Stop the presses, new lavatube 3.0 is about to hit with a 4 amp limit!

[Photoplay]

Mine goes into this mode if you push the power button 5 times then quickly press the + or - button. It doesn't stay on, but could be dangerous if the trigger was to be pushed for some reason.

What exactly happens and how can you tell visually it's in low volatage mode?

 

[hmlessalky]

What happens is even though it appears off at a glance, it actually will fire if the button is pushed, just at a low voltage. You can look at the display and it will show your last voltage setting but it will not be illuminated like under normal operation if it is in this mode.

 

[Shekinahsgroom]

You are exactly where I am at, my friend!!!

If either of you "confused" wants to get your feet wet but don't wanna spend a pile of cash on a VV mod, you can pick up an LT V1.0 for usually under $40 in the ECF classifieds.

I just sold 2 brand new, never used units for $30 & $25 each, left overs from my Co-Op.

 

[KalebK]

Thanks for the info everyone!!!

 

[unloaded]

The VaritubeX from iVape.com has been pretty bug-free for me. I've also got a V1 from VaporBeast, it worked as advertised but the 2.5A limit doesn't get it for me. I use mostly 2ohm dual coil tanks. With the 2.5A limit I can only go to 5v. That sounds good, but it's only 12.5 watts. That even sounds good but in reality you have two 4ohm coils each putting out 6.25 watts apiece. Lots of vapor but the taste, throat hit and heat aren't enough for me. With the VT-X right now I'm running at 5.4v on a dual carto that meters 1.9 ohm so thats 2.85A and 15.35 watts (2@ 7.675 watts apiece). Not a big difference looking at the numbers but very noticeable while vaping. Even if you don't need the extra amps, its worth having them. If for no other reason than you are running your gear further from the max.

 

[billherbst]

billherbst, I was thinking of buying the new ones from Vapor Beast but want to make sure it doesn't have the issues as stated in the link provided by hmlessalky, post # 581 in the official CCV information thread. Would you mind testing your unit as described and letting us know-Thanks. "...Thats cause you pushed power button 6 times not 5,,,if you push 5 turns off but if you push it again it goes into that low voltage mode just bug in chipset design,,,no big deal, trying to get all people purchased a v1.5 a version 2,,, the issue is very serious,,,tube left sitting on table just shorts out tube and carto so hot can't touch it smoke starts rolling out from inside the tube, mine did it yesterday, i immediately pulled them from site,,,, now most work great but few is to many in my book."

Photoplay,

My VaporBeast Vector Variable Volt (which is the same device as unloaded's iVape VaritubeX) apparently does not have the "low-voltage mode" glitch. Press the power button five times, the display shuts off, and the device is powered down. Press any other button (power, +, -) after that---whether very quickly after or later---and nothing happens. Dead as a doornail, as it should be.

On the other hand, my V1.5 from CCV does have the bug. On my particular unit, push the power button six times rather than 5, and it goes into low-voltage "stealth" mode (meaning that the display turns on, but is not backlit, so that it's difficult to see that it's actually on---most people would never know it). And it doesn't matter if I press the power button six times quickly or five times, then wait five or ten seconds before that sixth press---the V1.5 still goes into low-voltage mode.

This quirk was discovered and discussed awhile back by owners on the V1.5 thread, but at the time we didn't know that it was potentially serious or even lethal. Based on what I can glean from Andrew's post on the CCV thread that you quoted above, the danger arises from the device being unknowingly left in this "low-voltage mode" over some hours, where the glitch causes the unit to overheat, as his own did. As a result, he's going to replace them all with a different version.

The good part of all this is that I'm dealing with CCV. Andrew has a "no-POS" policy: Anything he sells that turns out later to be a lemon (bad design, shoddy production, glitches, whatever) is immediately becomes "out of stock" and unavailable for purchase, and he then offers anyone who bought the product from CCV a choice of complete refund or replacement (if a good replacement is available).

Awhile back, I bought a couple of 5-volt switch assemblies for my two E-power 18650 units. The switches never worked correctly. Andrew agreed that they were junk, pulled them from his site, and refunded my money plus the cost of my mailing them back to him. So, I'm as sure as I can be that Andrew is a stand-up vendor, and that my .... is covered with this or any other problem that arises with anything I buy from CCV.

 

[txtumbleweed]

Great information Bill! You explained it very well and thanks to your info I checked mine which I got from Penny and it does the same. I pressed it six times and it appeared to go off but when I tried to vape it still would vape. So the only way to tell if it is truly off is to try and vape it. I did like you said and pressed the 5 times it went off and it wouldn't vape, I pushed it one more time although it appeared to still be off it would vape.

