Sigelei Zmax V3 and V5 Telescopic: User's Group

[PaulBHC]

My V5 shows 2.0a bought it in June, chromed plastic button with power symbol.

 

[tchavei]

My mini was bought in July, also chromed plastic button with power symbol

Regards
Tony

Sent from my GT-I9195 through Tapatalk

 

[JeremyR]

Paul, I just tried the button hold boot up.
It displayed version then battery level. Once 'turned on' the Ohm display was back.
I guess I must of had a bad earth in the circuit whilst firing ,so in essence it's turned off and on again

Yep bad earth/ ground. I noticed this problem with mine way back misfires and showing software version... At te time no one even knew what it was... It was due to poor contact at the tube threads. Noalox will solve the problem because without it; it will just get worse. I haven't changed my noalox in 3 months with the oring seal on the tube threads... It may be getting time to renoalox now.

 

[JeremyR]

A good cleaning and fresh Noalox is always step 1 for troubleshooting and might be the miracle balm we all make it out to be, to an extent. After cleaning, I replaced the same battery, same coil, and my v5 is displaying a 7w output when set to 7w. The coil resistance is showing 2.4 now instead of 2.5, but I chalk that up to a good cleaning of the 510 threads.

Weirdest thing though: if I set it to 7.5, 8, or 9, it displays 6.6w. Set it back to 7, output is 7. Huh?

Fresh battery (4.2v reading): set at 6, displays 6; set at 7, displays 7; set at 8, displays 8. Any setting above that (>8), and it only displays 8w and amps show 1.8. Max voltage in vv mode is 4.5 (if adjusted higher, displays output at 4.5).

As I said before, this isn't a *problem* since 6-8w is my preferred range. It's annoying that if I wanted to experiment with higher wattage on a different atomizer, I seem to be limited.

My guess at this point is a battery limitation (I may very well have caused some damage by overcharging overnight on what I now recognize to be an inferior charger), and new 18650s, a couple sets of 18350s, and a better charger are my top priority before I invest in a kayfun-style RTA so I can determine whether this, in fact, is a battery issue rather than a problem with the device itself.

(edited for additional voltage setting and amp info)

That's the great thing about the v5! It tells you what's going on and actual power your getting. My next mod will be a v5, maybe for the one year mark on the v3.

Sounds like a battery limitation. I ran a little test for us. Grabbed an old charged Icr 18650 that performed terribly. (it was only used a month or 2) Put it in the v3 @ 1.6 ohms set at 6v and at the coil the output was 3.6v - 8w and 2.2 amps. So all that says is a limited battery will reduce the capability.

 

[E squire]

That's the great thing about the v5! It tells you what's going on and actual power your getting. My next mod will be a v5, maybe for the one year mark on the v3.

I have to agree. I would not have recognized an issue so minor without this output reading feature.

Sounds like a battery limitation. I ran a little test for us. Grabbed an old charged Icr 18650 that performed terribly. (it was only used a month or 2) Put it in the v3 @ 1.6 ohms set at 6v and at the coil the output was 3.6v - 8w and 2.2 amps. So all that says is a limited battery will reduce the capability.

I think the only way I'm going to get to the bottom of this for sure is to put in a new battery and see whether that changes anything. It's good to know that I seem to be on the right track in thinking this is a battery problem. If that's the case, I'm kind of annoyed that I have 2 slightly damaged 18650s due to my charging habits and a crap charger, though.

 

[JeremyR]

Do you know how high the batteries got on the charge overnight?
4.25 is the highest you want to charge it. Do you have a multimeter?

 

[E squire]

Do you know how high the batteries got on the charge overnight?
4.25 is the highest you want to charge it. Do you have a multimeter?

I do not have a multimeter. I can recall one particular morning when the battery read 4.3 on my v5. There may have been other times when I overcharged to that point or beyond without realizing or checking it, as well.

 

[yzer]

One of yesterday's posts reminded me of the the Beyond Vapor Spire which is a custom order Sigelei V3. fairmana and I have metal buttons on our V5s that are dead ringers for the buttons on the Spire. Maybe Sigelei had some of these buttons left over from the Spire last spring and tossed them into a V5 parts bin.

 

[yzer]

There is an interesting discussion going on today in the Batteries and Chargers forum about stacking batteries. The stacking prohibitionists are winning.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/batteries-chargers/597185-stacking-batteries.html

 

[JeremyR]

Thanks for the heads up!

