Sigelei Zmax V3 and V5 Telescopic: User's Group

[dsconnell]

Just a little follow up from my side of things. Back on my Thread on page 286 I noted that I ended up buying some Chemtools called R006 Conductive Carbon Grease (As Noalox is not avail in Australia).
My Issues now Resolved : My new V5 runs much much better.
Initial Issues: Prior to rubbing a tiny bit of the R006 onto the Tube threads and battery base threads, I found I had to change my battery when it reached around 3.6Volts. It would also shutdown a few times a day when battery was around 3.9V or lower (very annoying)!
With R006: Battery runs the whole way down to 3.2V (or to low voltage reported on V5 display)! What a massive difference and my 18650 battery lasts me a full day (approx. 550 X 5 sec vapes as a guide). There is just no comparison. In short, I highly recommend that Noalox or (In Oz... R006) on the MOD barrel and bottom screwcap threads.

Sidenote and unsure if related..........I have also found the slight buzzing sound that I could hear from the V5 Mod electronics when taking a vape is now much quieter (can't hear it at all unless I place my ear to the LCD screen)........that may have been just a "break in" thing? Thanks all for suggestions along the way. Great Thread.

I noticed my V3 will make the same buzzing noise as well. I'll have to try some Noalox or R006 and see it that cures it. I haven't noticed the noise all the time but then again, I'm not always paying attention to the V3 when vaping. This is good information to know

 

[dsconnell]

Just playing around a little with my Sigelei's.

 

[yzer]

Just playing around a little with my Sigelei's. View attachment 354825

...

 

[cindycated]

That last one's for date night, right? Reminds me of this:

 

[BXfan]

Sigelei hookah maybe?

 

[Gato del Jugo]

So, my Sig screen cover popped off recently..


Any suggestions for type of adhesive to glue plastic back onto steel?


Just want to get it back into shape prior to PIF'ing or selling this thing..

Thanks!

 

[yzer]

I believe the acrylic display window is press fit into the tube. If it is too worn down to snap into place again my first choice for adhesive would be 3M 5200 in black. This stuff is extremely strong. I have used it in boat maintenance to stick plastic parts to stainless steel. Boating supply stores sell it. Be sure to rough up mating surfaces with sandpaper and clean with alcohol first.

 

[backroomgeeza]

I have my V5 now... i LOVE IT

what power setting do most use?

 

[fairmana]

So, my Sig screen cover popped off recently..


Any suggestions for type of adhesive to glue plastic back onto steel?


Just want to get it back into shape prior to PIF'ing or selling this thing..

Thanks!

I'm not sure what kind of glue they originally use at the factory to hold these display windows in place, but it stays flexible and doesn't completely harden (stays tacky). It makes sense because you wouldn't want to use anything that would get brittle or crack later on down the road. Definitely DO NOT use super glue because it will smoke-up the display. It is not press-fit and seems to be made of glass (I've seen a display that was chipped at the corner).

I've glued several of these displays back in place and have had good luck with Goop adhesive that I purchased at Lowe's. When it dries, it's flexible and ends up like rubber. I've come across other adhesives that are similar, and it's just basically Shoe Goo if anyone is familiar with that brand. You could probably use Silicone with similar good results (haven't tried it though).

Here's what I do... I start by cleaning both sides of the metal opening with a brush moistened with alcohol to remove any old glue or debris. I also wipe the underside of the glass window with an alcohol-moistened paper towel so the glue will stick well. I recommend you wash your hands before starting so the oil from your fingers doesn't get on surfaces that will be glued later. I use a small jeweler's flat-head screwdriver or toothpick and apply 3 or 4 small dabs of Goop along each metal edge where the display will rest and then quickly push in the display. If the display doesn't want to go in for some reason, don't force it since you could crack the glass (be gentle). Make sure your glue dabs are small enough so the glue doesn't squeeze out under the glass into the display area where it will be visible. Don't worry about getting any excess on the tube or around the perimeter of the display since you can roll off the glue later with your finger. You also need to have everything prepped ahead of time so you can work fast since the Goop will skin-over quickly. You don't want your display window falling out later and getting lost.

