Aargh ! Electronics novice needing help.

[vereybowring]

I would very much like to make a 5V mod or even full VV, but the site has so many different posts relating to this I am getting lost and confused as to what parts I need and how I wire it all together.

I have already made a few 3.7V mods using parallel wired batteries and even charge circuits (but only with pre bought boards) so have already figured out LED's and switches.

I want to step up from 3.7V instead of using step down from 7.4V since I don't want to be stacking batteries - I have found many circuits that can achieve this but they usually seem to have limits on the amperage which makes them useless.

I am going to go off and find an electronics book to read as well since my knowledge is rather limited to simple circuits.

Any help would be most appreciated for this confused new modder.
Also I am UK based which could affect advice as getting parts from the USA can be very expensive postage wise.

 

[Eddie.Willers]

No need to get parts from the USA - RS has everything you could ever want
RS Components | Electronic and Electrical Components

 

[vereybowring]

No need to get parts from the USA - RS has everything you could ever want
RS Components | Electronic and Electrical Components

I know the UK suppliers which is why I mentioned not quoting ones from the USA.

 

[Gummy Bear]

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...vv-mod-w-switching-regulator.html#post1886821

If this doesn't give you Modumust Fever then we need to check you to see if you may carry a natural immunity gene that we could perhaps develop into a vaccine.

 

[CraigHB]

The Poorvari is the best one to start with, easy to wire up. Here's the part at Mouser UK. Of course, that requires a dual batt and you said you wanted to build single batt VV device.

For a single cell VV, you need a boost converter (aka boost regulator). There's only one I'm aware of that has enough power and is available in an easy to use module form, that's the PTN04050C. It's limited to 12W output so you wouldn't be able to run a dual coil carto or other low resistance atty at higher voltage. Works fine for standard resistance though. You also need a high drain battery with boost so you'll be limited in that regard.

You probably won't have much luck trying to build your own boost converter from scratch without some in depth knowledge. It's not something easy to do. It's not hard to wire, just hard to tune and boost regulators can be tempermental design wise. If you really want to make one yourself, I'd recommend the MAX1709. It has internal feedback compensation which eliminates most of the headache, however you are limited to specific values on output ESR, output capacitance, input capacitance, and inductance. You would have to build it on an optimized PCB. Boost controller chips can be sensitive to parasitic impedance and noise.

 

[Sci]

Texas Instruments is worldwide. This is the US link to the PTN04050C booster you see everyone talking about. They've got European divisions, so you should be able to get it from there. You can get free samples from Ti, just don't do it often, they'll cut you off. Do a search here for the PTN4050 & you'll find plenty of how-to's.

You can use one battery(3.7v) with these & get a 5v vape out of it.

 

[Gummy Bear]

Texas Instruments is worldwide. This is the US link to the PTN04050C booster you see everyone talking about. They've got European divisions, so you should be able to get it from there. You can get free samples from Ti, just don't do it often, they'll cut you off. Do a search here for the PTN4050 & you'll find plenty of how-to's.

You can use one battery(3.7v) with these & get a 5v vape out of it.

or less if you want. I run at 4.5 but most modders set them up for VV.

 

[Dalton63841]

or less if you want. I run at 4.5 but most modders set them up for VV.

That's what I love about this chip... Pretty agile really. Personally I throw a single 47k resistor on it for 5.6v, which puts the loaded voltage right at my sweet spot.

 

[Sci]

or less if you want. I run at 4.5 but most modders set them up for VV.

What is your set up on that one? I've got a 100k digital pot hooked to one & I'm getting 4.05v to just under 15v(inline meter, no load). I've got the output of the pot hooked to pin 3 on the booster. Everything else on the booster is wired as normal. I've tried this with capacitors & without, same results. With a 3 ohm load paralleled to the meter & the voltage set to 4.22v, I'm getting 3.35v.

Another good thing about this booster, the output is constant. When the battery gets down around 3.2v(my experience), production pretty much just ceases, up until that point, it's a solid vape.

 

[Gummy Bear]

I just install an 82k resistor between pin 3 & 4 this gives me 4.5v I just don't need VV.
As a matter of fact I am working on one as we speak,, ,, errr,,,,, type.



Edited 2 hours later:
Ahhh, sweet success. I got my 4.5 volts back now. had to replace the chip. I think I out ran the chips specs with those dual coils.

 

[Sci]

I'll give that a shot. I've got a 100k pot, I'll have to try it first, just to see what happens. I like a fresh battery with a dual coil carto, if I can keep that for the life of the battery charge, that would be great!
Thanks for the info.