mixology
06-11-2009, 05:50 AM
Red Dragon V9:
The V9 which the Red Dragon is based off of, similar to Bloog or Loongtotem V9 is the two piece PV.
Appearance/Design:
The Red Dragon is a two piece design e-cig consisting of a battery and cartomizer (atomizer and cartridge combined). The cartomizers are meant to be disposable after the flavor dries up. This type of usage would result in a costly smoking alternative. Although they aren't designed to be refilled, they can be, either drip liquid into the hole on the threaded end or remove the rubber cap on the mouthpiece and fill it that way. The second method is preferable as it is easier to see what you are doing.
Cartomizer
Ultimately an end user will question the cost of replacing cartomizers. Typically you can refill the cartomizers for 1-2 weeks, depending on what level of degradation of the filler the user can tolerate. I find that unless you can find an empty unfilled cartomizer, the tastes seem to merge and never fully disappears from the filler. You can not remove or rebuild the filler either as it is attached to the heating coil/wire. Removing the filler/filter will also rip apart the wire.
In addressing cost concerns, since most manufacturers rate their atomizer lifespan to be at about 6 weeks, a package of 4-5 cartomizers is pretty similar to the cost of an atomizer for other models. Therefor the price could even out.
The picture shows the stock cartomizer (white, although they do come in other colors). I find that after refilling them for a bit some liquid might get absorbed by the outer covering which is just sticker wrapped in a film. This can be unsanitary so I removed the outer paper covering to reveal the aluminum housing.
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt237/mixologyPV/RDV9/IMG_0103Small.jpg
Battery
The battery is white with vertical striping and a Red Dragon logo/branding stamped on it. It isn't etched and is paint so it will eventually wear off. It appears there were a couple variations in the switch used. I had purchased one a few months ago and had a very bad experience with the batteries, they both ended up dying or failing to work within the first week. Those batteries were very sensitive, often triggering on noise and vibration and such. The ones I currently have in my possession seem to be a lot less sensitive...they do still trigger when blowing or tapping on the tip but seems like it requires more effort.
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt237/mixologyPV/RDV9/IMG_0102Small.jpg
Charger
The battery charger for the unit comes in two pieces, a usb charging dongle as well as wall charger. Although the dongle needs to also be used when charging with the wall adapter as it accepts usb.
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt237/mixologyPV/RDV9/IMG_0101Small.jpg
Performance:
There are no air holes on the thread or the cartomizer connection so the drag is rather tight. There is a 3 second cutoff but I find that with the concentrated design a real long drag isn't necessary to produce results. It provides an exellent throat kick and produces a lot of vapor. On a fresh cartomizer it probably produces a bit more than a 510. The stock marlboro flavor tastes weird...kind of herbal and as I stated earlier even adding self made flavors you can't get rid of the residual flavor.
While it produces a good throat hit and vapor production, it doesn't last long as the battery life on this model has been problematically short. This may not be true for the whole line but the two kits that I've used have had short battery life, and the performance degrades pretty quick, I would say you can notice it after 7-10 drags and would need to wait for the liquid to work its way to the coil again.
The charging of the battery doesn't take very long though so it can offset its poor performance with fast recharge time.
This model would be a good choice for quick on the go type, they do offer a usb passthrough for these called U-9 for usage at home or on the PC. The one drawback with these 2 piece design kits are the higher price on the starter kits, check the prices for these at buyreddragon.com or bloogplanet.com and you will notice the higher price.
Packaging:
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt237/mixologyPV/RDV9/IMG_0100Small.jpg
Size Comparison to other models:
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt237/mixologyPV/8084/IMG_0098Large.jpg
The V9 which the Red Dragon is based off of, similar to Bloog or Loongtotem V9 is the two piece PV.
Appearance/Design:
The Red Dragon is a two piece design e-cig consisting of a battery and cartomizer (atomizer and cartridge combined). The cartomizers are meant to be disposable after the flavor dries up. This type of usage would result in a costly smoking alternative. Although they aren't designed to be refilled, they can be, either drip liquid into the hole on the threaded end or remove the rubber cap on the mouthpiece and fill it that way. The second method is preferable as it is easier to see what you are doing.
Cartomizer
Ultimately an end user will question the cost of replacing cartomizers. Typically you can refill the cartomizers for 1-2 weeks, depending on what level of degradation of the filler the user can tolerate. I find that unless you can find an empty unfilled cartomizer, the tastes seem to merge and never fully disappears from the filler. You can not remove or rebuild the filler either as it is attached to the heating coil/wire. Removing the filler/filter will also rip apart the wire.
In addressing cost concerns, since most manufacturers rate their atomizer lifespan to be at about 6 weeks, a package of 4-5 cartomizers is pretty similar to the cost of an atomizer for other models. Therefor the price could even out.
The picture shows the stock cartomizer (white, although they do come in other colors). I find that after refilling them for a bit some liquid might get absorbed by the outer covering which is just sticker wrapped in a film. This can be unsanitary so I removed the outer paper covering to reveal the aluminum housing.
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt237/mixologyPV/RDV9/IMG_0103Small.jpg
Battery
The battery is white with vertical striping and a Red Dragon logo/branding stamped on it. It isn't etched and is paint so it will eventually wear off. It appears there were a couple variations in the switch used. I had purchased one a few months ago and had a very bad experience with the batteries, they both ended up dying or failing to work within the first week. Those batteries were very sensitive, often triggering on noise and vibration and such. The ones I currently have in my possession seem to be a lot less sensitive...they do still trigger when blowing or tapping on the tip but seems like it requires more effort.
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt237/mixologyPV/RDV9/IMG_0102Small.jpg
Charger
The battery charger for the unit comes in two pieces, a usb charging dongle as well as wall charger. Although the dongle needs to also be used when charging with the wall adapter as it accepts usb.
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt237/mixologyPV/RDV9/IMG_0101Small.jpg
Performance:
There are no air holes on the thread or the cartomizer connection so the drag is rather tight. There is a 3 second cutoff but I find that with the concentrated design a real long drag isn't necessary to produce results. It provides an exellent throat kick and produces a lot of vapor. On a fresh cartomizer it probably produces a bit more than a 510. The stock marlboro flavor tastes weird...kind of herbal and as I stated earlier even adding self made flavors you can't get rid of the residual flavor.
While it produces a good throat hit and vapor production, it doesn't last long as the battery life on this model has been problematically short. This may not be true for the whole line but the two kits that I've used have had short battery life, and the performance degrades pretty quick, I would say you can notice it after 7-10 drags and would need to wait for the liquid to work its way to the coil again.
The charging of the battery doesn't take very long though so it can offset its poor performance with fast recharge time.
This model would be a good choice for quick on the go type, they do offer a usb passthrough for these called U-9 for usage at home or on the PC. The one drawback with these 2 piece design kits are the higher price on the starter kits, check the prices for these at buyreddragon.com or bloogplanet.com and you will notice the higher price.
Packaging:
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt237/mixologyPV/RDV9/IMG_0100Small.jpg
Size Comparison to other models:
http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt237/mixologyPV/8084/IMG_0098Large.jpg