StringDancer

Oh man, that was great. A first-take improv, huh? "You oughta be in pictures, you're nothing but a star". lol

Very cool. Good on both of yas.

A thought that came to mind is possible moisture on the connections between atty and batt. Juice can get the threaded parts moist but you may not even see it, and of course this moisture can affect the flow of power to the atty. I occasionally take a Q-tip and wipe off the threaded parts when vapor seems sub-par, and it often solves the issue.

One other factor... if buying in bulk, one can't beat the unit price of buying straight from China. I've done this several times, buying 10-15 kits at a time, along with spare parts, to sell to friends and people I meet. But in this instance, all I wanted was a 5-pack of attys, and when I factored in the higher cost of shipping from China, I actually saved money buying retail and spending less on shipping (plus the unknown factor of Customs intervention). On the other hand, I've yet to get a defective product from China that wasn't covered under warranty for well in excess of 7 days.

In the interest of unbiased reporting, I had written PS detailing my dissatisfaction. PureSmoker responded to my email saying they do offer a 7-day warranty. But like Vacker mentioned, I don't sit and test each in a bundle of attys, so most of them would be out of warranty by the time I actually use them. I know these are consumables, and don't mind the occasional dud. But when the first two of 5 attys are duds, that's already a 40% fail rate, and I'm guessing it's a bad batch. Plus, these attys taste strongly of a juice I don't like, which isn't normal and is definitely annoying. All which pretty much kills any benefit from a bulk discount. Inasmuch as I'm now stuck with these tubes, I'll go ahead and see if any of them work properly, and report back later on that. If they're all duds, then I'm still miffed at PS for selling defective product and reaming me on the deal. I remember getting a bad batt or atty (I forget which) from Arno once. It happens. Well, he replaced it free, and didn't request that I spend more cash returning the thing. He trusted me to not be pulling a fast one, and I didn't (and wouldn't) abuse that trust. So FWIW, he sets the standard for top-rate customer service, as far as I'm concerned. Now if only Arno carried chrome 801 attys. (hint, hint)

Not so well in my experience. Read my recent post: http://www.vaportalk...-puresmoker-com

Caveat emptor. One should always take time to read the fine print, of course. But not long ago, I was running short of chrome 801 attys (I prefer the look of the chrome attys with my VP1), and my usual suppliers were out. I had long ago purchased a kit from PureSmoker and it was a decent purchase, and on checking their site, they had the attys I wanted, so I sprung for a 5-pack... without reviewing their warranty. Which, upon later inspection, doesn't exist. You buy from them, you get 'em "as-is". Well, the first PureSmoker atty tasted funny, didn't produce the customary vapor, and eventually died entirely within 10 minutes. Well, pooh... but I've been vaping long enough to know you'll get a defective atty every so often. The second atty exhibited similar behavior... very scant vapor, tasted like crappy old tobacco juice, and clearly on its way to an early demise. I'm sensing a trend by this point. Upon writing PureSmoker requesting that I return the entire lot for a replacement, I was told: "I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, but as is stated on our website, bulk atomizer purchases do not carry warranties. Therefore, we cannot issue any replacements for the atomizers you purchased. We have had no other reports of a bad batch and have no reason to believe that the entire batch is defective. I apologize for the inconvenience, but we cannot issue any replacements." Polite enough, I suppose. And I DID order without looking at the site's warranty on products sold, so ultimately it was my mistake and responsibility. Nonetheless, I wasted almost $50 on a site that apparently has no interest in reasonable customer support and service... very regrettable. I'll not make that mistake again. PureSmoker.com has seen the last dollar from me. BTW, here's the pertinent section in their TOS: "This site and the materials and products on this site are provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. To the fullest extent permissible pursuant to applicable law, www.PureSmoker.com disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement." Let my mistake be your lesson. Avoid PureSmoker.com. If you get bad goods, they'll leave you hanging.

One thing that seems to happen is stray juice will gather in the air tunnels from the atty chamber to the tip of the piece, so a hard draw will make a burbling sound and you'll get a nice shot of juice in your mouth. One, wipe off the cart after you refill to remove juice sticking to those air tunnels. And two, draw easier. E-cigs respond better to long slow draws. Drawing hard doesn't really enhance vapor production, counter to what intuition might suggest. And three, keep the battery end down when you hit the ecig. If you get an ecig anywhere near level when you hit it, your chances of sucking juice go way up.

