Sigelei Zmax V3 and V5 Telescopic: User's Group

[yzer]

So your determination is the spring had compressed in the Landing? Did it hit the tail then.. Luckily otherwise it would have been a board shift.. My 3 1/2 yr old(strength of a 5 yr old) son tossed mine yesterday slammed it into hard wood trim and metal register. Made a really loud noise as his arm is even stronger than before, definitely could be a mlb player.. No issues at all! (I do have the board retainer fix)

I must have missed the electroowash talk, will wait to hear the results..

I don't think the battery spring was compressed by the impact but was compressed by normal usage over time. An unused sigelei battery spring measures 17-18mm tall. The spring in V3 #2 was 15mm. Was that enough lost spring tension to cause a contact issue? Maybe. I also widened the base of the spring a little because it didn't have a very snug fit into the battery cap. I think that doing a firmware reboot and re-selecting my settings also had a beneficial effect on the misfires.

I learned about ElectrO-WasH while working in radio. I also use it in another of my hobbies: restoration of military tube-era communications gear. ElectrO-WasH comes in a spray can with a aiming tube and hasn't been discussed on this forum before. ElectrO-WasH will clean and dry most electronic components and assemblies without damage or leaving a residue. The military used tubs of carbon tetrachloride for this job before it was found to be toxic.

Electro-Wash® PX

 

[AndriaD]

The first mention of RMS is right here.

Post #1

RMS gives an accurate reading of voltage and wattage. Mean (average) does not. Some sigelei Zmax users claim that they can exceed the 15W limit by using 2x18350 in Mean settings.

There is really is no good reason why RMS and Mean should be selectable at all. Zmax would work better if was only RMS to begin with. The history of the Zmax chip that was developed by Yihiecigar comes into play. The first chip was Vmax. It was Mean and VV only. That didn't work out well because everyone noticed the Vmax was running hotter than every other variable voltage mod. Yihiecigar corrected this issue my making RMS/Mean switchable on the new VV/VW Zmax chip. The latest high powered chips made by Yihiecigar for sigelei and other Chinese manufacturers are RMS only and not Mean/RMS selectable.

I guess I *assumed* that since it was selected in your post, that meant it was factory default, and I never checked it -- everyone everywhere says how much better it is, I figured Mean was for diehard vape geeks who wanted to have something obscure to play with.

I now have it set at 8w -- still no burnt taste. So now I REALLY love this thing, since it functions much in the same way that my vv3's do, but really does provide the vapor -- this is the same stainless MT3S I was having to use on my vv3's till now, even though I bought it especially to use with the Sigelei. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that the Hypertank2 would also vape much better now that I finally have this thing set properly.

And to get back to the cartotanks for a sec... I've decided that to give cartotanks a test drive, I'm going to get the Artemas locking 510 DCT, at MadVapes for $6, and also get some of those single-coil cartos that are designed for DCTs, which they have at SmokTek for $1.99. This will let me decide if I really do want to spend $45-$50 for an IBTanked. The Artemas is 6ml, though on the MadVapes site it says 5ml, maybe the specs that say 6ml are including what's in the carto itself. Anyway it's apparently 19.75mm wide, so it will just about fit the flat part of the flat-top's slight bevel, and so look nice there, but also isn't so horribly wide that I couldn't use it on the vv3's, with the flared cone. And it will let me try out cartotanks without breaking the bank.

Andria

 

[MrsP0721]

Ibtanked has cartos even cheaper

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[N00dl3s]

yzer, is that lectro wash the same as "contact cleaner"??? Sure sounds like it is..

 

[yzer]

yzer, is that lectro wash the same as "contact cleaner"??? Sure sounds like it is..

Some contact cleaners leave a lubricating and anti-corrosive coating behind (like TV tuner cleaners of 40 years ago), some don't. ElectrO-WasH is a cleaner only.

 

[AndriaD]

Ibtanked has cartos even cheaper

Yes, but they're not for a DCT, which are supposed to take dual-coil cartos; these are single coil made to use in a DCT.

Andria

 

[MrsP0721]

Its the same thing

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[MrsP0721]

You can use any carto in any carto tank, only difference would be size!

