The Altsmoke Yeti review and my introduction

[devonschmoker]

Autopsy results on dead 510 Battery.
TOD: Unknown. Approximately Under one day of use
Cause of death: Multiple failures: Primary cause of death- Failed battery others include: failed switch and switch chipset failure.
Repairable: No
Battery- Test Read at .03 DCV. Further dissection of the battery reviled heavy crystallization. Battery would not hold a charge. Possible cause: Complete discharge during shipping due to faulty switch and battery protection chip failure.
Switch- The switch is a diaphragm wafer, always closed, momentary switch. This type of switch is known to be unreliable and prone to intermittent contact points during operation.
Chipset- As mentioned above, the charging/discharging protection circuit failed. Also the NAND gate that controls the power to the Atomizer has appeared to fail.

Other notes/recommendations: Replacement of another style of diaphragm switch is required. My recommendation is a point contact switch with either a magnetic return or a light spring return. The battery issue can be resolved by installing an on-battery protection circuit and changing the battery supplier/grade used. A thinner battery encasing is also recommended for increased battery life.

Autopsy performed by: Devon Schmoker on 2/23/09

I would also like to give a special thanks to Rob from Altsmoke.com for supplying the battery cadaver for this Autopsy.

Here is an image of the breakdown of the switch. I lost a screen that should be between part 4 and 5. It literally looks like a tiny screen. There should be 8 parts and there is only 7. (I lost it and I can’t find it. I am blaming my tooth extraction today for this one. I had to take it apart while laying in bed.)

[Papa Lazarou]

Had a strange thing with my 510 today... My first atomiser burnt out very rapidly - I described it as very "aggressive" in another thread I think. The supplier replaced it and I've just kept the replacement as a spare now. The second one has been going OK for a couple of weeks now. However, it was never the vapour producer the first one was. Well today I was walking along in a strong wind carrying the 510 and I looked down and noticed the LED was on. It was being activated by just the wind. The atomiser was pretty warm... It also had a burnt taste.

Anyway, I put it in my pocket and topped up with liquid at the next opportunity. The strange thing is that now, this second atomiser is performing just like the first one was. It is putting out a hell of a lot of vapour and I can't take more than a few seconds drag on it as it gets too harsh. Its like the accidental "overheating" has kicked it into life. I have the same concerns as before though in that it gets very hot to the touch on the outside after maybe two drags.. But it works very well for the moment.

I don't know why this might have happened but thought I'd report on it anyway.

Still getting the same battery life BTW. I reckon I've probably put 15 charges on each of them by now.

[ben-]

My yeti just came in today, fast delivery!
This is my first e-cig, so i'm not sure if this is normal, but both atomizers get really hot after every drag, not hot enough to burn my hand but still damn hot. The vapor production isn't anything at all like i've been seeing on youtube either, it's more like a little whisp rather than a cloud.