Smoktech ZMax Owners - Pics., Tips, Tricks and Quirks

[VAPNJ350]

CONGRATS FUZZI !!!!!!!
Glad to hear you got it and you like it....so far anyway. So I have a question for ya.

How in the hell are you a vaper and you don't have even 1 18650 battery in your possession ?????lol.lol

LMAO at you right now...that really sucks Fuzzi. Wish I lived close to ya brotha...I would be jumpin' in the car right now headin' your way with a bag full of batteries ready for a 2 man vape meet.....maybe 3 man if Dusty joined us. lol.

Well I hope your batteries get there tomorrow.

 

[Dusty_D]

CONGRATS FUZZI !!!!!!!
Glad to hear you got it and you like it....so far anyway. So I have a question for ya.

How in the hell are you a vaper and you don't have even 1 18650 battery in your possession ?????lol.lol

LMAO at you right now...that really sucks Fuzzi. Wish I lived close to ya brotha...I would be jumpin' in the car right now headin' your way with a bag full of batteries ready for a 2 man vape meet.....maybe 3 man if Dusty joined us. lol.

Well I hope your batteries get there tomorrow.

I did offer him two brand new AW IMR's that I had on hand, but he turned them down. Something about savouring the experience while waiting for his batteries to arrive. Something like that..

FYI.. he's 10 minutes down the road from me and I have pretty much ALL kinds of batteries with SPARES if he needs 'em.

 

[dwcraig1]

Ya know when we started this whole Vmax thread months ago the 1 thing I kept recommending for use with the Vmax, and now Zmax, was the 3Ω 801 Fusions. Very nice to see that people are still finding out about them and just how good they really are. 510's....NO MORE, Fusions all they way. And yes.....they are that good.

OK, I ordered 10 XL Fusions and an adapter, finally

 

[VAPNJ350]

Very coool !! Out of curiousity ..where did you order them from,.....if you don't mind me asking, and if you don't mind saying ?

 

[dwcraig1]

Very coool !! Out of curiousity ..where did you order them from,.....if you don't mind me asking, and if you don't mind saying ?

Crystal Clear Vaping

 

[fuzzione]

CONGRATS FUZZI !!!!!!!
Glad to hear you got it and you like it....so far anyway. So I have a question for ya.

How in the hell are you a vaper and you don't have even 1 18650 battery in your possession ?????lol.lol

LMAO at you right now...that really sucks Fuzzi. Wish I lived close to ya brotha...I would be jumpin' in the car right now headin' your way with a bag full of batteries ready for a 2 man vape meet.....maybe 3 man if Dusty joined us. lol.

Well I hope your batteries get there tomorrow.

I confess to some slight embarrassment over the battery thing

I initially figured the Z would come with both caps and could just as easily use my numerous 18350's but this was obviously incorrect.

You and Dusty are great however...fellow vapers to the rescue! Love that about the people in ECF; always willing to help someone out. Indeed, the first thing Dusty did when he realized I had no 18650's yet is he slapped 2 brand new ones on the table and said 'there ya go.' But believing that mine would get here in a day or so (they're already overdue thanks to our mail), I politely declined. The other reason being that my charger slightly overcharges to 4.26 and I didn't want to kill off a moderator's borrowed batteries prematurely. No sirreee

Now I'm genuinely excited about firing this thing up. There is definitely something to the anticipation that makes it all the more enticing. If it works half as good as it looks this new Z should be a winner.

 

[jackbox]

I confess to some slight embarrassment over the battery thing

I initially figured the Z would come with both caps and could just as easily use my numerous 18350's but this was obviously incorrect.

You and Dusty are great however...fellow vapers to the rescue! Love that about the people in ECF; always willing to help someone out. Indeed, the first thing Dusty did when he realized I had no 18650's yet is he slapped 2 brand new ones on the table and said 'there ya go.' But believing that mine would get here in a day or so (they're already overdue thanks to our mail), I politely declined. The other reason being that my charger slightly overcharges to 4.26 and I didn't want to kill off a moderator's borrowed batteries prematurely. No sirreee

Now I'm genuinely excited about firing this thing up. There is definitely something to the anticipation that makes it all the more enticing. If it works half as good as it looks this new Z should be a winner.

You should get a new charger. Overcharging IMR batteries can seriously degrade their life or kill them completely. I recommend the Intellicharger I4. A good reliable charger is a must have.

 

[studiovap]

Just ordered my Z, allready thinking express post was a bad idea and should have gone platinum express. Ordered a couple of the Panasonic 18650 GCR 2250Mahs from eBay at the same time so hoping they arrive together or I'll have to use the lavatube batts until then. Oh the waiting!!! the waiting!!!

 

[jackbox]

Just ordered my Z, allready thinking express post was a bad idea and should have gone platinum express. Ordered a couple of the Panasonic 18650 GCR 2250Mahs from eBay at the same time so hoping they arrive together or I'll have to use the lavatube batts until then. Oh the waiting!!! the waiting!!!

Who did you order your Z from and how much did you pay, if you don't mind me asking? I am in Thailand and trying to find a good site to buy from that ships international with a good price.

 

[studiovap]

Who did you order your Z from and how much did you pay, if you don't mind me asking? I am in Thailand and trying to find a good site to buy from that ships international with a good price.

SS $125AU , don't know about shipping to Thailand though.
EcigModShop Australia - SmokTech ZMAX - Stainless Steel

 

[AnsonJames]

You should get a new charger. Overcharging IMR batteries can seriously degrade their life or kill them completely. I recommend the Intellicharger I4. A good reliable charger is a must have.

