Been awhile since I last visited the ECF forum. My internet's been spotty lately, plus I tried working a second job for a couple of weeks. What a mistake that was, but that's a story for a different time and place.
A few weeks ago I tried a carto-tank setup. I got a cheap one by Smok and decided I didn't like it after a couple of days. I still like the IDEA of it, just not the setup that I ended up with.
Following that I got an Itaste VTR which came with the new IClear 30s tank. I love this new setup, and I like that the batteries are replaceable. This setup is the closest thing to what I've been looking for: flavor and clouds. It's become my primary setup, and I can't seem to bring myself to go back to my MVP II... more on that in a moment.
My biggest complaint with this new setup, is that, like the Pro-Tank, I'm going through coils like crazy. Given the way that I vape, I'm lucky to get more than two days out of a coil. I was a heavy smoker, and so I'm a heavy vaper. No kidding, but I can go through 2 ml's of juice within 2~3 hours. So... I love my setup, but it's getting time to look into RBA's soon.
I've also tried a new juice vendor. He's small-time, his shop is very close to where I live, and he does custom stuff. He's using high grade stuff, or at least that's his claim. I tried a coffee blend from him yesterday, and I gotta say... yummie!
Seriously though... I find that with his stuff I can vape at higher voltage or wattages and not fry the juice like I did from the other brick and mortar. So at least one part of my problem has been solved. I get nice clouds from his stuff, and lots of flavor.
He's also turned me back on to carto's. He gave me a Borge carto with a black drip tip. It looks weird on top of this hulking VTR (especially with the odd extension that it comes with), but it works really well. I can see more clearly now why people love carto's, and more importantly, why they make the leap to carto-tanks. Carto's are great, but the don't have any longevity. I can fill this carto, and within thirty minutes it's out. If I could pair a decent carto with a decent tank, I might very well be in hog heaven for awhile.
Despite all of this, I'm still going to do DIY Juice. I'm getting ready to get the major components together over the course of the next month. Right now it's just deciding which flavors I want to emulate. But I think I'll do alright there. I've been getting a lot of advice from those who've already done it, and I've got a decent calculator now, so I should just about be set.
I guess the next step up from here is a mechanical mod. given all that I've heard so far, it seems to be the only thing that will mesh with the way that I vape. This tank and wick system just doesn't seem to work for me. I guess it's just not wicking fast enough, or perhaps I'm just chain-vaping too much. Either way, I gotta get my costs down, and these tank systems just don't seem to do well with that. Give me a bottle and a rebuildable coil, and maybe I'll finally get to vaping Nirvana.
Footnote: I did purchase a second pack of cigs a week or two back. I smoked about a quarter of the pack before I threw the damned things out. I just can't stand them anymore, so no more of that. I think what happened, was that when I stepped down from 18mg nic to 12, my body just went nuts. I was still chain-vaping, but I wasn't getting what I needed. My body's getting used to the 12 now, and soon it'll be time to step down to 6.
On the other hand...
I got some advice from a friend recently, regarding stepping down:
He told me that if I could DIY my own stuff, then of course I will have more control over what's in my juice. Not just the quality of it, but the quantity as well. He recommends that I step down in 3mg increments instead of 6mg. He tells me that my body won't freak out quite so bad this way, and I'll get better results. So, I may try that instead.
Anyway... I've been vaping at around three months now, with one or two minor setbacks. Overall I still feel good about it, and I'm starting to recommend it more and more to the smokers that I encounter. I've gotten one of our neighbors into it, and I may do some special juices for her at some point, when I get better at what I'm doing.
I may also invest in some more of those Borge carto's. If nothing else, I think they'll be a good way to sample flavors, and they're inexpensive. Plus, I can let my friends try my recipes for fine-tuning.
As for my MVP, I tried an experiment with it not too long ago. I got curious about whether the internal battery was replaceable. MY VTR is using a Panasonic 18650B (actually 2 that I rotate between), running at 3400 mah. Far as I know, the MVP II batt runs at 2600, and although they're both 3.7 volt (I'm assuming, don't know for sure) you can tell a difference. The Panasonic LIon's are a bit more responsive and seem to fire a bit quicker than the MVP's stock battery. So, I was wondering if I could replace the MVP stock batt with one of my new Panasonics.