This whole process is easiest if you have the Sigelei disassembled. That way you can wipe off the underside of the window with a microfiber cloth to remove any fingerprints you leave behind. You can also push the window back out if you aren't satisfied with your results and try again. If you wipe the underside of the glass, make sure you push against the outside so you don't push the display back out. It doesn't take much force to dislodge it.

This is nit picky, but I usually take the opportunity to correct the black margin that is painted onto the underside of the glass. The metal edge that the glass rests on is sharp and tends to scratch off the black margin in several small spots that are easily visible. Most of you have noticed this and know exactly what I mean. In the past, I've used a black sharpie, but I found out that it doesn't last very long (same thing just happens again). Now I use black fingernail polish (my wife had almost a full bottle left over from some prior Halloween costume). I paint over the black margin along each long side being careful not to get any on the clear glass. The paint is thicker and keeps the black margin protected from the sharp metal edge much better.

 

[fairmana]

I have my V5 now... i LOVE IT

what power setting do most use?

I vape at 8 watts which can vary slightly up or down. I normally use between 2.5 and 3 ohm coils. I think on average you'll find that most people are vaping right around in that ballpark wattage unless they are using low-ohm coils, but I could be wrong.

 

[PaulBHC]

My most used device is an AGA-t2 with a 5/64 vertical coil, rayon wick, around 1.6Ω and 7 watts. I have other toppers with above and below 2Ω and still find 7 watts to work well.

 

[cllmda]

Hi cllmda. Sorry to read about your troubles.

I haven't taken a Sigelei Zmax apart but I have a strong hunch that the other end of the black wire is soldered to the inside of the top cap near the rim on first generation V3s without the removable top cap. If yours is a second generation V3 or a V5 with the removable top cap then the wire is soldered to the inside of one-piece 510/ego connector at the same location. Look for signs of solder or melted flux at this area. That's where the wire must be soldered. Black wires are ground (B-) and white wires are positive (B+).

This may help.

Sigelei Zmax repair photos

Hey ,

Thanks so much for your input/help YZER.
I couldn't stand being without my zmax so I ...ran out and bought another one to tide me over while I tried to figure this out....(embarrassed)I feel that it must be something really minor and pretty easy to fix.

Yes,I was under the impression that it was supposed to attach to the rim of the topcap,just by looking closely at it.

Its a V5.

My first thought would have been to bring it to a repair shop but..there'arent any left near me ?All the electronic repair shops have closed down over the past few years coz nobody bothers to have their stuff repaired anymore-costs too much- they prefer to just go buy new

There ARE some Chinese watch/cellphone repair shops though and I suppose those guys could do something that simple for me, the y probably have the necessary equipment.I wish I could do it myself as it sounds very simple but...

Thanks for answering and letting me know where the little black wire is supposed to go, that was the main question/prob!

 

[cllmda]

I haven't had my brand new V5 apart yet, but I've had plenty of V3's apart. I've broken those wires several times because they often get moved around too much and they get weak at the spot just above the solder. Most of the time they seem to break most often at the circuit card, and not at the top cap.

Yzer is spot-on regarding where the black wire needs to get soldered. If the spot the wire used to be soldered to is not obvious, you can solder it just about anywhere on the underside of the top cap but be careful that it's out of the way. In other words, just ensure the point where you solder it doesn't push against anything on the inside of the opposite tube or you may damage or short something when you try to put it back together. Worse case you should be able to rotate the top cap a little so that it doesn't hit on anything on the opposite side where the circuit card is.

Another issue you might encounter is being able to generate enough heat to melt the solder to that big chunk of metal (top cap). Some soldering irons can manage if you're quick about it, but many can't. That much steel will suck most of the heat from the soldering iron before it can properly melt and wick the solder to the cap. In these cases, it's best to use a soldering "gun". They are high wattage and quickly get very hot as soon as you press the trigger. Hopefully you won't need it, but if you can't solder it maybe you can take it somewhere or someone you know owns a soldering gun. Worse case scenario they sell them at Radio Shack for about $40 which isn't cheap.

Lastly, make sure you rough-up the metal where you're going to solder the wire with a little sandpaper or a sharp object so the solder has something to "grab" onto. If it's left smooth, the wire may just pop off again along with the solder. Also be sure to use a little flux so the solder flows well. Clean up the flux afterwards with alcohol.

