Rocketman

The latest version of my flashlight mod, which is not really my idea, just my cheap-ass approach to it, is really easy to duplicate. Establishing the electrical connection to attach the atty and still be mechanically strong took the most thought. My first attempts with the 901 worked great but the connector kept working loose every time it slipped and hit the concrete. I had trouble getting the 510 battery connector out of the tube so I decided to leave in in there and cut the whole thing. That's when I found out it could be cut about 1/4 inch from the end - - EDIT:about 0.3 inches from end- - - and leave the center contact protruding enough to contact the battery (center contact is sealed with solder on the manual battery) without any additional wiring. A thin plastic insulator allowing the center contact to protrude and insulate the outer ring would add a margin of safety to this arrangement. 5 minute epoxy is what I'll probably use.

Drilling the washer (quarter) to just under size then reaming the hole to about 0.004 inches less than the connector (a very severe slip fit) is somewhat critical. The tube/connector will compress a little and seems to stay in place quite well. I used a dead atty screwed into the connector to press it into the quarter, with a back up oak block with a relief hole. A small socket on the back side works also. The force needed will bend the quarter, a good back up is required. A quarter sized socket is needed to press the quarter into the end of the flashlight. A 6 inch vise is all that is needed to press all this together. To keep the quarter (washer) from working loose, press below flush. I'm going to use 50 cents worth of washers on the next one to make the end even stronger (2 quarters pressed just below flush). Put an atty on it to make sure everything is aligned straight.
All this make sense so far?
The switch> You could drill or come up with some way to mount a decent switch, LED, bells and a whistle, but the cheapest way to switch this is use the push on/push off switch already there. It needs to be taken out of the screw on end. Taking it apart and putting it back together is a little tedious. Pay close attention to all parts of the switch, even the spring inside. This switch works like a ball point pen mechanism. One push and the contact is rotated and stayed elevated, another push and it rotates and drops onto the contacts. Put it together "wrong" so that a push is needed to make the contact. This is really difficult to explain, the pictures are better. Cut the little internal spring (not the external spring) in half to make it easier on the fingers. If you cut it about 60/40 you have two you can try. You must make sure it functions as a 'momentary on' switch before you try to put a battery and atty on it.

Bill of materials:
9 LED, 3 AAA flashlight, something between $1 and $2.50 each. End should be about the size of a quarter.
A quarter (let me know if you can't find one, I have extras to sell)
A dead 510 manual battery. Don't waste a good one, just wait for it.
A good 510 atty, or 2, or 3
A couple of 18650 Li-ion rechargeable batteries, get the 2400mah ones and relabel them 3000mah yourself (cheaper that way) and a charger.
A little bit of cardboard to wrap inside the flashlight tube to make a better fit for the battery. Just not a tight fit.
A tubing cutter, a 11/32 (to drill the quarter) and 23/64 inch drill bit (to lightly final ream by hand). My 510 manual bats are about 0.362. in diameter.
A vise, some small wood or plastic blocks, hammer (always need a hammer).
Bandaids, Ibuprofen,

I'll try and document the next one I build with some better pictures. I don't youtube. Those of you mechanically inclined types out there could think this one though and improve on it. But those that think a project out for a week or so before starting (me) might just need a little guidance.

What do you have when complete? A 510-18650 mod e-cig. The trailer park version of a screwdriver. Sorry if it's not pretty and it's not a high-voltage mod. Rick's not gonna get a free one to take pictures of it. Not even he could make this clunker look good. )( But it works, like a dream.

The Rocket

DPetron39

I am not inclined that way, all I care about is it works like u say. Email: Dpetron39@aol.com

Hachiroku

You forgot cell phone with 911 on Speed Dial...

Rocketman

911 on speed dial, bet that's a time saver.
don't have to worry about forgetting the number.
"hey, hun do you remember the number to 911?:
"no, try 411, see it they have it"


Breaking News: Old guy arrested for calling 911 looking for e-juice.

Rocketman

OK, "D", we are gonna build one of these together.
Let me know when you have the stuff "you" need to get".
Don't toss out that dead 510 manual battery.
Go Google 18650 Li-ion batteries and a charger.
Pick a stateside source or you will learn the true meaning of
"Vapor-Christmas"
I'll get started on my part. Hey bud, can you spare a quarter?
I won't supply or be responsible for atomizers, batteries, or chargers. I will do 510s, I've had the best luck with this model.