 

[Shekinahsgroom]

So, I'm as sure as I can be that Andrew is a stand-up vendor, and that my .... is covered with this or any other problem that arises with anything I buy from CCV.

And that right there is as good or better than a warranty!

It's buying from somebody that has virtually no warranty or no guarantee that you'll be happy....is a BAD IDEA!

Any e-cig vendor offering 14 day or 30 days warranty and no guarantee to me says, "DON'T BUY FROM HERE!"

But if a vendor backs everything they sell, hassle-free, you could legitimately buy a new version 'anything' without fear of monetary loss.

Those are the vendors where you should buy and leave the "high risk but low price".... to the suckers! (Co-Ops excluded)

 

[Baldr]

Forgive my ignorance, im a newbje who will be getting my first variable voltage device and all I want is an APV that will hold the voltage I set it to under load!! I have heard the Lavatube v1s dont do well in that aspect, correct??

I have an LT v1, and it does fine for me. I vape at around 4.7 volts (sometimes 4.6, sometimes 4.8, rarely higher). On a fresh battery, it'll go to 6.0 (though I don't like that), but if my battery is fairly low, that doesn't happen, the battery can't support it. I don't think you need to worry about it unless you are expecting perfection, and if you want perfection, get a Provari. You'll spend 3 times as much, but you do get a better device.

Like I said, all I want is a device that will hold its voltage under load, if the specs say 3 to 6 volts, I want it to actually be able to go to 6 volts, with the proper gear attached to it!I

Same advice. If you want perfection, expect to pay for it. The provari has a very good reputation, and there is a reason for that. And there is a price when you want that kind of quality.

I can afford a provari, and I will probably get one eventually. But I do a lot of my vaping away from home, and I go out dancing a lot. When I go dancing, I leave it on the table while I'm on the dancefloor. Sooner or later, I expect that it will disappear. Some jerk will walk with it. I'd rather them get a fairly cheap lavatube if they do, not a $200+ provari.

LT's aren't priced to compete with the Provari. Yes, they have some similar features, and they both do the same basic job, and they are both tubes. But the LT is priced at 1/3rd the price of a provari. It's designed to compete with the eGo much more than it is to compete with the Provari. Look at the cost of an eGo kit and an LT kit, and you don't see much difference.

 

[Errol]

So there is no Lavatube-ish device with a 4 amp limit?? I am so confused!!!!!

I am also confused! Are the retailers specs wrong?

All I know for sure is the unit advertised as 4amp at Vapor Alley is not a 4amp unit, it is a dressed up V1.5 with a max of 3amp.

Whether or not these two vendors have the true 4amp unit, I don't know. The ones buying from Vapor Beast seemed satisfied, but do your homework before making a choice with any of them.

https://ivape.net/index.php/The-Varitube-X-Silver.html?keyword=varitube

http://www.vaporbeast.com/The_Vector_Black_p/skvb.htm

Errol

 

[Errol]

Like I said, all I want is a device that will hold its voltage under load, if the specs say 3 to 6 volts, I want it to actually be able to go to 6 volts, with the proper gear attached to it!I

That's where the amp rating comes in Kaleb. If you buy a 3 or 4ohm atty or carto the V1 LT will vape at 6v but if you want to vape a 1.5ohm unit you will have to settle for much lower voltage, it's Ohms law.

Errol

 

[tj99959]

That's where the amp rating comes in Kaleb. If you buy a 3 or 4ohm atty or carto the V1 LT will vape at 6v but if you want to vape a 1.5ohm unit you will have to settle for much lower voltage, it's Ohms law.

Errol

I was going to say that the battery controls that just as much as the PV. Most Li Ion cells can't get there even if the PV will.

 

[Errol]

Good post Salky. Just a minor point about quality and performance, A $44 MadVapes VV Box Mod with voltage readout will perform as well an any expensive VV unit on the market and better than many of the wannabes. They aren't pretty and a nuisance to adjust the voltage but as long as the batteries are charged there will be no voltage drop and you can see the voltage under load. That said I have close to a dozen VV or HV pvs and the ones I favor are the one where a slight movement of the thumb will adjust the voltage. I would have bought a Provari V2 months ago if they had the voltage adjustment buttons like the LT and so many others that are coming on the market. With tongue in cheek I predict that feature will be built into the V3 Provari.

One other point, I have the V1 and V1.5 LTs and reading ohms is a nice feature but that battery indicator is a PITA for me as even under a magnifying glass I don't have any idea what the voltage is except it's somewhere between 3.3v and 4.1v. On the V1 all one has to do to know exactly what the voltage is, is to press the small menu button seven time for a voltage reading and if you press it a seventh time within a second with the power button depressed it will show the battery volts under load.