After finally finding a tool that was small enough to remove the screws from the bottom (you have to have a special tool for of of the screws at the top), I ran into some trouble. The main board is soldered to the bottom, and I didn't want to risk any more damage to it. As it was, I kind of warped the board just a bit while I was trying to pull it out. So I stuck it back in and tried to put the screws back in. I could only get about half of them tightened back up, with the other two just sticking out of the bottom now. So, the verdict, for now, is that the MVP II battery is not replaceable.
I can still use my MVP. It runs fine, it still charges. But after getting used to my Panasonic batteries, I can't go back to the lower mah on the MVP. Weird, huh? Every time I step into something different, I have trouble going back. Heck, I just gave away my original Evod batt to my neighbor to get her started on vaping. I couldn't use it anymore, and besides, it's only 1000 mah and it won't even last me half the day. With my VTR, I've got a spare... just in case.
So, I am progressing in my vaping. I'm getting better at finding the results that I want, and I'm not too far from finding vaping Nirvana. I think by the end of March I should be there. More's the pity, since I'll be cutting out the nic altogether by then. Still, I'll be vaping at least until May, or I may never stop vaping. Who knows? I may even find that I like experimenting with the juices, and do something with that. Or not. Don't know yet.
BTW, I checked into batteries, and I swear that I saw one that was rated for (get this) 7200 mah! Good God that's a lot. I'll bet that battery would easily last me for two days or more! Question is, could I fit something like that into a mod? I couldn't tell you the physical size of the thing, but I bet it's rather large.
Too bad I don't have any skills when it comes to building and electric. I could see myself building a mech mod that has two of those puppies in it, with a 6~10ml bottom feeding bottle. Maybe triple coils for that nice hot vape and cloud. Eh, a man can dream, can't he? Probably not all that realistic though. And I can only imagine how expensive something like that would be to even build, much less purchase from someone who had already built it.
Anyway...
I will be getting into RBA soon, at the very least. Coils are my largest expense right now, and they're almost on par with my juice cost. I'm spending as much on vaping now as I did for a carton of cigs every week. So, I've reached the point of diminishing returns on cost, and now have to look more seriously at doing everything myself.
Here's hoping for the best!
A few weeks ago I tried a carto-tank setup. I got a cheap one by Smok and decided I didn't like it after a couple of days. I still like the IDEA of it, just not the setup that I ended up with.
Following that I got an Itaste VTR which came with the new IClear 30s tank. I love this new setup, and I like that the batteries are replaceable. This setup is the closest thing to what I've been looking for: flavor and clouds. It's become my primary setup, and I can't seem to bring myself to go back to my MVP II... more on that in a moment.
My biggest complaint with this new setup, is that, like the Pro-Tank, I'm going through coils like crazy. Given the way that I vape, I'm lucky to get more than two days out of a coil. I was a heavy smoker, and so I'm a heavy vaper. No kidding, but I can go through 2 ml's of juice within 2~3 hours. So... I love my setup, but it's getting time to look into RBA's soon.
I've also tried a new juice vendor. He's small-time, his shop is very close to where I live, and he does custom stuff. He's using high grade stuff, or at least that's his claim. I tried a coffee blend from him yesterday, and I gotta say... yummie!
Seriously though... I find that with his stuff I can vape at higher voltage or wattages and not fry the juice like I did from the other brick and mortar. So at least one part of my problem has been solved. I get nice clouds from his stuff, and lots of flavor.
He's also turned me back on to carto's. He gave me a Borge carto with a black drip tip. It looks weird on top of this hulking VTR (especially with the odd extension that it comes with), but it works really well. I can see more clearly now why people love carto's, and more importantly, why they make the leap to carto-tanks. Carto's are great, but the don't have any longevity. I can fill this carto, and within thirty minutes it's out. If I could pair a decent carto with a decent tank, I might very well be in hog heaven for awhile.
Despite all of this, I'm still going to do DIY Juice. I'm getting ready to get the major components together over the course of the next month. Right now it's just deciding which flavors I want to emulate. But I think I'll do alright there. I've been getting a lot of advice from those who've already done it, and I've got a decent calculator now, so I should just about be set.
