Multi-brand Vivant Alternate

[ohmygodimsohigh]

Well despite the terrible timing...
I wrapped up my Alternate vs Crafty video

I'm going to meet with Vivant this week and see if I can get a few more mouthpieces to put through the test.

 

[BuddingMagic]

A big thanks out to @PuffItUp for getting me the new mouthpiece so quickly.

Sadly, it's cracking just as others have described.

@Vivant not sure if you're keeping tally, but put one mark into the cracked topcap (the new one with the metal ring) column for me.

I believe that makes 5 total failed mouthpieces for me between this and the old model.

 

[mash]

Well despite the terrible timing...
I wrapped up my Alternate vs Crafty video

I'm going to meet with Vivant this week and see if I can get a few more mouthpieces to put through the test.

That was cool man.... nicely done

 

[joint46go]

Has anyone tried to do a mod for this?

 

[sickmanfraud]

Many thanks to @Prolusio your explanation in the Tubo Evic thread that there were USB cables that are only for charging and some are made for charging and data. Switching from a Boundless USB cable to a phone USB worked like a charm

I was using the wrong USB CABLE not USB 2 vs 3. This was the problem I was having updating my firmware for the Vivant Alternate.

Again: anyone who is having trouble updating firmware should make sure the USB cable you are using is for data too.

I want to add my 2 cents to the discussion of the battery draining even when off.

I changed the battery last week for a fresh one expecting my new top cap, but did not use the Alternate in the interim.

Today when I wanted to turn the Alternate on it was DEAD. Easiest question is battery. Removed the battery and it registered 1.64 on my charger. Hopefully a slow trickle may save the battery.

Unless @Vivant can say for sure what caused the battery to drain when off I suggest storing the Alternate and batteries separately.

Gwen, any ideas?

 

[Baked-not-fried]

Looks like I'll be getting my Crafty top today for the mod! Looking forward to getting it up and running.
I had to post a positive message somewhere as I am reeling with sadness this morning hearing of the death of a great. Chris Cornell was a truly talented artist who will be missed! RIP Chris!

Dave

 

[luke00978]

Has anyone tried to do a mod for this?

yes me look a few pages back i put a pic up

 

[blackbur]

I'm sure they are scratching their heads at S&B at the sudden increase of crafty top/mouthpiece sales.

Thanks everyone for posting your tips and tricks as well as your experiences..every bit helps.

Delayed copping a vivant..going to wait and see what happens next.

 

[mourningbell]

FWIW, I've put my Alternate through ~20 mins at 420ish and the new CU shows no signs of cracking or deforming.

But there is a plastic smell around the oven during an empty (weed-less) heating... It's easy to detect because it makes me light-headed

and I don't wanna hear "burning off without anything in the bowl is bad" because that truly makes no sense; if a vape can't safely heat up without material then it isn't safe

 

[Vitolo]

and I don't wanna hear "burning off without anything in the bowl is bad" because that truly makes no sense; if a vape can't safely heat up without material then it isn't safe

We all sometimes must hear what we "don't wanna hear".
Just a thought......
If your oven can not safely heat up with nothing in it, then it too must be unsafe... yet my general electric Gas stove owners manual instructs to avoid the incidence of leaving oven at high temps without food being cooked.
At any rate that top cover issue is old history
That is all behind us now.
They have created new top caps (cooling unit and mouthpiece assembly)
Apparently, without making a big deal about it, they have also recalled and delivered units with the new top caps.
One local headshop showed me his Vivants with the new top caps, after describing that the dozen he had in stock were recalled.
I was sent a new top cap, but am actually using up my initial top cap, since it was not giving me issues.

 

[Vivant]

Hello FC community!

A big thanks out to @PuffItUp for getting me the new mouthpiece so quickly.

Sadly, it's cracking just as others have described.

@Vivant not sure if you're keeping tally, but put one mark into the cracked topcap (the new one with the metal ring) column for me.

I believe that makes 5 total failed mouthpieces for me between this and the old model.

Hey @BuddingMagic, thank you for answering my DM with more information. Our engineers are working on it as quickly as they can.

Many thanks to @Prolusio your explanation in the Tubo Evic thread that there were USB cables that are only for charging and some are made for charging and data. Switching from a Boundless USB cable to a phone USB worked like a charm

I was using the wrong USB CABLE not USB 2 vs 3. This was the problem I was having updating my firmware for the Vivant Alternate.

