Got my first Grand 24 days ago, and I never would have guessed how much this little box would add to my life over that span of time. If you want reo only info, feel free to skip to the next paragraph. Since it was my first ever mod of any kind, there's been a definite learning curve (that I'm still very much on). But 6 days ago, I had a death in my super-closeknit family and it's been the toughest week of my life, and since I've shut down socially in "real life," I thought tonight maybe it would help to write about something that I'm grateful for. I'm not looking to the Reos mods forum to be the dumping ground for personal stuff, but since working on my grand and lurking on this forum has been my source of peace, I though why not write a little bit and contribute. I'm sure it'd sound ridiculous just about anywhere on earth except this forum, but this reo was in my hand or pocket this whole week, and someway somehow it helped me get through. I guess having a place to get away and something to look forward to looks different for different folks. And now, I promise, the rest of this post will be about vaping with this thing.
Week One
I'd been looking forward to the thing so much after researching so long that I think I would've been happy with the first vape from my grand/RM2 even if I'd used a hobo's sock for a wick. But after a few days, I was starting to get frustrated that I couldn't get it to work as well as my dummy-proof clearomizer system. I posted here asking for help and you guys were awesome.
Week Two
I figured it out! At least I figured out how to start getting better. I couldn't even figure out how to figure it out the first week. The biggest breakthrough was finding a coil that worked really well for me. That way I had at least one constant so I could tweak the other variables. A fellow who'd also had trouble said that 8 wraps of 28g Kanthal around a 1/16 bit was what turned it around for him. It did for me too. My multimeter is a piece of garbage (still not sure why that is where I chose to be frugal), but it works well enough to know that the coil is probably somewhere between 0.9 and 1.1 ohms for me.
This was also the week that I figured out my e juice was part of the problem. I was using Halo's Tribeca with my clearomizer and really loved it. But the grand/RM2 set up makes it taste like sweet sewer garbage. My guess is that getting the full flavor of a juice made to taste good when it is muted is the reason. It's just a guess though, and I could be way off since my comparative understanding of vaping is still in a pretty childlike state.
Week Three
Between getting the coil / air hole position right and finding some juices that worked better for me (Boba's was one of them, I'd never had it before), this was the week that I truly started to appreciate what I'd gotten with the grand and RM2. I decided to mess with the coil build some and did a dual-wrapped 28g 0.8 ohm (maybe? did I say my multimeter works like it is the product of a 5th grader's science fair project?) coil. Still like the 1(ish) ohm 8 wrap 28 g coil. I also realized that for me, I actually do better diluting the 18mg Boba's down to 12mg by adding VG. I even like the taste better than the "full taste" version. It has cured or delayed my problems with vapors' tongue. The flavor I get out of the RM2 now is so rich that the VG added lite version seems to be what my simple man's palate does best with.
It turns out, like some but not all of you guys have said, just a couple flavors and also unflavored nic, is all I want now. I used to do a different flavor several times a day, and I've got like 30 different flavors in my desk drawer that are now in permanent steeping mode.
What's ahead
Since I've learned several times over the last three weeks (ha, it hits me funny how short a time that actually is when I write it out) that every time I think I've found perfection, some small tweak will magically improve it, I bought some more stuff to keep messing around with this. I ordered the stuff for Mundy's Magic and I'm pumped to try and figure it out and hopefully not collapse my spring. Got Bounty Hunter juice coming in since I'm hoping to find an ADV that tastes even more like Golden Grahams. I ordered a little VG, PG, and nic to start figuring out DIY since that's what I want to do for the long haul. Got new cotton based on a suggestion from Treebeard (which I tried today for the first time and really like). Oh and I ordered some ceramic wick last week to see if it works as well as cotton for me. I had worried before I got my reo that I'd be bummed to be at an end of figuring out the "next best thing" and it shows I really had no idea what I was getting myself into
But the thing I'm most excited about is that I get to open my new silver vein Mini tomorrow. My wife gave me the okay to get it (way) ahead of schedule and it will really be a silver (get it?) lining for a dark cloud.
Anyway, I'm just really grateful I found this place. It has made life better. And it also kept me from relapsing with smoking after being smoke-free for almost 9 months, after 14 years of smoking since I turned 18. So thanks to all you guys for your help. And thanks Rob for the best invention since e-cigarettes.
Week One
I'd been looking forward to the thing so much after researching so long that I think I would've been happy with the first vape from my grand/RM2 even if I'd used a hobo's sock for a wick. But after a few days, I was starting to get frustrated that I couldn't get it to work as well as my dummy-proof clearomizer system. I posted here asking for help and you guys were awesome.
Week Two
I figured it out! At least I figured out how to start getting better. I couldn't even figure out how to figure it out the first week. The biggest breakthrough was finding a coil that worked really well for me. That way I had at least one constant so I could tweak the other variables. A fellow who'd also had trouble said that 8 wraps of 28g Kanthal around a 1/16 bit was what turned it around for him. It did for me too. My multimeter is a piece of garbage (still not sure why that is where I chose to be frugal), but it works well enough to know that the coil is probably somewhere between 0.9 and 1.1 ohms for me.
This was also the week that I figured out my e juice was part of the problem. I was using Halo's Tribeca with my clearomizer and really loved it. But the grand/RM2 set up makes it taste like sweet sewer garbage. My guess is that getting the full flavor of a juice made to taste good when it is muted is the reason. It's just a guess though, and I could be way off since my comparative understanding of vaping is still in a pretty childlike state.
Week Three
Between getting the coil / air hole position right and finding some juices that worked better for me (Boba's was one of them, I'd never had it before), this was the week that I truly started to appreciate what I'd gotten with the grand and RM2. I decided to mess with the coil build some and did a dual-wrapped 28g 0.8 ohm (maybe? did I say my multimeter works like it is the product of a 5th grader's science fair project?) coil. Still like the 1(ish) ohm 8 wrap 28 g coil. I also realized that for me, I actually do better diluting the 18mg Boba's down to 12mg by adding VG. I even like the taste better than the "full taste" version. It has cured or delayed my problems with vapors' tongue. The flavor I get out of the RM2 now is so rich that the VG added lite version seems to be what my simple man's palate does best with.
It turns out, like some but not all of you guys have said, just a couple flavors and also unflavored nic, is all I want now. I used to do a different flavor several times a day, and I've got like 30 different flavors in my desk drawer that are now in permanent steeping mode.
What's ahead
Since I've learned several times over the last three weeks (ha, it hits me funny how short a time that actually is when I write it out) that every time I think I've found perfection, some small tweak will magically improve it, I bought some more stuff to keep messing around with this. I ordered the stuff for Mundy's Magic and I'm pumped to try and figure it out and hopefully not collapse my spring. Got Bounty Hunter juice coming in since I'm hoping to find an ADV that tastes even more like Golden Grahams. I ordered a little VG, PG, and nic to start figuring out DIY since that's what I want to do for the long haul. Got new cotton based on a suggestion from Treebeard (which I tried today for the first time and really like). Oh and I ordered some ceramic wick last week to see if it works as well as cotton for me. I had worried before I got my reo that I'd be bummed to be at an end of figuring out the "next best thing" and it shows I really had no idea what I was getting myself into
But the thing I'm most excited about is that I get to open my new silver vein Mini tomorrow. My wife gave me the okay to get it (way) ahead of schedule and it will really be a silver (get it?) lining for a dark cloud.
Anyway, I'm just really grateful I found this place. It has made life better. And it also kept me from relapsing with smoking after being smoke-free for almost 9 months, after 14 years of smoking since I turned 18. So thanks to all you guys for your help. And thanks Rob for the best invention since e-cigarettes.
