Just bought my first ecig...

[John D in CT]

She won't need a spare kit. That one has a replaceable switch. She could buy a spare switch if she wanted, but I've heard no complaints about the new switches (with the blue LED)..

Cool; actually, I think I remember you saying that. So much to remember.

There's 2 batteries but it only uses one at a time. You just rotate them. They're 1050mah, so there's plenty of time to charge one while you use the other. When they get old you might want another set.

This gets to the heart of some confusion I have; if it uses only one 3.7 volt battery, how does it put out 5 volts?

Honestly, I think this is the one she should settle on. Nobody has any complaints about these as far as their vape goes. They're simple, economical and pretty durable. She can use the money she saves on replacing kGos to buy a Provari later on.

Amen to that. Sarah, if you get the e-Power 14650, I'm cutting you out of my will. And this is coming from a guy who just bought five of them for my friends this past weekend. (They're reimbursing me; not rich yet).

[sailorman]

No, sorry john, I was saying that the e-Power 14650 is the one she needs. That's the one with a replaceable switch, not the 5V. That's the one that takes one battery. We were cross talking. I thought you were saying she needed 4 batteries for the ego 5V.

You can get 5V out of one 3.7V battery. The Lavatube does it. It gets 6V out of a 3.7v batt. The 5V ego regulates 7.4V down to 5V. The VVs boost the voltage from 3.7 to whatever.

[John D in CT]

I don't understand why that "woo" kit comes with unprotected batteries if they expect you to stack them. You can't put a price on safety. I only use protected batteries period. A lot of these kits come with junk batteries and chargers. You can get a xtar wp6 charger with 6 [spaces?] on ebay for $38. You can pretty much charge all your batteries on one charger. I would highly recommend this charger as an investment for anyone with multiple mods and batteries. If you only have one pv and/or mod as a newbie right now, that will most likely change sooner than later. I am proof of that after only one month.

I'd have to guess it's the usual reason - make the kit as cheap as possible. The first thing to try would be to upgrade the batteries when you buy the kit. Any reasonable vendor would do that, seems to me. Second option, buy protected batteries and use the unprotected ones in a flashlight. Buy one that takes them, if necessary.

And thanks for the charger recommendation; I'll be getting one. I'm going to be helping many people quit smoking, and will always have kits on hand to sell to people at no profit, and I'll be charging a lot of batteries.

[sailorman]

I'd have to guess it's the usual reason - make the kit as cheap as possible. The first thing to try would be to upgrade the batteries when you buy the kit. Any reasonable vendor would do that, seems to me. Second option, buy protected batteries and use the unprotected ones in a flashlight. Buy one that takes them, if necessary.

Will protected batteries fit? A lot of tubes don't have the extra room for a PCB, let alone 2 of them. Your only option could be to get IMRs, but do they even make IMR's in that size?

My guess is that they are relying on the internal regulation circuitry to protect the batts.

If you look at the site again, they're telling people they can stack 2 cr123s for 6V in the other e-Power. CR123s are never protected. Evidently, they trust the internal circuitry enough to recommend stacking unprotected non-IMRs.

Shop around for that charger. I saw the best charger xtar makes for $20 on another site, maybe Orbtronic? Ebay never has the lowest price for new merchandise.

[John D in CT]

No, sorry john, I was saying that the e-Power 14650 is the one she needs. That's the one with a replaceable switch, not the 5V. That's the one that takes one battery. We were cross talking. I thought you were saying she needed 4 batteries for the ego 5V.

You can get 5V out of one 3.7V battery. The Lavatube does it. It gets 6V out of a 3.7v batt. The 5V ego regulates 7.4V down to 5V. The VVs boost the voltage from 3.7 to whatever.

Yes, we have been cross-talking. Past my bedtime, so that doesn't help.

I was thinking it was down to the Evo V2 or the (Smoktech) EGO 5V; I missed the part where the e-Power 14650 sneaked back in.

The reason I'm pushing for the EGO 5v is that I'm beyond convinced that higher power is the best way to go. Here's a big part of why I'm saying that.

