DIY: Turning a Fogger Vape Dock Into a 3.7V Li‑ion Charger (And a Small Update About Confidence)

A couple months back, I made a post here on DEV asking for opinions about e‑waste and why people...

A couple months back, I made a post here on DEV asking for opinions about e‑waste and why people would waste good salvage from vape hardware. Someone commented and asked me if i made tutorials or videos — but at the time, I said no because I wasn’t confident in my skill level, and honestly, I didn’t think I could make a video that felt “good enough” to share.

Even earlier than that, I made another post asking if it was ethical to use a TTS narrator because of my dysphoria. I wasn’t sure if people would think it was misleading or weird. The response I got was overwhelmingly supportive. A lot of you told me it was completely fine, that accessibility and comfort matter, and that using a narrator doesn’t make the work any less mine.

Those comments stuck with me.

And now — months later — I finally made a video.

🔗 Here it is:
https://youtu.be/Rp_VioY31uw

What the video covers This project repurposes the Fogger pod vape dock into a working 3.7V Li‑ion battery charger. The Fogger system is one of the safest vape platforms to salvage because the charging hardware is physically separated from the pod. That separation gives you direct access to the battery interface without cutting into a sealed pod or bypassing protection circuits.

In the video, I show:

How the Fogger dock’s design makes repurposing safer

How I convert the dock into a functional 3.7V charger

Charging reclaimed Li‑ion cells made from spent vapes

Safety notes for handling salvaged batteries

There’s no teardown in this video — that’s something I’m working on separately.

Why I’m doing this Vapes create a ridiculous amount of e‑waste. I keep every device I finish, salvage the parts, and turn them into tools or small DIY builds instead of throwing them away. This charger is one of those builds.

But this post isn’t just about the project — it’s also a thank‑you.

A few supportive comments months ago helped me push past the hesitation, the dysphoria, and the “I’m not skilled enough” feeling. I’m still recording everything on my phone, still learning, still improving — but I finally did it.

If anyone wants to check out the video, I’d really appreciate it. And thank you again to the people who encouraged me when I wasn’t sure I could do this.

Follow or Support My Work I post DIY builds, salvage projects, and code experiments across my platforms:

Ko‑fi (support + donations): https://ko-fi.com/queencodebunny

DEV Community (write‑ups + guides): https://dev.to/codebunny20

GitHub (open‑source projects): https://github.com/codebunny20