Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of the Wismec reuleaux Tinker mod. Please see bottom for disclaimers and links. Note: This is marked as a sample.
Introduction:
The Wismec Tinker Reuleaux Mod is one of the latest mods from popular manufacturer Wismec. They have 2 newer mods i’m working on reviews of (the Sinuous V200 and V80 mods). Wismec really doesn't need much of an introduction as they have been around a long time and are one of the 3 brands under joyetech (joyetech, wismec, eleaf) but have taken quite a hit in reputation over the past few years due to constantly making subpar products. 2018 was no different with lots of misses and very few hits. They did make the ravage 230 which was nice, but outside of that it was mostly mediocre to poor products. Hopefully the tinker can be them turning things around to start off 2019. The Tinker is a rare triple 18650 battery mod rated at 300 watts. It’s available in 3 colors Blue, White, and Red. Looking around online i see the mod priced around 40-60 USD.
Manufacturer's Specs:
album
Initial Impressions and features
When I first got this mod i was pretty surprised to see a triple 18650 mod. There haven’t been many made since 2017. In 2018 i can’t really think of any that came out that weren’t a DNA mod and even those have been pretty rare. In typical wismec fashion too it’s pretty small for a triple battery mod. I did like the design as well as it’s pretty unique and I didn’t know it until writing the review but apparently it’s designed to look like some nike sneaker. I’m just too old and don’t care to keep up with fashion or sneakers. Either way though I did like the size and design from the start.
Watt Mode Performance (chart and spreadsheet in picture album)
Now let’s get into some data. I ran my normal testing. I used Sony VTC5A batteries for the testing. Testing resistances were done at .13, .15, .2, and .62 ohms. wattage points were max (300), 250, 200, 150, 100, 75, 50 and 25. At .13 ohms it maxed out at 257 watts and 45 amps. (note due to programed limits in the chip the max i could set it at was 299) For the rest of the testing it struggled quite a bit. At 100+ it was 18-37 watts low but under 100 3-18 watts low. many mods struggle at that resistance so not a major deal but it has been a while since i tested a triple 18650 mod, the last one i tested was a year ago with the modefined prism IIRC. The prism had a lower amp limit but didn’t struggle nearly as much as the tinker. At 100 or les watts it was never more than 3 low and that was with a lower resistance as well. At .15 it maxed out at 284 watts. The rest of the testing here fared much better, at over 100 watts it was 7-10 watts low and 100 or less 1-4 low so good performance there. For the .2 test it maxed out at 303 watts. For the rest of the tests again really good, over 100 watts 1 low to 6 high and 100 or less 2 low to 2 high. For the .62 testing it maxed out at 109 watts and 8.205 volts (note due to the 8V limit programmed in the chip the max i could set it to was 103 watts). For the rest of the testing it was a little high 2-9. The volts shows there is no boost circuit in this mod. With a triple 18650 though a boost circuit isn’t needed at all however it is odd it has such a low volt limit for a triple battery mod. Some dual 18650 mods have a higher volt limit due to a boost circuit. Since input voltage on a triple mod like this is roughly around 9-12.6V depending on charge and cut off it’s odd they wouldn’t have made the volt limit higher.
Overall I felt the performance of this mod was pretty good. It did struggle with the .13 ohm build much more then other triple 18650 mods i’ve tested. But at .15 or more performed well. It mostly always within a couple of watts. I was able to get 303 watts max, so I consider it to be accurately rated at 300 watts. The 8.205 volt limit shows there is no boost circuit but not needed here. Their manual does not list a voltage limit or amp limit and I wish they would list all 3 personally. On their site they list a volt limit of 8V. They don’t list an amp limit but based on what’s programmed into the chip their list should be around 48 amps. On this mod and the most amps i got was 45 with a .13 ohm coil which is really good. Most dual mods are around 40ish and even many triple mods were around the same so 45 is really good. The most volts i got is 8.205 which is pretty low for a triple 18650 mod however more than enough, The Prism in comparison output over 10.5V. Personally If i was listing the specs I’d call the mod 300 watts, 8.2V and 45A. So overall good performer at .15 ohms or more and accurately rated for watts and volts.