Best of luck!

Thanks for your help too Fairmana,

Yes, just like YZER said, when I first looked at it it looked very much like it was attached to the inner side of the topcap.But to me-totally ignorant in electronics- that seemed to make no sense, I mean I thought "why would this little blk wire just connect to "nothing/nowhere" like that...(ok, ....im sure this sounds really dumb but this is all Chinese to me...).The pics on the Imgur website show exac tly the little black/wire I was talking about and ,though now detached, my very short little BLK wire is still bent into shape so as to seem to fit exactly where its shown in the photo...That was a very helpful website, thank you!

It wouldn't be worth to go out and buy the tools, plus there would always be the problem of me "not doing it right" after all that effort in sgetting supplies &educating myself
I live in the city center of a major city so don't really know anyone who has a soldering gun handy at home but like I said earlier,Those Chinese cell phone repair shops may well be able to do it for me.....

thanks for being so helpful.

 

[cllmda]

Cllmda, you mentioned your V5 button was off center. I'm guessing that your V5 is an older version and the button is clear (not metal) and that's how you could see the button wasn't aligned. If so, you probably already confirmed that your circuit card was loose when you removed the cap. It was probably easy for you to pull out the circuit card along with your top cap, which shouldn't happen normally.

Usually either the half-round black plastic support comes loose from the tube or the card breaks out the little "stops" at the end of the grooves in the black plastic support the card rests in.

If that black plastic support is loose, you'll need to glue that back to the inside of the metal tube (epoxy glue works well). When you glue it in, it's important to put the circuit card back into it so you have a way of judging the position it needs to be glued in. Make the flat part of the button on the circuit card sit flat against the underside of the outer button. Rotate the black support inside the tube to make minor adjustments as you look down the length of the tube from the open end. Don't worry about aligning your screen to the rectangular opening in the tube. This is fruitless exercise that will bleed away your sanity. I've found that it's more important that the button alignment be correct and the screen alignment will follow. Even if the screen alignment doesn't seem right, don't second guess yourself. Trust me. The screen alignment is never perfect (even from the factory) but you will still be able to read the screen just fine after the fact. Keep it in the correct position until the glue is dry enough that you can lay it down or stand it at an angle to keep everything in place. The top cap dangling from the wires has a tendency to shift everything around if you try to lay it down to dry, so you'll need to get creative.

If you're lucky and the black plastic support is still glued inside the tube, you can obviously skip the above in which case that means your card "broke out" of the support. You'll need to make a spacer that the circuit card can push against from the pressure of the battery pushing on it from below. Even if your support had broken loose, I highly recommend you do this anyway so that you'll never have to worry about it again. The spacer will be sandwiched between the circuit card and the top cap and will need to be about 2mm thick. That will keep the card in place and keep the button in the position it needs to be in permanently. I wrote a tutorial on how to make a spacer waaaay back in this thread.

Hope this helps you!

THANKS SO MUCH for your detailed explanation

IM so sorry to only be getting back to y'all now...I was waiting for the forum to send me an email to say that someone had answered...but got nothing and finally decided to come check it out myself!Glad I did since Ive gotten several replies and everybody has been so helpful !

First, My zmax is a V5 telescopic with the metal(silver or chrome painted ?) button.AND I believe that normally the top was NOT supposed to come off at all, certainly not as easily as it did..It seems to screw on but I believe there was also some kind of supposedly strong glue that was meant to keep it more solidly together!That wasn't the case on mine, I believe that was adefect, because I got the top off by putting a cheap ATTY (EVOD)on it and wiggling it out with that.

I had a prob with the button : It was fine whenever I used the smaller 18350 batteries but with the 18490's the bottom half of the button would start to get "pushed down" and with the 18650's it was awful, the whole bottom half of my button was totally pushed in.It would still work enough to fire or to use the menu,but just barely.I tried loosening the telescopic tube somewhat but then I could hear everything moving around when I tilted the zmax.Also my screen seemed to have moved to the left side(that would be towards the top),no big deal as I could still read it but most of the first letters of the Menu were missing or seriously cut-off.
That's what initially prompted me to go see what was happening there.Shoulda probably just brought it back to the store and simply said "give me another one as it was less than a month or so old.....But instead,since there was an obvious separation at the top I figured I would open it up and like I said it opened way easier than it should have.

