Lavatube

Bubba9

I see that Irish Vapers are taking orders for the Lavatube. Good to see an Irish supplier getting hold of this.

tommy2bad

Good to see that.
Pity its 30 dec for expected delivery, 'cos for the 63E with batts and charger it not much more than an ego kit.

Bubba9

The specs seem to be copied from Provari's e.g.:

"If the activation button is held down for 10 seconds or longer, the ProVari will shut itself off until the button is released."

mrplop

I received my Lavatube today and it's a top piece of kit, at the prices they're being sold at you can't go wrong. It's nicely made and the throat hit/vapour is frightening.

It's makes an ego with an LR atty feel like a 510 with a knackered battery.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

mrplop wrote: »

It's makes an ego with an LR atty feel like a 510 with a knackered battery.

*bounce* *bounce* *bounce*

pretty much what I wanted from it.. hurry the hell up 2smok!

Bubba9

Got mine today too. It won't win any prizes for design and probably won't stand up to rough treatment but it's good value for variable voltage. Well pleased with it.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

in one of the intro videos for it the guy said he was trying to find ways to break it, to see how sturdy it was and he hadn't succeeded

during the video he just flings it up into the air over his shoulder and lets it crash on the ground, then picks it up and vapes

tbh, there's not many electronic devices these days that could survive that

Bubba9

The body itself looks sturdy enough. I'd be more concerned about the spring and the buttons. Have you a link to that video?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cT1tnvNEUM

mrplop

Don't know why everyone is going on about the spring - unless you're going to hang a ten pound weight off it, it's not a problem and it never will be.
Okay, the screen isn't made from diamond and the buttons aren't hand cut from unicorn horn like they are on the Provari.
It costs less than an ego set so it's not a problem.
It's very sturdy and not in the least bit shoddy, as far as performance is concerned - it's only .25 of a volt lower than the Provari at it's highest setting.
Vaping at 6 volts tastes pretty nasty anyway...

At the end of the day this performs every bit as well as the Provari - they're both just batteries with voltage regulators after all.

Most of the people that slag this device off are ProVari owners and I can only attribute that to snobbery or buyers remorse.

sparkemo

I was wondering how others are getting on with their Lavatube.
Have mine about 3 weeks now and have very mixed feelings on it.
I really wanted this to be my main device, Like the build etc. and variable voltage (issues here).
I've changed to standard Boge cartos (chibi tanks arivved this morning ) as dual coils are a non runner with the lavatube.
Lavatube says it has 2.5 amp load but the max voltage I can set with a standard 3 ohm boge is 4.7-4.8 volts and with a 2.7 ohm carto is 4.2-4.3 volts. The sums don't add up,( Ohm's law V/I=R).
This is well below 2.5 amps.:mad:
I have measured the cartos resistance with my multimeter to be sure.
I find about 4.5 v to be my sweetspot.
I have tried the same cartos on my box mod (3 amp max) and have the full voltage range.
Is there something I'm missing about the Lavatube or are the specs wrong ?
Also if I set the voltage too high it just shuts off, it doesn't default to a safe setting as it says and I have to remove the battery to reset it :mad:.
Anyone else having these issues ?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

fraid i cant help you with any of that.. dont know a damn thing about the magic we call electricity

the lavatube shutting off after you set the voltage too high just sounds wrong though.. you may have got a defective unit?
post on the official lavatube forums, or email the vendor you bought it from as that *never* happens to me

sparkemo

Have been googling a bit more about it and it's a possibility that the battery Im using is protected and the battery is cutting out at lower amps, not the lavatube.
Will have to get proper IMR high drain battery to check.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

http://www.flashaholics.co.uk/ have them cheap enough. postage only takes a few days too

sparkemo

Thanks for the link Sir DCC.
Hope to get it next week.

Bubba9

Not sure if this is useful but at least it's unique and some of the comments might be helpful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19RD-YfbJ0U

mrplop

I inquired about a different version not made by L-Rider and was sent some photos from China. I think the Chinese vendor will have problems with customs in all the various territories if they use the name on the customs form -it's called the Superbomb!

Get a load of this; The OLED screen displays date and time, the amount of puffs you've had, the battery level and when you switch it off it says 'goodbye my master'.

Seriously.

They wanted $100 for a sample so I'm giving it a miss.

Not seen big pictures of this device anywhere and these are okay sized - where's the main button?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

goodbye my master, lol

sparkemo

Lavatube is OK.
It turns out the batteries I was using were at fault alright.
Cheap ebay batteries are exactly that (cheap ****ty ebay batteries)
You get what you pay for I suppose.
All is well again .

