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Review/thoughts about all my new goodies (incl.LT & 4ml TT)

A place to tell everyone what you think of your Volcano gear.

Review/thoughts about all my new goodies (incl.LT & 4ml TT)

Postby ripplemarc » Thu Feb 09, 2012 1:34 pm

Ok,

So about 2 weeks ago, in addition to restocking on supplies, I decided to finally pull the plug and order myself a few new goodies. I would like to share my thoughts/impressions & ideas for improvement (if needed) for these products:

These included:
Black LavaTube kit w/an extra 18650 Battery
Black 4ML Tube Tank w/tube sock
Lava 1.5 Low Res Atty
LavaTube High Resistance 3.0 atty
Needle Tip Bottle Cap

1st off, I have to say that Shipping was great - I ordered about 1/2 hour after Wed. chat ended (approx. 10-10:30 EST), and I had my package here in Maryland by 11:30 AM Friday morning - Incredibly fast!!

So anyway, on to my reviews:

Needle Tip Bottle Cap – Incredible product – I wish I had bought these years ago. It makes filling up clearos & tanks simple and clean – no more messy syringes and bent or broken plastic needle tips for me, although, I don’t think I would carry these around with me (sometimes I do still keep the syringe and a few plastic tips in my work bag in case I need to refill at work).

My only complaint/idea for improvement for these is that I would recommend making the rubber top, which covers the needle when not in use (but not the ring that goes around the neck of the bottle), out of a harder plastic of some sort as opposed to the soft rubber. I have almost pushed the needle tip through the rubber piece and almost stabbed myself (good thing it’s not sharp) several times now when trying to put it back on. I have also seen a few posts where people have done this and had bits of rubber get in the needle itself and clog– personally, I have not had this happen (yet).

The only other problem that I have had is that on 1 or 2 of my bottles, some juice seemed to leak out a little bit from the connection at the neck of the bottle. Not sure why, and it only happened on a few bottles, the rest had no problems (all volcano bottles). I did notice that if I use the little ring attached to the tip that it doesn’t fit as well on the bottles either.


Lava 1.5 Low Res Atty – Another great product so far. On my Infernos, this thing Hits like a Beast!!!

If you liked the old Cisco attys that Volcano had a while back, you will like these (Thanks for the recommendation AB!!). They look very similar to the old Cisco atty, except that the bridge piece is a little bit taller and more straightened out on the edges, kind of like this /\. (The cisco was more rounded on the sides and top)

The only problem that I have had with these so far is that I had the old cisco drip tip that Volcano used to package with the Ciscos. I had asked AB if it would fit on the LAVA atty and he said yes it would. True, it does fit, but it seems to be quite a bit shorter and tighter on the LAVA as opposed to the Cisco. At first, I could only get it to go about ½ way over the atty before it got stuck, but after almost a week, it appears to have stretched a bit, and now it does cover most of the atty, but there is still a tiny bit of a gap at the bottom. – I guess this is why they now sell the XL tip.

Otherwise, I love these attys, and they give a great hit! – Strong, lots of flavor – Just remember to keep them wet.

In the few weeks since I received them, I have noticed that this atty has become my “go-to” when I am really craving a strong, powerful hit. So far, I like the hits off of this much better than the new Lavatube atty.


LavaTube High Resistance 3.0 atty – Jury is still out on this one.

One of these came with my LT kit, and I purchased a second as a backup – good decision there.

As soon as my LavaTube came, I opened up the kit, and took out the LT atty that came with it. I dripped 3 drops of Volcano Tobacco 16mg. Since this was my 1st hit with both the LT and the LT atty, the 1st hit I did was at 3.0 on the screen. I turned it up to 3.7, took a second hit. I turned it up to 4.2, and took a third hit. I added 2 more drops, and turned it up to 4.5 - NOTHING - Dead atty!!
This atty worked for exactly 3 hits - not 3 weeks, not 3 days, not even 3 hours, - exactly 3 pushes of the button. It lasted less than 3 minutes of real actual time between unwrapping it and death, and less than 20 seconds of actual use. – ( I have since filed a CS ticket, and happily, I have already received my replacement – Thanks CS!!).

As for the remaining atty, I have been using it, experimenting with various voltages and juice flavors, but to be honest, I still think that the LAVA atty on my inferno gives a much stronger, more flavorful hit. Of course, the flavor might be my fault somewhat since I don’t clean the atty very much between flavors sometimes. The Lava atty seems much better when switching flavors as it seems that the old flavor tends to “burn” off near the end before you re-drip. It also seems to me that even with this atty on the LT, cranked up to high 5’s or 6.0, that the hit is still not quite as powerful or flavorful as the LAVA atty on my inferno.

