Multi-brand Vivant Alternate

EverythingsSOgreen

EverythingsSOgreen

Member
IMHO, I doubt it has much to do with heat or pressure. I think it is simply a materials/manufacturing issue. A bit useless for us to speculate, but hey, why not..?
I've had my fair share of issues with the Alternate. First with a bad battery, then with random battery drain when left in the unit (yes it was off), then a crack at the usb port. This was all with very little use, treating it with kid gloves, and at low temps to boot. It didn't develop any of the other cracks that others have experienced though.
A few things have kept me sticking with this thing. It is efficient and effective at vaporizing, though those qualities alone are still not quite enough when weighed against the material/manufacturing issues and having to deal with replacing stuff. I have to say, it's the fact that Vivant has been great about their warranty. They have handled all of the problems exactly the way you would hope they would. I have to take my hat off to them on that front, and thank Ivan (and Gwen) for the quality customer service. Of course, it makes sense for the company to go out of their way to make it right, but these days you never know.
I do hope they come out with another version. They are so close to having a real winner on their hands. I already went through my likes and dislikes a long time ago, but to summarize what I'd like to see changed in a version 2 (aside from the obvious):
~Try to improve battery life and/or have a setting to use it plugged in and have it bypass the battery once it's recharged - or even just make it bigger and have it take two batteries.
~ Improve the software GUI. Make it a menu style so you don't have to remember what combination of buttons you have to press to get something done. You could just navigate to the proper setting like on an old zoom recorder (but simpler and, well, better than their implementation).
~ Make the bowl a bit bigger
~ The feel isn't bad, but it would be nice if had some kind of rubberized coating with a bit of grip (maybe like the boundless vapes, if I'm remembering correctly).
~ It's minor but, make the stir stick stay in its slot.
Well, this is starting to get long now, so I'll wrap it up. I just got my replacement with the new top cap, so I'm ready to give it another shot, or toke, as it were...
 
KeroZen

KeroZen

Chronic vapaholic
BigJr48 said:
The reason I asked is to see if using a lower amp battery might help.
Click to expand...

Nope that's not a good idea I'm afraid. You should always have a cell capable of outputting more current than what the circuit draws. Even when operating at the nominal CDR (i.e. when the circuit is drawing exactly the amount of amps corresponding to the maximum continuous discharge rating of the cell) it will generate quite some heat (due to the cell internal resistance)

If you exceed that CDR the voltage will sag a lot and the cell will get even hotter, leading to premature failure in the best case, and dramatic incidents in the worst case (i.e. thermal runaway or outright explosion)

You are right in the sense that if the cell is super weak, one could imagine that the vape would run cooler. But since this is a regulated design (closed loop with a sensor and varying voltage sent to the heater via PWM) the controller will just try to compensate for the weaker cell by going full throttle most of the time.

For sure if the cell is so weak that even at full throttle the heater is barely able to reach set temperature and it drops miserably as soon as you draw, then yes the whole thing would get cooler but the vape would be so anemic it would be barely usable!
 
StonerSloth

StonerSloth

cui bono?
BigJr48 said:
The reason I asked is to see if using a lower amp battery might help.
Click to expand...

?

You mean a battery with a lower capacity? Or a battery with a lower max discharge current? Either way - ?

I doubt the cracks above the battery area are caused by heat from the battery. Even in the worst case conditions, the battery area shouldn't be getting nearly as hot as the oven area. If so, you got a problem!
 
StonerSloth,
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BigJr48

BigJr48

Well-Known Member
StonerSloth said:
?

You mean a battery with a lower capacity? Or a battery with a lower max discharge current? Either way - ?

I doubt the cracks above the battery area are caused by heat from the battery. Even in the worst case conditions, the battery area shouldn't be getting nearly as hot as the oven area. If so, you got a problem!
Click to expand...

A lower amperage battery.
 
BigJr48,
Vitolo

Vitolo

Vaporist
Cheesequake said:
Anyone had a V3 top cap crack?
Click to expand...
We have been very lucky in my area.
While a dozen patients here have all gotten the V2 top cap, as well as the v3... only two have moved on to the V3 CU/mouthpiece assembly. Neither have reported cracks.
All other local patients besides those two are still on the original top cap..... with the V2 and V3 sitting on the sidelines in the event that cracking does occur.
 
Vitolo,
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D

dzejnowak

New Member
Today the 3 v3 mouthpieces arrived (2 from replacements). In the evening I'll be testing them.
Until now I:

Finished v1 with one bowl (totally melted)
Finished v1.5 (nonmetal replacement, improved melting point) within 2 weeks of daily use (melts and cracks). I made it tight again with 2 plastic cable ties, worked perfectly, but what about the melts?

@Vivant we do need these capsules, preferably with something like this: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-mighty-by-storz-bickel.16000/page-353#post-1051932
 
dzejnowak,
Cheesequake

Cheesequake

Free Men Don't Ask
Got my replacement Alternate today and it feels sturdier all around. New mouthpiece design is pretty crazy. Battery door on the unit feels much much sturdier than before, it would pop off extremely easily and creak and flex a lot if squeezed on my old one. The top cap also fits much more snug on the unit. If it holds up and doesn't crack this unit will go back up to one of my favorite vapes ever. There's a definite new vape smell but no visible off gasing.


