SirRichardRear
AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 3 Years
Reviewer
Hi All, Anthony Vapes back with my review of the Smoant Charon 218 adjustable VV mod. Disclaimer: this product was sent to me for the purpose of this review from smoant.
Introduction:
The Charon Adjustable 218 is the VV (variable voltage) version of the charon 218TC. It’s the same body and style (and the doors are interchangeable) but a different chip that uses no screen and just a simple potentiometer or “POT” for short to adjust voltage output. It comes in 3 frame colors SS, copper, and black and many door options. Sadly doors and stickers are not sold separate for the most part.
Manufacturer's Specs:
Test Chart:
Spreadsheet:
Stock Shot :
Stock Shot 2:
Mod Side:
Mod Front:
Battery Tray:
Initial Impressions and features
When I first got this Mod, being the owner of a charon 218 TC -review here- It was easy to see it’s the same frame and the same looks and same parts, with a different chip. Like all VV mods it uses a pot to adjust the voltage and has no screen or multiple buttons. Just a fire button, a small led light and the pot. They don’t use a standard pot like most that can be hard to adjust. Instead the full dial turns and it’s easy to adjust by hand with no issues. The doors are interchangeable with the charon 218 tc as well. And since i got the black one, it has the same black “leather” i don’t care for personally that looks and feels a bit cheap I think the artwork one’s look nicer personally. Much like the charon 218 tc counterpart it has some weight to it and feels nice and well built. The fire button is large and clicky and works well. There is no rattle either. All in all i was impressed with this mod.
Performance
Let’s get into some data. Resistances for this mod’s testing were done at .1, .15, .19 and .54 for the high resistance test. I tested each resistance at each pot setting 1 through 5 (done in roman numerals I to V). A few notes, due to the nature of the mod it’s possible my II, III, and IV settings weren't’ lined up exactly the same, I did my best to ensure they were though. The I and V were easy as it’s all the way in one direction. On mine, the I setting does not line up properly it’s a little off and to the side towards the II setting. The V setting lines up perfectly.
At .1 ohms the mod maxed out at 177 watts and 42 amps. Both very good numbers for a .1 build. Voltage range was 3.576 to 4.208. Minimum watts was 128 at this resistance. At the .15 test it maxed out at 207 watts. Voltage range was 3.682 to 5.575 and minimum watts was 90. At the .19 test it maxed out at 203 watts. Voltage Range was 3.787 to 6.206 and minimum watts was 75. For the high resistance test of .54 it maxed out at 87 watts and 6.837 volts. Voltage Range was 3.892 to 6.837 and minimum watts was 28.
My max wattage overall was 207, pretty close to the 218 promised. I could have gotten a few more out of a .17 resistance possibly as well. The max amps (42) is very good for a dual battery mod. The 6.837 max volt output is pretty average for a dual battery buck only mod. The mod never got hot in my testing or even warm. It did great at not overheating even when the chip was pushed to it’s limits and ran very cool. The output is smooth and consistent. The minimum voltage is on the high side, i would have liked to see it lower. It’s listed at 3.4 but really not that low. 3.0 to 3.2 is preferred for VV mods IMO. Overall it performs excellent though as a high watt mod but the minimum watts could be high for some.
Other Usage Notes
The 510 pin on the mod is really good. The battery tray is also good and should not damage any wraps. The mod is easy to use with a simple 5 clicks on 5 clicks off and rotate the dial to taste. The fire button is big and clicky and works well. I think VV mods are good choices for beginners. They are simple just put the pot at the lowest amount and adjust it up until you like the vape you get.
VV mods explained
So since this is a common thing brought up, I thought this would be a good chance to explain a bit about VV mods and whether they are regulated or unregulated and such. 1st off I want to say, like many terms in vaping we have things that are “understood as true” but in reality not used correctly. By definition regulated means adjustable. A synonym for regulate is adjust. Unregulated would mean a mech where you can’t adjust anything and it supplies power based on the batteries directly. A better term to describe mods would be protected and unprotected. By definition a PWM mod is regulated but we refer to them as unregulated since there are no protections and power comes straight from the batteries just with a modified duty cycle. With VV mods like this one and most massed produced ones, it’s protected and regulated meaning your resistance won’t play into the safety factor. As you can see with the test in this one even though the mod was outputting 41 amps, my batteries never got hot as they were only getting drawn at around 22 amps (177 watts divided by 8 volts) since all my tests are done with batts charged at 4v or higher each. Maybe up to 24ish amps when you factor in efficiency, but nowhere near the 42 if it was an unprotected mod or as vapers call them unregulated. In other words this mod is safe to use as you would any regulated mod with a screen and wattage adjustment buttons.
Pros:
So with all that said, do I recommend this mod or not? I don’t like to do hard yes or no. As a VV mode mod i’m gonna lean heavily towards the yes since it does what’s promised and does it well. As long as you understand the minimum volt/watt limits and it suits your vaping style. It’s a well built, inexpensive, easy to use mod that performs good. I’ll be adding this mod to my list. This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.
For good recommendations feel free to check out my google sheet of recommendations located here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1c4MZ2xYBE-1-0A6rLYY46OHtzHCM-roJINpxghmhzXM/edit?usp=sharing this sheet will be updated regularly so feel free to bookmark it.
Again I want to thank Smoant for sending me this for the purpose of this review.
Introduction:
The Charon Adjustable 218 is the VV (variable voltage) version of the charon 218TC. It’s the same body and style (and the doors are interchangeable) but a different chip that uses no screen and just a simple potentiometer or “POT” for short to adjust voltage output. It comes in 3 frame colors SS, copper, and black and many door options. Sadly doors and stickers are not sold separate for the most part.
