FlowerMate Vapormax V/V5.0/V5.0S/V5 Pro

[seilogeo]

Yesterday I received a flowermate mini, I have made a 30 minute burn off but the smell is like a melted plastic. I didnt even dare to use it.
Anyone has experienced something like it. I have another three vapes none of them had such a smell from the beginning.
How long does it take to stop smelling like that.

 

[KeroZen]

You'll need 1h to 1h30 worth of empty burn-ins with good airflow to get rid of the polyimide tape smell. Either blow in the mouthpiece or put a large fan facing towards the bowl (without mouthpiece) as you need air movement to get rid of the outgassing.

Don't worry after this initial annoyance it's a good vape.

 

[seilogeo]

Thanks, I imagined the same and opened the back door and removed the mouthpiece when I made the burn off.
I will do that for another hour for sure.
Also this led is too bright. During the night you will have to cover if you are outside

 

[KeroZen]

Also this led is too bright. During the night you will have to cover if you are outside

Hehe soon you'll discover that it's both too bright and not bright enough at the same time, like Schrödinger's cat!

Under sun light it's hardly visible (the mini pro screen is even worse!) and you need to cover it with both hands to see it. During the night I like it because it reveals the vapor when you exhale across its beam.... but yes, not very stealthy!

 

[OF]

During the night I like it because it reveals the vapor when you exhale across its beam.... but yes, not very stealthy!

Hey, at least it's not like that silly 'loading light' on the bigger models? The one you also can't turn off but that shines through the vents so you also can't cover it up? Stealth seems to have been way down the goals list......

I've been messing with the Devine Tribe attys (first rate for waxes and oils IMO) which has called for looking for appropriate 'mods' (batteries) to drive them with. These are 'high end' e-cig efforts (often over 100 Watts capacity) that do temperature control by sensing the change in resistance as the heater heats. Interestingly it seems a universal feature is 'stealth mode' where the display never lights unless you call for it with a quick tap on the button. Seems our big time e-cig brothers and sisters expect this feature and get it from 'everyone' (I'm 4/4 right now with four different makers), I assume a included feature in the 'chip sets' used?

Hopefully, some day we too will get such options (when makers 'wake up'?). Better still would be a couple of levels to pick from or even add a sensor so it can auto adjust like the radio in the bathroom does? I suspect the first maker to offer 'stealth mode' will be rewarded......and copied.

OF

 

[Dave Mctoke]

I personally would like the loading light on my pro, I thought it was a neat feature for checking the herbs progress in darkness whether inside or outside... As for the light escaping and ruining stealthiness, the new models have a hole drilled in the top of the holding chamber, so that the old intake holes become mostly obsolete. If you made one in yours, you could cover the 'stock' holes on the shell and no more light will escape.

As for my own issues, the flowermate was never strong enough.
That is, until I recently installed a basket screen at the top of the chamber to make it into a small batch convection vape. Now it truly shreds the terpenes and nothing else. Almost no conduction.
I honestly thought I was just going to give this flowermate away when I recieve my Milaana. Now I can sell it to someone knowing it doesn't waste herb and highness because of inefficiency in the heat-up and idle processes.

I urge all FM owners to bend a flat screen around the male end of the mouthpiece to form it into a basket, and install the basket mouth up as close to the top of the ceramic heater as possible. This reduces conduction during heat-up and idle, allowing you MUCH tastier and intoxicating vapes. The temperature is inevitably weaker, so make sure to turn it up at least 20-40 degrees. I still get beautiful tasty hits at 365 though. It's an entirely new vaporizer..

 

[sokesleezy]

Question: Can the concentration pod be held upside down? Like when your using a FM with glass?

 

[OF]

Question: Can the concentration pod be held upside down? Like when your using a FM with glass?

Yes. I invert the pod first.

OF

 

[Dave Mctoke]

How have people solved the FM Pro's low temperature issue? I've had two and both read 30 degrees F too low. I thought about a resistor, but went cheap as I could.

