Chi you Clone from AKA Vapers (Hcigar)

[cowfood]

This mod looks nice but that's where the pros end. The Magneto I recently purchased is much more bang for your dollar and quality. The Chi you clones are personal injury law suits waiting to happen due to the short and shoty post threading and lack of basic insulators. The firing button just plain sucks. The inner tube is so tight that I couldn't fit a protected 18650 through it without porting the tubes out. FYI the real Chi-you seems to be built very close to the clone. They both lack a bottom button insulator, have the manditory short throw and the same locking ring that should've been a reverse thread locking ring. I for one am glad that I got my hands on the clone. If I had purchased the real deal and found such simple things as no insulator on the fire button, I'd probably flip out a little for wasting my money on beautiful crap.

The original Chi-You design did not have an insulator on the bottom button much like the Caravela as MNKE and SONY batteries were not in heavy use back then. A simple o-ring can fix this. .. As for reverse threaded lock ring. Ohh well.. deal breaker condemning a high end high priced mod to utter crap? I'm glad you got a clone too...

-CF

 

[Lopaka79]

There are two versions of this mod going around...sounds like you did not get the HCigar one. Im not even sure who is making the one with the glaring defects...the one that is circulating in a few places such as FastTech.

Just like anything else, before buying a mod do your research. I heard about these other ones and was hesitant at first, till I made sure that the co-ops that I was involved in were for the "good" ones.

I bought this one from Aka Vapers. It's the Hcigar version with silver coated battery pins. There are over 4 Chi-you clones circulating. The so called "good ones" are far from good. It's a beautiful mod but that's where the pros stop.

 

[Lopaka79]

The original Chi-You design did not have an insulator on the bottom button much like the Caravela as MNKE and SONY batteries were not in heavy use back then. A simple o-ring can fix this. .. As for reverse threaded lock ring. Ohh well.. deal breaker condemning a high end high priced mod to utter crap? I'm glad you got a clone too...

-CF

Designing and selling a $150-$250 mech mod that's gorgeous but doesn't offer the basics is comparable to a Ferrari that comes with drum brakes. Protected 18650's have been around and in use for some time. I personally started using them since I bought a Silver Bullet 3 years ago. The Chi-you hit the scene in 2012 leaving no excuse. Higher price anything should reflect in design, materials, craftsmanship, availability and performance. I guess my level of expectations must be higher than others when forking over $'s.

Bottom line is I don't mind having to work on the clone Chi since I knew it wasn't going to be the quality expected out of the original. But after comparing the cloned parts to the real parts through photos and close up reviews, their very very close. China got their hands on the real thing and copied it as cheaply possible. I wish the real Chi was easier to purchase so I could do a side to side comparison. It's more than certain that the real Chi would have higher quality craftsmanship in engraving, threading and tolerances. But if I had to port the tubes to fit protected cells and go out of my way to find an insulator that should've been sent with the mod. Then yes it would be a deal breaker since I'm doing the work the manufacturer should have done thus justifying the price.

 

[Subie]

@Lopaka79 can you show me what did you use as a insulator for the chi you? I would like to do the same to mine. Thanks

 

[Lopaka79]

There were multiple options to modding it for safety. The easiest way without proper tools would be to:

1)Buy an 8mm aluminum button top screw that's a couple mm longer (replaces the loose original bottom battery post that loves to come loose)(you can also use a file or grinder to flatten a small area on top of the aluminum button screw head.
2)Buy a 8mm stainless steel screw unless you have a tap-set (used to re-thread the button switch)
(Make sure to have some WD40 or cutting grease when re-tapping the button switch. Take your time when re-tapping. Don't try to tap through one time. It should take about 5min with a tap-set and about 10-15min using a stainless screw. You will probably want to use a rag and vise grips to hold the switch while tapping)
3)Buy 2 nylon washers. 1st Larger washer will be used as you battery insulator. The 2nd smaller washer will sit under your new aluminum screw that will offset the throw and compensate for the thickness of the nylon battery insulator. (use CA glue to hold down both nylon washers).