Again: anyone who is having trouble updating firmware should make sure the USB cable you are using is for data too.

I want to add my 2 cents to the discussion of the battery draining even when off.

I changed the battery last week for a fresh one expecting my new top cap, but did not use the Alternate in the interim.

Today when I wanted to turn the Alternate on it was DEAD. Easiest question is battery. Removed the battery and it registered 1.64 on my charger. Hopefully a slow trickle may save the battery.

Unless @Vivant can say for sure what caused the battery to drain when off I suggest storing the Alternate and batteries separately.

Gwen, any ideas?

Hey @sickmanfraud, the reports of the battery draining issue have been few and widely varied. Some of them were solved altogether by using different batteries. We have not as of yet been able to replicate this issue in our lab, so we don't yet have any reliable guesses about the cause. Your information about it is very useful to us.


-Gwen

 

[Baked-not-fried]

Another Crafternate is born! Sorry folks, no pics. I know, they all look the same but when it's your own handy work it seems to have a certain shine about it. A load of fresh ground later and I'm reminded of why I dig this little unit. Even more so now. It seems an even cooler unit shell w/ cooler vapor and it looks good, too! It still gets pretty damn toasty along the top of the front of the unit around the bowl area. Two other gripes I have quickly as to not put a damper on my happy mood or this post, though. I have seen that heat protection/shut down twice now. Also, has anyone found a battery that can keep up with this thing? Have an awesome evening, All!

Dave

 

[sickmanfraud]

Hello FC community!



Hey @BuddingMagic, thank you for answering my DM with more information. Our engineers are working on it as quickly as they can.





Hey @sickmanfraud, the reports of the battery draining issue have been few and widely varied. Some of them were solved altogether by using different batteries. We have not as of yet been able to replicate this issue in our lab, so we don't yet have any reliable guesses about the cause. Your information about it is very useful to us.


-Gwen

@Vivant (Gwen)

Since you said that you had not been able to replicate the battery draining and I remember the situation and can give you more information.

Even though I have been waiting for a new top cap I wanted to do the firmware update.

I had a USB cable that just charges, no data. While attempting to update the firmware the battery charged a bit. Then I put it in my drawer. Got notice that my replacement Top cap in post office and wanted to try the firmware update with the proper cord and the battery was reading 1.64 on my charger.

Perhaps you could try to "charge" via USB and then unplug the USB put the Alternate in a drawer for a few days. Then see battery.

FYI, Last night (after firmware update) I happened to check my battery and it was down to 80+%. I removed the battery until I can reuse my Alternate.

 

[Vambo1980]

Plus one more on the battery drain. Although I left mine plugged into the car charger which was not connected to the charging socket.
It's basically ruined a battery.. or severely stressed it. Down to 1.8v.
The battery was fully charged before leaving it in my van all night. Surely the electronics design has protection for this? A simple diode on the 5v input would prevent this...

Losing faith with this thing fast.

 

[xlr8shun]

At any rate that top cover issue is old history
That is all behind us now.
They have created new top caps (cooling unit and mouthpiece assembly)

how is that all behind us, and old history, when the new ones are granted, not melting, but cracking and falling apart?

Also, has anyone found a battery that can keep up with this thing? Have an awesome evening, All!

Dave

lg hg2's (brown wrap) work great for me, seem to get about 1 extra session out of them then i do the sony vct4's (green ones included w alternate)

 

[Vitolo]

Plus one more on the battery drain.

I have some input on battery drain.
Mine drained also when the unit is turned to the non-functioning state ( but not on )
I have figured out that I must shut the unit down (multiple click method) to reduce the drain.
It still goes down a small amount overnight, but at least stays at above 4/5 original charge.

how is that all behind us, and old history, when the new ones are granted, not melting, but cracking and falling apart?

Pardon me.
It seems to be behind us locally and in Phoenix , where I now am monitoring the use of 16 patients.
4 besides myself are here, and an even dozen between here and Phoenix. Head shops report equal success.
I will re-phrase my comment to say:

At any rate that top cover issue is old history for the LOCAL HEADSHOPS, and the 16 units I am monitoring here IN MY AREA.
That is all behind us LOCALLY now.
They have created new top caps (cooling unit and mouthpiece assembly)

The people whose units I am monitoring are heavy users, and they use the units hard.
On more than half of the 16 The Vivant is their only unit, although all have owned other vaporizers... so the units take the brunt of all of the day long vaporization that occurs.
Sorry that you are not experiencing the same results with your unit @Vambo1980, and I will try to be more sensitive when reporting on the improvement to ALL units in my community.

