Madvapes vv boxmod.

[Lin Swimmer]

How do I go about attaching a small heat-sink to the regulator board? That's a thing people do, right? That'll help everything function a bit longer and at greater stresses?



Can I get one that's small enough for the back cover to still still fit on? I think the sink would have to not be larger than a magnetic spacer or thereabouts.



This board is scorching hot after two back-to-back blasts.

 

[donnah]

You might want to contact madvapes.. I've been using mine every day for months and it has never felt the least bit hot.

 

[Jimi D.]

My MV VV box mod runs very cool also. I just bought some AW IC batteries. I get all day on them. I've had mine since November, and I think it's the best for HV vaping!

 

[donnah]

I use the flamejacket trustfires and aw imr's in mine. I have been pleased with my battery life. My vv madvapes box goes to work with me every day. I've read a post or two where someone says their's is running hot so I suggest is this happens, it's not the way it's intended to perform. Contact madvapes and get a replacement if it's still in warranty. While I have other more expensive devices with bells and whistles.. my little vv madvapes box was the best $35 I ever spent!

 

[billherbst]

One thing to keep in mind is the inefficiency of linear regulators, in this case, a Fairchild LDO. These regulators always draw full power from the batteries (8.4 volts from two freshly-charged 14500s). Then they step down the voltage to whatever the user has set. The "leftover" voltage draw is dissipated as heat. As a result, these devices run cooler if used at higher voltage settings. If you run a Madvapes VV box at a setting of, say, 3.7 volts, you're going to get more heat dissipated by the chip than if you ran it at 5.0 volts.

My guess, however, is that OP has a faulty chip. It shouldn't ever get "scorching hot."

 

[six]

I've seen a few pictures of people using a penny (defacing US currency is illegal so I can't really say that they did or didn't cut it about in half with their dremmel ) and some thermal epoxy (same stuff that used to be used to attach heat sinks to processors like the pentium II).

 

[Lin Swimmer]

I appreciate the input, everybody.

This little box is rather enigmatic for me. I got it and used it very heavily, and over the first couple weeks with it I noticed that I had to turn it off and on to get it firing. I had to do this more and more as time went on. (Typically 4 - 4.2V on 2ohm carto, though I may have cranked it into 20 watt territory on a dual coil once or twice just to see.) Then this behavior stopped, instantly, it worked perfectly for two days, then died completely. Pulled the center post... nothing. I sent it in to Madvapes, since it was just under a month of use.

When it came back from repairs I threw some fresh cells in and tried it out, and it didn't work. I tried a few different cartos, and wrote the whole thing off. I didn't feel like hounding Madvapes, and figured I just needed to come up with a longer lasting solution for vv (I'm actually still sorting that out).

So after a few weeks I was looking at my little boxmod corpse, thinking about how much I miss it, and threw my voltmeter on it. Worked. And with a load. So I was using it yesterday, and looking closely at it.

I'm pretty sure MV gave me a new regulator. There isn't any glue under the board, which if I had to guess is why mine feels so much hotter than all of yours; I think your glue is absorbing a lot of temperature, whereas mine is just sitting there.

My friend told me he didn't think a heat sink would help much 1) on the back of the circuit and not directly on what was getting hot and 2) without airflow to wick the heat away.

I don't think it's faulty, but I'm not qualified to say... at the moment I'm just spacing my draws out. A lot. One, maybe two tops per minute.

 

[Lin Swimmer]

After not being used for a few hours it's not working again.

I can get a little flicker on the voltmeter if I hold the fire button and flick it on and off, but it immediately shuts down. I think it's possessed.

My experience with this has made a little gun-shy of the linear regulators, but I've had problems with a switching regulated mod, too. I've been thinking about trying another linear mod from someone else, but now I want to find out how it's performing for people that've had them for a while. Anyone with a Trio want to weigh in on the heat off their board?

Hopefully my next two units break this streak... I'd like to have regulated voltage and back-ups.

 

[DaveP]

My Madvapes vv box mod doesn't do this and I've 2 ohm and 3 ohm cartos on it as well as a 3 ohm drip tip. I generally operated it in the 4v range. The insides of mine are potted in clear silicone and that may have insulated the regulator from radiating heat. I always thought it should have a good sized heat sink, but didn't want to slice all the potting away to install it.

That box mod made me a believer in variable voltage vaping and was probably the reason I ended up buying a Provari which runs as cool as cucumber.

 

[Algernon]

While I think the madvapes box is great... I wouldn't have one repaired as much as I would just buy a new one. They are cheap, and not worth the fuss if one doesn't work right because more than likely, it never will.

I'm moving on to switching regulators and the diagrams for some of them do look a bit easier than you would think. Here's one.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/191607-easy-okr-t-vv-mod.html

 

[gjshaw29]

I just bought one of these this morning

 

[Lin Swimmer]

I wouldn't recommend against one. I love the tact switch, and having the pot off to one side on the non-display version. I didn't love the screwdriver.

I think I'm going to not give up on a linear 14500, though. I'd prefer feeder, switching, and two cells in something the size of a pack of cigarettes in wood or painted aluminum, with a metal switch and center post that the user could disassemble and service, but... I don't know how to make mods.

I like the UK Vapers stuff a whole lot. We'll see how it goes.

