Rope Smoker
Well-Known Member
This is a cool Idea. I have a buket of oil in garage from a friend that grows outdoors How much did you have invested in this and How much to ship to
Iowa? I would think about it!
Filament Vaporizer!
- Thread starter Isochroma
- Start date
Iowa? I would think about it!
The biggest cost is the CD/DVD spindles, which is Memorex. I called Memorex and they won't sell me the empty spindles, so the cost will depend on whether you have a use for blank CDs/DVDs. The base unit uses one 50-pack and one 25-pack. Yes, this is a conspiracy to get stoners buying blank media.
Rope Smoker
Well-Known Member
I have spindles I record cds for my truck, woulden't take bought cds in my truck
I guess this comes from starting my music collection with albums and how much care you had to take keeping them in good condition
You sid all this can be bought at radio shack?
I'll have to go back and make a list of parts and go cheack at radio shack!
Thanks dude I'm going to have to try this! If I canget the time!
peace manyou should do this in an actual step by step format, something like you would find on Instructables - The World's Biggest DIY & How To Show & Tell they only have a crappy vaporizer how to on there... 
i know i would understand it alot better if i read instructions
i know i would understand it alot better if i read instructionsPlatinum Bread Man
Active Member
this needs a bump. wheres iso?
SaneLawsMake4SaneSociety
Well-Known Member
Agreed. This is a great machine.
If someone could put similar brainpower and creativity to use making a better honey oil extractor (ideally one that doesn't require me to evacuate a large amount of explosive gas in a short period of time), I would ignore all my other to dos and get to building!
If someone could put similar brainpower and creativity to use making a better honey oil extractor (ideally one that doesn't require me to evacuate a large amount of explosive gas in a short period of time), I would ignore all my other to dos and get to building!
JohnnyDaManiac
Well-Known Member
Here is my two cents Iso.
Once the oil is vaporized how do you inhale it? I don't see a hose or anything?
And when the vapor comes in contact with the cold metal and batteries and such doesn't it condense and leave a film on everything internal.
If I made a version of this I would make everything but the bulb holder and filament part external and like natmoon said I would add a way to plug this into a power transformer. Also do you really need a switch or does it heat up quick enough that you could just use a momentary switch?
Once the oil is vaporized how do you inhale it? I don't see a hose or anything?
And when the vapor comes in contact with the cold metal and batteries and such doesn't it condense and leave a film on everything internal.
If I made a version of this I would make everything but the bulb holder and filament part external and like natmoon said I would add a way to plug this into a power transformer. Also do you really need a switch or does it heat up quick enough that you could just use a momentary switch?
@Isochroma
I have a couple of questions for you as I had made something similar, but even more DIY then this.
I was wondering how you calibrated the temperature, did you use a trial and error method?
How do you clean it? The vapours may be cool, but wont the vapours floating around inside and hitting the cool surfaces condense, so after extended use, everything will get sticky? I had this problem with mine after using it a lot, but I used a glass coffee jar and I would wash it out with rubbing alcohol.
Otherwise this is brilliant, I am going to use this concept and make a portable one. It'll be way cheaper than mine.
@sjfrocketdude
My design that I made a few years ago used straight nichrome wire, but I had it coiled around a small ceramic thimble.
It worked pretty well too. Although it would obviously take longer since the ceramic also had to heat up. But it was easy to clean! Nichrome is also dirt cheap on eBay, I paid $5 for 100ft spool of 32ga, I only used like, maybe 6 inches, lol.
It used about 500mA to get it to 200C. If I had used it in the method that isochroma did, and coiled it first, it would've been around 350mA. It also ran off 12V (since I had a spare wallwart to use).
I think I might try it again, but use a different kind of nichrome wire.
I have a couple of questions for you as I had made something similar, but even more DIY then this.
I was wondering how you calibrated the temperature, did you use a trial and error method?
How do you clean it? The vapours may be cool, but wont the vapours floating around inside and hitting the cool surfaces condense, so after extended use, everything will get sticky? I had this problem with mine after using it a lot, but I used a glass coffee jar and I would wash it out with rubbing alcohol.
Otherwise this is brilliant, I am going to use this concept and make a portable one. It'll be way cheaper than mine.
@sjfrocketdude
My design that I made a few years ago used straight nichrome wire, but I had it coiled around a small ceramic thimble.
