VAMO - Questions and huge problems from a new owner

[kpurk]

Clearly I'm new to the forum, but I really hope I can find some advise here on my situation.

About two weeks ago I purchased a VAMO V5 from a local vendor, 2 18350 batteries, and 1 18650. Needless to say I was extremely excited to try the unit, and primarily expected to use my ProTank 2, and several ProTank 2 minis.

Immediately I noticed that I was getting a pretty substantial vape off of a 3 volt hit with the ProTank that the VAMO picked up at a correct 2.5 ohms. Though I primed the tank and wick with juice, the hit was also noticeably warm and relatively flavorless. Trying to move the voltage anywhere past 3.5 volts produces a very burnt taste.

Through the next week I experimented in every different configuration I could imagine to get to a favorable experience. The VAMO correctly reads all the resistances of the coils, and I've tried coils ranging from 1.5 to 2.6 both custom made and from Kanger. I paid special attention to ensuring the wicks were getting well saturated, and that includes several tries with removing a single flavor wick from the stock kanger heads. I've tried two different vendors of juices in both 50/50 and 80/20 mixes, and in several flavors. All in the ProTank or the minis, and all with the same results.

I contacted the vendor and through a long conversation he concluded that it was probably the ProTank, and a huge thanks to him for his time and effort, he sent me two SmokTech cartomizers (one a regular disposable and one tank system) and a Kanger T2 to test the VAMO out with. After testing each out, both the Kanger T2 and the non-tank cartomizer I would never have any need to move off of the 3 volt setting. They produced giant vapor and actually pretty reasonable taste at that voltage, but pretty immediately tasted very burnt if I moved to near 3.2 volts. Even at 3 volts if I would attempt to chain vape the juice would burn very quickly. The tank style cartomizer was much more resistant, and made it to 3.7 ish before burning.

So my question to all of you, what the heck should I do? I don't want to keep a defective mod thinking that's just how they are, and write off the entire VAMO line as "not for me". Do you think the unit is defective? Is that the expected vaping experience from a VAMO? I'm so let down by the experience because I really had high hopes for the VAMO, I'm pretty near giving up on it all together. Any suggestions on if you think it's working correctly would be amazing.

 

[SirSteve]

Did you check to see whether it is using RMS or MEAN?

Hold down the + or- button until you see the ohm or batt voltage respectively and keep holding... keep holding... keep holding and no1 or no2 will pop up. no1 is mean and no2 is rms. make sure it shows no2. No1 is known to overpower causing the same problems you are having.

If you have already done this here is a link to the Vamo sub forum. You won't be able to post in it, but you should be able to read it.

VAMO Best of luck.

 

[ad68]

Those numbers (voltage you're running at) sound pretty low to me... Never had burned hits in the 3V-ish range, assuming the carto/clearo has been filled & primed properly. Odd.

Your Vamo may fire higher than what you set it to? You could get one of those voltage check meters, you basically screw them between your Vamo and the carto. Should display the actual voltage under load.
On the other hand, as long as things are working fine in the 3V range, whatever, I'd just run it at 3V then. Only thing that matters is that you'r getting good vapor, TH & flavor. Best of luck.

 

[kpurk]

Did you check to see whether it is using RMS or MEAN?

Hold down the + or- button until you see the ohm or batt voltage respectively and keep holding... keep holding... keep holding and no1 or no2 will pop up. no1 is mean and no2 is rms. make sure it shows no2. No1 is known to overpower causing the same problems you are having.

If you have already done this here is a link to the Vamo sub forum. You won't be able to post in it, but you should be able to read it.

VAMO Best of luck.

Apologies, I can't believe I forgot that tidbit. Yes I absolutely have been running in RMS, though I should note I've also tested MEAN just in case there was some major performance difference. In MEAN the unit's issues are aggravated several fold.

 

[Ed_C]

Something does not sound right. 3.5V at 2.5 ohms is less that 5W. I'm not sure what would burn at such a low wattage.

 

[evan le'garde]

So with all the hardware you've got you still get crappy results !.