I haven't fixed the screen or the button problems, when it suddenly opened it pulled out about 1/4 of the card and I saw the blk wire was detached so I didn't go on nor try to pull the card out any further,on the contrary I shoved it all back in and put the top back on (harder to put on than take off)
Now im thinking I should have left well enough alone, after all it still worked....and afterwards I thought it should be simple enough to buy a small electronic soldering kit on Amazon and just reattach that blk wire, but now from what y'all have said, I think id better try to find some one MORE QUALIFIED (and with the necessary tools) to repair it,unfortunately the only possibility I can think of are those small Chinese watch & cell phone repair shops,ill try to ask them if they can solder the black wire on for me.


Thanks again everyone, you've been so helpful

 

[cllmda]

Well, it finally arrived! My new Gun Metal Zmax V5... I already love this thing.

My RDA looks a little anemic on it, so that'll be the next thing on the list to replace.

Quick observation tho -- the button on this seems a little finicky. Sometimes while the button is pushed, I must be ever so slightly releasing a little pressure on it and the display flickers briefly, almost as tho the contact between the button and whatever it is making contact with is being lost for a brief moment. I Noalox'd the threads the moment it arrived, so I don't believe there is any issue with conductivity. It doesn't seem to be much of a problem at all tho -- I think I'm just more used to the very positive buttons on my old eGo style batteries. Anyone else notice this?

- John

ITs BEAUTIFUL !!!!
I was (and still am) tempted by colors (mine is plain old SS) but like another poster said I was afraid the coating/paint would eventually wear off...on my hands.Sweat is powerful,just look at the job it does on cheap very thinly gold plated jewelry/watches..your arm goes all black after amonth or two .
I was very tempted by the BLACK but your Gun metal one looks absolutely gorgeous....ENJOY !!

 

[backroomgeeza]

I vape at 8 watts which can vary slightly up or down. I normally use between 2.5 and 3 ohm coils. I think on average you'll find that most people are vaping right around in that ballpark wattage unless they are using low-ohm coils, but I could be wrong.

thanks for that..

i am totally new to vaping and im still trying to learn about things.

With my V5, i just put it together, put juice and and got going.... i need to learn about the parts for sure.

Where do the coils go? is that the piece that screws into the bottom of the atomiser? and it it an atomiser that the juice goes into?

 

[backroomgeeza]

i guess what im really after is a guide of some sort that shows the breakdown of the V5's components

 

[dsconnell]

So, my Sig screen cover popped off recently..


Any suggestions for type of adhesive to glue plastic back onto steel?


Just want to get it back into shape prior to PIF'ing or selling this thing..


Thanks!

I usually just use a drop of super glue around the edges. It holds well and didn't etch the plastic screen. I'll also say to "use at your own risk" in case you glue your finger to the screen like I did.

 

[Gato del Jugo]

Thanks, all!


The display cover/window is definitely not press-fit.. I can see some adhesive remanants on the steel..

As for the material, I was wondering if acrylic or glass.. But leaning heavily towards acrylic (which can crack/chip, too).. Just doesn't seem like glass, really..


Anyway, I see I'm not the 1st to experience this.. Wish they used a better adhesive or something..

At least it happened at home & I didn't lose it...

 

[AndriaD]

My own Sigelei still works terrifically, nothing has fallen off or come unattached and I don't get misfires, probably because I try to do the re-noalox'ing about every 4th battery change; having done it now a few times, I totally get why it's not a one-thing thing; the stuff does kinda dry out, and attract dust and debris, and it can be a real challenge to get all the old noalox outta there; I use rubbing alcohol on a clean old toothbrush.

However, despite all this wonderfulness associated with my own sigelei, today I ran into a problem that bugs the snot out of me. When you're outdoors in the sun, the screen is $#%$ near impossible to read, with or without sunglasses. I think it's because it's an LCD; my vv3s remain completely readable in the sun, and I think they're LEDs.

I've just briefly looked at the newer hi-wattage Sigeleis, the 20w and the 30w; are they still LCD screens, or are they LED?

Andria