Problematic or bad DSE901?

[Natty Bo]

Greetings all.

Just a small intro before I get to the heart of my post. I have been happily vaping for 2 weeks since being introduced to the electronic cigarette by my brother. Who, like myself, is trying seriously cut down and give up the traditional death stick. Patches and gum have failed, but on my first day of using an e-cig I went from 20-30 a day to 1 or 2. And it's remained that way since. Been lurking for a while here, but I now have a problem. I think I might have a bad DSE901.

I bought a DSE901 starter kit from Simon of e-cigs.co.uk last week. Before then I got a Super Mini RN4081 from him too, which is still going strong. However the DSE901 is proving to be anything but reliable compared to my Super Mini.

The atomiser gets extremely hot after a few pulls and usually when that happens the exhaled and/or inhaled vapour is greatly diminshed to almost nothing. Sometimes I suddenly feel like I'm trying to suck a monkey through 50ft of garden hose (yes, I know there is a side hole you can accidently block) between pulls like nothing is happening even there is a full cart inside. It has also cut out in mid pull frequently. But most alarmly of all, I caught the atomizer turning itself on whilst inspecting it for blockages on two occassions. And there has been a funny smell after a few pulls. I don't about the two batteries but they seem to take a very long time to recharge (a few hours each). So I have overall a bad DSE901, no?

Oh, another problem I'm having is liquid in the mouth with the DSE901. I'm topping up empty carts with juice, but the wadding inside the ones I got off Simon appear to be rather loose fitting and not holding the liquid in. OK on a couple of occassions I have knowly over filled the carts, but they are so loose I have suck three right of they're housing into the atomiser. Haven't had the same problem with the pre-filled carts that came with the kit so far, but my problematic DSE901 is out of action for now.

 

[Mr.Darcy]

hello Natty...sounds like somethings up...if you think you have a dodgy 901,then contact Simon,explain the situation,and he'll replace it...

you have a 30 day guarantee on all parts...and Simon is a gentleman to deal with...so you should have no problems...

 

[Natty Bo]

Yes, I'll be e-mail Simon tonight. I have nothing but praise for Simon's level of customer service so far. I posted my woes because I needed to be absolutely sure something was wrong with the DSE901 before contacting him.

 

[trog100]

newer 901 cart have less woolly stuff in them.. in short they hold less liquid and are easy to overfill relative to the older carts..

u dont suck them off their housings into the atomizer either.. the cart wool simply catches up and snags on the wire wool bridge when u pull the cart off..

twisting the cart off seems to make this happen more than simply pulling the cart straight off...

hot atomizer and no vapour means no liquid is on the heater coil..

i suspect part user error here.. if the atomizer is getting hot its working.. if its getting hot with no vapour there is no liquid where there needs to be liquid..

liquid in the mouth means the cart has been overfilled.. a flooded atomizer wont work either... the more u suck the more u get in your mouth..

u need spare parts.. fault finding is about popping in another part.. a 901 can be made to work well..

trog

 

[Mr.Darcy]

Yes, I'll be e-mail Simon tonight. I have nothing but praise for Simon's level of customer service so far. I posted my woes because I needed to be absolutely sure something was wrong with the DSE901 before contacting him.

yeah,i think somethings wrong with it...sounds like it could be the batteries,but who knows...im sure he'll replace the lot just to be sure...Simons customer care is fantastic,as you know...

 

[Natty Bo]

hot atomizer and no vapour means no liquid is on the heater coil..

i suspect part user error here.. if the atomizer is getting hot its working.. if its getting hot with no vapour there is no liquid where there needs to be liquid..

The first couple of times I definitely overfilled, 10-12 drops in a cart. Subsequent dry carts have had about 6-8 drops, but still leaking though less frequent and that's even with a clean mouth piece.

I've changed to fresh carts when it suddenly drops performance, but the result remains the same with a fresh one very tiny wisps or no vapour at all and no feeling of anything going into my mouth either (hence the monkey and garden house analogy). Atomiser feels about three times hotter on few pulls than my Super Mini after it been heavily used, almost uncomfortable to touch.

Well, I'll wait to see what Simon says.

 

[trog100]

The first couple of times I definitely overfilled, 10-12 drops in a cart. Subsequent dry carts have had about 6-8 drops, but still leaking though less frequent and that's even with a clean mouth piece.

