850 days without tobacco

[Roger-J]

Hi, I'm new here. In 1965 I was 15 years old and I tried smoking tobacco the first time. I got really sick, spent 3 hours in the bathroom vomiting. But then I was hooked on nicotine.

I smoked a pack of cigarettes every day until 2 and a half years ago. I saw the tv-show "The Doctors", and one of the doctors presented and recommended the eletronic cigarette. I live in Sweden but that American tv-show is transmitted here too.

I immediately looked it up on internet and sent for my first e-cig. After testing it for two days I knew I would never smoke tobacco again. I cleaned my ashtray and put away it with my other tobacco smoking stuff in a cupboard. I had recently bought 2 5-packs of rolling tobacco but I could sell that tobacco back to the tobacco store, explaining that I had stopped smoking. I got 110 euros back.

 

[Icoth]

Hi Roger-J, congratulations and welcome to ECF. You look great for your age. Must be another benefit from a smoke free lifestyle

 

[zadane]

Welcome to the forums. and congratulations on leaving tobacco behind

 

[Roger-J]

I quickly realized that I needed two charged batteries every day and after 2 months the two batteries had reached the end of their lifetime. As I live in Sweden, one of the most restrictive countries in the world, I had to send for e-cigs, batteries and e-liquid from other countries, so the cost for 2 new batteries plus freight would be high.

I decided to make my own e-cigs instead, using regular rechargeable AA batteries, so I only had to buy atomizers and e-liquid from abroad. I know a lot about electronics so it was easy to take a four-battery holder and attach a DSE-801 Atomizer and a pushbutton switch to it. I bought a battery charger with 4 AA batteries for 18 euros.

As the original battery was a 3.7 Volt battery and the resistance of the DSE-801 atomizer is 4 Ohm I understood that it needed a little less than 1 Ampere. To avoid burning an atomizer I first tried using only 3 1.2Volt batteries. But it did not give enough current, so I tried using 4 batteries instead. Being careful I pumped quickly on the switch, to let the atomizer rest a little between the pulses of current. I still do that when I start using a new set of fully charged batteries. After 4-5 hours the batteries have lost some of their power so I can hold the switch down for 5-6 seconds without problems. And after using a new set of batteries for 2 weeks I don't have to worry about burning an atomizer. Using this method I only need to change atomizer 3 times a year.

I soon bought a better charger, because the cheap charger needed 12-15 hours to charge 4 batteries. The new charger with four batteries cost 50 euros but it had much better features. It needed only 2 hours to charge 4 batteries, it used pulse-charging to not overheat the batteries and it used -delta Volt cutoff which means that it senses when the batteries are full by sensing how the voltage starts going down slightly when the batteries are fully charged.

 

[Roger-J]

Hi Roger-J, congratulations and welcome to ECF. You look great for your age. Must be another benefit from a smoke free lifestyle

I only own two photos of myself, both taken in september 1967 for my seaman's book when I wanted to work on a ship for some time. I hitchhiked down to Gothenburg the last day before we started driving on the right side of the road. 10 minutes after I had arrived in Gothenburg all traffic in Sweden was stopped and 100 000 volunteers started taking away the black plastic from the new traffic signs and covered the old traffic signs with black plastic instead.

The next day cars carefully started driving again, after changing to the right side of the road. In Gothenburg thousands of 17-18 year old girls stood in every street corner, dressed in yellow vests with reflex bands, helping drivers and pedestrians to follow the new rules and avoid accidents.

While I spent 2 months in Gothenburg waiting for a ship to work on I noticed a poster saying that Jimi Hendrix would play in the big amusement park in Gothenburg at 10 o'clock in the evening. I had no money but I thought that maybe the amusement park would be open for free during daytime, and it was, so I spent the whole afternoon there and later watched when they built a stage. As I was the first there I could choose a place to stand directly at the edge of the small stage. So I watched Jimi Hendrix perform at a distance of 1-2 meter.

I actually look a little older now

 

[classwife]

Welcome to ECF !! Great job on setting yourself up !!
Jimi concert....woo-hoo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Roger-J]

I have read a lot of posts in this forum before starting to post. A lot of vapers in USA are worried about a total ban and have started to store enough e-liquid and atomizers to be sure they have enough for a few years. That problem is even more important here in Sweden where the government can introduce a ban immediately and the border control probably have very good x-ray-like possibilities to find out what packages contain. The official rules here are as diffuse as in most countries. Officially the law says that "pure nicotine solutions" are illegal to import. The question is what they mean with that expression. I have imported PG-solutions containing very diluted nicotine and I don't know if it is legal or not. Anyhow, I have now stored up more than 5 liter of 24mg and a smaller amount of 36mg, and 30 DSE-801 atomizers, so I have enough for the coming 7-10 years. I also have a liter of pure PG so I can dilute the e-liquid according to my plan to lower the nicotine level. I started with 36mg for a year, then 24mg for a year, and now I have started adding 10-15% water because I get a dry throat so I guess a little more moisture is a good thing.

I have read your discussions about how to store e-liquid and I now store my e-liquid at +4 Celsius, just above the freezing point of water.

 

[CES]

Hi Roger.
Welcome! Glad you decided to join and start posting- love your stories

 

[BunkysPrincess]

Welcome and congratz on being tobacco free

 

[Roger-J]

I have read about your problems with Paypal and I want you to be careful if and when you complain to Paypal. Don't tell Paypal what companies are dealing in e-liquid and other e-cig-related products. I sent for Atomizers and pure PG fluid from a company in UK recently and for the first time Paypal refused to transfer my payment to that company, so I used my VISA card directly instead. A week later I sent for 750ml 24mg nicotine solution from another company and Paypal had no problem with transferring my payment.

So, Paypal is only blocking the companies they know sell e-cig parts and e-liquid. Don't tell them about companies they don't know about. Companies should also be careful when choosing a name for their companies. Inluding terms like e-liquid or e-cigs in the company name is not a wise choice. The company Paypal blocked has the term e-liquid in the company name.

I am very satisfied with the battery life of my 4 AA rechargeable batteries. To begin with I used such a set for 4 days without recharging them, but I read that emptying them completely is not good for the lifetime of the batteries so now I only use them for 2-3 days before recharging.

Some brands are better than other brands for this purpose. I buy Varta 2300 mAh when I buy new sets of batteries. A set of Powerbase 2700 mAh which came with the first charger have a surprisingly long lifetime, I still use them. I bought a set of Duracell batteries, thinking that as they are the most well known and most advertised brand they should be good, but they did not deliver enough current, so I will have to use them for some other purpose.

 

[Grifter]

Wow Roger, you are a hero to all of us living in this bastion of civil rights curtailment.

 

[Phreaker]

Great posts Roger, welcome!!

 

[mlinky]

Wow, great story. It's downright inspiring to hear what you have to contend with to keep vaping, and not smoking. Sure makes my road feel easier.