basic questions

[ndnshift]

I've decided to stay with Smoketip and find compatible cartridges and stuff to go with it. I am happy with the one i have and I love the company.

well after VapNfool's post theres not much to add wanted to share my recent experience. i've gone through almost every type of ecig now but the first worthwhile thing i tried is the 808 from Vapor4Life, which is pretty similar to your current SmokeTip.

an eGo or Riva is a great way to go since the battery lasts a very long time and with a Cartomizer (1-piece like yours) you can a Drip Tip that makes it easy to put some more juice in. the one downside, and one that may be very important to you since you recently quit, is that it does not feel like a cigarette.

since the SmokeTip works for you, it sounds like a good idea to stick with it. one thing you may want to consider is the new Cartomizers from Bloog (they have a thread about them in the review section). got mine yesterday and im absolutely blown away, even compared to my low resistance cartomizers, high voltage device, and all the other more enthusiast gear that i have.

the reason they may work well for you is that they match up with your current batteries. they are a bit more expensive with 5 going for $11 but i would only start with a single pack to see how you like them. the benefit is that they have a rubbery piece on the mouthpiece that you can easily remove and put more liquid in. oh and they hit awesome and don't burn, i don't have to take a primer puff and can smoke them just like a regular cigarette (quick, 1 second, puff rather than the normal vaping style of slow, 3-5 seconds). also to reply to your post, they have great draw and very good vapor production (best ive seen by far on this style of ecig)

it sounds like you have gotten into this and are ready to take on something a bit more to save money and fine tune what you like. so even if you dont get the Bloog cartos, try to get a sample pack from any of the juice suppliers and work on refilling the cartomizers you have that are empty. the Bloogs are simple to fill, pop the cap, put a few drops in and wait for it to settle, repeat until full and then blow out the excess onto a paper towel. if you use your SmokeTip cartridges, your best bet is the "Condom" fill method where you use the rubber caps that came with them, fill them 2/3 with juice and slowly press the battery end down into the cap. there's plenty of guides and videos on this site and youtube on how to do it.

start ordering juice and save a lot! plus you will find a lot of flavors that you like

btw, the mini Personal Charging Case (glows blue and is found under the MaxxFusion section of the Bloog site) is great for your still personal vaporizer and dang the thing is cool. you would also be happy with the regular charging case as it comes with a tiny USB cable, holds a battery and two cartomizers. so a fully charged case and two freshly filled cartomizers would get you through the day.

the allergic issue you mentioned is concerning. their juice and most other have Propylene Glycol as a base to make the vapor. normally this is just fine, but there a percentage of people that are allergic or irritated by it. a better bet to try to Vegetable Glycol juices. Vapor Station has some very good VG juices as well as Alien Visions and Clouds of Vapor Organics. check out any of the other juice supplies and they will usually tell you if it is 100% VG or a mix.

hope this helps, best of luck vaping!

 

[dormouse]

If SmokeTip is a KR808D-1, that is a popular model for people who like cartomizers. But cartomizers are ridiculously expensive if you can't reuse them. I don't know if Smoketip uses soft-cap cartos which make refilling easier. If they don't sell blank cartos then they may not use soft-caps and their cartos may need to be refilled with tricks like forcing juice in with one of the clear plastic caps that come on cartos. But I think Vapor4Life uses soft-caps (I like their Coolcarts) and you can get other blank non-LR KR808D-1 cartomizers at various hardware vendors. (normal slim batteries aren't up to handling LR attys or cartomizers).

If you like a 2-piece e-cigarette and cartomizers, then your path would be to not burn them dry, refill them, and try to get as many uses as you can out of each. And there are fat-battery versions of KR8 if you ever wanted to use low-resistance (more power hungry) cartomizers and atomizers.

Another thing you can do with KR8 is stick an atomizer on it and use atty+carts (but not drip tip if you have automatic batteries due to the open hole in the end of those). A DSE901 atty will fit right on a KR8 battery and you can use 901 carts with that. Or a 510 atty and carts can be used with an adapter. 901 atty is a softer airier hit but still tasty (what I use). I think 510 atty is a harder hit than 901.

So what you have is actually flexible and has upgrade paths of its own. You can easily try carts with it to see if carts are more your style by trying an atomizer and carts on it.

 

[Sal A. Manderletter]

I started with $39 for a genuine 510 kit with 2 ecigs, $3 for a pack of empty carts, and $25 for a 50ml bottle of good ejuice. All in $67 and that lasted me over a month. The next month my cost went down to $25 just for juice. I LOVE MY 510. I LOVE VAPING!