I actually opened the unit and moved the temperature sensor one layer of insulation outward. Luckily there was fairly fresh yellow tape holding the sensor to the heater, perfect for tightly fastening the insulation back. Mine reads 10 degrees F higher than the readout, and convection vaping with the basket screen is Greatly improved.

 

[OF]

How have people solved the FM Pro's low temperature issue? I've had two and both read 30 degrees F too low.

I actually opened the unit and moved the temperature sensor one layer of insulation outward. Luckily there was fairly fresh yellow tape holding the sensor to the heater, perfect for tightly fastening the insulation back. Mine reads 10 degrees F higher than the readout, and convection vaping with the basket screen is Greatly improved.

Interesting. First I'd heard the temperature was so far off. Strange, I have several FMs and all vape about the same at 390 as my Solo on Step 4 or other vapes set to that temperature (my default). I certainly saw no reason to dig out the T/C meter and probes and actually measure it. This is a common problem? Anyone else notice it?

I'd be careful moving the sensor around. Not only do you run the risk of driving the furnace hotter than the design intended by hacking it this way but there's a very real risk of "decoupling" the sensor from the source enough to introduce instability. That is the sensor could keep calling for more heat after the heater reached the desired temperature because 'it doesn't know yet'. The sensor can be 'out of phase' and be calling for more heat when it should be off or the other way around. At the least it usually results in more 'swing' that is the difference between the highest and lowest temperature in the session. This is often called "lag" in the industry. Unwanted (even dangerous in some cases) oscillations can happen. This is not simple stuff, really, caution is strongly advised to those who don't work with this stuff.

It's your vape, your call of course. But others might want to consider carefully following your example, should any problems develop you've blown the warranty. Even if the problem is not related to what you did?

Anyway, 30F too cool? Anyone else 'see' this? Should I measure mine?

TIA

OF

 

[sokesleezy]

I'm curious, how did you go about testing actual temperature Dave?

 

[KeroZen]

No problem with mines. Seems as precise as the Ascent down to the point where vapor changes color from blueish to whiteish.

All these vapes can be easily overwhelmed when drawing too hard though, they are not really powerful.

 

[Dave Mctoke]

I'm curious, how did you go about testing actual temperature Dave?

I noticed 446 wasn't very strong, not even close to combustion. Couldn't get full extraction unless I let it sit for 5 minutes without drawing..

I got curious.

All I did was stuck my multimeter's temperature sensor in both the center and corner of the heater, neither read different, both 30 low.

Although this adjustment did seem to lessen battery time by a bit, that could be my poor battery discipline and my excitement to keep vaping.

I know it voids the warranty, but for $100 (from puffitup) I thought it was worth improving it under risk.

 

[OF]

All I did was stuck my multimeter's temperature sensor in both the center and corner of the heater, neither read different, both 30 low.

Although this adjustment did seem to lessen battery time by a bit, that could be my poor battery discipline and my excitement to keep vaping.

I know it voids the warranty, but for $100 (from puffitup) I thought it was worth improving it under risk.

Ah, so! I suspect that's what the problem is, instrumentation error. Thermodynamics has strict rules. Heat is being transmitted, at a limited rate, into the probe by conduction from the hot air (pseudo convection?) but it's also being pulled out up the leads. Heat flows, you need to consider Thermodynamics. Thermodynamics covers a lot of ground, most of it not of interest to us, but the 'dynamics' part is important. "Heat flows from hot to cold". The bowl is the hottest point in the system, everything else has to be lower by the rules. A little or a lot, but lower. This means, automatically, that the probe will report a lower temperature. It's a misnomer to say 'the probe senses at the tip, it does not (the metal wires are welded together, there is zero signal at that point). In fact the signal is developed by the leads and the temperature difference between the "hot junction" (the weld at the tip) and the "cold junction" (where they are again compared inside the meter). Try repeating the test again with a bowl of say ABV and I bet you get a different answer?

Thanks for the additional information, it makes more sense to me now.