Edit: V3 cap seems to work really really good. The heat seems much more evenly dispersed throughout the entire cap rather than the one spot opposite side of the mouthpiece. Which is exactly where my original cracked. There's a much tighter seal with this top cap too which I'm assuming will translate into much more dense vapor.
 
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OyVape

Well-Known Member
@Vivant, how do you recommend cleaning the V3 top cap? The assembly inside looks rather complicated and I'm not sure if I should attempt to disassemble anything. I always just brush it off after every use, and, So far, it looks like it keeps itself pretty clean, but there are some nooks and crannies that get gummy. Also a couple types of silicone. Advice please? Perhaps you could post a diagram of all the internal workings. What is safe for ISO and what is not?
 
Vivant

Vivant

Well-Known Member
Manufacturer
OyVape said:
@Vivant, how do you recommend cleaning the V3 top cap? The assembly inside looks rather complicated and I'm not sure if I should attempt to disassemble anything. I always just brush it off after every use, and, So far, it looks like it keeps itself pretty clean, but there are some nooks and crannies that get gummy. Also a couple types of silicone. Advice please? Perhaps you could post a diagram of all the internal workings. What is safe for ISO and what is not?
Click to expand...

Hello @OyVape

Thank you for reaching out to us.

We recently uploaded 2 video demonstrations of how to properly assemble/disassemble the new V3 Top Cap.

Here’s the link found on our website: https://vivant.store/blogs/social

You can clean the new V3 top cap in the same fashion as you would the previous top caps, using ½ and ½ equal parts rubbing alcohol (50% or less) and with water. You can also use an ISO solution in place of the rubbing alcohol.

For the small nooks and crannies, I personally recommend using a cleaning duster. This helps with getting small debris out of hard to reach areas on the device.

If you have any more questions please feel free to ask.

Thank you,

Ivan

CSR

dzejnowak said:
Today the 3 v3 mouthpieces arrived (2 from replacements). In the evening I'll be testing them.
Until now I:

Finished v1 with one bowl (totally melted)
Finished v1.5 (nonmetal replacement, improved melting point) within 2 weeks of daily use (melts and cracks). I made it tight again with 2 plastic cable ties, worked perfectly, but what about the melts?

@Vivant we do need these capsules, preferably with something like this: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-mighty-by-storz-bickel.16000/page-353#post-1051932
Click to expand...

Hello @dzejnowak,

Thank you for your suggestions.

We are still working on these capsules. We will be sure to keep members on FC up to date on the status of these capsules.

Your interest is much appreciated, we recommend keeping an eye on our website for any news, updates, and other announcements we may have.


Thank you,

Ivan
CSR
 
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OyVape

Well-Known Member
@Vivant, when you say "cleaning duster" you mean like canned compressed air for cleaning computer keyboards etc? Or do you mean just a brush?
 
OyVape,
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smokinjetson

smokinjetson

Member
OyVape said:
@Vivant, how do you recommend cleaning the V3 top cap? The assembly inside looks rather complicated and I'm not sure if I should attempt to disassemble anything. I always just brush it off after every use, and, So far, it looks like it keeps itself pretty clean, but there are some nooks and crannies that get gummy. Also a couple types of silicone. Advice please? Perhaps you could post a diagram of all the internal workings. What is safe for ISO and what is not?
Click to expand...
Actually just cleaned my V3 top cap the other day and it was super easy. Disassemble the top cap and soak all the individual pieces in ISO for 20 minutes and afterwards use some precision q-tips to scrape out the muck, whether the muck be resin or just some sticky solution that is built up inside the top cap where the vapor path is. Also, while it might be tempting to use a paperclip to scrape out resin in the metal portion of the V3 top cap, a paperclip can actually scratch this metal. I learned the hard way on that one.
 
dtaxx

dtaxx

Well-Known Member
They have had some rough times but I have got to hand it to Vivant, this new topcap (v3) rips! It seems that they completely eliminated the issue by making the metal part a tiny heatsink to dissapate the heat away from the plastic (brilliant move). Flavor, clouds, it's all there.

They have managed to keep my own mod off of this unit since the day I got it. My hat is off to you, Vivant.
Y5YK2kZ.jpg
 
BigJr48

BigJr48

Well-Known Member
dtaxx said:
They have had some rough times but I have got to hand it to Vivant, this new topcap (v3) rips! It seems that they completely eliminated the issue by making the metal part a tiny heatsink to dissapate the heat away from the plastic (brilliant move). Flavor, clouds, it's all there.

They have managed to keep my own mod off of this unit since the day I got it. My hat is off to you, Vivant.
Y5YK2kZ.jpg
Click to expand...

How's the draw resistance???
 
BigJr48,
Cheesequake

Cheesequake

Free Men Don't Ask
BigJr48 said:
How's the draw resistance???
Click to expand...
Still one of the most free flowing portable vapes there is.

dtaxx said:
They have had some rough times but I have got to hand it to Vivant, this new topcap (v3) rips! It seems that they completely eliminated the issue by making the metal part a tiny heatsink to dissapate the heat away from the plastic (brilliant move). Flavor, clouds, it's all there.

They have managed to keep my own mod off of this unit since the day I got it. My hat is off to you, Vivant.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I don't even use the Crafty mouthpiece anymore. I'll keep it around for a backup but that's about it.
 
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