Assembling the
© 2016 by Thesas
Content
Disclaimer
This documentation is intended as an
example to show how the author (Thesas) thinks a voltage control, power control
and temperature control for heating a resistive wire might work.
This documentation is provided on a "as is" basis and any warranties
or conditions of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not
limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, of satisfactory quality or
safety, non-infringement of third party rights, and fitness for a particular
purpose or use are disclaimed in respect of this documentation and this
documentation in combination with any hardware.
The author (Thesas) makes no representation that the documentation or the
documentation in combination with any hardware or any product does or will not
infringe any patent, copyright, trade secret or other proprietary right.
The entire risk as to the use, quality, and performance of a product using this
documentation shall be with the user of the documentation.
The author shall have no liability for direct, indirect, special, incidental,
consequential, exemplary, punitive or other damages of any character.
The user shall hold the author free and harmless from any liability, costs,
damages, fees and expenses, including claims by third parties.
Accepting this disclaimer of warranty is an obliging condition for using this
documentation or parts of it.
With other words: no warranties at all, you alone are responsible of any consequences if you use the documentation and if you don’t agree, you are not allowed to use this documentation or parts of it.
General advice
Assembling and handling the boards, should
be made with care, electrostatic discharge (ESD) might destroy sensitive parts.
Handle (solder and modify) the boards on a discharge protected area (EPA)
workplace. International standards like IEC and ANSI might help you to set up
an EPA compliant workplace.
You will need some skilled craftsmanship
to build the mod, but I cannot warrant that it
finally will work, even if you exactly follow the following description.
Please be aware, the Thesas might not be safe, vaping might not be safe, so vape only if you are an adult and if you are conscious of the risks.
The Housing
The holes on the mod for holding the
switches are typically a bit undersized (since metal printing is not really
precise, and it’s easier to enlarge holes, than to make them smaller). So it is
needed to enlarge the holes a bit, in a way that the switches fit. You might
use a round file, or a 4mm Dremel chain saw sharpening stone (453) for doing
this.
Before cutting the M7x0.5 thread for the 510 connector, the hole of the 510
connector should be enlarged with a 6.5mm drill bit. To ensure the 510
connector is in right angle, aligning the Thesas housing on a drill press.
Before cutting the 2.5 mm thread for the ground connection screw, the hole
should be enlarged with a 2.0 mm drill bit. Also here drilling and cutting the
thread on a drill press with a 2.5 mm machine screw tap with an enforced shaft
might be useful.
The Thesas Boards
Thesas_O Boards
You can download the KiCad-PCB for the Thesas-O here: thesas_o.kicad_pcb
Front side of the Thesas-O boards: Board A provides
stabilized 5V power supply for Tinsy, around 10V for MOSFET gate driver,
external parts for OLED, and voltage dividers for the measurement inputs of the
Teensy. Board B is the DC-DC
converter and holds the INA for current measurement. The two boards C holds the up and down switch. Board D holds a MOSFET for reverse polarity
protection and board E holds the USB
Li-ion charger.
Back side of the Thesas-O boards: The ground plane might be enforced with a 1mm silver
wire. After cutting the boards apart, please file the remaining parts of the
board interconnections until all sides are flush. Then solder the boards.
Thesas_O2 Boards
Thesas-O2 is the latest board for Thesas, the Li-ion charger is integrated in board "A", by this less wires are needed and final assembly is easier.
You can download the KiCad-PCB for the Thesas-O2 here: thesas_o2.kicad_pcb
Front side of the Thesas-O2 boards: Board A provides
stabilized 5V power supply for Tinsy, around 10V for MOSFET gate driver,
external parts for OLED, voltage dividers for the measurement inputs of the
Teensy and also holds the USB Li-ion charger. Board B is the DC-DC
converter and holds the INA for current measurement. Board C holds the up and down switch. Board D holds a MOSFET for reverse polarity
protection
Back side of the boards: The ground plane might be enforced with a 1mm silver
wire. After cutting the boards apart, please file the remaining parts of the
board interconnections until all sides are flush. Then solder the boards.
Assembling the Thesas Boards
For the electronic parts please refer to part list: thesas_o.csv.
Thesas board interconnection wire length
Wires form Board A to board D (0.5mm)
Charger+ 22mm (not needed for Thesas_o2)
Charger- 32mm (not needed for Thesas_o2)
ChrgSns 38mm (not needed for Thesas_o2)
Down 24mm
UP 26mm
D+ 27mm (not needed for Thesas_o2)
D- 24mm (not needed for Thesas_o2)
Wires on Teensy (0.3mm)
Teensy D+ 19mm
Teensy D- 16mm
Wires on board B (+ 510 is 1mm Silicon insulated flex wire, all others are 1mm silver or silver coated copper wire)
+510 32mm
-510 25mm
Bat+ 85mm
Bat- 29mm
Assembled Thesas_O boards
Thesas_O boards after soldering
Board D (reverse polarity protection)
is mounted on board B (DC-DC
converter) by un-insulated 1.5 mm cable end sleeves.
