DSE601 Pipe Problems

[jrjacobs]

Just got my DSE601 E-pipe two days ago. I was very excited - charged the batts, etc. Got it all together and first draw - wow, tons of vapor. A few more draws, and ...... hardly the smallest amount of vapor. Pull out the cartridge, and it works for a while. Put the cartridge back in, it stops producing vapor - unless I suck on it with all my might, then it works. Take the cartridge out, it works for awhile - put the cartridge back in, nada.

Over the past two days I have done nothing but constantly toy with this device to try to get it to work. I've tried direct dripping - works for a short while. I've tried modding the carts - nothing seems to work. BTW - the included carts taste like ....

This is the most disappointing PV I have tried.

Did I just get a defective one or am I doing something wrong?

BTW - it does not seem to be flooding.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Spiker]

Gotta admit, I'm having trouble with mine too. Only had it 4 days, and once in a while it works great, but then get no vape and a hard draw... very inconsistant. Also tried dripping, trying to drain it, etc. I had just assumed I was doing something wrong, just getting used to a new PV. Any tips anyone has would be great!

 

[jrjacobs]

....once in a while it works great, but then get no vape and a hard draw...

That's exactly the way mine seems to work. I'm starting to think it is just a crappy device.

Anyone have any suggestions???????

 

[Spiker]

Funny, I had just posted that, then went to work, and on the drive it was working like a champ! Just perfect the whole drive. I really love it when it works, but just seems very tempermental. Seems to mute the flavor and throat hit, too, most of the time anyway, and sort of changes the taste of flavors, sometimes... just never know what to expect!

 

[Raenon]

I've been using a 601 as my primary at home vape for almost a month now (wow, that long?), so I have a few observations:

The pipe works best when you start with a VERY full cartridge, and let it squish down real good. The bridge in the atomizer is quite high, and will push down on the batting and wick a lot of liquid. Once the liquid movement starts, it seems to continue very well.

This also leads to it's primary design flaw- the atomizer is not sealed from the rest of the bowl, and both liquid and vapor seeps back up towards the battery and cap (which is also where you'll find a tiny notch on the stem side of the top of the bowl, this is the air intake). When liquid gets up there, the draw gets harder. This also happens when the atomizer gets flooded right after putting in a new cart. To combat this (probably a 50/50 flood likelihood otherwise), I puff like crazy for a couple of minutes right after replacing the cart. Carts seem to last 2-3 days or so for me, assuming I'm using my e-cig outside of the house during the day (at work). My first thing in the morning vape is the pipe, and all evening as soon as I get home from work.

Every few days/weeks (depending on use), or whenever you think you've got too much loose liquid in the bowl, you should take out the cart, puff it mostly dry, and then hang the bowl up to drain. I like to roll up a bit of paper towel and gently slide that into the stem, touching the wick, and another in the battery compartment. I thoroughly dry around the threads and wipe down the wood and hang the bowl over the rim of a glass, stem down, overnight.

Eventually, loose e-liquid will break down many components, I've heard of long term issues with the stem coming loose, but this doesn't seem common without some extra help (like vise-grip help!), but the threaded ring will come loose at the top of the bowl, and the wood is likely to develop small cracks. I suggest catching them early, and filling in the micro cracks with STRONG superglue, and gently prying out the ring (when it's ready) and resetting it with superglue the same way. Be careful of noting the top versus bottom, it fits better in one direction with the cap. Brands probably don't matter on superglue, but I used "Gorilla Glue" I picked up at target.
Again, be careful not to fill up your air channel at the top of the bowl.

I agree the included "marlbro" carts don't taste good- so I drained them with a syringe, put it into a mixing bottle, and doped it up with a mixture of my own e-liquids and lorann's, then cut it to my approximate desired nicotine strength (I just wanted to go somewhere low because I puff on the pipe all the time) with VG and thinned it back out with a few drops of vodka. All in all, it's probably just the barest shade thicker than the stock juice from the cartridges, and tastes loads better.

I found two main flavors work well to my tastebuds with the pipe- cherry, and my favorite "dark blend", which is basically coffee, chocolate, vanilla and cream (all dekang juices, cut with vg).

The pipe seems to cut flavor, but greatly enhances aroma, so I find myself puffing away, forcing more of the vapor into the back of my mouth and out my nostrils while I largely breathe normally. Within a few moments, I feel a strong rush of both flavor and nicotine hit, instead of the quick sharp notes that my e-cig provides.

