*GEM: A new RTA by MarkBugs

[turbocad6]

I asked for a second set for my ss gem, the spares for the Ti were in the Ti tin but that's it, the SS spares were in the envelope though and I almost missed them until I purposely went digging just to double check, honestly they could have easily been missed, and yeah, not on the invoice or anything, but was in the bottom of the padded envelope

 

[h00ligan]

I asked for a second set for my ss gem, the spares for the Ti were in the Ti tin but that's it, the SS spares were in the envelope though and I almost missed them until I purposely went digging just to double check, honestly they could have easily been missed, and yeah, not on the invoice or anything, but was in the bottom of the padded envelope

Well it's possible. I thought I emptied the envelope but maybe not. If they were, mea culpa

I don't believe I have that envelope anymore. I typically do tip envelopes upside down etc. but it's possible I didn't.

 

[hippieben]

Here I just had to rewick due to a strong flavor previously so I snapped these to maybe help. This build works great on the ti or the stainless in temp control. Not so great on the ss gem with gunner liquid in VW. I typically wouldn't use this length as I'm familiar with the process but for illustrations on cutting the end I did it this way so you can replicate once or twice. On average it takes a tiny length to do this when you get a feel for how much should be in there thickness wise.

Here's an example of a big piece of cotton bacon which I then roll back and forth to shrink it down.

Once it's through the wick you can snip the ends and it quickly returns to its standard fluffy goodness. Here you cons see how tightly I wick with cotton bacon.

After that I turn the legs up and I cut at or just above the screw

It leaves you with two fluffy bundles on top
Of the deck canal

After that I use a small
Screwdriver to distribute the trailing ends to the down turned channels. And with these two you can see the dry and then wet form of it when it settles.

Top view dry

eliquid on it is clear but this is the final package.

After a few draws this levels
Out nicely. Just make sure when you first place the cotton bacon in there you slide it back and forth a bit so the part covered by the coil isn't toooooo jam packed.

Please excuse the dimness and the sheets in the background. Best I can do right now. .

if You find you get slight leaking when it's on its side with the juice you predominantly use. Go up half a mm on the cuts from THe top of the screws. Also not one screw is higher than the other so center the wick when you finish cutting it you may wish to start with slightly higher cuts as I use 90% vg a lot. I wouldn't cut any higher than another half a mm at absolute most. Probably that's the most the deck Could accommodate more. And you want the short sides and thick middle. If you're getting semi dry hits on the ti or weak vapor in temp On the stainless it's a little too thick in the middle. You should be able
To remove a small Portion without rewicking entirely using tweezers. Once you do this a couple times you'll automatically nail it with almost no effort and wasting very little wick. Make sure to Give each new wick a fair Little break In before deciding

I hope that helps with ti gem Wicking with cotton bacon. It also works wel in the stainless gem but only with temp Control. For those who haven't tried cotton bacon (yes they're rebranding something) . It's a very good wick. I can't wick cotton padding like this. It would have to be less voluminous. This kind Of wick gives me a very very dense vape

Just wanted to chime in, for anyone who's just received their GEM, and say that this is absolutely the best way I've found to wick it. Doing this method with rayon for some time now, and it's fantastic.

 

[h00ligan]

Just wanted to chime in, for anyone who's just received their GEM, and say that this is absolutely the best way I've found to wick it. Doing this method with rayon for some time now, and it's fantastic.

Oh that's great thanks! I was thinking maybe I was the only one it worked well for. It's nice and fast

 

[Phone Guy]

I would like to comment on Mark Bugs customer service. In my experience it's been top notch.

I'm not going to get drawn into any kind of a debate or anything, but but my experience with him has been extremely positive. I am a fan of his products, I think they are gorgeous and sincerely hope a tank with a more direct lung hit air flow ability is in the works, and I'd love to see a dna200 device too.

But his customer service WITH ME has been amazing. Ymmv.

I congratulate @mark78 on his products, and his customer service.

 

[h00ligan]

It's nice to hear someone had a positive experience after some negatives have been recounted.

Hopefully this was just a blip that's been corrected whether it was the email thing or some other i'm personally glad to see its not everyone all the time. I have no desire to paint markbugs in a negative light. I like you can only recount my experience. Beautiful products that when working make the best flavor going. So yah. I don't want to fight you for saying that. In fact I'll thank you for giving us an alternate view and hope for a parallel experience for myself moving forward.

