SuperMax V2.0 Instruction Manual

Congratulations on your purchase of the SuperMax! You now have in your possession one of the most powerful, compact, and technologically advanced PVs on the market today. This manual will help you to get the best performance out of the unit, as well as answer some questions you may have about its functions, maintenance, etc. First let's take a short look at the basic functions of the unit.

How to Use your SuperMax

SuperMax is very easy to use. To vape with the SuperMax, there are only three parts that you need to know about - the atomizer connector, the LED display and the main (activation) button. These are shown in Figure 1. The display will turn on automatically when the activation button is pressed and will show the current setting of the SuperMax and turn off automatically after a few seconds. When not active, the unit goes into a sleep mode to conserve power. In addition to the LED display, there is also an audio activator inside the unit that plays various sounds to help with its operation.

Figure 1 - The front of the SuperMax showing the indicators and controls

Vaping on the SuperMax

To vape with the SuperMax, place any atomizer, cartomizer or other compatible topper into the 510 compatible connector, press the activation button and hold it down. As the activation button is pressed, the audio actuator will "chirp" once to let you know it has been pushed, and the display will show the setting of the output. Since the SuperMax can deliver quite a bit of power to the atomizer, it is important to keep the 510 connector clean. Any juice or other gunk on the connector will cause a voltage drop which will degrade the performance of the device. The best way to clean the connector is with a Q-tip and some alcohol. Note every time the activation button is pushed for the first time the unit measures and calibrates the output to match the setting on the LED display. Thus, if changes are made to the output settings, it may take a fraction of a second longer before the "Chirp" is heard. This small delay is the extra time the unit is using to calibrate and verify the new output settings. Subsequent button pushes will not have a delay unless further changes to the output settings are made.

Charging the SuperMax

To charge the SuperMax, plug the mini-USB charging port (shown in Figure 2) into a compatible computer USB port or charger using the appropriate cable. While charging, the green charging indicator light will illuminate. When the SuperMax has completed its charging cycle, the charging indicator light will turn off. It takes about 90 minutes to complete the charge cycle.

Please note the SuperMax is designed to charge quickly and requires either a USB standard 2.0 (or later) compatible port or a wall charger that can output at least 1000 mA. If you connect the SuperMax to an incompatible USB port or charger, it will not damage the SuperMax but it may damage the USB port or charger.

If you plug the USB charger into the SuperMax when the battery is fully charged, the green charge light will not illuminate. Wait until the battery has discharged a little further (i.e. the battery display reads "-9" or less) to start the charging cycle. This feature prevents unnecessary "shallow discharge" charges which can reduce the life of the battery.

The SuperMax can be used as a passthrough. Simply plug in the charger into the charging port and use the SuperMax while the charge cycle is running. The SuperMax will typically take a little longer to complete the charge cycle when it is being used this way, depending on how much you vape on it while it is charging. If the battery has completely discharged it will not be possible to use SuperMax as a passthrough.

Figure 2 - The side of the SuperMax showing USB charging port

Entering a Command

The SuperMax uses the same button for commands as it does for normal vaping. To execute a command a number of button "taps" must be entered followed by a button "hold". A button "tap" occurs when the button is held down for about a second, or long enough hear the "chirp" sound, and then released. After a number of "taps" have been completed, the command is executed by pressing the button one last time and holding it down for more than 2 seconds. This is the "hold" action, like hitting the "enter" key on a computer. As each "tap" is entered, the LED display will show a different letter for the command which is active. This way there is no need to memorize the order of the commands. For instance, when you "tap" the button once, a "u" is shown on the display to indicate that one tap is the "Output Increase" or "up" command.

When entering "taps", the SuperMax will hold the tap count in its buffer for 2 seconds before clearing it. This means that if you enter an incorrect number of taps, simply wait 2 seconds without touching the button and you can start over again. This also means that you cannot wait longer than 2 seconds between taps or the buffer will be cleared.

One other interesting feature about entering commands is that the SuperMax will not fire the atomizer after the first "tap" is entered. Thus while you are entering a command, the atomizer will not be firing. As a general rule, wait at least two seconds when you enter a

command before vaping on the device normally, this is roughly the same amount of time the display takes to turn off.

Adjusting the Settings

The SuperMax has commands which allow the user to set the unit to their preferred operational setting. These commands are: Output Setting Up, Output Setting Down, Lock/Unlock, Change Mode, and Audio on/off.

Output Up To increase the output setting of the SuperMax, tap the button once - the display will show the letter "u" (see Figure 3) - then hold. This will increment the output setting by one step. To continue increasing, simply hold the button down and the display will count up. Release the button when you get to the desired setting.

Figure 3 - The LED display showing the "u" (up) and "d" (down) commands

Output Down To decrease the output setting of the SuperMax, tap the button twice - the display will show the letter "d" (see Figure 3) - then hold. This will decrease the output by one increment. If you wish to decrease the setting further, simply keep the button held and the unit will count down. Release the button when you get to the desired setting.

Setting Lock/Unlock Once the unit is set to an output level you are comfortable with, you may wish to lock the settings. This prevents accidental or inadvertent changes to the device. It also turns most of the audio interface off. While the unit is locked, you can still measure the device settings, you just cannot change them except for unlocking the device.