It worked pretty well too. Although it would obviously take longer since the ceramic also had to heat up. But it was easy to clean! Nichrome is also dirt cheap on eBay, I paid $5 for 100ft spool of 32ga, I only used like, maybe 6 inches, lol.
It used about 500mA to get it to 200C. If I had used it in the method that isochroma did, and coiled it first, it would've been around 350mA. It also ran off 12V (since I had a spare wallwart to use).
I think I might try it again, but use a different kind of nichrome wire.
Platinum Bread Man
Active Member
im not a rocket scientist or electrician as you guys are. would it be too much to ask for someone to make a DIY with step by step instructions. pictures perhaps?
i pmed iso but i dont think he is around anymore.
thanks
i pmed iso but i dont think he is around anymore.
thanks
@sjfrockerdude
You could use a technique similar to what you want, it is called Pulse Width Modulation, and it is essentially switching the power on and off really fast so that the load (nichrome wire) see's an average of the on to off.
It works like this. If the PWM is running at 10kHz, that means there is a pulse every 100us, this is called the period. The duty cycle is what percentage of that 100us is the power source "on". If it is 60% duty cycle, then the power source is on for 60us, called the pulse width, and off for 40us.
Since the nichrome wire is a resistive element, the nichrome wire will only see 60% of the power. Why? If you slowed this down so that the period was say 10 seconds. You would see that for 6 seconds the wire heats up, then for 4 seconds it has time to cool down. Same thing happens at 10kHz, just more rapidly.
Here is an image to sorta explain it a little better.
It is way more advanced than you probably care to get into, and is far too complex for something like this. The way I did it was far easier (for me at least), and more power efficient.
The way I did it, is this. I used a thermocouple, op-amp (amplifier ic), a comparator, and a transistor. The thermocouple uses 2 different metals to create a tiny voltage based on temperature. The op-amp amplifies the voltage and feeds it into the comparator. The comparator compares that voltage to a reference voltage set by me. When the thermocouple voltage was lower than the reference voltage, comparator to turn off, and repeats over and over.
It was very basic in terms of electronics, but worked pretty well. Also, this is the chart that I use to determine the amount of current for the given temperature http://www.wiretron.com/nicrdat.html
You could use a technique similar to what you want, it is called Pulse Width Modulation, and it is essentially switching the power on and off really fast so that the load (nichrome wire) see's an average of the on to off.
It works like this. If the PWM is running at 10kHz, that means there is a pulse every 100us, this is called the period. The duty cycle is what percentage of that 100us is the power source "on". If it is 60% duty cycle, then the power source is on for 60us, called the pulse width, and off for 40us.
Since the nichrome wire is a resistive element, the nichrome wire will only see 60% of the power. Why? If you slowed this down so that the period was say 10 seconds. You would see that for 6 seconds the wire heats up, then for 4 seconds it has time to cool down. Same thing happens at 10kHz, just more rapidly.
Here is an image to sorta explain it a little better.
It is way more advanced than you probably care to get into, and is far too complex for something like this. The way I did it was far easier (for me at least), and more power efficient.
The way I did it, is this. I used a thermocouple, op-amp (amplifier ic), a comparator, and a transistor. The thermocouple uses 2 different metals to create a tiny voltage based on temperature. The op-amp amplifies the voltage and feeds it into the comparator. The comparator compares that voltage to a reference voltage set by me. When the thermocouple voltage was lower than the reference voltage, comparator to turn off, and repeats over and over.
It was very basic in terms of electronics, but worked pretty well. Also, this is the chart that I use to determine the amount of current for the given temperature http://www.wiretron.com/nicrdat.html
The potentiometer idea could work, lets calculate!
Our source voltage will be 5V, so we can make it portable. From the chart we know 3 things, that 32ga straight wire requires 680mA to get to 200C, or 340mA when coiled, and we know that 32ga has a resistance of 10.16 ohms per foot. I don't like how it doesn't mention the length of the wire, I am assuming they are using 1ft, but who knows.
Essentially, we want 1 standard resistor that will limit the current to the maximum needed to make 200C, and then use a pot to go from that maximum to 0mA, and we calculate it using the formula R = V/I.
5V/340mA = 14.71 Ohms
So our minimum total resistance should be 14.71 Ohms. We also have to take into account the resistance of the wire. I figure 6 inches should be good enough, which would give us 5.08 Ohms, providing that nichrome resistance is linear (don't know for sure).