As I said, I just measured all the impedances (ohms) of all of my cartomizers and atomizers, which number less than 10. (I'm really just still getting into this).

eGo-T regular resistance: 3.0 ohms
eGo-T "Low resistance" (first of two): 2.3 ohms
eGo-T "Low resistance" (second of two): 7.0 ohms (checked 3 times)
"ES" brand "1.5 ohm low-resistance" dual-coil carto #1 - 1.9 ohms
"" "" #2 - 2.1 ohms
"" "" #3 - 3.7 ohms
No-name crappy little atomizer - 2.8 ohms
"" "" #2 - 2.8 ohms

At 3.4 volts, I thought I was vaping OK on one or two of these. (Oddly, the 3.0 outperforms the 2.3, probably due to wicking issues). The only other ones that really work a damn are the 1.9 and 2.1 LRDCC's.

So clearly, I have a lot to look forward to in my vaping experience. But I think point one is that a 5-volt could power most of these atomizers that are supposed to be lower resistance than what they are, as well as the higher resistance atomizers it's designed for. And I think point two, a very important one, is that 5 volts at higher resistance will be a superior vape to what I'd be getting at lower voltage, even with properly rated atomizers (/cartomizers).

I go back to my "get the (Smoktech) EGO 5v from Liberty Flights", and buy a spare kit to be able to give to sell to a friend and then replace as needed. (Now I think I "really really do" remember what you said about one not having a replaceable switch, that being the EGO 5v).

We're talking $60 for that spare kit. And to Ms. Six Smartphones. (Oops, did I say that out loud?) LOL. And for a friend struggling with an addiction to cigarettes, there's no better answer to the question "What should I buy, and where" than "this thing right here", that happens to be all charged up and ready to go.

***

"Shop around for that charger. I saw the best charger xtar makes for $20 on another site, maybe Orbtronic? Ebay never has the lowest price for new merchandise".

Good tip, and thanks for reminding me about stacked batteries. I'm still trying to wrap my head around getting 5 volts out of a (nominal) 3.7 V battery. I suppose the PV would simply have to have transformer circuitry on a circuit board, but something still doesn't add up. Maybe I can put my finger on it tomorrow.

Thanks for all your help, Sailorman. You really are very knowledgeable and helpful, and lord knows, newcomers (like me) need help with this VERY complex stuff.

***

"Will protected batteries fit? A lot of tubes don't have the extra room for a PCB, let alone 2 of them. Your only option could be to get IMRs, but do they even make IMR's in that size?"

**** New version will work with 2x IMR 3.7v Batteries!! Or 2x LiFePo4 3.0v CR123A Batteries. Or 2x LC16340 3.6v Protected Batteries****

http://www.cloudsofvapor.com/store/1...v-wow-mod.html, talking about the Smoktech Woo.

We'll have to find out if the same is true of the Smoktech EGO 5-Volt. Same company, so maybe so.

[sailorman]

Ah.. Forgot about LifePos. That might be all right. I've tried 7.4V vaping in my bullet and you can have it. Even 6V with a 3ohm carto is pretty rough for most juice.

My feeling is that if someone is going to pay $70 for a 5V 650mah PV, they might as well get the Lavatube. It's not that much bigger. It'll give you the whole range of voltages and the battery is a standard 1600mah and can be up to 2250mah. Plus, you won't have to worry about replacing batteries right away. The stock batts are safe as-is and a replacement 2250mah Panasonic is only $10 shipped.

Also, with a VV you can standardize ALL your cartos at 3ohms. It's watts that matter, not volts. Sometimes high wattage isn't the best, like with fruity flavors that come out best at about 6-8 watts. If I have 3 cartos of the same resistance and different juice, I might vape one juice at 4V, one at 4.5 and one at 5V. If I was stuck at 5V, I'd have to have 3 or 4 different resistances on hand to get the same effect, not to mention all the increments between them. With a 3-6V VV and a 3ohm carto, you can get from 3 to 12 watts and everything in between. Imagine the range of cartos you'd need to do that if all you had was 5V. Or, you'd have to get out the slide rule to figure all the battery and carto combinations.

