SM V3 Semovar VS Provari

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VapinBill

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ethermion

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Whoa, there Bill. That is quite the rockin' photo. You got some words to go with that or is this just a cruel tease?

Edit: yes,I know it is a ZNA on the left. Looking for thoughtful impressions of the two different setups.

Double edit: could be photoshopped, but I am pretty sure it is real. No flappage on either, completely un-pimped. Must be you.

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VapinBill

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Correct as always, Ether.
The ZNA was purchased from a member of our forum, modded by shaving the pin to allow flush mounting of all my attys. It hits hard. Getting nice warm vapes on my current setups.
Still love my Semovar setup in Hybird mode with the STICKER even if I have to carry a bag of extra charged batteries around. Lol
 
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Phone Guy

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WAKE UP GUYS!!!!

Its been quiet in here long enough. I have a question.... I just got me a flat top cap from fasttech



This is also a nano kit, which I didn't realize at the time, nor do I care.. I wish it held more juice, not less... Anyway, I like the overall look of the top, but it limits and reduces juice capacity down to 3ml vs 4+ml with the regular cap...Not sure what it would be in Nano mode? <2ml? :facepalm: . It's a pretty heavy top cap, like solid... if it were hollow up in the top it seems like it would allow >4ml, but.... that's not the direction they went......

My question is, I planned on using this top cap on a Kayfun 3.1 ES with the Hybrid adapter and just leaving it on my Semovar... Does the Hybrid adapter DO anything besides the cosmetic affect? Does it make anything perform better or any of that? Or is it just to have the sleek no 510 look...?

TO ME: The Hybrid adapter actually seems counter productive. If I'm using my Semovar + KF3.1 in Hybrid mode and want to switch atty's, I CAN'T! Unless it's another 3.1 :( Just seems to me using the 510 top cap makes more sense? Am I missing something????
 

Bill's Magic Vapor

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Yes, you are missing something. The hybrid connection improves the connection between the battery and the coil, which improves the vape. You can check this on a DMM and you'll see an improvement. I have friends who didn't like the Semovar that much UNTIL they tried the Kayfun in hybrid mode. Maybe it's partially subjective, as taste and flavor tend to be, but I think the vape is better in hybrid mode too. YMMV.
 

Thunderball

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Yes, you are missing something. The hybrid connection improves the connection between the battery and the coil, which improves the vape. You can check this on a DMM and you'll see an improvement. I have friends who didn't like the Semovar that much UNTIL they tried the Kayfun in hybrid mode. Maybe it's partially subjective, as taste and flavor tend to be, but I think the vape is better in hybrid mode too. YMMV.

I am one of Bills friends that he speaks of. Non hybrid mode, I use ther ProVari's....Hybrid Mode, I use the Semovars. Better taste. I can taste it.

Hi Bill, Ive not been on for several weeks. Just too satisfied with my gear and tired or telling folks why their tanks are gurgling. ;)

I want a Taifun that can go hybrid for the semovar.....:ohmy:
 

Bill's Magic Vapor

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I am one of Bills friends that he speaks of. Non hybrid mode, I use ther ProVari's....Hybrid Mode, I use the Semovars. Better taste. I can taste it.

Hi Bill, Ive not been on for several weeks. Just too satisfied with my gear and tired or telling folks why their tanks are gurgling. ;)

I want a Taifun that can go hybrid for the semovar.....:ohmy:
Howdy, Mr. Bond! I too am an infrequent visitor these days myself, and for the same reason. I have a most excellent vape experience too, and there are plenty around to update the newer members with the right advise. It is hard to beat the /Taifun or the Kayfun. I mostly use the taifun with the provari these days, but I'm ready for pretty much any eventuality.

Vape strong my friend!
 

Borescoped

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I am one of Bills friends that he speaks of. Non hybrid mode, I use ther ProVari's....Hybrid Mode, I use the Semovars. Better taste. I can taste it.

Hi Bill, Ive not been on for several weeks. Just too satisfied with my gear and tired or telling folks why their tanks are gurgling. ;)

I want a Taifun that can go hybrid for the semovar.....:ohmy:

Howdy, Mr. Bond! I too am an infrequent visitor these days myself, and for the same reason. I have a most excellent vape experience too, and there are plenty around to update the newer members with the right advise. It is hard to beat the /Taifun or the Kayfun. I mostly use the taifun with the provari these days, but I'm ready for pretty much any eventuality.

Vape strong my friend!

IMO, both Thunderball and Bill shouldn't be so infrequent with the ECF visiting!
 

