Sigelei Zmax V3 and V5 Telescopic: User's Group

[fairmana]

I've had pretty good luck with rebuilding Kanger coils with 28 gauge Kanthal, 7 wraps on a 5/64th drill bit, and using the Ken Doh cotton in my Mini PT II's. They consistently come out at about 1.8 ohms. The only problem I've ever had with the Kanger single coils is when rebuilt they will flood or leak into the air tube after about a week or ten days of vaping. That seems to be a pretty consistent time factor. The Ken Doh cotton is a little more difficult to get the quantity right. I think the silicone washers that are on the chimney eventually wear after some rebuilds and don't seat as well. The same is probably true for the seals on the heads themselves The coil is probably wearing by that point anyway. To counter the wear out factor, I just buy a five pack occasionally to add to the rebuild stock.

You're experience with the leaking Protank heads is exactly the same as mine after rebuilding them for a while myself. I made some extra rubber washers to help seal the chimney which helped in some cases. I suspected that the seals in the lower portion of the atomizer were also wearing out since they occasionally still leaked as you also mentioned. Sometimes the positive pin wouldn't properly meet the positive contact on the Sigelei which made me suspect that the rubber under the positive pin of the atomizer was compressing down after reusing them over time. That forced me to replace my stock of Protank atomizers from time to time. So generally speaking, my 6 month experience of rebuilding my Protank atomizers was a pain in the @$$.

My recommendation would be to give the Kayfun a try. Somewhere around 9 months ago, I bought a Kayfun hoping to get away from all the hassle and frustration and I've never looked back. My general vaping experience is much improved, and I can't say enough about how much easier it is to work with when compared to those small Protank heads. In most cases, I just dry burn my existing coil and replace the cotton wick which is a huge time-saver. I don't need to make coils anywhere near as often as I did before with the Protank heads. I keep a spare Kayfun just in case, but it just sits in the box. My downtime while re-coiling, re-wicking, or cleaning has always been negligible and hasn't required me to break out my spare (knock on wood). The stainless steel construction and very short glass tank make my Kayfun almost as indestructible as my Sigelei. I would highly recommend the Kayfun to anyone looking to step-up from a Protank style tank, or is simply looking for something that requires less hassle than rebuilding replaceable heads. Best of luck to you!

 

[molimelight]

Thanks for the info fairmana! I've thought about it but have been consistently confused as to what is a Kayfun and what is a clone and if a clone is OK, which brand of clone, etc.For instance, is the SvoëMesto a clone and if so, is it a good one? Then there's the Kayfun lite.Then once that's settled, where to buy, etc. Any advice is appreciated. When you switched to the Kayfun, did you find your nic level changed? I tried an IGO dripper and found it too harsh and hot for my liking, and it seemed as though the nicotine was twice as strong as when I used the Kanger PT II.

I wouldn't want to jack the thread, so feel free to reply by PM (if you want) to any of these questions. I know that rebuilding the Kanger coils is a bit of a pain, but I can sit down and build ten of them in about one and a half hours and that lasts me 5 weeks at two per week, so it's not too bad of a time investment. But when combined with DIY juice, it does add up.Thanks again.

 

[tchavei]

The original Kayfun (3.1, lite, lite plus, K4) are made by Svoemesto (Russian / German company). All others (Hcigar, Ehpro, Ivogo, etc) are clones.



Regards
Tony

Sent from my GT-I9195 through Tapatalk

 

[fairmana]

Sorry for the late reply Molimelight...

Most Kayfun clones seem to do the job just fine, but you can always check out any reviews if you need additional info for peace of mind.

The first one I bought was an Hcigar Kayfun lite (Ebay). It worked great, but the need to remove the tiny Phillips screw at the bottom of the tank to fill it got old for me. I had to remove the tank from my Sigelei every time to get to the screw, and the screw usually didn't want to thread back into the hole without a lot of fuss.

After doing some research, I decided to buy the Kayfun 3.1 (from FastTech) which instead of a screw fill hole, has a small one-way valve on the side of the tank which lets me fill it with a needle-tipped fill bottle. This is the one I use exclusively now. It allows me to fill it without removing the entire tank from the Sigelei. Some people don't mind removing the tank or messing with the screw, but this feature is important to me and saves me time and hassle. No more digging around for a screwdriver, removing the tank, and fiddling with the screw to get it back in place after it's filled.

