Wow, awesome work, props to you mate.
Just wanted to tell you that your study/research/test helped me a lot in buying my first mod.
Just ordered a stingray x and a 4nine.
A big thanks to you
Cheers, and glad it helped.
I wanted to update the original posts with details on the mods, including brands and material differentiations, but it appears ECF does not allow edits past a certain time frame. Kind of a waste, as it prevents users from posting detailed long term usage or updates on products they are reviewing.
Jjshbetz11 said:
Thanks for the stingray/tobh test! Pretty much spot on with my own testing, and they were NOT the same clones! Guess we debunked that theroy
All the Stingrays I've tested have been roughly the same, regardless of manufacturer (Tobeco, Hcigar, Infinite, SXK), due mostly to a well designed switch.
Being in the manufacturing and resale trade myself, I must refute a lot of the claims that clones are wholly different from the originals. What typically happens in an overseas manufacturing scenario is that the original designer pays to set up the tooling, selects materials and finishes, and then gets several runs of product. This product is then shipped to the designer on a net-term scenario, allowing them to sell the product and repay the mfg costs. Once the original runs are complete however, the manufacturer has the opportunity to use the tooling and dies to make further runs of the product at a significantly lower cost than if they'd had to pay for the original design and tooling.
In my business (clothing) they will change the design slightly to ensure it does not have branding, or to change the the fabric patterns, spec lower cost parts,
or to address issues in the original design. They do NOT change the materials however - this would require re-tooling the line, so would not be practical or cost efficient. The line is setup to make a specific product out of a specific material, using specific tools. Changing the design or the materials would require the mfg to re-setup the tooling for the new materials and design, so it wouldn't make financial sense. This is why clones are so often 1:1 and use the same materials, but with slight changes to logos, button springs, insulators, etc. The problem with saying clones are worse is that the product you are often getting from the original designers are first run, while the products you are getting from the 'clone' maker often has some of the initial run issues addressed. That said, it is just as possible for the clone maker to make a worse product by speccing lower cost parts. It could go either way.
If the product then becomes popular, the factory will often sell off the tooling and design specs to other companies to make, again at significantly lower cost than designing and tooling a line from scratch.
Obviously there are exceptions to this rule, but this cycle happens constantly in my industry, and is considered normal. I see my products on shelves in various markets with different fabrics and under different brand names all the time. The factories we use are adding my product to their demo-rack, and selling the design to other companies who come looking for that factory to do their production.
All this to say that yes - there will be slight differences in the voltage drop of clones and originals, but who is to say which will be better? I own an original Cartel in copper and an infinite clone, and the clone has lower voltage drop. Conversely, my original Chi You has lower drop than the clone - until you swap in the magnets included with the clone, which then takes the lead.
As a closing comment, I will re-iterate what I said in my earlier post, which is that mods with high voltage drop under load are almost invariably let down by a poor switch - and very rarely by poor materials. I've often seen stainless mods perform better than 100% copper ones due to a well designed switch. The Caravela's are a case in point. It's all well to make a mod out of 100% copper, but if you blow the switch design, it doesn't really make a difference.