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

excellent. the 'tubes a great piece of kit, glad to hear yours wasnt faulty

sparkemo

Yes, they are excellent now that I have the full voltage range.
It's nice to be able to adjust the hit from it according to my mood.:eek:

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

yeah, though i've yet to find a carto or juice that tastes great at 6v. I tend to stay between4.4 and 5, generally 5 for my tobaccos and the fruity juices somewhere in the 4's

sparkemo

Yes, I agree.
5.0 volts would be my max as well but the crappy battery was cutting out at 4.4 most of the time.

andyeire

I have a lava tube with the batteries that came with it. Could anybody recommend replace ments for them the ones I have don't seem to be working great.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

http://www.flashaholics.co.uk/batteries/aw-imr18650.html

they are the ones that were originally meant to come with the lavatube
safer chemistry than standard li-ion batteries, so if they do develop a fault they are far less likely to go on fire or explode and take your hand off

andyeire

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

http://www.flashaholics.co.uk/batteries/aw-imr18650.html

they are the ones that were originally meant to come with the lavatube
safer chemistry than standard li-ion batteries, so if they do develop a fault they are far less likely to go on fire or explode and take your hand off

They look identical to ones I was supplied with down to position of AW sticker. Is there any way of telling if they ARE any better than the ones I have?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

the fake ones have a flat top and the real ones have a little nipple on one end

sparkemo

Have heard good things about the panasonic cgr18650ch batteries (8 dollars each from the US).
I got fed up waiting for mine to be delivered ( according to usps tracking no. my parcel has been getting a suntan in Miami for the past 3 weeks).

I took apart an old laptop battery (very carefully) last week and to my suprise all six batteries inside (samsung icr18650 2200mah) were good.
I have been testing them all week and they all hold their charger extremely well.
They are perfect for my Lavatube , I get almost 2 full days vaping from one charge.

derra

mrplop wrote: »

Supposed to be in stock soon from this vendor...
the HOWITZER VV Mod
http://www.safercigs.co.uk/the_HOWITZER_VV_Mod/cat705284_1140657.aspx#

nesf

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

the fake ones have a flat top and the real ones have a little nipple on one end

Are the ones on the IrishVapers site fake then? I was just about to buy some etc.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

well no, they're not fake in that they're not aw branded batteries but they are lithium ion batteries rather than the aw IMR batteries with the safer chemistry which the lavatubes were originally supposed to be shipped with.

dunno if IV's batts are protected or not actually

andyeire

Trying to get hold of a Lavatube for a friend does anybody know anywhere they are in stock?
Irish retailer if possible wanted to get it in next week or so.

Green Hornet

Don't Irish Vapers have it?

Tom123

Green Hornet wrote: »

Don't Irish Vapers have it?

Out of stock.

derra

Liberty Flights do free delivery to Ireland.
I think ecr69 is a discount code for there but definitely get one as there is loads of discount codes for there.
Would'nt be longer than a week waiting.
http://www.liberty-flights.co.uk/

Body only.
Trustfire charger available there also for cheap.

Get the batteries elsewhere, links in the thread here for good ones.

tommy2bad

derra wrote: »

Liberty Flights do free delivery to Ireland.
I think ecr69 is a discount code for there but definitely get one as there is loads of discount codes for there.
Would'nt be longer than a week waiting.
http://www.liberty-flights.co.uk/

Body only.
Trustfire charger available there also for cheap.

Get the batteries elsewhere, links in the thread here for good ones.

That discount code is worth 15% (it's working, I just tried it )
I selected the lava tube body and batterys and charger all went into the cart at the same time. With the code 56 GBP, google tell me thats 56 British pounds = 66.8237792 Euros
Not bad.

derra

tommy2bad wrote: »

That discount code is worth 15% (it's working, I just tried it )
I selected the lava tube body and batterys and charger all went into the cart at the same time. With the code 56 GBP, google tell me thats 56 British pounds = 66.8237792 Euros
Not bad.

Good stuff, when ya register you can join their affiliate scheme, so there is loads of registered users giving out their codes.
ecr69 is yer man Scott that does the reviews and i think it works for various sites that is mentioned on his site.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

well, broke my lavatube

guess I dropped it from my desk slightly too many times
the top bit kept falling off, exposing the red and black wires inside but it never actually broke before
this time however the black cable has frayed apart so there's no power going to the atomiser connector
poop

tommy2bad

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

well, broke my lavatube

guess I dropped it from my desk slightly too many times
the top bit kept falling off, exposing the red and black wires inside but it never actually broke before
this time however the black cable has frayed apart so there's no power going to the atomiser connector
poop

Super glue is your friend. Well woulda been now you need soldering skilz.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

dad probably knows someone who could solder it for me

where do I solder it too though

actually I think I see where
the red cable is going into a little hole, and there are some wire ends sticking out of a lump of metal beside that hole which I assume is what my black cable split from

just stuck the battery back in and fiddled about with the wire.. yeah thats where its supposed to go.
least I know what to do now.. doing it will likely prove trickier

anybody got one of these?

