Bored with my Provari...any suggestions on a 5v mod?

[seanmc]

I thought that my Provari would be the "end all" to my search for a perfect PV. It would have been it...but, battery life is horrible (4hrs at the most with the extension cap and an 18650 battery), you can only use High Drain batteries (they don't offer anything higher than 1600mah) and it errors out with true LR attys and cartos (so no dual coil cartos!). Ok, all of that being said, I'm looking for a 5v mod (no box mods), 510 native, that has great battery life. Doesn't have to be variable voltage (but not saying that it cant be), I've found that 4.5-5v is my sweet spot. Any suggestions?

 

[mwa102464]

If you set the Provari at the lowest setting 3.3 it will work with the dual coil carto's, at least mine does, anyways I hear ya. Take a look at the VV Ali'i I got 2 of them and there a nice unit, the Reo Grand is another, and you can get 5v Batts for it if you want, I like to run mine at 6v with Iken 3.5ohm Atty's it's a super vape.

 

[six]

Cropduster901 has a nice 5.0v box mod with a ni-mh cell battery pack. I'm thinking about one of these . The longest battery life from 5.0v is found in the tekk mod. it has a pair of 18650s built in... and it can be used to charge your phone while you vape if you think that might be useful.

I'm a little baffled as to the battery life on the provari. I've read other people saying the same thing. I get about 4 hours with 1.5 ohm dual coils with 600 mah 5.0v batts. I guess the provari boost regulator must be fairly inefficient.

 

[CraigHB]

I'm a little baffled as to the battery life on the provari. I've read other people saying the same thing. I get about 4 hours with 1.5 ohm dual coils with 600 mah 5.0v batts. I guess the provari boost regulator must be fairly inefficient.

Yea, there must be something wierd going on there. They advertise 95% efficiency, but It should run longer than than that on a charge. That's what everyone says though, it doesn't run very long even with the bigger battery. I built a VV mod myself that runs a couple days on a charge. I'm using a better battey, but still, 1600mAh should be 1600mAh. For most people, that's a full day.

 

[Scottitude]

You really can't go wrong with a 5v GLV-2 from Great lakes Vapor.

 

[kellie]

Agreeded on GLV2 or a Buzz Pro series. I had a Provari and sold it. I use ego tanks and it was pretty finick with them, I never liked the way it hit. I love my Buzz it will run anything and hits are great. Getting the Pro series when they come out in a couple of weeks. I'm thinking of selling my GLV2 5V I think 5v is to much for me my sweet spot is between 3.7 -4.5. I do love my mini GLV2 tho

 

[haft2doit]

Yea, there must be something wierd going on there. They advertise 95% efficiency, but It should run longer than than that on a charge. That's what everyone says though, it doesn't run very long even with the bigger battery. I built a VV mod myself that runs a couple days on a charge. I'm using a better battey, but still, 1600mAh should be 1600mAh. For most people, that's a full day.

Well you have to think about what it's doing. It's stepping 3.7v up to whatever you set it. The current draw goes way up so the life goes down. The regulator does draw some juice but I think the principle is the main culprit. I get good life out of mine with the 19490's. I don't go much past 4.2v though. If it's up over 5 it will drain em quick. Still like it though. Much better then my old vv mod using lifpo's

 

[seanmc]

If you set the Provari at the lowest setting 3.3 it will work with the dual coil carto's, at least mine does, anyways I hear ya. Take a look at the VV Ali'i I got 2 of them and there a nice unit, the Reo Grand is another, and you can get 5v Batts for it if you want, I like to run mine at 6v with Iken 3.5ohm Atty's it's a super vape.

Yeah I just checked out the Ali'i...looks beautiful, I wonder how it would look in all black? I just can't justify spending another $200 on a PV unless I sell my Provari...decisions!

 

[seanmc]

Cropduster901 has a nice 5.0v box mod with a ni-mh cell battery pack. I'm thinking about one of these . The longest battery life from 5.0v is found in the tekk mod. it has a pair of 18650s built in... and it can be used to charge your phone while you vape if you think that might be useful.

