Relative noobie with lots of questions.

[Jackospades]

Hello all,

I have been lurking/reading here for quite some time. The info has all been great and very helpful. However, it's also been a bit intimidating.So I figured it would be best if I just gave some background and asked some questions.

I have been smoking for well over a decade. Usually a pack a day. Sometimes more and sometimes less. I tend to smoke quite heavily when I am having a couple of drinks with friends. Marlboro Regulars are my brand of choice. I do however change from time to time just to keep things interesting.

I am obviously looking to make a switch to vaping.

I am looking for a good starter kit and I think I have decided on a starter kit that comes with two ego twist batteries and two kanger mini protank 2. Is this a good start? The setup and options can be seen here http://www.myvaporstore.com/Vision_Spinner_Joye_Ego_C_Twist_Combo_p/vvs-c.htm

A few questions about juice. What ratio of blend should I aim for if I am used to smoking a fairly strong cigarette? Do certain types work better than others in a mini kanger 2? Are there any brands that I should absolutely stay away from? What are some brands/flavors I can smoke right away while I wait for the rest to steep?

How often will I need to change the atomizer heads in my tanks if I clean them regularly? How many spares should I get with my initial purchase?

I'm sorry if this is a lot of questions but I prefer to make the best informed decisions I can.

Thanks in advance for the info. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions.

All the best,
JS

 

[Jay-dub]

I can only say what works for me. I smoked Reds at a rate of 2 Packs a day on some days. I found VV/VW important to get the most out of whatever tank you use. I've found I enjoy the vapor production of VG and don't really notice the difference in throat hit that PG is supposed to give you. I get more of a throat hit from the nicotine. So, the most fulfilling liquids to me are 100% VG at 24mg strength. Tobacco flavors may need a steep time (a week is the most I've steeped) but most other flavors are good the day of delivery. I've been getting my liquid from HHV and their quality and selection. I've only ordered from a couple other companies before that but those transactions didn't go off without a hitch. So far, HHV has been hitch-less.

Heads will need cleaned or changed when they need to be cleaned or changed. It actually depends on the liquid - predominately the flavor. Sweeter flavors tend to gunk-up coils quicker. Overall, they'll need to be cleaned or changed once every week or two.

 

[Rosenec]

This is just thought.
The 650 bats are 2 small, and the pt2 minis are way 2 small
I would get at least 1 bigger bat and tank.
1300 vv Joye eGo Rechargeable Batteries
Vision victory tank Disposable Stardust -Blue this tank uses the same heads at the pt2 and holds 5 ml, it is also lighter. I mop best tank for the money
Desert vapes also carries other bat sizes and chargers. Lower prices then my vapor store.

 

[drummerskey]

I smoked Reds for yeeeeeeeeeeeeaars and what I found was important to me was a good throat hit. Reds are strong and that was something that I needed to replace them. The "flavor" cannot be found and I personally stay away from tobacco flavors because I don't need any reminders. Your choice may be different.

I personally find myself covering an air hole or two (on the black collar on the bottom) when I use the ProTank mini. You should look into the regular Protank, I like that better...........and even more with the Aerotank base because I don't need to cover air holes.

The ration of pg/vg is going to be based on what you like after trying. Some are sensitive to pg and others are not. vg will give you more vapor but taste is subjective. What someone likes may not be what you do.

I change my heads after every tank and soak them in vodka when I have a few to soak. They are meant to be disposable so you can clean, dry burn, re-build but for $2/each...do what you want with that. I keep no less than 5 extras and if you have to wait for mail, get them before you need them. I believe your batteries are variable voltage so you might want to do some reading on how high you can safely turn your battery up when using your Protank. It will taste badly and mess things up if you don't understand it.

Look into getting an extra battery or a pass-thru. Have a back up for your back up for your back up.

 

[Completely Average]

1. The kit looks good. There are multiple battery choices with it, make sure you get the most powerful (Largest mAh rating) you can afford. The mini tanks will work good for starters, but you may want to consider upgrading to a 2.4ml clearo instead. It's just easier when you have fewer refills.

2. If you were smoking a pack a day of Marlboro on average you should start on a 24mg juice. A Marlboro has 1.6mg of nicotine per cigarette which works out to 26mg per pack, so a 24mg juice should be really close to what you need.