Doing these things will further raise your battery closer to the short top battery post getting you out of the exploding battery issue and also insulating the base of your batteries. Your button switch should also stay in place better than the stock setup. There are further mods like porting the 18650 tube to allow the use of protected batteries will add further safety to future vaping sessions. You could also add a nylon tube spacer around the aluminum screw threading and sand it down to match the diameter of button switch to lengthen throws.

Good luck with it and happy vaping.

 

[Kemosabe]

There are two versions of this mod going around...sounds like you did not get the HCigar one. Im not even sure who is making the one with the glaring defects...the one that is circulating in a few places such as FastTech.

Just like anything else, before buying a mod do your research. I heard about these other ones and was hesitant at first, till I made sure that the co-ops that I was involved in were for the "good" ones.

yeah thats what ive read as well. the HCigar is the "good" one, the FastTech one is garbage. i also read that the FastTech one is made by Tobeco.

its a bummer to hear that even the "good" one isnt good.

 

[Lopaka79]

yeah thats what ive read as well. the HCigar is the "good" one, the FastTech one is garbage. i also read that the FastTech one is made by Tobeco.

its a bummer to hear that even the "good" one isnt good.

I was told by a Tobeco Rep that their making a final design Chi that will be released next week. The said final Chi will be coming out in 2 versions, all brass and gold?¿? plating. Hopefully they revisited their design flaws and improved on their last run.

 

[Subie]

I was told by a Tobeco Rep that their making a final design Chi that will be released next week. The said final Chi will be coming out in 2 versions, all brass and gold?¿? plating. Hopefully they revisited their design flaws and improved on their last run.

That would be awesome! i wouldn't mind owning a gold plated one. lol

 

[Grizzie]

yeah thats what ive read as well. the HCigar is the "good" one, the FastTech one is garbage. i also read that the FastTech one is made by Tobeco.

its a bummer to hear that even the "good" one isnt good.

Fasttech's chi you clone is actually made by hcigar. Have you looked at the tobeco's version of the brass chi you? Its completely different. People are saying that fasttech's chi you isnt made by hcigar because of the pictures on fasttech. It was actually a sample piece they got from the manufactor so the spelling on the bottom wasnt correct and they didnt really care about how they looked. But a staff on fasttech confirmed that they are sending out the chi you clones with the corrected spelling.

 

[Jaseruckus]

This is what I posted on FT:

[Hopefully this will answer some of your questions. This is the brass version to tobeco's brass chi you....look familiar? It's the same picture in the FT brass chi clone.

tobeco chi you mod brass with real gold plate, View chi you mod, tobeco Product Details from Shenzhen Tobeco Technology Co., Ltd. on Alibaba.com

The shiny one your referring to is the gold plated version tobeco is making also. I don't see tobeco taking a photo from here and post it for their product. Plus, I have yet to hear that anyone that got their ss chi clone from Hcigar have misspelling or ver 2012 on the caps.

Does this mean that the one coming from here is the bad one going around? No one will know until it arrives in their hands. ]

As usual though, sometimes you can't go by photos on FT because they can be deceiving. Especially Alibaba's website. I just find it funny how FT had the brass version but had to sen them back because of the misspellings ( not to mention it being off center ) before Hcigar had even had them available. If the FT chi clone turns out good, then everyone wins. Heck, I'm hoping it really is Hcigar, I'll order a couple for the price they are offering it.

 

[Jaseruckus]

double post

 

[Grizzie]

Tobeco stole that picture from fast tech as they do with everything. You can tell what is tobecos actual product if you look on their site and see the pictures with their logo on the top left.

 

[Jaseruckus]

Tobeco stole that picture from fast tech as they do with everything. You can tell what is tobecos actual product if you look on their site and see the pictures with their logo on the top left.