As it is, I vape from a tank or large clearomizer. I'll vape the same juice most of the day. I find myself starting at 5 or 5.5V. Toward bedtime, I find myself turning the voltage down to 4.2-4.8 or so. How could I do that with a 5V fixed mod? I'd need at least 2 separate cartomizers or tanks. In my case, having a VV reduces the number of cartos I use.

If the eGo 5V cost significantly less than a Lavatube, then maybe. But if you're stuck at a fixed voltage, you're stuck at a fixed voltage. The only real advantage to 5V is that you dont need as low a resistance to get higher wattage. But sometimes you might want those equally expensive high resistance cartos.

[tica02]

I'm going to get the e-power if I can find it anywhere. Your guys' discussion is awesome. I have a little while yet before I can order, maybe I'll order the small stuff first. I'm going to go through and pick out some extras today and just check to make sure I'm grabbing the right stuff. Cartos and tanks and ming drip tips oh my :P

[Boognish]

You probably saw the wp2 II at that price Sailor. Orbtronic has the wp6 II for $35. Looks like they have fast and free shipping too. They are out of Florida. Nice, thanks for the name drop. I like this store.

[tica02]

Am I okay with 1.5 ohm cartos for that epower? I'm going to assume I need the same stuff as the kGo since it's around the same voltage?

Now to find me some fruity yumminess to put in it

[John D in CT]

I'm going to get the e-power if I can find it anywhere. Your guys' discussion is awesome. I have a little while yet before I can order, maybe I'll order the small stuff first. I'm going to go through and pick out some extras today and just check to make sure I'm grabbing the right stuff. Cartos and tanks and ming drip tips oh my :P

Ming drips tips are good, so are Faberge, Waterford Crystal, and the classic solid gold. Speaking of that, I found the perfect PV for you - don't know why this didn't occur to me sooner.

ProVari Variable Voltage Electronic Cigarette

ProVari24KGold-2T.gif

OK, maybe not that exact model, but there is a variable voltage PV in your future. And I say future because I think I finally have this thing figured out. Instead of fearing "device creep", we should be embracing it. Not the endless acquisition of every doodad and geegaw that appears on the market, but a sober, logical two-step progression to a variable voltage device that everyone knows you're going to end up with eventually. (How do we know? Three words; six - smart - phones. I had you pegged for a variable voltage girl right out of the gate).

Step one: get a 3.7 volt device first, with replaceable batteries, and get the appropriately-rated (ohms) attachments to go with it.

Step two: when you can no longer stand hearing about all of the benefits of variable voltage vaping, as Sailorman has already gone into quite a bit just in this thread, get a top-notch VV device. As of April 2012, I'd say the ProVari V2; starter kit $211.95.

ProVari Variable Voltage Ecig: Best Variable Voltage E Cig Available!

Advantages of this strategy:

None of the attachments you get for the 3.7 device will become obsolete when you get the VV.

The 3.7 will be more portable and stealthy; think of the 3.7 as a laptop, and the VV as a desktop.

You can explain to your husband exactly why you are going to be buying a second PV, and then a third, and he will be unable to refute the logic of it. How sweet is that?

When you do get the VV, your vaping experience will go through the roof, and all of your attachments will work better than they ever have, except for those that just happened to chance upon the exact right combination of voltage, ohms, and juice flavor, thickness, and PG/VG ratio. With a VV, you can dial that in at will.

And finally, this can all be done for FAR less than the cost of cigarettes. One pack a day is $2000-3000 a year. That makes (even) the ProVari start to look cheap.

So there it is, the "Minnesota Two-step", a dance craze that will soon be sweeping the nation.

Your vaping future is looking so bright, ya gotta wear shades.

***

Reading material:

just recieved black satin provari V2 with blue LED. is it just me or...?

Do any vendors have Smoktech e-Power 14650 kits in stock right now?