E-cigarettes, Powered By An NES Controller

Electronic cigarettes are all the rage these days, and as with any new electronic bauble, someone is eventually going to stuff it in some old NES hardware. The NES controller e-cig has been done before, but [mastblast09]’s controller mod is one of the best ones around.

A bit of background before we dig into this: e-cigarettes are just any other *cough cough cough* vaporizer you might find, but instead of turning a solid into a vapor, these guys turn a nicotine-infused liquid into a vapor. As e-cigarettes are a bit more legal than some other magic boxes, there is, of course, an amazing amount of options out there for those that partake.

[Mastblast09] is using an off-the-shelf e-cig controller and charger board carefully placed them in a hollowed out NES controller. With the help of a few tact switches he made the B button on the controller light up the coil and the up and down switches change the wattage.

The real treat in this build is the addition of a very small LED voltmeter. With this, [mastblast09] can check out the voltage of his NES e-cigarette under load, a big help if you’re trying to perfect the perfect vape while the battery is under load.

59 thoughts on “E-cigarettes, Powered By An NES Controller

  1. Let the politically correct douch-baggery continue with complaints how smoke related hacks are not appropriate for HaD. I suspect breaking warranty void stickers is pretty much unbearable for these spineless vegetables.

      1. considering A) the vapor dissipates FAR faster than smoke does and B) the cancer risk from just pure nicotine is near 0 … there is practically no health risk at all
        if you want to be a dick and blow smoke in someone’s face thats another story

          1. Pure unflavored e-liquid is made up of 2 ingredients, propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, and nicotine. Propylene Glycol and vegetable glycerin are both determined safe by the FDA for human consumption. As far as nicotine, yes, it could kill you if handled improperly. That having been said, go read the MSDS for caffeine. Nicotine is a normal stimulant toxin very similar to caffeine.

            I’ve been gaping for 3 years, and have researched every aspect of it from what is the e-liquid made of(which I now mix my own) to what is the wick in the atomizer made of(don’t want to inhale silica fibers).

          2. I’m not saying that nicotine is going to kill you today or even tomorrow. I have two grandpa’s who smoked most of their lives, one for 40 yrs and the other for 60 yrs. It may lead to your demise or it may not. It’s not a safe or even a safer alternative it’s merely an alternative.

            I would also suggest you find a new word for your hobby, “gaping” sounds like a severe health issue or a pornographic film.

          1. As someone who’s into making e-liquid himself, yes, it can be pure. You can get your own “VG” and “PG” from health food supply stores. Then the flavoring is often the same as is used in icing. The nicotine is completely optional. At that point, it’s about as dangerous as using an inhaler.

          2. Actually, it can be “pure”. the “VG” and “PG” can be obtained from health food stores. The flavoring is the same as is used in icing. Nicotine is completely optional. At this point, it’s exactly as dangerous as any medical breathing treatment machine. People freak out because it looks like smoking. In fact, it has about as much to do with smoking as blowing out steam on a cold day.

      2. Speaking as someone who’s eyes react horribly with ciggetter smoke in the room, but not with ecigs, yes. It makes a huge difference.
        In fact, given my friend is trying coffee and chocolate ecig cartridges, the smell/vapor is often pretty pleasant.

  2. So, while this looks cool and the mods he’s made seem pretty good, i’m still a little confused as to the purpose of this? Is this still being used in the “e-cigarette” category or has it been ‘upgraded’ the the general atomiser category?

    Either way, to get 20w of heat out the thing seems quite impressive to me, you can (I have successfully) keep a cuppa tea roasting hot with that much power.

    1. That’s yer lithium batteries, although nicad / nimh are the same in that regard. You can draw a lot of current, measured in C, where 1C would be drawing 1.5 amps from a 1.5 amp-hour battery. Or to put it another way, enough current to discharge full capacity in 1 hour. 2C will flatten the battery in 1/2 an hour, 4C drain would be 6 amps, for this hypothetical 1.5Ah battery, giving 15 minutes life etc.