Of course it lowers battery life to raise the temperature. More heat is lost that is automatically compensated for to maintain temperature and there's only one source of power in this game......it has to come from there. Mister Battery has to work harder, he wears out faster because of it, just like we do. It also takes more battery if you hit it more. If you want best possible battery life definitely don't try to use convection, convection is a known 'power hog' which is why it's not popular with vape makers. It's not like they don't know how to do convection too. Convection vapes like T1, Evolution, Cera, ESV and Grasshopper (if it ever really happens) are severely limited by their batteries since they heat a lot of air that ends up doing nothing productive. Conduction makes more 'vapor per Watt', that is it wastes less power doing other less productive things.

Cool with hacking in, like I said it's your unit to use as you see fit. I've certainly blown the warranty on more than a few. But I think the reminder that it does blow the warranty should be included with the free advice to hack into it......$100 might not be all that important to you and I but it's quite dear to some here?

"I read it on the web" can get guys in trouble too.......

OF

 

[Dave Mctoke]

Sorry OF, not sure how to quote small excepts yet, especially not on mobile, but I'm wondering:

Why then make a temperature sensor if the reading is always off? Why not have a compensating equation in circuitry to remove thermodynamic inaccuracies? I was making full contact with the heater, so I don't see why it would measure my body temp correctly but not the heater temp.

It is definitely a good idea to include a warning of voiding the warranty, but I'm not sure I can edit that; hopefully folks read your addition.

 

[OF]

Why then make a temperature sensor if the reading is always off? Why not have a compensating equation in circuitry to remove thermodynamic inaccuracies? I was making full contact with the heater, so I don't see why it would measure my body temp correctly but not the heater temp.

It's not. That is to say 'the thermocouple knows what it's doing' it's the instrumentation (how it's done) that is the error I think. Because heat flows, as does electricity and say water you get temperature, voltage and pressure drops respectively. Measuring your body temperature the scale is much smaller (difference between "Hot" and "Cold" junctions therefore the losses are much lower since the flow is lower and since the range is small they are a smaller fraction of the total.

Generally you check want to make the probe/leads as low in thermal conductivity as possible. Since the material is fixed, this usually means making the gauge smaller. It's common to install two T/Cs, a stout one for running and a finer one to check calibration. If the main one develops say poor contact (and therefore reads low) it's easy to spot on such systems. The fact they read the same temperature normally says the first one is valid.

Another way to test is to increase the contact and see if that makes a difference. For instance, when I did it I used small gauge leads bent to press up under the element:

I then confirmed the contact was solid by repeating it with the cup full of vegetable oil (same reading). Like I said, try putting a thermal mass in and probing that (better than point contact), I bet you get a higher reading. Thermocouples don't lie you know.

I'm pretty confident there's no '30 degree error problem', for sure I don't see it empirically. While I enjoy vaping at 390F I'd surely notice and object to 360F instead. And I don't think I'm alone. You don't see a lot of 'how come I have to set this vape higher than others?' posts. Yours is, I think, the first? Which is why it caught my attention back at the start.

Regards,

OF

 

[Dave Mctoke]

Fair enough OF, but I can't deny my flowermate functions much better in strength and flavor after this. Coupled with the basket screen to reduce conduction it's a dream. I only liked the flowermate when I first got it. I quickly realized how inefficient it is.. I'm just improving it and want others who are dissatisfied like me, to understand why that might be.

 

[OF]

I only liked the flowermate when I first got it. I quickly realized how inefficient it is.. I'm just improving it and want others who are dissatisfied like me, to understand why that might be.

Cool. Glad you're happy. Give 'full disclosure' (like voiding the warranty and using more battery power) so the reader can make an informed choice is what I'm suggesting.

I disagree with the "inefficient" part, depending on what we decide efficiency means. It does extract nearly all the THC without loosing much or destroying much. From that POV it's hard to ask for more really. It gets about as many sessions as similar vapes with the same sort of battery so from a power consumption POV it's about par?

Now blazing, that's inefficiency for you. Building an ill advised fire out of $15/gram bud? There are better ways to get heat I think.

