first vv mod.. help

[silversx]

i'm getting my first vv mod.. but there are so many on the market and i'm not sure i want to spend provari money on a first vv unit

so far i've seen youtube reviews by phil busardo on the lava tube mini.. basically the vz-vv 2.0 or something from vapingzone.. others i may consider are that new plastic tube mod.. the varitube? ego-twist is also on the list but not being able to change batteries is ack..

i read a lot of negatives about lava tube but i'm not sure if it's about the old version or if they've improved in version 2.0..

i want something small aka a mini size since it'll probably be my primary unit..

also i've been using ce2 clearomizers .. the phoenix top and bottom coils.. the fluxomizer and have so far not been very impressed..

i see phil busardo rave about the carto tanks.. the carto in a tank thing.. how does everyone feel about these vs the clearomizers like ce2 or stardust?

thnaks

 

[Jason McRoy]

My thoughts on this and it is what I did:

If you are searching for a low cost, good quality VV model with a good warranty the answer is the Apollo Vtube from apolloecigs.com. I think you can get the kit for $75.00 and there is a coupon somewhere (if it is still valid) that can get it down to $52.00 or something.

I would love a Provari also, but I don't have the $$$$ at the moment to put into that. I am very happy with my Vtube and I have had it for 3 weeks now.

-Jason

 

[tobarger]

If you want to try variable voltage without spending alot of money.
Check out this $35 variable voltage box mod:
Variable Voltage Box Mod

 

[PittBoss]

My thoughts on this and it is what I did:

If you are searching for a low cost, good quality VV model with a good warranty the answer is the Apollo Vtube from apolloecigs.com. I think you can get the kit for $75.00 and there is a coupon somewhere (if it is still valid) that can get it down to $52.00 or something.

I would love a Provari also, but I don't have the $$$$ at the moment to put into that. I am very happy with my Vtube and I have had it for 3 weeks now.

-Jason

If it helps out the OP, the code is vtube30 and it is still valid!

 

[MickeyRat]

If you stay between 2 and 3 ohms, just about any VV will do. You have to understand though that things like the ego twist, Itaste, and Lavatube can fool you. They'll let you set them higher than they can go but, they still put out what they can. That's why you'll sometimes see posts from someone saying they are vaping a 1.5 DCT on an ego twist at 4.8V. They aren't actually getting 4.8V.

If you want a device that can do it's entire range on a 1.5 ohm, the more expensive one's actually don't. On a 1.5 ohm, the Provari cuts out at around 4.7V. The Buzz Pro will die at around 5.3V. The $35 madvapes VV box will actually do better than both. I theory, the Vmax should be able to go to it's 5.5V cutoff but, I haven't seen the tests. Considering it's PWM (Pulse Wave Modulated), it's hard to quantify the voltage on one of those regardless.

As for fluxo/clearo/CE/vision stuff, it's at best beta test. Those things go through revisions every week. The only reason something goes through that many revisions is because it doesn't work well for a lot of people. I had moved to bottom feeders before the carto tanks came out. I tried one but, I don't like filler. I set my wife up with one. When they work, they work well and they work most of the time. When they don't work well, about the only option you have is to toss the carto.

 

[silversx]

thanks for the replies so far.. how is the vmax .. it's a straight provari knock off no?

any reviews on the apollo vtube? the price is great but this is first i have heard of it

i understand that vv devices will cut off even if it displays higher voltage to protect the atty.. i think that is ok with me.. i;m probably not going to vape a 1.5 at 5.5 volts..

by the way mickey what is a bottom feeder.. so you dislike the carto tanks as well as the clearomizers?

 

[sailorman]

I will second the Vtube as currently the best budget level VV. Yes, it has an amp limit that cuts your voltage if you use a carto that's below 2.5ohms. At 2ohms, it'll cut you to 5 volts. That's 12 watts. Do you really want to vape a 2ohm carto with 6 volts? That would be a pretty blistering 16 watts!!

The other main drawback is that it does tend to lose some voltage under load when the battery gets low. It's really not noticeable until it gets below 3.5 or 3.6V. In practical terms, what does this mean? Well, I use the stock 1600mah IMR. I vape heavily for about 10-12 hours between battery changes and I swap batteries at 3.7 or 3.8 volts. If I kept vaping for another four hours, I might have to start pushing that + button once in a while. But I don't, so it's pretty inconsequential for anyone who isn't trying to squeak the last minute out of their battery. If you get a 2250mah battery, you could probably go a good 14-16 hours before you even noticed any voltage drop. But if you're the type who vapes numbers instead of taste, it might bother you.

