Build a cheap, hard hitting 18650 MOD

[BillyBlack]

I slapped together a very inexpensive 3/4" copper water pipe mod. the poor man's 'Chuck'. Unless you have to buy a 10' length of pipe (I had some laying around) this will cost about $6 assuming you have a few things laying around.



Other than your atty connector of choice that's about it for the parts, you'll also need a small spring to solder in the end cap.



This is the switch, a 2A one from MadVapes. It has a nice light feel, I hope it holds up.

Push Button Switch -- Black

Doesn't look bad and the no-frills, straight through construction means you'll be getting all your battery has to offer.



If anyone is interested I'll post further instructions.

[Rick]

Billy,

You bad, you give us half a firmy, and then slap it. Of course we want to see this mod in 3D

[Jim Davis]

I gotta agree with Rick on this one. Come up with all the details, or we're gonna have to hurt ya.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by Jim Davis

I gotta agree with Rick on this one. Come up with all the details, or we're gonna have to hurt ya.

Yeah, want he said and a little further South then a slap on the firmy

[mcquinn]

What?Do What?I want in on some of that slappin stuff.

[lordmage]

let's all slap him silly for not posting it all the first time bad boy.

[mcquinn]

I would like to see a photo of how you mounted the switch in 3/4 pipe as I studied that quite a while and never came to good solution other than the T I put in my pipe PT.

[BillyBlack]

Ouch! Tough crowd.

Well it's pretty straight forward. The pics cover the major details. The way I made it there are only 3 solder points.

Let's start with the positive contact. Almost anything will do, a piece of thin plywood, a piece of Plexiglas. It's not crucial. It just has to hold the nut and bolt/washers (ones I had laying around) centered in the tubing and away from the metal sides.

Bad pic but here's how it looks from the battery side.



I just cut 3 pieces of corrugated cardboard to approximate size, flattened them a bit and epoxied them together, covering the top (the battery side) with a thin layer. Again it don't have to be pretty. I then drilled it, installed the screw, washers (one on each side) and nut then chucked it in a drill spinning it against sandpaper till it fit in the tube. I then double nutted very tight with a piece of wire in between. no solder.

The 18650 protected battery is about 67mm long, I left the tube about 5mm longer. You can let it run long for now and cut it later to length after you've epoxied in the positive connector.

I used this 2A switch. It has a very nice light feel, hopefully it will hold up. Avoid those little .5A RS switches.

Push Button Switch -- Black

The caps are just standard 3/4" copper pipe caps, about 70¢/piece. I cut down the top cap with a tubing cutter, it was a bit of a pain and left an internal burr that had to ground down so the cap would again fit the tubing. Optional.

For any kind of mods (especially for drilling plastic) these are simply great.



- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Drilling the top cap for the atty connector can be a bit tricky. A vice will make things easy for the final press in.. You can't see it but the top cap has a nice depression (juice well to trap any stray leaks) in it. I used a standard socket (as in socket wrench) that just fit inside the cap. I marked the center and used a punch to pound it down a bit and establish my drill point. I drilled with a bit slightly smaller bit than my 510 connector then used the above stepless bits to get it to size, take your time and check often. You want it a hair smaller than the connector as you want to press it in with the vice, hoping for a nice tight grounded fit. The caps are cheap so buy a few. If you can't get a perfect press fit it's no big deal as you can epoxy it in from the inside (you'll epoxy either way), then add a ground wire inside.

For the bottom cap you need a small spring, you don't want/need a lot of pressure. Mine's about 11mm long. It came out of a 2XAA battery box. I left it attached to the small piece of metal then soldered it in. This may take a while as the cap absorbs heat, I suggest you clean the inside of the cap with steel wool for an easier bond.

To install the switch you need to bend the 2 contacts down and out as flat as you can (without busting them). Solder a stranded piece of wire (your future pos atty wire) to one leg first. I used tweezers to get it in the hole. Your cardboard positive plate will end up just about right up against the bottom of the switch. I used solid wire on the plate so I could bend it into place/position. I inserted the positive plate by pushing it in from the bottom with the battery. Make sure at this time (use a flashlight) that the cardboard plate is sitting nice and square to the tube. Solder your first connection, check for continuity and make sure the switch tabs and wire/solder are not touching the tubing wall. When all checked I dabbed on some liquid electrical tape (handy stuff). Now you can epoxy the plate in place from the top. Using a flashlight I made sure all the edges looked sealed then added a thin layer over the cardboard. Some epoxy can be runny. I use the 5 min. type and wait a bit before applying. I avoided getting epoxy on the switch just in case it has to be replaced.

Gotta run. I'll be back tomorrow to finish and answer questions.

On a side note although bulky, remember this thing vapes as well, if not better than any mod available. And the battery life is just incredible.

[BillyBlack]

Originally Posted by mcquinn

I would like to see a photo of how you mounted the switch in 3/4 pipe as I studied that quite a while and never came to good solution other than the T I put in my pipe PT.

Hope this helps. Note it works fine with the MadVapes switch. I also had enough room to use the locking washer on the inside.

[mcquinn]

Wow that is kinda close to the sides.Now you have done it, I am going to have to build another one and buy some more batteries and another charger.The 10440 box mods are way better than stock batteries but I am not too impressed with the protected 10440 batteries ,very poor construction on those.