I am fairly new, but have been doing a lot of research lately. I've been running Joye Ego-C's and recently went on a spending spree and got a couple Kanger Pro's, a Vamo and a bunch of other goodies. Here are some of the things I have discovered and already knew, but haven't seen it all on one place. Most of this I have experienced first hand, but some information I have found (mostly on ECF) possibly avoided some heartache. This is my attempt at getting as much info one in place to hopefully give some info back to the community. This is my opinion and due to my newness, it may or may not be 100% correct, so keep that in mind! Feel free to correct me if needed!
I don't remember which posts I gathered these bits. I'm usually one to give give credit, but I have no idea where I found the original information. Sorry...
I'm running the Vamo loaded with a single Panasonic 18650. One of the things that has annoyed me with the Ego-C's was occasional leakage. Until recently, I did not understand why it would occur, but here is what I have discovered.
First off, I live in Florida and it's hot. If I leave it in the car, even to just run in to a store, it will likely leak all over the place. I believe this is because the heat expands the air in the tank and pushes the fluid out through the wick holes and into the tube. From there, it goes everywhere.
Another reason I've found these things leak, is if I draw too hard. It's the opposite of heat. When I suck too hard, I am creating a negative pressure in the tube and it's sucking the juice from the tank through the wick holes. Doing it a few times can make a nice mess.
Of course, there are other reasons. Seals, burned or too small wicks, etc., but those are another story...
I found the Kanger Pro to be airy, as other's have said, with very little resistance in the draw. I had read about getting a Tank Airflow Controller and I did. It worked fairly well, tightened the draw a bit, but draw too hard and you get the gurgles. It also had a tendency to squash the center terminal on the Vamo, so I ended up taking that out. I have read that some people use the EVOD atty heads which supposedly tightens the draw a little bit with less side effects, but I haven't tried that yet.
Segway into the Vamo and the weak threads and finicky contact terminal that have been reported. I took a proactive stance on this. I wanted to not have to worry about stripping out my threads or compressing the contact/seal, so I got a 510 to 510 extension in lieu of using the Tank Airflow Controller. That's what I'm using now. The only downside is, I have to be really easy screwing on the Kanger Pro because you can't really grip the extension when you take off the Kanger and it can come out of the Vamo first, so it negates the idea of not wearing down the threads. I find this acceptable and compensate for it. I have noticed in just a week, that the threads on the Vamo are really loose from all the experimenting. I bought a bunch of different juices and have been swapping the 2 Kanger Pro's and 3 Ego-C's. I'm not sure if that's because it worked the burrs out or it's slowly wearing away. It is not exactly a hard metal.
Keep in mind, I do NOT overtighten or even snug the fittings. I get them just past the point of the Vamo reading the resistance of the coil and leave it there. It's still a little loose and can be tightened a bit more to snug. I just don't do it. I also had ordered dozens of different sample juices and have been swapping tanks like a mad man, so the usage is very high at this point.
Over tightening can also cause leaks, at least with the Ego-C when the center of the atty head binds and twists when it contacts the center terminal of the battery. I have not seen this with the Kanger Pro and Vamo, but it may be worth noting.
I've also learned that the adapter will make contact with the terminal on the Vamo even when the Kanger will not, when the Vamo terminal/seal gets compressed. I tried for a couple days not using an adapter at all and had to push back the insulator on the Vamo center terminal a few times. If I put the adapter on first, it would work. That leads me to believe the center terminal on the extension is slightly smaller than the terminal on the Kanger and I don't have to push the insulator back on the Vamo at all, when using the adapter because it's smaller than the insulator ring on the Vamo contact.
One of the complaints I have read about the Vamo, was the battery spring. I have the gold V2 spring installed and pre-stretched it a little bit when I got it, so I haven't had any issues directly related to that.
So, basically, I'm using the Kanger Pro and a 510 to 510 extension on the Vamo and am pretty happy with the results. The issues above were all that I've had to experience, so far, so I figured they would be common occurrences. Hope it helps!
Here are links to where I got some of the more esoteric parts and you can try them if so inclined. They may or may not be the cheapest, but they came in 5 days over a weekend, so I can attest, that in my case, the sources are reliable.
Tank Airflow Controller - Not recommended, just for reference. It may work for you.
V2 510 Shorty Extension (unsealed) - I bought these because they were out of the sealed ones at the time. Not sure what it would do to the draw, if anything, were you were to get the sealed ones.