I will continue to experiment with these and see if I end up liking them better - it could be that I just haven’t found my correct settings for these yet.


Black 4ML Tube Tank/Tube Sock – OK, I am assuming that since I ordered the black one, that I have the new version with the 1.8mm hole – I have nothing to compare this to for confirmation. I am also under the impression that it is the 1.5DCC version that I have.

Overall, I love this as well.

Filling this thing is very easy. You just have to be very careful to lineup the flange with the bottom cap when you put it back together again. It looks very nice on my red inferno, especially with the tube sock attached.

Speaking of the tube sock, I had asked in a previous thread (few-questions-about-the-tube-tanks-t8242.html)if my home-made lanyard would work OK with the tube sock and the tank. I am happy to report that it worked much better than expected, and the tube sock even prevents my lanyard from slipping off because the small lip it has at the top is actually wider than the loop on my lanyard and prevents it from sliding up.

The hits from the TT are very good, almost (but not quite) rivaling those from the clearomizers (which up until now, have been my favorite method of vaping), and the tube itself is so much stronger than the clearos. I have also been happy with it on my LT, but I am waiting for the 3.0SCC cartos to come back in stock since my understanding is that those are really what you want to use on the LT instead of the 1.5. I guess due to the voltage limits, I have not really been able to determine much difference when using this on my Inferno vs. LT – I’m assuming the 3.0SCC will change that.

Problems/issues:

I did have a small problem when I first got it where it felt like I was getting hot juice droplets hitting my mouth, but that only lasted for a few hours, and I have not had that issue since. It felt similar to when you get hit by burning grease if you stand too close to a frying pan while cooking bacon. Maybe I over filled the carto or something? Not sure, but as I said, it has not happened again.

As others have said before, I have noticed that the tank can pop up on the cartos fairly easily sometimes, but I have not had any juice spills yet.

The supplied derlin drip tip was way way too tight, and I had a really hard time getting it off to be able to fill/refill, and then back on again. I switched to an old aluminum DT, and it seems to fit much better.

I have noticed that even with the tube sock and tank both on my inferno, that quite often, the tube sock slips down closer to the button and leaves a gap between the sock & tank – the gap is big enough that I can easily fit my thumbnail into it. (see Pic #1)

Pic#1
IMG_0424.JPG


Another issue with the tube sock that I had was that it slightly chewed up the rubber O ring on one of my infernos.

There seems to be a 2-3 second delay between when I hit the power button until the TT actually does anything – almost as if it needs a second or two to warm up. But, after that 2-3 second delay, this thing starts popping and crackling like crazy (a good thing) and then gives off really nice hits. Update to this – after about 2 weeks, the carto, while still working, seems much weaker & less flavorful now. I’m sure this is just due to the fact that I need to change the carto, but unfortunately, they were out of stock for a while. I finally was able to buy more last night. Hopefully that will solve the problem.

The only major problem I have had with the TT is that sometimes when I want to unscrew it from the battery, it is very hard, if not impossible to unscrew. Most of the time, it seems as if the tank is spinning around, but the threaded carto itself is not moving at all. I usually end up having to screw it off by holding the DT, or the little bit of carto that sticks out of the top. This also leads to another problem – as the tank spins around (and this happens from normal use as well, not just unscrewing it), the carto flange part aligns and unaligns with the grooves in the bottom cap, and can push the tank up some off the carto – again, it has not been bad enough to cause any spills so far.

Overall, a great product for my favorite juices, but slightly expensive to buy for juices that I only use occasionally – those will stay with clearos for now.


Black LavaTube – Ok, I will be honest, I am clueless when it comes to ohms and volts and all that other fancy electronics stuff. I am going to skip talking about various setups at various settings because so far, mine have all been just plain experimenting. That being said, I decided to try the LT anyway, and I’m glad I did.

It feels very sturdy in my hand, although I agree with other comments that I have seen that it would be nice if the endcaps were made of the same material as the body instead of plastic – the plastic feels a little bit cheap compared to the body. Because of this, I think it would be nice if Volcano sold replacement endcaps.

As a related idea to the endcaps, I thought of, and a way to make the LT stealthier, what if the end cap was replaced by a small LED type flashlight that worked off the battery. This way if you go out somewhere where someone might question what you are using or you might get frisked (like a concert or airplane), you could just claim that it is a small flashlight and non-vapors would be none-the-wiser. It would look almost like a mini-mag light!!