 

[ndnshift]

Sal, good route to go... i love my 510... i know it's not the kind of juice that i'll use, but for others what juice did you get for $25 for 50ml?

 

[Renro]

hi ndnshift,

Thanks for your insights and direction. I'm finding that the most useful information is often someone's personal experience. I appreciate you're sharing yours.

No worries about the allergic reaction. I posted my symptoms on the boards here and immediately got advised to seek a physician (duh, why didn't I think of that?) Sometimes my brain just doesn't think in sequential order. The advice was solid, I saw my Dr and he advised me to cut back on the nicotine mg, which I did, i went from 16mg to 12mg (metered dose of a cartomize) with in a day or maybe two, all the non withdrawal symptoms were gone. I was poisoning myself with the amount of nicotine I was putting in my system - odd since I was a heavy 50 smokes /day full flavored smoker and never experienced anything like it. But I'm not going to look a gift-horse in the mouth.

When I start mixing and using atomizers, I will try the VG base. i want to fine tune and discover what works best for me. Thanks for all the leads!

 

[Renro]

dormouse,

Hi. Thanks for the info. It's a little too much tech for me to fully understand at this point but it's full of detail and something I will come back to when I have a better understanding of the lingo. Thank you.

The Smoketip does use the KR808D-1, and they just came out with a 360mah which I am going to order next.

The thing about this company is that it's always free shipping, and they have %100 free battery replacement, a no-fault warranty as long as you purchase the batteries through them. They are the only company that i have seen that does that, so I am going to stay with them and find a way to use their batteries.

Their accessories are competitively priced also. But i think they are a small company with limited items. They only sell the prefilled cartos (is that the right word? the two piece system) and yes, they are the hard ones. At this point, I am not comfortable with the idea of refilling these - it is also an automatic system and I hear refilling an automatic causes damage? I'm sorting things out, but slowly.

Plus, I am trying to not go nuts with extra's and all that, but I would like to try another system, a three piece designed for the e-juice and one that doesn't look like an analog cigarette. The Leo was posted, and i like the look of that one, but have to research and would like to hear from someone who's actually used one.

I have no real idea if i like a lot of vapor or not, a good throat hit or not, cool? warm? flavor? nicotine concentration? mods? . . .I have a lot to learn

I'm pretty sure that i am going to be heavy into the start up costs because i get anxious with the thought of ever running out of charged batteries or cartridges. i currently have 2 KR808D-1, will purchase 2 of the new bigger ones, another USB passthrough, at least one more charger set, everything i need for DIY ...eventually. I promised myself a strict budget because I can too easily go to the extreme with extra's.

People here have been so fantastic with information and patience and personal experiences. I sincerely appreciate it.

 

[VapNfool]

Well now...she's over the hump and rolling on down the road like a pro now. Now the REAL fun begins. No more fear...just pure excitement. Grats Renro! Glad we all could help. Great group of peeps here on ECF wouldcha say?

 

[VapNfool]

An addict is an addict is an addict and I don't want to be exchanging one for another - let me clarify, I in no way believe that those who Vape big or become master mixers or Mode designers are addicted to Vaping (versus the addiction to nicotine) I just know myself and know that i could go crazy with gadgets and innovations and whatnot, and just don't want to go down that road. Hey, that's one more decision that I've made - thanks!

Most every person who vapes has an addiction to nicotine so we DO trade one for the other. It's just that "the other" doesn't kill you or include any of the rest of the bad stuff that analogs do. Here's another link to one of my posts that goes through the pros and cons of vaping. It's a bit long but very informative and quite convinceing me thinks. Hope it helps. So, if you're gonna have an addiction...vaping is the one to have.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-forum/154521-still-fence.html#post2516343

 

[Sal A. Manderletter]

Sal, good route to go... i love my 510... i know it's not the kind of juice that i'll use, but for others what juice did you get for $25 for 50ml?

I get it from Wasatch Vapor. They get it from Joyetech. Not sure if Joyetech makes it, or they have it made. I quite like it though. Is it OK to post a URL?

 

[jasonl34]

well at first refilling your own might seem difficult, but youll learn quickly when you have too much liquid in it or not enough. I started on cartridges but im probably going to make the switch to something where i dont have to keep adding a drop all the time.

as far as juices, companies make it pretty easy and some will even just let you select your own ratio of pg and vg when you buy it. I personally buy from freedom smoke usa. Its a learning process, youll get the hang of it. keep reading and asking questions.

