GG AVS for GGTS initial impressions

[clyde2801]

So far, still having good luck on the cartoed AVS at 6v. Still working pretty much issue free. I'll have an occasional problem caused by the complexity of the mod. Occasionally, it'll decide not to vape, usually after dumping juice or changing batteries. Then it's time to loosen and retighten all the threaded connections of the GGTS/AVS to ensure that something's not loose or overtightened. I've accidentally unscrewed the switch out of the base once or twice and not screwed it back in far enough. Usually I can resolve a malfunction-as long as it's not a dead atty or carto-in two minutes or less.

I've also been informed on the GG forum that vaseline is recommended to use on the GGTS threads as well as on the AVS. The conventional wisdom before was that noalox was needed on the GGTS threads because of its conductivity. Its now out of favor for being difficult to remove when cleaning the mod. Apparently, vaseline is conductive enough and will also clean the threads once its removed. Huh.

Still on the island of misfit juices, trying to get through a tank of straight clove pg/vg mix. I've tried adding some analog flavored juice to it, but the clove (like cinnamon and peppermint) just overpowers everything I throw at it.

And as a whole the tenergy lifepo4 cr123's are almost all worthless. I don't know if I got a bad batch or what. Will try to contact battery junction to see about replacements, but I may have waited too late after the order.

And it looks like I'll be getting to try out and review a mod that promises to be the equal (or maybe the better) of the AVS. Don't think I'll divulge any more until its in my hands.

 

[buGG]

neither vaseline or noalox is conductive. noalox has suspended zinc particles in it, but shows no conductivity with a meter. you don't want to put a conductive grease there, as it can cause more problems than it might fix. you just don't want to inhibit or prevent conductivity, while at the same time lubricating threads, promoting a tight seal, and helping against oxidation. a light application of vaseline will serve that purpose just fine; keep a all your parts hand tight, and then you can give it a once over with a napkin or cloth and a little rubbing alcohol to get rid of greasiness. vaseline's been used for decades, and it's fine for these purposes. noalox is fine too; it's just dirty and hard to remove, you don't want it near the avs, and costs more than generic petroleum jelly.

and get some aw lifepo4 batteries to replace your tenergy batteries. lighthound.com is running low at the moment, but ikenvape has a good price on them, and he's a solid guy! the problem in a nutshell is that your tenergy batteries are over-rated in their mAh runtime, and they can't handle the amp draw of pretty much any atomizer you throw at it. yes the tenergy's will still work, and yes some people will be very happy, but the specs don't lie.

happy vaping!

 

[clyde2801]

Thanks. Sounds like vaseline is the way to go, then.

And you're preaching to the choir when it comes to AW's....big fan of their imr 18650's.

I've got a couple of pairs of the tenergy lifepo4's that still have some life in them, plus five pairs of trustfires that work. Think I'm going to use them up before I order any more battys.

Would the tenergy lifepo4 charger work on the li-ons?

 

[clyde2801]

Quick note..broken rt hand, cant really use this one handed (screwing parts together and apart). Extended use & blogging temp suspended...maybe 2 wks or a month

 

[clyde2801]

Quick note...good friend of mine desperately wanted to stop smoking for health reasons. He did his research online, and wanted the ggts only to discover they're sold out. Since I've got two AVSes that I cant vape now due to a broken hand (no two handed twisting ability for now), I sold him #61 and he's loving it as his first vape! He's been in vaping bliss for a solid week now.

Still using the petercro MkV...throughly decent little device. Will hopefully get the cast off one week from today. Praying that the planned brace will give me a little more flexibility in my hand then.

 

[Aceyboogie]

Hope you're feeling better Clyde, just hang in there and that brace should help!

 

[clyde2801]

Hand is healing nicely, been in a brace for a couple of weeks (after a cast for a fortnight before that-real fun there) and I can slip out for a bit of light typing. May get all the way out on my next dr's appt Oct 14th-wish me luck.

Not able to do much with the AVS for a lot of that time; seems the two handed twisting motions for the mod is NOT very handi friendly.

Was able to punch a carto for the avs yesterday on the first try, even with the hand in a brace. Was still having trouble until I remembered that I needed to quit using my problematic tenergy lifepo's and switch to the "cheap" 3v ultra fires.

I stopped by a couple of times and visited with my friend Sterno. Sterno got his hands on a metal mini reo from redeyedancer and removed the bridge and wick on his LR510 with the mod:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...e-reviews/123899-mini-reo-small-review-5.html

I'm really impressed with the mod. It looks professionally designed and made, and is small, beautiful and elegant. Great vape, practically self juicing, on a tiny mod with a 14500 battery!

I haven't been impressed with 510's on 3rd gen mods, don't like mods with electrical rather than mechanical connections, am not the biggest fan of bottle fed 3rd gens, and have found the 14500 to be lacking battery wise. All of my experience tells me that this won't be a mod that I'd like. But during my visits, I've been catching myself putting down the AVS and picking up the mini reo.

Easily the prettiest mod I have ever seen. It reminds me of my youth when everyone smoked, and the well to do bought their lighters and cigarette holders from jewelers. It's honestly that freakin' nice. The mod and sterno's atty surgery gave a surprisingly HVish vape to a tiny little thing of a vape. Simplistic as well, no adjustments, control rings, screwing parts together, but just hitting the button to vape. There HAS to be a downside to it, but I haven't found it so far. Sterno's reporting he's getting a day's vape out of a single 14500, and a li-on at that. That surely can't be right, can it? May have to drop in on Sterno a bit more often.

