THX Eric for the info...I was able to read your entire post before you edited it out....
Smoktech groove recall
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THX Eric for the info...I was able to read your entire post before you edited it out....
Shhh! It's a secret brother lol.
Didn't know i couldn't copy and paste emails. But that simple sentence was the gist of it.
he-he...knew why you took it out.....I got an ECF ding a couple years ago for posting an e-mail.....at least I read all the rules after that....lol...
I contacted Discountvapers on My Plastic Groove.. Eric said that he had just heard about the metal ones having problems. Has Smoktech said all or just hte metal ones need to be sent back in to vendors? Does anyone know. I saw their eamil but they don't say which ones.. Any help would be appreciated,
This may help.....the way I understand it....ALL Grooves are recalled....you might contact your vendor on how they are dealing with it....
Link..... Groove Recall
There has been discussion about sending the unit back and the possibility of failure in transit....you might want to check with your vendor....here is a part of the recall that I noted:
Suggested Disposal Way:
To end users:
1do not throw or slap the groove battery
2)do not disassemble the groove battery
3)do not hide or drop the groove battery
4)take the battery to local distributors
To distributors:
1)collect defected groove battery and send them to local battery recycling center.
2)If there isn’t any recycling center please try to discharge the groove battery until it wont work
3)You can also Soak them into turated brine concentrated saltwater or seawater for over 1 hour
4)Label them by “Failed” “out of use”
Notice: Please try to consult to professionals if you are not quite clear on how to dispose those battery
With that part posted... you might ask the vendor about (item 2 & 3 above under Distributors) if you are concerned about shipping the unit back due to possible safety issue...just a thought....it may resolve your concern if battery is discharged or rendered dead after soaking prior to shipping....just my thoughts and not intended to say what you should or should not do...and I wonder if soaking could produce any gasses that we need not be in contact with or breathe... (note...turated brine may be an error in translation and possibly should have been "saturated brine"...)
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To everyone who has a plastic or metal Groove,
You're supposed to properly dispose of or return these for a refund/credit. Both the plastic and metal versions are recalled. Don't keep the plastic ones like some of you are planning. I'm vaping mine right now, but will send it back after I "Soak them into turated brine concentrated saltwater or seawater for over 1 hour."
Quote from this thread. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/madvapes/430164-more-information-about-groove-recall.html
"After some clarification, it seems there are two separate potential problems with the Grooves. The Groove itself has battery protection on the PCB, the battery itself does not. This type of setup is quite common with many e-cigs that do not take replaceable batteries but the size of the battery here is more of the issue. While your 510 280mah cell may smoke or fizzle out if it has a problem, it will do it a lot quicker than the 3800mah li-poly cell that the groove has.
Smok looked at what could happen despite the pcb protection provided by the smart microcontroller logic board on the Groove and found that if something were to happen below the board level, at the battery level, there would be no protection to stop the battery from possibly discharging due to a short or other malfunction.
The other issue, an unfortunate design flaw in the metal grooves, allowed the battery to become loose and possibly have its outer soft shell pierced by the retaining screws for the Groove case. If the battery moved around or was shaken, it could be pierced by the very tiny point of the cover screws and cause a short in the battery."
Also, a quote form this thread which is an email from Smok to a vendor meaning that the protection of the plastic ones aren't good enough (untill they just recently fixed them) http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...portant-info-our-customers-3.html#post9828182
"[6/8/2013 7:22:37 PM] SMOKTECH: ur grooved is improved version , nails have been cut down so it don't hurt the battery inside
[6/8/2013 7:23:08 PM] SMOKTECH: also the battery have added extra huge protection circuit "
Doots, my email from Discount Vapers today said "ALL are recalled".
retird, your wrong to defend Smok for making us send these back saying that plenty of bad batteries get shipped, etc. Shipping safety is part of Quality Controll, and these should have failed QC. At least you mentioned to do the saltwater soak prior to mailing them which is a must. I think you just meant that many people would still use their Grooves that they were supposed to destroy for a refund resulting in theft on top of dangerous MODs still in circulation.
"If a Groove goes kaboom in transit, the real liability issue is with whoever shipped it. Vendors asking their customers to mail back grooves so they can 'properly dispose' of it are asking us to commit a crime, basically ship a fire bomb with a trigger that may or may not go off."
