The ever-increasing prevalence of lithium-based batteries in various shapes, sizes and capacities is creating a so-called “virtuous circle”, leading to lower unit costs and higher unit volumes which encourage increasing usage (both in brand new applications and existing ones, the latter as a replacement for precursor battery technologies), translating into even lower unit costs and higher unit volumes that…round and round it goes. Conceptually similarly, usage of e-cigarettes, aka so-called “vape” devices, is rapidly growing, both by new and existing users of cigarettes, cigars, pipes and chewing tobacco. The latter are often striving to wean themselves off these conventional “nicotine delivery platforms” and away from their well-documented health risks but aren’t yet able or ready to completely “kick the habit” due to nicotine’s potent addictive characteristics (“vaping” risks aren’t necessarily nonexistent, of course; being newer, however, they’re to date less thoroughly studied and documented).
What’s this all got to do with electronics? “Vapes” are powered by batteries, predominantly lithium-based ones nowadays. Originally, the devices were disposable, with discard-and-replacement tied to when they ran out of oft (but not always) nicotine-laced, oft-flavored “juice” (which is heated, converting it into an inhalable aerosol) and translating into lots of perfectly good lithium batteries ending up in landfills (unless, that is, the hardware hacker community succeeds in intercepting and resurrecting them for reuse elsewhere first). Plus, the non-replaceable and inherently charge-“leaky” batteries were a retail shelf life issue, too.
More recent higher-end “vape” devices’ batteries are capable of being user-recharged, at least. This characteristic, in combination with higher capacity “juice” tanks, allows each device to be used longer than was possible previously. But ultimately, specifically in the absence of a different sort of hardware hacking which I’ll further explore in the coming paragraphs, they’re destined for discard too…which is how I obtained today’s teardown victim (a conventional non-rechargeable “vape” device is also on my teardown pile, if I can figure out how to safely crack it open). Behold the Geek Bar Pulse, as usual accompanied by a 0.75″ (19.1 mm) diameter U.S. penny for size comparison purposes:
One side is bland:
The other is also seemingly so:
at least until you flip the “on” switch at the bottom, at which time it turns into something reminiscent of an arcade video game (thankfully not accompanied by sounds):
The two-digit number at the top indicates that the battery is still a bit more than halfway charged. Its two-digit counterpart at the bottom however, reports that its “juice” tank is empty, therefore explaining why it was discarded and how it subsequently ended up in my hands (not exactly the result of “dumpster diving” on my part, but I did intercept it en route to the trash). To that latter point, and in one of those “in retrospect I shouldn’t have been surprised” moments, when researching the product prior to beginning my dissection, I came across numerous web pages, discussion group threads and videos about both it and alternatives:
with instructions on how to partially disassemble rechargeable “vape” devices, specifically to refill their “juice” tanks with comparatively inexpensive fluid and extend their usable life. Turns out, in fact, that this device’s manufacturer has even implemented a software “kill switch” to prevent such shenanigans, which the community has figured out how to circumvent by activating a hidden hardware switch.
Anyhoo, let’s conclude our series of overview shots with the top, containing the mouthpiece nozzle from which the “vape” aerosol emits:
and the bottom, encompassing the aforementioned power switch, along with the USB-C recharging connector:
That switch, you may have already noticed, is three-position. At one end is “off”. In the middle is normal “on” mode, indicated in part by a briefly visible green ring around the display:
And at the other end is “pulse” mode, which emits more aerosol at the tradeoffs of more quickly draining the battery and “juice” tank, and is differentiated by both a “rocket” symbol in the middle of the display and a briefly illuminated red ring around it:
By the way, the power-off display sequence is entertaining, too:
And now, let’s get inside this thing. No exposed screws, of course, but that transparent side panel seems to be a likely access candidate:
It wasn’t as easy as I thought, but thanks to a suggestion within the first video shown earlier, to pop off the switch cover so that the entire internal assembly could then move forward:
I finally got it off, complete with case scratches (and yes, a few minor curses) along the way:
Quick check: yep, still works!
Now to get those insides out. Again, my progress was initially stymied:
until I got the bright (?) idea of popping the mouthpiece off (again, kudos to the creator of that first video shown earlier for the to-do guidance):
That’s better (the tank is starting to come into view)…
Success!
Front view of the insides, which you’ve basically already seen:
Left side, with our first unobstructed view of the tank:
Back (and no, it wasn’t me who did that symbol scribble):
Right side:
Top, showing the aerosol exit port:
And bottom, again reminiscent of a prior perspective photo:
Next, let’s get that tank off:
One of those contacts is (obviously, from the color, ground). I’m guessing that one of the others feeds the heating element (although it’s referred to on the manufacturer’s website as being a “dual mesh coil” design, I suspect that “pulse” mode just amps—pun intended—up the output versus actually switching on a second element) and the third routes to a moisture or other sensor to assess how “full” the “tank” is.
To clarify (or maybe not), let’s take the “tank” apart a bit more:
More (left, then right) side views of the remainder of the device, absent the tank:
And now let’s take a closer look at that rubber “foot”, complete with a sponge similar to the one earlier seen with the mouthpiece, that the tank formerly mated with:
Partway through, another check…does it still work?
Yep! Now continuing…
Next, let’s again use the metal “spudger”, this time to unclip the display cover from the chassis:
Note the ring of multicolor LEDs around the circumference of the display (which I’m guessing is OLED-fabricated: thoughts, readers?):
And now let’s strive to get the “guts” completely out of the chassis:
Still working?
Amazing! Let’s next remove the rest of the plastic covering for the three-position switch:
Bending back the little plastic tab at the bottom of each side was essential for further progress:
Mission accomplished!
A few perspectives on the no-longer-captive standalone “guts”:
It couldn’t still be working, after all this abuse, could it?
It could! Last, but not least, let’s get that taped-down battery out the way and see if there’s anything interesting behind it:
That IC at the top of the PCB that does double-duty as the back of the display is the Arm Cortex-M0+- and flash memory-based Puya F030K28. I found a great writeup on the chip, which I commend to your attention, with the following title and subtitle:
The cheapest flash microcontroller you can buy is actually an Arm Cortex-M0+
Puya’s 10-cent PY32 series is complicating the RISC-V narrative and has me doubting I’ll ever reach for an 8-bit part again.
“Clickbait” headlines are often annoying. This one, conversely, is both spot-on and entertaining. And given the ~$20 retail price point and ultimately disposable fate for the device that the SoC powers, $0.10 in volume is a profitability necessity! That said, one nitpick: I’m not sure where Geek Bar came up with the “dual core” claim on its website (not to mention I’m amazed that a “vape” device supplier even promotes its product’s semiconductor attributes at all!).
And with that, one final check; does it still work?
This is one rugged design! Over to you for your thoughts in the comments!
—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Vision Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the company’s online newsletter.
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