Sorry for the stream of consciousness post, I just wanted to share some of my experiences, hopefully I've responded to a few of your more pressing questions.

 

[Spiker]

Thanks Reanon! All very helpful info! I have been using empty carts I filled myself with RY4, and also some Mocha Vanilla blend, but have been keeping them on the dry side, just afraid of flooding, I guess. (Not really dry, but far from soaking) Perhaps that is part of the problem!

 

[eric]

I use a 601 quite often myself.

I've noticed that tapping the bottom of the bowl on my palm a few times helps it out a bit. I'm not sure what it's doing, but it works.

Another thing to do is to make sure the piece of metal that locks the battery in place is directly over the center of the battery. I use a small sliver of electrical tape to keep it in place as it tends to move to the side at times, especially when I tap the bowl on my palm.

Hope this helps!

 

[jrjacobs]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll give it a try.

I would love to hear more folks chime in about what works with this pipe.

 

[eric]

Absolutely, jrjacobs. Let me know if my pointers work out for you!

 

[tinstar15]

I have been using mine for months now and had identical problems. I found the best solution to be the following:

1) Mod cart by drilling tiny hole in closed end near the plastic tip that you use to pull cart out. Hole should be about the size of a toothpick tip.

2) Use 50/50 pg/vg mix with double the normal flavoring. This makes for a thicker juice which would wick slow as heck if not for the vent hole drilled in cart.

3) Place fully loaded cart in and vape until vapor production starts tapering off (for me, about 1 hr)

4) When vapor drops, use toothpick in the cart hole to extract cart. The toothpick hole cart mod also keeps you from getting juice on your fingers. I stick the other end of the toothpick in a section of styrofoam to keep the cart from draining.

5) Vape as normal without cart in pipe. You can set it aside or keep vaping if your a chain vaper like me. After 30-45 mins the vapor will start tapering off again. You can gently blow into the pipe and see if your hear a bubbling sound. If you do, it means that fluid has leaked down into the bowl beneath the battery. If you blow a little then inhale, it will vape for a few drags before dying out again. Repeat until dry.

6) Reinsert cart and remove toothpick. Vape away.

7) Every other day or so, fold up some paper towels, dismount the battery, take out the cart and mouthpiece and set the bowl on the towels upside down. Let the bowl drain out and dry overnight.

I keep rotating like this and can vape for 8-10 hrs before draining a cart. The toothpick mod keeps me from getting anything on my hands and the thicker fluid makes up for the increased flow rate of the modded cart.

All things considered, this has to be one of the more complicated PV's that I've owned but I just love the looks, vapor production, and the sheer amount of time it can be used without having to refill.

My original bowl has cracks near the airflow hole, discolored spots all over it, and the battery cap ring does not want to stay in after several re-gluings. It sits on top basically as a pressure fit cap with little keeping it in but gravity. It may be ugly as hell now but it still works. I was going to pick up a new atty/bowl from Eastmall for $40 until I found that I could get complete 601's from BigBoxStore.com for $43. I got a new one on order but will keep using my old one til it dies.

 

[jrjacobs]

OK - I have tried all the suggestions with no luck. As soon as I stick a cartridge in the vapor goes to almost nothing. If I pull the cartridge out and use it dry, the thing produces tons of vapor for many puffs. Put a cartridge back in and makes hardly any vapor again. I have tried modding the cartridges in all sorts of ways, including the hole in the top, changing the type and amount of filler material, all with no luck. Direct dripping works just fine with the pipe. I suspect there is something wrong with the wick in the atty.

At any rate, the atty completely died today, after only 1 week of intermittent service. I got this from BigBoxStore, so I will now get to see how they handle the warranty.

At any rate, in the replies above and in many previous threads I see the comment over and over that the DSE601 is a "more complicated" or a "tricky" device to use - all of which seems to be a nice way of saying that "it doesn't work very well". My experience is that it works very well if you can get it to work at all. So far I am very disappointed in the 601 Pipe, and would not recommend it to anyone. I will keep this thread updated if/when I receive my replacement.

Thanks again to those who replied with help.

 

[Wojtek]

I was looking at this pipe as a replacement to a usb passtrough, to be a bit more mobile when at home. But the posts in this thread make me cautions. I guess I'll wait for a v2

 

[jrjacobs]

Yeah, hold off.

On a better note, I have been using the DSE905 for two months now, and it is my favorite device - awesome vapor, batteries last all day - just works like it should!

