Lavatube v1.5 - 3.2 amp - pretty close

[dwcraig1]

All voltages are under load with a 6 volt setting with fully charged quality IMR 18650 battery:
with 1.3 ohm load the voltage dropped to 4.13v that translates to 3.17 amps which is pretty darn close
with 1.6 ohm load the voltage dropped to 4.9v that translates to 3.06 amps
with 2.5 ohm load the voltage dropped to 5.73v
hope this is of interest to someone, this is my first post to this forum or any forum, hope I got it some what right.
These numbers are for version1.5 only.

 

[Iffy]

 

[joey16]

so you mean when you use a 2.5 ohm carto you can go up to 5.73V on the lt?

 

[dwcraig1]

yes but they are dual coil although I was sent some single coil 2 ohm tank cartomizers that were labeled dual and I was using them on 6v setting and getting 4.9volt but they tasted a little weird like somebody arc welding inside carto. I will have some 2.0 ohm dual coil cartos arriving tomorrow.

 

[AttyPops]

1) Welcome to ECF.
2) What battery did you use in it?
3) A 1.6 ohm DCC would require 3.125 amps at 5 volts. If you get a voltage drop at 5 volts, and it's rated for 3.2 amps, then I'd wonder if you used a high-drain battery. Although your example #2 is pretty close to that (for 5 volts).

I'll ask questions so you can up your post count

How did you measure under load? What meter?

Thanks for the info. It's basically a demo of amp limiting.

 

[sailorman]

I think one of the more frequently asked questions about the ver1.5 is whether it maintains voltage as the battery drains. Do you have any 3ohm cartos to check that out?

 

[joey16]

oh , i ordered the original lavatube not the 1.5 . I was told single coils were the best with it so i ordered from 3.0 single

 

[sailorman]

All voltages are under load with a 6 volt setting with fully charged quality IMR 18650 battery:
....
with 2.5 ohm load the voltage dropped to 5.73v
hope this is of interest to someone, this is my first post to this forum or any forum, hope I got it some what right.
These numbers are for version1.5 only.

That's interesting. It isn't (or shouldn't) be limiting at all with a 2.5ohm load. It should be holding at 6V. I hope it doesn't drop any more when the battery is further drained.

 

[sailorman]

so you mean when you use a 2.5 ohm carto you can go up to 5.73V on the lt?

5.73V with a 2.5ohm carto is only 2.4 Amps. You can do that with any version of the LT.

 

[dwcraig1]

The battery I am using Are Panisonic CGR18650CH rated at 10 amp capable discharge

 

[sailorman]

Excellent battery. The best and even better than the AW. You surely aren't getting any voltage sag from that one.
I'm disapointed in the 5.73 reading at 6 volts though. You should be getting 6 volts. I'd like to see the loaded voltages through the rest of the range with a 2.5 load. Did you test other voltages with that load. It seems to be dropping the voltage too far below the 3.2A cutoff, except at that 1.3ohm resistance.

 

[dwcraig1]

I am using a cheap VOM measuring dc voltage, there is a pretty good ac wave going on as well and it it probably playing a pretty good role in actual output.

 

[dwcraig1]

I feel the opposite, considering its steeping voltage up from 3.7 nom, I don't think a 50 dollar unit could get much better, I was going to get a LT v1.5T but thought it would be too close to the same so I got a Smoktech Vmax, only had it for a couple hours but has extreme power with 1.5 DC carto as well as 2.5 dc's

 

[dwcraig1]

Oh about the batteries, I got 10% more amps with the Panasonics over the ones that came with units

 

[AttyPops]

Hmmm. I read that the Panasonics (well, not sure if this is the same one) aren't exactly the same as IMR and had lower amp limits (but may have other advantages). I'd find a spec sheet on them if it were me, just to be sure.

... the amp limits seem to vary tho depending on specific make/model of high-drain cell. It's hard to say. What were the old ones that came with the unit?

How did you measure the amps under load? Rig a special connector, or are you referring to testing the battery directly (careful, that's a dead short!)? Does the device tell you? Or are you computing the effective amps from the voltage?

 

[sailorman]

I feel the opposite, considering its steeping voltage up from 3.7 nom, I don't think a 50 dollar unit could get much better, I was going to get a LT v1.5T but thought it would be too close to the same so I got a Smoktech Vmax, only had it for a couple hours but has extreme power with 1.5 DC carto as well as 2.5 dc's

Yeah, you''re probably right. I'm just curious how much better it is than the ver1 at holding voltage as the battery drains. Did you see pbusardos review and graph of the Vmax? Did they fix the calibration weirdness. It's like none of the displayed voltages had any relationship to the actual voltage, loaded or unloaded. They might just as well have made it with a 30 point power selector knob. 5V selected delivers 5.2V unloaded and 4.2V loaded and feels like 5.5V. Makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[sailorman]

Hmmm. I read that the Panasonics (well, not sure if this is the same one) aren't exactly the same as IMR and had lower amp limits (but may have other advantages). I'd find a spec sheet on them if it were me, just to be sure.

... the amp limits seem to vary tho depending on specific make/model of high-drain cell. It's hard to say. What were the old ones that came with the unit?

How did you measure the amps under load? Rig a special connector, or are you referring to testing the battery directly (careful, that's a dead short!)? Does the device tell you? Or are you computing the effective amps from the voltage?

They aren't technically IMRs. They are made with a proprietary formula of Magnesium and cobalt. Over in the Lavatube forum there is a very long thread about them, filled with videos, graphs, datasheet links and everything it took to convince the doubters that the CGR18650CH is superior to the AW IMR 18650 in every way, not the least of which is the 2250mah capacity. An interesting video shows an AW and the Panny undergoing a forced short. The Panny reached something like 185 degrees in 60 seconds. The AW hit 500 degrees in something like 15 seconds. The discharge graphs, lifted from CPF also show the Panny is better. They both have a continuous 10amp discharge rating as per the manufacturer. BTW, Andy Wang (AW) gets the majority of his batteries from Panasonic. He gets Sanyo as well. AW Panasonics are unlikely to be better than Panasonic labeled Panasonics. These particular Pannys are not in the AW lineup. Panny sells a lot of them in their industrial line.

If you need a protected 18650, Panasonic makes a new one with a 3100mah capacity. It's also getting rave reviews on CPF (my go to authority for battery testing) and outperforms just about anything else out there.

 

[ilija]

All review's that i have read say that thesse batt's are cream on the cake . i ordered pair and want to test it myself

 

[dwcraig1]

I should have gotten the Protected 3100mAh 18650 Li-ion Battery - Cell Panasonic NCR18650A - Protection ICs as they are listed as 8+ amp discharge rate but I wanted to be able to use them in both my LT v1 and 1.5, at the time I ordered them I didn't realize they would fit in ver. 1 so well by adding o-ring to cap to cover the gap. I believe the are the best choice.