Looks like I gotta pay a visit.. This should be good ...

 

[yzer]

Thanks for the heads up!

Looks like I gotta pay a visit.. This should be good wonder if they want to go off on my rayon too.

I'll be looking forward to this.

 

[yzer]

Excellent reply, JeremyR.

 

[JeremyR]

I've got a very long post ready to drop there. Waiting for some more to jump in for debate.

 

[JeremyR]

Seems that thread has died for the moment. I currently have the NEW post on stacked batteries in my blog. It's very long.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...tacking-batteries-regulated-mod-zmax-ect.html

 

[yzer]

I'm not surprised that the thread went dead. The reigning boss there doesn't discuss much in detail, preferring to wow the noobs with his massive reputation and prophecies of vaping doom and destruction.

 

[aikanae1]

I'm not surprised that the thread went dead. The reigning boss there doesn't discuss much in detail, preferring to wow the noobs with his massive reputation and prophecies of vaping doom and destruction.

LOL! Well said although there seems to be a number of bosses over there with similar attitudes. I'm kinda dissapointed with the lack of discussion and valid concerns mentioned, just "believe me" and throw some cryptic terms in as justification. No one (at least not me) suggested stacking in mechs yet that's a reason not to??? C'mon, they should at least do better. I don't even think some read your comments in here.

On another unreleated forum, when I mentioned stacking might increase effeciency in some regulated mods the first response was that it would have to increase it by at least 3x's in order for it to be valid and I mentioned 'that's right and it does'. Then it was not valid because the tech is out dated anyway (referring to SX and DNA chips).

Ok. From what I've gathered about the high wattage SX and DNA chips is they can't be down regulated. I haven't spent a lot of time figuring it out but that doesn't sound like it would do me a lot of good since I tend to vape at the lower wattages. This is kind of important because my Vamo died (cracked housing) which leaves me with my Sig Zmax and Provari. I feel mod poor and insecure. Looking around it appears I would need to get into higher watt mods or go mech. UGH. I'm not keen on changes.

I think I'm going to get a lot more use out of my Zmax with stacked batteries.

 

[AndriaD]

I have handled 100mg nicotine VG base in different ways while I have used it during the past two years.

The first year I got the 250ml jug of 100mg VG and immediately mixed it down with VG to 25mg and froze it all up in glass Boston round bottles. This worked fine. I noticed no degradation of the nicotine at all. It all stayed clear over the next year and more of use. The problem was I kept reducing the nicotine level of my finished juice and I had to keep recalculating the dilutions from the 25mg base I bottled up.

Last January I bought another 250ml jug of 100mg VG. I handled it differently this year. I mix about 150ml of finished juice at a time using the 100mg VG directly from the jug. 150ml of finished juice will last me about two months and I keep this in a bottle at room temperature until used up. I keep the 100mg jug frozen when I don't need it for mixing. I get a little degradation of the nicotine this way. It is slightly yellowed when poured from the jug at 100mg but clear after I dilute it down. I like mixing with 100mg base. It's easy. Each time I want to mix a batch I take the 100mg jug out of the freezer in the morning and it is thawed when I want to mix that evening. I agitate the contents of the jug by inverting (not shaking) a lot for several minutes before pouring.

Next year I will do things differently to keep oxidation of the 100mg base at a minimum. I will purchase the 250ml jug, agitate it and pour it off into 30 or 50ml glass Boston round bottles for freezer storage. I will use these for mixing next year. Use amber glass Boston round bottles with PolySeal caps. Amber glass filters out light better than cobalt blue glass but doesn't look as pretty.

I tested a small sample of 100mg VG base by storing it in the refrigerator instead of the freezer for six months. The fridge stored base yellowed and the freezer stored base didn't.

I've been freezing small quantities all summer, of 100% PG 100mg; just over a quarter-liter now, and I keep adding just a bit more every month. I started getting the 100mg right off the bat, and freezing it that way, in 30ml brown glass, because it really does make measuring it easier, and it's much easier to store small bottles than large jugs -- nice little box in the bottom, with now 8 bottles in it, and room for 3-4 more. I also keep 2 30ml bottles of it in the fridge, one is 100% PG and one is 80PG/20VG, and that';s what I use from, when I make my small DIY mixes; just starting to figure that stuff out, so I never make much at a time, just in case it doesn't turn out well. But it's getting better all the time!