This recall should be escelated to something like an international recall agency instead of vendors and SchmuckTech telling everyone to mail them without at least making it mandatory to "Soak them into turated brine concentrated saltwater or seawater for over 1 hour", if that even puts the sender %100 out of risk of it going thermal in the mail.
How does a metal-to-metal battery & case, screws that pierce the battery casing (as shown in post #91's recall video and other's have mentioned) get past Quality Controll?
Not to mention the fire button sticks on many of the plastic ones, so much that it keeps firing the coil (it stopped sticking after a couple weeks on mine though). Also, no vent holes on the SS metal case (at least not in the one in post #91 video). Also, my plastic one sometimes turns itself off, and might change volts +/-, and the volts to wattage menu.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/apv-discussion/427656-please-read-5.html < shows Smoktech changed their recall date to be 2 days before the incident that likely started the recall to try to stay out of trouble.
Problems with post #91 recall video:
She instructs how to bypass the problem to keep a SS Groove suggesting that the problem is only what she thinks and that it will be safe after you tinker with it. She says the plastic ones are fine to keep and that there have been no reports about problems with them.
A plastic one previously caught on fire (post #14 of this link), though he opened it to fix a wobbly 510 connection just before it caught fire he said in another thread. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...39-ss-groove-vs-itazte-mvp-2.html#post9388045
She comes close to piecring the battery with her nails trying to pick it out (don't know if that would make it explode though, especially if her nails don't have like glittery things with metal glued on them or something).
You're supposed to properly dispose of or return these for a refund/credit. Both the plastic and metal versions are recalled. Don't keep the plastic ones like some of you are planning. I'm vaping mine right now, but will send it back after I "Soak them into turated brine concentrated saltwater or seawater for over 1 hour."
Quote from this thread. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/madvapes/430164-more-information-about-groove-recall.html
"After some clarification, it seems there are two separate potential problems with the Grooves. The Groove itself has battery protection on the PCB, the battery itself does not. This type of setup is quite common with many e-cigs that do not take replaceable batteries but the size of the battery here is more of the issue. While your 510 280mah cell may smoke or fizzle out if it has a problem, it will do it a lot quicker than the 3800mah li-poly cell that the groove has.
Smok looked at what could happen despite the pcb protection provided by the smart microcontroller logic board on the Groove and found that if something were to happen below the board level, at the battery level, there would be no protection to stop the battery from possibly discharging due to a short or other malfunction.
The other issue, an unfortunate design flaw in the metal grooves, allowed the battery to become loose and possibly have its outer soft shell pierced by the retaining screws for the Groove case. If the battery moved around or was shaken, it could be pierced by the very tiny point of the cover screws and cause a short in the battery."
Also, a quote form this thread which is an email from Smok to a vendor meaning that the protection of the plastic ones aren't good enough (untill they just recently fixed them) http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...portant-info-our-customers-3.html#post9828182
"[6/8/2013 7:22:37 PM] SMOKTECH: ur grooved is improved version , nails have been cut down so it don't hurt the battery inside
[6/8/2013 7:23:08 PM] SMOKTECH: also the battery have added extra huge protection circuit "
Doots, my email from Discount Vapers today said "ALL are recalled".
retird, your wrong to defend Smok for making us send these back saying that plenty of bad batteries get shipped, etc. Shipping safety is part of Quality Controll, and these should have failed QC. At least you mentioned to do the saltwater soak prior to mailing them which is a must. I think you just meant that many people would still use their Grooves that they were supposed to destroy for a refund resulting in theft on top of dangerous MODs still in circulation.
"If a Groove goes kaboom in transit, the real liability issue is with whoever shipped it. Vendors asking their customers to mail back grooves so they can 'properly dispose' of it are asking us to commit a crime, basically ship a fire bomb with a trigger that may or may not go off."
This recall should be escelated to something like an international recall agency instead of vendors and SchmuckTech telling everyone to mail them without at least making it mandatory to "Soak them into turated brine concentrated saltwater or seawater for over 1 hour", if that even puts the sender %100 out of risk of it going thermal in the mail.
How does a metal-to-metal battery & case, screws that pierce the battery casing (as shown in post #91's recall video and other's have mentioned) get past Quality Controll?
Not to mention the fire button sticks on many of the plastic ones, so much that it keeps firing the coil (it stopped sticking after a couple weeks on mine though). Also, no vent holes on the SS metal case (at least not in the one in post #91 video). Also, my plastic one sometimes turns itself off, and might change volts +/-, and the volts to wattage menu.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/apv-discussion/427656-please-read-5.html < shows Smoktech changed their recall date to be 2 days before the incident that likely started the recall to try to stay out of trouble.
