A Bit of Jiggery Pokery (with photos)

This is a bit nerdy but may appeal to some. I have for the last few years been using electronic cigarettes as a healthy alternative to satisfying my nicotine addiction. For me, they work very well and I regard them as one of the greatest inventions of our time. I'm quite a heavy user and I am practically attached to my e-cig at all times. Indeed I panic if my e-cig is out of sight, or worse, I lose it.
The parts to an e-cig are quite simple. The main components are the battery and the atomiser. The battery heats the atomiser which in turn causes the liquid nicotine to form a vapour. This looks very similar to smoke, but it is simply steam. This is inhaled in the same way a smoker would and the effect is very similar. The e-cig can be filled with liquid nicotine, enough for many hours and the battery typically lasts 2-3 hours of constant use.
Being a heavy computer user, I normally vape as I type. The batteries will eventually run flat and so require recharging. I normally try to keep one recharging at all times. As an alternative to batteries, I have been using a USB powered device that allows the e-cig to run off the 5v USB power supply. This does require being connected to the computer or laptop, but does enable me to vape without affecting battery usage. It's actually a very good idea. A 3.7v battery inside the device gets charged between vapes and provides 'backup' should I move from the computer.

I have found that the power being supplied to the e-cig has become less and less over time, and the battery has failed to hold a full charge, running down very quickly. I decided to open up the device to find out how it all worked. The e-cig part itself was very difficult to disassemble being of a solid moulded design. I decided therefore to get rid of this and detached it from the device. I noticed that the battery box could be opened. This contained a small amount of circuitry which controls the recharging and power supply from the USB input to the e-cig. I could see that it could be possible to jumper the circuitry and in effect bypass it allowing the full 5v supply to be fed directly to the e-cig's atomiser. Using a multimeter I tested this theory and it showed to be the case. So I set about bypassing the circuitry with two short lengths of wire, soldered to the positive and negative in and out terminals. It's all a bit Heath Robinson, but it does work very well indeed.

I do need to tidy up the device to make it more consumer friendly and I also want to add an on/off switch mid way along the wire to the e-cig. At the moment, I have to operate it by pushing the positive wire into the base of the atomiser, the negative wire being soldered in place. It's a bit fiddly, but it does work providing a strong satisfying vape every time. My only concern is that the slightly higher unregulated voltage will reduce the life of the atomiser, but time will tell.

Thursday morning musings

My poorly boy has decided he now wants to go to playschool. He claims he's well enough. Oh well, who am I to argue with a 4 year old...
So, home alone again - apart from the dog, who's upstairs somewhere. She stays up there during the day until my wife returns home.
It is really nice to see that I have a follower. It makes it all seem worthwhile and I'm really grateful that someone has taken the time to read my blog.
Weather here today is damp and breezy - a change from recent days. We can't expect anything too good here in the UK - any bit of sunshine, however brief is a bonus.
So, I've had my toast and marmalade and I have a coffee at my side. It will have to be the real ground stuff from tomorrow as I've run out of instant.
For some reason, I woke up this morning thinking about transport and getting from a to b. With the rising price of fuel here in the UK, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to travel about independently - especially when you live like us in fairly remote parts of the country. I take an enormous interest in electric cars and the developments to make this a reality, hopefully in our lifetime. I do think it's inevitable that we will within a few years see a huge growth in electric vehicles. I understand that battery technology is the main factor holding things back but I did hear on the radio (think it was the World Service) something about an American company which had managed to create a battery that charges within minutes rather than hours. The problem was that it was large enough to power a mobile phone or PDA. They now had the challenge of making it large enough to power a small car. The role of the fuel station in the future would then be to charge vehicles which would take just a few minutes while you popped in to the shop to buy food and drink etc. All sounds good.
I would certainly be interested in a battery powered car. I've always driven large cars. I've had flash, fast cars - been there, done that - and my last car was a Chrysler Voyager. My wife called it my 'bus'. I did like it though - it was big enough to fit almost anything into and had an interior similar to a lounge. That's now all gone and given the state of things, none of it is likely to return. Not that I mind very much, I've done it.
A strange topic to start the day on I know, but it's foremost in my mind at the moment and if I get it out now, then I don't have to worry about it later.
I wonder then if 10 years from now, car talk will include things like 'miles per charge' and how my 'battery warning voice' sounds? When I look at how fast technology has moved on in the last 10-15 years, could it be a reality..?