Sigelei Zmax V3 and V5 Telescopic: User's Group

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ricks

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So your saying yours didn't have the cradle? It came from the factory with just that retainer looking piece attached? Was this a v5?

Yes, V5 with no cradle. It stays in place with that mini cradle and the other end sits in that plastic washer. Bought from electronicstix.com last year in June.
 
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fairmana

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If that is truly a V5, then the thin cradle is a big surprise. That cradle was used in in the mini, V2, and the 1st generation V3 (up through late 2013 or so). The 2nd generation V3 introduced the larger cradle. All 2nd gen V3's as well as the V5's we've seen have always included the larger cradle (the V5 originally came with the new cradle beginning with it's initial release - as far as we are aware). The screen display used on the board from your pic is what indicates to me that this is not a 1st gen V3, since they used an early version display that used a foam block that was sandwiched between the circuit card and the thin display.

Something else that's curious is the clear outer button I can see in one of your pics. So far, (on this thread) we've only seen the stainless steel metal button or the chromed plastic "power symbol" button on the V5's.

Maybe sigelei had a bunch of spare parts laying around and decided to use them (V5 circuit card, V3 1st gen cradle, V3 clear button, 2nd gen V3 or V5 body). :)

I wouldn't be too concerned about the smaller cradle or the clear button in regard to function. The smaller cradle works OK, but I would seriously consider installing a 2mm spacer under the top cap as additional insurance against circuit card shift (IMO it's always a good thing to do regardless). The clear button is probably a better choice over the chrome plastic button anyway. At least you don't have to worry about the chrome wearing off the plastic button as others have reported.
 

ricks

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I used the threaded part from an old T2 Clearomizer on the ego threads on my V5 and put that in my vise to wiggle the top off. Came off pretty easily too. When I shopped around for the V5, I saw the different buttons on these and chose to get the clear button over the chrome.

I'm now trying to find something to put in the open space when using 18500 and 18650 batteries. I don't like the feel of that open area. I tried using these rubber rings but it didn't look good. VAPEBAND-2.jpg

Got any ideas???
 

yzer

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Congratulations on that switch replacement Ricks. You are now a Sigelei Ninja.

I am also curious about what you found inside your V5. Fairmana is right, it looks like your V5 has the old style board mounting and not the newer half round mounting like this...

halfrounda.jpg


boardsa.jpg


20140824_154725.jpg


Your 510/eGo assembly appears to be threaded for a removable top cap, like all other second generation V3s and all V5s. But in your photo the material looks to be partly brass instead of all stainless steel. Is that correct, or is that yellow metal color just from the photograph?

20140824_144402.jpg
 

ricks

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I wouldn't be too concerned about the smaller cradle or the clear button in regard to function. The smaller cradle works OK, but I would seriously consider installing a 2mm spacer under the top cap as additional insurance against circuit card shift (IMO it's always a good thing to do regardless). The clear button is probably a better choice over the chrome plastic button anyway. At least you don't have to worry about the chrome wearing off the plastic button as others have reported.

I see a lot of the clear buttons on ZMAX_vv/vw mod_SIGELEI Electronic Cigarette -
 

yzer

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I had the same experience. I looked long and hard for a nut (including metric) that would fit either the eGo or top cap threading but no cigar. After exhausting the hardware store possibilities I wrapped the eGo threading with a strip of duck tape before sticking it into the vice. That worked OK but I did burr the threads a little. Luckily, I use 510 only.
 

VapieDan

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I had the same experience. I looked long and hard for a nut (including metric) that would fit either the eGo or top cap threading but no cigar. After exhausting the hardware store possibilities I wrapped the eGo threading with a strip of duck tape before sticking it into the vice. That worked OK but I did burr the threads a little. Luckily, I use 510 only.

I use this adapter which fits on the EGO threads. You can beat or pry on it with no thread damage to the unit.

EGO to EGO 510 Atomizer Adapter : L Js E-Smokes, Electronic Cigarettes

Ego To 510/eGo Adapter (MOD FIX?)
 

fairmana

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Thanks for the link Rick. Initially they weren't offered with clear buttons, so this is new to me. I wonder when they started doing that? In any case, it's good to know. Like I mentioned before, I think I prefer the clear one over the chrome one.

On most vendor websites that sell these, you often see an outdated or incorrect picture since the V3 and V5 are so similar. It's hard to trust that you're getting exactly what is shown (many of us prefer to call and make sure before we order). If I've seen a V5 with the clear button somewhere, I probably just wrote it off as a V3 they were using in the pic and not a V5. This is obviously not the case with the one you linked since it's at Sigelei's website and it also shows the menu as well. Thanks again.
 

ricks

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Thanks for the link Rick. Initially they weren't offered with clear buttons, so this is new to me. I wonder when they started doing that? In any case, it's good to know. Like I mentioned before, I think I prefer the clear one over the chrome one.

On most vendor websites that sell these, you often see an outdated or incorrect picture since the V3 and V5 are so similar. It's hard to trust that you're getting exactly what is shown (many of us prefer to call and make sure before we order). If I've seen a V5 with the clear button somewhere, I probably just wrote it off as a V3 they were using in the pic and not a V5. This is obviously not the case with the one you linked since it's at Sigelei's website and it also shows the menu as well. Thanks again.

It's strange, I've seen both metal buttons and clear when I was looking for mine. I like the clear also. I also now like seeing the yellow through it with the new button.
 

fairmana

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It's strange, I've seen both metal buttons and clear when I was looking for mine. I like the clear also. I also now like seeing the yellow through it with the new button.

Yeah, when I first put this switch in both my V3's, I wasn't sure I was going to like seeing that yellow switch through the clear button, but it actually looks decent. Gives it a little something extra than the standard look. :)
 
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fairmana

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Hehe, I don't recall seeing that Sigelei before.

Out of curiosity, I spent a few minutes trying to find any info on the web regarding the internals. I came across this ECF blog about the Bobo that was written back in mid 2013 (prior to V5 release). The author states that he was able to determine "that it is, in fact, a version of the Zmax V2" which may specifically mean a V2 or may possibly mean a V3. "A version of" is a confusing statement. At any rate, I doubt that it's a V5 based on the above, in addition to the fact that the blog was written before the V5 came out. I doubt Sigelei bothered to upgrade it with V5 internals later on, especially since you can't even find one of these on their website (or anywhere else for that matter). I could be wrong, but I suspect that this model didn't sell very well and was pulled from production.
 

fairmana

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