 

[Jamrock]

I have to say that I too, have had similar issues with the DSE e-pipe. Really wonderful when it works well,sucks when it doesn't. I'm on my second atomizer in less than a couple months. I've found that at times, the e-pipe works better if I turn the bowl upside down.

 

[Parky50]

Argggg...

Wish I would have read this thread before I ordered mine 3 day's ago !!!
Hopefully it will work ok until my Joye 510 arrives.

 

[BigJimW]

I got the 601 pipe and find it's an outstanding vapor machine.

True, the carts do not drain very well, but what I do sometimes is take the cart out, put the rubber end on, shake the cart to get the liquid back to the bottom, reinsert, and I'm vaping again. They're very strong vapor producers if you're doing it right.

However, you may want to touch base with Carlos (who designs the Juice Box). I sent him my dead 601 atty and bowl to him the day it died. For a nominal fee (and if you don't mind the wait), he rebuilt the atty to the point where it exceeds the original atty in vapor production and throat hit. I bought another 601 atty/bowl during the wait and when I compare the two, it makes the new 601 atty look weak in compairason.

 

[Parky50]

That's great news Jim !!!

I will remember Carlos if/when I run into issues.

Thanks !!!

 

[mowgow]

I have been using the DSE601 for about a month and am loving every minute of it. I have charged the battery over three times but still charge over night for a minimum of 10 hours (12 for the first 3 charges, of course).

However, not that there is vapour reduction, but the light that should be a constant red colour when I drag, is now flashing a yellowy-green colour. Is this the cleaning cycle? Or something else? If it is, is the pipe cleaning itself, or telling me to do it? When I hold a piece of metal between the screw of the battery connector and the small metal square for the recommended 30 seconds, it doesn't stop flashing. Should I be keeping it flashing until the flashing stops? The flashing frequency has slowed, what does this mean?! Sorry to be really slow and possibly stupid!

Thanks for any help!

 

[Twister]

When I see the led flashing as I inhale, I put in a freshly charged battery. That stops the flashing and seems to increase the vapor production.

When vapor production drops off or I hear a little gurgling sound from the bowl section, I hold the pipe by the bowl with the stem pointed down and shake it like an old thermometer. Sometimes this clears the flooding. If that fails, I remove the cartridge and repeat the shake. That usually solves it. If all this fails, then I remove the stem and cartridge, blow into the bowl with a paper towel over the atomizer end. Lastly, insert a piece of paper towel into the atomizer opening, and set it in a glass to drain.

I tried drilling the carts but it immediately flooded the atty. My fluid mix must not be thick enough to work with the hole mod. I tried the blue foam and got an all day vapor. Just have to be careful not to overfill and cause immediate flooding. Blue foam or polyfill both seem to work fine. I think the blue foam just holds more fluid. The biggest factor for me seems to be the thickness of the liquid. Thin liquid floods the atty quickly. Thick liquid and the atty runs dry. Both ways cause the vapor production to drop off.

Occasionally, I do the burn clean by shorting the terminals in the bowl. If you look at the atty while shorting the terminals, you can see it heat up to a reddish orange glow. If it starts to glow right away, it is probably too dry-so thin your fluid. If it takes a while to start to glow or you have to shake it out and redo it to make it glow, it is probably flooded, so thicken your fluid.

I know all this seems like a lot to do, but as you learn the right thickness for the fluid, how often to drain, etc. You will have less and less to do and can enjoy the volumes of vapor it can produce.

Sorry for writing a book, but the DSE 601 pipe needs a book. It is definitly not for the ex-quick grab a smoke smoker. It is for the relaxed, casual, vapor who want to enjoy the clouds of vapor and taste. OH OH. Last chapter, I promise. Taste! The pipe definitely weakens/mutes the taste. Only the strongest tastes seem to come through faithfully. Sometimes a touch of menthol, or cinnamon, or kiwi seems to enhance the flavor. I prefer orange creamsicle or flue cured tobacco flavors.

So sit back, tinker a little and enjoy a lot!

 

[mowgow]

Thank you so much, Twister for your quick and detailed response. You have put my mind at rest and yes, there should be a book!

Also, thanks for the tip about the strong flavours. Fortunately, I have been using minty menthol (an absolutely head exploding, throat hitting power liquid) in both my DSE901 and DSE601. I'm totally know nothing about liquid thickness, so will definitely keep an eye out for too thin/thick symptoms and experiment with that.

For now, I shall put my battery on charge and see if that solves the light flashing problem and will forevermore be alert and ready to catch those telltale signs of flooding or drying of the atomiser.

Enjoy a lot, yourself and happy vaping!