Best set-up for newbie refilling?

[MJTP]

Hey guys, I think I'm ready to try using a model of e-cig that allows me to use bottles of e-juice; it gives so many more flavors to choose from, and to be honest, it seems like no brands out there make reliable cartos - I'm constantly concerned with the health effects of breathing in burnt cotton when they come in dry. I'm personally looking for a setup that possibly has the least amount of burning materials possible? But I'm also looking for a price-friendly set-up. I plan on using vegetable-baded juices too, if that makes any difference - I seem to be allergic to non-VG's. I'm also concerned with things like dripping and leaking; it'd be nice to have a set-up where the company makes a lot of protective accesories and things.

Thanks!

 

[VikingQueen]

I'm all about the easy (which sounds bad). I have been using Evods and ProTanks (made by Kanger) as well as iClear 30s. All are super easy to fill. I haven't changed the wicks on the 30's yet, but I have changed the heads on the Evods and ProTanks and it was easy and stress free. Sometimes there is a dud, but nothing terrible.

 

[Levitys]

The Kanger Evod is one of my favorite tanks personally. They last forever, are super easy to refill and let's not forget they look badass.

 

[SpaceOut13]

thumbs up for the evod kanger tank also! easy to refill if you're not looking to spend time rebuilding your wick set up, just buy a new one and screw on when the taste of your e-juice isn't as pronounced. Now it might not be a newbie route but if you're looking to go the rebuildable route the wicks are stainless steel mesh so no fear off cotton to be burnt off, the tanks are bigger to hold more juice so you wont have to refill so often. Just do some research on how to rebuild them there are tons of videos on youtube on how to rebuild one. Genesis atomizer are what you're gonna be wanting.

 

[MJTP]

The only two things that worry me about the eVod is that some websites say that certain juices cause its plastic to crack or melt into the juice (!?!?!?) and that re-filling it is messy because you remove the innards from the bottom. Anyone know about this? I definately want a safe set-up. Wether its the risk of things leaking or cracking, pollutants in the vapor, or simply the risk of getting juice all over your hands or mouth (nicotine poisoning?), I'm super concerned. The bottom-wick design seems nice though, I'm also not wanting to worry all the time if my wick's soaked.

 

[Rickajho]

Easy? Any of the Kanger bottom coil clearo types - T3, ProTank etc. As long as there is liquid in there, and it's at the bottom (lol) they work without "burning".

 

[Rickajho]

The juice issue is true of any plastic device. You can't use a plastic anything with only certain groups of liquids - citrus flavors, cinnamon... If in doubt about a specific liquid give us a ask.

There is no real issue when refilling an Evod. There is a possibility that a small amount of liquid might come out the tip when you turn it upside down, but not an all over the place flooding accident. I just put a folded up paper towel over the tip when refilling any of these to catch the couple drops that may come out.

 

[mkbilbo]

The only two things that worry me about the eVod is that some websites say that certain juices cause its plastic to crack or melt into the juice (!?!?!?) and that re-filling it is messy because you remove the innards from the bottom. Anyone know about this? I definately want a safe set-up. Wether its the risk of things leaking or cracking, pollutants in the vapor, or simply the risk of getting juice all over your hands or mouth (nicotine poisoning?), I'm super concerned. The bottom-wick design seems nice though, I'm also not wanting to worry all the time if my wick's soaked.

Some juices can do that to just about any clearo. I believe (somebody else surely knows this better than I) citrus is the big culprit. It screws with the polycarbonate (the plastic). You can get metal instead of plastic in a number of cases if you want to vape those juices.

(There's a list around of the ones that can cause trouble but I haven't a clue where. There must not be just tons of them. I haven't paid much attention and haven't had a problem. Then again, I don't care much for too "citrusy" stuff. ).

Filling doesn't have to be "messy" with any of the clearos. If you're really worried about it, you can buy cheap "needle" caps. Like, oh, Mount Baker (among many) has some here: Blunt Needle Tip for dropper bottles. I use what's often called the "Stardust" style Visions (though, I swear, nobody really agrees on the names for the silly things) and the top narrows so I got some blunt tip needle tops so I could fill faster without getting juice down the middle air tube thing.

Uh... GotVapes has a side by side photo of the major types:



I use ones like the last on the right.

Though they don't show the Vivi Nova Mini. Here they are, on this page: GotVapes Vision Mini ViVi Nova. I have one and it works great, I didn't end up using them mainly because I just don't care for the kind of "barrel" shape. Your mileage may vary of course. I just like the tapered thing the Visions I'm using have. Just plain old I like the "look" of it on my battery.

The Vivis, though, you can get inexpensive metal tubes to replace the plastic type and changing that out is dead simple. If you're worried about a juice cracking the plastic that is.

...simply the risk of getting juice all over your hands or mouth (nicotine poisoning?)...

Meh. I've splashed juice, spilled juice, dripped juice. Slipped and spilled near half a bottle on the couch once. What you do is called, "wash your hands".

