I bought an Alternate a month ago from PIU and it arrived two weeks later (Europe). I haven't had cracking problems (or melting, for what I can see: haven't cleaned it yet) but tbh I haven't used it a lot, less than 15 sessions I'd say. I did notice that the mouthpiece gets really hot above the chamber, so hot that it actually hurts to keep your hand on it for more than a couple of seconds. I don't vape at high temps either, normally I go up to 205 max.
Also, another thing maybe someone can attest to: my little straw doesn't seem perfectly airtight. I mean, if I "open" it all the way and let it rest on the mouthpiece, when I inhale there's a distinct hiss coming from it - definitely air coming in; so I need to bring it back a notch, and then it draws fine. Probably the hole at the bottom of the straw or in the mouthpiece is misplaced/too big: nothing major, just a bit annoying.
Now, about the guys over at
@Vivant. I don't wanna burst the wholesome bubble of this thread, and personally I don't appreciate the rude tone I read in some posts a few pages back. It's great to have a place where you can discuss with the actual company that made a product, this doesn't happen like ever. But working in a field somewhat related to CS I just wanted to give you my
.
I don't think just being present here and apologise while never give a definite answer is enough. Where is the list of materials you said you were gonna publish like 10 days ago?
But let's just focus on health, and precisely the melting mouthpieces.
I see three scenarios, imo in increasing order of probability: you know the plastic melting is harmful, and you pretend nothing happened. This is just criminal.
You know it's not harmful, and you're not giving us proof of that. ...why?
3: you are not sure. That's fine. Still, at the very first sign of something that's off, I'd bring my chief engineer (or whatever their title is) and put them in front of a computer for an hour, reading this thread, replying to questions, asking for advice. I'm not one of them, but for what I read there are a lot of users here that might very well have more knowledge and especially more experience with vapes than your team. Just pick their brains and use this place at your own advantage.