Manufacturer's Specs:
- Dimensions: 53mm by 25mm by 91mm
- Powered by Two High Amp 18650 (Sold Separately)
- Zinc Alloy & High Quality Leather Construction
- 5 Voltage Settings Ranging From 3.4V - 6.7V
- Resistance Range: 0.1Ω– 3.0Ω
- Large & Responsive Firing Button
- Adjustable Variable Voltage Dial
- Sliding Magnetic Battery Panel
- Micro USB Rechargeable
- Firmware Upgradeable
- Spring Loaded Gold Plated Pin
- Low Resistance Protection
- Reverse Polarity Protection
- Overheating Protection
- 1 Charon 218 adjustable
- 1 Warranty card and user manual
Test Chart:
Spreadsheet:
Stock Shot :
Stock Shot 2:
Mod Side:
Mod Front:
Battery Tray:
Initial Impressions and features
When I first got this Mod, being the owner of a charon 218 TC -review here- It was easy to see it’s the same frame and the same looks and same parts, with a different chip. Like all VV mods it uses a pot to adjust the voltage and has no screen or multiple buttons. Just a fire button, a small led light and the pot. They don’t use a standard pot like most that can be hard to adjust. Instead the full dial turns and it’s easy to adjust by hand with no issues. The doors are interchangeable with the charon 218 tc as well. And since i got the black one, it has the same black “leather” i don’t care for personally that looks and feels a bit cheap I think the artwork one’s look nicer personally. Much like the charon 218 tc counterpart it has some weight to it and feels nice and well built. The fire button is large and clicky and works well. There is no rattle either. All in all i was impressed with this mod.
Performance
Let’s get into some data. Resistances for this mod’s testing were done at .1, .15, .19 and .54 for the high resistance test. I tested each resistance at each pot setting 1 through 5 (done in roman numerals I to V). A few notes, due to the nature of the mod it’s possible my II, III, and IV settings weren't’ lined up exactly the same, I did my best to ensure they were though. The I and V were easy as it’s all the way in one direction. On mine, the I setting does not line up properly it’s a little off and to the side towards the II setting. The V setting lines up perfectly.
At .1 ohms the mod maxed out at 177 watts and 42 amps. Both very good numbers for a .1 build. Voltage range was 3.576 to 4.208. Minimum watts was 128 at this resistance. At the .15 test it maxed out at 207 watts. Voltage range was 3.682 to 5.575 and minimum watts was 90. At the .19 test it maxed out at 203 watts. Voltage Range was 3.787 to 6.206 and minimum watts was 75. For the high resistance test of .54 it maxed out at 87 watts and 6.837 volts. Voltage Range was 3.892 to 6.837 and minimum watts was 28.
My max wattage overall was 207, pretty close to the 218 promised. I could have gotten a few more out of a .17 resistance possibly as well. The max amps (42) is very good for a dual battery mod. The 6.837 max volt output is pretty average for a dual battery buck only mod. The mod never got hot in my testing or even warm. It did great at not overheating even when the chip was pushed to it’s limits and ran very cool. The output is smooth and consistent. The minimum voltage is on the high side, i would have liked to see it lower. It’s listed at 3.4 but really not that low. 3.0 to 3.2 is preferred for VV mods IMO. Overall it performs excellent though as a high watt mod but the minimum watts could be high for some.
Other Usage Notes
The 510 pin on the mod is really good. The battery tray is also good and should not damage any wraps. The mod is easy to use with a simple 5 clicks on 5 clicks off and rotate the dial to taste. The fire button is big and clicky and works well. I think VV mods are good choices for beginners. They are simple just put the pot at the lowest amount and adjust it up until you like the vape you get.
VV mods explained
So since this is a common thing brought up, I thought this would be a good chance to explain a bit about VV mods and whether they are regulated or unregulated and such. 1st off I want to say, like many terms in vaping we have things that are “understood as true” but in reality not used correctly. By definition regulated means adjustable. A synonym for regulate is adjust. Unregulated would mean a mech where you can’t adjust anything and it supplies power based on the batteries directly. A better term to describe mods would be protected and unprotected. By definition a PWM mod is regulated but we refer to them as unregulated since there are no protections and power comes straight from the batteries just with a modified duty cycle. With VV mods like this one and most massed produced ones, it’s protected and regulated meaning your resistance won’t play into the safety factor. As you can see with the test in this one even though the mod was outputting 41 amps, my batteries never got hot as they were only getting drawn at around 22 amps (177 watts divided by 8 volts) since all my tests are done with batts charged at 4v or higher each. Maybe up to 24ish amps when you factor in efficiency, but nowhere near the 42 if it was an unprotected mod or as vapers call them unregulated. In other words this mod is safe to use as you would any regulated mod with a screen and wattage adjustment buttons.
Pros:
- Build Quality
- Performance
- Good quality 510 pin
- Looks and style
- Easy to adjust Pot
- Easy to use
- color options
- Price point (under 40 bucks usually)
- Minimum voltage is a bit high
So with all that said, do I recommend this mod or not? I don’t like to do hard yes or no. As a VV mode mod i’m gonna lean heavily towards the yes since it does what’s promised and does it well. As long as you understand the minimum volt/watt limits and it suits your vaping style. It’s a well built, inexpensive, easy to use mod that performs good. I’ll be adding this mod to my list. This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.
For good recommendations feel free to check out my google sheet of recommendations located here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1c4MZ2xYBE-1-0A6rLYY46OHtzHCM-roJINpxghmhzXM/edit?usp=sharing this sheet will be updated regularly so feel free to bookmark it.
Again I want to thank Smoant for sending me this for the purpose of this review.