So we need a resistor of (14.71 Ohms - 5.08 Ohms) = 9.63 Ohms, this isn't a standard value, the closest would be 9.1 Ohms. So we have a 9.1 Ohm resistor in series with say a 500 Ohm potentiometer, then the 6 inches of nichrome at 5 Ohms. This will put a maximum of 340mA into the wire, and a minimum of 9.8mA
Next we need to calculate the safe power dissipation of the resistors, we will leave the nichrome resistance out of this calculation. The formula is P = I^2*R, or P = V * I
P = 340mA^2 * 14.71 Ohm = 1.7W
or
P = 5V * 340mA = 1.7W
So it would be best to obtain a 2W resistor and a 2W potentiometer, but 2W potentiometers are expensive, so a 5W will be used instead. Cost is like $4.40 for the 500 Ohm 5W Potentiometer, and $0.25 for the 9.1Ohm 2W Resistor from Digikey, and that is in Canadian prices.
Then you just wire it up like this.
You'll see R2, the potentiometer, you only wire it up to 1 of the side pins and the middle pin, leave the other side pin unconnected. Whichever side pin you use, when you turn the pot fully in that direction, you are turning the resistance down and effectively turning the temperature of the nichrome wire up.
I will see if I can find my thermocouple based circuit and draw a diagram of it.
Our source voltage will be 5V, so we can make it portable. From the chart we know 3 things, that 32ga straight wire requires 680mA to get to 200C, or 340mA when coiled, and we know that 32ga has a resistance of 10.16 ohms per foot. I don't like how it doesn't mention the length of the wire, I am assuming they are using 1ft, but who knows.
Essentially, we want 1 standard resistor that will limit the current to the maximum needed to make 200C, and then use a pot to go from that maximum to 0mA, and we calculate it using the formula R = V/I.
5V/340mA = 14.71 Ohms
So our minimum total resistance should be 14.71 Ohms. We also have to take into account the resistance of the wire. I figure 6 inches should be good enough, which would give us 5.08 Ohms, providing that nichrome resistance is linear (don't know for sure).
So we need a resistor of (14.71 Ohms - 5.08 Ohms) = 9.63 Ohms, this isn't a standard value, the closest would be 9.1 Ohms. So we have a 9.1 Ohm resistor in series with say a 500 Ohm potentiometer, then the 6 inches of nichrome at 5 Ohms. This will put a maximum of 340mA into the wire, and a minimum of 9.8mA
Next we need to calculate the safe power dissipation of the resistors, we will leave the nichrome resistance out of this calculation. The formula is P = I^2*R, or P = V * I
P = 340mA^2 * 14.71 Ohm = 1.7W
or
P = 5V * 340mA = 1.7W
So it would be best to obtain a 2W resistor and a 2W potentiometer, but 2W potentiometers are expensive, so a 5W will be used instead. Cost is like $4.40 for the 500 Ohm 5W Potentiometer, and $0.25 for the 9.1Ohm 2W Resistor from Digikey, and that is in Canadian prices.
Then you just wire it up like this.
You'll see R2, the potentiometer, you only wire it up to 1 of the side pins and the middle pin, leave the other side pin unconnected. Whichever side pin you use, when you turn the pot fully in that direction, you are turning the resistance down and effectively turning the temperature of the nichrome wire up.
I will see if I can find my thermocouple based circuit and draw a diagram of it.
Mine was sorta ghetto, so I connected the nichrome to the circuit by wrapping the nichrome and the circuit wire around a small aluminium bolt, then used the nut to squeeze them together. The nut was also sitting in a small wood dowel. I don't know how it is connected in say toasters or what not, they probably use some sort of high temp solder like Silver solder.
Like this
You could just run a second wire with a second switch and 1 resistor that goes straight to the wire, self cleaning ovens get to 500C, and nichrome hits that at about 1.36A. The problem is you need 3.67 Ohms total at 5V, but the nichrome is 5 Ohms. So the easiest way to do it is to have a higher voltage for cleaning. If the nichrome is 5 Ohms, and it needs 1.36A to get to 500C, then V=IR tells us if we had a source voltage of 6.8V we wouldn't need any extra resistors, just the power source, a switch, and the nichrome wire.