I've changed to fresh carts when it suddenly drops performance, but the result remains the same with a fresh one very tiny wisps or no vapour at all and no feeling of anything going into my mouth either (hence the monkey and garden house analogy). Atomiser feels about three times hotter on few pulls than my Super Mini after it been heavily used, almost uncomfortable to touch.

Well, I'll wait to see what Simon says.

he will send u a new one which is pretty much all he can do..

trog

 

[Natty Bo]

An update to my DSE901 woes. I contacted Simon of e-cigs.co.uk and he reckons it's a sticky pressure switch problem with the batteries. He sent one new battery. I made sure it ws fully charged before using it, I also charged up the suspect ones.

Well the new battery hasn't shown any problems like sudden cut outs or turning itself on. So must be a good battery, remember I'm not experienced enough with e-cigs yet. Started vaping on it with a freshly topped cart. Everything is fine except that the rapidly diminshing vapour problem remains.

The wadding of the empty carts doesn't fill the entire cart and there are big gaps. Which probably goes to explaining why I keep getting juice in my mouth frequently (yuk!) regardless of how full the cart is. And I'm being very aware not to fill them up too much (about 8 or so drops for fresh fully dry cart). Also I don't think the wadding is wicking the juice towards the atomiser. When the vapour almost goes I pull out the cart and it is still quite moist. Moist enough that'll it take no more than 1 or 2 drops of juice. Once full again, vapourage returns to levels as I expect of the DSE901. The prefilled carts haven't leaked into my mouth so far, however they too seem to only last a tiny bit longer before vapour is reduced to wisps. Again the cart is still moist when removed, only taking 2 drops to get it back to full. Pulling harder or longer doesn't particularly eleviate the vapour problem when it is diminshed. This is all the same with both types of cart whether I use the new battery or the two original ones from the starter kit. For bigger carts than the ones used in my Super Mini, they're lasting 2-3 less before loss or vapour and the need for topping up.

I did a little test with these carts when the vapour diminshed. With one I took a pair of tweezers and inverted the wadding. It was visibly moist for two thirds of its length. Once inverted it vaped like normal, but only for 2-4 puffs. With another I stood it mouth piece upwards and let gravity do its work for an hour. Again it went to vaping like normal, but also for a short puff.

As for the batteries. With the new one the atomiser seems a little cooler, but still very hot as it would with original batteries. Maybe I'm not used to the absorbed heat from the metal casing around the atomiser, which on the Super Mini has the additional plastic layer of the mouth piece around it. One of the original batteries I have caught cutting out 3 times in mid pull after about 10-15 minutes usage (I've been craning over to see my reflection in a switched of CRT monitor everytime I puff all day....swear I'm gonna develop a crick in my neck from doing this ). The other original battery has not misbehaved at all right up to running out of charge.

But all in all I'm now thoroughly perplexed as to the lower and lack of consistant performance compared to my RN4081 Super Mini. It looks like I might definitely have one baddie battery, but I'm inclined to lay blame at the carts for not delivering the juice to the atomiser in the first place or at least exasperating the problem.

Will test them all again tomorrow before sending any faulty parts back to Simon. Anyone care to comment?

P.S. I tried drip smoking for the first time with the new battery on. No juice in the mouth and....JAYZUS CHRIST, WHAT A HIT!!! Not to mention the huge vapour clouds.

 

[trog100]

dripping alway works best.. but again its precise.. very easy to put one drop too many in..

make sure the wool in the cart is fluffed right up to the top.. it has to touch the wire wool atomizer bridge before wicking can take place..

once u flood the atomizer it needs blowing out.. blow hard thru the battery end where the hole is.. too much liquid in the atomizer puts the fire out so to speak.. then u get liquid in the mouth..

user error... he he he

trog

 

[Natty Bo]

I read up plenty before atempting dripping. Practically been giving myself hernia blowing the atomizing out after a dripping session. Or at least doing my best impression of Dizzie Gillepsie.

As for fluffing up the wadding in the carts I have tried that with the last fully clean dry cart I had today. It did make something of a difference. Little or no fluid leaking out, but I don't remember if it lasted longer. Time I think to wash 'em all out, dry 'em and then attack them with a thread picker.

I do wonder if the heating coil isn't proud enough which would limit contact. After all it is an arc and the curvature will not be the same in all other atomisers. I'll be getting some spares of Simon very soon and I'll see if there is a difference between the atomisers.

And some wee 5ml squeeze bottles so I have portable dripping supply. I'll be wary of the flooding, thanks Trog.