 

[Renro]

VapNfool, hi again,

You give me too much credit, but you are so helpful and kind that I can't fault you. I did research the Leo, but it seems that they are having trouble with atomizers and batteries? The other options you gave me - and let me tell you, your recommendation goes a long way in boosting my confidence to buy- are still under investigation. I just found out today that the liquid nicotine isn't sold in a stand alone pure form but mixed with the base, which is an enormous relief to me and virtually vanguished my e-juice concerns. Thanks for your continued support and encouragement.

 

[Renro]

well at first refilling your own might seem difficult, but youll learn quickly when you have too much liquid in it or not enough. I started on cartridges but im probably going to make the switch to something where i dont have to keep adding a drop all the time.

as far as juices, companies make it pretty easy and some will even just let you select your own ratio of pg and vg when you buy it. I personally buy from freedom smoke usa. Its a learning process, youll get the hang of it. keep reading and asking questions.

jasonl34, hi. Thanks for your encouragement. It helps to hear from others and their personal experiences. Not to sound totally ignorant (i am) but what do you mean by switching to something that you don't have to keep adding drops?

 

[Airbrusher]

Hi Renro,
I saw that you mentioned this earlier but I wanted to solidify this for you from someone who has experienced this himself. Keep extra batteries and cartos on hand and an extra charger or two. Doesn't matter if they are prefilled or blank. This is one of those things that will trip up your journey from analogs. Remember you are still a nicotine addict. If you have dead batteries or waiting on one to charge and you have a nic fit... you will find yourself in a vulnerable spot. I have been analog free now for 2 months but earlier on I had my own set backs when I was out of juice or because I only had one battery that came in the starting kit I had bought (I too came form a 808 but went to 510). You will buying your own insurance to being completely analog free if you take these measures. Stay with it and we are all proud of you.

AB

 

[Tara M. Lang Hollo]

Hello, All!

I'm totally new to vaping and was quite a bit overwhelmed with the amout of information to be found here at ECF. I was reading through tons of posts and replies and was super happy to see that VapNfool posted photos of different e-cigs. (I must be scatterbrained at 2a because, for the life of me, I couldn't remember which one I bought.) I had a 510 kit when I initially tried to use the e-cigs but I wasn't as comitted to quitting at the time. When I became completely serious about ditching the analogs, I talked to a couple here in town who sell the kits and juice (thanks M & B!!) and they set me up with a Riva. I LOVE it!!

I never thought I'd be able to give up cigarettes! To be completely honest, I have bought a total of 4 packs this month and was really feeling guilty about it. That's got to be a good sign, eh? I think so...especially considering I was smoking a pack to a pack and a half a day.

I know I'm rambling on but I'm so happy to my friends for helping me out and to this forum for finding answers to my plethora of questions!

 

[VapNfool]

Renro - You are MORE than welcome! Glad to help. I haven't heard of the Leo's problems but I'm not on top of all the info that comes out each day on every e-cig. More investigation will be required. One thing to note about the Leo is that the attys it uses are proprietary. Though the unit seems to work well...I'l always leery of proprietary gear. IMHO, if you want to go the "slim" route...the KR808 is by far the best over the 510 stuff for these reasons:

- 2-piece vs 3
- Convenience of cartomizers
- Longer battery life
- True 3.7 volt vaping
- Higher ohm rating in the 808 cartos for use with higher voltage mods

You WILL NOT be sorry with an 808 (as I said I recommend the VaporKing).


Now,if you wanna go bigger batty without going nuts on mods...this is a bit tougher since there are quite a few that are great. If HAD to choose one, I'd prolly go with the INferno since it seems to have the best bang for the buck starter kit. That extra 1000mah batty in the kit is really nice. Plus, they look really slick too.

Finally, IF you wanna go nuts on a really badass PV rig, I'd get a VV device (variable voltage). These are the wave of the future in PVs handsdown BUT they are quite pricey...around $200.00 and up not including accessories. These are truly innovative in that they allow the user to adjust the voltage the unit is putting out to customize the vaping experience depending on various factors such as atomizer/cartomizer resistance and the type of juice. They also allow the user to get readings on all sorts of electronic data from the unit on a slew of things from the current atty ohms to remaining battery charge. Truly wicked devices! The three contenders right now are:

ProVari - Matter of fact, I just ordered one of these yesterday to add to my stable of PVs. You can check a post I did on it here: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/general-e-smoking-discussion/155316-pulled-big-batty-trigger.html#post2534044

Darwin - NebulaBrot gives a great review on this unit here: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/electronic-cigarette-reviews/151628-darwin-evolvapor-com-my-overview-first-impressions-newest-pre-production-prototype.html

Eclipse - This one is BRAND NEW and isn't available to the publi just yet but looks promising. It has a built-in juice feeder! The Eclipse eq Personal Vaporizer (Patent Pending) [The Eclipse eq] - $0.00 | Best Electric Cigarette | Electronic Cigarette


Anyhooo..my $0.02. Hope this helps and good luck with whatever you decide to go with. I'm sure you'll be pleased after all the info you're getting on ECF.

