Basically, one horrible phenomenon in the vaping world, in my experience, has been atomizer heads or atomizer cartridges that "burn up" after only a few vapes.
Here are some examples:
- Since Lotillard took over Blu, NONE of their cartridges work, not even the fully disposable models anymore, they literally taste like a burnt sock after a few puffs.
- A couple nights ago, two cartridges from a Logic kit did the same thing.
- A week ago, I bought an Imperial Hookah disposable e-cig, fully assembled, and it tasted clean until the very end. Catch was, the e-cig itself, according to the date, was manufactured in late 2012, believe it or not.
- Yet, I just bought a new Imperial Hookah, a model just now manufactured in 2014 (brand new) and the old disposable was replaced with a disposable where a seperate cartridge comes with it - it burned up in just a few hits.
- I've had several other store-bought brands do this exact same thing.
I have absolutely no clue why ALL e-cigs now do this, when the ones manufactured back in 2012 or earlier did not. I vaped back then, I know. I can still get ahold of models that are OLD and they work outstandingly.
My personal guess is that Big Tobacco has bought out some of these brands, and that they purposely direct these companies to put just a DROP of juice into the e-cig, in order for the e-cig not to work right, causing people to hate e-cigs. You can take one of these same e-cigs, manufactured years ago (if you can find them), and pop the lid off, and they're FILLED to the brim with liquid - pop any cap off a new one and it's completely bone dry, no sign of liquid.
I don't believe this is just companies trying to save money by not adding as much liquid - no company in their right mind wouldn't test out their own product first to see if it works, and no company, without a huge payoff, would risk selling a product that people can realize right away is faulty. I believe there's a payoff behind this. That, or these companies are being pressured by the FDA to only use ingredients that could not spark any type of controversy, ingredients that, while wouldn't be labeled as "anti-freeze", ultimately do not allow a disposable or cartridge e-cig to work.
I also wouldn't put it past Big Tobacco's around the world to influence companies like Kanger to make as sloppy, faulty heads as they possibly can - what sort of gives me that idea is that Kanger is in Germany if I'm not mistaken, and isn't Europe banning e-cigs entirely? I wouldn't put it past their governments to lean on these companies and give them billions of dollars to make horrible products that slowly ween people off vaping. Shutting the companies down completely wouldn't serve this goal because people would just buy from another brand - with keeping the most trusted brands open for business, yet with faulty products, it causes people to still buy from those top brands yet become negative toward vaping with money wasted. Not only could Europe be behind some jazz, it doesn't help that appearantly China, where all our crap is made, has banned e-cigs too if I'm not mistaken.
I've had experiences that to me seem like this across Kanger, Innokin, Smoktech, Blu, every one of these big players. Their devices worked no better than the Blu cartridges that burn up instantly, or the Blu pack I had that stopped charging after 3 days. Nor are the return policies ever any count.
A good positve example though, is a company called Vaporzone. I recently checked this company out, after a user with a very complex palate claimed that this company's products worked well. I looked into them, and it seems that literally everything they sell is not made by any company known in the business, as all their stuff is self-branded, generally self-compatible, and the stuff doesn't even look like Clones I've seen. They're off making their own Protanks and Vivi Novas and heads and everything, and their stuff doesn't exactly look like Fasttech junk - it's all self-branded, so they have to be directly in contact with the rare company that designs the products. However, not to mention, with my research, I'm literally seeing that more people are having positives with cloned items than name-brand items, it's getting that extreme. I myself have even had better luck with cloned items that are branded by individual vendor names, not the Big Player brands.
Also, recently, RIPTrippers, who I'm a big fan of, has BUSTED out the Aspire, revealing what a faulty, shammy product it is, and I think this is just the beginning. I know the experiences that I'm having, and the experiences that TOP REVIEWERS are starting to have, is not right. Something in my gut is telling me that this is more than companies just being shoddy companies. It is too universal, too across-the-board. Like with the Aspire, it sort of strikes me odd when it comes to the connector issue. I personally had no problem getting the connections to work, but what if some law somewhere forced Aspire to design heads in this fashion in order to trick a government into thinking that the device isn't a vaping device simply because it doesn't fire (under government inspection)?
My big announcement: I've done serious tests with these devices, and my suggestion is to NOT buy from Kanger, Innokin, Smoktech, Aspire, or ANY store-bought "kit" right now. The products simply don't work. Big Tobacco is just a speculation as to why, but the truth is, devices are PLAIN OUT starting not to work. If you have heads that work, chances are, they're very old.
Not only is this just my opinion, I'm in talks with SEVERAL local vendors who are seeing waves of faulty heads from these brands, as well as faulty kits that they're starting to take off their own shelves. These vendors are just as bumfuzzled as I am, and as I keep calling around and doing my own investigating, several vendors have said that the products have gotten so faulty that they've been forced to only use RDA's for their own personal vaping, where previously, they'd at least rely on a Protank or iClear on a rough day. IMO, the crap is hitting the fan, and I believe this is the start of some sort of twisted movement in the vaping world.
Switch to RDA's while you can. I've wasted probably well over $800 trying faulty products, testing them out both for me and everyone here, from the kits to high-end devices, and NO atomizers out there, wether cartridges, tanks, or clearomizers work. Even Boge, though I haven't tested them, suddenly went downhill, everyone will back me up on that. Cisco is literally the only brand that has given me ANY sort of working vape, and they make their stuff right here in the USA, hand made, away from big corporations and prying eyes.
I think something's going on, and I don't care how people reply to this, because I know there'll be some strong replies, but I'm writing this to PROTECT new vapers and warning people to, at the very least, see if you can try out a product before you buy. Buy second hand stuff, test it first, don't spend as much money. If your local shop sells something, ask an employee if they have a model that you can try out - I'm pretty sure all of them do and they don't want to admit it (what kind of shop wouldn't have an iClear or Protank sitting in the back that they already tested?). If you try a device that works for juice sampling at the vendor, demand that you buy the exact brand that they use for those clearomizers - don't let them convince you to buy an alternate brand to save money or because of a "said" better experience. Buy what works for your taste buds.
Also, this phenomenon is effecting more than the market's products - it's effecting the way people behave on this forum. Throughout the time I've reviewed products, you guys will notice that SPECIFIC members repeatedly try to make me look foolish and stupid, yet I've CAUGHT these users admitting that they work in vendor shops or serve vaping customers in some way. I will not say specific usernames, but I have SEEN it. I'm very good at noticing off-hand comments that the user doesn't think anyone's paying attention to. And guess why these users are replying in the rude way they do? Because they know these products are faulty and they don't want the word to spread. Watch, everyone's going to start jumping down RIPTrippers's throat accusing him of being stupid (they already do) and yet he's literally the smartest "big reviewer".
I'm just off on a rant tonight because this Imperial Hookah e-cig done tee'd me off, I really stuck up for this brand with the 2012, early-2013-ish disposable I had of thiers. This new one they have, it sucks. $9 on that mess, just wasted! Actually, around $800 wasted by brands who are jumping on this same production trend, and I think that's unacceptable. Completely unacceptable. I don't want ANYONE to go through that. Vaping is way more important to me than that!
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