Now, a couple other companies have come out with their own versions of the Lavatube that have been dubbed by the vaping community version 1.5 or 1.5T or version 2. They use PWM. They tried to claim 3.2 or 4 amp current limits, but it turned out to be bogus and, in reality, the limit is more like 3 amps. The 1.5, at least, still has some voltage drop and a poor LED screen, according to Pbusardo's review. The 1.5 doesn't turn off right and there have been reports of spontaneous firing. A couple vendors have recalled them and issued refunds.

Is all that worth a 0.5 amp current limit increase? Maybe if you're in love with 1.5ohm dual coil cartos.
Otherwise, the original version is pretty tried and true. There were some q.c. issues in the first ones that were corrected.
The stainless and chrome models are holding up just fine. My aluminum model has been working perfectly.
For roughly $50-70, you get a pretty darn good VV with a year warranty. Just change the battery every 10-12 hours and use 2.5-3ohm resistance and it performs as well as a lot of more expensive VVs. You don't need a screwdriver to change voltage, you don't need to navigate some cryptic menu system, it has less of a voltage drop under load and with the right resistance carto than a Buzzpro does. It's not disposable and you can actually read the display.

But if you like to pop 1.5ohm cartos with 5 volts, it's not your VV. If you have asbestos lungs, don't get a Lavatube.

90% of the whining you heard about the Lavatube was from people who didn't understand the current limit and didn't understand the bottom cap was a relief valve designed to blow off under pressure. 5% of the whining was from people who never touched one and assumed it was plastic. 4% was from people who got a defective unit and couldn't understand why every unit of a sub $100 VV didn't receive an individual 12 point quality assurance test before it left the factory. 1% was from people with a legitimate gripe and that's why God created warranties and 30 day money back guarantees.

 

[silversx]

i see the vtube has two different versions that are based on color.. the ss and chrome has built in ego adapter but the red and black does not? not sure how that works.. the tops look different.. one is flat and other is angled

 

[sailorman]

thanks for the replies so far.. how is the vmax .. it's a straight provari knock off no?

any reviews on the apollo vtube? the price is great but this is first i have heard of it

i understand that vv devices will cut off even if it displays higher voltage to protect the atty.. i think that is ok with me.. i;m probably not going to vape a 1.5 at 5.5 volts..

by the way mickey what is a bottom feeder.. so you dislike the carto tanks as well as the clearomizers?

Two things about the Vmax to be aware of. It's a knockoff of the Provari in looks only. The electronics are quite different.
On a Vmax, the voltage displayed has no relationship to the voltage it's supplying the coil. The voltage displayed also has no relationship to what if feels like. So, the displayed voltage, the loaded voltage and the "feels like" voltage have no relationship to each other. They are relative only to themselves and don't correspond with anything else. If you like a certain juice at 4.3 volts with a 2ohm carto on one machine, that has nothing to do with what you would set the Vmax at and nothing to do with how many volts are actually supplied. It is it's own thing and would really be better off if it just had a power knob or button and quit pretending that voltage had anything to do with it.

It is said to be powerful. I don't know. How can you tell? If you set it on 4 volts, it feels like other VVs on 4.5 volts. How do you know if that's particularly good if you don't know how many volts it's giving the coil? The displayed 4 volts don't mean anything. It's just a number. Maybe it is supplying 4.5 volts, or maybe 6 volts. There's no telling without an oscilloscope. IOW, there's no calibration with them. They use PWM, but it's not calibrated except internally, to itself.

And it's a Smoketech. Take that how you will. I'm not overly impressed by the quality of anything Smoketech and there have been some problems with them, particularly the switch. But that's not unusual for any low cost VV. But, it's a Smoketech, who build stuff of the quality you expect for the price, so it's almost sure to be mediocre quality. Just because you can build cartomizers, doesn't mean you're good at PV's. I guess I'm biased, but I've never seen anything by Smoketech that wasn't cheaply priced and cheaply built. They don't make stuff that, after you buy it you say " that was a good deal for the price". They make stuff that you say, "It was o.k.. What did I expect? It was cheap". Know what I mean?

 

[sailorman]

i see the vtube has two different versions that are based on color.. the ss and chrome has built in ego adapter but the red and black does not? not sure how that works.. the tops look different.. one is flat and other is angled

The original Lavatubes, of which the Vtube is one vendors name for the same identical product, was like the red and black ones. Early this year, they ordered a special design in stainless steel. BTW, the pre-order price was about $120, IIRC. Anyway, later on they started building them in chrome plated copper and modeled it after the stainless one, which was way more expensive to build then they thought. The solid stainless Vtube is only available from Apollo. They had LRider, manufacturer of the original Lavatube, make the stainless VTube specifically for them, as a limited production run.

Since the stainless one was so expensive to make, they tried to recoup some of their initial tooling costs by reproducing it in copper. That's the chrome plated one you see.

The stainless one was never intended to look like the aluminum original. People wanted them to make it with an ego compatible top, which they did. It's not an adapter, it's part of the design. They just carried it over to the chrome model.

