Gripper Discussion

[GIMike]

So odd that you think using anything but IMR will cause problems and ask people to stop posting the usage of anything but IMRs. I use 1800 mah button top protected batts that I bought from my local shop as they all use protected batts in their mods and have had no issues. I've used mine for a month and have had no issues. So it seems to be that your post asking for everybody to stop talking about other batteries other than IMR is based on your personal preference, not facts.

**edit** plus, it's my understanding that AW IMR batteries are nothing but a battery that some dude in China made in his garage, and all AW IMR batteries come from this guy. Not sure how much of a believer I am in that. Mass produced batts likely have a quality control specialist in place to oversee their production. This is a single guy making these batteries, how much QC does he have? Just my $.02

Cool Breeze please desist advocating a dangerous course of action. A High Amperage Unit like the Gripper is not capable and doesn't have the protections in place to draw limited amounts of Amperage. This E-Cig can and will pull more than what your battery is capable of. You are depending totally on the protections in the battery to protect you. This is a bad idea. Battery Protection especially in the Cheap Brands is sketchy.

IMR uses a totally different technology. The chemical makeup of the Battery is Lithium Manganese. This is a stable chemistry that is was created for high discharge rates and t high levels of Amperage. With LIMN or Imr Technology you don't need the protection because the chemical make up is stable and designed for High Amperage Discharge such as in Units like the Gripper.

If you want to be safe buy AW IMR Batteries from Lighthound they are recommended by the veterans on the candlepower forum as the place to go for authentic AW IMR Batteries.

With all respect, please cease advocating a dangerous course of action, which is to put batteries that are generally capable of 2.5Amps in a unit that the manufacturer claims will do 4 Amps and others say is around 3 Amps in real world applications.

The only battery to use in a Mod lIke this is IMR. Unless you are always going to be very careful and vape in the lower limits keeping the amperage to under 2.5.

This is a chart that you can use to plug in your Atomizer/Cartomizer/Clearomizer Ohm and the voltage you'll be vaping at and it will tell you the Amps
Ohm's and Joule's Law Calculator

The one intangible is that the Gripper is a PWM that is supposed to have poor filtering and you may be thinking that you are vaping at 3.2 but really vaping at 4.2. So it's even dangerous for you to rely on this chart.

If you are looking for a less expensive, high drain experience go to Batteries-Chargers-Flashlights-PC gear-Only The Best and check out there High Drain Hybrid Panasonics Cells. They are less expensive than AW IMR and have a higher ah rate.

 

[Cool_Breeze]

There is doubt as to whether the Gripper can handle the 4 Amps claimed and I understand that there is built in protection...not clear as to the actual amperage level and other factors which might actuate the protection circuitry.

I have a little difficulty in following that the Gripper 'doesn't have built-in protection,' so 'don't use protected batteries.' There is (video) informatiion about that demonstrates that the IMRs can be dangerous as well and in thermal runaway conditions get even hotter than LiIons.

Yes, the Panasonic Hybrids look like the best overall deal for capacity, current rating and cost.

 

[niczgreat]

Hi Mike,
I apologize if I didn't communicate well that my statement is relating to E-Cigs that pull above 2.5AMPs.

My post was made within the limited context of a PWM Unit that is rated at 4 amps and reputably does 3amps. I do not advocate only using IMR batteries on everything.

I have a 3Amp Varicool Mod Box that I've read the specifications of the chip and will only pull a maximum of 2.25 Amps, I use Non-Imr batteries on it.

I have a 6 Amp Varicool Beast and I use Non IMR Batteries with it when I'm vaping at normal ranges.I prefer to use IMR overall on this unit because sometimes I go to town on it.

In my Provari for Years I used regular batteries but the new LR Clearomizers and an upgrade to V2 necesitated a change to IMR.

I'll stand by my statement, It is not safe to use Non-IMR Batteries on a E-Cig that can pull above 2.5 Amps unless you know what you are doing and especially unsafe on a reputedly unstable PWM Mod like the Gripper.

So odd that you think using anything but IMR will cause problems and ask people to stop posting the usage of anything but IMRs. I use 1800 mah button top protected batts that I bought from my local shop as they all use protected batts in their mods and have had no issues. I've used mine for a month and have had no issues. So it seems to be that your post asking for everybody to stop talking about other batteries other than IMR is based on your personal preference, not facts.

 

[Longhorn]

From what I know and have learned both here and from talking to very experienced vapers, if you use EITHER IMR or protected LiIon bats, there is little probability of having a catastrophic battery event.