Errol

Photoplay, it is too early to tell. Look at the automotive world. A company puts out a new model of car. No matter how much R&D they put into this car, there will always be problems that pop up in the first year. They work them out over time til the car is as flawless as they can be. So buying a new model will always be risky. I bought the 1.5 due to the fact it was priced right, had a handful of people who had tried it without any problems, and it seemed to be something that would work for me. I have had no issues with it in the few weeks I have been using it, and have hardly used the SSLT since I really like the resistance reading and the battery meter.

As it would be your first VV unit, I would say you can't go wrong, unless you would get a bad unit. Even then, I would think that if the unit is actually bad, you would have problems with it long before the warranty would be up.

Hope I have helped at least a little bit. Good luck on your decision.

Oh, and as stated before, a VV box mod can be had for a bit less than a LT and they are quite nice. Battery capacity is usually less and they don't look/feel as cool, but they are another option as well.

Salky

 

[Errol]

I seem to recall Vapor Beast writing that his units are V2 but can't find it now though IVape claims their 4amp unit is a V2. From what I read on the Vapor Beast forum I felt he really did have a 4amp unit.

As to my V1.5s that are going back, the first one was very erratic and I was sent a replacement. The replacement was very little better so I am sending both of them back. The third one was misrepresented to be a 4amp unit, even wrote for a confirmation, and it was misrepresented again in writing. So I am sending it back because it isn't what they said it was. I have all the low demand PVs I need so my next purchase will be for a true 4 or 5amp unit.

Just a FYI for anyone interested. All one needs to verify the amp rating on their PV is to obtain an inline Volt Reader like this one Assembled Volt Indicator and a 10% discount code homesweethome

If you set the V1.5 at 6v and only 6v it will read the voltage under load ie 1.6ohm DC Clearomizer reads 4.6v on mine which equals 13.2watts and 2.88ohm. Had it been a true 4amp unit it would have deliverd up to 6v on the same Carto. Use this Ohm's Law Calculator to establish your own amps at whatever ohms volts you get. Ohm's Law Calculator

Errol

Errol,

I bought a "Vector Variable Volt" from VaporBeast. I had concluded that it was a V3 LT because of the claimed specs and many posts from a couple different threads, but maybe it's not. The email exchange post from the J-Lin rep earlier in this thread and Shek's recent claims have challenged that presumption sufficiently that I won't call the Vector Variable Volt an LT 3.0 anymore.

Look, I'm just another end-of-the-line consumer with no privileged or insider info. I try as best I can to filter out dubious info from posts in these threads that are actually speculation masquerading as fact or mere repetition of second- and third-hand claims, but it's hard to know what's really true versus what's bogus.

The only thing I know for sure is my personal (subjective) experience with the devices I bought. You posted recently about having three V1.5s that were all going to be returned, but I don't recall that you stated why. My experience with both LTs I purchased recently (however we designate them) has been fine. I have no complaints. As for amp limits (2.8, 3.0, 3.2, 4.0, whatever), both my LTs have performed well at every voltage/resistance combination I've tried. That's by comparison with my 16 other VV mods. No, I haven't tried a 1.5 ohm atty or 1.7 ohm Resurrector at a 6-volt setting, but that's because I don't want to take the chance of needlessly popping an atty or frying a carto, and anyway, I never vape low-res at high voltage anyway. The most I've cranked out on either LT is 12 watts (a 3.0 ohm Boge carto with a setting of 6 volts), and that was only for a minute to see what the vape was like (it was hot and way too intense---would surely have burned the juice if I'd let it fire for more than the three seconds I did).

I'll be curious to find out if these are indeed pirated versions produced in a mystery factory and marketed through front companies, but not because I'm unhappy with mine.

 

[Errol]

Have read several speak of pressing the power button 5 or 6 times to determine if their unit has a problem. Do you mean push the Big Button (the power button) or the Menu Button, the small button beneath the + an - buttons?

Errol

 

[hmlessalky]

The small menu button is the one Errol. Maybe I am wrong, but I remembered reading about the 1.5 using PWM as a method of reaching the perceived higher volts, any that this made using the inline vm impractical due to a low sample rate. Any take on that E? Or am I thinking of something totally diff?

 

[KalebK]

Great info, thanks everyone. I think that I am gonna get a V8 from Discount Vapers and just pray that I am happy with it.

 

[Errol]

Great info, thanks everyone. I think that I am gonna get a V8 from Discount Vapers and just pray that I am happy with it.

Great choice IMO. According to Discount Vapers management it is a 2.5amp unit, same as the V1 LT which is darn good for the price.

Errol

 

[KalebK]

Thank u.

 

[hmlessalky]

Discount Vapers is a great place to deal with as well. Let us know how it works for you K07.

Salky