HOTVAPES

775-Hot-Vape (775-468-8273) • tim@hotvapes.com

The company specializes in state-of-the-art vape technology, and offers more than 150 flavors of e-liquid crafted at its Windy City lab. It distributes a wide variety of devices, including mods, clearos, tanks and accessories to vape shops across the U.S.

Established in January of 2010, HotVapes is “somewhat different,” President Tim Roche says, “in that we manufacture and distribute eliquid, as well as distributing the devices and accessories.” HotVapes also offers OEM labeling on eliquid orders of 100pcs or more. Customers find a wide array of items, and ordering can be done via phone, email or through the company’s web site, www.hotvapes.com.

“Though we focus on manufacturing eliquid and distributing mainly the eliquids, vaporizers and accessories,” says Roche, “we also offer some devices and atomizers/tanks designed for the cannabis market, and we are expanding in that area, too. We are particularly interested in the CBD market.” Hot- Vapes’ largest-selling eliquid line is its Big Heart Flavors. Its newest and fastest-growing offering is its premium dripping line Hammett Bridge.

Whether customers are looking for e-cig batteries, chargers, atomizers, cartridges, clearomizers, tanks, liquids or vaporizers, HotVapes has from the first been committed to offering the highest quality vaping experience possible. The company is dedicated to providing a variety of the best personal vaporizers at great prices. “We want to get your vaporizer into your hand as quickly as possible.

“One of the things many store owners are not necessarily aware of,” notes Roche, “is that any item that is sold in the U.S. attaches liability to the manufacturer. One of the important things we do for our customers is to take the burden of liability as the manufacturer in the case of liquids, and as the importer in the case of the devices. Most of the devices on the market today are manufactured in China. If you buy directly from China, per U.S. law you are the de jure manufacturer. This attaches a potentially great amount of liability to the importer. As a U.S.-based distributor, HotVapes removes the onus of liability from its customers. HotVapes becomes the manufacturer.”

Love a Driving Force

HotVapes started out as an online shop and a distributor to smoke and head shops -- and now increasingly to vape shop start-ups -- across the United States. In order to better understand its customers, the company opened a retail shop of its own in July 2013. As management notes on its web site, a driving force has been love. “We are excited to have brought our hometown neighbors some of the best vaping equipment and tasty eliquid flavors that our customers around the country have been enjoying for some time. HotVapes was established in order to share our love of vaping with as many people as possible.”

HV Big Heart Flavors are hand-mixed and made from highquality, domestically-sourced ingredients. All of HotVapes’ e-juices are made to order, which means they arrive fresh. “Never trying to be the rock bottom-est of fine eliquid purveyors,” the company notes, “HotVapes symphonizes all our tinctures with pure Love, it’s right on our bottles! -- yet is best evidenced by the yumminess in every drop.”

As a charter member of the American E-Liquid Manufacturing Standards Association (AEMSA), Roche and his company take a lot of pride in their e-liquids and follow the protocols required by AEMSA. Aside from quality, GRAS food-grade flavorings, the main components of e-liquid, and HV Big Heart Flavors, are USP-certified propylene glycol (PG) and USP-certified vegetable glycerin (VG). PG and VG have been in long use in a variety of products. PG is used as a solvent in many pharmaceuticals including oral, injectable and topical formulations, as well as being a food additive and emulsification agent, among other applications. VG is used in pharmaceuticals and is likewise a humectant. In foods it is also used as a sweetener. Additionally, nicotine is often a component in e-liquids, though many people prefer to order flavors without nicotine. HotVapes only uses the highest quality nicotine, each batch is GCMS tested, and its ingredients are sourced from the United States.

The company currently has 14 employees and plans to add another two or three between now and the end of the year. “While the culture here is relaxed, we are forward thinking,” Roche explains. “We are constantly bringing in new merchandise and working hard to expand our markets. Shipments go out the same day, or next day if it is late in the day when an order is placed. Larger juice orders may take a bit longer as we make our liquids to order.”

In 2014, the company launched a retail location in Dayton, OH. “This year,” says Roche, “we are expanding our production volume of eliquid, and HotVapes continues to grow in sales,” Roche notes. “In addition to adding employees this quarter, we are adding new equipment in our lab to improve efficiency. We are also expanding our warehouse and office space.”

Clearly, HotVapes is primed, poised and well positioned for innovation and growth in 2015 and beyond.

Adding Value through Education

Educating users is a big part of the value-added that HotVapes provides. Among the handy tips it shares:

• Firstly, your personal vaporizer consists of three components: a clearomizer, an atomizer, and a battery.

• Clearomizers fit onto the top of the battery. Cleaning your clearomizer every couple weeks or so with a clear liquor such as vodka or fresh water, can help promote longevity. Atomizers have a general life expectancy of one to two weeks but may occasionally last longer.

• Very Important: Occasionally your Personal Vaporizer (PV) may stop creating vapor. Often this is not due to a failed component.

• After significant usage either the threading on the atomizer (or cartomizer) and the port on the battery can become gummed with excess liquid. Simply take a q-tip or paper towel (which you may or may not dip in solvent) and run it around the atty or clearo’s threading. Then push the q-tip or towel into the battery’s connecter and rotate it around the inside of the port. You will likely notice a residue on the q-tip or towel. Clean the port until you do not notice any more residue. Screw the atty or carto and battery together again. This should do the trick.

• If you are using an atomizer and still not getting vapor – and if the clearomizer is not depleted and the led on the battery still lights up – then the round plate between the atomizer’s threading may not be making contact with the battery. Simply use a pair of tweezers or something else with a fine point and go around the plate, lifting it up slightly. Alternatively, you may carefully stick the end of a paperclip into the plate’s hole, and lift the plate that way. This should allow the plate to make better battery contact, and your vaporizer to produce vapor. If your vaporizer still does not produce vapor, you may need a new atomizer.

• Batteries are rated for about 300 charges. To charge, just screw your battery into the kit’s USB charger and plug it into your computer. For convenience, you may also want to pick up a wall or car charger as well. Both have a USB port and work in conjunction with your USB charger. Do not leave a charging battery unattended.

• Mods require some additional considerations. Maintaining your mod in good working order requires attention to not just keeping the atomizer/cartomizer connector port clean and free of excess juice, but also keeping the threading that connects the top and bottom pieces clean as well. Over time these threads will accumulate debris. Every week or so it is a good idea to clean them with a damp rag to remove any accumulations. Using a solvent like WD40 can help as well. Frequently a misfiring atty or carto is due to dirty connections.

• Attys and cartos themselves are often responsible for poor performance. Atomizers tend to last two weeks on the short side and eight weeks on the long. Some cartomizers are considered disposable and generally function well for about a week of normal use. Ones that continue to function longer than a week may exhibit performance degradation, and we recommend tossing them after one week.

• Do NOT over-tighten your atomizer or cartomizer. Most attys and cartos will not sit flush against the top of the connector port. Over-tightening your atty/carto may damage the connector port or cause an electrical short rendering your mod inoperable. This sort of problem is entirely avoidable. Screw in your atty or carto only to the point you can hear it hiss or that it produces vapor.

• Finally, as with any piece of tech, be careful not to drop your mod from heights or into water.