      You can happily draw 2C from lithium-ion batteries constantly. 20W would be a lot for using the small battery in this application to warm tea. For momentary use like nicotine-vaping though, you can go much higher. IIRC nicad / nimh can stand even higher discharge. Lead-acid too.

      Charge speed is also measured in C, and again rechargeables can take a high rate.

      1. Haha, maybe I should have worded that a bit better. I never intended to draw on the tea thing, was just a silly idea iIve pulled off in the past with a halogen downlighter powered by atx psu. Obviously the batteries would be rinsed in no time! I just meant 20w is fine to keep my mug hot :)

        Going back to my original question though, Is this still being used as an e-cig or has it’s use changed in some way? Seems like that wasn’t made clear (at least not to me) in any way. Either that or i’m blind.

        1. I think he’s just changed the housing. The cigarettes just use a tiny heating element to make their vapour, right? And a red LED on the end to simulate smoking, although I’ve seen green and blue, whatever the point of those is.

          As for the battery thing, well, it might be new to somebody. Didn’t know if you knew or not, and I didn’t think you were actually gonna invent a rechargeable tea-warmer. Although why not, you’d just need a bigger battery…

      2. Saying things like “You can happily draw 2C from lithium-ion batteries constantly” is kind of dangerous since it depends on the battery type, many low drain high capacity batteries for things like measuring equipment and phones usually will not work well with anything above 1C, they can get hot, puff up and stop working. Some batteries can be specified as low as 0.1C.

        How much current you can draw depends entirely on what the battery is made for, however most normal rechargeable batteries can handle 1C discharge and most Li* rechargeable can handle 1C charging as well.

  3. This seems more akin to buying and assembling a model. Only difference is that he swapped out the “body”. If you google the “DNA 20D” you’ll see it’s sole purpose is for making small vaporizers. Just my 2 cents… and no,.. i have nothing against what these things are actually used for.

    1. like I said in my post on reddit this controller was damaged and was a non working controller and actually was cracked on the bottom where I put the volt meter board. I was able to pickup 4 controllers on craigslist for 5$. I know some people do not fancy doing this to old retro controllers but I am taking ones that are going to be thrown away so… if I can keep it out of the trash might as well!

  4. “e-cigarettes are a bit more legal than some other magic boxes”
    Well i am not aware if this is intentional or unintentional trolling by the author. But:
    a) vaporisers are not illegal, anyone insinuating so is braindamaged.
    b) there is no such thing as “more legal” or less legal.
    c) a simple google search indicates there is a vast array of vaporisers to choose from.
    d) do not claim to “provide background” when as clueless as this, while not bothering to expend 30 keystrokes to investigate and learn.

    I love HaD, that’s the only reason I bothered to comment. But cut the crap please.
    Thanks.

      1. Ignoring the painfully poor grammar, you do realize that the word dumb indicates an inability to speak vocally?
        I don’t believe that is something that can be determined from a couple of paragraphs of online text.

    1. He’s referring to cannabis vapourisers. Or, as they’re sold, non-cannabis vapourisers. As drug paraphernalia they’re illegal in most countries. As an unusual method of tobacco smoking, or I dunno, using incense, they’re not illegal.

      This is a case where the legality of an object depends entirely on it’s use. Actually, worse, it’s intended use. There are lots of laws like that, many of them drug-based. Depending on the cop, the court, and the politics of the day, you may or may not be allowed to possess them by said cops etc.

      That’s the reality of drug law. That and the endless amounts of perfectly normal, decent people having their lives ruined by it. Since the first profitable jail was brought into action, incarceration is a massively growing industry in the USA. It’s not just mailbags, prisoners make all sorts of commercial products for nominal pay. How else are you gonna compete with China?

