The 6AMP Beast is Here- Smoktek Smokbox Varicool 6amp USA Mod -Review

[niczgreat]

I'm Now testing the 1.5 Dual Coil Cartomizer.
According to this page, the amount of Watts and Amps is doubled on these.

Provari 4.2V Vaped at 4.2V and Held solid voltage
Provari 4.5V Vaped at 4.5V and Held solid voltage
Provari 4.9V Vaped at 4.9V and Held solid voltage
Provari 5.0 Errored out E2 Error
So according to our Amps chart The Provari on a Dual Coil 1.5 was capable of 4.9V

This is a question for the Gurus on the Tech thread, If I've done this incorrectly please feel free to correct me.

I interpreted this page
The way I determined the Watts and amps is that I took the 1.5 doubled it than plugged it into the chart
and doubled the results.
So The Provari 2 was only capable of 16 Watt 3.2 Amp vaping

Now let's look at the 6 Amp Beast.
5.2V which was 5.0V under Load Vaped for 15 seconds and held the voltage solid 5.0 for the whole 15 seconds
5.7V which was 5.5V under Load Vaped for 15 seconds and held the voltage solid 5.5V for the whole 15 seconds
6.2V which was 6.0V under Load Vaped for 15 seconds and held the voltage solid 6.0V for a whole 20 seconds
At this point in time the 6 Amp Beast has met it's representation which is 6V Solid vaping on the toughest Cartomizer out there, now let's see how far it will to
6.4V which was 6.2V under Load Vaped for 13 seconds and than went to 6.1, By the way it is doubtful that anyone could vape for 13 seconds at this heat. I've been puffing on it cigar style for the tests to keep the Cartomizer from overheating. I did inhale for about 1 second and started coughing. I'm going to go with the statement that 13 seconds at 6.2V is a stable 6.2V Vape.
Now to the Max
6.6V turned into 6.3V for about 5 seconds and than down to 6.2 for another 5 seconds and finally went to 6.1

By the way at the end I didn't puff and the plastic on the side of the cartomizer began to melt. This is definitely Xtreme Vaping.
The conclusion is that this unit will provide stable vaping at 6.2V on a 1.5Ohm Dual Cartomizer 26 Watts and 4 Amps. To take this unit higher I need to find a dual 1.25 Cartomizer

The $64.00 6 Amp Beast solidly Trounced the $200.00 Provari V2. Either protections are built into the Provari V2 or it simply doesn't have the power to go into xtreme vaping. The Maximum Watts and Amps that the Provari could pull was 16 Watt 3.2 Amp Vaping.

The 6 Amp Beast earned it's name and pulled 26 Watt 4 Amp Vaping.

 

[niczgreat]

You ever feel unsatisfied. Well I was feeling unsatisfied because I hadn't tested this unit on a Dual Coil 1.25 Cartomizer, which is the absolute maximum that you can go in xtreme vaping. I went on the Internet to look for one. Than I thought, why don't I double check the Cartomizers that Smoktek sent me. Lo and behold their was a Dual Coil 1.25 Cartomizer.

I'm going to do a very quick test.

The Provari showed the Cartomizer at 1.3OHM but I'm going to assume that because it doesn't show 3 digits that this cartomizer is performing at 1.25 Dual Coil.
The Provari went up to 4.5V and errored out on anything higher.
So 4.5V 3.6Amps and 16.1 Watts is the maximum the Provari can do. The chip is rated for 3.5Amps so the provari with this Cartomizer was brought just a tad above it's chip limitation and refused to go further.

Now for the Smoktek
At 5.2V it pulled 4.9 under Load
At 6.1 it pulled 5.8V under load
At 6.3 it pulled Solid 6V under load, It's so hot that I'm burning my lips but I'll try to see if I can last for 10 seconds. Sorry the maximum that I could go was 8 seconds. It's just so hot, but it maintained a solid 6.0 the whole time
Now we take it to the Max 6.6V
It started at 6.2V than down to 6.1 v at around 8 seconds and than to 6.0V

I'm going to make the statement that the 6.2V and 6.1V is the maximum it will go
But for a stable vape 6.0V is it.

The Beast does as advertised
6V 4.8Amps and 28.8 Watts Stable

It maxes out at
6.2V 30.6 Watts and 4.96 Amps but won't remain stable.

Conclusion:
The 6 Amp Beast will provide stable 6V vaping on the Lowest Dual Cartomizer that is standard in the Market.

The Provari V2 Wimps out at 4.5V, It's 3.5 Amp Chip limits it to this level.