 

[h00ligan]

I'll Separate this. Form the political.

I'm Experimenting with a contact stainless coil for temp
Control on a Yihi 350j dual boxer mod and evic mini (best preprogrammed stainless ive found - I believe it uses a recent lower end Yihi chip)I can test it also on the wae ii without temp Control

On reason I love stainless.

Here's the build

I'll report back how it works in both standard VW/VV and temp Control

Side note on the titanium - I find the beauty rings don't get bound as much. Heat least for now they seem much easier to change out without having to stick them in the freezer to loosen etc

I'm not ready to say it's anything but anecdotal yet but food for thought for those who own or have owned both.

@qorax or others any idea where to find the single values used by the Yihi chips? I know you're not big on temp Control but you read a lot of threads so maybe you remember ? I only know how to do the DNA 200 stuff but I don't know where that single figure value is found

 

[TheotherSteveS]

I'll Separate this. Form the political.

I'm Experimenting with a contact stainless coil for temp
Control on a Yihi 350j dual boxer mod and evic mini (best preprogrammed stainless ive found - I believe it uses a recent lower end Yihi chip)I can test it also on the wae ii without temp Control

On reason I love stainless.

Here's the build

I'll report back how it works in both standard VW/VV and temp Control

Side note on the titanium - I find the beauty rings don't get bound as much. Heat least for now they seem much easier to change out without having to stick them in the freezer to loosen etc

I'm not ready to say it's anything but anecdotal yet but food for thought for those who own or have owned both.

@qorax or others any idea where to find the single values used by the Yihi chips? I know you're not big on temp Control but you read a lot of threads so maybe you remember ? I only know how to do the DNA 200 stuff but I don't know where that single figure value is found

hers is what I have

317: 0.000875
316: 0.000915
304: 0.00105
430: 0.00138
410: 0.00155 (not sure about this one and 410 is hard to get hold of I think)


they are all in wire wizard section of Steam Engine although some of the values differ slightly! I can't remember where I found these values but somewhere on the multi wire thread in the temperature control forum...

ps. have you done the 350J fw upgrade. User input TCR!! I think the SS they use is 304 but not sure.

 

[h00ligan]

hers is what I have

317: 0.000875
316: 0.000915
304: 0.00105
430: 0.00138
410: 0.00155 (not sure about this one and 410 is hard to get hold of I think)


they are all in wire wizard section of Steam Engine although some of the values differ slightly! I can't remember where I found these values but somewhere on the multi wire thread in the temperature control forum...

ps. have you done the 350J fw upgrade. User input TCR!! I think the SS they use is 304 but not sure.

I thought Ginger vaper put the latest on there but in the boxer it is still titanium and nickel along with manual. I can't remember how to check version without the pc. I'll try to locate the latest boxer update. Is the latest with stainless included a bets firmware bass around the SX mini ? Or is it s release? Typically the boxer lags a little but there's a reference release that works he doesn't have the boxer logo (which I like but not enough to stay back a firmware)

I tried several of the values - I posted a link maybe to anther thread

The values from the site like vaping geek or something are as follows. I'll try to
Find the link in a moment so you its can bookmark it. The values are from steam engine and typically expressed as. .875x10^-6 (for 317)

-----
Stainless steel types:
317: 0.000875
316: 0.000915
304: 0.00105
430: 0.00138
410: 0.00155 - this value hasn't been verified yet

NiFe alloys:
Pernifer36(Invar): 0.00117
Resistherm(Dicodes): 0.0032
Nifethal52(NiFe48 at Zivipf): 0.00405
Nifethal70(NiFe30 at Zivipf): 0.00506

Ni200: 0.0052 (20°C-200°C)

Titanium #1: 0.0035

(Niobium: 0.0028 - not verified)
-----

I confirmed with the 316L eBay seller they verify purity and he feels strongly that it should be accurate representation. However he is investigating further. I expressed I use the wire for vaping and I'm surprised he actually was really responsive

Here's how he responded
"The material provided is 316L grade soft annealed material, 100%.

Knowing the application there may be other factors that are effecting performance for your use. I will ask our location that sell Kanthol for vape wire, they may have some information knowing this wire has been used in an atomizer.