 

[VapNfool]

Renro...jason is prolly referring to either:
1. "Dripping" - dripping a few drops of fluid right into the mouth piece ("drip-tip") which drips down right onto the atomizer. You press the button, the battery fires the atomizer, it gets really hot and vaporizes the fluid that you dripped on it. This requires continuous "dripping" into the tip every so often since only a few drops can be dripped in (so you don't flood the atty). Vapes per/drip can vary of course but generally, you can get about...oh...8-15 vapes on 3-4 drips. Dripping is awesome though because it provides SUPERIOR vapor, flavor, and throat hit over using cartridges or cartomizers but it is less convenient.

2. Using 3-piece systems system with cartridges. This requires changing cartridges or refilling them as you vape since they don't hold very much juice like the cartomizers do (e.g. KR808).

Hope this explained what you were looking for.

 

[Marverel]

Hi there

IMHO, if you want to go the "slim" route...the KR808 is by far the best over the 510 stuff for these reasons:

- 2-piece vs 3
- Convenience of cartomizers
- Longer battery life
- True 3.7 volt vaping
- Higher ohm rating in the 808 cartos for use with higher voltage mods

You WILL NOT be sorry with an 808

I second your opinions on the KR808 Cartos. Super easy refilling, good taste and vapor production. I don't have any 808 batteries though, I use the cartos with a 510-808-adapter. So far they're the only cartos that worked for me on the 5V GLV2. Strange thing is: The regular 808 cartos work better than the High Voltage ones (get a burnt taste from of the HVs every few puffs)

I think I gotta get myself an auto 808 battery some day, just for testing.

 

[Shining]

Hi Shining,
And thanks! You are very encouraging. . . so are you happy with what you got?

Yes very happy!! Filling carts is so easy and allows choices in juice. It's become a routine to charge batteries in the evening and refill carts for the next day. When I get up everything is ready to go for the day

 

[Renro]

Hiya Renro! Welcome to ECF. Well...you asked for it! So, here we go!!

You may certainly want to stay with what you have but here is some info on other options that you may want to look into.

You really have two basic choices from where you sit. Stay with a "slim line" ecig like the one you have or move to a big battery solution. Let's look at these two options

SLIM LINE - Right now, I use a VaporKing from V4L Vapor4Life-Because it's your life - E-Cigarettes/Smoking Alternativesand I am VERY happy with it. This unit uses what is known as a KR808D-1 battery. You will find this same battery marketed by different vendors on the web but the VaporKing is the one from VaporForLife. You can get various starter kits from V4L or just piece together the items you want to build your own kit. They have an assortment of battery colors and the "jewel" and "camo-stealth" batteries too. They also have a ton of flavors to choose from. You can get these in an automatic or manual battery styles. With an auto battery, you just put it to your mouth and pull like you would an analog (cigarette). With a manual battery, you do the same but they have a little button that you hold down as you pull. This button activates the battery to fire the atomizer in the cartomizer. The autos are no-hassle and convenient. The manuals give a bit better vapor and may last a bit longer. Anyhooo, here's the kit I bought that comes with everything:

V4L IS PROUD TO PRESENT:
THE ULTIMATE ULTIMATUM VAPOR KING KIT WITH PORTABLE CHARGING CASE
2 Automatic Batteries
1 USB Passthrough
1 Portable Charging Case
1 Carrying Case-Your choice of Color
1 VK USB Charger
1 VK Wall Charger
1 VK Car Adapter
1 BOX OF 5 VK CARTOMIZERS- Choose one Flavor/Strength

There are other starter kits as well for less money depending on what you want to begin with. Anyway, I highly recommend the VaporKing. One great thing about the KR808 is that is is a 2-piece unit...the battery and the cartomizer. NOTE: A cartomizer is simply an atomizer that is built-in to a cartridge (the part that holds the liquid). A 2-piece unit like the VaporKing is very easy and convenient to use obviously becasue there are only two pieces. You screw a cartomizer on and you're vaping! Another advantage is that you can simply screw one flavored carto on, vape it awhile, then take it off and screw another flavor on. These cartos are also disposable when they run dry but you can also refill them if you want to keep using them and save money (which I recommend). Just get some e-juice and refill them yourself. This is the way to go because it is MUCH cheaper to clean and refill your cartomizers. I even buy blanks and fill them up myself. Don't worry, there are plenty of YouTube videos out there that show you step-by-step how to clean and refill a carto. For example, here are two of them:

YouTube - Care and Feeding of Cartomizers Part 1

YouTube - Care And Feeding of Cartomizers Part 2

It's really very easy to do so don't worry about it. After you do it even one time, you'll get the hang of it.