While it does feel quite sturdy, I find it to be a slight bit too big, and wish it were a little bit shorter. It barely fits in the front chest pocket of my jacket (where I usually keep my infernos) with either a clearo or TT attached, but due to its length, it is hard to get in and out of my pocket and every time I take it out or put it back in, I am afraid that it will eventually snap the clearo off. Additionally, it is much too big too comfortably hang from my neck with some type of lanyard as I do with my Infernos.

A related suggestion that I have, and

******this is the one I would most like to see occur*****

PLEASE, PLEASE CONSIDER THIS. – I have always loved using mega-clearos. They work great on the LT, but, it is well known that they tend to break easily, especially at the base of the tube. When I put these on my LT, it is soooo long in my pocket, that I am afraid that one wrong or sudden move, or my 4 yr old jumping on me or something is going to just completely snap off the clearo by its base from the LT, sending a puddle of juice all over my pocket. (See Pic #2)

My suggestion is this – what if on the connector plate on the LT (Where the clearos and attys screw in - see pic #3), what if that little metal piece could be made slightly wider (just the part above the LT body) to the point where it could fit an O ring and Inferno cone on it – doesn’t matter about the color, any of the existing inferno colors are nice. By doing this, the cone would work similar to the Inferno, covering up 85% of the mega-clearo (and probably more of a regular clearo), and most importantly, covering up the vulnerable base of the tube (See Pic #4). I couldn't see this small change costing a lot, or being very difficult to implement.
– PLEASE, PLEASE CONSIDER THIS. BTW, if this will get more attention and a possiblilty of becoming a reality if I post it somewhere else seperately (Such as Mike's suggestion thread), please let me know and I will add it to the proper spot.

Pic #2
IMG_0422.JPG


Pic #3:
IMG_0421.JPG


Pic#4:
IMG_0416.JPG




My LT did have a small scuff on the side when I received it (about the same size as the fire button), but no paint was chipped. I have tried to wipe the scuff off many times, but it won’t go away – not a big deal, and unless you are looking carefully for it, it’s hard to see.

The fire button feels nice, is a good size, and seems to be in a good ergonomic spot.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the other 3 buttons. They feel kind of cheap, they rattle a bit as others have said, and they are much too small to be useful, almost to the point where they are difficult to push (I guess I have fat fingers – I don’t know). In addition, my power and – buttons stick out a tiny bit from the LT body so you can sort of feel them (as they should), but the + button is embedded down so that it is flat with the LT body. It is impossible to find it by feel alone (or worse, in the dark), and requires that I actually look at the unit to find the button. When you run your finger over it, it feels completely flat just like the LT body – by feel alone, you would never be able to tell that there was a button there. This is very troublesome to me, especially when I walk my dog at night, as I have to either stop under a street lamp or use my phone as a light to find the buttons. I don’t have any such problems with the fire button. Even more difficult is when I am outside and I have gloves on. Again, the fire button can be used just fine with gloves, but I need to remove my gloves to change settings (I guess this is definitely something that they didn’t test for in sunny warm Hawaii).

My suggestion would be to make all of the buttons (or at least the + and -) the same size and quality as the fire button, or at least bigger and spread apart a little further so they are easier to feel.

As for the screen, again, I find it kind of on the small side, but not too bad. A slight bit larger would have been nice. Also, maybe different color options as well. One thing I have mixed feelings about is whether or not I would prefer if the screen lit up every time you used it. I think this would be a great feature, especially so that you know it is working (like the inferno button), but at the same time, having it not light up is better for stealth vaping – I would love to see something where the user could control whether or not they wanted it to light up.

I have also heard people mention that the connector on their LT was slightly bent, while mine doesn’t appear this way, I have noticed that the TT seems to sit somewhat off center and tilted on the LT (not on the Inferno), but the clearos seem to be straight.

The one other thing I will mention is that this thing is a juice hog - using mega-clearos on the LT, they go through juice about 3 times faster than when I use them on the Inferno.

Overall, I really like the LT. Will it replace my Infernos – probably not for many cases, but definitely yes for others. The LT is great for when I am home, or in the office, but when I am out and about, it is a little bit too large, especially since I can’t use my lanyard – for that reason alone, I will always have my inferno, as I keep 1 around my neck for pretty much the entire time I am awake. For example, walking around the mall, with my inferno, people just think I am chewing on a fancy pen, or it is hanging around my neck – not too many questions or weird looks, but when I use the LT, people look at me kind of strange. I’ve even had a few people think it was a light saber toy, and one woman at a party I was at last week, asked me why I was walking around all night sucking on a vibrator – I almost lost it laughing so hard.
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ripplemarc
Volcano Ali'i
 
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