Steve K's Vaping World

The Drip on Demand auto feed system is an e-cigarette attachment that aims to take some of the work out of direct dripping.  The odd gizmo is also useful for keeping cartomizers topped off and prevent burning.  For the price of very confused stares by passers by, the DoD offers to do your dripping for you. 

A lot of people are huge fans of dripping e-liquid directly into their e-cigarette atomizers.  Many claim this is the best method to deliver optimum flavor and vapor from their setup.  I’ve done my share of dripping (mostly for the purposes of reviewing atomizers), and while it often produces nice results, I find the process less than pleasant.

Carting a bottle around to drip liquid into my atomizer every few puffs can be a little annoying at times.  I prefer the fill and go convenience of cartomizers. I’m also apparently not well coordinated.  I frequently struggle to find the sweet spot of dripping and end up gagging because my atomizer has run dry, or wiping juice off my hand and battery because I went a little crazy with the dripping.

Design
There’s no way to sugar coat this one, the Drip on Demand looks flat out strange.  When I posted pictures on Twitter I got comments that ranged from “awesome” to people comparing it to bongs or crack pipes. The DoD is definitely a function over form kind of device.

Nothing to see here

The system comes with the main body which attaches to your atomizer or cartomizer like a drip tip, two 5ml bottles and 2 rubber plugs (just like the ones you pull out of your cartomizers and throw away).  A standard drip tip will fit into the stem in lieu of the included rubber discs.  Additional 5 and 10ml bottles can be purchased inexpensively from MadVapes.

The concept works thusly: the device is a molded plastic piece that consists of an air chamber into which the bottle is screwed.  The vacuum created when puffing on the stem draws liquid out of the bottle to replenish that which was used when puffing.  Should your atomizer run dry a gentle (seriously, a very light touch) squeeze will get things going again.

Does it Actually Work?

Quite a getup

The DoD does actually deliver on performance most of the time.  There are a few variations and limitations to how well this device performs.  As with many things, the performance will vary depending on factors such as the hardware (and voltage) you are using and the type of liquid you have loaded into the bottle.

The bottles are one of the key secrets to making this thing work.  The maker of the product spent a lot of time attempting to find the right bottle.  A soft bottle that drips with very little effort was required to make the auto-feeding feature work.

I ran into a few bottle-related issues with my DoD system.  A couple were related to the bottle being so soft.  It’s actually pretty tricky to get the dropper top to seat properly in the bottle because the bottle just wants to squish when you apply any force to the top.  Possibly related to this, my first bottle ended up splitting at the thread connector after a few uses.  Fortunately, replacements are dirt cheap.

The last bottle issue has to do with that dropper tip.  As is the case with most juice bottles, the rate of drippage can vary with different tops.  This is usually because of variances in the tiny pinhole on the bottom of the cap (the end that goes into the bottle) I found that running a small needle through that hole generally improved the drip rate a great deal.  Be careful, too big a needle and the bottle will drip uncontrollably, constantly flooding your atomizer.

Tapered design for universal fit

The rate of dripping is important to how well this device will work for you.  This is especially true when you are running higher voltage devices.  I found the DoD struggled when I was using devices at 5v and above.  This makes sense because you tend to go through a lot of juice when you turn up the heat. Running even low resistance gear at 3.7 didn’t seem to give me nearly as much of a hard time as the high voltage setup.

The last factor in determining how well the auto drip aspect of the DoD can keep up is the atomizer itself.  Because the whole concept relies on vacuum to work, the more of it there is the better the results.  That is to say, atomizers and cartomizers that have a tighter draw naturally are going to provide a better flow than airy devices which will produce weak suction.

Naturally, just squeezing the bottle (or taking a drag without pressing the fire button on your e-cigarette) will rectify any issues with the DoD not keeping up the pace. Generally, I find even when I do have to squeeze the Charmin on occasion, it’s still more convenient than dripping directly.  The only other nit I can pick at this point is that the vast distance your vapor has to travel to get to your mouth will cool the vapor significantly.

Too Long; Didn’t Read
The Drip on Demand system will make your e-cigarette look absolutely pants-on-head bizarre. While you may not want to use this thing while driving for fear of getting pulled over, it’s a better alternative than trying to drip and drive.  Depending on the gear you match this thing up with, you may have a completely hands-free auto feeding e-cigarette, or you might have to squeeze the bottle every now and again to get your juices flowing.  If you prefer convenience over looking strange (or you’re a hipster and WANT to look strange) then this may be a device of interest.

Pros:

• Mess free dripping
• Carry around 5 or 10ml of liquid
• Inexpensive replacement bottles
• Be the focus of conversation wherever you go