Both of these Kayfun's include a small screw to allow for airflow adjustment (mandatory feature in my book). If I remember right, the "lite" versions included this feature over the "non-lite" versions, but I can't remember now for sure... It's been a while since I was doing the research on which "version" to buy.

When I switched to the Kayfun, I didn't notice any difference in regard to Nic delivery. My vape hits definitely had more flavor and seemed fuller than I was used to with the Protank. Keep in mind that I only vape at around 8 watts with only minor adjustments up or down in power.

Hope this helps you. I doubt you'll regret picking one of these up.

 

[JeremyR]

Thanks, I think the button trick did it for now. It is now a bit more responsive.

If it acts up just do it again. It's kind of become a maintenance thing every few months for me, when ever it acts up.

 

[PaulBHC]

The newer versions with the chrome plastic IO button do not seem to rotate.

 

[molimelight]

Received my stuff from MoVapes. Wanted to let people know, as there seemed to be some confusion as to which model the $25 V3's. What I received was two V3 Flat Tops in a box that included both bottom caps, two batteries, an "inexpensive" single bay charger and a cheap Version 1 Protank clone. I like it so far. I'll post more later on my experience with it. I just wanted to let people know that they are shipping the Flat Tops. Picking up the Noalox tomorrow and I'm going to go back and speed read this thread!

 

[IMRs]

Received my stuff from MoVapes. Wanted to let people know, as there seemed to be some confusion as to which model the $25 V3's. What I received was two V3 Flat Tops in a box that included both bottom caps, two batteries, an "inexpensive" single bay charger and a cheap Version 1 Protank clone. I like it so far. I'll post more later on my experience with it. I just wanted to let people know that they are shipping the Flat Tops. Picking up the Noalox tomorrow and I'm going to go back and speed read this thread!

Yes and the threads and pin on this thing are nicer than my V5. This is great. I may just get another and movapes told me there's plenty to go around, but don't wait too long because they're not going to restock it.

 

[molimelight]

Since I am new to APVs with replaceable batteries, I was doing some research on how low people let their batteries go before charging. Most say 3.5 is a good cutoff point and to go lower than that risks over discharging the battery. Some people mention a cutoff that their APV has where it won't fire below 3.5 or so. Does the Z-Max V3 have such a cutoff where it won't fire or should I just keep an eye on the battery level?

 

[Thayamax]

My V3 shuts off at 3.2. Some people wait until it shuts off and others charge before that point. I just wait for the cutoff unless I notice a reduction in taste or vapor above that.

 

[tchavei]

Physically, you should be ok down to 2.7 / 2.8V

Obviously, a good safety margin is 3.2V which will assure maximum life span of a Li-Po battery.
Many mods cut out at 3.5V just because Li-On chemistry based batteries tend to drop voltage more under load than Li-Po. A 3.2V discharged Li-On might break down lower than 2.7V if submitted to a high current.

That's basically why the cutoff is usually higher than with Li-Pos.



Regards
Tony

Sent from my GT-I9195 through Tapatalk

"Je suis Charlie" - R. I. P.

 

[yzer]

I use the low voltage shut off at 3.2V to tell me when to remove and charge IMR batteries. Of my last batch of four Efest red 18500s one died at about 275 charge cycles while the other three got over 325 charge cycles. That's fine with me. I run them down to 3.2V.

LiPo batteries are different from Li-ion IMR. I use them in my quadcopter. I only run LiPos down to 3.7V before recharging.

 

[tchavei]

I use the low voltage shut off at 3.2V to tell me when to remove and charge IMR batteries. Of my last batch of four Efest red 18500s one died at about 275 charge cycles while the other three got over 325 charge cycles. That's fine with me. I run them down to 3.2V.

LiPo batteries are different from Li-ion IMR. I use them in my quadcopter. I only run LiPos down to 3.7V before recharging.

3.7V? Then you're wasting a lot of capacity since 3.7V is the nominal voltage where most of the capacity is located in Li-Pos. They will hold 3.7V during more than 50% of the rated capacity and only then start breaking down.