Oh well, it's not like I'm suffering or anything with a fully functional AVS (and almost functional hand). But I'm starting to wonder if the mini would be a better out and about mod, and relegate the AVS to easy chair status. May be easier to get through a metal detector check point without a six inch metal phallus in my pocket...

 

[clyde2801]

Had the AVS quit working on me the other day while I was stuck at the office. Turns out it needed a cleaning with vaseline again, even though I swore I just did that a week ago. The collector tank has also seized up on the top of the TS tube again, and I don't have enough strength in both hands to free it. Maybe it's just me, but I could swear that I have to service this more with vaseline than I did with noalox. Yeah, dried up noalox is a PITA to clean out, but at least I only had to break the thing down every month or six weeks than weekly.

Still like the mechanical simplicity of the TS, but it seems to have gotten a bit more cantankerous as the months have gone by. It'll work intermittently, and I'll have to check out all of the individual parts and see if they're serviceable. It's gotten to be something like what I imagine a preflight check on an airplane to be: Switch, check. Bottom tube, check. Atomizer/carto secure, check. O rings lubed, check. Collector tank dry, hold! Hold! Abort takeoff! Especially with attys, there's a constant adjusting of the control ring and getting the AVS top screwed in at just the right depth to make contact but not either block off the airflow or allow to much too leak into the collector tank.

Especially with attys, the steady slow leakage into the collector tank which has to be emptied for the mod to work again is an annoyance. Some fans have suggested carrying a syringe with needle to easily suck the juice out of the collector tank. Puh-leeze, like I'm going to carry around a needle into two or three government buildings every other day?!?

Don't get me wrong, when it the AVS works, it works like a sunuvabetch. When it doesn't, it's annoying. The problems also seem to be more frequent when using batteries in series. I'm going to try to use a kr-808D modded carto with a high drain 18650 to see if this makes the mod a little more dependable. Otherwise, especially with the braced hand, keeping this sucker going is seeming to be more like work than an enjoyable hobby.

Wish me luck, or feel free to offer any suggestions or advice. Keep the hate to yourselves, please.

 

[Switched]

I wish you all the best with it Clyde, in all honesty. Those who like it seem to like it allot, and those who don't get rid of theirs. A mod should not be such a PITA as reported here and once again in all honesty, there is no reason for it. You have the patience of Jobe.

 

[clyde2801]

And I keep feeling like an abused spouse when someone else starts in on the TS...running out of the trailer with a black eye yelling, "Stop! We've got our problems but we can work it out! But I love him!....." What's your primary vape these days, Switched?

 

[clyde2801]

Had a little better luck with the AVS this weekend. Stretched and cleaned the spring on the base for a better connection. Problems after that; think my Kr 808 gave up the ghost after a week of use. Going back to the LR901 with the IMR 18650 for a relatively trouble free vape. Theres still the issue of making sure the AVS is screwed the right way into the collector tank to allow for airflow without causing it to instantly leak juice into the collector tank. But at least I'll get a decent vape a majority of times that I hit the switch-at least until it's time to dump juice again.

My God, I hope the hand brace can come off for good tomorrow!

 

[clyde2801]

Still enjoying the LR510 and imr18650 in the AVS, though I had to dump juice twice so far when the mod stopped working. This isn't really a surprise, as it's almost a given when using an atty on the AVS, with the possible exception of using thick VG with a HV 901 at 7.2 or 7.4v. It's not a big deal when I'm behind a desk all day in the office, but it happens at inopportune times when I'm out and about. Cleaning the ggts, and especially the AVS, and servicing it with vaseline seems to really help, but not completely solve, the problem.

On a side note, my good friend that I sold #61 to is really, really digging it. He's had issues with the AVS....not surprising since it is a device 'for advanced users' (and me, heh heh), but he's got a blank, almost gutted kr808d and dripping into a drip top on it. In effect he's using the carto as a micro mini AVS; fairly ingenious, if I say so myself. He bought if off of me in desperation to quit smoking when vaporkings was sold out of the ggts. I've offered to buy it back so he can purchase a new model, but he likes my original model just fine.

 

[MikeDeason]

This thing sounds like a serious PITA to use.

I like simple Juicers.

 

[ella]

I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but not everyone experiences the same problems that Clyde does with the GGTS with AVS. Mine's still going strong with an LR901 and 18650 batt -- no leakage, pure enjoyment.

 

[clyde2801]

Glad to hear it, Ella. Hopefully i'll be able to handle it better when the brace is off. It behaved itself pretty well today, dumps notwithstanding.

A lot of the flooding problems I had earlier was with a avs prototype I called the Grande. The AVS is a big improvement.

Honestly, it seems gg products are so divisive. I want to write about what I'm experiencing, but I seem to draw haters and fanatics instead.

 

[ella]

Hey Clyde, I think the divisiveness might be due to the high cost of this pv; perhaps I'm wrong but I don't think there's another one out there that costs as much as this complete with AVS. I like your commentary but sometimes feel the need to jump in when you're experiencing something that hasn't happened to me before, i.e. the flooding you experience. I have to say that I seldom now take my GGTS apart; just the occasional fill and go

 

[clyde2801]

Do you have v1 or v2?

 

[ella]

Hmm, I'm not sure. I have an older GGTS and a somewhat new AVS (had to buy the overflow tank to make it work). I don't have the one that fits all mods but I also don't have that newest version that Imeo just came out with. So am I v1 or v2?

 

[clyde2801]

You have a v1

 

[ella]

'kay, thanks Clyde.