To lock the SuperMax, enter 5 "taps" and the unit will show a small "l" on the display (see Figure 4). Hold the button down. The display will show the letter "L" (see Figure 5) and play the "locked" music. At this point the Increase/Decrease Output commands, Change Mode Commands and the Mute Audio commands are deactivated. You can still measure the battery level and resistance of the atomizer.

Figure 4 - LED display showing the "l" (lock/unlock) and "c" (change mode) commands To unlock the SuperMax, simply repeat the command (5 "taps" followed by a

"hold") and the letter "U" will be shown on the display. The unit will also play the "unlocked" music. The SuperMax is now unlocked and the settings can be changed as before.

Figure 5 - SuperMax Display showing the "L" (locked) and "U" (unlocked) functions.

Change Mode The SuperMax can be used in either Variable Voltage (VV) or Variable Wattage (VW) mode. In VV mode, the output is set to a constant voltage and in VW mode the output is set to a constant power. To switch modes, enter 6 "taps" - the display will show a small "c" (see Figure 4) - followed by a "hold". There are two different musical tones which are played at this point, depending on whether the unit is going into VV or VW mode.

You can tell if the unit is in VV or VW mode by the display and the actions of the Output Up and Output Down adjustment commands. In VV mode, the adjustment will vary from 3.0 to 6.0 in 0.1V increments. In VW mode, the adjustment will vary from 5.0 to 10 in 0.5W increments, then 10 to 82 in increments of 1W.

Figure 6 - The display difference between VV (4.2 volts) and VW mode (20 watts)

Mute Audio Some users may wish to use the SuperMax without the audio interface. To turn the audio off, enter 7 "taps" - the display will show a "o" for audio on/off - followed by a "hold". When you do this, the unit will turn the audio off completely. To turn the audio back on, enter the same command. The unit will play the “Liberty Bell March” to let you know the audio is active again. See Figure 7 for what the "o" looks like on the display. The Mute Audio command is different from the Lock/Unlock command in the sense that it does not effect the state of the device. When the unit is locked but the audio is not muted, it will still play some sounds for the measurement commands such as check battery. When the audio is muted, the unit will not emit any sounds.

Figure 7 - LED display showing the "o" (audio on/off) command.

Making Measurements Measurement commands allow the SuperMax to measure and display certain useful operational parameters. For instance, in normal vape mode, the display measures and shows the voltage or power that the unit is outputting.

Battery Charge Level

To measure the charge level of the battery, enter 4 "taps" - the display will show a "b" (see Figure 8) - followed by a "hold". When this command is entered, what is shown on the display will represent the present charge level of the battery. It will also play a tone which indicates a "Good Charge Level", or "Bad Charge Level".

Figure 8 - Display showing the "b" (battery) and "r" (atomizer resistance) commands.

Figure 9 shows the battery level display. A “-“ symbol along with a number is displayed, which corresponds to the voltage of the battery. For instance, “-6” means a battery level of 7.6 volts. “-9” means a battery level of 7.9 volts. When the display shows “-H” this means the battery voltage is fully charged and is above 8.0 volts.

Figure 9 – Three displays showing a battery level of 7.6, 7.9 and above 8.0 volts.

One important thing to note about the battery level is that it is not linear. For instance, about 80% of the battery capacity is gone once the display reads the “-6”. The battery will discharge much more quickly from “-6” to “-0” than it does from “-H”

to “-6”. A general rule of thumb is that it is a good idea to recharge the unit when it hits the “-6” level or below.

Atomizer Resistance

Entering 5 "Taps" followed by a "hold" instructs the SuperMax to measure the resistance of the atomizer. A symbol "r" is shown on the display to indicate the resistance measurement command (Figure 8). For resistances from 1.0 to 3.0Ω, the display will show a number with a decimal point as in Figure 10.

For resistances less than 1.0Ω the display will first show a "0" followed by the tenths of an ohms digit, then scroll left to show the hundredths of an ohm digit. Figure 11 shows the display measuring 0.72Ω, first displaying 0.7 then scrolling to 72.

When the resistance is out of its measurable range, the display will show the double error bars “ - -“.

Figure 10 – Display showing a resistance of 1.5Ω.

Figure 11 – Display showing a resistance of 0.72Ω, first with 0.7, then 72.

Additional Information

In VW mode, the SuperMax controls the power going into the load by measuring the output voltage and current and calculating the power. This is done several times a second while the button is pushed.

When there is no load (i.e. no atomizer) attached the current (and the power) being delivered will be zero. When the unit is in VW mode and the button is pushed with no atomizer attached, the SuperMax will flash error bars on the display (see Figure 12) and beep twice. The current power setting will remain until a load is connected to the device.

In VW mode there will be a range of power settings that the SuperMax can deliver for a particular atomizer. This is set by the minimum (3.0V) and maximum (6.0V) voltages the SuperMax regulator is set. For instance, with a 1.0Ω load, the power ranges are from 9 Watts (@3.0V) to about 36W (@6.0V). For a 0.4Ω load, for instance, the range is from 22W (@3.0V) to 78W (@5.6V). If the output is set outside the valid range for the load, when the button is pressed the unit will beep, display the error bars and reset the output to the closest value it can deliver for that range.

