What I bought:
I purchased my first Riva 510 on about December 15th, 2010. So Ive had this personal vaporizer in use for a year. I bought 2 of the Riva lite bundles from Electronic Cigarette - Starter Kits - Riva 510
With the Lite bundles I received a total of 4 x 650 mAh batteries, two wall chargers, 2 cones, and 4 x 2.0 ohm atomizers. I choose the steel finish since Id read that the color finishes tend to scratch off over time. Locally, I purchased a soft side leather reading glasses case to store the Riva in.
My total investment in equipment was about $60.
How I use it:
This is my only personal vaporizer. I do not have any other mod, mini, or fat bat personal vaporizer. The Riva510 is my all day everyday hardware. This is what I use 24-7. Id like to think after a year of exclusive use, I am very familiar with the Rivas pros and cons.
In addition, I use this model stock. Thats to say, I have not modded it, I do not use a cartomizer on it, and I do not use a drip tip. I took the thing out of the box, assembled it according to the directions, and have used it that way ever since. If you are not familiar with this particular model, it contains a battery, an atomizer, and a mouth piece filled with poly or something similar in order to feed e-liquids to the atomizer. I do not use low resistance atomizers. Instead I purchase the standard EM 510 atomizers at 2.0 ohms. I guess you could say Im a by the book kind of vaper.
I typically run 1.5 to 2.0 ml of e-liquid through the Riva every day. When I leave for work in the morning, theres a good chance I wont be returning home for 12 hours. Since I can vape freely at work, I use the Riva frequently throughout the day. When I leave in the morning I take 1 x fully assembled Riva that is fully charged, and freshly filled with e-liquid. I also take 1 x spare battery (just in case) and a 3ml sample sized bottle of e-liquid for refills. Once placed in the leather eyeglass case, it all fits in my pocket very easily and its smaller than a pack of smokes with a lighter.
I do have to refill my cartridge mouth piece 2-3 times during the work day. It is very rare that I have had to change out batteries during the day, but there have been times that I have worked late or gone out after work when I was glad I had the extra battery. I have never had an atomizer fail while at work, but I suspect that is more about luck than anything else.
What I like about the Riva 510 is the longevity of the unit. I vape all day every day and it performs like a champ. I have never had a battery failure (although I have heard of some who have.) I use one battery from 6AM to 6PM and then trade it out for battery two, which I vape from 6PM till bedtime, which is usually between 11 PM and midnight. I do not typically vape the batteries to empty, although that has happened before. The longest I was able to vape a Riva510 bat was about 10 hours. Before I turn in for the evening, I change the other two fresh Riva batteries off the charger, clean the old Riva bats and put them on the charger. The next morning Im ready to rock.
How have they worn after a year of constant use?
Pretty good, actually. The stainless steel finish has not corroded or tarnished. Its true the batteries have some scratches on the bottom where I lay them down when not in use, but they are not terribly noticeable. One thing I have noticed is that the manual button, which is made of a silicone type material, has worn down a bit, not unlike the wear on the brake pedal of an old car. The button still works flawlessly, however. LED lighting in the button is still bright and functional. The wall plug in chargers still work and the LED indicator lights function as well.
I keep the threads on the battery clean, so I have had zero issues with cross threading. I clean the unit, the atomizers, and the cartridges with vodka. I know some folks use isopropyl alcohol, but vodka is edible (allegedly, I aint drinkin that stuff! ) so I use vodka as my cleaning solution. I clean the battery threads nightly with a q-tip, I clean the atomizers and cartridge mouth pieces every week in a ultra sonic jewelry cleaner.
The Riva510 has served me well. I recently purchased a new Lite bundle from Liberty Flights because, sadly I lost my Riva case while I was out and about, which left me with only 2 batteries. Otherwise I suspect I wouldnt have had to purchase anything other than replacement atomizers for a few more months.
Speaking of which, you do have to purchase atomizers from time to time. I buy them in a 5 pack from Liberty Flights. I have purchased a total of 20 atomizers this year, for a total investment of about $100 for the year for that specific part.
The bottom line:
I gotta say, Ive really enjoyed the Riva510. The price is right, its easy to use, and for me the longevity has been surprisingly awesome. I enjoy the temperature of the vapor, its warm, but not humid summer day warm. The hits are consistent and satisfying to me. I was a 1.5 PAD lights smoker for 15 years. Vapor production is good using a 60/40 VG/PG or better using a higher VG based e-liquid.
If I had one complaint, that would be that the Riva is slightly too big from my preferences. It is the size of a mini cigar, and I wish it were more slim. However, that is the trade off I make to not use a smaller unit that requires cartomizers. Hate the taste of those things, yuck! Its also the trade off I make to know that I dont have to carry a bunch of extra slim batts, plus a charging case, plus a usb cord, plus a passthrough unit as a back up in case the slim batteries fail.
Anyway, if youve struggled to find a personal vaporizer that doesnt inhale too hot, thats not obscenely large, thats easy to carry around, performs like its supposed to without a bunch of frills or gimmicks, and can take daily use like a champ, I would say for the price the Riva510 is a nice little unit.
YMMV, of course.
