Sigelei Zmax V3 and V5 Telescopic: User's Group

[yzer]

Well, the new U-Verse worked for four hours on Thursday afternoon and then the modem died. It was a refurb modem/wireless router to replace the Netgear modem and Linksys wireless g I was using with the old ADSL service. It turns out that AT&T always sends crappy refurbished equipment to new self-install customers. An AT&T tech arrived at the house today with a brand new modem/router that is about 1/3 the size of the failed unit. It's working great. I set up a custom SSID and network key. I'm happy now.


I am partial to carto tank set-ups. I use Smok single coil 2.0 ohm cartos that I punch myself. The carto tank is IBTanked 22mm XL in plain Jane clear Pyrex. I top it off once a day, and change out the carto and wash the tank once every 7-10 days. For JeremyR: this is day seven with this tank and carto of unflavored. It shows yellowing from heat and sunlight oxidation.

This is the new V5 with IBTanked.

 

[AndriaD]

Getting past dry hits is one of the harder things to do with clearos. Even with tank rbas it's still an issue.. Next time you get a hint of a dry hit in t3 unscrew the tank a little. But it's still a struggle with anything above 8w After a friend let me try a pull off a dripper; wow, and yes I need to get one! Since you can build coils now definitely consider a cheap dripper to try. At least you'll know you can always get a good hit with some drips.

Yeah I definitely want to get one of the bigger rebuildables; I'm pretty good at these tiny T3S coils now, but it sure would be easier in a larger form-factor. The tank RBAs are what most interest me, but I like the kind that you can either use as a tank, OR as a dripper; the AGI seems like a good choice, and not terribly expensive. However, those kind that you can use either way, they're top coil, and before I buy one of those, I'm giving my iClear16 tanks another go, since I know a bit more about this stuff now. I think the main problem, the first time I tried those, was that I had just gotten them, was eager and impatient to try it out, and didn't give the wicks enough time to soak up the juice, so I got awful dry-burnt taste from it. Put 'em back in the box and went and bought a T3S, and haven't looked at the iClear16's again until today. I filled one to the 1.6ml mark, and it's been sitting with juice in it now for about 20 minutes; is that long enough to soak up the juice, so I don't get a burnt taste?

I'm also really interested in the Aqua clones, which are bottom coil, but here's what I wonder about those: they're setup to use dual coils, with 4 channels for the wicks, but can you use a single-coil in them instead? I really like the look of those, the same (or similar) brushed stainless finish as the Sigelei, so that would look really spiffy together. But if it can't use single-coil, then I have to keep looking.

Yzer, I do think I'd really like the cartotanks; last night I wanted throat hit so bad, but was afraid to turn up any of my devices high enough to give me the kind of throat hit I wanted, for fear of that awful taste. So I filled a fresh carto and stuck it on a vv3, and bam, great throat hit. So I do think I'll get one of those less-expensive tanks and give it a go, and if I like it as much as I think I will, I'm definitely getting one of the IBTanked's.

Andria

 

[mh37]

Thats the tank ive ordered along with 20 cartos to go with my v3,im a carto only vaper gave up on top and bottom coils and dda,s a year ago.Wont get my tank for a while as i just found out my order that shipped on the 11th was sent to canada instead of england,ib said it was usps mistake nowt i can do about it just got to wait it out!

 

[AndriaD]

Ok, I just tried the iClear16 again, and since I did it right this time, giving it plenty of time to soak up, it's not bad at all. Definitely a bit warmer at my lips; I have it on the Twist, and set just a hair over 4v, so there's plenty of heat, but no burnt taste.

But I think the T3S's really have spoiled me; even though I'm not getting burnt taste from the iClear16, it's just not as much flavor as the T3S's give me. I guess a dripper would change that, and now I know that I really can use a top-coil, if I just be patient and not try to use it the very second I fill it.


Andria

 

[yzer]

IBTanks are good. The 22mm XL in the photo holds 5ml in the tank itself and there is another 1.8ml in the Smok XL carto. I used cartos alone for the first year of vaping. Sorry to hear about the shipping problem, mh37. Hope you get the tank soon.

 

[JeremyR]

last night I wanted throat hit so bad, but was afraid to turn up any of my devices high enough to give me the kind of throat hit I wanted, for fear of that awful taste.

