Not impressed with Black Satin coating, perhaps a warning to others? :-(

[Regzzz]

Edit: 10 April Update. Resolved, great customer service...

Hi all, Been away for a bit, and while I was gone I received a lot of vapemail, so playing a lot... But, to my surprise, my second ProVari that I received 2 weeks ago, that my son is using (it hasn't left the house) is having the black color fade/wear very fast :-( as you can see from the pictures. Today being the the 2 weeks mark, I decided to send Provape an e-mail... we'll see what they say. I just hope I would not want to use this to warn others about buying a colored version... sadly I think this has surfaced before?



Here is what I have sent them:

Hello, I have received my second proVari exactly 2 weeks ago, my order was shipped 4 weeks ago ( (Order#: 51266 placed on 03/14/2013) , and I received it on the 26th. Exactly 2 weeks today. Although I must say that I am really impressed and fully satisfied with my first proVari ( Standard v2.5 silver) that I received 2 months ago, I must say that I am somewhat disappointed with the Satin black. As you can see from the attached pictures, the coating is fading/wearing off very fast, much faster then I anticipated. I thoroughly inspected the proVari when I first received it, and it was in perfect state. I'm not sure If you are having problems with the current coating quality or it is just part of the normal wear, but, if I would have known that this type of wear would happen on the "colored" version, I would have purchased an other silver instead. I have read on a few forums that others have reported this same extremely fast color fading/wear. I hope you can alleviate this trend. I must note that the mechanics and electronics of it works perfectly. I'm not entirely sure if I would like to send it back for warranty/repair/replacement, as the cost of shipping from Canada is somewhat ridiculously high.

As a side note, the compass bottom cap that I ordered for the silver proVari looks great, thank you very much
Sincerely,

I'll let you guys know if I get a reply.

Cheers all.

Reg

 

[JJOOHHNN]

I wonder if this is happening because it is stainless steel.

Stainless steel is harder to coat than other steels.

 

[Chimney34]

Hey Reg! Wow! This is the 2nd post I've seen with this issue. My purple still looks like it did the day I got it. The other poster had a blue one. I believe they gave him a difficult time about it. Eventually they made it right but Ill see if I can find the post.

 

[Regzzz]

I'm wondering if it happens a lot, or maybe it does happen as normal, people are treating this as normal and I'm just over-expecting/too picky? hmmm?

 

[Chimney34]

Just found it...I suck at links so just type 'I should have gotten the silver Provari' into the search box & it'll take you to the thread

I'm not sure if is normal. This is the 2nd time I've seen a post about this. My purple is fine but I've been checking it since seeing the first thread.

 

[Regzzz]

Hi Chimney, thank for the info, I've been out of the loop for a bit. nice to hear from you I hope it's not too much of a re-curing problem.

 

[Regzzz]

Just found it...I suck at links so just type 'I should have gotten the silver Provari' into the search box & it'll take you to the thread

I'm not sure if is normal. This is the 2nd time I've seen a post about this. My purple is fine but I've been checking it since seeing the first thread.

I'll go look for it. ;-) thnks

 

[Chimney34]

Hey Reg! Glad to have you back! I hope not either! Next on my list was a black one.

 

[Judge Dredd]

I posted in the thread Chimney was referring to. I have a silver and a black as well, and neither of the coatings are wearing off, except for the black extension cap on the bottom where it's constantly in contact with another material. Do you often leave your device standing up or on its side?

 

[Regzzz]

Hey Reg! Glad to have you back! I hope not either! Next on my list was a black one.

) , maybe it's just a fluke... I'm hoping that if this would be a problem with all the black ones we would see more rants about it...

I'm an optimistic... there is always something nice out of everything! proof: I'm chatting with you tonight! hehehehe

 

[Regzzz]

I posted in the thread Chimney was referring to. I have a silver and a black as well, and neither of the coatings are wearing off, except for the black extension cap on the bottom where it's constantly in contact with another material. Do you often leave your device standing up or on its side?

Found that tread... interesting.

I must note, my son uses it all the time, always inside the house, he wears no rings, it stands on the table next to him.... I don't see any way, right now, where it would get in contact with metal or abrasive materials... hmmmm

Thanks for the input Judge.

 

[Chimney34]

Yeah I think so too & the guys from the other post was blue. I think that something must've gone wrong in the coating process since we haven't seen this issue mentioned more.

I agree! You can go ahead & say it...I missed you too!! lmbo!!!