The material is purchased as rod from a North American melting source
Then processed through our mill here in Perth Ontario under ISO regulation
The material is spooled in house from the run out or over weight spools from other customer orders.
The material was tested many time during processing by our in house quality lab.
A Niton gun is used at time of rod arrival to ensure what grade is received. "

All that said I got almost no vapor and such at lower levels with the custom tcr. Though it works well enough on the evic tuned for 304 the setting manually didn't work well.

Hard to say if the gem is partly to blame but the center pin definitely has to be adjusted a few times when placing to find the right resistance. And then it does seem to fluctuate a bit which on the Yihi doesn't seem to matter that much.

I guess I will try one last time to contact Mark bugs about the replacement 510 base. Ping him about whether I can get s chimney upgrade for my stainless so it works thick Juice without the hassle and inconsistencies. That leaves out the conversation of a general chimney upgrade plan and all the other stuff about vat etc. I'll have to ask again about a 500 extension as theyre not available separately anymore anywhere. I'll have to try to do all that and be succinct - clearly not a strong point.

I passed along the deal I got on the second wae because the intent was to get a DNA 40 version. But now I can't get that from his site because I won't pay vat and get dinged for import tax. Also isn't the DNA 40 limited to one kind of temp
Material and it's one out of favor? Or does not
Do nickel?

It's a shame he chose that chip of all chips. On he upside I guess it's so old now and has been through so many revisions with so many bugs and troubles it should work pretty well. On the other side of it it's so old now that there are much much better options.

I would have bought in a heart beat if it used even a low end Yihi chip that does stainless nickel and titanium. Price can't be the issue so it's either brand loyalty or size. Or both. Maybe wae IV will have a better choice. Even with all that I am still tempted because I want temp control on a wae

 

[Phone Guy]

I'm not sure, but I think the new evic mini uses Joyetech own chip? Like the wismec reuleaux rx200 does, and the new line of vapor flask (made by wismec).

I've not personally used Joyetech new chips, but they are stepping up their game to be a force in the "affordable" range of mods.

 

[TheotherSteveS]

the updates for the m-class and the boxer are release versions and work flawlessly! I'll try to find the link but I think the version you need is 2.36 or 2.38 or something like that. Someone will chime in on that I'm sure!!

the sx350J wont fit in the wae, thats why, in part, they went the DNA40 route, and because a number of people, notably @IanDVaypes on ECF modded their wae2's with a DNA40 so they had a proof-of-principle! He also stuck a 350J in the vaporflask, and even more herculean feat and I think that also prompted VF to produce the commercial version!

edit: I vape Ti and NiFe52 on DNA40s no problem, with appropriate T offset. Works great! SS wont work as the TCR is so low and so far from that of Nickel200. Ti (0.0036ish) and NiFe52 (0.0041ish) are much closer!!

 

[h00ligan]

Well j guess I have to consider if I am willing spend the money on it then.

I wish it was a titanium mod to match the titanium gem but I'm sure the price then would be beyond my budget

 

[h00ligan]

I sent an email to Mark and Bugs with four points of request and a paragraph on the fact that swapping vat for shipping is one thing but incorrectly denoting the actual price and triggering import tax is a completely Different one.

I don't know who handles what. The email about the website issue was answered by Dracos (sp?) and I'm not sure who resolved the deck issue my very first gem had.

Two questions for the thread members.

1) titanium gem Owners on parts of your gem do you have small strips where it Looks like raw finish? Particularly the afc. How does titanium wear (think handling not dropping)

Here's a pic. It's hard to see it because it looks like a reflection - again it's not necessarily a problem It just made me curious about how it's worked.

Note the strip to the right of the afc and the grooves. I believe there are a few strips like this that must have been how they held it or something when finishing ? Or maybe they do It this way to give added depth or shine or Something deliberately cosmetic?
I'm not sure I like it as a deliberate choice - maybe more Distracting than depth adding. - makes it look a bit like it was dropped or something damaged it. Obviously I haven't left the house with mine and it's been built a grand total of three times / So I guess it's been done deliberately or at least it's a function of being hand made. I remember the apple titanium
Laptop was very delicate. Maybe this is par for the course with titanium - I'm not familiar with it

It looks almost like a finish was sprayed on in a single pass and missed the recessed areas ( I'm analogize get I know it's not spray can finished )

2) how are the titanium and stainless steel Finished and what do You do for care? Obviously sonic and micro fiber but if or when you've had damage to the finish what do you do - as it can't be polished out is here a method to minimize it ? What is the finish of the gem called ? It's similar to bead blasted right ? I'm curious how it is achieved. As well As Cared for

Happy hump day !