I guess the next step up from here is a mechanical mod. given all that I've heard so far, it seems to be the only thing that will mesh with the way that I vape. This tank and wick system just doesn't seem to work for me. I guess it's just not wicking fast enough, or perhaps I'm just chain-vaping too much. Either way, I gotta get my costs down, and these tank systems just don't seem to do well with that. Give me a bottle and a rebuildable coil, and maybe I'll finally get to vaping Nirvana.
Footnote: I did purchase a second pack of cigs a week or two back. I smoked about a quarter of the pack before I threw the damned things out. I just can't stand them anymore, so no more of that. I think what happened, was that when I stepped down from 18mg nic to 12, my body just went nuts. I was still chain-vaping, but I wasn't getting what I needed. My body's getting used to the 12 now, and soon it'll be time to step down to 6.
On the other hand...
I got some advice from a friend recently, regarding stepping down:
He told me that if I could DIY my own stuff, then of course I will have more control over what's in my juice. Not just the quality of it, but the quantity as well. He recommends that I step down in 3mg increments instead of 6mg. He tells me that my body won't freak out quite so bad this way, and I'll get better results. So, I may try that instead.
Anyway... I've been vaping at around three months now, with one or two minor setbacks. Overall I still feel good about it, and I'm starting to recommend it more and more to the smokers that I encounter. I've gotten one of our neighbors into it, and I may do some special juices for her at some point, when I get better at what I'm doing.
I may also invest in some more of those Borge carto's. If nothing else, I think they'll be a good way to sample flavors, and they're inexpensive. Plus, I can let my friends try my recipes for fine-tuning.
As for my MVP, I tried an experiment with it not too long ago. I got curious about whether the internal battery was replaceable. MY VTR is using a Panasonic 18650B (actually 2 that I rotate between), running at 3400 mah. Far as I know, the MVP II batt runs at 2600, and although they're both 3.7 volt (I'm assuming, don't know for sure) you can tell a difference. The Panasonic LIon's are a bit more responsive and seem to fire a bit quicker than the MVP's stock battery. So, I was wondering if I could replace the MVP stock batt with one of my new Panasonics.
After finally finding a tool that was small enough to remove the screws from the bottom (you have to have a special tool for of of the screws at the top), I ran into some trouble. The main board is soldered to the bottom, and I didn't want to risk any more damage to it. As it was, I kind of warped the board just a bit while I was trying to pull it out. So I stuck it back in and tried to put the screws back in. I could only get about half of them tightened back up, with the other two just sticking out of the bottom now. So, the verdict, for now, is that the MVP II battery is not replaceable.
I can still use my MVP. It runs fine, it still charges. But after getting used to my Panasonic batteries, I can't go back to the lower mah on the MVP. Weird, huh? Every time I step into something different, I have trouble going back. Heck, I just gave away my original Evod batt to my neighbor to get her started on vaping. I couldn't use it anymore, and besides, it's only 1000 mah and it won't even last me half the day. With my VTR, I've got a spare... just in case.
So, I am progressing in my vaping. I'm getting better at finding the results that I want, and I'm not too far from finding vaping Nirvana. I think by the end of March I should be there. More's the pity, since I'll be cutting out the nic altogether by then. Still, I'll be vaping at least until May, or I may never stop vaping. Who knows? I may even find that I like experimenting with the juices, and do something with that. Or not. Don't know yet.
BTW, I checked into batteries, and I swear that I saw one that was rated for (get this) 7200 mah! Good God that's a lot. I'll bet that battery would easily last me for two days or more! Question is, could I fit something like that into a mod? I couldn't tell you the physical size of the thing, but I bet it's rather large.
Too bad I don't have any skills when it comes to building and electric. I could see myself building a mech mod that has two of those puppies in it, with a 6~10ml bottom feeding bottle. Maybe triple coils for that nice hot vape and cloud. Eh, a man can dream, can't he? Probably not all that realistic though. And I can only imagine how expensive something like that would be to even build, much less purchase from someone who had already built it.
Anyway...
I will be getting into RBA soon, at the very least. Coils are my largest expense right now, and they're almost on par with my juice cost. I'm spending as much on vaping now as I did for a carton of cigs every week. So, I've reached the point of diminishing returns on cost, and now have to look more seriously at doing everything myself.
Here's hoping for the best!