I'm a little baffled as to the battery life on the provari. I've read other people saying the same thing. I get about 4 hours with 1.5 ohm dual coils with 600 mah 5.0v batts. I guess the provari boost regulator must be fairly inefficient.

Six, the Tech mod is a beast! I'm going to have to do a little more research on one. As for the others...not looking for another box mod...I have 2 already and have run into too many problems with the glue and plastic cracking, looking for something more refined.

 

[CraigHB]

Well you have to think about what it's doing. It's stepping 3.7v up to whatever you set it. The current draw goes way up so the life goes down. The regulator does draw some juice but I think the principle is the main culprit. I get good life out of mine with the 19490's. I don't go much past 4.2v though. If it's up over 5 it will drain em quick. Still like it though. Much better then my old vv mod using lifpo's

Yes, run time shortens when you consume more power, but still, that seems short to me, unless you're using the dual coils at higher voltage, but the Pro-Vari can't power them much over battery voltage.

Power in = Power out + losses. So neglecting losses, if you vape a 3 ohm atomizer at 5V, that's a little over 8 Watts. At battery voltage, 8W is a 2.2 Amp draw compared to a 1.2 Amp draw for 3.7V. So battery drainage is a little under double. So, if a 1600mAh unregulated device normally lasts a full day, which for most people it does, the same battery should last a little over a half day at 5V. Plus, as a VV vaper myself, I can say you use shorter button times with higher voltage so it should be more like 2/3 of a day. Based on what I've read, that's not the case.

 

[seanmc]

Agreeded on GLV2 or a Buzz Pro series. I had a Provari and sold it. I use ego tanks and it was pretty finick with them, I never liked the way it hit. I love my Buzz it will run anything and hits are great. Getting the Pro series when they come out in a couple of weeks. I'm thinking of selling my GLV2 5V I think 5v is to much for me my sweet spot is between 3.7 -4.5. I do love my mini GLV2 tho

Scottitude and Kellie, GLV looks like a winner...have been eyeballing them for awhile, the only thing that bothered me was the "GLV" logo engraved on the side...took another look and it seems to be an option now...hmm. Kellie, what color is yours and does it have that engraving? How much are you looking to get for it?

 

[PoliticallyIncorrect]

I'm not sure "bored" is the right word. If battery life and tolerance for DC cartos are the issues, perhaps Frustration?

Semantics aside, I see two choices: you could wait 2-3 weeks or so until NotCigs releases the Buzz Pro, which will have enhanced battery life. Or you can upgrade to a Darwin; I get around two full days out of a single charge with mine.

 

[seanmc]

Yea, there must be something wierd going on there. They advertise 95% efficiency, but It should run longer than than that on a charge. That's what everyone says though, it doesn't run very long even with the bigger battery. I built a VV mod myself that runs a couple days on a charge. I'm using a better battey, but still, 1600mAh should be 1600mAh. For most people, that's a full day.

I've been thinking the same thing since I received mine. I even picked up some 3000mah ultrafire batteries, but the protection circuit on the battery kicks in at high voltages, know of any other high drain batteries higher than 1600mah? I've looked everywhere!

 

[CraigHB]

If you were using the 3000mAh UltraFires, they fudged the ratings on those, they fall way short when tested under real world conditions. Any protected battery is going to give you issues because you're boosting with a single battery. As discussed already, you get a big drain on the battery that way. It's absolutely not safe to use an unproteced ICO batt (the ones with the higher mAh ratings) in the Pro-Vari. You will far exceed the batteries maximum current capacity. The only battery that will work properly is the IMR batt which the maker already states. I'm afraid there's not much you can do to improve the run time.

If you want better life out of a VV device, as mentioned, the Darwin has the longest run time of any VV device I've read about. I'm using a similar battery as the Darwin in my VV mod and it's an excellent battery, LiPo flat cell, higher energy density and higher drain capacity than an ICO batt. It's the best battery out there right now.

