inside a disposable with charging port

I suppose it's a step in the right direction, but there's a good chance that the real reason they added this charging port was to save on battery size and cost.

After recording the video I discovered that there were four tiny components under the silicone sleeve around the USB-C charge connector. A decoupling capacitor, two resistors for enabling USB-C charging and a mysterious diode type component with an unreadable number.

For the technically inclined, the wires on the liquid reservoir could be extended slightly to facilitate refilling by wiggling the mouthpiece off and sliding out the reservoir to get the cap off for soaking in some more fruity fog juice. Care would have to be taken to avoid running the reservoir dry and burning the wick.

The functionality of the chip inside the pressure sensor case is quite high. It not only acts as a current limited charger with voltage cut-off, but also monitors the pressure switch and times the heater activation to avoid excessive run time due to failure or repeated false triggering of the sensor.
It can switch high current, possibly with thermal protection. It ramps the LED up with pulse width modulation, and can detect a low battery.
It may also detect a shorted heater or associated wiring.

Yes I'm being cryptic by saying addiction-stix. The platform doesn't discriminate between technical videos and the ones promoting their use. This content is purely a technical exploration of the circuitry.

I specifically avoid using intrusive mid-run video adverts for a more relaxing viewing experience.
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#ElectronicsCreators

[licensetodrive]

The idea of "disposable technology" feels so wrong.

[tanveerjan]

My fav youtuber. No intro, no demand for subscription and very interestingly and simply spreading knowledge about electronics. I wish i had a million accounts to sub to BigClive.

[markpitt]

So minimal I am impressed, like how it cuts of the load when charging so no risk of someone trying to huff it while it’s under charge

[zh]

"Addiction sticks" is a marvellous demonetization-dodging euphemism!

[SimonB]

To avoid getting lithium into our local rivers, I’ve been picking the Elfbar 600 disposable up from the side of the road and recovered the 550mAh lithium polymer batteries. As they’ve only been used once, after a quick charge and a test they deliver more than their rated capacity of 2.04Wh.

[LazorVideosDestruction]

I finally found one of these in the road yesterday. I'm glad they have USB C ports in them now, that will be extremely useful for future projects!

[phils]

Whilst the functionality of that integrated sensor is amazing, it's also relevant to remember the level of integration in many other equally tiny devices, where economies of scale have encouraged pretty large-scale integration in otherwise short-lived / disposable electronics.

[LarixusSnydes]

I've only found one of these disposables in the last years and the battery in it was broken beyond repair. This is in fact good, because it seems people around here don't carelessly toss them. I just hope that the ones that get disposed of in a proper way get a good recycling. Still, it leaves me with a bad feeling somehow. Rechargeable li-ion batteries should be prohibited in items intended for single use.

[ronniepirtlejr]

Hey Big Clive,
I have a plethora amount of these batteries from setting up a recycling bin inside a vape store.
The largest battery I have come across so far is a 23600 that claims to have 3, 000 mAh.
I haven't cycled it yet to see if that's the actual amount.
I did take your advice about soldering wires to the end & taping it up real tight. I even use a little E6000 glue with it.

[BPantherPink]

Listening to this gentleman's voice...is pure Zen !

[Silverfoxwolfen]

It seems very odd to make a 'disposable' item rechargable. I do wonder if we will see shops treating them the same as printer inks where you can get them refilled for a charge.

[happytorrentt]

I was waiting for a vid like this haha, I've actually been finding/saving random disposables with the charging port in hopes of a decent batt protection circuit for use in other projects so this vid is extremely useful! Thanks :D

[Fluxkompressor]

Ive opened one of these microphone looking thingies. In there was one SOT23-5 with "FM8018B" on it. The datasheet was rather hard to find and of course in Chinese. But this chip has the capability of a charging controller in it. It charges with 230mA. The "addiction device" was not even rechargeable. Ive had collected about 20 of this things so far from friends and luckily kept the controllers from all of them (besides the cell of course). It seems that most of the controllers can in fact charge the cell by applying 5V to the heater output. So in addition to a nice Lithium cell you get a free charger

[Dr_Mario]

The Lithium polymer cells in the disposable vapes are actually excellent for the DIY tiny quadcopter drones since they're designed for that kind of drain in the first place. Not to mention small and light - sometimes you can snag 350 - 500mAh cells which normally results in much longer flight time.

[jkobain]

By the way, JUUL and similar units were designed as rechargeable pocket pens, a while ago. And the first generation devices charged their batteries actually through the same screw-on connection where the vaporizer head connected to them.

[jasonkuehl]

My better half recently bought one of these disposable devices with the charging port. I've been waiting for her to use it up so I could take it apart and salvage the battery. Without this video, I probably would have just assumed there was no over/under charge protection.

[davidmizak]

You deliver excellent content to your audience. It's very interesting material. All of your effort put into creating this video is much appreciated. I'm truly grateful for your help!

[Kevin-mxvi]

Amazing, isn't it ? They talk about banning cotton buds to help save the environment, while allowing the production and import of thousands of these things, the majority of which will end up thrown away carelessly.

[UhrwerkKlockwerx]

It's quite incredible how so much technology fits in such a tiny space. I still wish it wasn't disposable though. I use disposable delta 8/9 pens (since they're legal where I live) and salvage the circuitry and lithium ion batteries from them when I'm done. They're perfect for making miniature emergency flashlights or other projects that need a small battery. The USB ports are also reusable in projects.

[patrickauer]

Thanks for the idea. I used a larger "mini" battery/charger to rebuild a track ball mouse I have. It now has a type C charging port and so far haven't had to charge it back up!