Anyway, hey y'all, long-ish time no type. I saw something weird from my v3 today and wanted to ask you well-informed people about it. I was trying out some replacement coils for one of my attys, checking their ohms, and one of them gave me the "low load" message, soI checked it out on the Omnitester, which told me it was 1.3 Ω -- why would the Sigelei not be able to read it? I don't believe I know what level the Sigelei considers "low load" but it didn't seem that that coil was that low, according to the Omnitester. Any ideas?

Thx, smart Sigeleirs!
Andria

 

[tchavei]

Hi AndriaD

Imo

a) your ohm meter isn't accurate and the same applies to the sigelei so maybe your ohm meter is saying 1.3 when in fact the coil is 1.22 for example and the sigelei is reading the same 1.22 ohm coil as maybe 1.18... Since the limit is 1.2, it won't fire. 1.3 is too close to the bottom limit IMHO. I had a 1.19 that would fire dry on my zMax but not when wet with eLiquid.

B) the resistance might be changing when you screw it down on the mod? Not sure which atty you're referring to but the Protanks and aerotanks are known to do this.


Regards
Tony

Sent from my GT-I9195 through Tapatalk

 

[AndriaD]

LOL! Well said although there seems to be a number of bosses over there with similar attitudes. I'm kinda dissapointed with the lack of discussion and valid concerns mentioned, just "believe me" and throw some cryptic terms in as justification. No one (at least not me) suggested stacking in mechs yet that's a reason not to??? C'mon, they should at least do better. I don't even think some read your comments in here.

On another unreleated forum, when I mentioned stacking might increase effeciency in some regulated mods the first response was that it would have to increase it by at least 3x's in order for it to be valid and I mentioned 'that's right and it does'. Then it was not valid because the tech is out dated anyway (referring to SX and DNA chips).

Ok. From what I've gathered about the high wattage SX and DNA chips is they can't be down regulated. I haven't spent a lot of time figuring it out but that doesn't sound like it would do me a lot of good since I tend to vape at the lower wattages. This is kind of important because my Vamo died (cracked housing) which leaves me with my Sig Zmax and Provari. I feel mod poor and insecure. Looking around it appears I would need to get into higher watt mods or go mech. UGH. I'm not keen on changes.

I think I'm going to get a lot more use out of my Zmax with stacked batteries.

I've got just one mech, but it's actually not a bad device with a Kick in it -- I also vape at lower power, usually about 7.5-9.5 watts, but for the one atty that I use on the mech, I just leave the wattage set at 9, on the Kick, and it gives that nice consistent vape. Also I think the Kick works as a rudimentary fuse, giving just a little of the same kind of protection from battery mayhem that a regulated gives. I'm going to be getting another mech pretty soon, probably a cheapie from FT this time, since I'm not mod poor at all; 3 vv3s, the Sigelei, a Vamo V2, my Fallen Angel, an ARO Winder, and a couple of eGos if I ever down to desperate times. So the lengthy wait from FT wouldn't distress me too much, and it might not even be all that bad, since I sure wouldn't order batteries from there. But if this Vapocalypse thing goes as bad for us as all the gloom-and-doomers think, having those mechs could be very useful, when the electronics on the others finally wear out.

But I'd never stack batteries in a mech; only in a regulated, and only with the particular set of '350s that I keep for that purpose. It really does give amazing battery life, especially when you vape at lower power, with higher-ohm coils. And thank you very much Jeremy, for giving me that information, to do it safely!

Andria

 

[aikanae1]

Yea, I'm stacking in the Zmax and I might have tried it in the Vamo. I've got enough mods to cma really. Just like to have several ready to go. Convienence is a biggie for falling back into smoking for me.

I just found this at FT forums; the obvious question...: FastTech Forums


These are chips currently used? It doesn't appear PWM is used much anymore.
I don't know if "linear" works the same way. I'm trying to decied whether to go with another regulated mod, another Vamo or go mech. A lot of the mech's FT has in stock (many are out of stock ... forever) are not impressive/require more modding than I want to fiddle with. The vamo still has the cutest "face".

(I'm thinking a thread on power regulation might be helpful)