 

[seanmc]

I'm not sure "bored" is the right word. If battery life and tolerance for DC cartos are the issues, perhaps Frustration?

Semantics aside, I see two choices: you could wait 2-3 weeks or so until NotCigs releases the Buzz Pro, which will have enhanced battery life. Or you can upgrade to a Darwin; I get around two full days out of a single charge with mine.

Haha, I could have used alot of other words...but I decided to be polite! Plus, it would have gotten my post moved to the Provari sub forum...I'll stick to bored because even with my problems, I love this device...just not as an all day PV! I just checked the Buzz Pro, and I will run into problems with LR attys and Cartos @ around 1.5ohms. It has a 12watt max power output so I'll be limited to 4.1v @ 11.2watts...I have some dual coil carto's that I've been dying to try @ 5v.

 

[seanmc]

If you were using the 3000mAh UltraFires, they fudged the ratings on those, they're actually around 2200mAh when tested under real world conditions. Any protected battery is going to give you issues because you're boosting with a single battery. As discussed already, you get a big drain on the battery that way. It's absolutely not safe to use an unproteced ICO batt (the ones with the higher mAh ratings) in the Pro-Vari. You will far exceed the batteries maximum current capacity. The only battery that will work properly is the IMR batt which Pro-Vari already states. I'm afraid there's not much you can do to improve the run time on your Pro-Vari.

If you want better life out of a VV device, as mentioned, the Darwin has the longest run time of any I've read about. I'm using a similar battery in my mod as the Darwin and it's an excellent battery, LiPo flat cell, higher energy density and higher drain capacity than an ICO batt. It's the best battery out there right now.

I've been fighting buying a Darwin due to the looks...but the battery life is making it look better and better. Maybe I'll grab a Darwin and have someone shove it in a tube for me...can't be too difficult. It will look like a GLV with a swing arm.

 

[CraigHB]

I just checked the Buzz Pro, and I will run into problems with LR attys and Cartos @ around 1.5ohms. It has a 12watt max power output so I'll be limited to 4.1v @ 11.2watts...I have some dual coil carto's that I've been dying to try @ 5v.

Yeah, that seems to be a common problem with VV devices. You might want to check that on the Darwin, I don't know what it can handle.

The one I built myself has a comfortable max of 24W, but I can push it to 30W (6V, 5A). That's only under testing though, I never actually vape over 10W. I use a load bank to run it that hard, but that's just to see what it can handle. If there was an atomizer that could handle it, 30W would probably blow your head off.

 

[seanmc]

Yeah, that seems to be a common problem with VV devices. You might want to check that on the Darwin, I don't know what it can handle.

The one I built myself has a comfortable max of 24W, but I can push it to 30W (6V, 5A). That's only under testing though, I never actually vape over 10W. I use a load bank to run it that hard, but that's just to see what it can handle. If there was an atomizer that could handle it, 30W would probably blow your head off.

Maybe I can throw you a case, some resistors, an adjustable regulator...etc, maybe some cash...and you can put a custom one together for me! I pretty much have everything except the battery...but that shouldn't be a problem!

 

[wv2win]

You really can't go wrong with a 5v GLV-2 from Great lakes Vapor.

I agree that the 5 volt GLV2 is an excellent 5 volt PV. But seeing that battery life is your main issue, then the variable volt Darwin would be the answer. I am a very heavy vaper and I get 21+ hours on the Darwin. Many have reported getting 30-35 hours on a charge.

 

[CraigHB]

Maybe I can throw you a case, some resistors, an adjustable regulator...etc, maybe some cash...and you can put a custom one together for me! I pretty much have everything except the battery...but that shouldn't be a problem!

Hehe, I'd love to, but I still haven't built one for my wife yet. Maybe I can do what other modders have done and produce the unit some day. Don't know, at this point, it takes me too long to make one to actually sell them. Though, I haven't seen anything like it so I know it would be unique. Happily vaping on it as I type.