Quality v. a quick buck/dollar/pound/euro . . .

[chykensa]

Is it just me, or do others amongst this august cohort of fellow vapers wonder when a manufacturer will release a mod that just, well, works!?

I have just read lynwlt's post about the Cloupor Mini in which someone states that their brass 510 has come loose. We also read of mods which drop voltage for no reason, screws fail, battery life dies way before it should, buttons fall off, badly fitting this, loose that.

I know the answer to this question, but when will a manufacturer come up with a mod with all the features we require, and quality components which last more than a couple of months and just works? I'll hide behind the sofa before someone posts with the reply along the lines of "you get what you pay for - buy a £100 Sigelei and you will be future-proofed, buy a £20 iStick and expect it to fail after two months.

But if Sigelei can source the components surely the others can too? They must buy in such bulk that the prices remain competitive, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to read a few of these fora and ascertain what we, their customers, want?

I know it's all down to money - do as much as they can afford and then bang out a cheap mod with shortcomings, knowing full well that technology will march on and in 3 months time when your beloved i-thing fails, you will go back to them for a replacement.

Maybe I've just answered my own question, but I would be interested to hear your views . . .

Blame the Shiraz

[Get Off My Cloud]

Get a SMPL mod, nothing to fail

Seriously though i have a load of different mods some i paid £25 for others £150 out of about 30 or so devices i've had one chip go fritz on me, one solder joint come loose, one that i had to send back because of a sticky fire button that was fixed and that's it aside from some scratches or chipped paint.
Maybe i've been lucky dunno but from my experience component failure has been the exception not the rule.

[thatguy]

Exactly the reason I love my mechs. So little to go wrong compared to a regulated mod, and much less hassle to repair. It really is a shame when mod makers skimp on quality on single components such as poor 510s or screws. Just a few pence more could make the world of difference.

[Deleted]

Mod fails is my middle name, the only one I have that just works as it should Is the Smowell (very soft screws though ) Everything else has faults. Ohm meters reading too low, battery meters just guessing, shows 10% put on charge and it right away shows 43% !. Paint put on so thinly it flakes or pits away. Bad threading on the 510. A T5 melting near the inside post, and that's without the so called UPGRADE.

Will add my magneto as that's bomb proof and my two Cloupor minis I'm still very pleased with them, crap paint jobs and all

[vaporsizer]

I think it really is a case of getting what you pay for because even up to the £100 mark they are still basically cheapo factory forced devices. Some are better than others & of those you still have to find one you really like. i dunno, the run of the mill/regular stuff we get exposed to all over the place is not my idea of good spending.

I use some 20watt Isticks for work or out walking etc & i coudn't give a damn about those if they screw up, it's why i use them, they're cheap & i have no expectations of them but they do work well. The mid range vw boxes i wouldn't waste my wages on. If i was going to buy a serious vw device i would go for something in the higher end region but that's just me. As it goes i dont desire one.
Other than that i use my mechs. A dual 18650 mech can give me 2 days between charges with a pair of decent batteries in & when the voltage drops off it's more subtle than a single tube mod. It's my answer to the vw conundrum. I could go for a 26650 tube i suppose but i just prefer the dual 18650 form.
I don't like big chunky box mods but when they are well made & the tollerences are fine you can get a palm sized device, that is a cool device.... Just my thoughts.

[Perpetua]

May 8, 2015 23:42:40 GMT chykensa said:

Is it just me, or do others amongst this august cohort of fellow vapers wonder when a manufacturer will release a mod that just, well, works!?

Can only speak as I've found Andy . . . . but almost everything I've bought has and continues to! I dread to think how many devices are or have been in my possession, out of them I've had a couple of failures. But that's been after much use, so I've had my moneys worth from them.

Inexpensive devices have fared just as well as the more costly for me, I don't do anything special with them either - I get bored looking at the same widget more than anything.

[chykensa]

I have a Caravela and a Magneto which are my fallbacks and which are bombproof. I too have been lucky with mods, and apart from an iStick which has failed, like Perpetua I have not really experienced a major fail on my more expensive mods.
The forum seems to have a post most days with something which has failed for somebody, and I just wondered if it was penny pinching on the part of the manufacturer, or perhaps we expect more from something which at the end of the day is less than a weeks worth of tobacco were we still smoking?

[Bobsbeer]

So far our 4 isticks have served us well for nearly 5 months now, and have regular use. In all honesty if they last 6 months I see that as great when you think of how much they are. We have had more trouble with the basic stick batteries. Or I should say OH has, as she only likes CE4's. She does use an istick with one and that has been the most reliable. Lets face it a £20 istick only costs about 10p a day over a 6 month period, that is pretty cheap.