I'll donate a little FREE TIME to drilling and pressing parts together for a couple of these. Please folks, only a couple. And I'm not gonna get into selling these.
Rocket

Rocketman

Ok D, I've started work. Went to local dollar store and got a handful of dollar flashlights. A little smaller than the $2.50 flashlight, and a little lighter. Had to use a little quarter (red flashlight in picture). Rolled the edge a little also.

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DPetron39

Just read your post, kewl

Hachiroku

WAIT!!! WAIT!!! Don't go TOO FAST! I broke one of the flashlights trying to get it apart!

Rocketman

Watching movies, more photos Friday night. I drive out the led package from the back of the flashlight with this really nice stainless steel tube (DSE-701 cigar that died) and a hammer. Blam, comes right out. The little quarter used to be a big quarter (you knew that right?). Drill 1/4 inch hole in quarter, bolt and nut, spin in drill, file to size. Needs to be a really tight fit. $2.50 size flashlight fits the big quarter directly. Tap quarter in, press in, however. A little more than flush so it won't work loose. You can lightly peen/roll the end over like I did with the small red flashlight. This model has a thinner, lighter case wall. You can work the hole for connector before pressing in flashlight or after. This is touchy, needs to be a very fine fit. After the connector is installed we will fill the inside with a little epoxy for a little stability and insulation at the positive battery connection. That'll be a photo challenge.

A little more design thought is needed on the connector installation. Most mods I've seen press the brass connector into the Mod housing. I've found it difficult for the home machinist to drill/ream/broach a hole that you can press the fitting in with enough force and bearing surface to be strong and stable without distorting the fitting. When I pressed the cutoff 510 battery (see earlier photo) with the steel tubing still in place it seemed to fix all that. The bearing surface between the brass and steel tube is almost a 1/4 inch in length and the tube adds thickness/strength to the brass fitting wall. This really seems like a strong and easy to fit solution when using a thin cross section mounting like a quarter. Problem - need dead batteries to do it. Fittings alone are about $3. Dead batteries are hard to come by, hope I don't end up with a supply of dead batteries from my own stock. One possible solution is to buy some fittings, press one into the battery tubing, cut it off, do it again, cut that off, etc. Then press into drilled quarters (I'm stuck on that quarter idea).

Open to suggestion here.

The primary objective is to do this at minimum, absolute minimum cost, at the expense of labor of course. Why? just because. The $1 ($1.09 with tax) flashlight, the 25cent washer, the $3 connector gives you a mod (atty, battery, charger not included) for under $5. I even have a model name for it: The Trailer Park E-cig Mod, you get what you pay for, and don't expect more.

More tomorrow.

Rocket

DPetron39

LOL

LeCig

"Trailer Park E-cig Mod" - LMAO

Rocketman

You get what you pay for, don't expect more.

Ok, you wannabe rocket scientists, (kids get your parents help with the part of this exercise that uses the explosives) now that you have knocked the crap out of that dollar store flashlight getting the LEDs out, lets turn it around and work on the other end.

Take the AAA battery carrier out of the flashlight screw it back together and push (kinda hard) and the switch assembly will push forward into the flashlight. That's one of the complaints you will hear about a flashlight mod. But come on folks, it's a buck a pop. The attached picture shows several views of switch disassembly. Glad I bought several of these now that I have lost a couple of the itty-bitty little springs. Leave them out all night and something will come and eat one. Not really a problem because in the next installment we cut the spring in half and make 2 of them. Get used to taking the switch apart and putting it back together. Examine it to see how it is put together and how it works. Next lesson we will put it together wrong on purpose.

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Rocketman

While you take a break from looking for the lost little parts, get the switch contacts ready for reassembly as a momentary on switch. Now that you know how it originally worked, look at the bent contacts which allow the little button contact to fit underneath the side contacts. (picture is worth 350 words in this case).

And the contacts set back into the switch. The one up front has the bent contacts. Notice how the button is underneath the side contacts. Push on the button, contact, let go of button, no contact. Free momentary switch.
Next we will cut the little contact spring in half so it is a little easier to push and hold for 5-7 seconds. Even with half the spring it does not seem to come on by itself, or in your pocket. Full spring strength is just too much. EDIT: THE DOLLAR STORE FLASHLIGHT SPRING IS WEAKER-FULL STRENGTH IS PROBABLY BEST.
So far we have a dollar flashlight, 25 cent washer, and a free switch. If we had a connector pressed into the the leetle quarter, it would be done.