Baditude

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IMO, both Thunderball and Bill shouldn't be so infrequent with the ECF visiting!

I agree with the above. :laugh:

Recently (6-7 weeks) received a Kayfun Lite Plus for my Provari. Hard for me to believe there is a better tank on the market. I've tasted friends' RDA at sub-ohms, and I get as good if not better flavor in my KFL+ on my Provari's. I'm not into the clouds, just great flavor. I'm using a 1.3 ohm microcoil with organic cotton wick so that I can use this on either a Silver Bullet mech or Provari.
 

Bill's Magic Vapor

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I agree with the above. :laugh:

Recently (6-7 weeks) received a Kayfun Lite Plus for my Provari. Hard for me to believe there is a better tank on the market. I've tasted friends' RDA at sub-ohms, and I get as good if not better flavor in my KFL+ on my Provari's. I'm not into the clouds, just great flavor. I'm using a 1.3 ohm microcoil with organic cotton wick so that I can use this on either a Silver Bullet mech or Provari.

And another good friend! How are you Bad?

And, I see you are using a wonderful RTA, and not your usual cartos. Very nice! Nice to hear from you too!
 

Tamer El-Meehy

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Hi everybody...just got myself a Semovar from a fellow member through the classifieds...and oh boy!!...what a vape. Definitely better than the Provari IMHO (well..except maybe for the battery life). I need help with a couple of things though. I want to buy a few accessories for the Semovar and I was wondering what to get in addition to the hybrid adapter, and maybe the sticker. Given the battery life on this thing I don't think I should consider the 18500 battery tube. Second, my Semovar came with a finish that looks like that of the Russian 91%, and I would like my accessories to be of the same finish. Is this the alpha finish or the beta one? Does anybody know where to get these accessories with that finish?


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ethermion

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Tamer! Welcome to the Semovar Club!

Hold off on getting the hybrid adapter until you can get a real deal Kayfun atty. The Kayfun 4.0 should be out one of these days, but the hybrid adapter is useless if you are just using a KFL or anything else. I would get the 18mm 510 connector, so you can use other attys and not look too weird.

I don't have a Russian 91, but most of the Semovars are brushed/epsilon finish, as are most of the accessories.

At this point, you should look to Интернет-магазин «SvoёMesto». They have the best selection currently, and are the only place I know at this time to get a sticker. Just be prepared for Soviet service. 2 weeks to put it in a box, another two weeks to show up at your door. And, scroll up this thread a few pages, and find a coupon code in one of my posts to save 10%. Worked for VapinBill.

I have a love/hate relationship with my sticker, which is well documented on this thread. The idea is great, the execution is not. If you have the cash, and a pile of batteries, go for it. And pick up a "bender" with the sticker if you do go for it. The bender is worth it, as it makes the whole setup more comfortable in your hand, and points the drip tip at your face.

Hang with this thread on the battery life issue. Hopefully you have already flipped the negative connection in your end cap, which does help some - spring touches the negative end of the battery. But, one of these days I am going to solve it for sure. It has to be something silly, and one day I am just going to go postal (crazy) because the Semo refused to fire with 3.8V on the battery. Trust me, I will figure it out.

Hello to Cairo from waaaay far away!
 

Tamer El-Meehy

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Thanks Ethermion for the warm welcome and the info and greetings to you from Cairo...actually I got mine through the classifieds and it didn't have a spring per se..just the reversible negative post that you can screw or unscrew. It was reversed when it arrived with the smaller end pointing away from the battery but it didn't fire because the battery rattled inside the tube no matter how much I raised it. It only fired when I unscrewed it and screwed it back in the "proper" way. Hopefully i can do something about the spring (doesn't seem to be a big problem if I can find a good spring with the same diameter). I dimmed the LED down to 2 and dimmed off the button but still the battery lasts me roughly half the time it lasted with my Provari. As for the spring I managed to solve a voltage drop issue with my hammer clone by replacing the spring with one from an old car charger..I guess a similar spring might resolve the issue..what do you think?

You managed to convince me not to buy the sticker...I wasn't very enthusiastic about it in the first place. As for the hybrid adapter I already have 3 KF 3.1s and one KFL. I don't really use any other attys at the moment and I passed nearly all of my clearos on to the wife (who snatched my Provari the minute my Semovar arrived!!..LOL). But I do get your point on buying the 18mm connector it will provide a good incentive for my wife to snatch my Semovar as well!!

So correct me if I am wrong but I read on this thread that the hybrid adapter fits with the KF 3.1. I hope that it will fit the KF 4 as well and we don't need to buy another one.
 

