My letter:
Allen Liu, CEO
Aspire
Building B3, Xin Hongtai Industry Park
Jian'an Road 14
Tangwei
Fuyong Town,Bao'an District
Shenzhen, China December 28, 2014
Dear Mr. Liu,
Thank you for the products Aspire makes in the e-cigarette industry. I have enjoyed your company’s products for over a year now and enjoy them almost daily. It must be greatly satisfying to you to know your company helps thousands of people to quit smoking.
I have a product inquiry, specifically regarding the Aspire Atlantis tank and specifically the atomizer. I purchased this tank about a month ago and I agree that the flavor and vapor production are a significant improvement on other refillable tanks.
I have a background in respiratory protection, so I am particularly interested in the products I use in my vaping past time as it pertains to my health. Once I use a product, I take it apart to see the state of the atomizer after its use. I would like to share with you what I found with the Aspire Atlantis BVC atomizer and ask you a few questions that you will hopefully be able to answer.
On the third page is a picture of the disassembled atomizer for your reference. Here is my use information below:
Vapor Device: VaporShark rDNA30
Mode & Power: Wattage, 11W-14W
Atomizer Use: Daily for 2 weeks
Number of refills: 5
You’ll note in the photograph areas of concern, specifically charring and missing material. Your undated release of information located on the Aspire Forums website, posted by Kiki Chan on August 6, 2014 addresses the construction, some materials and testing of the components of the Atlantis Atomizer in order to address “false information and rumors spread on the internet about our product.”. I appreciate that you shared this information with the community in order to assure your customers.
As you can see in the photograph, the cotton directly adjacent to the coil is completely thermally decomposed, exposing the ceramic wick. The document does not address the composition of the ceramic wick, only to say it was tested by SGS for specific toxins which are not present. Being in the business of e-cigarettes I am sure you feel you’ve chosen safe materials to construct the atomizer with, however, when materials thermally decompose, they undergo chemical changes as well as the release of byproducts of combustion. Since as you can see in the photograph the cotton separating the coil from the ceramic paper is completely burned away, exposing the high temperature coil, specifically 3 loops, direct to the ceramic paper, there was thermal decomposition present. Charring and missing materials confirms this.
In using the atomizer there was no indication of combustion in the temperature or taste of the vapor, other than the taste became flat. There was no burnt flavor, but the atomizer continued to produce vapor in the same quantity as before.
My concern is the nature of the ceramic paper under conditions of thermal decomposition which the SGS testing does not address. Since this ceramic paper is unique to your company and I understand the need to protect intellectual property, its specific composition is unstated anywhere. Further the SGS testing does not address failure of the cotton layer to protect the ceramic paper from 1) exposure, or 2) combustion.
The response to the community in the post on the forum refers to “as long as it is properly used and kept saturated during use, it will performed as designed.”
So my question, which is not answered anywhere in your available product documents is, how does Aspire define “designed use”? I used this at 11W-14W for 5 tank refills. I commonly rebuild Kayfun RTAs and use Kanthal wire and cotton and do not have thermal decomposition such as is evidenced in this photograph, so I have to presume it is different from your product – but I cannot find any recommendations anywhere.
My questions are as follows:
1. What is the recommended lifespan and wattage use for this product?
2. Is it acceptable to Aspire that the Atlantis atomizer fails to the point of thermal decomposition in this manner and can a fail safe be designed into it to alert the user that the atomizer has expired?
3. What byproducts of combustion have I been exposed to since the coil had direct contact with the heated coil?
4. Was I exposed to microparticles of ceramic paper because the wicking cotton layer burned away and does your company have health advice that I can seek with a respirologist?
5. What is the ceramic paper composed of so that I can reference its properties to my respirologist?
As in Kiki Chan’s reply, “Aspire will spend more time communicating with our customers and friends to further educate and actively listen to your feedback / recommendations to further develop safe, healthy products.” In that spirit I look forward to your recommendations to me regarding using your product as designed in a healthy manner.
. At one point I really thought Victor was some guy making fun of the mod or of the company or higher wattage, but I think it's authentic 
. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