2a. Kanger mini-tanks like most clearos are plastic. Some flavors cause the plastic to degrade or crack. Read this list and avoid these flavors until you have a glass tank:

E Juice that may break a plastic tanks | Mt Baker Vapor WikiMt Baker Vapor Wiki

3. How often you should change coils can vary drastically depending on your voltage setting and the liquids you use. Higher VG liquids gunk up coils faster. Dark colored juices gunk up faster. Higher voltages can gunk up faster. There are a lot of variables there.

I typically vape only light colored or clear liquids. I prefer a 65/35 PG/VG blend which I vape on a 2.4ohm coil at 4.5 volts. I typically get right about a month of use out of a single coil. My wife on the other hand vapes nothing but pure, clear menthol, uses the same 65/35 mix as me, same 2.4ohm coil, but she only vapes at 3.7 volts. She's had a single coil last as long as 4 months. You'll find some people here who are going through 2-3 coils per week, although I always wonder what they are doing that causes them to use so many coils.

 

[drummerskey]

** Kanger Protank Minis are Pryrex, not plastic.

It looks like one of the options at the bottom.

Also, Vision Spinner in Stainless/Chrome looks legit with the Protank

 

[kpost]

I was a heavy smoker (still not done completely). I have found with a 24mg nic level it helps but if I use it as my all day vape, when I chain vape to pass a craving I wind up giving myself a headache and grab an analog. Now I have 18mg for all day and a 24mg for those rough moments, this has helped me a lot.

As for juices it is all personal taste. I prefer Groov-e Juice, they are local to me and make all orders made to order. They have a site you can order from. Their prices are good and they have many flavors that are vape able from the beginning, some are best steeped but haven't had one yet, that was bad on day one.
You may also surprise yourself, I do not have much of a sweet tooth and figured I would prefer tobacco flavors, instead I hate tobacco flavors and love fruit and dessert flavors. These sweet flavors leave such a great taste in my mouth, I hate the idea of an analog ruining the taste for me. Have fun and Vape on!

Sent from my know it all Nexus 7, please excuse spelling and odd grammar.

 

[Jackospades]

Lots of great info so far. Thanks a bunch.

The main reason I was going with that kit was because of the options it has with it. I wanted the pro tanks because of the cracking issue I have read about. The mini seemed to be a bit more cost effective and it's not the cheapest thing to jump right into. I will consider getting two full sized pro tanks instead though.

I was going to go for the ego 1000 mah battery but if people are suggesting the vision spinner 1300 maybe I will get those instead.

The throat hit aspect will definitely be important to me because I smoke Reds as mentioned. I am certainly not stuck to the idea of just tobacco flavored juice. In fact, I am eager to try a bunch of different ones and see what hits the spot.

I don't plan on placing an order until at least monday so I am open to any and all suggestions until I am confident I will be spending my money wisely

 

[MotherNatural]

You may find that like many of us you don't like the tobacco flavors. We assume that's what we'll like coming off cigarettes but that's often not the case. Stick with sample sizes until you've had a chance to try them or go to a B&M shop to sample. Of all the juices I've purchased the only one that sits there unused is the tobacco and I was a smoker for 40+ years up until 18 days ago!

 

[drummerskey]

1 of each Protank wouldn't hurt anything, at least to try. The nic level is important in regards to taking care of cravings and I agree with starting high. 24mg or 18mg at least to start. You can always cut it later with a lower mg juice if it is too strong.

But to me, throat hit and nic levels were two different things coming from the Reds.

 

[E_T_G]

I agree with the others on the tobacco flavors. Those are the only ones I didn't finish or re-buy. My favorite is straight menthol at 24mg, my wife likes the Extreme Ice which has a little spearmint in with the menthol. I like the mini pro 2 and a ego twist - easy to slip in pocket and can adjust voltage to get the vapor density you want. I do end up filling it frequently though.

 

[revco]

Welcome to ECF & congrats on your decision to give vaping a try.

That kit looks like an excellent first start, wish that's what I had started with. The mini-pro tanks are excellent glass tanks and the VV will give you flexibility that most of us eventually end up at anyway. I wouldn't probably recommend the full pro-tank until you get into things and actually want the size. They tend to be a little more fussy, but the mini-pro's are pretty solid.

As for coils, it depends. It could be anywhere from an out of the box failure to a couple days to a week or two. Failure aside, the chosen juice is the biggest factor in how long it will last. Darker/thicker liquids tend to gunk things up quickly versus lighter liquids that tend to make a coil last longer. They're relatively cheap, so replacing them isn't too expensive. If you want to save some money and you're the handy type, though, rebuilding them isn't that difficult and you can get the rebuild cost down to literally pennies. There's a lot of tutorials on how to do this, both here and Youtube. I would probably suggest starting with a 5-pack in 1.8 ohm and 2.2 ohm...if you get into rebuilding, great...if it's not for you, one of those two will probably be on your re-order list.