The maximum output voltage the SuperMax can deliver depends on the load resistance. For loads down to about 0.75Ω, the SuperMax can deliver very close to the full output range (3.0V to 6.0V). For lower resistances, however, the maximum voltage will drop a little, down to about 5.5V at the lowest resistances the unit can handle. In addition, the charge of the battery will also determine the maximum output voltage.

Figure 12 – If no atomizer is attached in VW mode, when the button is pressed the unit will display the error bars and a double beep.

During normal use the SuperMax monitors the battery voltage and will not allow the battery voltage to drop below 7.0 volts. When this happens, the unit will play an indicator tone and shut off completely. The SuperMax must be recharged before it can be used again. Once the battery voltage reaches an acceptable level, the SuperMax play the “Ode to Joy” and can be used as a passthrough if desired. It is best to allow it to complete the charge cycle uninterrupted when it has completely discharged.

Audio Tones and What They Mean

The tones played by the SuperMax are unique and provide important clues as to what is going on with the unit. This can be very helpful when a condition arises which requires the user's attention. Below are the description of the tones and what they mean:

“Ode to Joy” - Indicates that the battery has a good charge.

“Imperial March” - Indicates when the battery has become fully discharged and the unit is about to shut itself off.

“Charge!” - Indicates when the unit has been unlocked.

“Football Game” - Indicates that the unit has been locked.

“He-Man Theme” - Played when switching from VV to VW mode.

“Smoke on the Water” - Played when switching from VW to VV mode.

“Liberty Bell March” - Played when the audio is de-muted.

Double Beep - Indicates an error.

To see a video of the SuperMax firing at 20W, 40W, 60W, and 80W, check out the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN1M5yzVfsg&feature=youtu.be

Command Quick Reference Guide

Normal Vaping: (no Taps) + Hold Display shows a number

This is the main mode in which the SuperMax is used, i.e.

normal vaping with no functions entered. While the

button is pressed down for the first time, the unit samples

the atomizer current 10 times a second and keeps the

power or voltage at a constant output level. The output is

on during this operation.

Increase Setting: 1 Taps + Hold Display shows a "u"

When this command is entered, the SuperMax increases

the Power/Voltage setting by one increment. For instance,

if the power is set at 10 Watts, entering this command will

increase it to 11 Watts. If the voltage is set to 4.2V, it will

increase to 4.3V. The output is off during this operation.

Decrease Setting: 2 Taps + Hold Display shows a "d"

When this command is entered, the SuperMax decreases

the Power/Voltage setting by one increment. For instance,

if the power is set at 8 Watts, entering this command will

set it at 7.5 Watts. If the output is set to 5.3V, it will

decrease to 5.2V. The output is off during this operation.

Read Battery Level: 3 Taps + Hold Display shows a "b"

When this command is entered, the SuperMax will display

the battery charge level. The output is off during this

operation.

Read Resistance: 4 Taps + Hold Display shows an "r"

When this command is entered, the SuperMax measures

the resistance of the atomizer connected to the mod. The

SuperMax can measure resistances in the range of 0.2 to

3.0 Ohms. The output is pulsed briefly during this

operation.

Lock/Unlock Power Setting: 5 Taps + Hold Display shows an "l"

When this command is entered the SuperMax will lock its

current settings so they cannot be inadvertently changed.

The output is off during this operation.

Change Mode Setting: 6 Taps + Hold Display shows a "c"

When this command is entered the SuperMax will switch

from VV to VW mode or vice versa. The output is off during

this operation.

Mute/Unmute Audio Setting: 7 Taps + Hold Display shows an "o"

When this command is entered, the SuperMax will disable

or enable its audio actuator. The output is off during this

operation.

SuperMax Specifications

Parameter Value Description

Output Voltage Range 3.0V to 5.5-6.0V Max depends on load Output Current 16A Max Over full output range Output Power 5.0W to 82W Range depends on load Voltage Accuracy ±0.1V Power Accuracy ±0.5W 5.0 to 10W ±1.0W 10W to 82W

Output Signal Flat DC Not pulsed Regulator Type Buck 16A switching regulator

Atomizer resistance 0.33 to 3.0Ω Resistance Accuracy ±0.1Ω 1.0 to 3.0Ω ±0.05Ω 0.4 to 1.0Ω ±0.02Ω 0.2 to 0.4Ω Internal Battery 2600 mAHr 2 x 3.7V LiPo Pack User Replaceable Charging voltage 5.0 Volts USB 2.0 compatible Charging current 1000 mA USB 2.0 compatible Charging connector Mini USB Approx. Chg. Time ~90 mins Full charge cycle

Activation Button Hall Effect Anti-Vandal

Size 80 x 55 x 25 mm Weight 175 g w/battery installed Box Power Coated Aluminum Fingerprint-proof finish Atomizer Connector 510 Brass plated

Puff Counter† 10-1000

† Ha! Fooled you! There's no puff counter, puff counters are stupid.