Now someone, somewhere can always do stupid things that will circumvent some or all of the protections (both device and battery) that are in place (ie. using unprotected LiIon bats, stacking batteries, using magnets, get around the device auto cut-off by constantly stopping and starting activation, etc.). There's nothing anyone here typing can do about that.

The Gripper indeed has protection circuitry built in. If you are using IMR bats with it, everything should be fine. It seems that you can't even get a protected LiIon to fit in the battery compartment. I know that the Trustfire 3000mAh protected bat that I have will not fit the Gripper.

If you are forcing a protected LiIon bat TO fit (with a battery compartment door that does not fully close), that might fit the stupid things catagory.

The VV Gripper only seems to be able to produce 2.8-3A. That's pretty much the same as many, many mods already out there and in use for quite some time.

It seems highly unlikely to me that AW batteries are made by "some chinese guy" in his garage. There are other manufacturers of IMR LiMn batteries, Efest for one.

Unprotected LiIon batteries have been used for years in the RC flight community with little or no consequence. The remote transmitters and receivers are pretty low current devices, but the aircraft operations electronics can and often do require 3-5A draw. Those RC guys even bundle them into battery packs in both series and parallel configurations.

To me, it seems that if you just do what what seems right, make sure it fits and use the correct charging equipment, everything will work as it should with no accidents.

 

[niczgreat]

Hi Mike,
I don't really know how to respond to this statement except to say that I would suggest that you do more research and educate yourself.

 

[Rader2146]

I'm just going to hit the wavetops because there is a lot to catch up on.

Protected batteries can and do perform adequately in certain "high current" situations. Granted, that statement is subjective, but it also depends on the battery. You wouldn't want to drain a protected ICR 14500 at 3 amps, but for a big 3100mah 18650, 3 amps is less than half of the max rated discharge.

IMR does NOT automatically mean that the battery is capable of high current. IMR, LiMn, chemistry has the potential for high current discharge, but there are other factors that may limit the battery to "low current" even though it is the same chemistry. What is tha max drain current for an IMR? 4A? 5C? 15C? 24A? It is for the manufacturer to decide what the safe discharge current is, not for the user to assume that it is high drain based solely on the chemistry makeup.

With a variable voltage mod, output amps have little relation to input amps. There is a conversion that takes place in the regulator and you must account for the conversion to find the actual battery drain current. Even further, it depends on the topology of the circuit. Input capacitor(s)? Inrush current? Average current and peak current could be vastly different. This is one reason that high drain batteries are recommended for VV mods. If you want a rough idea of average battery drain current use this, but it doesn't account for efficiancy losses so actual current will be a little higher.

Amps[in]=Power[out] / Volts[in]

RMS voltage has no effect on amperage. Average amps is calculated using average voltage. If you use RMS voltage in ohms law to figure for amps, you will be wrong. RMS accounts for the square of the voltage when figuring power. Double the voltage = quadruple the power. Double the amperage = double the power.

There are only a handful of manufactures that produce raw lithium ion cells. Everyone else is a reseller, selling re-wrapped cells made by one of the primary manufacturers. AW uses Panasonic for many of thier protected ICR batteries. I have seen nothing stating the primary manufacturer of thier IMR line. Not saying it doesn't exist, just saying I haven't seen it. I doubt he is re-wrapping them in his garage, but that is just an assumption.

 

[Cool_Breeze]

Does the notion of keeping current down support the idea of using two cells in series with buck (cutting down voltage) circuitry?

 

[Rader2146]

Yes, in an ideal circuit with a buck regulator average input current will be less than average output current. Plug your typical wattage (power) into the formula above and figure for input voltage of 3.7v, and again for 7.4v.

 

[Rader2146]

For anyone looking for battery specs. Here is a good site to peruse. He is a flashlight guy, but the info is cross compatable. Most common 18650s are there, and he's adding more as they come in. A recent addition is the small battery comparison.

Batteries and chargers

 

[meli.]

