Congrats on almost a year. Sorry to hear about your issues and your Dad's passing. Cancer has also ravaged my wife's side of the family.
Here's some info:
Different delivery systems:- note
bolded Atty, Carto, etc is the abbreviated form
Atomizer/
Atty- an element on to which 3-4 drops of
juice is dripped- usually used for testing new juices because Attys are easy to clean. There are some diehard Atty users because it’s the best
vape possible but very time consuming.
Cartridge/
Cart- a container with sponge (filled with
juice) that is used with the Atty- juice drips on to Atty from filled cart and is vaporized- older outdated first “tank” system and prone to leaks unless the user is willing to buy extra seals and “fiddle” with them.
Cartomizer/ Carto- metal tube with stuffing and element. Holds anywhere form 1- 4 ml of juice. Carto is fully saturated and must be occasionally refilled when juice runs out. My Cartos last 1-2 weeks. Best Cartomizer I’ve found is the Smok Tech XL 1.7 single coil. Boge 2.0 ohm cartos will give a cooler vape. Always use single coil cartos with 3.3- 3.7 PVs for the best vape.
Carto+Tank- a Carto with a hole punched in it. Carto is than placed in a glass, metal or plastic tank which is filled with juice- juice saturates Carto by way of hole in Carto. My Cartos with a tank last, before tight draw occurs: light juices- 80-90 ml. dark juices- 50-60 ml.
Clearomizer (includes the Stardust and the Vivi Nova Tank)- a plastic or metal tank with a wick and element. Contains NO stuffing. The rebuildable clearos come with heads (coil+ wick) that can be cheaply $2.00) and easily ( 10 secs) replaced. When the head burns out simply unscrew the old head out and screw in new head- takes 10 secs. My Vivi Nova heads are lasting about 8 weeks BUT I wash the heads every few days. I've found the Vivi Nova to give the best draw. After 8 weeks my heads are stilling firing great but the wicks begin to shred.
When I first began vaping I used Boge 2.0 ohm single coil cartos (1 ml). After 1 month I switched to Smok Tech XL 1.7 single coil cartos (1.8 ml). Next I used a carto+and tank (3ml) setup. When the cracking and wicking issues were resolved I got into Startdusts (1.6 ml). I now use the Mini Vivi Nova (2.0 ml) rebuildables as I feel they give a better draw and are far superior in quality. It is VERY important to match the correct ohms delivery device to the PV we are using otherwise, dry hits or a weak vape will occur.
You have to be careful if vaping acidic juices as they will damage the plastic tanks. Some use a carto with the glass
http://www.ibtanked.com/ As noted above (carto+ tank) the cartos must have a hole in them. You can either order pre punched or do it yourself.
There is a new glass “clearomizer” type tank with replaceable coils about to be released. Will wait for the reviews before buying.
http://www.sz-kanger.com/collections/kanger-protank