Vapor4life viper(em-901) review

[jimgman]

The Viper has caused me many moments of frustration, and many moments of brilliance. My very first drag brought one thing to mind-Mcdonalds straw. This unit has by far the lightest draw of any unit i have used(801,901,401).It was too light even, but i thought how most units start getting too tight after a week or so, and i was right. I compared it last night to my dse 801, and realized i got spoiled by the draw on the viper, as it hits really nice after breaking in and getting used to it.

I'm not sure this is the best unit for new e-cig users, because I became frustrated with it the first 24-48 hours due to 3 issues, all of which i have resolved, and all of which stem from the fact that the carts are a poor design. The first issue that most will notice, is the batteries not staying lit....try to hit it and the battery will shut down after 2 secs of draw. What does this have to do with the cart you say? i'll get there, keep reading...this brings us to the second issue. I've tried a few of the carts, and they only seemed to give about a cigs worth, and wouldnt take more than a couple drops. I will adress these 2 issues before getting to the 3rd....the carts are packed way to tight with material, blocking any chance of fluid flow. I also figured out that the batteries cut short when the atomizer is running dry. My 401 does the same thing, but since the viper was getting little to no juice, it was doing it nearly all the time. I removed nearly half of the cart material, fluffed it all out, and put it back in carefully, so as not to compact it(i used a syringe, working it in from the bottom of the material). Now i can get 10-20 drops in it, it sizzles like frying bacon(mmmm bacon) when i drag, and the batteries no longer cut out until the cart is running dry(which is a long time now).

The last issue carries over from the 901(RN4075). The carts leak. If i leave it on my nightstand flat overnight, there will be a nice little puddle in the morning (the unit even arrived soaking wet in the box). It also leaves nice little stains on my shirt pocket when i carry it around. This is simple surface tension from where the cart meets the atomizer. Anything that touches this meeting point will suck the liquid right out. Simple fix here, and david yang(the mfr.) should adress this with a cart redesign. All it needs is a lip on the cart just before the meeting point. i wrapped a thin strip of electrical tape around the cart(blends in perfectly with the black cart). Do not let the tape connect with the edge of the cart, or the tape itself will suck the liquid out. This stopped all leaking with the exception of one of my more plush shirts' pockets. I made it thicker with a second layer, and no more stains.

Why go through all this? The batteries last long, up there with the 401, it gives vapor like a penstyle, and has the nicest draw of any unit i have used. Somewhere between the above fixes, and breaking it in, its working really nice now. No vapor device that i have found is perfect, and this one took a bit more tweaking than others that work better right out of the box(like the 401), but i've found a little diligence to be worthwhile with this unit. Unlike most units i have used that seem to get worse after a week or so(tighter draw, and weaker vapor), this unit seems to keep getting better. I will post back to see if this trend continues.

Steve from vapor4life was quick to answer questions, and his shipping was very fast. His prices are great, and you can tell that he just simply aims to please. As of this writing, his web store is not yet up, and i think he is out of town for a few days. He can be contacted in the vapor4life section in the forums here under his name SMILIN.

[ZambucaLu]

Can you edit to make paragraphs? Would be a lot easier to read.

Lu

[jimgman]

That better? good thing im not trying to get hired for my writing skills

[dohsma]

Nice review Jingman.

Thanks for the info. I want to try more of SMILIN's offering, but I'm loving my Vapor King so much that I haven't really thought about it much.

[ZambucaLu]

That better? good thing im not trying to get hired for my writing skills

Ahhh....much better....thank you!

Lu