A 10.00 dripper is nice to have on hand when all else is failing. Saturate it up good and you've got a solid th.

Yzer- I always loved cartos flavor and performance, I just couldn't get past having to buy them all the time and have been using my vertical external wicked micro coil, carto style, to mimic that great pure carto flavor. I draw right through the center of the coil like a carto.

 

[AndriaD]

IBTanks are good. The 22mm XL in the photo holds 5ml in the tank itself and there is another 1.8ml in the Smok XL carto. I used cartos alone for the first year of vaping. Sorry to hear about the shipping problem, mh37. Hope you get the tank soon.

I was thinking I'd get a 25mm, which would overhang the Sig just a little all round, and kinda disguise that gap from the tall 510 and the very slight beveling on the ostensibly "flat top", but I'll get the standard length, and that one also holds 5ml. I've gotten used to that weight of glass and juice with the Hypertank, and that way even with the Sig fully extended -- as I prefer it to be, great grip on that bottom segment, just fits my hand -- it won't be so massively tall; also since I do like throat hit, and want high Ω for battery life, the standard 35mm at whatever the high resistance they sell, 3.2 I think, would be just about perfect.

And I thought I'd also get it with a light swirl, silver and gold, and a "clear" (which is stainless) rook drip tip. And then I could use the one I buy first, this 19.75mm "SmokTank XL", on the iTaste, probably the chameleon one, since the tank I'm looking at on the website has black caps and O rings... it's just the tank and caps, no tip or carto... but right next to it, they have a blurb about the single-coil cartos for DCT tanks.

Please whatever powers there are, the IRS gets moving on our refund. April's almost over, so it should be soon... I think... I hope... *crossing fingers*...

Andria

 

[69CamaroSS]

After jumping in and buying every new, fancy, shiny thing to hit the vape market for a while, I had to reign it in and found myself with a box of stuff that was lacking in one way or another. I had a really hard time convincing myself to spend that much to get the Nautilus until this week when I gave in, found the best deal that I could on it, and went for it. Holy freakin CRAP!!! People, if you haven't gotten one of these bad boys, YOU MUST!! This thing holds a full 5ml, is extremely well built out of all stainless and pyrex and MAN does it hit nicely!!! It's with very good reason that it's getting such raving reviews from all the most subscribed reviewers as well as us "peons" here on ECF!! easily the closest in flavor and vapor production as I've found to cartos or even dripping and with ZERO hassle....5mls worth of nonstop WICKEDNESS!! With it's 4 position locking adjustable air hole ring....want a tight draw-no problem, little looser-one click, pretty loose-one more click and if you just wanna go hog-wild, open it up to the 4th and she'll practically blow your head off. Mouth to lung or wide open straight lung hits, this thing ROCKS!!!

 

[AndriaD]

After jumping in and buying every new, fancy, shiny thing to hit the vape market for a while, I had to reign it in and found myself with a box of stuff that was lacking in one way or another. I had a really hard time convincing myself to spend that much to get the Nautilus until this week when I gave in, found the best deal that I could on it, and went for it. Holy freakin CRAP!!! People, if you haven't gotten one of these bad boys, YOU MUST!! This thing holds a full 5ml, is extremely well built out of all stainless and pyrex and MAN does it hit nicely!!! It's with very good reason that it's getting such raving reviews from all the most subscribed reviewers as well as us "peons" here on ECF!! easily the closest in flavor and vapor production as I've found to cartos or even dripping and with ZERO hassle....5mls worth of nonstop WICKEDNESS!! With it's 4 position locking adjustable air hole ring....want a tight draw-no problem, little looser-one click, pretty loose-one more click and if you just wanna go hog-wild, open it up to the 4th and she'll practically blow your head off. Mouth to lung or wide open straight lung hits, this thing ROCKS!!!

Seriously, you should have waited a week. I can't stand mine, and I'm about to sell it for $25, if I can get it.

Andria

 

[69CamaroSS]

Really!?!? If you can get that for it, you're doing well. I paid $26.50 for mine brand new in the box, free shipping. Why didn't you like it?

