Vapor Flask V3 DNA40 Clone thread

[dwcraig1]

This is the first time I had the batteries out since putting them in, they both read the same.

A cheap but good enough meter from Harbor Freight ($20)
I'm looking at that big long piece of Ecowool, where did that come from? The strap from my camera....duh

 

[TheBloke]

Great, thanks both!

So just so I'm clear - it's simply DC Voltage mode, with the red lead on the battery positive and the black on the negative? Simple as that?

EDIT: Yes that works!

 

[rks1949]

Oh they don't, I didn't even notice that haha. There is a slot for it in the box, though. The manual has no kind of "Included" list, so no help either way.

@nelsonm64 - first battery charging result is good:

I took my batteries out just now, after they'd been in about 10 hours. I had not been vaping exclusively on the device for the whole time, but I would say at least 85% of it.

At the point I removed them, the battery indicator was around 50%, and had been there for a couple of hours at least.

On the charger, both showed 3.6V. Unfortunately my Lucv4 only shows one decimal place, so I can't be more accurate than that. But practically every time I've removed batteries on the Waidea (and my IPV4 for that matter) they've showed 0.1 apart.

I believe there's a way of testing battery voltage using a DMM? I have a fairly accurate, 22000 count DMM - if anyone can tell me how to use that to get a two-decimal-place reading of their voltage, I'd be glad and interested to do it.

Given the first result was good, I will now let my second freshly charged pair of Samsung 25Rs drain until Weak Battery before checking again, so that will (hopefully) be in about 24 hours time.

I'm in the process of running my second set of battries down to the low voltage (weak battery display) point to see what they measure on the nitecore charger. The first set I removed at "what looked like" 50% on the display,and they read 3.75Volts each.

 

[TheBloke]

@nelsonm64

OK so I did both batteries on the DMM and here's what we have (with a reminder of the overall situation):

• Two fully charged Samsung 25Rs put in this morning at ~ 10:30
• Removed from mod at ~ 20:30, having been vaped on for ~9 of the preceding 10 hours (the other hour I was intermittently puffing on other devices)
  • There was approximately 3 seconds of single-battery vaping on each battery - two single-tube tests, one per battery. The rest was normal parallel vaping.
• Put on charger, both showed 3.6V
• Left on charger for 20 minutes
• Taken off charger and tested properly with DMM
• DMM Result:
  • Battery 1: 3.731
  • Battery 2: 3.719

So this test has been polluted in two ways: a couple of single-tube tests, which should balance out but might not exactly; and I put them on the charger for 20 minutes before testing them with the DMM - you'd think the charger would charge both identically, but we can't assume it.

With those caveats in mind, I think the result is very promising - 0.012 difference between the batteries.

I will repeat the test, without any pollution, when my newly charged set again reads roughly 50% - tomorrow morning I'm guessing.

 

[TheBloke]

Some further general, uncategorised observations:

• There might be some kind of Refinement, if by Refinement we mean "the resistance can go lower than it was when you first put the atty on"
  • I have no genuine DNA 40 so please correct me if this is not what 'refinement' means! :
  • Example:
    • I have a 0.09 Ni200 build on the Infinite, which has been there several hours - reading 0.09 consistently
    • I just changed my batteries
    • After I put the new set in, the resistance read 0.10 - because the board reset on new batteries, and the atty had not cooled down fully in the time it took me to change
    • I vaped a few times on 0.10
    • Some minutes later, I notice the resistance is now reading 0.09.
• There is no kind of startup message, like the "DNA 40" or "KX DNA 40" of the other VF clones and original
  • It just goes from blank screen to normal display the first time you hit fire.
• I earlier mentioned very tight battery tubes - on further usage it's not quite as bad as I first thought
  • Firstly it's loosening up with repeated battery changes
  • Secondly I just realised that one of my original batteries has a small section of wrap raised up a little, on its top plate (that's the IPV4's ribbon's fault)
  • Putting in the second set I thus found a bit easier, and in particular the '510 tube' was not quite as stiff as the first time I used it - that raised-wrap battery was in that 510 tube
  • It's still far, far tighter/shorter than the Waidea, though - you need a good pressure on your thumb, pushing and turning at the same time, to get the cap to grip and hold.
• The Infinite is taller than the Waidea by 1mm or so
  • So in the case of the battery tubes, it's not that they're actually shorter, but rather that they have less usable length - because of that chunky brass pin-on-a-spring I expect
  • Other measurements seem to be near enough identical - the bottoms line up against each other exactly
  • And the up/down buttons are identically positioned, both relative to each other, and relative to the top of the flasks
  • (I'd check this exactly if the damn 300mm digital calipers I recently bought hadn't been DOA )
• The fire button sticks out a long way - it's like a little pixie hat!
  • Or, frankly, a bit boob-like
  • It's perfectly smooth and comfortable, but it's at least twice as deep as the Waidea's button, maybe 2.5 times
  • Bit of an odd design choice
• In contrast, the up/down buttons are flusher than the Waidea - and therefore provide a little less tactile feel, and require a harder press to engage
  • You have to push your thumb in harder to engage them, because nothing is sticking out to connect with your thumb until it's pressing harder
  • Less nice to use day to day, but will likely reduce the chance of accidental presses.
  • Both buttons sit the same, rather than having one raised like the Waidea and the genuine Vapor Flask.
• I really like the feel of it in my hand - the finish is smooth, real smooth
  • Compared to the (black) Waidea which looks smooth, but feels slightly less so when you run your finger over it
  • It's hard to describe, and I don't have the vocabulary of metals/finishes to explain it well
  • But I do find that my finger glides smoothly over the Infinite, where on the Waidea it's more likely to 'jar' and almost stick, so it doesn't move completely fluidly

 

[dwcraig1]

Boobs are good

 

[TheBloke]

Can't argue with that

 

[Spidey2011]

The Chinese EFest and Nitecore chargers work great. Oh, and Opus.

You'll not trust the charging board in your mod but you will trust it to fire 20A into a metal coil inches from your face?

Yep. I don't trust any built in charger. Look at the istick 50's for a perfect example of why.

 

[AtmizrOpin]

I managed to separate the ribbon cable from the LCD on my Kangxin flask. Does anyone know how to reattach it?

If you separated the ribbon cable from the OLED you're in trouble. I'm almost positive you need to order a new screen. I think Evolv sells them for around $10.

 

[diceman1000]

So, as of right now, I'm running a 10 wrap, 28ga ni200, 3mm diameter coil in my ST Mini wicked with Japanese cotton, 470 degrees at 24.5 watts and it's vaping pretty decent... What would be the ideal temp and wattage for this build?

Sent from my LGUS990 using Tapatalk

 

[nelsonm64]

Oh they don't, I didn't even notice that haha. There is a slot for it in the box, though. The manual has no kind of "Included" list, so no help either way.

@nelsonm64 - first battery charging result is good:

I took my batteries out just now, after they'd been in about 10 hours. I had not been vaping exclusively on the device for the whole time, but I would say at least 85% of it.

At the point I removed them, the battery indicator was around 50%, and had been there for a couple of hours at least.

On the charger, both showed 3.6V. Unfortunately my Lucv4 only shows one decimal place, so I can't be more accurate than that. But practically every time I've removed batteries on the Waidea (and my IPV4 for that matter) they've showed 0.1 apart.

I believe there's a way of testing battery voltage using a DMM? I have a fairly accurate, 22000 count DMM - if anyone can tell me how to use that to get a two-decimal-place reading of their voltage, I'd be glad and interested to do it.

Given the first result was good, I will now let my second freshly charged pair of Samsung 25Rs drain until Weak Battery before checking again, so that will (hopefully) be in about 24 hours time.

thanks so much for checking into that for me, I really appreciate it man! NOW I can order one

 

[aldenf]

So, as of right now, I'm running a 10 wrap, 28ga ni200, 3mm diameter coil in my ST Mini wicked with Japanese cotton, 470 degrees at 24.5 watts and it's vaping pretty decent... What would be the ideal temp and wattage for this build?