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[yzer]

Please folks. A brief post or two about atomizing devices is well and good but extended discussions about them drive this thread off topic. This thread is devoted to the Sigelei V3 and V5. There is no other thread at ECF that covers this topic so exhaustively. There are forums for all kinds of atomizing devices elsewhere at ECF.

 

[MrsP0721]

You are buying a SmokTech tank right? All of mine are SmokTech DCT tanks and I use the cartos from Ibtanked, I promise you it's ok to use them.

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[AndriaD]

Ok... my major reason for discussing toppers is my continuing search for a good one *on the Sigelei* -- but now that I've solved 99% of problems with it by switching to RMS, I'm thinking I don't need to be quite so picky.

If that's the case about the cartos, I'll get them at Desert Vapes, where I got the Sigelei; best prices on cartos I've seen anywhere.

BTW, I've been meaning to ask... how often to do the Noalox thing? I want to make sure and keep it in top functioning condition, I like it so much!!

Andria

 

[yzer]

Clean off and replace Noalox when it begins to collect dust or when the tube begins to feel stiff during adjustment. Noalox will dry out and harden with time. I've gone as long as four months during the winter and as short as two months during the summer. Dusty operating conditions shorten the useful life of Noalox.

 

[tunggua]

The 'contact cleaner' i used are Kontakt 60(very slight lubricating properties) and Ambersil IPA Solvent(cleaner only).

I find that Kontakt 60 works very well for cleaning the switch where i basically saturate the switch with it and work it out by pressing and rotating it.

I realised that Mean mode will give more power/voltage than indicated/set.
For example, according to http://translate.googleusercontent....st-da/&usg=ALkJrhgnjX1ypKOBmy2l5dgxH6N1xIJqWA in stacked mode, it puts out quite a bit more power than its rated 15W/6V.

 

[tunggua]

One of the main reason I bought the V5 is coz it has a Mean mode so I can have DNA like power when I needed it since I used it in stacked mode.

Referring to the above site,it can put out 6.7V for most load and up to 20W+. Although the above is for the Zmax Smok,I believe the Sig versions should be quite similar. The same site did test the Sig V5 but unfortunately I can't find the charts fo the Mean stacked modes.

I've also got the Sig 20w and have been comparing it to the V5 in Mean mode for about 3 weeks now.
Sig 20w is powered by Sony VTC4 set to 18W
V5 is powered by dual AW18350
Toppers are KFL+, Nimbus and IGO-W, all 2-2.2ohms

From my 'throatometer', with the same hit from the Sig 20w at 18W, the V5 is at 13W, or in voltage mode,about 5V

Does anyone else have experienced running high wattage in Mean mode(stacked) on the V3/V5?

 

[AndriaD]

I haven't yet tried stacked mode, so I can't say about that, however my problems apparently indicate that the Mean mode does put out QUITE a bit more power -- the toppers I was running on my vv3's as high as 9.5 or 10 watts, were giving me a burnt taste on the Sig at *6 watts* -- I had to run in voltage mode, just to be able to run my T3S's or Hypertank2 at a low enough setting that I didn't get a burnt taste -- like 3.2 - 3.5 volts, which is not even 5w.

So glad I discovered the proper way to set this thing!

Andria

 

[fairmana]

BTW, I've been meaning to ask... how often to do the Noalox thing? I want to make sure and keep it in top functioning condition, I like it so much!!

Andria

Another good indication it's time to change out your Noalox is if your threads feel "crunchy" when you adjust your threaded tube during battery changes (obviously not good).

I try to never go longer than a month without changing it out just to avoid the possibility of issues popping up, but that's just my personal decision based on my usage. My experience has been that I start to have issues if I leave it in much longer than that. I try to lean more towards regular maintenance to keep my V3 working well vs. waiting for it to start causing me problems at an inconvenient time.

Speaking of which, you can always just wait to change it out until you start to notice symptoms pop up. That should give you a rough idea of how often you might want to consider applying fresh Noalox.

