Pioneer4You IPV4 : Unboxing, detailed look and thoughts, and first problems found

[ThunderDan]

How bout a size comparison between ipv4, VF, and m80?

 

[TheBloke]

Good thinking!

Probably everyone can recognise these, but just in case:

• pioneer4you ipv4
• Smok M80
  
• Waidea Vapor Flask v2.1 clone ('VF v3')
  
• iStick 50W

 

[Maverik_X]

Excellent Photos m8, If I had a better camera I'd take some photo's of mine next to my sig's vs rdna and sx mini. I'm glad the iPV4 has a screen protector over the display ,but There's gotta be a way to remove this mirror finish from this display w/o removing the whole glass. Maybe I'll take mine off and take it to the local custom glass shop and have them make me one if they can.

 

[TheBloke]

Excellent Photos m8, If I had a better camera I'd take some photo's of mine next to my sig's vs rdna and sx mini. I'm glad the iPV4 has a screen protector over the display ,but There's gotta be a way to remove this mirror finish from this display w/o removing the whole glass. Maybe I'll take mine off and take it to the local custom glass shop and have them make me one if they can.

Thanks! It's just my cell phone camera But it gives good enough shots, as long as lighting is OK.

Yeah the screen remains the major annoyance. I'm still hoping they can do a firmware update to increase its brightness. I hadn't thought about changing the actual surface - maybe you're on to something there. Do let us know if you make any progress. Of course it invalidates warranty, so many people won't want to try for a while at least.

 

[retird]

Thanks! It's just my cell phone camera But it gives good enough shots, as long as lighting is OK.

Yeah the screen remains the major annoyance. I'm still hoping they can do a firmware update to increase its brightness. I hadn't thought about changing the actual surface - maybe you're on to something there. Do let us know if you make any progress. Of course it invalidates warranty, so many people won't want to try for a while at least.

Enjoyed your video.... Noticed this device uses 2 batteries in series. Is there battery protection in case you put one of the batteries in backwards? THX

 

[TheBloke]

Enjoyed your video.... Noticed this device uses 2 batteries in series. Is there battery protection in case you put one of the batteries in backwards? THX

Thanks! And yes there is - well, the manual claims there is! The manual is wrong about many things, but I'd be extremely confident that it does at least have this feature.

I haven't tested it of course, and don't plan to

 

[retird]

Found this on this linked vendor site:
IPV4 100 Watt Box Mod By Pioneer4you

IPV4 100 Watt Box Mod By Pioneer4you

Product Description
The IPV4 brought Pioneer4you back to the drawing board to be designed from scratch. It features the Yihi SX330 V3C chip with a maximum power level of 100 watts. One of the newest features is the magnetic battery door as opposed to the screw-secured door on the older IPV models. The IPV4 100 takes two 18650 batteries and reads resistances down to 0.1ohm.

Package Contents Of IPV4 100 Watt

• 1 x IPV4 100W Mod
• 1 x User Manual
• 1 x Charging Cable
• 1 x USB Cable
• 1 x Gift Box

Specifications Of IPV4 100 Watt

• Output Power: 7W-100W
• Output Voltage: 1.0V-7.0V
• Input Current: 1.3A-40.0A
• Input Voltage: 3.2V-4.5V
• Efficiency: 96%
• Loading resistance: 0.1ohm-3.0ohm
• Screen Size: 0.96″OLED
• Chip: IHI Sx330

Features of the IPV4 100 Watt Box Mod:

• Yihi chip – SX330 V3C
• Resistance reads down to 0.1 Ω
• Resistance reads up to 3.0 Ω
• Adjustable wattage: 5W-100W
• Output voltage: 1.0V – 7.5V
• Takes 2 18650 Batteries
• Pass through mode is supported
• Fully magnetic door, no screws necessary
• Auto ohm resistance meter finds ideal voltage for tank/dripper
• Voltage is calculated automatically as wattage is adjusted
• Wattage regulated via two buttons, -/+
• Mini USB interface charging port
• Visual Operating System
• Low Voltage Protection
• Low Resistance Protection
• High Input Voltage Warning
• Output Short Circuit Protection
• Reverse Battery Protection
• Temperature overheat protection
• Software Upgrade/GUI operate
• Temp control (Temperature Control 200°-580°F/100°-300°C)

How to use IPV4 100 Watt
Adjust Wattage

Under the standby mode, press the +/- button to adjust the wattage. (*The adjustment will speed up when keep pressing the +/- button for long time.)

Wattage Memory Function

Press the + button to adjust default wattage among Ml, M2, M3, M4 and M5 mode. Under memory wattage mode, press the — button to lower the memory wattage, press + button for higher memory wattage. Then press the fire button to remember the wattage you prefer.

Fire

Press the power button on the standby mode, the device will be activated. Keep pressing the button”-” and power button, the screen will show “TOUCH OFF” and the touch sense function is locked; Keep pressing the button”+” and power button, the screen will show “TOUCH ON” and the touch sense function is unlocked;

Lock/Unlock

Press both the + and – buttons for five seconds to lock your device from unwanted fire. The digital screen will show “LOCK”. Press the + and – button for five seconds a second time to unlock it.