As for juice, it tends to be a very personal thing. Strength wise, you're probably going to be 18mg or 24mg, but I would definitely recommend you try 12, 18 and 24 to start. Find your strength FIRST, don't get a bunch of samples in strengths you won't use. Then , you can explore. If you have a local vape shop, they might give you an opportunity to sample. For most of us, it takes a number of attempts to find something great...but you can usually find something "good enough" easily. Try things you might not think you like...I hunted tobaccos, didn't like most of them and found I was more of a fruit/citrus vaper after a few attempts. Mount Baker Vaper is a good company to start with IMO...they don't offer super small samples, but they're relatively inexpensive, fast and will customize your juice for you. (50/50 PG/VG is a good place to start, IMO.) Otherwise, maybe bring in a few different vendors...you might find you like some over others, and that will be a good thing for you. Some good vendors to sample from would be Heather's Heavenly Vapes, Nicoticket, Alien Visions, Ahlusion (Xpress line), Mt. Baker Vapor...but that's by no means a complete list. Spend some time in the e-juice discussion forum, or the e-juice reviews forum, to see what people are liking. Just remember, your taste will be different from others...and as you venture into e-cigs, your tastes will even change. Tobaccos will need to steep...anything "perfumy" will also...but many juices can be vaped out of the mailbox...try it, if you don't care for it, steep it...check...so on and so forth.

Anyway, sorry for the wall of text, but I hope my opinions help. Good luck with your journey...you made the right decision!

 

[Jackospades]

Thanks again. After some more digging around I've pretty much decided that I will go with ECblend for my initial juice order. The price is definitely a deciding factor since I am buying a kit at the same time.

Since ECblend offers so many options on their flavors would it be better to try a bunch of different flavors or just a few and mess with the mix ratio? I understand that it was advised to find strength first but I wasn't sure if that was referring to mixture ratio or actual nicotine strength.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[revco]

Thanks again. After some more digging around I've pretty much decided that I will go with ECblend for my initial juice order. The price is definitely a deciding factor since I am buying a kit at the same time.

Since ECblend offers so many options on their flavors would it be better to try a bunch of different flavors or just a few and mess with the mix ratio? I understand that it was advised to find strength first but I wasn't sure if that was referring to mixture ratio or actual nicotine strength.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

By strength, we mean the nic strength. To me, this is the most important to figure out. Too much and you could have problems, too little and you'll force withdrawl on yourself. When I started vaping, I had the worst insomnia I've ever experienced because I started too high. (18 vs 12, which 12 was better for me.) By that point, I'd ordered in a dozen+ samples and couldn't vape them, except during the AM or earlier in the day.

The ratios don't matter as much, unless you find that you're intolerant to either VG or PG. You might find you have preferences towards more VG, PG or maybe even an equal ratio...but these will hardly make something unvapable, unless you're intolerant to one or the other. The ratios are just preferences for most people...and will come in time. I like a 50/50, just right for me...but I'll vape a 30/70 or a 70/30 too...I don't really care that much. Sometimes you don't have a choice, you get it how they mix it.

I would suggest a flavor you're fairly sure you'd like and play with the nic strength first. Once you figure it out, I'd then probably suggest trying to find a "good enough" juice to play with the ratios, if you feel you want to. From there, try a few different companies at least for sampling...you might find you just don't care for a particular brand, that's happened to me on more than one "raved for" juice around here.

Good luck!

 

[Jackospades]

Thats definitely the info I needed. I'll pick up a decent amount of sample sizes to see what works and then go back for more. I was hoping to get in handled in a single order but I supposed it's better to spend a few extra bucks on shipping than on a larger bottle of something I just can't/won't use.

Thanks again

 

[Jackospades]

One more question. Since I am new to this and going to have to test out some strengths would it be a good idea to pick up a cheap atomizer for dripping? Then I can find out which ones work best for me before I go filling up the protank.

If I am understanding it right I can get one for less than 10 bucks and that seems fine to me.

 

[Mikey6]

You can snag some drippers for pretty cheap and it wouldn't hurt. I started at 12 mg and I'm pretty happy there. Only problem is I find myself chaining at night and thus unable to fall asleep for a bit. I may get some lower or 0 nic for the after work chain sessions after dinner

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