V2cigs.com Battery Voltage Warning

[EynaraWolf]

I am not sure where to put this, but I am sure someone can move it if it needs to be moved (or delete it if it's not allowed.)

I bought my first electronic cigarette from V2cigs.com because they said they were selling batteries that were 4.0 - 4.2 volt KR808D-1 battery. Several members of their forum have tested their batteries to find they are only 3.6 - 3.8. My batteries tested out a 3.68 and 3.72.

I am a little disappointed as this was my first electronic cigarette purchase, but, on the bright side, I did learn the 3.7 volt batteries are all I need to keep me off analog cigarettes and I now have a wider verity of e-cig online stores I can shop at for hardware. As a comparison I tested the battery I got from my mother-in-law from a different company and to my surprise the battery tested out at 3.8 after use for about an hour.

Lesson learned, I guess.

 

[smbray]

3.7 volts is fine,I've tested many Joye ego batteries and most test at about 3.4 to 3.5 volts and they vape just as good as some of my mods that run at 4.2 to 4.3volts

 

[EynaraWolf]

Thank you, Smbray.

I am currently liking my 3.7 volt battery, actually. My biggest issue is they advertise as 4.2. It just seems shady that I didn't get what I paid for. There are many other online shops that sell 3.7 at a reduced cost then what I paid for mine. I'd have opted for one of those had I known I wasn't getting anything better.

Live an learn.

Now I might decide to get myself a pretty lavender battery with a pink LED.

 

[smbray]

I think a lot of us paid a little to much for our first e-cig,seems the search engines know when your a nuub,so they show ya all these flashy looking sites making claims about there product that are definitely a stretch on the truth.sad part is that many people give up on e-cigs because the e-cig they bought is not as good as others and it makes them give up on them when there is so much to be gained from giving up analogs and going digital.Glad to see you at least got one that is working for you.

 

[EynaraWolf]

That is a possibility

But I am very happy I found this place. I now have a place I can send my new "coverts" as I explain to just about everyone I meet now a days about what exactly it is that I am "smoking."

 

[CraigHB]

Lots of shady vendors out there. E-cigs are a pretty good case for buyer beware.

Regarding the voltage, the majority of e-cigs use Li-Ion batts that come off the charger at 4.2V. They run down about a third of a volt pretty quick, but can read as high as 3.9V for a large part of the discharge cycle. They are called 3.7V batteries, but it's some sort of average that doesn't seem to be very average. Many e-cigs (like the eGo) contain additional electronics. They're PWM regulated by a microcontroller (a type of processor) so you won't necessarily get an accurate reading with a meter, unless you have one that can calculate the equivalent DC voltage of a PWM output. There's also voltage sag, in other words, how much voltage actually gets delivered when the battery is powering the atomizer. That can vary from one e-cig to the next depending on different factors. Better ones have less voltage sag.

 

[EynaraWolf]

Thanks, CraigHB.

My concern is more about how the product is being advertised that what the actual voltage is at this point. There are a lot of new people to electronic cigarettes who have no clue and get sucked in, but from what I am starting to understand the KR808 is rated a 3.7 volt battery and anything above that is not normal for them, no matter what a company says their battery can do.

The only small bit of confusion I have at the moment is that the company does seem to have, or at least had, a batch of batteries that did run consistently at 4.0-4.2 for the life of a charge.

The bottom line here seems to be live, learn and help others to make better informed decisions. Not that anyone has to buy or not buy based on what I have to say, just so that the information is out there when people are shopping around and trying to muddle their way through their first electronic cigarette.

I can honestly say I love V2cigs for getting me off analogs. Everything else the more I have to deal with them -- not so much.

 

[tresrottn]

Show me where it is, and I will be right behind you

Now I might decide to get myself a pretty lavender battery with a pink LED.

 

[EynaraWolf]

Show me where it is, and I will be right behind you

I got one for my mother-in-law at Vapor4life. She let me play with it for a couple of days, but I had to give it back....sigh.....lol, but it was pretty

 

[CraigHB]

Thanks, CraigHB.

My concern is more about how the product is being advertised that what the actual voltage is at this point. There are a lot of new people to electronic cigarettes who have no clue and get sucked in, but from what I am starting to understand the KR808 is rated a 3.7 volt battery and anything above that is not normal for them, no matter what a company says their battery can do.

The only small bit of confusion I have at the moment is that the company does seem to have, or at least had, a batch of batteries that did run consistently at 4.0-4.2 for the life of a charge.

The bottom line here seems to be live, learn and help others to make better informed decisions. Not that anyone has to buy or not buy based on what I have to say, just so that the information is out there when people are shopping around and trying to muddle their way through their first electronic cigarette.

I can honestly say I love V2cigs for getting me off analogs. Everything else the more I have to deal with them -- not so much.

Welcome.