It's not good for big clouds for sure, as @KeroZen so wisely points out these heaters are only a few Watts, it's very easy to 'overrun' them (may be happening here with the increased airflow?). But I don't think you can call that inefficient, it just doesn't do well at a job it was never designed to do. This is a compromise that gives us more battery life if we take it easy.....a good thing to most. For sure better for us sippers than those other guys.

If it (or any other vape) doesn't do what you want and you can modify it so it can that too is a good thing too most likely.

OF

 

[Dave Mctoke]

"depending on what we decide efficiency means. It does extract nearly all the THC without loosing much or destroying much."

OF

My definition of inefficient, what I was disappointed with, was the waste on heat-up and idle, where vapor is created but escapes. Inefficient to me because I put .2 in my E-nano and get ripped. I could have put .5 through the FM to get half the effect of the two tenths in the nano. Now the FM is much closer to par, much more like an airizer which is comparable to the nano in some respects, ignoring the slight differences in the type of high because of different heating processes.

 

[Andrzejek]

Guya i need your help, im looking gor my first vaporizer. Im considering flowermate pro 5.0 or pro mini or Storm from vaporfiend. What do you think? There is much diffrent bertwen pro and pro mini? And how long battery last? I mean flowermate has unchangable battery but i want vaporizer which will last for year or two? Is Storm worth even considering? I was reading nice reviews of it.

 

[KeroZen]

I prefer the FM5 range to all 3 of my pen-style vapes, and that includes the X-Max v2 which is more or less the same as the Storm. Between the Pro and the Mini-Pro I prefer the Pro. Battery life is quite short on the Mini-Pro and it can be frustrating.

 

[Andrzejek]

Okey, but i want to know how long it will last. In storm if your battery dies u can jast buy another. If battery dies in fm you must buy another device. I cant find information about battery lifespan in fm pro, and im curious about it

 

[KeroZen]

Li-Ions are manufacturer rated between 300 and 500 cycles. They will last more than that and it's not an exact science as the definition of a "cycle" varies, and how you nurture them is important. But past 500 cycles you can expect to have lost already more than 1/4 of original capacity.

The FM5/5S/Pro batteries are replaceable with some DIY knowledge and if you are careful (don't blow your hand or face nor set your house on fire, Lithium batteries ARE DANGEROUS) The Mini-Pro has a custom Li-Po cell that will prove much harder to source in the commerce.

 

[OF]

Okey, but i want to know how long it will last. In storm if your battery dies u can jast buy another. If battery dies in fm you must buy another device. I cant find information about battery lifespan in fm pro, and im curious about it

I'm confused about what you're asking. Battery lifespan (how long until it dies and must be replaced) is hugely dependent on how you treat it, too much so to give hard answers. 300 'cycles' (discharge and recharge again) is considered a 'target' for such batteries. It can (and often is) many times that if the battery is 'treated well'. If, OTOH, you say charge it 100% and put it in a warm/hot place the battery can be basically dead in under a year with no use at all.

Battery life is, of course, something different.

Nobody, to my knowledge, has killed their factory battery in a FM yet? You can expect many thousands of sessions, the 'cost per session' of replacing the entire FM is trivial against the cost of that much herb?

IMO there's no need to fear the internal batteries, but if you do by all means by something you'll be more comfortable/confident with?

I don't know Storm, you're on your own there.

OF

 

[QuittingVegas]

Li-Ions are manufacturer rated between 300 and 500 cycles. They will last more than that and it's not an exact science as the definition of a "cycle" varies, and how you nurture them is important. But past 500 cycles you can expect to have lost already more than 1/4 of original capacity.

The FM5/5S/Pro batteries are replaceable with some DIY knowledge and if you are careful (don't blow your hand or face nor set your house on fire, Lithium batteries ARE DANGEROUS) The Mini-Pro has a custom Li-Po cell that will prove much harder to source in the commerce.

Is the mini v5 battery custom as well? And what are the battery specs?