this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2023
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[–] [email protected] 155 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (13 children)

This shit really grinds my gears. There's absolutely no need for this product. Normal vape is like $20, you're not saving on anything. In EU the manufacturers are obligated to recover used units (they have to setup boxes where you can drop them and handle recycling) but obviously you see them on the ground all the time. This should be banned with the speed of light but EC thinks the current regulations are enough. Fucking infuriating.

[–] themurphy 31 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I was in Italy recently, and I could ONLY buy single use. I fucking hated it as it died in two days making me throw out an otherwise fine device - just because there's no charging port.

Now I have one lasting for almost half a year, and that's only the taste that dissappears - not the battery becoming bad.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I believe the regulations about replaceable batteries will apply here but they are only coming to life in 2025 or even later.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Where I live, only single use vapes are legal.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Tobacco companies must love anti-ecig regulations like that lol.

[–] SpruceBringsteen 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

People are lazy and don't want to maintain a vape, which does require some basic maintenance/cleaning.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Never heard about it. My GF vapes and the vape is simply a battery with a charger. The liquid container is exchangeable. You refill it and when it runs out you change it. There's no maintenance. And even if it were true what do I care? We're supposed to contaminate the environment with batteries because some people are inconvenienced by their addiction? As I said, this product is not needed and should be banned.

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[–] Nima 99 points 1 year ago (1 children)

of course they are. it's why I always encourage people not to buy them. they're awful for the environment, they're wasteful and they are lower quality than you'd get with most standard rechargeable e-cigarette kits.

[–] FlyingSquid 47 points 1 year ago (35 children)

I don't vape, but I can't imagine they're cheaper than re-usable vaping devices in the long run either.

[–] Nima 47 points 1 year ago

oh my goodness yes. I couldn't imagine buying a disposable every time I ran out.

that would possibly be just as expensive as smoking regular cigarettes.

I just use a little pod system that has replaceable coil heads. it was maybe 60 total because I bought two batteries. but I've not needed a replacement battery for my personal vape yet. Just have been replacing (or reusing) my coil heads.

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[–] [email protected] 67 points 1 year ago (6 children)

A few of us electronics hobbyists have been collecting them (when found discarded on the street) to harvest the battery for re-use in other projects.

.

Yes they're nasty, but I pick them up with a dog poo bag and clean them before cracking them open to get the battery.

[–] daed 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I was just thinking about this the other day. Any ideas for projects to use them with?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Turn them into a power bank, among other things.

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[–] Usernameblankface 14 points 1 year ago

I guess that's the silver lining, free batteries for anyone willing to deal with a dirty object.

They're also a prime starting supply for lithium battery recycling plants so they can get things figured out before they have to deal with car packs at volume.

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 1 year ago (6 children)

That reminds me of this monstrosity https://www.walmart.com/ip/Neutrogena-Light-Therapy-Acne-Treatment-Face-Mask-1-ct/168984043

You have to buy new "activators" every 30 uses as a way of increasing profits... You know rather than just letting users replace the batteries.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This seems easy to hack. Just dig into it and hook it up to a wall wort with the applicable resistor, then sell the monstrosity on eBay for 2x the cost.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I can imagine the company suing

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I can imagine them fucking off.

[–] Seventhlevin 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I can imagine all of you naked.

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[–] Potatos_are_not_friends 49 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Oh wow it's as of e-cigs is just like cigarettes, but besides cancer and toxic chemicals, they also found a way to add more waste.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago

I gave up arguing with people like you a long time ago, but I still want you to know actively telling people they're just as bad as cigarettes will keep people on cigarettes, which are 4000x worse than vaping. Your misguided views are extremely harmful.

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I used to have roommates who vaped from that exact type of single-use device shown in the thumbnail diagram. They asked me to re-charge it, which I did, disassemble it, connect it to my Li-ion charger and it worked again. Apparently it didn't taste good because it was nearly out of juice, but that was when I found out these were perfectly reusable 3.7V batteries in a disposable product.

[–] blocker1980 8 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Isn't there a difference between rechargable and single-use-batteries? I was always under the Impression you should under no circumstances try to recharge single use batteries or they would explode?

[–] Usernameblankface 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

These are rechargeable lithium ion batteries. The same standard 18650 that has powered laptops, EVs, and power banks.

They're packaged inside a single use product, but the battery is rechargeable.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Many products actually have charging ports now. All they need to do is allow users to change out the flavor wick and we will come full circle.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Not an 18650, that’s way too big (18x65mm). Smaller than 14500 (AA) for sure

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago

You'd need quite a number of alkaline batteries to get the necessary watts to drive a vape. Lithium cells aren't just rechargable they are also good at releasing lots of energy in a short amount of time.

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[–] FinishingDutch 36 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Meanwhile, I’m forced to use shitty paper straws because plastic straws are banned. And yet THIS SHIT is somehow legal??

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Popularity among 18 year olds of > 50%. Christ. A significant chunk of those will become long term users.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I keep telling you all smokers are jokers

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is this what post-scarcity is going to be like?

[–] Brkdncr 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

When we get desperate enough for scarce resources we’ll start digging in our trash heaps. I’m surprised we haven’t started yet.

[–] reddig33 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Google “landfill mining”. It’s being researched. So far the economics of what could be recovered don’t outweigh the costs, but they might eventually. Current mining mostly concentrates on remediating older unlined fills and moving the waste to a lined fill.

https://gizmodo.com/landfill-mining-metal-recovery-trash-recycling-ewaste-1850151569

[–] FlyingSquid 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Well yeah. As far as I know, there's no such thing as a single-cycle battery for a low-power application.

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