http://www.ivapour-elixir.co.uk/acccessories/lavatube/mini-lavatube-kit.html

you can get 1200mah batteries in that size I think. Are the batteries that come with the lavatube kits always crap? are any li-ion rechargeables ok -> what is the consequence of not using awr ones?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

well.. friend of dads can solder it hopefully
for now... back to the ego's and dual coils
in the future I will be more careful with my expensive things... or at least chop out a small groove in the wood of my desk for the lavatube to sit and not roll everywhere

--edit

as far as I know, li-ions are actually ok, it's just they're not as safe as imr's. so you have to be sure your charger is good, and that it's not overcharging them. and you have to be careful not to drain them too much when using them, if they get too charged or too undercharged it can be dangerous.

i think high drain imr's hold their charge a little better too.. like there'll be less of a drop in performance as the charge drains compared to a non high-drain which would drop in performance sooner

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

omg
i dont know if it's just because ive been vaping at 5 volts for the past few months or because this dual coil/battery is ****ed but this isn't very good at all

--edit

well, dad got a friend of his to solder it together and it broke apart after 5 minutes so I just fiddled about with it myself. it's not sealed to it properly it's just kinda leaning against it, but it's vaping away
when i have the money i'll get a new lavatube body but until then ill just have to be as delicate as I can be

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

glasso wrote: »

anybody got one of these?

http://www.ivapour-elixir.co.uk/acccessories/lavatube/mini-lavatube-kit.html

you can get 1200mah batteries in that size I think. Are the batteries that come with the lavatube kits always crap? are any li-ion rechargeables ok -> what is the consequence of not using awr ones?

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/e-cigarette-video-reviews/265777-pbusardo-review-vz-vv-tube-mod-aka-lavatube-full-vs-mini-vaping-zone.html

busardo does a long ass review/comparison of the vz vv tube mods reguylar and mini version. they're lavatubes basically so I'd say most/all of what he says applies

sparkemo

glasso wrote: »

anybody got one of these?

http://www.ivapour-elixir.co.uk/acccessories/lavatube/mini-lavatube-kit.html

you can get 1200mah batteries in that size I think. Are the batteries that come with the lavatube kits always crap? are any li-ion rechargeables ok -> what is the consequence of not using awr ones?

I am using non AW Imr batteries in mine with no problem and very happy with them.
The AWs are supposed to be very good performers but I can't make any comparison as I don't have one.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/e-cigarette-video-reviews/265777-pbusardo-review-vz-vv-tube-mod-aka-lavatube-full-vs-mini-vaping-zone.html

busardo does a long ass review/comparison of the vz vv tube mods reguylar and mini version. they're lavatubes basically so I'd say most/all of what he says applies

cheers. already have a 18350 charger and some batts (850mah liion) and have some cartos so don't need the kit so would be handy just to buy the mini lavatube - just the tube.

sparkemo

glasso wrote: »

cheers. already have a 18350 charger and some batts (850mah liion) and have some cartos so don't need the kit so would be handy just to buy the mini lavatube - just the tube.

Just make sure the batteries you have can deliver the current needed to grt the full range of voltages.
Each battery has a C discharge rating (google your make), eg 850mah = .85 amps for 1C, 1.7 amps for 2C etc.
The LT limits the output Current to 2.5 amps with its protection circuit which equates to 3 to 4 amps from the battery at higher voltages.
Protected batteries may not deliver enough current due to their own built-in circuit protection.

sparkemo

sparkemo wrote: »

Just make sure the batteries you have can deliver the current needed to grt the full range of voltages.
Each battery has a C discharge rating (google your make), eg 850mah = .85 amps for 1C, 1.7 amps for 2C etc.
The LT limits the output Current to 2.5 amps with its protection circuit which equates to 3 to 4 amps from the battery at higher voltages.
Protected batteries may not deliver enough current due to their own built-in circuit protection.

no make it's generic - can't find a c rating - it's this battery. cheap so mabye not that good?

http://www.chinatoysfinder.com/product/4x-RECHARGEABLE-CR123A-3-0V-3v-850mAh-123A-LI-BATTERY-725.html

glasso

glasso wrote: »

no make it's generic - can't find a c rating - it's this battery. cheap so mabye not that good?

http://www.chinatoysfinder.com/product/4x-RECHARGEABLE-CR123A-3-0V-3v-850mAh-123A-LI-BATTERY-725.html

more info here

http://www.dhgate.com/100pcs-rechargeable-bty-batteries-lir123a/p-ff80808128ed9626012913192c490031.html

no discharge rate stil tho. have read that most li-ion batts are 500ma discharge tho - not enough?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

well
dropped the damn thing again and now the red wire detached
so both black and red wires arenot soldered to anything, i've managed to get it firing by just forcing both wires into their proper areas

hopefully it doesn't short out and blow up on me

ah screw it its hardly worth the risk
ill just bin it
back to ego's and dual coils for the forseeable future

sparkemo

Don't bin it so quickly.
Im sure a 510 battery connection, a bit of solder and a bit of resin would fix it nicely.