I hope your right, since FT won't give out the name of the manufacturer. To be honest, even if it ends up being tobeco, I don't think it would be all that bad. Their Ithaka clone is spot on with the real thing. Only thing people ever complained about was their oddy clone, which was crap. Maybe they are in the right direction now. Who knows, maybe the bad one isn't even tobeco. No one will find out until slowtech ships them out and people get them.

 

[Thrasher]

LOL slowtech - hahahaha
I love em, but god how true lol

 

[bfrie]

i was sitting there vaping on my el kapitan, wondering why it is worth so much. threw my igo-w onto my ea clone instead, no real difference. well, build qualitey must at least be much better, i told myself as the locking ring on the $150 el kapitan got stuck and required pliers to get unstuck. then i discovered something, a little number on the switch. that is why "name brand" mods cost so much imho, at least mechanicals. never again will i pay over $40 for a metal tube with brass contacts, nor will i pay less than $150 for anything variable voltage.

 

[nickrw99]

Well...I hate to say it, but I bought a clone. Going on vacation in a little while and don't wanna bring my high end mods so I found a guy here in LA with a few Hcigars, picked it up for $58. I am thoroughly impressed! The build quality is not as good as Mojo obviously, but throw some noalox on all the threads, including the top pin and it feels so much better. This thing really vapes like a champ. Took it apart and watched a breakdown video by VapeRev...they really nailed the design and while I was pretty anti-clone, I couldn't be happier with this one.

 

[Thrasher]

i was sitting there vaping on my el kapitan, wondering why it is worth so much. threw my igo-w onto my ea clone instead, no real difference. well, build qualitey must at least be much better, i told myself as the locking ring on the $150 el kapitan got stuck and required pliers to get unstuck. then i discovered something, a little number on the switch. that is why "name brand" mods cost so much imho, at least mechanicals. never again will i pay over $40 for a metal tube with brass contacts, nor will i pay less than $150 for anything variable voltage.

to be fair it is known the Philippines mods can be very hit or miss, while voltage retention was rated high the build quality of the El cap isnt exactly 5 stars in the reviews i have seen.

(besides the greek mods are the bomb for quality)

while i have no feeling on clones in general i think like everything else its a great way for people who cant afford the high end to get their feet wet. but i would never buy one as they stand now.
the minute i see "as soon as you change/sand/mod/add this its a great mod" it reminds my exactly what i paid for with my roller.

 

[ImThatGuy]

Well...I hate to say it, but I bought a clone. Going on vacation in a little while and don't wanna bring my high end mods so I found a guy here in LA with a few Hcigars, picked it up for $58. I am thoroughly impressed! The build quality is not as good as Mojo obviously, but throw some noalox on all the threads, including the top pin and it feels so much better. This thing really vapes like a champ. Took it apart and watched a breakdown video by VapeRev...they really nailed the design and while I was pretty anti-clone, I couldn't be happier with this one.

Omega atty!!! k, nuff said...

 

[Lopaka79]

besides the greek mods are the bomb for quality

I hope it stands true on this next run of Nemesis (Aug 28 9:30am Athens Greece). After seeing this guy's issues from the last release Latest Nemesis Mod Batch Observations - YouTube I'm a little skeptical but I want 2 of them bad lol. Getting tired of waiting for Eric to make a Celesti to get my hands on a Nemesis. Cross fingers and toes and jump head first.

 

[Grizzie]

I hope your right, since FT won't give out the name of the manufacturer. To be honest, even if it ends up being tobeco, I don't think it would be all that bad. Their Ithaka clone is spot on with the real thing. Only thing people ever complained about was their oddy clone, which was crap. Maybe they are in the right direction now. Who knows, maybe the bad one isn't even tobeco. No one will find out until slowtech ships them out and people get them.

I agree with you completely! Maybe tobecos version can actually be good and yeah slowtech needs to hurry up with the shipping. Its more of a pre order buying the chi you clone..