 

[yzer]

I have to admit it. The Noalox on V3 #2 (the one that failed on 4-20) was the same Noalox I put on when I received the new device in December. Cause and effect is difficult to pin down for the failure but the impact, the old Noalox and the suspect battery spring could all have contributed.

Anyway, V3 #2 has been vaping along nicely this evening without a single hitch.

 

[AndriaD]

Another good indication it's time to change out your Noalox is if your threads feel "crunchy" when you adjust your threaded tube during battery changes (obviously not good).

I try to never go longer than a month without changing it out just to avoid the possibility of issues popping up, but that's just my personal decision based on my usage. My experience has been that I start to have issues if I leave it in much longer than that. I try to lean more towards regular maintenance to keep my V3 working well vs. waiting for it to start causing me problems at an inconvenient time.

Speaking of which, you can always just wait to change it out until you start to notice symptoms pop up. That should give you a rough idea of how often you might want to consider applying fresh Noalox.

Hmm... not sure I want to skate that close to the edge. I've noticed a couple of small oddities with the button/menu, but I've chalked it up to user clumsiness... it's usually when I have it set in "OUT: OFF" and I'm trying to change it back to ON, and instead of going where it should, to that first menu option, it goes on into "Power Increase" so I have to cycle it back around. The battery cap and telescope threads still seem quite smooth, no issues whatever. In fact the telescope threads are so smooth that once I get it about halfway back to fully-closed, a little spin actually has some travel, where it keeps spinning for a bit before I spin it again.

I do continue to notice some issues with the connector threads, though. The ego threads seem mostly ok, but the 510 threads, really difficult sometimes to get the male part threaded in properly, and it feels like it sticks, halfway thru... I don't want to force it if it's misthreaded, so I work it back out, then try again. Did someone recommend some e-juice for that? Not sure I want to put ejuice there, but what about just plain PG? I have a big bottle of it, and it is a bit on the oily side. I know those threads are stainless steel and all, but I'm not sure the substance exists that I can't screw up somehow.

Andria

 

[fairmana]

Hmm... not sure I want to skate that close to the edge. I've noticed a couple of small oddities with the button/menu, but I've chalked it up to user clumsiness... it's usually when I have it set in "OUT: OFF" and I'm trying to change it back to ON, and instead of going where it should, to that first menu option, it goes on into "Power Increase" so I have to cycle it back around. The battery cap and telescope threads still seem quite smooth, no issues whatever. In fact the telescope threads are so smooth that once I get it about halfway back to fully-closed, a little spin actually has some travel, where it keeps spinning for a bit before I spin it again.

I do continue to notice some issues with the connector threads, though. The ego threads seem mostly ok, but the 510 threads, really difficult sometimes to get the male part threaded in properly, and it feels like it sticks, halfway thru... I don't want to force it if it's misthreaded, so I work it back out, then try again. Did someone recommend some e-juice for that? Not sure I want to put ejuice there, but what about just plain PG? I have a big bottle of it, and it is a bit on the oily side. I know those threads are stainless steel and all, but I'm not sure the substance exists that I can't screw up somehow.

Andria

What I meant is that once you have a "rough" idea how long your Noalox lasts you, you can swap it out a week or two sooner than that amount of time. That's how I settled on somewhere around 1 month for me.

As for the menu, that happens to me too, but I think I'm just from hitting it one too many times. It seems like I always have to round-robin back to the beginning if I'm trying to turn mine on or off. Try pressing 3x quickly and see if you can stop on the 1st menu option.

The only advice I can think to offer you in regard to your 510 threads is to shine a flashlight down into them and see if you can spot an imperfection in the threads somewhere. If so, it might be possible to use a sharp tool to correct that spot in the threads. The best thing might be to have a stainless 510 male connector that you could work into your threads in and out until they worked better, but stainless male connectors are not very common. I was going to say I don't own anything that's stainless, but now that I think about it, I believe that airflow controller I mentioned previously is stainless. Did you ever decide to pick one of those up?

 

[fairmana]

Anyway, V3 #2 has been vaping along nicely this evening without a single hitch.

Yzer, glad to hear it. Hopefully it keeps chugging away without any problems for you.