Hamilton Devices are the American mob who decided a 510 battery didn’t have to look like a biro from the servo. They make batteries and power packs for cartridges and concentrates, all built around the standard 510 thread, and they put a bit of design into them. That’s the short version of why people here went looking for them. If you’re running carts and you’re sick of cheap pens that die in a month, Hamilton is the step up that doesn’t cost the earth.
The range is mostly variations on one idea: power a 510 cart or a concentrate atomiser, do it well, look good doing it. None of these are dry-herb vaporisers, so park that expectation. Here’s the lineup, honestly.
The PB1
The PB1 is the one most people are after. It’s a power box that swallows a whole cartridge inside a little metal housing, so nobody walking past sees a glowing pen, they see a tidy box. There’s a hinged door, a 510 connection inside, and a proper battery that’ll get a regular user through the day. Variable voltage too, so you can dial it back for flavour or push it for bigger pulls.
It’s a conduction setup, like every cart battery, with the cart’s own coil doing the heating. Quirks? It’s a bit chunky for a tight jeans pocket, and a really wide cart won’t sit flush behind the door. Sweet spot for flavour sits around the lower voltage end, roughly the equivalent of 180-200°C at the coil, and you only creep up if you want clouds over taste.
The Butterfly
The Butterfly is the all-rounder. It’s a 510 battery with a flip-out concentrate atomiser built in, so it does double duty, carts on the thread, a quick dab from the fold-out bit. Handy if you don’t want to carry two things.
Conduction again, both for the cart and the little dab coil. The trade-off with any built-in dab atomiser is that it’s fiddlier to clean than a standalone rig and the coil is a wear part. For concentrates the coil runs hot, so go in short bursts rather than long draws, and keep your loads small. Good for someone who dabbles in both worlds without wanting a full dab kit.
The Dichroic
The Dichroic is the pretty one. It’s named for the dichroic glass panel that shifts colour depending on the light, which sounds like a gimmick until you’ve got one in your hand and keep tilting it. Underneath the looks it’s a straightforward variable-voltage 510 battery, slim enough to actually live in a pocket.
It runs carts the way you’d expect, conduction through the cart coil, with a few voltage steps so you can match it to whatever oil you’ve loaded. The catch is the same as any slim battery: smaller cell than a box like the PB1, so heavier users charge it more often. Keep it in the lower-to-middle voltage range, think 180-200°C territory, and the flavour’s lovely. A nice everyday carry if you like your gear to look like something.
The Kr1
The Kr1 is the minimalist. It’s a slim, light 510 battery for a single cart, the kind of thing you slip in a shirt pocket and forget about. No frills, no fold-out anything, just clean power for a cartridge.
Conduction, as always for carts. Some of these slim units are single-voltage or have just a couple of settings, which is the trade for the size, less fiddling, less control. Battery’s modest, so it’s a top-up-overnight unit rather than an all-dayer for a heavy user. If you want simple and discreet and nothing else, this is the pick.
Living with one
The good news with 510 gear is there’s not much to it. The battery itself rarely needs more than a wipe and keeping the thread clean, a cotton bud does the job when sticky oil creeps onto the connection. The parts that actually wear are the cartridges and, on the Butterfly, the dab coil, and those you replace rather than nurse. Charge over the unit’s own port, don’t leave any 510 battery cooking in a hot car, and they’ll give you a long, boring, trouble-free life. Which is what you want.
Which one suits you
Quick version. Want a cart hidden inside a tidy box with all-day battery: PB1. Want carts and the odd dab from one device: Butterfly. Want something slim that actually looks good in the hand: Dichroic. Want the simplest, lightest single-cart battery going: Kr1.
Want to go deeper? Have a look at our concentrate vaporizers overview, the concentrate battery packs if box-style units are your thing, and concentrate cartridges for what goes on the thread. If you’re weighing up other makers, Puffco sits at the premium concentrate end and Ooze plays in the same value 510 space as Hamilton.