Talk about the "dreaded blue screen"! lol

Interesting find, Keith. Thanks for posting it.

At home, I use a syringe... it's undoubtedly the best way to refill carts. You slide the needle down to the bottom of the cart, and as you refill the juice enters at the bottom, forcing the air out the top, so you get full saturation. The control is also very good... I can refill my cart even in low light and not overfill. When adding drops to carts (which is what I do away from home where I don't want to use a syringe for obvious reasons), the dropped juice can create a liquid seal, with air trapped in the cart which can stop the juice from completely saturating of the filler. You can use something like a straightened paper clip to jostle the filler to allow the air to release and the juice to drop, but it's clumsy at best. I still use carts even though many advocate direct dripping. One, it creates a reservoir of juice so you needn't refill as often. Yes, it can be a bit messy at times, but I keep a dampened cloth by my TV chair to keep that in check. Since I spend the majority of my days either in front of the computer or the TV (not counting time practicing guitar, of course, when vaping isn't on the agenda), this works for me.

After an initial learning curve and a couple bad batts (which VaprLife promptly replaced free, BTW), I'm loving the VP1. I'm now all tooled up with about nine batts and three chargers, so I can get them all charged up, leave the house, spend a night and come home the next day with power to spare. I keep plenty of 801 attys on hand, and I'm good to go. So far, the VP1 has proven to be a very robust little tool. Another thing I like about the VP1 with the stainless 801 attys is it in no way resembles an analog, so if I'm vaping in a restaurant or bar no one comes up and blows me crap about their smoking ban. Or, if they do, I'd just call it a "personal vaporizer" used for my swine flu medicine (which could be true, given the proven anti-bacterial qualities of PG). lol

To be honest, I've never had all that much luck boiling attys. They may be cleaner, but they still draw like crap and just don't crank out the vapor like a fresh one. Maybe I'm not boiling the water right (how dumb does one have to be to not know how to boil water?). I'm more of the opinion that just keeping a stash of fresh 801 attys works best for me. As others have noted, I'm spending so much less on ecigs than I did on analogs, I'm not at all concerned about the cost... and then there's my apparent problem with boiling water.... Simplicity works for me.

There have been some indications that PG promotes a bit of weight gain: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,932876-2,00.html http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/91/1/52

You're welcome SE. I thought that thread might pique your interest. I remember that DEG thing when the FDA "study" came out... trace amounts found in ONE cartridge out of several. This strikes me as a simple case of insufficient quality control. The Chinese are very clever, but not known for being all that fussy when manufacturing products. While I think Johnson Creek could stand to bump up the intensity of their flavorings, one thing about them is that they ARE fussy when it comes to making juice. The FDA has inspected their facility and signed off on the sanitary aspect of it, though not on the juice itself, obviously. Juice outta China has to be a little suspect, I think.

There are several alternatives to PayPal, but I'm not all that familiar with any of them. Anyone know a good online transaction processor similar in function to PayPal that isn't so tight in the arse? I'd consider switching from PP just because of their cock-eyed stance on ecigs.

Since we're having such a fine discussion on matters of health and safety, I'm gonna reference a post I made many months ago that contains links I found to various studies on the health effects of PG. The present thread is focusing on nicotine, so this is a bit off-topic, I know... but the other thread happened months ago before Speakeasy got on board. He's clearly doing some serious research into the topic of ecigs and safety, and since he's in the medical field and looking for substantive data to crunch, his quest for the truth benefits all of us. SE, I'm hoping the information the following thread contains might be of use to you, and also serve to inform newer members who missed the thread when it happened. There's a lot of meat there. http://www.vaportalk...log-cigarettes/

At home, it takes at least a couple chargers going to keep me in batts. With my VP1, I bought two extra chargers from VaprLife (for a total of three), and I presently have 9 batts, so I can leave the house for the entire day and have all the batts I need. I also have three 510 chargers and more 801 chargers than I can count. In the car, I use an AC/DC inverter to supply full 110 service, and can plug in at least a couple of standard chargers that way. And I turn off the unit when I start the car, as well, to avoid a surge on the inverter.

<=== Guitar player, guitar teacher, freelance web designer and full-time ne'er do well (pay's lousy but the perks are great).

