Average life of PT, Batts, and Carts

[mjhasbach]

I know there are quite a few threads about the life of V4L products, but this one is about my personal situation. I ordered the Ultimate Manual XL kit on 12/3/2009. I have three batteries that have been pretty lightly used, most of the heavy vaping was done on the PT. Three months later, my PT is dead (doesn't heat up the cartos or produce any vapor) and my batteries are starting to die. I basically have 2 batteries constantly charging during the day. By the time one dies (~2 hours of light vaping) I take one off the charger and replace it.

I have 2 XL batteries (one manual, one auto) and 1 regular auto battery. All of them last about 2 hours now.

Another thing that I noticed is I think the quality (and consistency) of the carts might have been better when I ordered back in December, because I got A LOT of refills off of them (about 3 months with 12 cartos 8-o). Of the cartos ordered earlier this month, 4 were good for about one or two refills, but 1 (like the December cartos) has been refilled more times than I cared to count and is still kicking. Also, the juice in all of the cartos that I ordered this month only lasted a couple of hours before they ran out (burning taste, real easy to taste in a menthol cart). This seems to indicate a quality control problem during the filling process, as the December carts easily lasted a day strait from V4L as well as when I fill them myself. None of the mentioned carts were premiums.

As a result of all of this, I switch to analogs sometimes when I'm in high-stress-high-reliable-nic-needed situations, e.g. cleaning and refurbishing a GROSS apartment. I've only been through about 3 packs in 3 months, from a half-pack-a-day smoker. That being said, I love V4L for both their customer service, community involvement, and their ability to help me save my health. I have referred a customer who converted his entire immediate family to vaping.

Anyway, so I'm asking for the input of the members here for your opinions of the quality/life of the batteries, PT, and cartos. I think it's time to order another starter kit, but that gets a bit expensive

 

[Adrenalynn]

My carto-filling has been pretty consistent, checking the chart I tend to throw them away between 40 and 50 fills on average.

Battery life - around 240 deep-cycle charges for me.

PT: Don't care.

Cost per Month for me (excluding consumables [ie. juice]): ~$10/2 in cartomizers is more than adequate + 1/4 of three batteries [$12.33]) $17.33/mo [note: I'm still filling 8 of my original 10, four months later... But I've purchased a few more for testing purposes too, so we'll just round these out a bit. Still hyper-conservative]

Add in juice: 5ml every ~2 days: 1.50 * 30 = $45

$45 + 18 = $63/mo

My original two chargers are functioning fine.

Cost of cigarettes: ~$7.50/pack, 1pk/day = $7.50 * 30 = $225/mo.

Cost of vaping: (-$162)

So I can effectively buy another ten batteries a month and toss them in the trash without ever having opened the package and still break even.

I think a lot of us spend a bunch of money on fun stuff because, well, WE CAN. But we don't _have to_. I think most of us can recognize a substantial cost savings regardless of apparent quality deviations.

 

[keyzygirl]

Everything is disposable,If you have to buy 2 batts and a passthru every other month,its only $25 a month.Less than 1/2 a carton of cigs.Add 4 packs of cartos,$40 bucks,a couple bottles of juice $20,Thats $85 and its a high estimate.Still alot cheaper than cigs.

 

[lairkeeper]

Adrenalynn, I find your cost analysis intresting because I was really surprised when I did the math for myself and husband.

We smoked an average of one carton a week each and were paying approximately $38 per carton. (Yes, we have pretty much the lowest cost on cigarettes in the nation here in SC). So for one of us it comes to:

$38/7 days=5.42 per day x 30 days =162.85 per person per month

So if I use 3 ml per day (probably more like 2ml but I like to over-estimate on cost and under-estimate on savings) @ $15 per 30 ml of fluid then I'm spending only $45 per month per person.

This leaves me room to buy each month:

One XL kit ($65)and at least 4 packs of cartos (43.80)per month per person and I'd still be under my smoking cost.

This doesn't take into consideration the everyday 10% discount (or shipping costs) but its a good estimation.

Obviously I'll not need a new entire set every month, but even if I just passed my used batteries/charger/PT on to someone else and started fresh every month I'd still be saving a few bucks a month and enjoying myself MORE.

There's always room for improvement, but I'm quite happy as is. Likely to get much happier in the future....

Husband was really shocked when I layed it out for him this way. I only wish I had started with V4L rather than some lower priced models. I didn't "save" anything by buying cheaper in the beginning....

