Why?
I picked up that the Marquis was forthcoming and liked the preview video. Also I've had good experiences dealing with Avid Vaper over the years, so I was quick to order one of these as soon as Avid announced they were available. I liked the idea of a Dripper that made it easier to build accurate vertical and horizontal coils and which could be used for both mouth-to-lung and direct lung vaping.
In my excitement I opted for Priority Mail Express International. I ordered on Saturday 15th November and Avid gave my package to USPS on the Monday. USPS performed splendidly and my Marquis touched down in London early Wednesday morning. HMRC then spent SIX days "clearing" it and then Parcelforce spend two days notifying me that I needed to pay approx £20 in VAT and "handling". As that then involved a weekend, my Marquis arrived today (Monday) - two weeks after Avid put it the post.
I must confess my enthusiasm had abated considerably by then, but it picked up (as it always does) at the sight of "a parcel"!
What I got...
A box:
Containing a tub:
Which contained:
I liked my "certificate of authenticity":
The Marquis is a pretty plain looking thing from the outside (suits me - I like plain):
It comes fitted with its own wide-bore drip tip which is screwed into a threaded insulator:
The insulator fits into the top of the Marquis and can be fitted with any of the three top caps supplied:
The other two caps are a short height cap for drip tips:
and a flush cap for drip tips:
The drip tips fit the top cap more tightly than the cap fits the Marquis. There is just a little movement in the cap when fitted, but it fits tightly enough to support the weight of a Super T ELA with an 18650 battery in it, so it won't fall out in normal use.
Removing the cap gives excellent access for dripping:
The Marquis has a copper adjustable 510 connection fitted and the base shows the serial number:
Building the Marquis
Removing the Marquis body:
reveals the deck and its parts in their engraved splendor:
This shot shows the air channels which supply the flow of air to the coil(s) when in place:
The Marquis's main party trick is built around two sets of "building rods". The first pair provide 4mm and 3.5mm widths:
And the second pair provide 3mm and 2.5mm:
The rods can be slotted into the holes in the bottom of the deck to provide a stable means of building vertical coils:
...or into the airflow channels for horizontal coils (note only the 2.5mm part of the rods will go completely through these channels):
For my first build I decided to use a dual coil 4mm vertical set-up, so I fitted the "fat" rod into one of my pin vices:
I made two coils (note you need to wind one coil clockwise and the other anti-clockwise). I then fitted each rod with its coil on into the Marquis (the bottom of each coil aligns with one of the two small screws), screwed the "bottom" end of each coil tight, and, having removed the centre post screw, captured the top end of each coil around the castellations surrounding the centre screw-hole
This raises what I think may be the Marquis's Achilles Heel: The castellated centre pole and the associated wide headed screw are a brilliant idea and work like a dream, BUT many of us (including me) are clumsy sods and if you drop the centre pole screw and lose it, you are, how shall I put it? - ....ed. PLEASE supply a spare centre pole screw with the atomizer. You will be getting lots of requests for them!
Here it is with the centre screw in place and the ends of wires tidied up:
And if all is well, you can now slide the rods out:
I was pretty pleased with result! I was aiming at a "modest build" so was pleasantly pleased with my guesswork when I saw:
And when I fitted it to my ELA, I saw (actually it was better than this but I mis-timed the shot
)
Ok, so time for wicking. I cut two thin strips of Japanese cotton, folded them over the end of a narrow screwdriver and stuffed them down the coils until I hit base... (I also, as shown on the video I saw, put a tiny bit of cotton down between the coils - I reasoned this would help reduce leaks)
Using the Marquis
The airflow control work really well and the outer case is easy to rotate around the deck to adjust things. I tried a "both holes wide" lung inhale and it produced a very good cloud (not "competition" stuff, but very good with lots of flavour). I then went for a "tight draw" setting on each of the (outer) holes:
This produced a really good mouth to lung vape. I have found that, in general, only atomisers that are built for mouth to lung do it really well (like the Luxe and the RSM) so the Marquis scores highly in "doing both things well".
I found the "standard supplied cap" was a tad too short for my taste (here it is on the ELA)
So I fitted the "flush" cap and a wide tip from Signature Tips:
Conclusion
This is not a cheap atomiser (it is, in fact, an expensive one ). However I don't feel cheated (except by HMRC and ParcelForce) - this is a genuine innovation which enables even the hamfisted to build precise coils on an atomiser which will satisfy a wide range of vaping styles with a quality vaping experience.