 

[niczgreat]

Now we come to the final Test.
I was curious how the AW IMR 14500 7.4V X 600Mah would compare to the 2000Mah of the AW IMR 18650. The reason why I"m rating the AW IMR 14500 at 7.4V and 600Mah is that this is a stacked battery solution. Each Individual Battery is rated at 3.7V 600Mah but in a stacked configuration for power not longetivity you double the voltage with the Mah remaining constant. Since the 6 Volt Beast is not drawing the complete 7.4V the run time is increased but in a way that is different than Mah. Kind of technical.

Provari will not allow any other battery to be used on their unit than the AW IMR and the maximum AW IMR is 2000mah.

Since this Thread is concentrating on Xtreme Vaping, I rated the battery life of the two using a 1.5 Dual Coil Cartomizer at 4.34 V I chose this because it's a configuration that a Xtreme Vapor might like for his/her regular vape. Also to run a the Cartomizer above this level without inhaling or puffing would take too long for Heat dissapation. As it is after every 1 minute of vaping, I had to inject the Cartomizer with a 80%VG 20% water solution to cool it down and make up for the water that was lost bubbling out the bottom!.

The 4.35V 2.9Amps and 12 1/2 Watts is a compromise configuration.

I so wanted the 7.4V 600mah dual Aw Imr 3.7v 600mah to win but that wasn't the Case.

The experiment:

The Provari had a 15 second cutoff. To make the test even I stopped and started the 6 amp beast every 15 seconds.

The Provari Lasted 28 minutes of Vaping
The 6 Amp Beast Lasted 21 Minutes of Vaping.

The Mah level of the Provari was 2000 for simplification I'm going to double the Mah of the Varicool.
The Provari lasted 33% longer. (28-21)/21=33%
Based on Mah the provari should have lasted 66% Longer (2000-1200)/1200=66%

So the system that the Provari is using is less efficient than the 6 Amp Beast but the large difference in the Mah
just couldn't be made up. So the Provari will vape longer on IMR Batteries.

Further information about experiment
Starting Voltage Provari 4.13V +- .05V
Starting Voltage 6 Amp Beast 4.08V Each +- .05V

Ending Voltage Provari 3.41V +-.05
Ending Voltage 6 Amp Beast 2.77V and 2.57V both =-.05
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For those who are looking for a strong vape but not the most extreme vape there is an alternative.

Smoktek sells 950mah Trustfire Flame batteries. If you read my previous post you'll find that they performed at 840mah. and allowed 40% more battery life. (35-25)/25= 40%

If we take the result of 21 and multiply by 1.40 we come out to 28, so with the Trustfire you will get equivalent battery life to the Provari with the 2000Mah battery.

The Trustfire are fine for vaping at any Voltage on single coil Cartomizers. I'm basing this on my previous test with Trustfire Batteries that showed that they were fine on the 3amp unit. I vaped using Trustfire Flame 14500 at 6V on a 1.8 Ohm Vivi Nova without incident. Using the 6V 1.8Ohm 3.33Amps 20 Watts as a benchmark. That translates to 4.8V on a dual coil 1.5Om and 4.06 Volts on a Dual Coil 1.25. It probably can go above that but experiment at your own risk.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
One other thought: The Xtar Charger has special algorithms to revive batteries between 2.5v and 3v if you run your batteries this low and don't have a Phase Charger there is a possibility that they won't come back. According to the tolerance of the AW IMR 14500 it is considered discharged at 2.5V so the beast almost took it to the point of no return.

 

[skelley]

Thanks tomzgreat for a very informational review.
I've been wanting a vv box mod for some time now and this looks like the device I've been waiting for.

 

[niczgreat]

Thanks tomzgreat for a very informational review.
I've been wanting a vv box mod for some time now and this looks like the device I've been waiting for.

Thanks Skelley, I really appreciated that you took a moment and expressed some nice words to me for the review, it made my day.

By the way, you are going to be very happy with the unit, it really is a Beast!!

 

[skelley]

Wowzers! Boy Tom you wasn't kidding. This unit is a Beast and I love it.
I was vaping 23watts most of the day and this unit didn't heat up at all. Unlike my other units that would get hot and then I would have to switch out so they could cool.
The kicker is that I wasn't even pushing the beast to the limit either. I think it was laughing at me...lol.
I'm back down to my normal 8 watt range now.
I love the small form factor and once I checked the voltage settings on the potentiometer, it's even easier than I thought to select my desired voltage.
I'm very happy with my device and thanks again for letting us know about it and what it's capable of.

Thanks Skelley, I really appreciated that you took a moment and expressed some nice words to me for the review, it made my day.

