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I was a promoter of this mod from the start. New vapers may not fully understand the “old” topic of “Authentic VS Clone”. There are now an abundance of low priced authentic mods that can compete with the clone market. However 6-8 months ago there was a much bigger gap in prices of authentic mods and clones. Around March of 2014 there was a snapping point for a few companies that produced authentic mods and they pursued legal action against distributors and manufactures of cloned mods. This is where Vape Overload stepped up to the plate and said enough was enough. The US based company began producing mods in China to lower material/labor costs and lower the consumer cost of mods. This lead to the birth of the Original FU mod. It is a full copper 26650 mod that is styled closely to the AR mod. I pre-ordered this mod within the first few days of the list opening and patiently waited for the product to be delivered. Months passed without hearing anything about the mod (Truthfully I forgot that I pre-ordered the mod). Around September is when Vape Overload started to apologize for the numerous delays and expected shipping dates started being tossed around. Promises of extras and upgrades being thrown in for the longer than anticipated wait were what got me excited about the mod again.
I finally received my Original FU in December. Almost 5 months from when I placed my pre-order($110.00 USD). The “extras” that I received were three pieces of candy. The mod came to me in Terrible condition despite the “Quality control” procedures that Vape Overload claims to have in place. My mod was covered in machine oil and the copper had deep dings, dents, and scratches. It was clear that these damages came from China-USA not from Vape Overload to my door. I would say that the mod came in 8/10 condition. After a quick polish and cleaning I popped a fresh MNKE battery into the mod (Recommended battery on their website) and the mod refused to fire. After a few hours of tinkering with it I realized that top pin was not adjusting like it should’ve been. The very frustrating process of getting it to work constantly took around two days. After I fixed the firing issue the mod hit like a truck. Made out of 99% pure copper maximized the conductivity and the thickness of the tube made the voltage drop almost non-existent. With the overall size of the mod I would of liked to see larger positive and negative contacts. In comparison to the rest of the mod they seem small and out of place. The threading for the top and bottom cap is some of the best that I have seen on any mod. The threads are thick and machined to thread buttery smooth. The mod has a recessed button and I have run into the same problem that I have had with other recessed type mods, the button backs itself out over time and needs to be re-adjusted every once in awhile to avoid the bottom assembly from falling apart. The button also comes with two giant rare earth magnets in it and provide a very nice button throw.
Aesthetically the mod has its ups and downs. The mod is huge and bulky, which provides a nice feel in the hand if you like a sturdy mod. The AR style rail design on the mod is cool (I believe it is sized to fit standard pica-tiny rail accessories…. So if you felt the need to put a red dot on it you could). The machining on the rails is somewhat rough in my opinion. The ends of each ribbed section are sharp and could use some sanding. Both the top and bottom caps have a deep knurled finish. This mod is larger than 28.5mm in diameter so to my knowledge there is not a atomizer on the market that will sit flush to the sides of the mod. The engravings are deep and I like the bottom button engraving a lot. I am not a fan of the “USA + CHINA” engraving on the side of the tube though. The mod also comes with a SN (only 500 were made) and “FU26650” engraved on the sides.
I contacted Vape Overload about the blemishes and to point out what I considered to be “design flaws” and was not contacted for about a week. Since then I have been in a back and forth email thread with their customer service rep. Just the other day I was offered a “replacement” mod due to the fact that mine was so beaten up when I got it. I now have to pay return shipping and wait for who knows how long for a replacement to be shipped out. My original message to them also inquired about the “extras” that were supposed to be included and if the candy they sent was indeed all that the purchasers of the FU would receive. I got no response on that particular answer leading me to believe that they think a few pieces of candy is sufficient compensation for such a long delay.
My final impression of this mod is very mixed. After a few days of messing with it I finally got it to perform consistently. The “sharpness” of the mod is something you get used to after a few days of using it. and there has finally been a solution offered to the blemishes that came with the mod. I am a believer that I mod should work the way that it is intended straight out of the box and this one took some work.
This mod was meant to be a middle finger to certain companies that took it upon themselves to file lawsuits against individual small companies that re-sold clones. I can’t help but feel that the middle finger was instead directed to the people that purchased this mod.
iVap3
My final impression of this mod is very mixed...Review Overview
Build Quality
Performance (After Tweaking)
Originality
Value
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Excellent review! Based on everything you said I think 3 stars overall is pretty generous. I’d be right pissed off if I had to wait that long and then fix the fricken’ thing just so it’d work.
The candy thing is unreal. I guess if you’re in 3rd grade that might placate you… but IMO don’t advertise extras if you’re not going to deliver them.
Wow…Waiting all that time for a damaged mod that couldn’t even fire without any tinkering..and they still made you pay for return shipping…I really wonder why they would even bring up extra’s if they had no intention of actually doing it. It just gives customers even more reasons to be angry and upset. I hope they make good and give you a good, un-damaged, and working mod.
Thank god I’m not the only one. I also received mine in December and was very excited, then immediately disappointed. Mine was also dinged to hell, and I didn’t even get 3 pieces of candy, just one. (keep in mind that they had promised batteries, a shirt, juice, stickers, and discounts for affiliated vendors) After all the hype, promises and excitement, I’ve never been more disappointed. Hell, I’ve purchased $15 clones from Fasttech that showed up in better condition and less time.
After seeing how quickly the Unicorn mod was created, and delivered, as well as they way it was packaged and the stuff that came with it, I fully believe that the funds from the sales of the FU were used to fund the production of the Unicorn.
On top of all of this, when I posed the question to Vape Overload, concerning the quality of the device and it’s condition upon delivery, I was told very plainly that if I didn’t like it, I could send it back and they would sell it to someone else. That, by itself is unacceptable, and as much as I like their other products (I was planning on buying both versions of the Unicorn, as well as some of their other products) I will not be buying anything else from them, and recommending that others do the same.
As far as a rating, the mod is ugly, and uncomfortable to hold/use, and I feel, very overpriced for what you get. So, I’d give it a 2/10 and that is being very generous.
That sucks because I was going to get one too.
I too received my FU MOD in deplorable condition. Nicks, scratches and one scrape that bordered on a gouge. I sent pictures to the Vape Overload crew and relieved a quick response. They offered a replacement but, after seeing another FU in similar condition, I decided to cut my losses and modified it by milling it way down. No more picaninny rail. No more amateurish lettering, no more scrapes and dings. Now, it’s much more comfortable in the hand. I agree with everything in the review with the exception of the switch issues, I had none. I do however have an issue with the threads, they are big and smooth IF you don’t try the bottom cap on the top, there is so much thread variance that they will not screw down. 110 bucks? Never again Vape Overload. And where is our bonus stuff promised with purchase? They stated on their blog that they will ship it in a couple of weeks. It’s been months.
I would rather buy a cheaper clone from a B&M locally than put up with everything you described. I bought an authentic magneto setup with a caterpillar RDA 8months ago for 50bucks and it’s awesome. I have since bought an ipv3 and many different RBA authentic and clones of some. I don’t understand why anyone would spend more than 60bucks for anything. If it works that is all we need. Some people think that if it’s not authentic it’s garbage and that is almost always wrong. Everything keeps getting better and pretty soon authentic mods and RBA’s will be cheaper like wotofo the freakshow and troll are decent and my mutation x v3 blows the doors off my authentic tohb and darkhorse. I spent way too much on those two compared to the cheaper freakshow and troll and I have since bought the el Cabron for 60shipping included.