Problems with post #91 recall video:
She instructs how to bypass the problem to keep a SS Groove suggesting that the problem is only what she thinks and that it will be safe after you tinker with it. She says the plastic ones are fine to keep and that there have been no reports about problems with them.
A plastic one previously caught on fire (post #14 of this link), though he opened it to fix a wobbly 510 connection just before it caught fire he said in another thread. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...39-ss-groove-vs-itazte-mvp-2.html#post9388045
She comes close to piecring the battery with her nails trying to pick it out (don't know if that would make it explode though, especially if her nails don't have like glittery things with metal glued on them or something).
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I'm returning mine definitely after I read numerous times from SMOK saying that both metal and platic have protection problems despite that so many have used a plastic one for months with the only case I know of from a plastic one being it catching fire a day after the owner opened it and tinkered with the wiring and 510 connection.
I just re-read the email from Discount Vapers. It say the Grooves must be returned in working order. DV is instructing that we send a possible bomb in the mail or we can't be refunded. Seems like the only reasoning behind "must be returned working" is for maybe one or two Grooves DV might have sold that people have lying around that already broke for some reason besides the recall and think they can 'cheat' DV by sending it in for store credit. Or that they want to keeo them for themselves or sell to someone on a corner or something.
I just re-read the email from Discount Vapers. It say the Grooves must be returned in working order. DV is instructing that we send a possible bomb in the mail or we can't be refunded. Seems like the only reasoning behind "must be returned working" is for maybe one or two Grooves DV might have sold that people have lying around that already broke for some reason besides the recall and think they can 'cheat' DV by sending it in for store credit. Or that they want to keeo them for themselves or sell to someone on a corner or something.
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Enjoyed reading your full post.......but I think you mis-quoted what I said....not a big deal.....I re-read my posts and don't see where I said that "plenty of bad batteries get shipped"..... If you would kindly link to the post I would stand corrected....If not please edit your post...thanks my friend.
This may be the post you reference......
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...223-smoktech-groove-recall-9.html#post9820674
Just saw this post:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...portant-info-our-customers-3.html#post9828182
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^ okay, you said "Batteries can fail for many reasons....and can fail when not even in a product or device....so do we ban shipping batteries all together?" Not "'plenty of bad bateries get shipped, etc". But it's the same thing related to how I wrote that these shouldn't have been shipped in the first place because they should have failed Quality Controll, thus they shouldn't be shipped back.
Bottom line is that now (and I think after you were arguing with that other poster if they should be shipped back or not), now, the best info from these threads evolving is that the only way they should be mailed back is to render them useless by doing something like "3)You can also Soak them into turated brine concentrated saltwater or seawater for over 1 hour", which you mentioned.
That solves arguments like this one you had:
"POSTAL AND DELIVERY STAFF SHOULD NOT BE PLACED AT RISK OF PHYSICAL HARM BECAUSE SOME-ONE THINKS A FEW PEOPLE MIGHT NOT BE HONEST ABOUT A SERIOUSLY DEFECTIVE ITEMYou take my comment out of contest my friend....it was just a general comment that not all people are honest ( heck, here in the US we have lots of jails and prisons full of folks) ....and you say (emphasize) it is because of this statement ( that a few people might not be honest) the unit must be sent back... the units are being recalled so they will not remain in the general population and possibly be used (not because a few people might not be honest)....he-he..."
Anyway, leaving that behind, I hope everything works out for everyone. This recall due to SchumchTeck's ameature mistakes delayed everything for new vapers I got Grooves for and is costing everyone time and effort. Or maybe they did it knowingly hoping that no problems would arise because it was cheaper to not add protection, not add a plastic barrier between the battery and metal case, and maybe their source for the screws charged half a penny more per screw for the flat and shorter screws which wouldn't puncture the battery or maybe they were out of stock of the right screws, etc.
Bottom line is that now (and I think after you were arguing with that other poster if they should be shipped back or not), now, the best info from these threads evolving is that the only way they should be mailed back is to render them useless by doing something like "3)You can also Soak them into turated brine concentrated saltwater or seawater for over 1 hour", which you mentioned.