Charging

Use the charging cable to get the iPV charged. When it is charging, the red light will be on. Once it get fully charged, the green light will be on. Charging Voltage & Current: 9V/2A Diameter of charging cable: 3.5mm. As shown in the figure.

Battery Replacement

Hold tightly the device at two ends with one hand, and pull out the battery cover with another hand, then replace the batteries.



Temp-limited function

Press fire button 5 times to get access to the menu.

Enter into MODE, press +/- button to chose JOULE or POWER. JOULE stands for Temp-controlled mode, POWER stands for WATT-controlled mode.

Under Temp-limited mode, Nickel atomizer is needed to release (recommend resistance: 0.05-0.1ohm)

Operating instructions:

Switching to JOULE mode, atomizer with Nickel coils . Screw the atomizer on the 510 thread. Make sure the atomizer and device are well connected. Press + and – button at the same time to check atomizer resistance.

Tips: Recommend cold Nickel coil when using to make chipset feel the original temperature to achieve the best performance of temp-limited function

Tips: iPV4 is upgradeable products, This is for your reference only.


.

 

[TheBloke]

Thanks!

Yup that matches the printed manual. Much of it is wrong, eg the Lock feature is non-existent, and there's no "standby" adjustment of wattage outside of memory settings.

The specs are out of date as well.

 

[retird]

LOL... seems to be normal operating procedure for most devices.... specs and etc. needs updating...maybe because vaping is moving at light speed with changes, new stuff, and revisions of old and new stuff...

 

[TheBloke]

Yeah definitely!

I just realised that there is one difference in that online manual - it tells the user how to get into Joules mode and Set Resistance. The printed manual in the box has no mention of that, instead it has the (outdated) instructions of how to update the firmware to gain TC control. That lack of info on TC operation has confused at least one new IPV4 user, whom I helped on another forum because he didn't know how to change to Joules mode.

Originally the mod was going to require a user FW upgrade to install TC, then they wisely decided that was stupid and pre-installed the firmware before shipping. They didn't take the next step of actually updating the manual, though Either to remove the part about needing to upgrade, or to add instructions on how to use TC.

 

[ThunderDan]

Reverse battery protection is still a feature and does work correctly at least.

 

[TheBloke]

Reverse battery protection is still a feature and does work correctly at least.

You know (of) someone who has tested it?

 

[ThunderDan]

You know (of) someone who has tested it?

Yep, one of the vendor's put the batteries in parallel when they were doing their sneak peak, but had to put them in series for it to turn on.

 

[retird]

Yep, one of the vendor's put the batteries in parallel when they were doing their sneak peak, but had to put them in series for it to turn on.

Good info...did they also put both batteries in backwards to see the effects? Just curious, if ya know...

 

[ThunderDan]

Good info...did they also put both batteries in backwards to see the effects? Just curious, if ya know...

I do not believe so, they put them in parallel by accident more than anything. Not intentionally trying to test that feature, more them just being used to unregulated parallel box mods.

 

[TheBloke]

I have delved into the dungeons of the unknown! Or rather, I've taken the cover off.

I heard that the screen brightness issue wasn't so much that it wasn't bright, as that it was covered by a stupid mirror. And it is.


Normal brightness - I have a bright desk lamp shining near it. (This is not nearly as bad as it is in sunlight)




Same situation, with the mirror cover removed - wow, a screen!




The offending mirror cover side by side with the mod; you can see my hand reflected in it.




Of course the big problem here is that the mod looks like crap without that cover on it - and it's all kinds of exposed to the elements, and juice, and raccoons, and so on.

But I believe it is possible to remove that mirror finish from the cover, perhaps with sandpaper? Not attempted anything like that myself before, am going to investigate.


Gratuitous inside-mod shots to follow in next post..

 

[jhhollier]

I believe there's a video up on YouTube showing how to remove the mirror finish. I think I'm going to attempt it when I get my IPV4 in.

 

[TheBloke]

I only had my cell phone camera to hand, so sorry for inability to macro too well. As you can imagine I'm not willing to dismantle any further than this, but there's a fairly good overview of the basic components.

Not necessarily any more information than we already saw from Reddit, but there's a few different angles and different close ups.


Overall shot




510 area; top of batteries; DC charging board (make still unknown, no brand name visible.)














Front of mod - Yihi board ID; screen protector in place; being removed; removed











Top and bottom of battery bay

 

[ThunderDan]

Cool stuff there.

 

[Completely Average]

Of course the big problem here is that the mod looks like crap without that cover on it - and it's all kinds of exposed to the elements, and juice, and raccoons, and so on.

But I believe it is possible to remove that mirror finish from the cover, perhaps with sandpaper? Not attempted anything like that myself before, am going to investigate.

Rather than trying to remove the mirrored finish, get a piece of aluminum cut to match the mirrored plastic piece, cut out a window for the display, paint the aluminum piece a gloss black, and glue a piece of clear plastic into the bottom of that window.