Sent from my LGUS990 using Tapatalk

Ideal temp and wattage for what purpose? Flavor? Vapor production? PG/VG ratio? Tobacco, bakery, fruit flavors? I guess what I'm trying to say is there are many variables, including your personal preference of vape style and flavor profiles... I like to set TP to 500 deg and fire at 20W. There's a point where the temp will balance out (probably lower than 500 deg). That's the ideal for your build. Lower the TP to 10-20 deg above that and vape away... You may have to play a bit with your wattage afterward, probably by lowering it a couple of W. Again, it depends on many factors...

 

[seanol]

TheBloke,
Great review! Thank you so much! Now I can't wait for mine to ship. I am going to Ireland next Monday for the week for work so I'm sure I am going to miss it in the mail but I am very excited to get it and see how TC vapes.

If only I could expedite shipping from China. Not going to happen at $30!

Thanks,
Sean

 

[TheBloke]

TheBloke,
Great review! Thank you so much! Now I can't wait for mine to ship. I am going to Ireland next Monday for the week for work so I'm sure I am going to miss it in the mail but I am very excited to get it and see how TC vapes.

If only I could expedite shipping from China. Not going to happen at $30!

Thanks,
Sean

Great stuff, I'm sure you'll love it!

Do they not offer any kind of faster to the US? Besides the super expensive DHL, that is.

In the UK we have "ePacket to UK" which is only $2.50 (or $3 on Focal) and it makes all the difference in the world - I get stuff in 5-9 days, depending on where the weekends fall.

Hammy75 is in Canada and I think he said he had a similar ePacket option - might also be called EMS. Probably won't be quite as fast to the US as to the UK, but certainly quicker than the basic free shipping.

 

[seanol]

The only choice I had was epacket for no cost. Next lowest was $30 DHL. I can be patient. What will be hard is not buying anything in Ireland!

Sean

 

[rks1949]

I finally ran my Sony VTC 5 batteries down to the "weak battery" display (vaping like a mad man). I put them on the nitecore charger one at a time. Both read exactly 3.45 volts! That seems a little too low to me,and from now on I will replace them at about 80% (or 1/4) battery symbol left on the display. It took me over 10 hrs. of almost constant chain vaping.

 

[TheBloke]

I finally ran my Sony VTC 5 batteries down to the "weak battery" display (vaping like a mad man). I put them on the nitecore charger one at a time. Both read exactly 3.45 volts! That seems a little too low to me,and from now on I will replace them at about 80% (or 1/4) battery symbol left on the display. It took me over 10 hrs. of almost constant chain vaping.

Hehe 3.45v is low? I vape mine down to 3.2V which is when I normally get Weak Battery - sometimes 3.1V on the IPV4.

I read a lot of reviews on a site called lygate.dk, he's a flashlight guy who has extensively tested hundreds of batteries and chargers. He tests that they will drain down to their spec level of 2.9v, and usually confirms that he can continue to drain them even lower without problems (down to 2.5v on the Samsung 25Rs I believe.)

I don't fully understand why it's a problem going down to 3.1 or even lower volts, at least on mods which don't sag at lower volts? I guess the battery doesn't last as long - but how much less are we talking? If it's the difference between lasting two months and a year, then OK that's fair enough. But I'm thinking it's more like 6 months versus a year, or that sort of magnitude? In which case, at £5/$8 per battery, I'd rather have the convenience of far fewer swap outs at the cost of re-buying twice a year rather than once a year (or whatever it works out to.)

Am I way out on these estimates?

 

[diceman1000]

Is the IPV 4 a better option for TC?

Sent from my LGUS990 using Tapatalk

 

[ThunderDan]

Is the IPV 4 a better option for TC?

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Its a different option. Some prefer the yihi method of TC, others prefer the Evolv method of TC, or in this case the clone of the evolv method.

 

[diceman1000]

My flask is doing some weird stuff. It's randomly switching to kanthal mode and I have to take the atty off and put it back on, sometimes several time, to get it back... It also will not fire out of locked mode if it sets too long, after five clicks to unlock it immediately displays "TEMPERATURE PROTECTION"... I think it's probably going back...

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