 

[Baditude]

I wonder if this is a quality control issue with the company that applies the colored "paint" to the bodies before being assembled at the Provari factory. Sounds like they are skimping out on coat layers, but what do I know? The special paint is supposed to be extremely durable, having been used on some firearms in the past.

I will have to say that my satin blue Provari seems to be weathering its daily usage quite well. It is placed in a front jeans pocket quite frequently, and has taken a few falls from my lap to the parking lot asphault. I do tend to drop it at least once daily, but usually falling from my lap in a chair to a carpeted floor. It has accumulated only one noticeable scratch which goes all the way to the metal. No other wear and tear on it though.

I might suggest posting this in the Provape supplier's sub-forum. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/provape/

Provape representatives can not post in this forum, but can in the one I linked to. Doing so might put more pressure on Provape to handle your situation easier if it is out in public where Provape is well aware that their usual excellent customer support will be judged on this matter.

The other poster who had this problem with his blue Provari ended up getting a new body for his Provari (along with the original empty body). Good luck with Provape, I hope they come through for you. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/provape/397762-dear-provape.html

 

[Regzzz]

hehehe well, you know how us men are about expressing our feelings.... sure missed you too! ( I was waiting for you to say it first!)

BTW, got my IBTanked.... and loving it!

 

[chadsmo]

I've had my black mini for two weeks and it looks brand new still. And I'm hoping it does for a long time. I know its a coating and all but on a mod this expensive you'd think unless its abused it would look new forever. With shipping my mini was 255$, CDN and I expect greatness for that kind of money.

 

[Regzzz]

I wonder if this is a quality control issue with the company that applies the colored "paint" to the bodies before being assembled at the Provari factory. Sounds like they are skimping out on coat layers, but what do I know? The special paint is supposed to be extremely durable, having been used on some firearms in the past.

I will have to say that my satin blue Provari seems to be weathering its daily usage quite well. It is placed in a front jeans pocket quite frequently, and has taken a few falls from my lap to the parking lot asphault. I do tend to drop it at least once daily, but usually falling from my lap in a chair to a carpeted floor. It has accumulated only one noticeable scratch which goes all the way to the metal. No other wear and tear on it though.

mmmm, I don't want to postulate on their QA yet, but I do find odd that only after 2 week mine looks that much worn compared to what I hear you guys have.... and the plot thickens!!! hehehe

 

[Chimney34]

hehehe well, you know how us men are about expressing our feelings.... sure missed you too! ( I was waiting for you to say it first!)

BTW, got my IBTanked.... and loving it!

It's ok! I knew you did already lol!

I'm jealous! You come back home to a ton of goodies while Im still waiting on my 3 prive tank clones from the co-op. I keep talking myself out of buying a AGR cartotank in the mean time.

 

[Regzzz]

It's ok! I knew you did already lol!

I'm jealous! You come back home to a ton of goodies while Im still waiting on my 3 prive tank clones from the co-op. I keep talking myself out of buying a AGR cartotank in the mean time.

Still waiting for them prive clones? hope they will get to you soon! I'll send good vibes toward you... I got the AGR about 3 weeks ago, it's nice, I like it, I like the fast filling plug it has, in honesty it's easier to re-fill then the IBTanked, but it's a bit on the heavy side, and I like the IBtanked look better.. they both have their good sides The only other thing I still have in vapemail is the Baron dripper from the UK... should be here next week I think. that one is more for experimenting.... hehehe

 

[CountSmackula]

Since this seems to be a random problem, it boils down to one of the following things: either there was an insufficient "cleaning" of the material prior to Cerakoting, poor application of the Cerakote (not enough applied), or inadequate curing.
Just my opinion.

 

[Chimney34]

Still waiting for them prive clones? hope they will get to you soon! I'll send good vibes toward you... I got the AGR about 3 weeks ago, it's nice, I like it, I like the fast filling plug it has, in honesty it's easier to re-fill then the IBTanked, but it's a bit on the heavy side, and I like the IBtanked look better.. they both have their good sides The only other thing I still have in vapemail is the Baron dripper from the UK... should be here next week I think. that one is more for experimenting.... hehehe

Yeah still waiting but they're in production so hopefully they'll be done soon. Thanks! You know I always have other goodies to keep me busy! Lol! Plus I dug around & found some info & pics! You can't tell a difference really between the 2 based on what I saw. I just wish they'd ship already. But I'm going to try not to order the AGR in hopes that we'll get a shipping notification soon. I've been thinking about trying one of the attys from avid vapor. Hope your shipment gets to you soon!