The other popular model is any of the 510 stuff. These are basically the same as the 808 but the threads on the battery are different. There is one more major difference though...the 510s typically are 3-piece units (battery, atomizer, and cartridge). These do not have the atomizer buitl-in to the cartridge so they have one more piece than the 808s and you have to buy new atomizers and cartridegs separately. These are very good units too though and LOTS of people use them are are very pleased. It's a matter of preference. From what you posted though, it sounds like the 808 will be more suitable to your needs. In any case the Joye 510 or the Volcano Magma are good choices if you want a 510 unit. Here's the Joye 510 from Joye 510, Joye eGo, Electronic Cigarettes, Personal Vaporizer, E-Liquid Smoke Juice in a basic starter kit format:

The Joye 510 Starter Kit comes complete with the following:

(1) Instruction Manual
(2) JOYE 510 Atomizers
(2) Batteries
(1) Joye 510 Standard Charger
(5) Free Prefilled Cartridges (Type/Color dependent on availability)

And here's the Volcano Magma Deluxe Starter Kit:

The Deluxe kit includes:
(1) Gift Box
(2) M-Batteries
(1) M-Pack
(1) Atomizer
(1) Wall Charger
(1) USB Charger
(25) Cartridges in the strength and flavor of your choosing!


Now, about the big battery solutions. There are quite a few of these out there but basically, the most popular ones use either the 808 cartomizers or the 510 atomizer/cartridge setups but with much larger batteries. In truth, the 808s are more limited in the big battery arena and the go-to model if you want to use the 808 cartomizers is the PigCig from LeCig:

•(2) 650ma/H Batteries ( Black, Chrome or Gold finish* )
•(5) Pack of Mega Cartomizers 2.3 ohm (Available in Reds 16mg, Tobacco 16mg, Menthol 16mg and Blanks)
•(1) Cone
•(1) USB Rapid Charger
•(1) Wall Charger
•Instructions
•Gift Box
•Works with regular LeCig D1 and Vapriot Cartomizers as well! (Vapriot needs D1 to D2 Adaptors)

There are several 510 big battery versions such as the:

Volcano Inferno - Volcano Fine Electronic Cigarette...home of the best eCig

EGo - Joye 510, Joye eGo, Electronic Cigarettes, Personal Vaporizer, E-Liquid Smoke Juice

T-Rex - Buy E-Cigarette Kits, E-Liquid & Accessories online | Kingpincigs

Riva - VaporJunction.com

Leo - VaporJunction.com

Any of these units are quality items that will provide you with extended battery use. They are good choices if you want to carry one unit around with you and not have to carry other batteries or charge the batteries as often. These units do not look like a cigarette either so be aware of this as well.

As far as e-juice and nicotine levels go...you can buy cartomizers, cartridges, and bottles of juice in a variety of nicotine levels from many vendors. So, if you feel 16mg might be too much, try something around 12 or even 8. You can test these and find what's right for you. So, there you have some info that may be useful to you. Again, from what you have posted, I would recommend the VaporKing. I use it and it has performed very well for me. I have no complaints and the V4L customer servicce has been stellar for me. They even send me freebie stuff cartomizers, battery, etc.) each time I order something from them. I am going to get a big battery PV (personal vaporizer) too so that I have the best of both worlds but that is not a neccessity. I just want another option. You may not. It's up to you.

Hopefully, this will help you find what you're looking for in an e-cig. Also, I absolutely recommend that you read DonDaBoomVape's 6 part series on e-cigs here on ECF. It's a MUST read for anyone looking into the move to an e-cig. Very well-written and extremely informative. I recommend it heartily!

The ECF Library

Good luck to you and keep asking questions here on ECF. There are a TON of people are very willing annd able to help you!! VAPE ON AND ENJOY!!

I've come back to this so many times, I can't tell you. I wish I had my own little "sticky" area for quick access.