Tamer El-Meehy

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Tamer! Welcome to the Semovar Club!

Hold off on getting the hybrid adapter until you can get a real deal Kayfun atty. The Kayfun 4.0 should be out one of these days, but the hybrid adapter is useless if you are just using a KFL or anything else. I would get the 18mm 510 connector, so you can use other attys and not look too weird.

I don't have a Russian 91, but most of the Semovars are brushed/epsilon finish, as are most of the accessories.

At this point, you should look to Интернет-магазин «SvoёMesto». They have the best selection currently, and are the only place I know at this time to get a sticker. Just be prepared for Soviet service. 2 weeks to put it in a box, another two weeks to show up at your door. And, scroll up this thread a few pages, and find a coupon code in one of my posts to save 10%. Worked for VapinBill.

I have a love/hate relationship with my sticker, which is well documented on this thread. The idea is great, the execution is not. If you have the cash, and a pile of batteries, go for it. And pick up a "bender" with the sticker if you do go for it. The bender is worth it, as it makes the whole setup more comfortable in your hand, and points the drip tip at your face.

Hang with this thread on the battery life issue. Hopefully you have already flipped the negative connection in your end cap, which does help some - spring touches the negative end of the battery. But, one of these days I am going to solve it for sure. It has to be something silly, and one day I am just going to go postal (crazy) because the Semo refused to fire with 3.8V on the battery. Trust me, I will figure it out.

Hello to Cairo from waaaay far away!


Oh..and thanks for the coupon code...it's still working fine :)

One thing that crossed my mind though regarding the battery life issue...how come Svoemesto hasn't come up with a solution to this issue..everybody's been complaining about it!
 

ethermion

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Oh..and thanks for the coupon code...it's still working fine :)

One thing that crossed my mind though regarding the battery life issue...how come Svoemesto hasn't come up with a solution to this issue..everybody's been complaining about it!

Rock on with the coupon.

SM most certainly knows about the battery problem. But hang out with the REO guys, and they have been dealing with it all along too, and now they are installing their sub ohm kits. You would do yourself a favor to get a spring... Sometimes, I can get two days on a battery, other days much less so. With the sticker, I never got a full day on a battery. Could just be a little conductive grease needed. Could be as some others have suggested, some toothbrushing with toothpaste is in order. It has been good enough for me, and no time to sort it out.

I hear the provari does better on batteries, but I do not have one to compare. But them there provari needs batteries with nipples. My wife has nipples, my batteries do not, and that is not going to change. A man has to be a man, sometimes.


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Tamer El-Meehy

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LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! umm...well...we do have small nipples ..heck I remember waching a James Bond movie when I was a kid where the bad guy had 3 nipples!

My Semovar isn't shiny or brushed..it's more of a matte finish..and I'm still at a loss as to whether I should be choosing epselon or beta from the website
 

Phone Guy

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I think the issue with the battery life is the cutoff point of the Nivel chip itself. I have a dna20 mod that will drain the entire vtc5... where the semovar does not. I know the mod from dicodes (the dani / pipeline pro) has a menu option where you can set the point of battery cut off.... from like 2.5v to 3.8v or something like that (my numbers may not be accurate but you get the idea).

I've never volt metered the "drained" battery out of my semovar, but I'd be willing to bet if we all did that, they'd all be at the same level. I could be wrong? but I think I'm right (therefore I am right - ha!)

That finish you've got (the matte finish like the russian) is Beta I'm 99% sure. My semovar is SemiPolished (NOT BRUSHED) I learned that the hard way (Right Ethermion)....

From the stories posted in this thread, I personally wouldn't want a Sticker.... seems like they are more trouble than their worth. But I don't have one, Ether has one and a few others here and they've shared their pain in this thread...so.... YMMV.

Another quick point about the battery life, when the semovar quits firing and the battery meter blinks, remove and replace the same battery (unscrew the cap then screw it back on) and that will make it fire again for a little bit more. But the reason I know my VTC5's dont get fully drained is when I place them to charge on my Nitecore i4 charger, there are 3 battery level indicators above each battery slot, and after inserting a drained battery from the semovar it starts at the lowest discharge light then jumps to the middle light pretty quick (with about 20 seconds or less), where when I do the same thing on a battery (vtc5) from my Futura dna20 mod it starts charging from the lowest discharge light until it fills..... which tells me the dna20 drains the battery further than the nivel chip. again, I think its the under charge protection or battery cut off level. If you watch the pbusardo video on the pipeline pro mod from dicodes, he shows and explains how whatever chip is in that mod has a menu option where you can set the battery cut off voltage point.
 
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