Huge Pilot Fan (M401)

[Spikey]

I LOVE my Pilot! It has plenty of vapor, but does NOT typically have a good "throat hit", but that is not a major selling factor for me. Feels like a cig and has a great size. Cart and battery last quite some time and it is very reliable and consistent! Each model is subjectively viewed depending on your needs.. I suggest watching plenty of video reviews on the model you want before buying it to see if it has what is important to you.

[lee929]

I agree Spikey! Went from Npro to the Pilot. Thanks for the video review of the Pilot as it help me decide on purchasing it!

[mu.zeitgeist]

Went from a DSE901 to Intellicig EVO. The 4 series is good.

[JSRLKelly]

Hi Spikey!

I went from the NPRO to the Dura.... what I like is the larger cartridge size, but I've been watching the pilot / m401, as well.

A few questions:

1) How's the battery life? I'm vaping CONSTANTLY and I ended up having to get a 3rd battery to be able to keep up for the NPRO.
2) Do you have a comparison on the size of the cartridges on the M401 compared to the Dura? I went to direct dripping in the NPRO because the cartridges were so small it seemed more effort to refill than to just drip.
3) Have you dripped directly with the Pilot? Does the juice leak into the battery causing the switch to stick?

[Spikey]

Hi Spikey!

I went from the NPRO to the Dura.... what I like is the larger cartridge size, but I've been watching the pilot / m401, as well.

A few questions:

1) How's the battery life? I'm vaping CONSTANTLY and I ended up having to get a 3rd battery to be able to keep up for the NPRO.
2) Do you have a comparison on the size of the cartridges on the M401 compared to the Dura? I went to direct dripping in the NPRO because the cartridges were so small it seemed more effort to refill than to just drip.
3) Have you dripped directly with the Pilot? Does the juice leak into the battery causing the switch to stick?

I have not tried the Dura yet.. so I am not sure.. but I think someone did a comparison review with the Pilot (check video reviews)

-Battery life on the Pilot... 4-8 hours... depends if I am vaping heavy or not. Sometimes I think... "Dead already?" Then I realize I have been puffing away for 4 or 5 hours lol! I do use 3 batteries tho and rotate because I am often out and about for 20-24 hours at a time and cannot be bothered with car charging. 401 does not have a passthru yet.
-cartridge lasts an awfully long time for such a tiny cart. It is very efficient. I dare to say it lasts almost as long as my 901 and that cart is TWICE the size. It seems to use nearly ALL the juice.. instead of leaving juice at the bottom that goes unused like in the 901.
-I DO drip with the 401, but with the exposed atomizers it must be done carefully. I read that someone uses a "dipping pot" and just dips the coil into it instead of trying to drip and risking leakage into the battery. I am too klutzy for that.. I would knock all the nic juice all over and make a huge mess! When I drip it does not last long enough for me... I have no patience. I prefer the carts on this but nearly always put a drop on the atomizer just to prime it up (even if it is already wet).

To be less biased.. the negatives about the Pilot?
-there has been a "noise" and "wind" issue with it. Seems to turn the batt on when there is VERY loud noise/vibration or with heavy winds. Look for that thread in the main section of the boards.
-not hard to drip with or refill.. but you need to be careful doing it (not easy to do in the car while driving.. so I pre-fill carts before I go for a drive)
-filling with the syringe (or holding a paperclip into the cart all the way to the bottom for the nic juice to drip down) seems to make the carts last literally twice as long as just topping them off because they vape so dry and use up nearly all of the juice. Terr just did a video on how to fill these with your own stuffing... check it out.
Hope all that helps.

[tpboles]

I have to agree with spikey's assesment of the Pilot. I absolutely love it compared to my 901's. I have been using it a couple weeks now with no drop in vapor or battery performance. I work from home, so I tend to push the cart to the top with a paper clip and refill it that way. When refilling I also drip atleast 1 drop on the atomizer.