      1. I am aware of this and you gave a rather concise and neat explanation btw. But exactly because people express (or clearly insinuate) their implanted/fabricated jaded mental connotations (vaporiser = drugs = illegal = omgomgomg) we ought to not perpetuate the sillyness.
        *Warning: Rant continued.*
        To my limited knowledge, vaporising plant matter X vs plant matter Y should differ only on the temperature required and even then within a narrow range. As such, I fail to see how the specificity to utilising a particular plant (legal or otherwise) should arise regarding such a device and hence consider the whole drug point moot. Drugs can be consumed in an unimaginable number ways… so what ? (I am not trying to mount a legal defense here, just stating the obvious regarding the article). Therefore, all the “*cough*” bullshit seems redundant at best, if not malign.

        1. To have a stick up ones ass is to be overly serious or humourless. It’s not homophobic. I think the joke to which Mike refers was in the original article, more specifically the “more legal” comment to which you refer in your post. Hopefully I have been clear enough so as to avoid your misguided ire.

  5. How is this a vaporizer? It doesnt seem to be temperature controlled at all. The author didnt even bother to test the temperature of the board to determine if he is actually combusting whatever he is attempting at vaporizing. And his reddit post is so shitty that I cant even figure out what he used for the heating element.

    1. Re-read the post. No one is claiming that. It’s just an e-cig mod, ‘heating elements’ are mostly off the shelf – i.e. 510 atty. They are basically evaporating the e-juice (yep liquid), combustion is not relevant much.

      1. If you’re evaporating it then it is a vaporizer. And combustion is entirely relevant as the entire purpose of a vaporizer is to prevent this from happening in the first place. And to do that, you need temperature regulation.

        1. Vaping with e-liquid (not “herbal atomizers”) requires no temperature control. The atomizer is nothing more than a coil of Kanthal wire, some method of wicking the juice to it, and a container for holding said juice. The only thing that can (generally) happen if you “overheat” your coil is it will pop, and you can just replace it.

      1. Hey guys this was my post on Reddit. The device is powered by a 1000mah battery connected to the DNA20d mod chip. this chip was made to allow people to create mods with the end result of putting PV or personal vaporizing device in anything from a cylindrical device to something as small as a altoids can to anything you can fit it in. The original device was created by Joe Litt and can be found here. https://www.facebook.com/Littupcustomecigs

        I changed it up a bit to add the simple volt meter board. the atomizer can be anything you want. there is a 510 connector at the top and you can put any range of ohm atomizer you want. the DNA chip will fire anything from a .8 to 3.3 ohm atomizer. If you have any questions let me know.

        1. You might want to actually figure out what wattages yield what temperatures as things vaporize at different temps. I didnt realize the 510 connector was actually the heating element, I saw battery connector and assumed it had to do with your power source. How exactly does this work then? On my volcano hot air is passed thru the heating element, and then in to the valve assembly, eventually filling a bag with vapor. I dont see how you could breathe through a battery connector.

          1. you would have to take a closer look at the 510 connector. They have slots cut out at the top that allow the atomizer to pull air in. there is nothing getting hot other than the resistance wire inside the atomizer. the atomizer screws on to the 510 so the 510 is barely getting warm nothing even close to melting any plastic. most of the atomizers are made out of stainless. again this is the part that houses or encloses the atomizer. hope this helps!.

        2. Also if I recall correctly the heating element in my Volcano is well insulated, and tested to ensure it wont release any fumes. Are you sure that this heating element isnt going to get hot enough to release any fumes from the plastic enclosure, wiring or circuit board? I would assume the NES controller is made from ABS plastic, and if your vaporizer gets anywhere near as hot as my volcano can, it will be able to melt the ABS which will result in fumes.

  6. This is actually pretty weak. Go to e-cigarette-forum.com and check out the modding forum. There are hundred’s, if not thousands, of truly beautiful mods out there that are far more than putting off the shelf parts into a neat looking box.

    Heck the atomizer I am using on my e-cigarette is a Romanian work of art, stainless steel rebuildable atomizer that is made to last pretty much forever.

Leave a Reply to Killian KaneCancel reply

Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.