 

[HighMtnSkier]

I've only had mine about a week now and so far all is going great. This is a recreational toy for me, and it's filling it's role well. I'm really digging the grinder/loader as a least messy way to re-load. I wish it had a finer grind and a more secure top. A stainless steel one with a heavy magnet would be legit.

 

[justvapin]

So I finally received my Crafty CU, and fitted it to the Alternate. For whatever reason, apparently my stock topcaps (the new one and the old one) leak all kinds of air. The Crafty topcap is completely airtight and hits are excellent. Very much worthwhile, as long as the rest of the unit holds up. Really makes a huge difference.

 

[Drummeryjam]

I've noticed the air leakage thang too.. If only I was "crafty" enough (HA! Sorry..) to sort it out -.- I definitely concur with an earlier comment about needing someone to start selling the modded tops!

 

[IckiestOfTheSticky]

My replacement (new version) top cap is cracked now as well. Looking closely, I can see 5 cracks in the top, in my pic the middle arrow highlights the worst one, where I can see an air gap, and runs through one of the two connecting tabs. I'll be reaching back out to Vivant and PIU to see if they can help me out. I have only used the new top cap for 12 3 minute sessions, or 36 overall minutes of runtime.

 

[FractaLSD]

I already have a crafty but the battery life is also the one thing i dont like about it. Otherwise 10/10. This "Alternate Crafty" is def worth checking out. Surprised Storz-Bickel hasnt taken legal action, knowing how serious they take their business lol.

Whenever my Crafty stops working for whatever reason (Ive never had probs with it at all actually, just saying), this is what im gonna get instead. There was also the Boundless that seemed to be a Crafty clone, just not this obvious. This "Alternate" is literally kind of an homage or an attempt at Crafty improvement, and honestly with replaceable battery and Crafty quality, thats just as good as it gets. Same with FF2 once you get the external battery charger.

 

[Gimpy27]

What exactly needs to be sanded down on the crafty cu to make it fit? I just bought an alternate and crafty cu to mod and plan to do the upgrade whenever everything comes in. I also bought some 5/8 screens to do the vape critic cu mod and some bucket screens for the mod mentioned on page 2 of this thread. What else would be good to do while I'm working on this?

 

[HengefulOne]

What exactly needs to be sanded down on the crafty cu to make it fit? I just bought an alternate and crafty cu to mod and plan to do the upgrade whenever everything comes in. I also bought some 5/8 screens to do the vape critic cu mod and some bucket screens for the mod mentioned on page 2 of this thread. What else would be good to do while I'm working on this?

First you need to cut the locking tabs on the outer ring, just eye it against the stock cap. I used nail clippers (works great) and sanded them smooth with the dremel afterwards. Then you gotta sand down the inner ring, in my experience right down to the inner screen ring (indent) I did this with a course sanding drum attachment on with the dermel. Took about 10 minutes to do. I had a lighted magnifying glass to inspect as I leveled it off. User Dtaxx has some good pix up http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/vivant-alternate.23668/page-39 and http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/vivant-alternate.23668/page-40

 

[subway13029]

Hey @slang, that is correct. I'm afraid our company does not offer refunds or returns on devices that have been used, due to the nature of the product.




Hey @Gardenerjeff, Vivant doesn't recommend using the Alternate while it is charging. While it technically does work, there is a chance that the energy involved in the charge can cause the device to heat up to a temperature that differs from the one on the LED display.


-Gwen

You can't return a device that's been used? As in warranty?? These units are going to crap and if your company doesn't do returns with warranty on faulty crap then probably best to not be in vape game..I couldn't imagine s and b saying that..

 

[StonerSloth]

For anyone who is looking for some info on cases for the Crafternate:


A Pelican 1015 can fit a Crafternate + 1 doob tube + stir stick.

This is the same case I use for the Air + 2 stems + 2 doob tubes so this is sort of a step backwards in terms of what I can carry in a Pelican case.


A Ryot Kripto-Kit Hard Shell (small) will fit just the Crafternate and a stir tool but nothing else.