Well it isn't the hardware !. It's the liquid you're using.

Try a different liquid vendor. Also see if you can get some vg liquid instead.

 

[JeremyR]

Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear your having problems. Many if us do when we first start. But once you get stuff figured out you'll be doing pretty good.

Sounds like you are having a wicking problem. If you have proper wicking you can take em up to pretty high voltages. 3 v is really really low for a 2.5 ohm. Have you tried the variable wattage mode? Try that at 7-8 watts and it should be fine.

 

[WindyCityJoe]

I have a Vamo V2 and use the pt 2's on it with 2.5 coils and it works flawlessely in the 7 watt range, great vapor and taste. Might be something wrong with your V5, which battery configuration are you using? I only use the single 18650.

 

[Jake6731]

I use my Vamo in regulated power (watts) mode and have had great luck. As someone else posted, perhaps it is the liquid you are using. I have been very happy with mine after several months of use, and find that anywhere between 8 -10 watts works for me and the liquids I am using.

 

[kpurk]

Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear your having problems. Many if us do when we first start. But once you get stuff figured out you'll be doing pretty good.

Sounds like you are having a wicking problem. If you have proper wicking you can take em up to pretty high voltages. 3 v is really really low for a 2.5 ohm. Have you tried the variable wattage mode? Try that at 7-8 watts and it should be fine.

Wicking was one of my initial inclinations too. I've been trying to eliminate that concern by trying a few custom built heads with both hollow core EkoWool, solid core, and with varying amounts of added flavor wicks with different packed amounts from gurgling juice to definitely too packed to wick properly. I've even gone as far as dripping juice onto the wick and coil, placing it into a 2/3 full tank and letting it sit for an hour.

So with all the hardware you've got you still get crappy results !.

Well it isn't the hardware !. It's the liquid you're using.

Try a different liquid vendor. Also see if you can get some vg liquid instead.

That's absolutely the nagging concern in my mind, and the primary reason why I haven't just returned the unit already. I've been testing with a variety of the relatively cheap Mount Baker Vapor juices, because the testing process can cause so much wasted product.

 

[Jake6731]

I notice that you didn't mention if you have another power source to try the Pro Tank on. if you have a twist or even a standard 3.7 volt battery, how does it perform?

 

[kpurk]

I have a Vamo V2 and use the pt 2's on it with 2.5 coils and it works flawlessely in the 7 watt range, great vapor and taste. Might be something wrong with your V5, which battery configuration are you using? I only use the single 18650.

I've tried two 18350 Efest IMR Flattop 800 mAh Cells, and a single 18650 Trustfire 3000 mAh Cell. After reading up on some concerns the two battery configuration has, I've largely stuck to the single cell setup.

When I run in variable power mode I can't seem to get much above 4-4.5 watts without causing issues. Taste can be so subjective it's hard to put an exact number to it.

 

[kpurk]

I notice that you didn't mention if you have another power source to try the Pro Tank on. if you have a twist or even a standard 3.7 volt battery, how does it perform?

That's a great point. I'm a regular vaper on a 3.7 volt battery in which all the ProTanks seem to do very well. Especially, I should note, the two Protank 2 Minis I have. Excellent flavor and a pretty solid vapor amount.

 

[Jake6731]

It might be pretty hard to do any in depth troubleshooting of the Vamo with out some serious test equipment. But, if you have a fully charged 3.7 volt battery and a ProTank that is giving you good performance on that, and then place the same tank on the Vamo set to 3.7, and it is way off, there may in fact be something amiss with the Vamo. Difficult to say for certain without some type of test box..

 

[evan le'garde]

Wicking was one of my initial inclinations too. I've been trying to eliminate that concern by trying a few custom built heads with both hollow core EkoWool, solid core, and with varying amounts of added flavor wicks with different packed amounts from gurgling juice to definitely too packed to wick properly. I've even gone as far as dripping juice onto the wick and coil, placing it into a 2/3 full tank and letting it sit for an hour.