I received my Gripper today, from Le Petit Vapoteur, France. Excellent Service!
It arrived in brown box with loads of bubblewrap including a Complementary bottle of Caramel E-Liquid and a Caramel Sweet.
I haven't received the batteries yet, nor the charger, so heres hoping both will arrive on Monday! I can't wait!
Now for the Gripper, nice presentation And instruction booklet.
The device sits nicely in my hand, I like the matt finish. I think once it begins to get a little shabby it would be easy to redecorate. Feels really light, although it doesn't have a battery so I can't really say yet.
The four finger grooves don't bother me as yet and my fingers wrap round it rather well. All in all a nice fit. The top button makes a change to the Twist but shouldn't be a problem to get used to although it is very Clicky, I'm not too sure I like this, will have to see once it's in full operation. Perhaps if things go pear-shaped buy the non-clicky button Cool Breeze has suggested.
I've added photo's for the Ladies to approximate its size.
Bring on Monday!!

 

[Cool_Breeze]

Nice that you have petite hands!

I think you'll find that it's still pretty light with the battery.

Many have questioned the position of the fire button. What do you think of it?

...wishing you good fortune!

 

[meli.]

Thanks Cool_Breeze.
Okay so I stuck a ViviNova on it see if this would hamper my thumb and nothing feels wrong, so I think I'll be happy with it on that note, but by all accounts will have to wait until the batteries arrive and I can this switch this little ripper on!

 

[speedemon]

I own multiple provari's and a gripper my gripper is used in rotation great little VV mod very light and i think the button is great once you get use to it don't take long.I use this in both hands and it feels good.Plenty of output!

 

[txtumbleweed]

I own multiple provari's and a gripper my gripper is used in rotation great little VV mod very light and i think the button is great once you get use to it don't take long.I use this in both hands and it feels good.Plenty of output!

I agree speedemon it is very comfortable to vape with either hand and I like the placement better on top than on the front like the V8.

 

[ejervjero]

Dropped one of my VV Grippers on the floor when I fell asleep with it on my lap and got up. The unit split right open and came apart.

I thought it was done for but I was wrong. It breaking actually helped me fix the issues that were wrong with it.

I was able to sit the 510 connector back into the slot it should have been in but was not before it broke and it also let me adjust and fix the spring inside under the button due to it not correctly before the drop.

I guess good things do come to dropping and breaking open mods it allows you to fix any issues with a mod.

Fixing the spring inside under the button also fixed my door issue where I was having problems opening it. Now the thing opens nice and clean.

The 510 connector if anyone is curious is just sitting inside of a clip inside of the unit. It has at the bottom of the 510 connector a little indent going around the connector which on each side piece of plastic just sits into it. This is why it moves it is not glued or anything to keep it steady. There is a wire coming off from it and another wire going to the spring under the fire button.

Here is the internals and shows how the connector is just sitting inside between 2 plastic walls and clips and not soldered into the unit. I am guessing if anyone did solder or glue it in it wouldn't wiggle so much.

This unit still works and actually as stated earlier works better then before since I was able to resit everything where they should be.

 

[Zurd]

Congrats on your repair job, glad it's still working after!

I just dropped mine an hour ago from 20 inches height (around knee level) on vinyl floor, still working but the battery door is just a little tiny bit broken, it still close no problem at least. Conclusion : the Gripper is not even safe from a small 20 inches drop !

 

[ejervjero]

Congrats on your repair job, glad it's still working after!

I just dropped mine an hour ago from 20 inches height (around knee level) on vinyl floor, still working but the battery door is just a little tiny bit broken, it still close no problem at least. Conclusion : the Gripper is not even safe from a small 20 inches drop !

Worse comes to worse you can just tear the internals out and slap it into another mod like device with little to no work. I am still surprised mine survived since it came off my lap in bed and flew across the room probably 5+ feet.

 

[droluigi]

Okay, so I found a couple of forum threads detailing the VV Gripper V6/V8. I would like to buy it due to it's nice aesthetics. But how about performance? Does it keep ejuice longer or is it a juice hog or is it just the vaper's usage that decides it? I'm hearing reports that the battery flaps get broken easily as well and it's way impossible to replace it. I have not seen a full pros and cons for this PV. I really like how it looks, how it feels, but if the performance is subpar, I'd rather save up for a lavatube.

 

[Zurd]

The Gripper has nothing to do with keeping ejuice longer or being a juice hog. It's about what you put on it and how much you vape. Yes the battery door is cheap, gotta make sure you don't drop it ! I have the original lavatube and the 1.5 version, I prefer the Gripper because it is much smaller in height and a little bit lighter. For 50$ I think it's a good deal.

 

[Rader2146]

Not trying to be the south end of a northbound donkey, but the pros and cons are in the previous 157 posts of this thread....from multiple people.

Also, the Ovale V6 and V8 are completely different mods. Nothing like the Smoketech VV Gripper.