Sorry everyone, I have not been around all that much. My business has been keeping me very busy and I just have not had the time to be around and check the forums. Though I did order 8 bottles of WOW when they came back in stock 
For some time now, I have been running into issues with batteries and cartos or all types, and I think its about time I bring this to light in hopes that some changes can be made as it is really starting to spoil my vaping.
There seems to be a really big issue with quality control of the batteries and cartos in the last say 6 months or so. The issue honestly seems to stem from slightly off manafacturing specs on both batteries and cartos.
I have finally been able to do some measurements and track down the root cause, which is a hard drag from the cartos. Here is what i have noticed.
1. I have over 20 battieries, all manuals and of different lengths, that are not all the same. Some have a slightly deeper center inset, some are right where they should be, some are to high.
2. Out of all my batteries, I only have a few that have the air holes in the correct place. Most are either up close to the threads, or almost at the bottom of the lip. some even have small holes and some have slihtly larger holes.
3. The cartos seem have have the same type of issues, some of the center insets are very shallow, and some are too deep. The issue with this, is that if they are not in the correct place, you either end up with a carto that does not thread down far enough to line up with the air hols on the battery, or end up with a cart that you have to thread all the way down blocking the air holes completely.
4. The carto batting. There does not seem to be a standard hieght on the batting either, some cartos the batting is high up to the top, some are all but half the length and others seem to be in the right place. Even the metal heating element seems to not be standard either. some are barried down in the batting, some are even so high that putting a drip tip on, bends the top down into the batting.
5. In some cases the carto's wrapping comes all the way down over the air slates on the carto, and i have to cut part of the label away to free up the slates.
6. another main issue with the cartos i have also noticed, is the draw is directly matched with the slight cut in on the center hole peice. if you look at the bottom of the carto, you will see a channel cut across the hole, but now look where that channel points in relation to the slots on the carto. if the slot is lined up with the cut out on the carto, its a good draw, if that slot is lined up with the wall of the carto, the draw is harder. you can line up carts and see that that slot is all over the place.
all of this results in what i consider a huge pain in the .... The hard draw. Wether its prefilled cartos or blanks that I fill, I am constantly having to mix and match cartos with batteries to find the right mix to allow a good draw. In fact right now, I am using a manually filled carto on a manual short becouse its the only batterie that lines up right for a good draw.
Now before people chim in, I am aware of all the tricks and cleaning that needs to be done to keep everything running. I clean my batteries often, make sure the holes are clear and that everything is cleaned. I have even used the sandpaper trick on some of the batteries to make the threading easier.
However, that being said, we should not have to be doing all these tips and tricks to get these things to work properly, and I really think that there either needs to be better quality control or a change in design.
One of the ways around all this is to move to a pin and slot design with a spring loaded center pin on the battery. So instead of threads, you push the carto down and twist to lock it in place. at that point regardless of the slight manafaturing defects, the center would line up and the carto and battery would match properly and allow for good air flow. Just an Idea anyway.
all in all I have been vaping only with V4L for a year and a half now, and this is only something i have been running into for the past 6 months or so, but it seems to be very common now with every order i place.
Please do not flame me on this, its just my attempt to bring some things i see are major spoilers for me to light so maybe something can be done about it. I want my cartos to work with whatever batterie i grab, not have to hunt for the right combo to be happy.
Thanks.
For some time now, I have been running into issues with batteries and cartos or all types, and I think its about time I bring this to light in hopes that some changes can be made as it is really starting to spoil my vaping.
There seems to be a really big issue with quality control of the batteries and cartos in the last say 6 months or so. The issue honestly seems to stem from slightly off manafacturing specs on both batteries and cartos.
I have finally been able to do some measurements and track down the root cause, which is a hard drag from the cartos. Here is what i have noticed.
1. I have over 20 battieries, all manuals and of different lengths, that are not all the same. Some have a slightly deeper center inset, some are right where they should be, some are to high.
2. Out of all my batteries, I only have a few that have the air holes in the correct place. Most are either up close to the threads, or almost at the bottom of the lip. some even have small holes and some have slihtly larger holes.
3. The cartos seem have have the same type of issues, some of the center insets are very shallow, and some are too deep. The issue with this, is that if they are not in the correct place, you either end up with a carto that does not thread down far enough to line up with the air hols on the battery, or end up with a cart that you have to thread all the way down blocking the air holes completely.
4. The carto batting. There does not seem to be a standard hieght on the batting either, some cartos the batting is high up to the top, some are all but half the length and others seem to be in the right place. Even the metal heating element seems to not be standard either. some are barried down in the batting, some are even so high that putting a drip tip on, bends the top down into the batting.
5. In some cases the carto's wrapping comes all the way down over the air slates on the carto, and i have to cut part of the label away to free up the slates.
6. another main issue with the cartos i have also noticed, is the draw is directly matched with the slight cut in on the center hole peice. if you look at the bottom of the carto, you will see a channel cut across the hole, but now look where that channel points in relation to the slots on the carto. if the slot is lined up with the cut out on the carto, its a good draw, if that slot is lined up with the wall of the carto, the draw is harder. you can line up carts and see that that slot is all over the place.
all of this results in what i consider a huge pain in the .... The hard draw. Wether its prefilled cartos or blanks that I fill, I am constantly having to mix and match cartos with batteries to find the right mix to allow a good draw. In fact right now, I am using a manually filled carto on a manual short becouse its the only batterie that lines up right for a good draw.
Now before people chim in, I am aware of all the tricks and cleaning that needs to be done to keep everything running. I clean my batteries often, make sure the holes are clear and that everything is cleaned. I have even used the sandpaper trick on some of the batteries to make the threading easier.
However, that being said, we should not have to be doing all these tips and tricks to get these things to work properly, and I really think that there either needs to be better quality control or a change in design.
One of the ways around all this is to move to a pin and slot design with a spring loaded center pin on the battery. So instead of threads, you push the carto down and twist to lock it in place. at that point regardless of the slight manafaturing defects, the center would line up and the carto and battery would match properly and allow for good air flow. Just an Idea anyway.
all in all I have been vaping only with V4L for a year and a half now, and this is only something i have been running into for the past 6 months or so, but it seems to be very common now with every order i place.
Please do not flame me on this, its just my attempt to bring some things i see are major spoilers for me to light so maybe something can be done about it. I want my cartos to work with whatever batterie i grab, not have to hunt for the right combo to be happy.
Thanks.