I purchased my first Riva 510 on about December 15th, 2010. So Ive had this personal vaporizer in use for a year. I bought 2 of the Riva lite bundles from Electronic Cigarette - Starter Kits - Riva 510
With the Lite bundles I received a total of 4 x 650 mAh batteries, two wall chargers, 2 cones, and 4 x 2.0 ohm atomizers. I choose the steel finish since Id read that the color finishes tend to scratch off over time. Locally, I purchased a soft side leather reading glasses case to store the Riva in.
My total investment in equipment was about $60.
How I use it:
This is my only personal vaporizer. I do not have any other mod, mini, or fat bat personal vaporizer. The Riva510 is my all day everyday hardware. This is what I use 24-7. Id like to think after a year of exclusive use, I am very familiar with the Rivas pros and cons.
In addition, I use this model stock. Thats to say, I have not modded it, I do not use a cartomizer on it, and I do not use a drip tip. I took the thing out of the box, assembled it according to the directions, and have used it that way ever since. If you are not familiar with this particular model, it contains a battery, an atomizer, and a mouth piece filled with poly or something similar in order to feed e-liquids to the atomizer. I do not use low resistance atomizers. Instead I purchase the standard EM 510 atomizers at 2.0 ohms. I guess you could say Im a by the book kind of vaper.
I typically run 1.5 to 2.0 ml of e-liquid through the Riva every day. When I leave for work in the morning, theres a good chance I wont be returning home for 12 hours. Since I can vape freely at work, I use the Riva frequently throughout the day. When I leave in the morning I take 1 x fully assembled Riva that is fully charged, and freshly filled with e-liquid. I also take 1 x spare battery (just in case) and a 3ml sample sized bottle of e-liquid for refills. Once placed in the leather eyeglass case, it all fits in my pocket very easily and its smaller than a pack of smokes with a lighter.
I do have to refill my cartridge mouth piece 2-3 times during the work day. It is very rare that I have had to change out batteries during the day, but there have been times that I have worked late or gone out after work when I was glad I had the extra battery. I have never had an atomizer fail while at work, but I suspect that is more about luck than anything else.
What I like about the Riva 510 is the longevity of the unit. I vape all day every day and it performs like a champ. I have never had a battery failure (although I have heard of some who have.) I use one battery from 6AM to 6PM and then trade it out for battery two, which I vape from 6PM till bedtime, which is usually between 11 PM and midnight. I do not typically vape the batteries to empty, although that has happened before. The longest I was able to vape a Riva510 bat was about 10 hours. Before I turn in for the evening, I change the other two fresh Riva batteries off the charger, clean the old Riva bats and put them on the charger. The next morning Im ready to rock.
How have they worn after a year of constant use?
Pretty good, actually. The stainless steel finish has not corroded or tarnished. Its true the batteries have some scratches on the bottom where I lay them down when not in use, but they are not terribly noticeable. One thing I have noticed is that the manual button, which is made of a silicone type material, has worn down a bit, not unlike the wear on the brake pedal of an old car. The button still works flawlessly, however. LED lighting in the button is still bright and functional. The wall plug in chargers still work and the LED indicator lights function as well.
I keep the threads on the battery clean, so I have had zero issues with cross threading. I clean the unit, the atomizers, and the cartridges with vodka. I know some folks use isopropyl alcohol, but vodka is edible (allegedly, I aint drinkin that stuff! ) so I use vodka as my cleaning solution. I clean the battery threads nightly with a q-tip, I clean the atomizers and cartridge mouth pieces every week in a ultra sonic jewelry cleaner.
The Riva510 has served me well. I recently purchased a new Lite bundle from Liberty Flights because, sadly I lost my Riva case while I was out and about, which left me with only 2 batteries. Otherwise I suspect I wouldnt have had to purchase anything other than replacement atomizers for a few more months.
Speaking of which, you do have to purchase atomizers from time to time. I buy them in a 5 pack from Liberty Flights. I have purchased a total of 20 atomizers this year, for a total investment of about $100 for the year for that specific part.
The bottom line:
I gotta say, Ive really enjoyed the Riva510. The price is right, its easy to use, and for me the longevity has been surprisingly awesome. I enjoy the temperature of the vapor, its warm, but not humid summer day warm. The hits are consistent and satisfying to me. I was a 1.5 PAD lights smoker for 15 years. Vapor production is good using a 60/40 VG/PG or better using a higher VG based e-liquid.
If I had one complaint, that would be that the Riva is slightly too big from my preferences. It is the size of a mini cigar, and I wish it were more slim. However, that is the trade off I make to not use a smaller unit that requires cartomizers. Hate the taste of those things, yuck! Its also the trade off I make to know that I dont have to carry a bunch of extra slim batts, plus a charging case, plus a usb cord, plus a passthrough unit as a back up in case the slim batteries fail.
Anyway, if youve struggled to find a personal vaporizer that doesnt inhale too hot, thats not obscenely large, thats easy to carry around, performs like its supposed to without a bunch of frills or gimmicks, and can take daily use like a champ, I would say for the price the Riva510 is a nice little unit.
YMMV, of course.