Simplified TLDR Power Performance summary
Mod performance is pretty good overall. Best used at .15 ohms or more. Not many triple 18650 battery mods these days to compare. Accurately rated for watts (303), No boost circuit but not needed, great amp limit of 45. Volts limit 8.205 is overall good, but low for a triple battery mod.
Temperature Control Performance
Using SS316 wire and SS mode and TCR mode, I tested 4 builds. 1 simple round single coil, 1 simple round dual Coil, 1 large fancy single coil, and 1 large fancy dual coil. In SS mode there was pretty much no output. Moving to TCR mode even putting it as high as 150 (should be around 92) it still barely produced anything. On top of that it would keep kicking me out of TC mode as well. Overall it’s an easy fail for me and just as bad as wismec mods in the past and something they really need to address in future mods.
Other Usage Notes
The mod uses a standard 5 click of the fire button to turn on and off. The menu system is pretty good and much improved from their older mods. You click fire 3 times to enter the menu. It also has a true menu system which is easy to navigate. The menu has 4 options Mode, Set, Info, and Exit. Info has 2 options. 1 shows you the live battery voltage of your batteries individually which is great. The other is version which shows the hardware and FW versions. In Set you have a coil resistance lock, power setting for TC mode, stealth mode, subpara (lets you choose what to view on the screen), clock setting, preheat setting (power and duration), and screen timeout. In mode you have Power, TC for SS, Ni, and Ti and 3 TCR memory modes as well as RTC which is “real time clock” a power mode that displays a clock on the screen.Selecting one that has other settings available like TCR mode allows you to adjust those settings after selecting the mode. Overall really good menu system.
The Wismec Tinker adjusts by .1 watt increments under 20 watts and full watt increments 20 or more. Overall well done there except it has no round robin and scrolls really slowly. Took forever to go from 25 watts to 300 in my testing. The mod itself is built solid with no rattle at all, and has a nice weight to it where it’s not heavy but not light. Feels really good in the hand. The Battery door is a standard bottom latch and It’s easy to get batteries in and out without damaging wraps and takes (3)18650 batteries. The bottom latch worked well for me with no gap and was easy to open and close.
I do have some issues with this mod though, a funny one with being kicked out of TC is that it doesn't update the screen and shows the volts labeled watts which i show in a pic in the album. Not a major deal since TC isn’t even usable on this mod which is a big issue but not an issue for those who don’t use TC. the main issue i have though is even in power mode, the mod throws up atomizer short messages randomly. It’ll then refuse to fire even though there is no issue with the atomizer. Unscrewing and screwing it back on would mostly fix it but sometimes i’d have to take out the batteries to get it to fix. It happened many times. Also sometimes it would read resistance way wrong. As bad as .2-.5 off when putting on a new atty. I’d have to pop out the batteries and put them back in to make it read correctly. It was intermittent but happened quite a few times. My best guess being that I didn’t disassemble this mod and their history would be due to a poor 510 pin. But that’s just an educated guess and really irrelevant. The relevant part is that it doesn't work as it should and it wasn’t just 1 time which could have been fluke but instead happened a lot. Also anecdotally the battery life doesn't seem good for having an extra battery. Using the crown 4 tank at the same watts on this and a few double 18650 mods like the super cape and wismec V200 i got maybe an extra 2-3mls tops. A very small difference for having an extra battery.
The paint on the mod is very nice. There are a few sections to the body on this. The main painted part has a nice looking coloring and appears to have a thin clear coat on it as well. The color contrasting grey part has a matte like finish and looks good too. The backplate is a matching color and feels like a rubberized plastic with a matte finish. The last part is the leather feeling designed black and white part. All of them look good but does give the mod a busy look, but i like it personally. The fire button is nice large and clicky fire button shaped like a rectangle. It works well and It never gets stuck or anything though which is as it should be and is really comfy to use and quite large. The 510 pin gave me issues as explained above as far as reading atomizers. The mod handles a 25mm atomizer flush with the raised atomizer platform. Being a triple 18650 mod i would have really liked a centered 510 pin to handle 30mm atomizers personally. The screen is a nice .96” color screen that looks great. It’s bright and easy to see. They should use that screen in all their mods over the older style ones IMO. Also for branding the mod itself there is wismec engraved into 1 side in matching color very small and nothing a small “reuleaux” loko on top. Nicely branded overall. They list a charging rate of 2A but i don’t recommend charging internally in your mods like these so I don’t test charge rates of devices like this due to that. I do like how on their site they recommend charging batteries externally as well
Pros:
So with all that said, do I recommend this mod or not? I don’t like to do a hard yes or no and even with the bar so low due to lack of triple 18650 mods on the market, I still have to lean towards the no. The TC mode stuff is what it is and many people don’t use it, but even as a power mode mod, it still intermittently doesn't work. When it does work it works pretty good but the fact it just decides not to work randomly a lot makes me lean towards the no. and the battery life isn’t anything better then i get on dual mods really so if you want better battery life your better off with a triple battery DNA mod instead or just getting a dual 21700 battery mod. I won’t be adding the mod to my spreadsheet of recs linked down below.
