Smok al85 alien mini questions

Ordered this al85 after spending days looking at different “mini” mods. Seems like I got this at a good price point. After researching I’m seeng seeing some mixed facts about this mod. Is it pass threw? Any harm in charging the single 18650 with the usb? Anything that’s great or sucks about this piece? Expecting it to arrive via mail tommorow or Tuesday. Any useful info on this mod and the tfv8 baby beast it comes with would be great!

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I don’t know about this mod in particular but I’ve heard from many people that charging an 18650 exclusively with the mod’s pass through will shorten the lifespan of the device, that the feature is meant only for occasional convenience.

Ok so it’s safe to assume shorten the lifespan of Just the battery somewhat. If I could get a year out of it I’ll be happy. The 2 sony vtc4 im using are over a year old and still strong. Is it pass thru capable? Would like to be able to use it while charging if one of these on the go situations come up. I ordered a single 18650 vtc4 off eBay I’m hoping it’s legit.

If this is the one you ordered, then as far as I can tell it has a pass through for charging.

https://www.elementvape.com/smok-al85-alien-baby-85w-tc-starter-kit

The way it was explained to me about charging though is that it’s always better to turn off the mod, remove the battery and charge them externally. This isn’t always possible though so the pass through is a handy feature for convenience. It’s not just the battery life, it’s the power flowing through the whole device while it’s charging that way, over time it shortens the life of the chip itself.

Speaking from my limited experience with a Target mod, I used to charge my silver mod with the pass through before I got an external charger and after 6 months it became glitchy. Allegedly, the silver ones are notorious for this but just to be safe, I always turn off my mods, replace the battery and charge the dead ones in a proper charger.

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Thanks. If it is a risk to damage the battery or mod then ita not neccesary as this will be my 2nd mod so i can vape ony Sig in the mean time. So not wise to use the pass through unless needed. So doea that also mean probably don’t charge through the usb while sleeping? Haven’t had any problem with external charger, but now I will have more batteries than charger space so this usb charger could be super convenient even though i won’t neccesarily need to charge 3 batteries at the same time. That is the one I ordered. Not sure which generation it is, or if this product even has more than 1 version. I got it for pretty cheap with not many available colors, so i have to say it quite possibly could be the first version of the al85, unlike the base alien has at least 2 versions that I’m aware of. 1 of those being a slightly better quality built mod than the first release.

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This unit does not like Imren batteries. Will start crapping out around 45 watts and say there is no atomizer. Stick with 25r or LG batteries with this unit. As far as charging through the USB let’s just say this, the experts say not to charge ANY batteries in the mod unless the battery is built into the mod. Of cource you have no choice when built in…

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Well i picked it up today. Took the baby beast apart, made sure one of the coils that were in it were in there good, put it back together… And it tastes like total crap. WHAT IS GOING ON!.

Make sure you drip a bit on each the coils first wait 5 mins after filling the tank. The smok cotton does have a little break in period but only on some coils which is weird.

I have the al85 (as well as the alien, h-priv and g320).
I’ve found all the smok mods to work excellently.
As usual it’s very important to make sure you have legit high quality batteries and if you will be ramping up the wattage make sure your battery can handle the correct discharge rate. I use a Samsung 25r in mine and it works perfectly. Sometimes I charge it via USB sometimes I charge it by taking the battery out. Both ways have continued to work fine with no problems.
I would recommend you don’t vape on it whilst it’s charging though as I did this on my g320 and it killed my usb supply (the draw must have carried straight past the battery to the usb port).

When it comes to buying batteries don’t use eBay. That’s a given with anything you need to be of guaranteed quality. It’s flooded with fakes. Why take a risk of a nasty lithium vent (like a firework going off) potentially in your hand, face, pocket or house when you can buy cheaply from somewhere like fogstar (if you’re in the UK that is). Use a reputable vendor for batteries every time.

Personally I think the best batteries are the Sony vtc5a they have a very good capacity plus the ability to discharge at higher amps than pretty much all others of similar capacities.

Look up moochs battery chart. It’s essential for vapers using 18650 batteries.

I’ve got 2 tfv8 baby beast tanks and have tried all coils and not had one that tasted bad yet ( the rba is great as well), they have around a quarter of a tank break in to get rid of initial cotton taste but apart from that it’s my favourite tank. ( I have many tanks and rdas in circulation but always come back to the baby)

Ya I’ve read in other threads that the coils that come in the kit can taste like crap and then no issues after buying new ones from a shop. I tried poking some holes in it with a sewing needle to see if it was maybe dry hits as I have also heard works, but then my juice poured out the bottom from the holes i made whoops lol. I changed it out to the second coil that was in the kit, so will see if that works any better. Always used the same juice in my tfv4 so i think i can rule that out and I’ve tried both the 50/50 and high v.g with no difference. Think I’m just getting some gross taste from tge factory and it sitting in a box that wasn’t air right for God knows how long. I didn’t go threw a whole tank before poking the holes and messing it up before changing it, but there was no burning whatsoever i used it at under 20 watt the whole time. I drenched the hell out of this other coil and am letting it sit for a couple hours just incase also did some priming pulls. Seems like its just a break in period where I’m getting a lot of cotton nasty taste. I’m very anal about my vape stuff so i trouble shoot immediately instead of waiting to see if it will work itself out.

Did you clean the tank first before juicing it up? That is another thing that should always be done.

No, i was to excited and went and picked it up from a relative that I had it shipped to so i opened it and threw it altogether. Before putting in the 2nd new coil i clean it all out with blazing hot water. Seems to be wicking fine and only a slight off taste unlike the first one which was unbearable. Although I wasted the one I really wanted to try out, I’m happy I can at least use the new tank for a week or so and get used to it before deciding on the next coil or maybe another rba. Seems to be working just fine with a slight off taste. Not digging the little tank as I’m used to the full size tfv4 I could have went with a slightly bigger tank but same size hardware otherwise. I like how they minimized the size on the top on bottom portions, just don’t know if the little 3- 3.5 mil tank will get me threw an entire work day.

Also if i remember correctly, the coil i used first was the one already installed in the tank. Don’t know if that contributes to the God aweful taste. Literally no taste from my juice just straight nasty maybe cotton taste Idk. Seems a little unfamiliar. Never had this issue with the pre built tfv4 coils i used for a while before buying a rba for it (which i really, really love)