The biggest difference that I see with 901 v/s Pilot (401) is the battery life. I usually get atleast 5 hours from both batt's with the 401. That is 5 hours of great vapor. With the 901 batt's the vapor decreases from the first puff till the last while the 401's are consistent until they die. I guess what I'm trying to say is while the 901 batt's would last me for 3 to 4 hours, for my use the vapor was just not enough after a hour or two.

Oh - and like spikey said I was constantly having to top off the carts from the 901's becasue they would simply not use the juice out of the cart. That is not the case with the 401. It will use almost every drop from the cart.

Damnit - I'm rambling here!

[quaa]

I have not tried the Dura yet.. so I am not sure.. but I think someone did a comparison review with the Pilot (check video reviews)

-Battery life on the Pilot... 4-8 hours... depends if I am vaping heavy or not. Sometimes I think... "Dead already?" Then I realize I have been puffing away for 4 or 5 hours lol! I do use 3 batteries tho and rotate because I am often out and about for 20-24 hours at a time and cannot be bothered with car charging. 401 does not have a passthru yet.
-cartridge lasts an awfully long time for such a tiny cart. It is very efficient. I dare to say it lasts almost as long as my 901 and that cart is TWICE the size. It seems to use nearly ALL the juice.. instead of leaving juice at the bottom that goes unused like in the 901.
-I DO drip with the 401, but with the exposed atomizers it must be done carefully. I read that someone uses a "dipping pot" and just dips the coil into it instead of trying to drip and risking leakage into the battery. I am too klutzy for that.. I would knock all the nic juice all over and make a huge mess! When I drip it does not last long enough for me... I have no patience. I prefer the carts on this but nearly always put a drop on the atomizer just to prime it up (even if it is already wet).

To be less biased.. the negatives about the Pilot?
-there has been a "noise" and "wind" issue with it. Seems to turn the batt on when there is VERY loud noise/vibration or with heavy winds. Look for that thread in the main section of the boards.
-not hard to drip with or refill.. but you need to be careful doing it (not easy to do in the car while driving.. so I pre-fill carts before I go for a drive)
-filling with the syringe (or holding a paperclip into the cart all the way to the bottom for the nic juice to drip down) seems to make the carts last literally twice as long as just topping them off because they vape so dry and use up nearly all of the juice. Terr just did a video on how to fill these with your own stuffing... check it out.
Hope all that helps.

can you elaborate more on your experience with wind/music? also elaborate more on the paper clip to top off? what?
I just purchased a pilot today from steve, think i got one of the only ones he had left so i am trying to get all my info before i get it! this will be my first e-cig =D

[Terraphon]

There's a pretty big thread related to the wind / noise issue. Basically a strong wind or loud music can cause the switch to active and turn on the battery. If the atomizer is hooked up it will start it cooking

Now, with the EVO, there's a 5 second cut off which is designed to save the atomizer from being burnt out by hitting it for too long. This will, of course, also protect it from the music / wind issue.

With the pilot, the cutoff is 7 seconds.

This also, of course, means that your batteries will drain much faster when you're around these things.

As for the paperclip, the reference is to holding a paper-clip in the cart (past the stuffing) to let the juice run into the bottom of the cartridge. This does pretty much the same thing as the method in my video but is likely less messy...less chance of causing an overflow and getting juice all over the place.

[providence]

I LOVE my Pilot! It has plenty of vapor, but does NOT typically have a good "throat hit", but that is not a major selling factor for me.

I will say that initially I was disappointed with the throat hit. For me, that's a huge factor. However, after 2 days I discovered it. I don't know if the atomizer needed to be "broken in" or if the fluid in the carts just wasn't doing it. But after 2 days and running through my carts, I started filling them with janty juice and *boom* throat hit.
Is every throat hit always perfect? No, but it not on any of my devices. Its good enough most of the time that I am impressed.
I only have 2 batteries for it and that's been fine for me. Whereas with my 901 I needed to rotate through 3.

[Cuando]

My EVO could never, ever compete with my penstyle. This thing kicks out so much vapor it's ridiculous. I've yet to feel and EVO vape in my throat at all, and my pen gives my trachea a nice little nudge every single time.

Glad you like your ecig, but don't brush off the older tech, that's all I'm going to say.