Another thing to consider is that with the technology and miniaturization of modern electronics, it's possible to make an e-cig that outputs a voltage well outside the available battery voltage. We're now seeing more mass produced mod PV devices that allow you to adjust output voltages on the fly. These are known as variable voltage mods or VV mods and are becoming readily available The Pro-Vari is one that was just released and another is the Eclipse, said to be available next month. These are not cigarette sized devices and they are not cheap, but it's only a matter of time before the Chinese catch on and start making smaller less expensive e-cigs with a selection of pre-set voltages or fully variable voltage. I use a VV mod myself and I feel it's superior to my traditional devices.

 

[earthpig]

Been watching the V2 site forum and have seen the frustration.
It seems the company is a good company with growing pains and that they are advertising (false or not) that their batteries are 4.2v. Ok, in essence they are, "at charge"! It's a little deceptive but at the same time a truism.
I've posted there asking for verification, hoping the ownership of the company would chime in. No answers.

I also don't think many of these companies are out of line with their pricing. Yes when we get into things deeper we find better deals, but overall I don't think we do that much better. A company has overhead to meet. Also if it gets the product out and they've spent on big websites and advertising, I guess they need to recoup. It's not unusual to see $60,oo for the basics and considering what little that is compared to the price of actual smoking, it is a payback that happens in less than a few weeks for many, and then we/they are vaping for 1/2 the cost of cigs. If we fill carto's that pricing drops off drastic, but many don't like messing with the filling process. Me included, and yet I do, since my favorite juices don't come prefilled in carto's.

pig

 

[CraigHB]

Vaping is much less than half the cost of smoking for me and my wife. I ordered a case of cartomizers at wholesale from China and mix my own juice. My cost of vaping is 1/10 what it would have cost to support my smoking habit buying cigs from the corner store, 1/4 the cost of what I was paying for cigs via overseas post plus no more worry about customs seizing my expensive "by the case" cig orders (that happened once).

 

[EynaraWolf]

V2cigs.com gets and will continue to get my Shady Company award until they a) put my less than 4 star review up on their sight. b) answer a question with a real answer and not with what gets me off their phone. c) stop taking people's money for overnight shipping when they have no stock and no intention of shipping overnight. d) they address issues on their forum without deleting the first thread about the potential of a faulty product. e) it takes only one phone call/chat to get an unshipped order canceled and refunded. f) they stop giving me the run-a-round about what they are doing with my products and my money.

It's not just the "little deception" of voltage, but the voltage is the easiest to see and often the draw for new buyers. They claim a steady 4.0-4.2 throughout use. That number is not even happening off the charger, The company flat out won't address the discrepancy.

That's not what I call a good company with growing pains.

Been watching the V2 site forum and have seen the frustration.
It seems the company is a good company with growing pains and that they are advertising (false or not) that their batteries are 4.2v. Ok, in essence they are, "at charge"! It's a little deceptive but at the same time a truism.
I've posted there asking for verification, hoping the ownership of the company would chime in. No answers.

I also don't think many of these companies are out of line with their pricing. Yes when we get into things deeper we find better deals, but overall I don't think we do that much better. A company has overhead to meet. Also if it gets the product out and they've spent on big websites and advertising, I guess they need to recoup. It's not unusual to see $60,oo for the basics and considering what little that is compared to the price of actual smoking, it is a payback that happens in less than a few weeks for many, and then we/they are vaping for 1/2 the cost of cigs. If we fill carto's that pricing drops off drastic, but many don't like messing with the filling process. Me included, and yet I do, since my favorite juices don't come prefilled in carto's.

pig

 

[markfm]

3.7 - 3.8V is KR808D-1 (808) norm. A lot of good suppliers of 808s (vapor4life, nhaler, vaporetc,...).

Anything that lets you find an alternative to smoking is good, in my book. Tweaking, finding even better price/performance points, is good, but if a given vendor's product was enough to get you off smokes that's a big plus.

My first PV was a proprietary branded one. Not quite enough to stop smoking, but I quickly found ECF and went with the 808 family. Six months later I'm also using Riva 510 gear, but still use 808 passthroughs and a few big 900 mAh 808 batteries as backups. All but the first one have been good, and even that initial product got me in the game.

 

[earthpig]

Eynara.
First off..I'm not supporting V2, and haven't purchased from them. I was going to, but needed questions on the batteries that couldn't be (and still haven't been) answered. I kinda knew the answer prior but (like many) was hoping for a slight higher voltage output from a KR808D-1. It's not necessary, mind you and consistency is key. A good vape.

I didn't see any advertising for a ""steady" 4.2 v. That's reading something into it. I will admit the customer draw is on a semi-false pretense, as most (not all) of these types of batteries at full charge will give off ~4.2v. Some more some less.
To say they have something exceptional and new is also a truism, since this model number is the new kid on the block.
Slightly deceptive? I'll give it that!
As far as customer service issue, yup, they have that. Will it improve? Dunno!
They do sell the basic product at a fair pricing if you can get past the issues. IF you tend to want to go elsewhere, I get that, and I have.
I bought mine from a Shopping Mall Kiosk , and it IS a great unit. It's priced higher, and I get that. They have mall store overhead. The beauty was I was able to handle, smoke(vape) and interact with the management eye to eye...On Site!. Later I went to help them out over the holiday (working the Kiosk for a short period of time) and am now setting up to market their product on my own, buying their product line at wholesale (or near) pricing.