 

[Fegbri]

Actually I was considering that, drilling them a little larger; my husband found a pretty dang tiny drillbit in his collection, and he was standing here, drill in hand, when I had the brainstorm of just removing the top ring. What I've found is that removing the top ring just isn't enough, I still get the dry hits unless I sit here and take 4-6 priming puffs before hitting the fire button. So it looks like my options are, drill the holes larger on at least 1 of my T3Ss, or just keep using my T3S's on the vv3s. I don't really mind the latter, just using them with my vv3's, but I got the sigelei so the larger batteries could see me thru a whole day-trip to my folks' house, so until I get another tank that I really like to use with the Sig, I'm not really sure what to do. If I drill the holes larger on one of them, I don't think I'd be able to use that one anymore on anything *except* the Sig (because then it would be so airy I wouldn't like it on anything else -- not even sure I'd like it that way on the Sig, since I strongly dislike an airy draw), and that's kind of a bummer, since I like to switch around so that battery and tank are somewhat "matching." A girl thing, I guess.

I know that JeremyR keeps saying "remove some of the wick" but then I would get floods into the battery-post area, so I don't know what to do, to be honest. I really hoped that Nautilus would fix the problem for me, but I still got dry hits with it, on the Sig, and it changed the flavor of my ejuice so drastically I didn't even like it anymore. So I've cleaned up the Nautilus and will be selling it, if I can find anyone interested in buying it, a little cheaper than new.

At this point, I'm thinking "carto-tanks," there's one I've found that doesn't cost a fortune as the IBTanked's do, the "SmokTank XL", think I saw a price of about $8.99 on that; I've also found some single-coil cartos designed to be used in DCT tanks, and I think I would like that a lot better, considering the dismal failure of the Nautilus. I admit, the Nautilus is the only dual-coil thing I've tried, but what it seemed like was, at first the draw was so cool I kept wondering if I was getting anything, then would suddenly heat up so fast I'd have to yank it away from my mouth to keep from getting burned. So if that's any indication of how dual coils act, I think I'll stay far away from anymore dual-coil anything.

Andria

I've been using the new Smok t-dux 3.0 and LOVE IT! Check it out

 

[AndriaD]

Really!?!? If you can get that for it, you're doing well. I paid $26.50 for mine brand new in the box, free shipping. Why didn't you like it?

Burnt taste right off the bat. When I open it wide, it's so airy I can't tell I'm getting anything, until it nearly burns my lips and I have to yank it away. Changes the taste of my fave ejuice so that I don't even like it, in that tank.

Where in the bleep did you get it for so cheap? I got mine for $28.95 in a special Easter Sale, from myfreedomsmokes.

If I can only get $20 for it, that's $20 more than I have now, and I can buy something else. But if only ask for $20 for it, I won't include shipping. For $25, I'd pay the shipping.

Andria

 

[Fegbri]

Actually I was considering that, drilling them a little larger; my husband found a pretty dang tiny drillbit in his collection, and he was standing here, drill in hand, when I had the brainstorm of just removing the top ring. What I've found is that removing the top ring just isn't enough, I still get the dry hits unless I sit here and take 4-6 priming puffs before hitting the fire button. So it looks like my options are, drill the holes larger on at least 1 of my T3Ss, or just keep using my T3S's on the vv3s. I don't really mind the latter, just using them with my vv3's, but I got the sigelei so the larger batteries could see me thru a whole day-trip to my folks' house, so until I get another tank that I really like to use with the Sig, I'm not really sure what to do. If I drill the holes larger on one of them, I don't think I'd be able to use that one anymore on anything *except* the Sig (because then it would be so airy I wouldn't like it on anything else -- not even sure I'd like it that way on the Sig, since I strongly dislike an airy draw), and that's kind of a bummer, since I like to switch around so that battery and tank are somewhat "matching." A girl thing, I guess.

I know that JeremyR keeps saying "remove some of the wick" but then I would get floods into the battery-post area, so I don't know what to do, to be honest. I really hoped that Nautilus would fix the problem for me, but I still got dry hits with it, on the Sig, and it changed the flavor of my ejuice so drastically I didn't even like it anymore. So I've cleaned up the Nautilus and will be selling it, if I can find anyone interested in buying it, a little cheaper than new.