This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.
Product Disclaimer
This product was sent to me from Wismec
Review Disclaimer
Due to possible QC difference your experience may vary.
Reviewer Disclaimer
I’ve been doing vape reviews since late 2016 and have done around 300 reviews to date. I enjoy helping vapers on forums as well and helping contribute to the great vape community. I’m not an “out of the box” reviewer. I do my best to be thorough at all times and have enough experience with many products to tell what’s good and what’s not. All mods get tested with an oscilloscope and stress tested and results are posted in my reviews.
Recommendations and Past Review Links
written reviews list here
Youtube Channel here
Spreadsheet of Recommendations here
Best of 2018 list here
Best of 2017 list here
Introduction:
The Wismec Tinker Reuleaux Mod is one of the latest mods from popular manufacturer Wismec. They have 2 newer mods i’m working on reviews of (the Sinuous V200 and V80 mods). Wismec really doesn't need much of an introduction as they have been around a long time and are one of the 3 brands under joyetech (joyetech, wismec, eleaf) but have taken quite a hit in reputation over the past few years due to constantly making subpar products. 2018 was no different with lots of misses and very few hits. They did make the ravage 230 which was nice, but outside of that it was mostly mediocre to poor products. Hopefully the tinker can be them turning things around to start off 2019. The Tinker is a rare triple 18650 battery mod rated at 300 watts. It’s available in 3 colors Blue, White, and Red. Looking around online i see the mod priced around 40-60 USD.
Manufacturer's Specs:
- Dimensions - 109mm by 48.8mm by 39.3mm
- Triple High-Amp 18650 Batteries - Not Included
- Wattage Output Range - TC Mode: 1-300W
- Voltage Output Range: 0.5-8.0V
- Amp output Limit 48A
- Resistance Range - TC Mode: 0.05-1.5ohm
- Resistance Range - VW Mode: 0.05-3.5ohm
- Temperature Range: 100°-315°C / 200°-600°F
- Ni200, Titanium, Stainless Steel Compatibility
- VW Mode
- TC Mode
- .96" Color Display Screen
- Oversized Firing Button
- Two Adjustment Buttons
- Multiple Protection System
- Hinged Triple Bottom Battery Door
- Micro USB Port
- Spring Loaded 510 Connection
- Available in Blue, White, Red
- 1 Wismec Reuleaux Tinker Box Mod
- 1 QC USB Cable
- 1 User Manual
- 1 Warning Card
album
Initial Impressions and features
When I first got this mod i was pretty surprised to see a triple 18650 mod. There haven’t been many made since 2017. In 2018 i can’t really think of any that came out that weren’t a DNA mod and even those have been pretty rare. In typical wismec fashion too it’s pretty small for a triple battery mod. I did like the design as well as it’s pretty unique and I didn’t know it until writing the review but apparently it’s designed to look like some nike sneaker. I’m just too old and don’t care to keep up with fashion or sneakers. Either way though I did like the size and design from the start.