Although with mine, I just had a few backup coils that I would put in place, then wash the old one in rubbing alcohol, lol.
Like this
You could just run a second wire with a second switch and 1 resistor that goes straight to the wire, self cleaning ovens get to 500C, and nichrome hits that at about 1.36A. The problem is you need 3.67 Ohms total at 5V, but the nichrome is 5 Ohms. So the easiest way to do it is to have a higher voltage for cleaning. If the nichrome is 5 Ohms, and it needs 1.36A to get to 500C, then V=IR tells us if we had a source voltage of 6.8V we wouldn't need any extra resistors, just the power source, a switch, and the nichrome wire.
Although with mine, I just had a few backup coils that I would put in place, then wash the old one in rubbing alcohol, lol.
I used 6 1.2V 2500mAH AA NiMH batteries giving me 7.2V and 15AH. Then I fed it into a 7805 5V Regulator. It is a simple 3 pin IC, when facing you it is input, ground, output. I am sure Radioshack will have them, but they might only carry the 1A device. That means you couldn't use it for the "self cleaning oven" effect. When using it, the regulator will get hot, so don't touch it. The regulator can have an input as high as 35V, but the higher it is, the hotter it will get. I would say anything above 8V and you would need to put a heatsink on it.
I would suggest using AAAs, AAs, Cs or Ds, don't get 9V's as they don't have much storage (max out at like 250mAH vs 2500mAH for AA).
I would suggest using AAAs, AAs, Cs or Ds, don't get 9V's as they don't have much storage (max out at like 250mAH vs 2500mAH for AA).
G
guitarabuser
Guest
You played with HeathKits as a kid, I bet. Good work. Now patent the damn thing! Telling a bulletin board all the details of your invention is right up there with bragging about your grow!
@guitarabuser
If you are talkin about Isochroma, then I don't think he can patent his creation since it is prior art (Dr. Lunglife). If you are talking about me, my idea isn't new either, and I never used a HeathKit before, but I did build circuits when I was getting my EET degree.
If you are talkin about Isochroma, then I don't think he can patent his creation since it is prior art (Dr. Lunglife). If you are talking about me, my idea isn't new either, and I never used a HeathKit before, but I did build circuits when I was getting my EET degree.
G
guitarabuser
Guest
I loved HeathKits. I wish I could find some old stock to build with my kid.
Platinum Bread Man
Active Member
he CAN indeed patent the idea although it is possible for his claim to be contested.
it happened to tesla
Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You don't want a trimpot, those are the little square plastic potentiometers used to make small adjustments, and carry very little current. The best way to buy it would be to get it online from a place like digikey.com, newark.com, mouser.com, bgmicro.com, goldmine-elec.com, futurlec.com, I can't think of anymore off the top of my head.
Also, patenting things costs a lot of money, upwards of $1000, imagine paying that only to have it turned down because someone elses patent already does what yours does? I mean, swap out the 12V bulb for nichrome wire and you essentially have my original design, plus my design could also smoke bud.
I follow the WD-40 school of thought, they never patented it (because they want to keep the formula secret). So, you create your product, sell your product, you don't need to patent it, if someone copies it and tries to patent it then you can fight it. Competition is healthy and forces you to make changes for a better product.
@guitarabuser, I believe Velleman makes kits, I don't know if they are like Heathkits, but we used them in highschool back in the day (about 12 years ago) in electronics.
You don't want a trimpot, those are the little square plastic potentiometers used to make small adjustments, and carry very little current. The best way to buy it would be to get it online from a place like digikey.com, newark.com, mouser.com, bgmicro.com, goldmine-elec.com, futurlec.com, I can't think of anymore off the top of my head.
Also, patenting things costs a lot of money, upwards of $1000, imagine paying that only to have it turned down because someone elses patent already does what yours does? I mean, swap out the 12V bulb for nichrome wire and you essentially have my original design, plus my design could also smoke bud.
I follow the WD-40 school of thought, they never patented it (because they want to keep the formula secret). So, you create your product, sell your product, you don't need to patent it, if someone copies it and tries to patent it then you can fight it. Competition is healthy and forces you to make changes for a better product.
@guitarabuser, I believe Velleman makes kits, I don't know if they are like Heathkits, but we used them in highschool back in the day (about 12 years ago) in electronics.