Evan le'garde - That's absolutely the nagging concern in my mind, and the primary reason why I haven't just returned the unit already. I've been testing with a variety of the relatively cheap Mount Baker Vapor juices, because the testing process can cause so much wasted product.

I use a vamo v4. Got a protank 1 and II i use on it. Been using various flavours in 5ml sizes. A lot of them i simply don't like the taste of and simply don't satisfy. A couple did and i'll buy them again.

Today i tried a flavour called "Almond". A clear liquid i thought would be ok. So i filled my protank II with it and straight away it didn't produce much vapour at all. I knew straight away it was the liquid. I'd been using the protank for months so it isn't that. Gave the tank a shake to see how runny the liquid is and as it turned out it was far too thin, far too thin for vg anyway. It's supposed to be 100% vg but this stuff clearly had too much water in it. So i emptied the tank gave it a good clean out and started on the next flavour. I'm not going to waste any time messing about with that almond crap and that's that. I just won't buy it again. Way it goes !.

If you're buying cheap liquids then maybe your problem is similar and there's too much water in the mix.

 

[Bunnykiller]

Been using a Vamo3 for several months now and very happy with it. I primarily run mine in power (watt) mode. PT2 and Protanks are iffy when it comes to good juice flow, not much wick and restrictions abound... Chain vaping with PT's can cause burn problems or on the otherside gurgling... not really a happy medium alot of the time... I switched over to an RSST tank and a Kayfun Clone The PT's are now in the retirement home

 

[kpurk]

Been using a Vamo3 for several months now and very happy with it. I primarily run mine in power (watt) mode. PT2 and Protanks are iffy when it comes to good juice flow, not much wick and restrictions abound... Chain vaping with PT's can cause burn problems or on the otherside gurgling... not really a happy medium alot of the time... I switched over to an RSST tank and a Kayfun Clone The PT's are now in the retirement home

I think I might be near that point myself. I have a Kayfun lite clone on the way as we speak. Also going to try a Vivi nova just for the fun of it.

 

[evan le'garde]

Been using a Vamo3 for several months now and very happy with it. I primarily run mine in power (watt) mode. PT2 and Protanks are iffy when it comes to good juice flow, not much wick and restrictions abound... Chain vaping with PT's can cause burn problems or on the otherside gurgling... not really a happy medium alot of the time... I switched over to an RSST tank and a Kayfun Clone The PT's are now in the retirement home

I use an AGA T2 and most of the time use the same flavour, which incidentally is my current favourite. But i also use protanks. In one of them i use the same flavour all the time, 100% vg "babana nut bread". Don't have any problems with it at all. The other protank is what i use for all the new juices i buy to try. Sometimes it works perfectly, depends on the current liquid. Right now i'm vaping a flavour called "honey nut" 100% vg. It's the right thickness for the protank and vapes like you'd expect. I'm liking it and will probably buy it again.

I've read a lot of posts where people have said their protank leaks and gurgles and doesn't produce any vapour, all of them use a high ratio pg liquid. Protanks or bottom coil clearo's just don't handle pg at all well. The stuff just doesn't work in a protank !. Gravity is the fundamental cause of the problem.

 

[JeremyR]

Do you still have the protank? V1 v2 or v3 ?

The vamo is pwm and pulses 6 volt bursts, some people don't like it.

 

[BaDaBooM]

I have had the same issues with the evods and the protanks until I used cotton for wicks with a micro coil (RIP Trippers made a video with this setup Ill try and find it), problem I have now is that they can flood so I pretty much gave up on kanger bottom coiled products and switched to the kayfun's (big price jumped but they always work).

Another thing to note is that the rubber insulator in the kanger coil heads can burn and will give off a horrible burnt taste and will never go away until replace it with a new insulator or replace the head.

This a shot in the dark and somebody smarter than me will probably chime in, the vamo has a pulse width modulation chip so the volts spike to regulate the output voltage this could fry the juice or the insulator maybe? and give burnt taste. But wouldn't think it would regulate anything if you have it set so low.
When I use my vamo v5 (same with my zmax v5) above 9 watts the vapor is more harsh than when I use a dna20 mod and it sounds like crackling juice.