I know there has been alot of information floating around about the mini and the bvc. I got one shortly after they released. Last weekend I cracked my tank. No big deal a trip to the B&M and $11 later I had a t tank to replace it. I like my mini alot and it's been the only one used in my fleet for a while now. The tank incident had me bouncing around the web looking at hardware again. I was looking at mini's all over. I got tired and went to ebay looking at bike parts because I can't go the local shop and get anything I need anymore. I got curious and searched for mini's there. Prices about the same as anywhere else then I found what might fit the bill. a $19 mini. Ya I know not authentic (duh $19) poor quality etc...... you know I've thrown a $20 away at less. I picked up 2 at $36 shipped. 3 days later I had them in my hand. Defenately copies the packaging was all wrong a good copy but the insert was plastic and not pressed cardboard. The scratch off was way wrong and the numbers on both boxes matched lol. I took the tank out and had a closer look with my authentic for comparison. These guys are good. It was so close that I really didn't notice any big differences. Everything looked exactly the same the seal at the bottom the orings the driptip I mean everything. Another clone tell was the spare bvc was 1.8 ohm my authentic came with a 1.8 installed and the spare was 1.6. The jury is still out after a weeks use on the bvc I couldn't tell if it was a clone or not. I looked under my large magnifier and both were identical in every way. I get THAT look from the wife so I put the tanks back together and fill them up with my favorite juice. I screw my real one to a 1300mah spinner and as usual great flavor and production a few minutes go by time enough to saturate the clones bvc and I drop it on the same spinner at 3.8v. I have to say after a few minutes I couldn't tell a difference between the two. A week later and they are about the same. The "about" is a very small I don't know that I would even call a complaint. The beauty ring that came with the clone isn't as clean and finished as the genuine and the airflow base isn't as precise as the original. The clone base has a little slack in it which causes some float in the collar. It doesn't obstruct the airholes it's just a little off center but it locks in to position with a positive click. I've had the clone through temprature extremes and no coil flooding it hasn't leaked a drop and the coil is still performing great. Why a clone tank considering prices have dropped alot. Just "because" I guess. I wanted something that I could abuse and not worry about destroying. I ride a bike every day year around in all weather if I drop it and an old spinner at 75 mph oh well my good gear is in the trunk. B&M's around here sell minis between $36 to $49 the one's I got online were $27 plus shipping times two. There were people that bought these tanks from the seller and thought they were genuine (Really??? $19) they recieved refunds and were happy. I was offered a refund also but refused the tanks are worth the money for me plus I was aware of the fact that they were copies. After this experience I've been looking close at hardware when I go out to research a purchase. I've since found a local B&M that had a shelf full of the same copies. The owner offered refunds or store credit to all of his customers that bought them. They were unaware and thought they had a pretty good supplier. I've gotten some junk with clones but also got some that held their own with the real deal too. Knowing what I do now I'd most liekly have bought 4 of these copies used the bvc's until they died and then replaced them with authentic aspires. There's just not that big of a difference between the two I'm going to work the airholes on one of the bases and see if I can improve it a little bit. Anyway I was bored at lunch and thought I'd get a few thoughts out of my head thanks.................