That solves arguments like this one you had:
"POSTAL AND DELIVERY STAFF SHOULD NOT BE PLACED AT RISK OF PHYSICAL HARM BECAUSE SOME-ONE THINKS A FEW PEOPLE MIGHT NOT BE HONEST ABOUT A SERIOUSLY DEFECTIVE ITEMYou take my comment out of contest my friend....it was just a general comment that not all people are honest ( heck, here in the US we have lots of jails and prisons full of folks) ....and you say (emphasize) it is because of this statement ( that a few people might not be honest) the unit must be sent back... the units are being recalled so they will not remain in the general population and possibly be used (not because a few people might not be honest)....he-he..."
Anyway, leaving that behind, I hope everything works out for everyone. This recall due to SchumchTeck's ameature mistakes delayed everything for new vapers I got Grooves for and is costing everyone time and effort. Or maybe they did it knowingly hoping that no problems would arise because it was cheaper to not add protection, not add a plastic barrier between the battery and metal case, and maybe their source for the screws charged half a penny more per screw for the flat and shorter screws which wouldn't puncture the battery or maybe they were out of stock of the right screws, etc.
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Glad you corrected your miss-quote...all is well that ends well my friend....hope everbody gets the Groove recall resolved to their liking....
whom ever wrote this up is miss informed lipo's are not used in cell phones or any other device that is hand held for the simple reason they are unsafe,while i can see why someone might think they are cell phone batterys they are mistaken cell phones use special flat celled li-ion batterys that are much safer and will usually just vent gases and not go nuclear like a lipo will.
while lipo's are one of the best batterys out there for high drain/power devices they have a very high risk of explosion and should never have been used for an ecig in the first place,if i remember correctly there was a less popular device that used a lipo cell that got recalled last year for the same issue.
I just sent this to Discount Vapers. I'll post the key points of the reply without breaching rules by copy & pasting it:
EDIT: I added what the replies from DV meant.
Hi. I have questions:
You said "this is for a store credit in the amount of the Groove purchase only" I bought 5 Grooves, so I get $25 store credit (5X $5 each for return shipping) plus the cost of the Grooves and plus the original shipping I paid?
The refund credit doesn't include our original shipping. The $5 to pay for sending the defective one back mentioned in the mass email is only if you bought 1 groove. If you bought 5 and send them all in an $11 package, you'll probably only get credit for what the shipping label shows. If you paid way too much for shipping by making a mistake or something, you'll probably not get that much credit. DV will probably email you a pre-paid label and you can get a free USPS box from a post office if you want.
You said: while I do not believe the plastic version holds the same immediate danger I do not wish anyone to feel hesitant with any device purchased from me or be in any danger.
The plastic ones are also recalled. Smok has said in emails to vendors that, like the metal ones, the plastic Grooves have a protection problem. The metal ones also have the metal-to-metal case & battery problem and the screws possibly piercing the battery problem.
SMOK aparently already fixed the Groove's design. At least one vendor Gotvapes already has them. You don't have anything in stock I need, so can you do at least one of the following?:
Best would be to order the new non-defective ones. Hopefully SMOK's making them in plastic and you can offer them for the same price people paid you for the defective ones so we can just swap them out and case closed.
Second best: order the new metal Grooves from SMOK.
DV doesn't want to carry the new Grooves 'fixed' by SMOK.
Third best: Get MVPs back in stock since most Groove buyers would be okay with credit towards an MVP.
DV won't order more MVPs because they have a problem with the bottom connector, but they might have some if you're willing to take the chance.
Fourth best is that Smok's official recall notice says they'll refund distributors with any MODs of equal value that they carry plus they'll pay for shipping. Let us put our store credit towards any MOD SMOK is selling that we choose.
^This won't happen
Lastly, you said that they must be returned working in order to get store credit, but they can possibly blow up in the mail. So the best way to return these seems to be as suggested by SMOK: "You can also Soak them into turated brine concentrated saltwater or seawater for over 1 hour" and then return them to you.
DV told me I can saltwater soak them before sending. Maybe you should email them to make sure you can do the same. I told DV to send a mass email saying they can be saltwater soaked before sending since everyone's upset when a vendor's asking for them to be sent working.