Watt Mode Performance (chart and spreadsheet in picture album)
Now let’s get into some data. I ran my normal testing. I used Sony VTC5A batteries for the testing. Testing resistances were done at .13, .15, .2, and .62 ohms. wattage points were max (300), 250, 200, 150, 100, 75, 50 and 25. At .13 ohms it maxed out at 257 watts and 45 amps. (note due to programed limits in the chip the max i could set it at was 299) For the rest of the testing it struggled quite a bit. At 100+ it was 18-37 watts low but under 100 3-18 watts low. many mods struggle at that resistance so not a major deal but it has been a while since i tested a triple 18650 mod, the last one i tested was a year ago with the modefined prism IIRC. The prism had a lower amp limit but didn’t struggle nearly as much as the tinker. At 100 or les watts it was never more than 3 low and that was with a lower resistance as well. At .15 it maxed out at 284 watts. The rest of the testing here fared much better, at over 100 watts it was 7-10 watts low and 100 or less 1-4 low so good performance there. For the .2 test it maxed out at 303 watts. For the rest of the tests again really good, over 100 watts 1 low to 6 high and 100 or less 2 low to 2 high. For the .62 testing it maxed out at 109 watts and 8.205 volts (note due to the 8V limit programmed in the chip the max i could set it to was 103 watts). For the rest of the testing it was a little high 2-9. The volts shows there is no boost circuit in this mod. With a triple 18650 though a boost circuit isn’t needed at all however it is odd it has such a low volt limit for a triple battery mod. Some dual 18650 mods have a higher volt limit due to a boost circuit. Since input voltage on a triple mod like this is roughly around 9-12.6V depending on charge and cut off it’s odd they wouldn’t have made the volt limit higher.
Overall I felt the performance of this mod was pretty good. It did struggle with the .13 ohm build much more then other triple 18650 mods i’ve tested. But at .15 or more performed well. It mostly always within a couple of watts. I was able to get 303 watts max, so I consider it to be accurately rated at 300 watts. The 8.205 volt limit shows there is no boost circuit but not needed here. Their manual does not list a voltage limit or amp limit and I wish they would list all 3 personally. On their site they list a volt limit of 8V. They don’t list an amp limit but based on what’s programmed into the chip their list should be around 48 amps. On this mod and the most amps i got was 45 with a .13 ohm coil which is really good. Most dual mods are around 40ish and even many triple mods were around the same so 45 is really good. The most volts i got is 8.205 which is pretty low for a triple 18650 mod however more than enough, The Prism in comparison output over 10.5V. Personally If i was listing the specs I’d call the mod 300 watts, 8.2V and 45A. So overall good performer at .15 ohms or more and accurately rated for watts and volts.
Simplified TLDR Power Performance summary
Mod performance is pretty good overall. Best used at .15 ohms or more. Not many triple 18650 battery mods these days to compare. Accurately rated for watts (303), No boost circuit but not needed, great amp limit of 45. Volts limit 8.205 is overall good, but low for a triple battery mod.
Temperature Control Performance
Using SS316 wire and SS mode and TCR mode, I tested 4 builds. 1 simple round single coil, 1 simple round dual Coil, 1 large fancy single coil, and 1 large fancy dual coil. In SS mode there was pretty much no output. Moving to TCR mode even putting it as high as 150 (should be around 92) it still barely produced anything. On top of that it would keep kicking me out of TC mode as well. Overall it’s an easy fail for me and just as bad as wismec mods in the past and something they really need to address in future mods.
Other Usage Notes
The mod uses a standard 5 click of the fire button to turn on and off. The menu system is pretty good and much improved from their older mods. You click fire 3 times to enter the menu. It also has a true menu system which is easy to navigate. The menu has 4 options Mode, Set, Info, and Exit. Info has 2 options. 1 shows you the live battery voltage of your batteries individually which is great. The other is version which shows the hardware and FW versions. In Set you have a coil resistance lock, power setting for TC mode, stealth mode, subpara (lets you choose what to view on the screen), clock setting, preheat setting (power and duration), and screen timeout. In mode you have Power, TC for SS, Ni, and Ti and 3 TCR memory modes as well as RTC which is “real time clock” a power mode that displays a clock on the screen.Selecting one that has other settings available like TCR mode allows you to adjust those settings after selecting the mode. Overall really good menu system.
The Wismec Tinker adjusts by .1 watt increments under 20 watts and full watt increments 20 or more. Overall well done there except it has no round robin and scrolls really slowly. Took forever to go from 25 watts to 300 in my testing. The mod itself is built solid with no rattle at all, and has a nice weight to it where it’s not heavy but not light. Feels really good in the hand. The Battery door is a standard bottom latch and It’s easy to get batteries in and out without damaging wraps and takes (3)18650 batteries. The bottom latch worked well for me with no gap and was easy to open and close.