Good luck and find multiple sources.

Pig

 

[EynaraWolf]

I am in the process of trying to return my order for a full refund. We'll see if that happens.

 

[EynaraWolf]

Currently V2cigs is not a company I would recommend anyone deal with, but, each person has their own preferences and each has their own customer experience. I have a refund confirmation and am awaiting the money actually showing back up in the bank account. I realize I am being cynical at this point, but there are very specific reasons for this which I will not get into here.

I have multiple vendors I deal with at this point and all provide great customer service and more importantly, they also provide a product. My lesson has been learned. Too bad V2 couldn't provide the service needed to keep a loyal customer.

 

[earthpig]

As it should be Eynara.
The old saying..."Don't put all of your eggs in one basket!"

I have a main source (and work for and with them), yet have saved links for supplies and the likes in case something is not right or better through another vendor. My own source doesn't make flavors I like, and the batteries/ supplies generally are too high priced, but I get them cheap. There carto's are average only, yet I use them since it costs me next to nothing, but am considering ordering a few other makers carto's just to try them.

Source up !

pig

 

[DeeLeeKay]

earthpig,

Hmm, it bothers me to call someone a pig, lol. One the forum this afternoon, the owner stated they pulled the 4.0-4.2 batts at the end of oct. and replaced them with the standard 3.7. But failed to change the website.

 

[Dwezel272]

I am not one to break out a volt meter and test my batteries but I did notice the difference in experience of vaping with a shorter cut off on the battery. I like the 10 sec cut off. That being said, I found this whole voltage issue interesting and thought that there was a very informative post on the V2 forum on the topic. I will cut and past it here for those with interested. Keep in mind I think this is from someone at the company..... here you go "this is quite a complicated discussion.... in the beginning, we had a 3.7 volt battery, which we were selling until about mid-august 2010 (this battery actually ranged in operating voltage from about 3.2v to 4.2v depending upon level or charge, age of battery, how heavy it was used, and a few other factors... at that time we were unhappy with the initial battery performance because 2 of the suppliers in the supply chain of that production line were providing internal components to our factory that were having defect percentages outside our required range.... Then in mid-august we released a new battery which we called the "4.2volt battery"... this battery was completely redesigned on the inside and was consistently reading 3.9v-4.5v (usually around 4.2) with a full charge, and was holding these readings well after 25+ charges... this battery had less inconsistency than the prior line especially with operating voltage... this battery had a 10 second security cut-off designed in the chip, and became the V2 standard from about mid-august through late October... Then in late October we switched up the supply chain again, because we found a better battery that seemed to stay constant around 3.7v even after 100+ drains and charges, it was by far the most stable battery we ever tested... unfortunately when we introduced this new battery our 10s cutoff circuits were not working well with it (for a number of reasons)... so we switched to a 5s cut off switch, that was operating great with the newest battery iteration. We have since re-engineered the cut-off back to 10s, but those have yet to go into production, and likely wont hit market until March. Regardless, at present the V2 battery is the most stable we have ever sold, it is staying constant around 3.7 with very little degradation after continual recharge. Despite all of this our support department has begun to get complaints that people preferred the prior 4.2 volt model, which in all tests was actually less stable in voltage... Now, with all the technical jargon out of the way, here is the funny part... whether the battery operates at 4.2 volts or 3.7 volts, there is next to no difference in actual vapor production. We know this because we have a machine which measures vapor volume by literally "dragging" off the battery... we measure factors like vapor temperature, vapor thickness (ppm - particles per million), etc. --- to actually achieve a substantial difference in vapor thickness we actually have to exceed 5volts (of course, when we do this, we burn out the cartomizers almost twice as fast ... at the end of the day, the battery we were selling from mid-august to late October, when compared with the battery in current inventory has no noticeable loss in performance, aside from the 5-second security cut-off, which can be annoying to a heavy user (although it is much safer for them)... with this said, we will be going back to 10s cut off, as people seem to prefer it, and we will be trying to normalize the voltage at 4.2 again, but don't expect more vapor when we make this voltage change, because voltage variance of 0.5v will have little effectual difference... it is the resistance of the coil in the cart, and the effective current (not the voltage), that we are trying to improve. These factors have a far greater impact on vapor production. In my opinion, what is really happening, is that people don't like the 5s cut-off switch... and they think because the battery stops producing vapor after a 5 second sustained drag, that there is something wrong with the battery. Then they pull out the old volt meter and say, "3.7 that must be the problem"... in reality, I think your problem is the cut-off switch, not the voltage!... either way we are fixing both, but manufacturing takes time "
DWZ