[Roscopecotrain]

I am with Perpetua on this Andy, i have had very few mods fail on me. The ones that have are the ones that are in daily use in the truck at work bouncing round all day long.
I understand what you are saying. My cloupor mini after just general use is looking very bad already and the threads are not great but it is still working and for the money i spent i am not worried.
My sigelei 100w 1st version is still going strong after nearly 7 mo ths of hard use in the truck and shows no signs of stopping despite being dropped out the truck twice.

How i look at it is the less i pay the less i expect from a mod so i dont worry if it does fail.

[vaporsizer]

May 9, 2015 8:30:08 GMT chykensa said:

I have a Caravela and a Magneto which are my fallbacks and which are bombproof. I too have been lucky with mods, and apart from an iStick which has failed, like Perpetua I have not really experienced a major fail on my more expensive mods.
The forum seems to have a post most days with something which has failed for somebody, and I just wondered if it was penny pinching on the part of the manufacturer, or perhaps we expect more from something which at the end of the day is less than a weeks worth of tobacco were we still smoking?

There's some mixed logic isn't there. Without a doubt if we compare say, a 20w istick, £25, to a month of smokes then it's a no brainer, add a cheap but functional atty & some liquid & we're still quids in. In that scenario i'm more concerned about the dreadful landfill it might be making, something which is bound to rear its head in the vape world sooner or later. Imagine the waste that a decade of cig-a-likes would create !

For my own ends i am a bit old fashioned & i target devices which i believe will be kind of timeless & will perform for years, those mech mods & high quality attys have something to be desired in more ways than one.

To me it's a double edged blade, we can buy cheap, be better off on pocket for the short term & our health is kept better but the price of potentially iffy devices with short self life expectancy might well cost more over time than say, 1 high(ish) end set up that might keep trucking for eons. My own logic tells me to buy quality & reap the benefit for an age to come but at the same time i still find a use for some of that cheaper gear especially if it's for out & about where it might get dropped, dinged & scratched. My nice mechs & rdas, gennies stay at home for my lounging pleasure.

.....Trying to stay on topic

[GunJack]

I personally think there's a couple of things going on here.

Firstly, as has been mentioned, there is the build costs of devices. I for one wouldn't consider buying the "next best thing" as soon as it comes out - firstly to let the teething troubles settle (how many times have we seen device X comes out, gets bought and within a month or two things start going wrong which are often rectified with the later/Version2 of the device).

Secondly, component prices and therefore device prices will come down if there's sufficient demand, so buying later is cheaper.

Thirdly, if looked after, devices will last - I'm a great one for using adapters etc to save device threads, for example.

Vaping kit is the same as any other electronic device in all these respects, and let's face it, it is ridiculously cheap compared to even 3 years ago

[Bobsbeer]

I suppose another issue is the constantly changing technology. I came into vaping after vw/vv mods were the most common type, both cheap or expensive. The way things seem to have progressed in the nearly 6 months I've been vaping is astounding. While an istick looks well made and most of it would last a lifetime. Whatever they use for the case, threads, board etc, is still limited by the battery. That has a finite lifetime. The current fashion of fixed battery mods will be an issue in the future. Millions of isticks are going to end up in the landfill after 12 months. Regardless of the build quality. I suppose the answer is to use mods with replaceable batteries. At least only the battery is trashed. Then it makes sense to make the case from quality materials that will last the test of time. From a consumer point of view that's great, but not from the manufacturers.

[mart166]

From my point of view the cheap disposables (I use an istick) are best, i'm away from home a lot, the Istick bounces around in car, but is on charge, if I leave it somewhere no big loss, if I took one of my external battery mods I'd need to pack a charger, spare bat etc, with the stick as I said charges in car, charges on my phone charger just so much easier. And as bonus I never thought it would last 6 months, but still sitting in my hand now no problems. (Apart from the scratched screen, which was down to me).
It's horses for courses and personal use.
But I do agree most of these parts must come to pennies, so why not build a fabulous mod at disposable prices, awnser you only sell great mods once whereas disposables sell over and over again (2 isticks here but I know by vapemeets thats a low figure to own lol).

MP

[flavourtank]

chykensa

If you want A mod that works and does exactly what it should then I would recommend @windows gripper mod


I'm absolutely loving mine

[ceedee]

I reckon the failure rate is pretty low considering the obvious lack of testing, outsourced manufacturing and rush to market.

If you're after reliability, avoid everything electronic; if you're after accountability, go for a small UK manufacturer.
My next mod will be from MikroEngineering who are active on UKV.