 

[h00ligan]

Mark has replied and offered solutions for all my questions. The Romanian law states he needs to invoice for the full Amount via PayPal- though I don't see why it can't be split I'm not
Going to argue the point. He suggested vapinart who have always been great to Deal With. Certainly if I knew they would have had the titanium in stock I would not have ordered site direct. For those looking for the titanium they're available there now from What I can see.

Ive asked similar to Above about he titanium
Finish as well As recommendations on caring for the finish or maybe correcting issues in the finish.

I'm not the kind of Person who will buy an atomizer and not really use it because it's expensive. But if the titanium wears easy I'l probably restrict it to Home use.

He also stated he would have 18500
Tunes for the wae ii for sale
At €30. Does anyone know the overall
Length differences or can measure with the new DNA 49 carrying both

@qorax you have the
New wae right? I'm
Trying to decide if it's worth the extra money and time from Romania - doesn't look like vapinart will Get more - If I get the new wae then that 18500
Tune fits the old too correct?

Thanks all

 

[Haza]

I sent an email to Mark and Bugs with four points of request and a paragraph on the fact that swapping vat for shipping is one thing but incorrectly denoting the actual price and triggering import tax is a completely Different one.

I don't know who handles what. The email about the website issue was answered by Dracos (sp?) and I'm not sure who resolved the deck issue my very first gem had.

Two questions for the thread members.

1) titanium gem Owners on parts of your gem do you have small strips where it Looks like raw finish? Particularly the afc. How does titanium wear (think handling not dropping)

Here's a pic. It's hard to see it because it looks like a reflection - again it's not necessarily a problem It just made me curious about how it's worked.

Note the strip to the right of the afc and the grooves. I believe there are a few strips like this that must have been how they held it or something when finishing ? Or maybe they do It this way to give added depth or shine or Something deliberately cosmetic?
I'm not sure I like it as a deliberate choice - maybe more Distracting than depth adding. - makes it look a bit like it was dropped or something damaged it. Obviously I haven't left the house with mine and it's been built a grand total of three times / So I guess it's been done deliberately or at least it's a function of being hand made. I remember the apple titanium
Laptop was very delicate. Maybe this is par for the course with titanium - I'm not familiar with it

It looks almost like a finish was sprayed on in a single pass and missed the recessed areas ( I'm analogize get I know it's not spray can finished )

2) how are the titanium and stainless steel Finished and what do You do for care? Obviously sonic and micro fiber but if or when you've had damage to the finish what do you do - as it can't be polished out is here a method to minimize it ? What is the finish of the gem called ? It's similar to bead blasted right ? I'm curious how it is achieved. As well As Cared for

Happy hump day !

Mine's not like that at all - mine matches the whole way around the AFC - I just checked. I don't really know how you would correct / minimize that. I know some of my hiking MSR Titan cookware has been beaten up over the years and as the marks fade they tend to blend back in as the titanium oxidizes. Battle scars on hiking gear is cool on expensive vaping gear - not so much.

 

[h00ligan]

Mine's not like that at all - mine matches the whole way around the AFC - I just checked. I don't really know how you would correct / minimize that. I know some of my hiking MSR Titan cookware has been beaten up over the years and as the marks fade they tend to blend back in as the titanium oxidizes. Battle scars on hiking gear is cool on expensive vaping gear - not so much.

The parts that are square and missing and the ridges in the afc clearly are points that were missed in the finishing process. I just didn't know if t was intentional.

For the runs like the one on the afc. I have a feeling that the things looking like scratches happened when shipping. The gem box isn't secure enough imo. By the time they arrive at the door the beauty rings and a couple other parts are flying around. It's been that way on all three of my gems. Which you know. Isn't life or death but at a $245 out the door price point probably shouldn't happen. It's this kind of stuff that's frustrating. Expensive top shelf atomizer with inconsistent and blank finish spots and arriving pre scratched for my convenience.

I'm sure some people , think I'm being a perfectionist or a crybaby. Maybe I am?

