well got a diablo kami in a trade.

so as I stated above received a diablo kami 4.5mm cam in trade yesterday. ran it today for lining and color today after removing the stay up spring/lubing/and tightening it all down I got to say I dig the hell out of it with my t-techs.it did everything I asked of it, quite efficiently. I never used the maxon I had with carts because I had the machine previous to my conversion to carts. in any event, it ran awesomely. with the diablo there isn't much adjustment in the give knob, there is significant change that can be achieved in the give it is just done in short turns you don't have to turn the give knob much to achieve desired give, completely different than my halos as to where you have to make many turns for the desired give. not better or necessarily worse, just different.
way less vibration/sound in the kami than the maxon version (by the same name) because of the less powerful motor, but still packs a hell of a wallop! definitely not going to replace my halos by any means but very effective and enjoyable machine to use. I also like the fact that you can move the armature pin up or down with just a twist of a hex screw which is accessible through the give knob. this feature made it to where I could line it up just how I needed it to be for the use with my rpg grip and carts. one thing I did notice is there is a minute side to side play in the armature pin, nothing significant and completely non inhibiting when using carts anyhow. another thing that is kind of daunting is the disassembly of the machine many more parts to keep track of when maintaining your machine (screws/springs/etc.) but kinda fun if you like taking apart and putting things back together in that case, its an absolute joy, lol.
all in all it functions just as well if not better than a lot of machines out there thus far. I never had any issues with my maxon diablo and suspect I wont have many issues with the kami either. for 250 you get a completely cnc aircraft aluminum machine, with mainly metal parts which I believe will stand the test of time. the machine is well anodized and very aesthetically pleasing to the eye (especially attached to an rpg grip). also the tube vice is amazing. the all metal triangle shaped vice screw is amazingly easy to tighten/untighten with a very secure locking of the tube stem with absolutely no movement of the stem or grip what so ever. not much else I can say about it.
I know many have reservations about this machine and that's fine. there is nothing new or original about this machine, the design is very familiar. to me its taken a design that has proven to be very effective and somehow has managed to make it its own in a lot of ways. the use of quality metal parts is a + to me. they have managed to build a machine that functions well, looks nice, and doesn't have a gouging 650.00 price tag attached to it. all of this ive just written are just my opinions. I have posted this for no other reason than to let people know my experience thus far with this machine. I know there are strong views about this machine and its design, and all of those views have been addressed many times over on many other threads so please just use this thread as a informational posting not an argument of its origins but a discussion of its functions, benefits and flaws, as a matter of a fact you could just read it if you like and don't even have to post anything if you like. I just wanted to share my findings. do however feel free to post your personal experiences or questions on its build if it will help or benefit anyone in anyway when considering the purchase of this product, thank you for listening RTF forever:D

My Maxon powered long stroke is my go to liner, at 8.4 on a ems400 and around turn n a quarter out on the give and it lines great, throw in a envy trad 7, 8 or 9 liner and big fat coil like lines are a breeze, now the kami units I will buy no longer, had to send 2 back.
the first kami 3.5 actually runs faster at lower volts than my Maxon unit, so I ordered an other, long story short the next 2 i received I sent back .
they had visually different motors than the first one and ran slow and weak..prob ok for b&g but felt they changed the motor from the initial release when I got a strong one, and I don't dig that shit...the next time I break it down I will write down any makers marks if they are present and post them to compare against others kami motors..I suspect something a bit fishey considering the motors are visibly different with our dis assembling.
id consider another Maxon unit but I'm dying to get my hands on a halo.
just a bit more info if anyone interested.
joe

ftw, i hear you, when they change shit up that made the machines what they were on the sly, shit pisses me off. this motor though runs pretty punchy though. it would be nice to se if there are different identifying marks to see what motor i have. i had the maxon and it was a beast, enjoyed it. but i tell ya, if you had to trade two machines to get one halo, it would be completely worth it imho. i fuckin love my halos, and with ttechs they are fucking epic bro! seriously the best machine/needle setup ive ever used.

I may still have a video of the difference between the very first run and the 2nd one I sent back, night and day difference same ps same volts & same high quality RCA cable and vast difference in speed and punch..
I initially thought maybe I got a bad one but sent it back and the replacement was just as weak..maybe I'm power hungry and the weaker kami may have worked fine but I just felt for lack of a better word cheated when I noticed the different looking motor.
i hate to bash on em as they ended up upgrading me to a Maxon unit at no additional cost but it is was it is

that would be cool, bro

The fact they upgraded you to a maxon, that's pretty cool of them. Yea, i got a few diablos - runs great, no problem with them at all. i use kamis to shade and the maxon versions to line. They're really well priced for what they do.