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Breaktru Forum  |  eCigarette Forum  |  Modding  |  Topic: ZMax V2 in a Box
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Author Topic: ZMax V2 in a Box  (Read 79593 times)

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Offline fsors

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #50 on: March 06, 2013, 03:29:07 AM »
In fact I am in hope he will post a tutorial on this soon  ;hubba; :yes" ;hubba;

Offline tmassey

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #51 on: May 21, 2013, 09:45:21 PM »
 ONOW THAT I HAVE SECURED MINE. madvapes is selling these z max v2 boards at $20. http://www.madvapes.com/zmax-variable-volt-pcb.html   have been wanting to try a zmax for a while now but refuse to pay 80 dollars or more, especially since i assume the dna 20 will put it to shame,i just want to know first hand lol

Online Breaktru

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #52 on: May 22, 2013, 08:35:48 AM »
ONOW THAT I HAVE SECURED MINE. madvapes is selling these z max v2 boards at $20. http://www.madvapes.com/zmax-variable-volt-pcb.html   have been wanting to try a zmax for a while now but refuse to pay 80 dollars or more, especially since i assume the dna 20 will put it to shame,i just want to know first hand lol

Thanks for the link to MV. Nice find  :thumbsup:

Offline charming

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #53 on: May 22, 2013, 10:53:43 AM »
ONOW THAT I HAVE SECURED MINE. madvapes is selling these z max v2 boards at $20. http://www.madvapes.com/zmax-variable-volt-pcb.html   have been wanting to try a zmax for a while now but refuse to pay 80 dollars or more, especially since i assume the dna 20 will put it to shame,i just want to know first hand lol

For 20 bucks, it's worth a shot at building one. Probably use a small box for the ease of building one like breaktru did. I can always use a backup mod on hand

Offline tmassey

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #54 on: May 22, 2013, 06:34:48 PM »
kinda my thinking too. might try an an 18650 z max altoidss gum tin

Offline charming

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #55 on: May 22, 2013, 07:59:21 PM »
kinda my thinking too. might try an an 18650 z max altoidss gum tin

Cool, sounds good. Are you gonna use the on-board tact or external?

Offline tmassey

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #56 on: May 23, 2013, 10:11:54 AM »
im thinking the onboard if i can get away with it will have to see if its flush with the screen

Online Breaktru

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #57 on: October 08, 2013, 02:11:24 PM »
Went to use my mod today and it did not work. Only seen 3 bars across the display.
I un-soldered the li-po battery and re-soldered in hopes that it would reset the controller which it did not.
I then played around with the menu and found that menu #3 was set to OFF. Turned it on and it's working fine.
I have no idea how that happened but all is good now.


Offline berger

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #58 on: October 14, 2013, 03:16:20 PM »
Yea, thats the display it makes when the display is turned off via the menu..:) (one would think it meant off off LOL)
These chips seem to be hit and miss from the dozen or so ive dealt with, but it usually shows up very soon if its faulty...goes up in smoke within the first few minutes on 3 of them I had that were bad...I have another that went about 6 months and then quit  raged:
« Last Edit: October 14, 2013, 03:19:43 PM by berger »

Online Breaktru

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #59 on: October 14, 2013, 04:12:21 PM »
Thanks B. I wasn't familiar with the display output being I never used the OFF mode  :facepalm:

It's been 10 months using the Zmax. I guess I'm lucky it's holding out. Then again I alternate mods and don't use a particular one all the time. I use one until it needs charging and then go on to the next one.

The burned out ones I've seen came out of Zmax tube PVs. Most likely the crappy 510 connectors shorting out. Guess the short protection sucks.

Offline CraigHB

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #60 on: October 14, 2013, 04:16:53 PM »
Short circuit protection is one of the primary features you want in an advanced mod.  The fact that board is not very tolerant to short circuits is a huge ding against it.  I can see just by the photos they're using the cheapest components available.  That does not incite much confidence in the design either.

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #61 on: October 14, 2013, 04:19:48 PM »
It does have some sort of protection. It will not fire for coils 1.3 ohms or less but I guess it's not a reliable circuit

Offline thinman

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #62 on: January 10, 2014, 09:24:02 PM »
I have one of these boards I acquired from MV a while back. I haven't built a mod  for a year or more so I might put it to use since all my previous builds have gone belly up. I need to bite the bullet and get a soldering station but it's coming soon.

Thanks for the forum Dave, I've been looking around and excellent info everywhere. :)

Online Breaktru

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #63 on: January 10, 2014, 09:49:01 PM »
You're welcome and thank you.  Congrats on your first post

Offline thinman

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #64 on: January 10, 2014, 10:18:57 PM »
Aren't these boards capable of using series as well as parallel batteries? I have a "C" cell box and a couple of AW 26500s that I was using with a SW ADJ 3 that just died. I'm fairly certain the board will fit.

Offline thinman

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #65 on: January 11, 2014, 01:37:39 AM »
OK, went searching for the answer and I have a V2 board and they make an extension  cap for the ZMAX  V2 for stacked 18350. So it's a go unless someone has a reason why it may not be a good idea.

Offline CraigHB

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #66 on: January 11, 2014, 03:13:50 PM »
It has a booster that engages when a single cell is used.  It disengages when series cells are used.  It's the Chinese way of handling outputs above and below single cell voltage (booster + PWM).  However, the design has its disadvantages in that it will never be able to go much above 6V and power outputs will always be limited by PWM peak currents.  Good cheap solution though and that's what the Chinese are good at.  Kind of inventive actually, but I'd never design something like that myself, too convoluted.