At this point, I'm thinking "carto-tanks," there's one I've found that doesn't cost a fortune as the IBTanked's do, the "SmokTank XL", think I saw a price of about $8.99 on that; I've also found some single-coil cartos designed to be used in DCT tanks, and I think I would like that a lot better, considering the dismal failure of the Nautilus. I admit, the Nautilus is the only dual-coil thing I've tried, but what it seemed like was, at first the draw was so cool I kept wondering if I was getting anything, then would suddenly heat up so fast I'd have to yank it away from my mouth to keep from getting burned. So if that's any indication of how dual coils act, I think I'll stay far away from anymore dual-coil anything.

Andria

Also, I had crazy dry hits with the nautilus heads it came with, so I bought a 5 pack of the 1.6 ohm and it works flawlessly! On my 3rd tank with the same head...so maybe just the heads.

 

[Fegbri]

Here is the Smok Aro stainless. Looks great on the V5 slant top! I rebuilt the head with 30g micro coil and cotton, then add 2-3 strands of silica for flavor wick. Perfect vape and no gurgle or dry hits!

 

[AndriaD]

I've been using the new Smok t-dux 3.0 and LOVE IT! Check it out

I considered that one when I was first shopping around for a pyrex, but got the ARO v1 instead. I got red since they were out of stock on the black and silver at the time, and I'm kinda glad now, I've got so much black and silver. One of the things I'm going to get with that refund money is an ARO Winder in red; I like those because the button is on the battery-body rather than on a stainless band around it; I think the lack of that stainless band will give a much better visual continuity to the device. Plus I find hunting around for that little button on my Twist to be a real pain; I find I only use the Twist with either a plain carto, or the Hypertank; either the short cone with carto or the flared cone with Hypertank helps my thumb find the button much easier. The ARO Winder is 900 mAh, so the battery life is just slightly better than my vv3's. I know they also have a 1500mAh version, but it has the stainless band for the button, which I don't want. There's also a new Evod Twist that doesn't have that band, and I think it's 1000 or 1100 mAh, but I'm not sure the reds or the finish will match; with an ARO battery, I know it will match the ARO tank.

At this point, with the ARO pyrex, mini PT II, and Hypertank, the only other glass tanks I'm likely to buy are cartotanks, or if I find an RBA tank with a glass tube/tank.

Andria

 

[69CamaroSS]

Burnt taste right off the bat. When I open it wide, it's so airy I can't tell I'm getting anything, until it nearly burns my lips and I have to yank it away. Changes the taste of my fave ejuice so that I don't even like it, in that tank.

Where in the bleep did you get it for so cheap? I got mine for $28.95 in a special Easter Sale, from myfreedomsmokes.

If I can only get $20 for it, that's $20 more than I have now, and I can buy something else. But if only ask for $20 for it, I won't include shipping. For $25, I'd pay the shipping.

Andria

Actually found it on the eBay page of a B&M not too far from where I live. I was ordering a bunch of drip tips when I just happened upon it so I included it in my cart and checked out. Got it 3 days later and love it. Sorry you didn't like yours...could be due to the tighter vape that you like not letting enough air over the coils to prevent them from overheating your juice. I did also hear of some people that had similar problems with the installed atty but switching it out fixed theirs.
Aspire Nautilus Authentic BDC Glass Clearomizers Adjustable Airflow Pyrex 510 T | eBay

 

[mh37]

I made the same mistake most make in the first year of vaping bought alot of crappy tanks that i dont use anymore or have broke,had 3 smotech pyrex tanks they have all broke,im down to me fav oddy metal tank you get what you pay for superb tank best ive ever used unbreakable,and one other pyrex piece of crap,so waiting on the ib if its as good as the oddy i might get another or an oddy.And probably like most got a box full of clearos stv novas even a couple of protank 1&2s they are so overated airy crap draws and the coils dont last,but you live and learn havent bought anything crap for 8 months and its staying that way!