I dunno I'm trying not to care. I'll
Probably get there but with that will also arrive at not paying that kind of money again - what's the point of a limited edition if it's not better than the unlimited? (well For Me function won out)

What do you think/ how would you feel? I can say with certainty no damage has arrived at my hand. Unless sitting on a microfiber towel rested on a mattress caused It. I'm fully immobilized. It's never fallen even to the carpet or banged into anything.

I must be either the pickiest jerk going or the unluckiest Mark bugs customer out here.

510 base Teflon sticking too far out (will replace) #2 gem
Faulty deck (replaced) #1 gem
Misaligned afc #2 gem
520 adaptor which doesn't match up
Properly On threading (they should be interchangeable and all
Are except one which has a bite out do the threads. #1 gem)
Finish issues (titanium gem #3)
A bunch of support request unanswered due to their computers not working properly.


On the upside my wae seems to be working well.

This run of issues - I'm genuinely open to criticism. Am I being unreasonable or is this a disproportionate amount of bs to deal
With ?

 

[Haza]

What do you think/ how would you feel? I can say with certainty no damage has arrived at my hand. Unless sitting on a microfiber towel rested on a mattress caused It. I'm fully immobilized. It's never fallen even to the carpet or banged into anything.

Hell yes I'd be ...... - These things are not cheap at all - we aren't talking about some beater sub tank here.

The gem box isn't secure enough imo. By the time they arrive at the door the beauty rings and a couple other parts are flying around.

I certainly agree with this as well - I was actually shocked when I opened my tin to find the only thing padding the atty was the bag of spares - I thought really! are you serious? It's not as if the thing is marked fragile either like many other packages / glass items I have ordered online. Even if the courier can't read / doesn't understand the word "fragile"

A buddy of mine has ordered a Chalice III and apparently that was exactly the same - minus the spares bag. For a total of a 10 cents (if that) worth of packing you think they would pack it like it was worth $250 +, I have seriously seen my mates $10 Fastech clones arrive in better more secure packaging.

I'm also not trying to be a picky SOB here either but I ordered a Dicodes mod that comes in a similar style tin and the mod was padded by some closed cell foam and it was a pretty tight fit to make sure the thing arrived in pristine condition - now you would think these guys would do the same.

I was going to order a DNA 40 WAE II from them directly but my "spidey senses" tell me that I might not get so lucky next time and the thing would arrive in a crap state - once it pops out from the padded cradle there is not a whole lot to stop it rubbing up against the top of the tin in transit.

This run of issues - I'm genuinely open to criticism. Am I being unreasonable or is this a disproportionate amount of bs to deal

I don't think you are personally - listen this is high end type gear and that's what you are paying for. As I said before this is not some cheapie beater mod that you paid $30 bucks for that if it drops or gets dinged - meh and battle scars are cool and will just add to the character of the thing like a well worn pair of jeans.

I own a lot of high end gear and all have arrived from the modder well packaged and in perfect condition and I'm talking about hand made mods like the Zero where there is no C&C work and that thing arrived perfect - no gaps, no scars no finish imperfections if your going to charge the high end prices for stuff well it better be as close to perfect when it arrives in your customers hands IMO.

 

[h00ligan]

@Haza ok thank you for your feedback. We will see if others agree. I'd rather just be told if I am being unreasonable and I think the crowd here will be honest

So one vote for not being unreasonable.

 

[HBcorpse]

@Haza ok thank you for your feedback. We will see if others agree. I'd rather just be told if I am being unreasonable and I think the crowd here will be honest

So one vote for not being unreasonable.

Make that two votes for NOT being unreasonable.
At the price point, and lack of communication (from your perspective), you have every right to feel as you do.
I work for one of the biggest companies on the planet, and we have the absolute best customer service policies around. None of this would ever happen to one of our customers, and if it did, there would be lightning fast response and resolution.
Obviously Mark Bugs isn't a large multi-billion corporation, but the simple principles that -good customer service- is operated on, are not that difficult to implement.

 

[Cloudrider]

To lend some balance, I received no less than (2) WAE II, (2) SS Gems and (2) Ti Gems directly from MB.
All have been received in flawless condition and with out any extra duty or import costs.
Sure the Tin packaging can be seen as marginal, if it was completely inferior, we would hear a lot about dings and broken glass. So far I haven't come across reading or hearing of people reporting those issues.

Also don't think h00ligans being unreasonable.
A great contributor to this thread, only one I am following in this vast forum