 

[Michelle43]

My Opinion:

Batteries: More than 3 months
PT: I abuse mine and the only ones that failed so far are the old style
Cartos: Never had a carto fail on me, but I have a lot of them so I don't reuse, reuse reuse 1 at a time.

 

[jamvector]

My response to your questions:

1. PT's should last indefinitely if maintained and not abused. Do not use with dirty cartos, periodically clean inside of PT socket (when unplugged of course) with a cue tip moistened with alcohol. Beyond getting gunked up, the only other possible cause of failure is mechanical, primarily from twisting or pulling on the cord too much (analogy, how many headphones / earbuds have failed on you?).

2. Batteries: See page two of this thread: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/vapor4life/81202-how-long-can-batteries-last.html. Specifically Adrenalynn's link to this excellent summary regarding Li Ion batteries which are used in all V4L batts: How to prolong lithium-based batteries. Your experience with batts is similar to mine, and my conclusions are posted in the first referenced thread above.

3. Carotmizers vary from cart to cart, batch to batch, and of course between regular and premium. Due to the many variations observed between different carts and batts, some combinations will work better than others, and some carts just aren't that good. Most however (reg and premium) are good enough to refill via CCRM 4 or 5 times, then boil / refill via many posted procedures and repeat cycle many more times. If you find some burn hot, taste bad, or in general don't perform well, either toss them / replace or try boiling them out. Since the carts are sold as disposable, the fact that you can refill and recycle the majority of them many many times WAY outweighs the 1-2% defect rate.

Some of my general conclusions regarding inconsistent overall performance are on page 2 of this thread if you are interested: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/vapor4life/80987-second-chance-cartos-pays-off.html

Good luck, and keep tinkering with all the parts of the system until you reach your sweet spot.

 

[Adrenalynn]

Adrenalynn, I find your cost analysis intresting because I was really surprised when I did the math for myself and husband.

Thanks, Lair'squee! I think your numbers aren't at all untypical, other than your cigarette cost being so low. Mine are probably atypical because CA has some of the highest taxes in the US. So you and I balance each other out.

 

[mjhasbach]

Interesting calculations. The cost of my smoking was not nearly as high. 1/2 pack a day smoker. I used to smoke Newports, but as they were getting outrageously expensive I switched to the cheapest menthol cigs I could find, usually Sonoma Menthol or Maverick Menthol. These were around ~$4.00 a pack after tax (Georgia). This was about $60 a month for me. Anyway vaping is still cheaper than smoking for me...I just didn't forsee 3 batteries approaching death and a pass-through dead after 3 months.

@Jamvector

PT's should last indefinitely if maintained and not abused. Do not use with dirty cartos, periodically clean inside of PT socket (when unplugged of course) with a cue tip moistened with alcohol. Beyond getting gunked up, the only other possible cause of failure is mechanical, primarily from twisting or pulling on the cord too much (analogy, how many headphones / earbuds have failed on you?).

The passthrough was not abused. As a matter of fact, it hasn't left my computer desk since I got it. I clean my batteries as well as my passthrough with alcohol.

@Adrenalynn
I have not gotten nearly "240 deep cycle charges" from these batteries, unfortunately. I would say, when my pass-through worked, I went through 2 MAX battery charges a day, and rotated the batteries I used. That's 2 charges a day *times* 30 days/mo *times* 3 months = 180 charge cycles *divided by* the 3 batteries I own = 60 charge cycles per battery. And they're all showing signs of death. Maybe I'm just unlucky.

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[Darrigaaz]

I started mid Dec as well. The first two batteries I got are still going strong.. approx 8 hours of vaping per charge. Still have my original old-style passthrough and it's working just fine as well. In fact, the only piece of original hardware that has failed has been a USB charger that died within the first week.

I'm still refilling a carto that I received in my original kit as well. I know it's from the kit because it's the only vanilla cartos I've gotten. I've filled it at least 4 times a week for a little over 3 months, along with a few others. So I'm guessing around 60ish refills and it's producing vapor just fine. In fact, I have yet to actually throw away a carto at all. They all seem to work just like new (but the labels sure are starting to look ratty).

 

[scott58]

Been using an e-cig (none stop) since last august. The first PT I ordered (from nhaler) lasted 3 weeks. I'm still using the V4L one I replaced it with 6 months ago. The original batteries I bought from premiumecigarettes are still going strong and the 2 XL batteries from V4L 2months ago are still good and last alot longer between charges. I've gone through alot of carts a few have just stopped working, but for the most part they can last as much as 50 refills.