 

[AndriaD]

Well, as I have discovered, paying a lot for something doesn't mean you'll like it; and paying very little for something does NOT mean it's a "piece of crap." My best tanks, the ones that give absolutely the best flavor, are the cheapest -- including even those humble little iClear16's, which apparently I've finally learned the trick of -- patience. The only real problem I see with those now is that they're just too small, 1.6ml is what I can get from a T3S before it gurgles and needs refilling. My first T3S cost $9 because I got it in a B&M; the next 3 -- another T3S and 2 MT3S's -- were all $5.99 -- and they're the best-vaping tanks I've got. The ARO Pyrex was $5.99 also, and vapes quite well, very good flavor, which is why I'm willing to get a battery that will be dedicated exclusively to it.

The Mini PT II was $13.99, and the Hypertank2 was $12.99. Both are adequate, but aren't setting any records. I can stand the Mini PT II's relative lack of flavor because I use it first thing on waking with a cinnamon-apple mix, which is strong-enough tasting that it probably wouldn't matter what I put it in, except it has to be glass because of the cinnamon. The Hypertank2 I have rendered a great deal more usable due to learning to rebuild coils for it (which would also fit the Mini, if needed), and I do find that you get more flavor from coils you've built yourself, though I'm not really sure why. I guess just because your mind tells you it's a custom-made coil so therefore it MUST taste better.

So, hooray for stuff that doesn't cost much, and turns out to be better than the stuff that costs a fortune.

Andria

 

[MotherNatural]

I really hesitate to comment here as this all is not Sigelei related but would like to add my 2 cents.
Plastic tanks taste plastic to me. With flavored or unflavored liquid I can taste the plastic. I have no problems with the PT2 with an air base or the PT minis as long as I rebuild the coil with kanthal that is a thicker gauge than stock and use cotton wick. Yes, I love cotton wick. I also love my Kayfun but only with the metal tank.
Point is…it's all subjective. Some people like Budweiser while others prefer champagne. Neither right nor wrong but is the taste and style preferance of the user. All of which is why there are so many options available to us.

 

[Gato del Jugo]

Well, as I have discovered, paying a lot for something doesn't mean you'll like it; and paying very little for something does NOT mean it's a "piece of crap." My best tanks, the ones that give absolutely the best flavor, are the cheapest -- including even those humble little iClear16's, which apparently I've finally learned the trick of -- patience. The only real problem I see with those now is that they're just too small, 1.6ml is what I can get from a T3S before it gurgles and needs refilling.

I still use iClear16's part of the time.. I agree that they're great little work-horses (in terms of price, value, performance, flavor, portability, longevity, PV compatibility, maintenance, etc.).. Even the replaceable heads have very low "dud" rates..

I've tried at least 7 clearos, and these are my all-around favorite.. Other ones might do better in some areas, but also can't measure up in many other areas...

EDIT: I fill my iClear16's to 2ml, without any issues...


Anyway, as for my Sig V3, it's still going strong after 4 months..

Since their original occurrences, respectively, there has been no further screen shift, and no further button contact shift (I have the clear button, so I'm able to monitor any changes)..

A new slight quality issue has popped up since my last post here... The plastic display screen cover is now slightly loose, and can be wiggled around a little bit, both up & down, and side to side -- though it cannot be pushed down into the casing, and it doesn't appear that it can be accidently popped out.. I first noticed this when these tiny silver splotches appeared along the edges of the screen cover... Apparently this is another adhesive issue, just as my screen shift issue is... This doesn't affect the OLED display below, as the cover is a separate piece & moves independently...


I get the occasional accidental entering-of-the-menu when pressing the fire button.. I assign user error to a portion of the instances, but I believe most of them lie fault with the product itself.. However, thorough cleaning of the threads (and subsequent Noalox'ing) can wipe out a good amount of these instances, at least with mine...


I'll say again what I've said plenty of times: This is a good PV for the price.. It gets pretty heavy daily use alongside my ProVari, which is also really nice for the price... Obviously I like the ProVari's performance better & have much more confidence in its reliability & longevity (and have had zero issues with it), but a vaper should probably expect that, given its price tag & relative price difference between these 2 PVs.. Yes, I would rather have 1 ProVari than 3-5 Sigs -- but that's just me... Enough about that, though


If somebody had $40-$50 to spend, I'd probably suggest either a Sigelei V3, or an MVP 2 (which I've never used, but know enough about it).. But even then, those 2 fall in slightly different categories due to the MVP's internal battery, as well as the different chip-sets & form factors...