Why, back in the day we used to drive with one knee, shift with our elbow, open a beer in one hand and roll a joint in the other. And most of us never got caught, either. I'm kidding, of course. Never could shift with my elbow worth a damn. Well, I drip but still use carts. An 801 cart nicely filled will actually last a good long while for me. I take advantage of stops when I can, and can mostly avoid using my knee to drive except on those long stretches where knee-steering really doesn't present a problem. Yet, anyway.

A great thread here. Now, I'm all for safety, and feel the FDA should get off its butt and begin scientific, non-biased studies of ecigs. I'm not interested in the typical "study" paid for by corporate interests on either side of the ecig fence... I'd like to see real research NOT driven by market agendas. Packaging can be managed, as Chris has done with the child-proof caps. But there is only so much a manufacturer can do to ensure safety when dealing with a potentially toxic product. Just because e-juice holds the potential of poisoning a person or pet does not mean it shouldn't be sold, and is no justification for keeping it off the market. Were that the case, then we shouldn't have access to many household, garage and industrial products either, which is clearly absurd and way too "nanny-state" for me. As for nicotine itself... well, I'm on the side of personal liberty here. Adults are responsible for their choices, and if they want to smoke, it's their funeral. If vapers want to continue vaping and NOT use ecigs as a cessation path, it's their choice as well. Nicotine is often likened to caffeine in terms of negative health effects. Simply changing the delivery system for nicotine from burning leaves to something as benign (we assume) as vaping is a giant step forward in and of itself (based on all available data and vaper testimonials). Common sense tells us (well... me, anyway) that vaping is less harmful by orders of magnitude. Unless and until real data surfaces to suggest otherwise, I personally have no problem with substituting vaping for smoking and feeling pretty good about it. Coffee drinkers, alcohol drinkers, drug users, food addicts (addicts of every stripe, for that matter) make their choices and must deal with the consequences, and I would argue that the government should have no say in those choices. Prohibition should have taught us that personal behavior can only be encouraged, not mandated and controlled by legislation (no matter how well-intended), because such hard-fisted attempts at social control simply don't work, and is counter to the concept of personal liberty and subsequent responsibility. We are constantly being told what to do, but much less emphasis is placed on why we should do it. If but a fraction of the money spent on the so-called "war on drugs" had been spent on comprehensive, un-biased education of our youth on the science and traditional uses of various substances, on the cultural backdrop of the peoples who have used substances (I'm thinking specifically of Native American substance use and the accompanying spiritual ceremony here), we would have much less of a drug problem today. Native Americans used substances for specific reasons, at specified times, with specific ceremony and meaning infused into the practice. Such conscious and purposeful use of substances has all but disappeared. Back in the 60s and early 70s, the reasons behind why hippies used various drugs were entirely different than the what-the-hell party atmosphere we see today. There's such a thing as responsible, purposeful substance use, and then there's drug abuse. I may take some flack for that stand, but I was there, and I've seen the degrading cultural milieu surrounding the use of substances over the years first-hand. It didn't have to be that way, but the government's "do what we say but we won't educate you as to why you should do it" approach has only led to further inappropriate use of substances. Again... education is the answer, not legislation. Perhaps that rant seems a bit off-topic, but I'm inclined to say it isn't. What is true of our dysfunctional approach to substance use is certainly true of our similarly bone-headed approach to cigarettes and tobacco use generally. That's enough for now. I'm spent. lol

keenan, you boil the entire atty. You can't dismantle them. Well, ya can... I did once, but it took a hack saw and some gnarly pliers. Needless to say, it was an exercise in exploration, not repair.

These folks apparently have them in stock: http://www.lighthound.com/Ultrafire-10440-Unprotected-Rechargeable-Lithium-Battery--36-volt-Lithium-AAA_p_2256.html

Well, Johnson Creek used to sell straight-up VG juice, now it's called "PG-reduced", so it's apparently a mix. I liked the VG better, yeah. I'm looking for a good wild cherry flavor in a VG formula. But I'm not wanting to go with juice from China for quality-control reasons. If VaporTalk ever comes out with a VG cherry, I'm in. *hint, hint*

I like vaping deep into the night (go to bed around 4am, usually), and sometimes get a scratchy throat and cough when I first turn in. I find that drinking a bit of V8, swishing it around some before swallowing, will usually cure it.