Absolute newbie - not sure if I am getting anything at all---

[NGIB]

Be aware that there isn't much juice at all in these little cartridges (8-10 drops, maybe less) and they will run dry pretty fast...

 

[sailorman]

Ahhh.. O.k.. The atomizer is evidently not a standard atomizer, but contains a spike to puncture the foil. Glad you got it all sorted out.

 

[Kay1959]

When I first started vaping, I was chewing nico gum too...and wondering why all these people kept talking about such WONDERFUL flavors, and here I could barely taste it! DUH! The gum was muting my taste buds! lol! After I stopped chewing the gum, I could taste the flavors alot better. Also, after you stop smoking it takes awhile for your taste buds to get back to normal. Keep going! You're doing great! You'll be soo happy you quit smoking! And a world of yummy flavors awaits you.

 

[Hulamoon]

Hello-- first of all I want to say thanks for this forum, I am sure it will be a lot of help as I begin this new phase of my cigarette "withdrawal."

Today I purchased an e-cigarette kit at a local pharmacy. It came in a very plain vanilla white box with just the number 510 and the words "Mild 7" and "18 mg." The "instruction" sheet was extremely sparse with somewhat poor english. But I did manage to get everything together. Apparently the battery was already charged, as I put the atomizer and cartidge + battery together then hit it. The end of the battery turned blue as I "puffed" and I *did* see a bit of vapor as I exhaled. This was earlier today. Now I have tried it again and do not see the vapor as I exhale. I was hoping to get some kind of sensation that would tell my bain, "hey, you're getting a hit."

How the heck do I know if I am getting anything and how will I know when the cartridge is empty?

How long will a typical charged battery last?

Thanks in advance for any guidance/advice...

Hi boogerbear, lol what a name. Dismantle your 510, take the atomizer and blow through it onto a paper napkin. The atomizers generally come with goop in them to percent them from drying out, so you need to clear it out first. An empty cartridge will taste godawful - like burning plastic. Check the moistness of the wick to see if its drying out (have a dig round in the cartridge with the end of a paperclip. Likewise to shove wicking foam back into cartridge afterwards. You really need some e-juice (Oh Boy! NOW the fun begins!!) as I wonder if the pre-filled carts may dry out depending on shelf life. How much did you used to smoke? Could be you need a 24 mg nicotine hit. (I smoked regular/medium strength but find 24 mg works for me, because ecigs don't seem to hit or be as pervasive as all those poisons whacking your senses. Hope some of that helps...

 

[Hulamoon]

Hello! ...."protect them from drying out" (I guess I'm still working in my brain....)

 

[sailorman]

Nah.. The juice itself won't dry out, but it will attract moisture from the air and get contaminated with stuff. That's what the foil seal is for. Pre-filled carts have a shelf life of about a year before the taste starts going "off" and the nicotine oxidizes. They won't turn poisonous or anything, just not taste good. Well, not "good". The same.

 

[okfarmgirl]

Also keep in mind that vaping a ecig is different from smoking a cigarette. With your ecig, take long slow drags. If you do quick, hard drags like a traditional cig you will get the smallest amount of vapor.

This was my problem when I first tried it. I got NOTHING, because I was taking a normal drag. My instructions say to drag for 4-6 seconds and when I do, I get decent vapor. Not smoke-equivalent, but much better.

 

[Disk4mat]

This was my problem when I first tried it. I got NOTHING, because I was taking a normal drag. My instructions say to drag for 4-6 seconds and when I do, I get decent vapor. Not smoke-equivalent, but much better.

lol I think many of use did the same thing when we first started out A little later down the road I picked up an X2 900mah battery from Smokeless Image and I notice it gives me much bigger clouds of vapor. Its the same voltage as my original 78mm kr808 batteries. But the X2 just seems to perform better in that area. I dont know the technical reason for it. Although when my standard batteries are freshly charged they perform very well.

Sorry for the ramble

 

[Troy1troy]

If you can I would get something that is say among the top 5 ecig brands. You can get good starter kits for around 60 bucks. You should be seeing at least half the vapor that you would regularly have in smoke. I only say this because it would be a shame to be turned off of vaping because of a bad battery, cartomizer or poor liquid. You can get a great throat hit from menthol. I wasn't a menthol smoker but when I went to vaping I got excellent reproduction of analogue smokes from using the menthol flavors. Lots of smoke and a great throat hit.