Quadcopters are cool although a little boring compared to 3D helis

Regards
Tony

Sent from my GT-I9195 through Tapatalk

"Je suis Charlie" - R. I. P.

 

[yzer]

Low voltage on my Hubsan X4 H107L micro quad is indicated by a flashing LED. I land and shut down as soon as possible after seeing that indicator. I get home to the DMM no less than 10 minutes later and the spent battery will read somewhere between 3.74 and 3.78V. I can assume that the battery voltage was lower than that at shut down due to battery rebound.

In the world of micro quads and 1C LiPo power it well known that the cell will get the most charge cycles if not discharged below 3.7V, static voltage.

There is a difference between LiPo voltage under load and static voltage. Under load LiPo cells should not fall lower than 3.2V to 3.3V to avoid damage. After load is taken off the the cell (static voltage) the voltage will rebound to 3.7V or higher.

A LiPo cell at 3.7V static has used 80% of its capacity. Most LiPo battery manufacturers do not recommend discharging LiPos more than 80% of capacity to avoid damage.

 

[tchavei]

Hmm... I really can't confirm that but our applications are different. I use 6S cell lipos with a constant draw of well over 70A. Make 4 min flights and on touchdown the batteries read around 3.2V - 3.4V. Lipos recover in only a couple of minutes to 3.7V even fully discharged so we never rely on the voltage to know the capacity (rather Watt meters, post charge process and experience that comes with time).

You're probably discharging your Batts to the same levels but once you land, they recover so they will show 3.7V but under load they would show closer to 3.2V than 3.7V

Regards
Tony

Sent from my GT-I9195 through Tapatalk

"Je suis Charlie" - R. I. P.

 

[yzer]

I get 7 minute flights on the X4 and I notice a loss of power shortly before the low voltage indicator lights. This quad will do 25 MPH.

We are agreed, then. Static voltage of a "discharged" LiPo cell should not be lower than 3.7V.

 

[tchavei]

Yeah, probably a language barrier.
English is my fifth language you know?


There is no point measuring Li-Pos without a load because unless the cell is in bad shape, the voltage will be 3.7V regardless if it has 20% or 2% capacity available. Under load, 3.2V is fully discharged and on the limit of damage. A mod will display low voltage when you fire it, not when at rest.

What bugs me is that my evic S will display low voltage when the voltage is as high as 3.5 under load.


I get 100 charges on a competition Li-Po, then she's binned or used for low power applications.

Regards
Tony

Sent from my GT-I9195 through Tapatalk

"Je suis Charlie" - R. I. P.

 

[yzer]

This is a handy chart I found at one of the RC forums. This is for Li-Po battery cells used in RC craft, not the IMRs or hybrids we use for vaping. Like IMRs, a fully charged LiPo is 4.2V static.

Here is a voltage chart vs remaining capacity.
By LiPo cell:

4.00V--84%
3.96---77%
3.93---70%
3.90---63%
3.86---56%
3.83---48%
3.80---43%
3.76---35%
3.73---27%
3.70---21%
3.67---14%

 

[tchavei]

4.2V is rather conservative. 4.340V is absolute maximum fresh from charger with 4.260V at rest.

Once again... I'm giving peek values. Remember, competition flying





Regards
Tony

Sent from my GT-I9195 through Tapatalk

"Je suis Charlie" - R. I. P.

 

[JeremyR]

Hey molimelight

I run mine to cutoff on the v3. 3.2v

Manufacture specs on most imrs are 2.7-2.8 or lower. Most talking 3.5 are vaping mechanical mods, many subohm too so.. Voltage drop needs to be cosidered since they have no protection of electronics. But really 3.2 is fine, if you want to charge at 3.5 you may slightly increase the life of the battery, maybe...

You'll do more damage charging it over specs voltage, rather than running it down to 3v. Maximum charge on many imrs is 4.2 +/-.05
.05 +/- to me means that some may only like just below 4.2 like possibly 4.15. For that reason making sure your charger doesn't over charge is more important IMO. 4.2v is a good mid ground 4.25v charger could prematurely wear out some that want to peek at 4.15 or 4.2.

This is the reason I'm happy to only charge to 4.17 with the efest soda.