Vamo Replacement Spring - I did not order this, as I didn't need it, but just in case you do. You can also get them with the cap in SS, Chrome and Gun Metal. I've read SmokTek is reliable, so I included the link.
I don't remember which posts I gathered these bits. I'm usually one to give give credit, but I have no idea where I found the original information. Sorry...
I'm running the Vamo loaded with a single Panasonic 18650. One of the things that has annoyed me with the Ego-C's was occasional leakage. Until recently, I did not understand why it would occur, but here is what I have discovered.
First off, I live in Florida and it's hot. If I leave it in the car, even to just run in to a store, it will likely leak all over the place. I believe this is because the heat expands the air in the tank and pushes the fluid out through the wick holes and into the tube. From there, it goes everywhere.
Another reason I've found these things leak, is if I draw too hard. It's the opposite of heat. When I suck too hard, I am creating a negative pressure in the tube and it's sucking the juice from the tank through the wick holes. Doing it a few times can make a nice mess.
Of course, there are other reasons. Seals, burned or too small wicks, etc., but those are another story...
I found the Kanger Pro to be airy, as other's have said, with very little resistance in the draw. I had read about getting a Tank Airflow Controller and I did. It worked fairly well, tightened the draw a bit, but draw too hard and you get the gurgles. It also had a tendency to squash the center terminal on the Vamo, so I ended up taking that out. I have read that some people use the EVOD atty heads which supposedly tightens the draw a little bit with less side effects, but I haven't tried that yet.
Segway into the Vamo and the weak threads and finicky contact terminal that have been reported. I took a proactive stance on this. I wanted to not have to worry about stripping out my threads or compressing the contact/seal, so I got a 510 to 510 extension in lieu of using the Tank Airflow Controller. That's what I'm using now. The only downside is, I have to be really easy screwing on the Kanger Pro because you can't really grip the extension when you take off the Kanger and it can come out of the Vamo first, so it negates the idea of not wearing down the threads. I find this acceptable and compensate for it. I have noticed in just a week, that the threads on the Vamo are really loose from all the experimenting. I bought a bunch of different juices and have been swapping the 2 Kanger Pro's and 3 Ego-C's. I'm not sure if that's because it worked the burrs out or it's slowly wearing away. It is not exactly a hard metal.
Keep in mind, I do NOT overtighten or even snug the fittings. I get them just past the point of the Vamo reading the resistance of the coil and leave it there. It's still a little loose and can be tightened a bit more to snug. I just don't do it. I also had ordered dozens of different sample juices and have been swapping tanks like a mad man, so the usage is very high at this point.
Over tightening can also cause leaks, at least with the Ego-C when the center of the atty head binds and twists when it contacts the center terminal of the battery. I have not seen this with the Kanger Pro and Vamo, but it may be worth noting.
I've also learned that the adapter will make contact with the terminal on the Vamo even when the Kanger will not, when the Vamo terminal/seal gets compressed. I tried for a couple days not using an adapter at all and had to push back the insulator on the Vamo center terminal a few times. If I put the adapter on first, it would work. That leads me to believe the center terminal on the extension is slightly smaller than the terminal on the Kanger and I don't have to push the insulator back on the Vamo at all, when using the adapter because it's smaller than the insulator ring on the Vamo contact.
One of the complaints I have read about the Vamo, was the battery spring. I have the gold V2 spring installed and pre-stretched it a little bit when I got it, so I haven't had any issues directly related to that.
So, basically, I'm using the Kanger Pro and a 510 to 510 extension on the Vamo and am pretty happy with the results. The issues above were all that I've had to experience, so far, so I figured they would be common occurrences. Hope it helps!
Here are links to where I got some of the more esoteric parts and you can try them if so inclined. They may or may not be the cheapest, but they came in 5 days over a weekend, so I can attest, that in my case, the sources are reliable.
Tank Airflow Controller - Not recommended, just for reference. It may work for you.
V2 510 Shorty Extension (unsealed) - I bought these because they were out of the sealed ones at the time. Not sure what it would do to the draw, if anything, were you were to get the sealed ones.
Vamo Replacement Spring - I did not order this, as I didn't need it, but just in case you do. You can also get them with the cap in SS, Chrome and Gun Metal. I've read SmokTek is reliable, so I included the link.
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