Not part of the message is that it's Gotvapes has the alleged new, non-defective ones as stated here in post #23 and #24
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...portant-info-our-customers-3.html#post9828182
Because they have such good prices, I'm upset that DV won't order the new fixed Grooves (if they exist and not some scheme of filing down the screws of the defective ones or something and not adding the protection missign from both the metal and plastic ones [SMOK's website recall notice says they stopped making Grooves]), but I'll at least give them that they probably have the best prices all around, even after having to search out coupon codes for other vendors, which DV doesn't make us bother searching out coupon codes because their prices are so low.
EDIT: I added what the replies from DV meant.
Hi. I have questions:
You said "this is for a store credit in the amount of the Groove purchase only" I bought 5 Grooves, so I get $25 store credit (5X $5 each for return shipping) plus the cost of the Grooves and plus the original shipping I paid?
The refund credit doesn't include our original shipping. The $5 to pay for sending the defective one back mentioned in the mass email is only if you bought 1 groove. If you bought 5 and send them all in an $11 package, you'll probably only get credit for what the shipping label shows. If you paid way too much for shipping by making a mistake or something, you'll probably not get that much credit. DV will probably email you a pre-paid label and you can get a free USPS box from a post office if you want.
You said: while I do not believe the plastic version holds the same immediate danger I do not wish anyone to feel hesitant with any device purchased from me or be in any danger.
The plastic ones are also recalled. Smok has said in emails to vendors that, like the metal ones, the plastic Grooves have a protection problem. The metal ones also have the metal-to-metal case & battery problem and the screws possibly piercing the battery problem.
SMOK aparently already fixed the Groove's design. At least one vendor Gotvapes already has them. You don't have anything in stock I need, so can you do at least one of the following?:
Best would be to order the new non-defective ones. Hopefully SMOK's making them in plastic and you can offer them for the same price people paid you for the defective ones so we can just swap them out and case closed.
Second best: order the new metal Grooves from SMOK.
DV doesn't want to carry the new Grooves 'fixed' by SMOK.
Third best: Get MVPs back in stock since most Groove buyers would be okay with credit towards an MVP.
DV won't order more MVPs because they have a problem with the bottom connector, but they might have some if you're willing to take the chance.
Fourth best is that Smok's official recall notice says they'll refund distributors with any MODs of equal value that they carry plus they'll pay for shipping. Let us put our store credit towards any MOD SMOK is selling that we choose.
^This won't happen
Lastly, you said that they must be returned working in order to get store credit, but they can possibly blow up in the mail. So the best way to return these seems to be as suggested by SMOK: "You can also Soak them into turated brine concentrated saltwater or seawater for over 1 hour" and then return them to you.
DV told me I can saltwater soak them before sending. Maybe you should email them to make sure you can do the same. I told DV to send a mass email saying they can be saltwater soaked before sending since everyone's upset when a vendor's asking for them to be sent working.
Not part of the message is that it's Gotvapes has the alleged new, non-defective ones as stated here in post #23 and #24
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...portant-info-our-customers-3.html#post9828182
Because they have such good prices, I'm upset that DV won't order the new fixed Grooves (if they exist and not some scheme of filing down the screws of the defective ones or something and not adding the protection missign from both the metal and plastic ones [SMOK's website recall notice says they stopped making Grooves]), but I'll at least give them that they probably have the best prices all around, even after having to search out coupon codes for other vendors, which DV doesn't make us bother searching out coupon codes because their prices are so low.
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This sucks. Dude at ST said not to use mine over 2 weeks ago and he would talk to a super. Only now he says to contact the vendor. I had already told him I ordered direct, so I told him again, but now I get no response at all. So I cant use it but I cant get it replaced? This is BS. In my eyes, ST is starting to look pretty bad.
Yeh, I'm still stuck with mine too. The vendor wants it returned, but the post office won't have it. Screwed!
buy one of them battery safe bags and ship it in that. Would cost some but you would still be ahead. Everyone needs to call ST out on this.
Dude sent me a FB email last night. Says contact ST directly cause the super is not responding. I sent them an email on the 9th when I also contacted them on FB and have yet to get a response. So I see how this is going to go. Giving it one more week and a rant video will surface.
Ask the post office that refused shipment to cite the regulation prohibiting the shipment of your Groove. Send a copy of the relevant regulation to your vendor and ask for a refund.
My vendor issued a credit for mine and didn't ask me to send it back. So I have a Segelei to replace it
But I'm also thinking the insides may make a neat wooden box mod, if the display hadn't died on me.
But I'm also thinking the insides may make a neat wooden box mod, if the display hadn't died on me.
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