I do have some issues with this mod though, a funny one with being kicked out of TC is that it doesn't update the screen and shows the volts labeled watts which i show in a pic in the album. Not a major deal since TC isn’t even usable on this mod which is a big issue but not an issue for those who don’t use TC. the main issue i have though is even in power mode, the mod throws up atomizer short messages randomly. It’ll then refuse to fire even though there is no issue with the atomizer. Unscrewing and screwing it back on would mostly fix it but sometimes i’d have to take out the batteries to get it to fix. It happened many times. Also sometimes it would read resistance way wrong. As bad as .2-.5 off when putting on a new atty. I’d have to pop out the batteries and put them back in to make it read correctly. It was intermittent but happened quite a few times. My best guess being that I didn’t disassemble this mod and their history would be due to a poor 510 pin. But that’s just an educated guess and really irrelevant. The relevant part is that it doesn't work as it should and it wasn’t just 1 time which could have been fluke but instead happened a lot. Also anecdotally the battery life doesn't seem good for having an extra battery. Using the crown 4 tank at the same watts on this and a few double 18650 mods like the super cape and wismec V200 i got maybe an extra 2-3mls tops. A very small difference for having an extra battery.
The paint on the mod is very nice. There are a few sections to the body on this. The main painted part has a nice looking coloring and appears to have a thin clear coat on it as well. The color contrasting grey part has a matte like finish and looks good too. The backplate is a matching color and feels like a rubberized plastic with a matte finish. The last part is the leather feeling designed black and white part. All of them look good but does give the mod a busy look, but i like it personally. The fire button is nice large and clicky fire button shaped like a rectangle. It works well and It never gets stuck or anything though which is as it should be and is really comfy to use and quite large. The 510 pin gave me issues as explained above as far as reading atomizers. The mod handles a 25mm atomizer flush with the raised atomizer platform. Being a triple 18650 mod i would have really liked a centered 510 pin to handle 30mm atomizers personally. The screen is a nice .96” color screen that looks great. It’s bright and easy to see. They should use that screen in all their mods over the older style ones IMO. Also for branding the mod itself there is wismec engraved into 1 side in matching color very small and nothing a small “reuleaux” loko on top. Nicely branded overall. They list a charging rate of 2A but i don’t recommend charging internally in your mods like these so I don’t test charge rates of devices like this due to that. I do like how on their site they recommend charging batteries externally as well
Pros:
- Power mode performance is good at .15 ohms or more
- Accurately rated for watts (303)
- really good amp limit (45)
- batteries are easy to get in and out without damaging wraps
- color options (3)
- Easy to use Menu
- good size color screen
- nice fire button
- Nice build quality mostly
- Rare triple 18650 mod
- nice paint job and leather
- accurate volt limit rating
- good battery meter with individual voltage readings
- Issues reading atomizers (likely 510 pin issues)
- TC performance is horrible
- should have made the mod 30mm atomizer friendly
- wattage adjustment is really slow
- battery life doesn't seem much better than a dual 18650 mod
So with all that said, do I recommend this mod or not? I don’t like to do a hard yes or no and even with the bar so low due to lack of triple 18650 mods on the market, I still have to lean towards the no. The TC mode stuff is what it is and many people don’t use it, but even as a power mode mod, it still intermittently doesn't work. When it does work it works pretty good but the fact it just decides not to work randomly a lot makes me lean towards the no. and the battery life isn’t anything better then i get on dual mods really so if you want better battery life your better off with a triple battery DNA mod instead or just getting a dual 21700 battery mod. I won’t be adding the mod to my spreadsheet of recs linked down below.
This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.
Product Disclaimer
This product was sent to me from Wismec
Review Disclaimer
Due to possible QC difference your experience may vary.
Reviewer Disclaimer
I’ve been doing vape reviews since late 2016 and have done around 300 reviews to date. I enjoy helping vapers on forums as well and helping contribute to the great vape community. I’m not an “out of the box” reviewer. I do my best to be thorough at all times and have enough experience with many products to tell what’s good and what’s not. All mods get tested with an oscilloscope and stress tested and results are posted in my reviews.
Recommendations and Past Review Links
written reviews list here
Youtube Channel here
Spreadsheet of Recommendations here
Best of 2018 list here
Best of 2017 list here