 

[billherbst]

Over the past year, I've left numerous posts in many different threads praising Madvapes VV boxes, both with and without voltage displays. I think it's high time I left a post with my one criticism. Here it is.

Non-digital VVs use a variable resistor to change the output voltage, in the form of a dial or knob that turns in a circular arc, adjusting the voltage from lowest to highest along a certain arc. Sometimes this arc is fairly compressed, meaning that the entire voltage range of adjustment is covered by only portion of a full turn. With the Madvapes variable resistor, this arc is about 210°, or roughly 5/8 of a full turn. Turned all the way counterclockwise, and the unit is turned off. All the way clockwise, and the unit cranks out maximum voltage allowed from the batteries current charge.

Problems arise when the arc is either too small or not linear. With the Madvapes VV box, the arc is fine, but the linearity is not good. This means that when you put the jeweler's screwdriver in the slot and begin turning the adjustment screw, the "steps" aren't even. The voltage goes up for awhile smoothly, but then a slightest movement beyond a certain point causes the voltage to increase suddenly and too much. In other words, the difference in "turn" between 3.5 volts and 3.7 volts might be 20° of arc, but the difference between 4.9 volts and 5.1 volts is only 5°, making it very hard to nail 5.0 volts without overshooting and undershooting.

As a result, adjusting a Madvapes VV Box requires an inline voltage display. You simply cannot adjust the unit accurately "by eye" or "by feel." Especially at mid-range voltages (between 4V and 5V), you'll miss your target almost every time. And even with a voltage display attached, setting the exact voltage you want is sometimes frustrating, since the tiniest nudge on the screwdriver often increases or decreases the voltage too much.

Now, this is not a deal-breaker for me. I've mastered the feather-touch required. And I'm patient. But I wish the voltage adjustment were more linear, smooth, and easy. In short, I'd like better ergonomics.

In fairness, though, my BuzzPro and iPro---both of which have thumbwheels that are more linear than the Madvapes Boxes---also have non-linear "humps" in their wheel arcs at around 4.5-5.3 volts. The thumbwheels go from 4.5 to 5.3 way too fast. I even sent back my BuzzPro for repair/replacement because of this problem, but was informed after bench-testing by NotCigs that the linearity of my thumbwheel was "within spec." (Yeah, sure, and the Tooth Fairy leaves quarters under kids' pillows!)

Look, folks, I still love my Madvapes VV Boxes (and my BuzzPro as well), but---trumpet fanfare---they're not perfect. But then, for $35, we hardly have a right to expect total perfection. LOL.

 

[donnah]

Over the past year, I've left numerous posts in many different threads praising Madvapes VV boxes, both with and without voltage displays. I think it's high time I left a post with my one criticism. Here it is.

Non-digital VVs use a variable resistor to change the output voltage, in the form of a dial or knob that turns in a circular arc, adjusting the voltage from lowest to highest along a certain arc. Sometimes this arc is fairly compressed, meaning that the entire voltage range of adjustment is covered by only portion of a full turn. With the Madvapes variable resistor, this arc is about 210°, or roughly 5/8 of a full turn. Turned all the way counterclockwise, and the unit is turned off. All the way clockwise, and the unit cranks out maximum voltage allowed from the batteries current charge.

Problems arise when the arc is either too small or not linear. With the Madvapes VV box, the arc is fine, but the linearity is not good. This means that when you put the jeweler's screwdriver in the slot and begin turning the adjustment screw, the "steps" aren't even. The voltage goes up for awhile smoothly, but then a slightest movement beyond a certain point causes the voltage to increase suddenly and too much. In other words, the difference in "turn" between 3.5 volts and 3.7 volts might be 20° of arc, but the difference between 4.9 volts and 5.1 volts is only 5°, making it very hard to nail 5.0 volts without overshooting and undershooting.

As a result, adjusting a Madvapes VV Box requires an inline voltage display. You simply cannot adjust the unit accurately "by eye" or "by feel." Especially at mid-range voltages (between 4V and 5V), you'll miss your target almost every time. And even with a voltage display attached, setting the exact voltage you want is sometimes frustrating, since the tiniest nudge on the screwdriver often increases or decreases the voltage too much.

Now, this is not a deal-breaker for me. I've mastered the feather-touch required. And I'm patient. But I wish the voltage adjustment were more linear, smooth, and easy. In short, I'd like better ergonomics.

In fairness, though, my BuzzPro and iPro---both of which have thumbwheels that are more linear than the Madvapes Boxes---also have non-linear "humps" in their wheel arcs at around 4.5-5.3 volts. The thumbwheels go from 4.5 to 5.3 way too fast. I even sent back my BuzzPro for repair/replacement because of this problem, but was informed after bench-testing by NotCigs that the linearity of my thumbwheel was "within spec." (Yeah, sure, and the Tooth Fairy leaves quarters under kids' pillows!)

Look, folks, I still love my Madvapes VV Boxes (and my BuzzPro as well), but---trumpet fanfare---they're not perfect. But then, for $35, we hardly have a right to expect total perfection. LOL.

yea... I usually just set mine at 5v and leave it. I never set it to any voltage without the voltmeter. It's not something that can be adjusted when I'm out and about. It's not the easiest or most convenient thing to do but the voltage CAN be adjusted. But for $35-45.. it's an imperfection I can live with.