Boards C (up & down switches) are
connected to board E (USB charger)
with four 7mm long wires. Connections between board A
and E are made with 0.5 mm silver
coated wire and insulated by high temperature resisted insulating tubes. For
the wire connections on the USB charger board and the up & down switch
boards care should be taken, that soldering points are not embossed, but just
flush.
Assembled Thesas_O2 boards
Thesas_O2 boards after soldering
Board D (reverse polarity protection)
is mounted on board B (DC-DC
converter) by un-insulated 1.5 mm cable end sleeves.
Boards C (up & down switches) is
connected to board A.
The Teensy 3.2 Board
You can download the code for the Arduino toolchain here: thesas_o.ino
After programming and testing unsolder USB connector, then solder the
pin-header for the needed pins. On pin 4, 5 and 6 a 6mm long silver plated
0.6mm wire might be used as pin header
Connections from pin21 to D- and from pin 20 to D+ are needed for programming
or monitoring with the USB connector on board E.
The Battery contacts
For the negative battery contact destroy a contact of a Keystone # 1016-1
Battery holder as shown. It is useful for mounting, if the broken end is bent a
bit up.
Put the Keystone battery contact in the negative battery holder
For the positive battery contact use a sheet of copper sized 17.5mm x 6.2mm x
0.5mm with rounded edges.
Bend it around a 13mm tube, put it into the positive battery holder, and bend
the end down.
The Fire Button
As fire button you can use whatever you like (within the geometric restrictions).
At the moment my preferred button is casted
in brass. It is formed by a cylinder with 5mm diameter and 2.5mm length fused
with an axially aligned cylinder with 6.4mm diameter and 1.3mm length.
A 2mm diameter drill hole with 3mm depth is used to hold the actuator.
Into the drill hole you may cut a 2.5mm thread, so you can use a 2.5mm polycarbonate screw as actuator. Instead of the screw you might use a 5.0 to 5.5 mm long piece of a silicone insulating tube from a 0.75mm2 high flex wire. Insert the tube in the hole, and then press a 1.5mm diameter and 4.4mm long pin into the tube. Depending on your personal preference on clickiness you might adapt the length of the tube and the pin. (It is easiest to adapt and test the button after the fire switch and before the OLED display is mounted on board A)
The 3D model
Casted Buttons
The Button mounted on the Thesas
Final Assembling
Solder the battery contacts to the wires.
Put the DC-DC converter on its place, check the negative battery wire is
passing between the up and down switch boards.
Put the Teensy on its place and check, that all fits well together.
Before assembling, put insulating tape on
the bottom side of the USB charging board, remove the protective film from the
screen and place the fire button on its position. Then detach Teensy and DC-DC
converter board from the unit with board A, C and E
(display unit).
Carefully put the display unit in its place beginning by the side with the fire
button, than by the side of the USB charger board. Please don’t use brute force
for this, but check what is blocking if something seems to block.
Before pressing the up & down switches into its holes, check that the
display is placed flush into its frame. Then press the up & down switches
into its holes. You can now test the display position, by powering the unit
with 3 to 5 V on the +Batt and –Batt pins (marked in the in the first picture in
the Thesas board description), and putting the Teensy board into its place.
If all is OK then remove the Teensy again. Put the DC-DC converter on its place
on the display unit. The negative battery wire should pass between the up and
down switch boards. Loop the ground wire at the 510 connector (e.g. around a
2.6 mm drill bit), assure the loop is flush with the screw hole. Detach the
DC-DC converter again, solder the loop and assure a 2.5mm screw fits easily.
Now screw the positive 510 connector into its place. First install the plastic
part of the 510 connector, then the cap nut unit with post, spring, sealing
ring and cable with DC-DC converter.
Now put the Teensy on its place on the DC-DC converter, and finally put the
DC-DC converter & Teensy unit on its place on the display unit. Again no
brute force please, check the negative battery wire is passing between the up
and down switch boards, check all pins are entering the female connectors,
especially the GND pin of the Teensy (the single pin header on Teensy).
When the whole electronic unit is well at its place, press the negative
battery connector into its place (for this some force might be needed).
Put the positive battery connection compartment insulator on its place. Bend
the positive battery wire so that it fits into the corresponding notch at the
Thesas housing, then pressed the positive battery connector into its place on
the Thesas housing (for this some force might be needed).
Now you have got it made!
Please select some reasonable power and voltage values before mounting an atomizer, especially the first time.
And again, please be aware, the Thesas might not be safe, vaping might not be safe, so vape only if you are an adult and if you are conscious of the risks.