The Rocket

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Rocketman

Update on the Trailer Park:
make the switch mod first before you knock out the LEDs and you can test the momentary function with the LEDs. I found that with the dollar store flashlight the switch spring isn't as strong as the autoparts store 2.50 flashlight. Try it full strength first. Half length might be too soft. I tried one of each and the half length spring even stretched gave a pretty soft touch. Not suitable for back pockets.

So if I can get back to the little quarters tonight, and fit the last couple of 510 connectors I have, we will have completed The ultra cheap, Trailer Park E-cig .

Now don't get too excited here. When you add up the cost of a couple 18650 batteries, a charger, a 510 atomizer, some cartridges, You aren't too far away in cost from one of the "Pretty" Mods. The Trailer Park will not be as durable as some of the recent offerings. But if you already have the batteries, chargers, 510 stuff, then you get to show off your own homemade super cheapy.
People will call you a genius, blinded by the shiny bauble, until the finish wears off, and not see that you just like the challenge of making something as simple and cheap as you can. Why? just cause.

Rocket

Rocketman

A few more photos to look over. My Digitally (fingers) Controlled Leetle Quarter Machining Fixture (DCLQMF), a Leetle stack of Leetle quarters, and pressed and rolled Trailer Parks ready for connectors.

Isn't it cool how each one is unique? No two alike. Some processes are so constrained every unit comes out looking the same. Not with my special Wide Range Variability (WRV) manufacturing process. I engineered WRV to reduce reject rates to almost zero. Since variations are expected, nothing fails to pass the doublewide acceptance criteria. I can pretty much guarantee you that each "Trailer Park" will be different.

The dollar flashlight might not be long enough for 50 cents worth of washers and the 18650. It's pretty much full. Just enough room to press in the connector. And, because of my special reverse engineering methods, I determined it is probably better to press the connector into the leetle quarter first, then into the tube. Doing something backwards is a surefire method of finding the most efficient assembly sequence.

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Rocketman

MOD Connector from old E-cig battery.
Getting the connector ready. As I mentioned earlier, I like to use the 510 connector with the stainless steel tube intact. Trimmed and sanded in photo1, Solder the center contact to seal in photo 2, a little goopy stuff to insulate a little better, and the last picture, the finished product, the Trailer Park E-cig Mod, Game Day Model.

(2 toots on the whistle=hey hun, could you bring Bubba and me a beer?)

I found a total do it yourself 510 connector I might try. I guess the threads in the battery connector are Metric (go figure) 7mm X 0.5mm.
Our member Max (no links here, you find him) has a DIY how to for a 510 connector. And like I said, none of this is earth shattering, breaking news, my idea for a cheap MOD.

Why am I hooked on the 510 for this MOD? The internal threads on the battery side make for a much stronger joint than the 901 male threads. My 901 mods just didn't seem as strong and stable.


Added a couple more shots of the cut battery connector. Minimum length is 0.3 inches or you trash the connector (been there, done that)
Adding the epoxy insulation is important. The battery can only contact the center contact.

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Rocketman

The Trailer Park, seems to be working pretty good for a super cheapy.
The switch hasn't ever stuck but the one I'm using right now missed a lick.
Either that or one of those wet contact issues with the atty. Wiped everything down just in case. With it all assembled, the thin aluminum case seems solid enough.


Now, for all of you that think

"I wouldn't be caught dead out in public with one of those big gawdy things"

check out the e-cigar 18650 mod almost finished.

KONG

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Hachiroku

OK, Rock! Pony up! Where did you get the housing?!?!?!

I've been messing with cheap plastic BS, trying to get a good battery holder. This could be it!

DPetron39

That was fast

Rocketman

I'm "testing" your Trailer Park right now.

Got your batteries on Order?

D: PM would be better than itty bitty posts



G'night all,
Rocket out

DPetron39

Love the name!!! !!!!

DPetron39

yes

DPetron39

Tell me where to send your money!

Rocketman

Well, spent most of the weekend playing with e-cig mods. I have an amp to repair, and a ton of other really important stuff to do
I've ordered some more stuff from the U.S. and one of the overseas suppliers that has added mod components to their line. And the tension of competition mounts. Until these come in I'm about done. I made one of these for Denise because she asked so nicely.

I Love you guys,

The Rocket,
Happy Holidays


Mod info here, informative but a little dated.
hmmmm didn't see the KONG there.

http://www.e-cignews.com/items/A_run...s_on_the_?c=14

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Hachiroku

AHA! I see now! Looks like I have a shopping trip!