 

[silversx]

ok i think i'm set on the black vtube mini with a 510 ego adatper they sell for 4 bucks and extra batteries.. i saw some threads about ss vtube having issues with it's built in ego connector not fitting some stuff?

my question now is what carto tank should i buy.. i see apollo has a dct tank 3.0ohm but doesn't say what brand..

i'm quite confused on how the carto tank system works.. can any 510 carto be used in the tank? how does the juice get in the carto if that's the case.. or do i have to always by special cartos made for carto tanks that have holes in them..

some brands or links to good carto tank systems would be really awesome if the one by apollo is not that great

 

[Bad Wolf]

For tank setup I would look at the Viva Nova 2 or 2.5, Sailorman recommended that one for me and it is great.

 

[silversx]

thanks i was thinking the vivi nova 2.5 also

 

[Bad Wolf]

Sailorman can tell you all about them. I think the viva nova 2 are cheaper then the 2.5. Only thing I think is different is that the 2's have short wicks and 2.5's have long ones.
I have the chrome Apollo Vtube and Viva Nova 2.5 and if you go with the chrome or stainless get this adapter http://www.smoktek.com/eGo-DCT-Cone-for-35ml-SmokTank--Type-D_p_196.html and your tank should really nice one the Vtube. May be able to get same adapter on another website as well.

 

[sailorman]

ok i think i'm set on the black vtube mini with a 510 ego adatper they sell for 4 bucks and extra batteries.. i saw some threads about ss vtube having issues with it's built in ego connector not fitting some stuff?

You won't need the ego adapter unless you want to use some special clearos or cartos made specifically for the eGos. The draw issue on the stainless and chrome versions don't apply to the black aluminum version.

my question now is what carto tank should i buy.. i see apollo has a dct tank 3.0ohm but doesn't say what brand..

It's a run-of-the-mill Smoketech DCT tank like everybody sells. The 3ohm cartos are dual coils. They're just o.k., but you can get better results with single coils.

i'm quite confused on how the carto tank system works.. can any 510 carto be used in the tank? how does the juice get in the carto if that's the case.. or do i have to always by special cartos made for carto tanks that have holes in them..

The DCT tank uses XL sized cartomizers. They're longer than standard cartomizers. There are other tanks that take standard length cartomizers. With any carto tank, you need a cartomizer with a hole (or two or three) in it. You can buy them pre-punched or punch your own holes. You need a hole puncher made for the job, or you can use a saddle valve that you can get at Home Depot or somewhere like that. They're a little tricky to set up. Smoketech holes are very small, so you'll probably have to enlarge them unless you use very thin juice. If you use thick juice, you might have to get two or three hole cartomizers. Also Smoketech DCT tanks are slippery on the carto and it can slip out. The Smoketech cartos have a flange on the bottom to keep the carto from slipping out if you pull on the drip tip without hit being attached to the battery.

some brands or links to good carto tank systems would be really awesome if the one by apollo is not that great

It's really not that great. IMO, all the carto tanks are a pain, but there are better ones than that one. The J-Tank is good. There are really a lot of better ones. Mom & Pop vapor shop have one, but it's kind of goofy looking with a plug in the side so you can fill it without pulling the carto out.

I'd suggest skipping all that and get a Vivi Nova 2. It's cheap to operated. Get a couple spare 2.8ohm heads. You can replace the heads instead of fooling with cartos. They also last longer than cartos. And, you can rebuild them if you want. They won't leak and there is no cartomizer to interfere with the taste. Instead of changing cartomizers, you just screw a little coil head into them. And, you don't need to change heads every time you change flavors. Get a couple of them if you can, and you can just keep them filled up with your favorite juice. They also don't leak.
Vision Nova Tank Clearomizer V2
If you go to the cartomizer page, there are also metal tanks that you can use if you want to vape one of the types of juices that can crack plastic.

 

[Bad Wolf]

If you get the Chrome or SS Vtube and get the V2 nova on the hoosierecig site here is the link to the adapter Adapter for Dual Coil Tanks get the 3.5ml one.

 

[silversx]

i ended up getting the vtube mini black.. 1 extra battery.. and the vivi nova 2.5 from gv..

can't wait!

tahnks all for the help!!!!!!

 

[babemomlover]

Cheapest VV will be ego twist.
Great to purchase for 25/30 bucks and see if you really wanna make your way into the VV world.

 

[tj99959]

I'll second the little 35$ Madvapes box mod, and from first hand experence it will go where the SS Vtube can't. (I have both)
The Madvapes box mod can run a 1.5ohm DCC at over 5v which is 18 watts (9 watts/each coil) which is beyond where most people would want to power a DCC. A Vtube cant. My box mod is over a year old, and still going strong. Also batteries for the box mod are less than half the price of batteries for the Vtube.

 

[tobarger]

Looks like we have a winner