Offline thinman

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #67 on: January 11, 2014, 03:17:18 PM »
Thanks Craig. Sounds like it would operate better in series.

Offline CraigHB

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #68 on: January 11, 2014, 03:54:44 PM »
Yes, you probably get better atomizer performance with series cells since it bypasses the booster.  That improves efficiency and you get a higher peak voltage for the PWM.  However, there is one advantage to a single 18650 compared to two 18350s.  That is the 18650 carries considerably more charge for various reasons.  You can get better battery performance with an 18650.  However, you have the extra efficiency hit with the booster online so that means more wasted power and some loss of run time.  Hard to say exactly when the difference in run times would be.  I think it would be better with the 18650 though.

Offline thinman

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #69 on: January 11, 2014, 04:20:18 PM »
Yeah, I can see that with the 18350s. I'm planning on trying 2 AW 26500s 2300 mAh. I could also run them in parallel for longer run time.

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #70 on: January 11, 2014, 04:36:08 PM »
The AW cells were good cells at one point, but they've been left in the dust of the Japanese 18650 cells.  You could use two Samsung INR18650-30R cells in series or parallel and get almost the same run time with better drain characteristics and way less size.  The LG ultra-high drain cells are really hard to get right now, but two of those would outperform the AW 26650s in every regard with half the size.

When you're using the best performing cell presently available, there's no need to use the Zmax's booster.  Run them in series.

Offline thinman

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #71 on: January 11, 2014, 04:39:16 PM »
I agree. I just happen to have these.

Offline kurtus

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #72 on: January 20, 2014, 09:22:54 PM »
Hey Break, nice little mod you built here, inspired me to dig my retired vmax out of the closet and yank the chip out of it, 510 connector was shot so its a perfect candidate.

Couple questions though, I see a negative lead wire jumpered from the in- to the bat-, is this required to make the usb board work, I figured it would just need the batteries wired into the Bat + and - inputs of the usb board. Problem number 2 is that this box I'm building uses series batts, can I just wire the usb board to the batts in a parallel config and wire the output from the batts in series to the vmax chip? In my head I see no issue but I'm no guru.

For the switch, the on board tact is garbage on this chip and I'd like to use a better tact switch remotely. Do I need to find a switch rated for 5 amps or does it really matter here? I see lots of people using tacts on the dna chips with no issue and those tacts have a very low amperage rating on them. Also can I just wire across just the top 2 legs or bottom 2 legs to get the switch to work? If I remove the tact will I have to jumper the opposing legs together then just run the switch to the switch legs? This is hard to explain lol hope this makes a bit of sense. Thx
 

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #73 on: January 20, 2014, 09:55:18 PM »
The Neg wire that you see on the USB board is there because I broke the tracer on the - batt. The - In and the - batt is internally connected so there is no need to add the jumper like my photo.

No need for a 5A switch. A tact will do. Just run two light gauge wires to the top or bottom of the onboard tact. Not sure if it's the top or bottom (trial and error will tell you). You can remove the onboard tact and you don't jump it. It's either the top or bottom two.

Offline kurtus

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #74 on: January 20, 2014, 10:23:44 PM »
Thanks, that answers that.

Now realizing that my USB charger is probably not going to work unless I wire some kind of switch in to change from series to parallel. Do you see an easier way, issue is that the vmax chip is set up for series batts only. Thx for the reply man

Edit, I'm thinking the easy way is to use a sp switch to break the positive and negative series connection and wire each batt to the usb board individually? Wish there was a way to do it easier without a switch, trying to keep it compact using 2x 18350 batts and the case wont open easy to just take the batts out so a charge circuit is needed.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2014, 10:45:29 PM by kurtus »

Online Squance

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #75 on: January 21, 2014, 12:43:00 PM »

Now realizing that my USB charger is probably not going to work unless I wire some kind of switch in to change from series to parallel. Do you see an easier way, issue is that the vmax chip is set up for series batts only. Thx for the reply man

Edit, I'm thinking the easy way is to use a sp switch to break the positive and negative series connection and wire each batt to the usb board individually? Wish there was a way to do it easier without a switch, trying to keep it compact using 2x 18350 batts and the case wont open easy to just take the batts out so a charge circuit is needed.

This is the way to do it: http://breaktru.com/smf/index.php/topic,543.0.html

Offline chessdeviant

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #76 on: April 30, 2014, 08:26:07 PM »
Hello all,
There are some great mods on this forum. I have a question about this or other ZMAX pcb mods. How are you holding the pcb in place? Are people using hot glue or epoxy to secure the pcb so the screen and the button stay in place? I am asking as I have a busted Zmax (pcb is still good) that I want to put into an 4AA box and situate in the center with the button and screen running down the middle. I just don't want to destroy the pcb.
Again some great info and mods on this forum.
Thank you
Jeff

Online Breaktru

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Re: ZMax V2 in a Box
« Reply #77 on: April 30, 2014, 08:42:09 PM »
Because I am using the on-board firing switch, I used epoxy to hold the board securely when pressing the button. You only have to epoxy the outside edges of the board and not use too much in case it needs to be removed. Before epoxying, rough up the box surface so the epoxy sticks.

If you were using an alternate off-board switch you can use hot glue. But the on-board switch would have to be removed to fit the display flush.

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