By the way, you are going to be very happy with the unit, it really is a Beast!!

 

[Rudy956]

Sounds like a nice pv might be purchasing this in the near future. Where did you purchase it from?

 

[skelley]

Home of the American Made SmokBox VariCool Custom APV. The NEW 6 amp "Beast" is in stock!
Welcome to SmokTek, LLC - The Better Smoking Alternative - Your source for personal vaporizers, e-cig supplies and e-liquids

 

[AaronY]

Think in a year they will update this to 7.5V and make the switch bigger? I like VV but I like vaping at 7.4V better. Just curious how long you think I am going to have to wait till there is a VV or VW device that can meet my needs?

 

[Rader2146]

7.5v would require 3 batteries and a different regulator, I don't see that happening outside of a DIY mod.

That resistance are you running at 7.4v?

 

[AaronY]

7.5v would require 3 batteries and a different regulator, I don't see that happening outside of a DIY mod.

That resistance are you running at 7.4v?

Can't they do that with 2 batteries with a booster. I read someplace that the zmax would do that. I use 2.4 - 3.5 ohm atties at 7.4V Here is a video of me with a 3.0 ohm atty at 7.4V. Some ejuice can't handel the wattage while some tastes amazing.

 

[A17kawboy]

If my math is correct you should be able to hit your maximum wattage on the Beast by using a 1.5ohm atomizer. That would be at 5.8volts pushing less than 4amps.

 

[skelley]

I am impressed again, I got a entire day and still going, of normal vaping from one charge. (4.2v w/ a 1.8ohm coil)
I could only get 3/4ths a day from my tube mod using a 2200mah 18650. So, whatever this device is doing, it's doing it right.
I gave my wife my tube mods. The first thing she said was, "wow, these things are heavy." One is a chrome tube mod and it gets extremely hot when vaping around it's amp limit.

I also like that the beast doesn't have a cut off time. I can stop my vape when 'I' want to stop and not have a device that interrupts a good vape.
The small form is light and it's nice to pop in you pocket and go. Not to mention that your pants pocket doesn't have a tube bulge.

This little box may be small in form, but it's big on performance.

 

[zoiDman]

How does a
"Varicool Beast Verse Provari in Xtreme Vaping" sound?
How does 8 Amp 48 Watt vaping sound?
Or even 9.6 Amp 57.6 Watt Vaping Sound.
...

Only 57.6 watts ?

OK. I guess that beats Dripping e-Liquids into a Toaster.

 

[skelley]

Now that the wife has my tube mods, she's cracking the adult pleasure device jokes...lol.
I told her that I've already heard them all at work. Being around construction workers, one things for sure, they'll tell you what they're thinking. If you don't believe me, find a group and walk by them vaping your tube mod, then come back here and tell us how many cat calls you got...lol.

 

[A17kawboy]

@skelley: what type of batteries are you using? I'm really interested in this mod but need to know what batteries to gear up with. TIA.

For those that are aware of the latest info on Vrms vs Vavg...any idea how the Beast performs in this sense? And how accurate is the inline voltmeter that Smoktek sells?

 

[skelley]

I got the IMR Efest 700mah. At first I was worried about normal vape time since my 2200mah 18650 wouldn't last me a day on my other mods, but the beast defies the norm.
My vape pace is about 7ml average/day and I was surprised when I got 15hrs of normal vaping use. So I totally believe the efficiency of the switching regulator.
I also have the rev2 inline meter and it is dead on with my multimeter and reads the Beast voltage also.

From what I understand from that thread, as long as your meter can read the voltage your are basically good to go.

 

[A17kawboy]

I got the IMR Efest 700mah. At first I was worried about normal vape time since my 2200mah 18650 wouldn't last me a day on my other mods, but the beast defies the norm.
My vape pace is about 7ml average/day and I was surprised when I got 15hrs of normal vaping use. So I totally believe the efficiency of the switching regulator.
I also have the rev2 inline meter and it is dead on with my multimeter and reads the Beast voltage also.

From what I understand from that thread, as long as your meter can read the voltage your are basically good to go.

Aaaahh. Ok then. That makes sense. Thanks for the information. Def gonna have to pick this badboy up.

 

[skelley]

I think you will like it, I know I do and I plan on getting another one very soon.
I also like the external led as it lets me know when the batts get low before the vape gets really anemic.

 

[A17kawboy]

Does the led go dim or? Also how do you find the wheel? Is it a bear to turn?

I ask about the wheel cause I work outside and cold stiff fingers aren't always dexterous. I think that's a word. LOL