First Mod Advice - Arlo Dual 18650 with Vamo Board

[Aeggil]

Hey Guys,

After constant hassle with my new Vamo V5 and it's centre pin I decided to try and make my own mod from it. Based on this guide at Arlo - dual 18650 DNA20/30 step-by-step how-to

I have ordered the Box and some 22 awg wire. I will use the board from my vamo and the 510/ego connector from my Chi You Clone (I've ordered a replacement brass flass 510 top cap for my Chi You). I also have a button from a bolt mod, but I think I might have to get another, this one is quite large/deep. Unless I can get my vamo board buttons to poke through the case just right, but I have my doubts.

I just wanted to check for any advice/opinions on this before I go ahead (waiting for parts from FT). I've not tried anything like this before and my handyskills are pretty much non-existant :/

1) I'm wondering if I should leave the front/back of the case intact and just open the case to adjust the vamo when needed and fit a new button to the case to fire it. I'm mostly concerned about trying to solder to the front of the vamo board and still have it flush enough to have the buttons through the case and usable. Also, would save me trying to cut/drill 4 holes

2) In that thread I linked, it was mentioned that you don't need to replace the default battery contacts in the box when using it for a vamo board (they do replace them for a dna board). I'm wondering if I need to add fuses to the batteries as mentioned in that thread. There's no separate fuses in the vamo and presumably the powerbank has it's own protection built in?

I've done a lot of reading/watching the past few days and I'm sure it'll be fine but any other feedback, opinions, advice are more than welcome as well.

Thanks, Russ

 

[BaDaBooM]

don't think that vamo board will work in that box. Vamo PCB is wider than the dna. Looking at the pics it looks like there is limited space already with the dna and like I said the vamo is wider.

 

[Aeggil]

don't think that vamo board will work in that box. Vamo PCB is wider than the dna. Looking at the pics it looks like there is limited space already with the dna and like I said the vamo is wider.

Thanks for the advice, but it should. In the thread I linked several people have done it with Vamo, that's why I'm trying it

 

[BaDaBooM]

Thanks for the advice, but it should. In the thread I linked several people have done it with Vamo, that's why I'm trying it

Just looked tight to me but if people have done it before then I stand corrected

 

[Jasen]

Aeggil, that's Mamu's design, you can find her over at Breaktru Forum - Index Very nice gal and quite the modder, I'm sure she'd be glad to help you out.

 

[Aeggil]

Aeggil, that's Mamu's design, you can find her over at Breaktru Forum - Index Very nice gal and quite the modder, I'm sure she'd be glad to help you out.

Thanks for the tip, she's also on ECF where I first saw this design, but I have enough trouble keeping up with POTV as primary and UKV as a secondary forum and lurking on ECF, didn't want to start posting on yet another forum lol. But I might have to :roll:

The thread and instructions were pretty comprehensive, I just wanted to check if I was missing anything obvious

The only thing I'm really unsure of is whether I need fuses as the vamo board is lower powered (and doesn't have fuses in the vamo afaik). As I haven't soldered since school (25 years ago), I want to keep the connections to a minimum to reduce the risk of failure lol

 

[Jasen]

Aeggil, I hear ya on too many forum's. For me it's 4 vapping 3 auto and 3 woodworking. Need internet GPS to find my way around.

It's my understanding the vamo is protected from short circuit, but I don't know about reverse polarity, that is where fuses would be a good idea.

 

[Aeggil]

Aeggil, I hear ya on too many forum's. For me it's 4 vapping 3 auto and 3 woodworking. Need internet GPS to find my way around.

It's my understanding the vamo is protected from short circuit, but I don't know about reverse polarity, that is where fuses would be a good idea.

10 forums? Shit, how do you keep up? lol

Anyways, thanks for the reply. I'm thinking then as long I'm careful about which way up I put my batteries in I should be ok? (I am careful anyway, I got my first mech a week ago and am a bit paranoid about it lol)

Perhaps when (if) I get it built and working I might add fuses later for peace of mind. I just want to keep the connections to a minimum at first so that there's less potential sources of failure with my inexperienced soldering.

Oooh, I just had a thought...I think I read somewhere that you can get fuses that sit on top or bottom of batteries, that might be a good solution for me...../me runs off to search google

Russ

 

[Jasen]

What you want are resetable fuses also called PTC fuses.

The web site is down for maintenance or something but this is a good place to start for fuses Circuit Protection, Fuses, Thyristors, Automotive Circuit Protection, Protection Relays and Controls - Littelfuse

This is what I'm going to run in my up coming DNA30 these are very smallMINISMDC260F/16-2 TE Connectivity | MINISMDC260F/16TR-ND | DigiKey but Digikey and Mouser are out of them right now, you could try chipfinder.com to search for vendors that have them in stock.