What’s up vapefam!
SirRisc here with another gear review!
Help! I’m actually starting to like mechanical mods.
I know, I know, I’ve been putting it off for too long sticking with my regulated mods but there you go…
So I started looking around for a decent dual 18650 mechanical boxmod that looked kind of cool, and the result was the Adamantium X.
This beast was sent to me for the purpose of this review by 3fvape.com!
Premise.
First of all, I do apologise if you’ve been waiting for my review.
It should have been up last week but due to some very unfortunate personal circumstances everything got delayed, including this review.
With that out of the way, allow me to introduce a vendor I’ve recently come in contact with, 3FVape.com.
Based out of China they have roughly the same prices as you’d expect from other Asian vendors.
They have some really decent pricing for authentic gear, but they carry some clones too.
Have a look around on their website if you’re looking for a good deal.
After getting in touch with them, they decided to send me this nifty mechanical mod called the Adamantium X.
Join me as I tell you what this device can do!
Specifications.
- Mechanical mod, unprotected
- Dual 18650 batteries
- Suicide styled battery doors, locked in place with magnets
- Adjustable 510 connection
- Adjustable negative contacts
- Detachable switch
- Copper contacts
- Delrin and stainless steel body
- Brass button, extra delrin button included
- ~180gr without batteries
Packaging.
The mod doesn’t come in a very fancy box, but the the box does its job.
It’s plain black cardboard with shiny red lettering on it reading “Box mod”, which is rather unoriginal but as far as generic packaging goes it’s spot on.
A couple of photos…
Performance.
Performance is as expected for a dual 18650 mechanical mod. It doesn’t hit particularly hard, but the batteries tend to last a fair bit longer.
The negative contacts are two screws on the bottom of the mod and function as the contacts as well as the adjustment for battery rattle.
If you put the batteries in without adjusting the screws, they will sit very loose and the mod won’t fire.
The screws sit smoothly in their threads and are very easy to adjust though, so it shouldn’t be much of a bother.
Being a mechanical mod you’re able to build to the specification of your batteries, which in my case was a set of Sony VTC4 batteries with a 30A limit.
That means I could build low enough to pull 30A, right? Well, not quite…
And the spring in the switch is why I couldn’t fully utilize the amperage limit, it got hot really quick with a 0.2ohm build.
After some experimenting with builds I found that 0.4ohm was about the lowest I could build without heating up the switch too much.
However being a tinkerer I couldn’t settle for this, so I set out to either find another switch, another spring, or simply build my own spring.
Since most of the springs I found in my basement (where I keep my powertools, yo. Like a manly man!) were either too thin or too long, I decided building my own spring was the way to go.
Borrowing a few centimeters of 0.7mm stainless steel wire from my wifes jewelry kit I coiled a spring and molded it into shape.
I then heated it up to the point where it was glowing white and quickly cooled it down by dunking it in cold water, I repeated the process a couple of times effectively hardening the stainless steel.
Et voila, a spring that doesn’t heat up as much!
In terms of the rest of the switch, it’s an easy one. It comes off very easily, it’s easy to take apart and clean, and it has a locking feature.
There’s also a replacement button in the box in black delrin or plastic, I’m not entirely sure of the material.
I’ve found screwing it onto the mod tightly is also very easy, just turn it as much as you can until the locking ring starts turning upwards.
Once it’s locked, give an extra turn and then unlock it again. The switch will sit firmly in there.
And now the most important part… and it’s a bit of a big one unfortunately: voltage drop.
The mod suffers from a fairly big voltage drop with the original spring as well as my replacement spring.
When I measured the voltage drop with a freshly charged pair of VTC4 batteries less than a month old and 6 charge cycles on them, the voltage dropped by 0.7V using my replacement spring.
With the original spring it was even worse at 0.9V drop, which is fairly huge.
So far I haven’t been able to solve this, despite my efforts taking the entire mod apart and sanding down the contacts with a very fine grain to improve conductivity.
Aesthetics.
As with any mod, it’s a bit of a love or hate situation on this one.
Personally I love the way it’s shaped, and the “suicide” doors are definitely a great way to keep the batteries safe.
On one of the doors is a large print that says “ADAMANTIUM X” in a futuristic typeface, which is not entirely unattractive.
The delrin body and stainless steel doors work well together, and everything is fairly alright in terms of fitting.
One minor disadvantage was the sharpness of the doors on the bottom. With the way I hold this mod to reach the fire button, the bottom edges tend to dig into my pinky finger.
The button, especially the brass one, is a thing of beauty. It has a pretty engraving and feels great to the touch.
Seeing as the 510 connection is adjustable, every atty you put on the mod is going to sit flush too which improves the look of the mod greatly.
Pros and Cons.
Pro.
- Great batterylife
- Looks great
- Suicide doors!
- Nice typeface on the battery door
- Feels nice and heavy
- All copper contacts
- Detachable switch
- Sturdy as fuck
- Locking ring
Con.
- Voltage drop
- Button runs hot due to weak spring
- Doors are a bit sharp on the bottom
- No toolless battery switching
- Delrin scuffs easily
- A bit on the heavy side
In conclusion.
While I don’t fully love this mod, I do like it.
It’s not perfect but it works, and I’m sure with a little love and tinkering I will be able to use this for a long time to come.
The suicide doors are a fun and useful addition, and they look great.
The delrin portion of the body is nice but it scuffs a bit too easy, so the mod does need some care.
Though the mod is a bit heavy with two batteries and an atty, it’s still portable if you don’t mind a bit of weight.
The only real big fault I found was the spring inside of the switch, but if you’re anything like me and like to tinker you should be able to find or make another spring easily.
Would I buy another one if I lost this? Probably!
In closing I would like to thank 3fvape.com for sending me this mod for review!
And as always, thank you all for reading!
I’m currently looking for more opportunities to review! Do you think your stuff has what it takes? Get in touch!
I can be reached on my website, via DM on Instagram, via DM on Reddit, or via DM on ELR.
Join me next time for a review of the Smok TFV4 tank with its insane coils!
(Spoiler: it’s awesome!)
#staycloudy !
SirRisc disappears in a cloud of DIY Crunchberry scented vapor