I picked up that the Marquis was forthcoming and liked the preview video. Also I've had good experiences dealing with Avid Vaper over the years, so I was quick to order one of these as soon as Avid announced they were available. I liked the idea of a Dripper that made it easier to build accurate vertical and horizontal coils and which could be used for both mouth-to-lung and direct lung vaping.
In my excitement I opted for Priority Mail Express International. I ordered on Saturday 15th November and Avid gave my package to USPS on the Monday. USPS performed splendidly and my Marquis touched down in London early Wednesday morning. HMRC then spent SIX days "clearing" it and then Parcelforce spend two days notifying me that I needed to pay approx £20 in VAT and "handling". As that then involved a weekend, my Marquis arrived today (Monday) - two weeks after Avid put it the post.
I must confess my enthusiasm had abated considerably by then, but it picked up (as it always does) at the sight of "a parcel"!
What I got...
A box:
Containing a tub:
Which contained:
I liked my "certificate of authenticity":
The Marquis is a pretty plain looking thing from the outside (suits me - I like plain):
It comes fitted with its own wide-bore drip tip which is screwed into a threaded insulator:
The insulator fits into the top of the Marquis and can be fitted with any of the three top caps supplied:
The other two caps are a short height cap for drip tips:
and a flush cap for drip tips:
The drip tips fit the top cap more tightly than the cap fits the Marquis. There is just a little movement in the cap when fitted, but it fits tightly enough to support the weight of a Super T ELA with an 18650 battery in it, so it won't fall out in normal use.
Removing the cap gives excellent access for dripping:
The Marquis has a copper adjustable 510 connection fitted and the base shows the serial number:
Building the Marquis
Removing the Marquis body:
reveals the deck and its parts in their engraved splendor:
This shot shows the air channels which supply the flow of air to the coil(s) when in place:
The Marquis's main party trick is built around two sets of "building rods". The first pair provide 4mm and 3.5mm widths:
And the second pair provide 3mm and 2.5mm:
The rods can be slotted into the holes in the bottom of the deck to provide a stable means of building vertical coils:
...or into the airflow channels for horizontal coils (note only the 2.5mm part of the rods will go completely through these channels):
For my first build I decided to use a dual coil 4mm vertical set-up, so I fitted the "fat" rod into one of my pin vices:
I made two coils (note you need to wind one coil clockwise and the other anti-clockwise). I then fitted each rod with its coil on into the Marquis (the bottom of each coil aligns with one of the two small screws), screwed the "bottom" end of each coil tight, and, having removed the centre post screw, captured the top end of each coil around the castellations surrounding the centre screw-hole
This raises what I think may be the Marquis's Achilles Heel: The castellated centre pole and the associated wide headed screw are a brilliant idea and work like a dream, BUT many of us (including me) are clumsy sods and if you drop the centre pole screw and lose it, you are, how shall I put it? - ....ed. PLEASE supply a spare centre pole screw with the atomizer. You will be getting lots of requests for them!
Here it is with the centre screw in place and the ends of wires tidied up:
And if all is well, you can now slide the rods out:
I was pretty pleased with result! I was aiming at a "modest build" so was pleasantly pleased with my guesswork when I saw:
And when I fitted it to my ELA, I saw (actually it was better than this but I mis-timed the shot
)
Ok, so time for wicking. I cut two thin strips of Japanese cotton, folded them over the end of a narrow screwdriver and stuffed them down the coils until I hit base... (I also, as shown on the video I saw, put a tiny bit of cotton down between the coils - I reasoned this would help reduce leaks)
Using the Marquis
The airflow control work really well and the outer case is easy to rotate around the deck to adjust things. I tried a "both holes wide" lung inhale and it produced a very good cloud (not "competition" stuff, but very good with lots of flavour). I then went for a "tight draw" setting on each of the (outer) holes:
This produced a really good mouth to lung vape. I have found that, in general, only atomisers that are built for mouth to lung do it really well (like the Luxe and the RSM) so the Marquis scores highly in "doing both things well".
I found the "standard supplied cap" was a tad too short for my taste (here it is on the ELA)
So I fitted the "flush" cap and a wide tip from Signature Tips:
Conclusion
This is not a cheap atomiser (it is, in fact, an expensive one
). However I don't feel cheated (except by HMRC and ParcelForce) - this is a genuine innovation which enables even the hamfisted to build precise coils on an atomiser which will satisfy a wide range of vaping styles with a quality vaping experience.