If you've got the money I'd recommend a Pila.
They look terrible and can only charge two batteries at a time but they are technically the best - they use genuine CC/CV charging as opposed to algorithm based CC/CV charging.

They are very fast at charging my AW's.

The i4's are still a brilliant charger for the money but not quite as kind to your batteries as the Pila

 

[jackbox]

If you've got the money I'd recommend a Pila.
They look terrible and can only charge two batteries at a time but they are technically the best - they use genuine CC/CV charging as opposed to algorithm based CC/CV charging.

They are very fast at charging my AW's.

The i4's are still a brilliant charger for the money but not quite as kind to your batteries as the Pila

The Intellicharger I4 is very easy on the batteries. As the voltage increases the charging amps reduce and it constantly measures the amount of charge and terminates properly. When my batteries are charged they are at 4.18 volts, which is perfect. It takes a little longer to charge than other chargers but that is because it is charging them in a manner that preserves their life and never overcharges them.

 

[AnsonJames]

The Intellicharger I4 is very easy on the batteries. As the voltage increases the charging amps reduce and it constantly measures the amount of charge and terminates properly. When my batteries are charged they are at 4.18 volts, which is perfect. It takes a little longer to charge than other chargers but that is because it is charging them in a manner that preserves their life and never overcharges them.

I'm just impatient!

 

[Dusty_D]

ZMax update: I've been using the Z on a 2.8 ohm ST carto in a tank. I had initially set it at 7 watts to account for the variance in power output over displayed output. After a couple of hits, I had to dial it back to 6.5 watts and have been using it at that setting all morning. It is as close to my 8 watt "feeling" that I can replicate.

Has anyone done any comprehensive tests on these units yet?!

I'm also really digging the shiny brushed steel finish to the SS Zmax. It does not attract fingerprints at all. The bottom (not the whole cap, just the bottom) is still shiny steel and does attract fingerprints. Not sure why they would not have "brushed" that.

Overall, it's been a very productive and positive morning.

 

[jackbox]

ZMax update: I've been using the Z on a 2.8 ohm ST carto in a tank. I had initially set it at 7 watts to account for the variance in power output over displayed output. After a couple of hits, I had to dial it back to 6.5 watts and have been using it at that setting all morning. It is as close to my 8 watt "feeling" that I can replicate.

Has anyone done any comprehensive tests on these units yet?!

I'm also really digging the shiny brushed steel finish to the SS Zmax. It does not attract fingerprints at all. The bottom (not the whole cap, just the bottom) is still shiny steel and does attract fingerprints. Not sure why they would not have "brushed" that.

Overall, it's been a very productive and positive morning.

Thanks for the update. I am really tired of my crappy VV350s which I think just cannot put out enough amps. I want a ZMax now! Hopefully HC will get them soon. They have had the VMax units for about two months now. They are the most reliable vendor for me here in Thailand for hardware.

 

[skipdashu]

Just received my Zmax today, so far very happy with it . It is a step up from my L-rider for sure. Couple questions hopefully someone can answer. Can i use my sanyo ur18650fm batteries in it ? These are the same battery gotvapes sells. I believe they are flat top batteries with no protection . I'm using a panny IMR 18650 2250mah in it now. Also is the fire button suppose to light up when pressed ? It seems the instructions imply that it should , or do they mean just the display ?

The UR18650FM is an unprotected ICR as I recall. Not the best thing for a boost mod but it'll probably work at low voltage/wattage settings since it is rated for a 5.2A max discharge rate. However, keep in mind that you could exceed 5.2A at high settings/low ohms and then bad things can happen. You're really much better off sticking with the 10A CGR18650-2250.

PS: Much less likely to have problems with the Sanyo in the LT but still you really should use IMR type batteries in boost mods. They don't blow up and most 18650 IMRs will do 10A. SmartVapes has the CGR for under $8 and MadVapes carries some EH IMR 18650s that aren't bad. RTDVapor has the AW IMRs in both 1600mAh and 2000mAh.

PPS: Boost Mod = Anything that uses a lower voltage battery than the max output voltage of the device (eg single battery VV/VW mods).

 

[Hampa_D]

Just ordered my Z, allready thinking express post was a bad idea and should have gone platinum express. Ordered a couple of the Panasonic 18650 GCR 2250Mahs from eBay at the same time so hoping they arrive together or I'll have to use the lavatube batts until then. Oh the waiting!!! the waiting!!!

you mind hitting me up with a link to those batt's? cheers

 

[studiovap]

you mind hitting me up with a link to those batt's? cheers

2x Panasonic IMR 18650 2250mAh Lithium Manganese VAPER 3.6v CGR 18650 CH battery | eBay
Here you go

 

[skipdashu]

I'm just impatient!

Hobby charger with cel balancer set up then ;-)

 

[fuzzione]

You should get a new charger. Overcharging IMR batteries can seriously degrade their life or kill them completely. I recommend the Intellicharger I4. A good reliable charger is a must have.

I own the Trustfire TR-003P4 which is also supposed to be a pretty decent charger (great reviews) but it just so happens mine charges them to 4.26, as some of them have are known to do. This will indeed shorten the life of the cells. I've been putting off replacing it, hoping to find a decent deal on an i4 locally with shipping charges that are not obscene.

4 of my AW18350's appear to have lost about 30% of their discharge time since new, having used and charged them daily for approximately 4 months. For what they cost I'm not too concerned but yes, I really should get another charger.