battery measurements of any battery should have load to get an idea of the charge. It's really up to the load to determine the voltage drop and will be different pending what that load is. For example, if you insert a non metal stick into the hole to activate, it will be a much lesser load of around 1-2 amps, compared to dipping a VC and having a 5 amp load.
I think the bottom line is this is a gauge for giving charge information and gives the user reassurance of charge. The user will adjust on how to determine it's readings as there are variables involved such as battery rating/condition and VC type a well.
As for trickle charging towards the upper charge, I'm not sure how this charger handles it. There will be a natural current drop off as it gets close to it's set max but not sure on just how smart these "smart" chargers actually are. Sounds like an experiment is in order. Will check it out next week sometime and report back.
Good questions guys!
I think the bottom line is this is a gauge for giving charge information and gives the user reassurance of charge. The user will adjust on how to determine it's readings as there are variables involved such as battery rating/condition and VC type a well.
As for trickle charging towards the upper charge, I'm not sure how this charger handles it. There will be a natural current drop off as it gets close to it's set max but not sure on just how smart these "smart" chargers actually are. Sounds like an experiment is in order.
Will check it out next week sometime and report back.Good questions guys!
ParanoidAndroid998
Well-Known Member
I'm wondering if someone can help me out.. I just attempted to build an IH, based on this guide: https://imgur.com/a/pzRe3SV
I know it's hard to see from the videos/photo, but I'm wondering if anyone can see/think of an obvious reason why this setup isn't working for me (no heat). I've read the entire thread and many guides, and I'm completely stumped. I've checked all of my solder points and they all seem clean enough.
As you can see from the two videos, half the time when I click the momentary switch to heat the VC, the lights on the IH unit and FET board turn on solid, and then the other half of the time the lights flash in unison. Neither times heat the VC. What's weird is when I almost had everything wired up permanently, I tried it a few times and it heated the cap, but only 1 out of 3 tries. Now I haven't been able to get it to heat the cap at all.
My power supply is putting out 12V and 3A, so on the lower end, could that be it? I'm getting no heat at all though.
Image:
Solid Lights:
Flashing Lights:
I know it's hard to see from the videos/photo, but I'm wondering if anyone can see/think of an obvious reason why this setup isn't working for me (no heat). I've read the entire thread and many guides, and I'm completely stumped. I've checked all of my solder points and they all seem clean enough.
As you can see from the two videos, half the time when I click the momentary switch to heat the VC, the lights on the IH unit and FET board turn on solid, and then the other half of the time the lights flash in unison. Neither times heat the VC. What's weird is when I almost had everything wired up permanently, I tried it a few times and it heated the cap, but only 1 out of 3 tries. Now I haven't been able to get it to heat the cap at all.
My power supply is putting out 12V and 3A, so on the lower end, could that be it? I'm getting no heat at all though.
Image:
Solid Lights:
Flashing Lights:
I think you have two things happening here.
1/ When light stays on, the circuit is not going into oscillation. Had gone through this and only solution is to change the FETs. In this misfired state, the current draw is about 1 amp.
2/ When your getting a flashing light, this is the unit trying to oscillate but your power supply is cutting out. You need at least 5 amps available and even then, some supplies will not take the initial surge and go into protect state as well. Causing the flashing light. You should find the LED on the supply flashing in sync.
So, you should first beef up the supply to get it somewhat working and change the FETs to get it to 100%.
Good luck!
1/ When light stays on, the circuit is not going into oscillation. Had gone through this and only solution is to change the FETs. In this misfired state, the current draw is about 1 amp.
2/ When your getting a flashing light, this is the unit trying to oscillate but your power supply is cutting out. You need at least 5 amps available and even then, some supplies will not take the initial surge and go into protect state as well. Causing the flashing light. You should find the LED on the supply flashing in sync.
So, you should first beef up the supply to get it somewhat working and change the FETs to get it to 100%.
Good luck!
ParanoidAndroid998
Well-Known Member
Thanks so much for the helpful reply and all of the work you've done.I think you have two things happening here.
1/ When light stays on, the circuit is not going into oscillation. Had gone through this and only solution is to change the FETs. In this misfired state, the current draw is about 1 amp.
2/ When your getting a flashing light, this is the unit trying to oscillate but your power supply is cutting out. You need at least 5 amps available and even then, some supplies will not take the initial surge and go into protect state as well. Causing the flashing light. You should find the LED on the supply flashing in sync.
So, you should first beef up the supply to get it somewhat working and change the FETs to get it to 100%.
Good luck!
I'll try a different power supply tomorrow.
To be clear, would I need to change out the entire FET board? Or can the little squares (fets?) be removed and switched out?
Edit: Also, is there something I did that would have caused damage to the FETS? Too much or not enough power? Or are they just luck of the draw?
Your quite welcome.
Found almost all the FETs suck since last fall. Ever since they had the reversed diode fiasco. Nov/Dec vintage..?
The procedure was discussed a page or 3 back complete with alternative FETs to use. You need a nice pointy soldering tip for the task.
Found almost all the FETs suck since last fall. Ever since they had the reversed diode fiasco. Nov/Dec vintage..?
The procedure was discussed a page or 3 back complete with alternative FETs to use. You need a nice pointy soldering tip for the task.
ParanoidAndroid998
Well-Known Member
To update... I zombified an old XBOX 360 power supply as suggested by someone on Reddit and I've finally got it working! The lights on the heater and FET board are still glowing solid, and its taking about 8-10 seconds before i get a click, but it is working and damn does it feel good. Gonna load a bowl right now, thanks all!
many thanks keep up the good work
wkndwarrior
Active Member
Nice, i feel like the lighter is the thing I dont like bout vapcaps. I don't use it very much but when I have the torch just feels like a crack pipe (especially if you ever say offer to a friend). These solutions seem a lot more elegant.
namasteIII
Well-Known Member
Joined the gang today. Thanks Pipes, this things pretty cool. I'm being a bit to timid with the heat, more practice and I think I can get some power out of this thing.
Definitely not a VapCap need, but a super handy other way to use it.
Definitely not a VapCap need, but a super handy other way to use it.