The level of nic in the commercially available premade juices is not high enough to that dangerous. Get it in your eyes, yeah, that's bad. And don't drink a bottle of e-juice. It won't be fun. But minor drips and drabs and spills, it's not "grab a hazmat suit" time. If it was, I'd be dead. I'm a bit of a klutz.

The truly risky stuff is super high nic some people use for mixing. There are some unholy high concentrates out there for sale but I ain't gonna. I've gotten into mixing my own liquids lately but I stick to ordinary levels. Like 18mg or 6mg. Not "instant death" level.

But the common, commercially available, regular juices? You'd really have to go out of your way to risk nicotine poisoning.

 

[MJTP]

So with all the research, I do like the concept of the Evod so far. I watched a tutorial on how to replace every part of it (wicking and coiling too) and I must say, geez, they make it easy. I'd be very glad to have this. However, what really concerns me is that they use silica wicks as the standard. I saw a thread about silica particles being in vapor and while it may or may not be true, silica doesn't seem to be organic. Wool didn't show this splintering and it's also a natural substance; sheep hair. But either way, I've always questioned how burning these materials is healthy. (I don't plan on replacing wicks really. I just don't have time for it.)

Number two is, finding a battery I like. I know nothing about resistence and power and all that. All I know is that I don't want my juice to burn nor do I want it to taste bad. I wouldn't mind a bit of variable power; is there a variable battery out there that only keeps in a safe range for all the general juices? I like dark juices myself, and I figure they're gonna need specifics to taste right and not burn.

 

[vicflo]

You arent burning anything. Which is kind of one of the main points of vaping as opposed to smoking. if you taste burning then there is something wrong. Wicks are essentially there to "wick" the ejuice to the coil where it is then heated therefore vaporizing it.

 

[MJTP]

Well, on all the tutorial videos, the silica wick seems charred when they replace it. A lot of it could be fried juice, but I just don't know... I had an extemely serious allergic reaction to an e-cig once, one that tastes like burnt metal/cotton, so I'm just cautious about this stuff. I don't wanna vape if there'll be some study 5 years down the line saying that these wicks or juices give off worse side effects than cigarettes; vaping sure takes its toll on my breathing faster than cigs do, if it's not the right stuff.

But that's why I'm gonna use as organic of juice as I can. About that, what advice is there about vaping dark VG juice? What type of battery (that can fit the eVOD clearo in some way, since that's what I'm looking at) would really be best if I am someone who wants to get good flavor and a strong hit? I'm not looking for anything hella expensive, and as long as I can feel the throat hit I'm pretty good (Blu doesn't cut it) but my plan is to have only one type of battery that I use. I'd like the rest to be down to whichever resistance I buy with the evod clearo, and whichever setting on the battery I use.

If that stuff isn't really needed for those that aren't perfectionists (I must say though that I want an enjoyable experience - I'm not really fond of cool, clear, wet-sock tasting vapor!!) then who knows, the whole eVod kit may be for me. I do have a patience for not-that-long battery life if that helps, and I do prefer small and sleek as I can get. But I do want something that'll get me a truly good, hearty vape. I had a little $10 e-cig once that produced an immense ton of warm vapor, the company was pretty known for it. Problem was all the carto's would taste fried almost immediately, and that was the brand I was allergic to, coincidently. Something was seriously burning in their cartos.

 

[Spazmelda]

I've never seen silica wick char. It does turn dark, but it's from the juices. Lots of times you can rinse the dark color out. If you torch it with a flame and rinse it off it looks clean. Silica has to get really hot to burn, and I think that it would melt rather than burn anyway (not sure about that).

 

[MJTP]

That's really good to know!

One thing about the Evod clearo's is that people say that if you had remove one of the wicks, that it has a higher chance of gurgling. Gurgling seems to be when the liquid gets in your mouth, but as someone who vapes with the device pointing down, would this juice go straight to the battery?

Also, I heard someone say that cinnimon is included in what juice not to put in plastic. I'm getting a little concerned about this plastic ordeal, as no telling what flavors are mixed together by companies - Cherry might have a bit of Lime in it for all who knows. Another user said theirs started tasting like melted plastic.

Gosh, just so tough to decide.

 

[Spazmelda]

Look at the protank then. It's glass. Then you don't have to worry about the plastic. They work pretty much the same as the evod.

 

[bleachboy]

Another big thumbs-up from me for the Kanger EVOD.

I started out as a noob with a plain-jane eGo with cartomizers. It just wasn't satisfying; it didn't produce enough vapor unless I drew on it for ages, and it just didn't feel like smoking a real cigarette.

So I updated to a variable voltage model (from Apollo) and the EVOD clearomizer. What a difference! I can now take just a regular puff and it vapes just like an analog. Love it.

I have had a problem only once with the EVOD gurgling and spitting. All I did was rinsed and cleaned and dried and blew everything out. Put it back together and it worked great.

I have never had a problem with anything deteriorating. But you know, if it can melt plastic I really don't want to put it in my lungs anyway.

 

[Jazzi Mike]

As long as you don't vape acidic juices, you should be alright. Personally, I'm not fond of vaping citrus, cinnamon or licorice flavors. Most ejuice is fine in the polycarbonate tanks that most clearomizers use. Beyond this, most juice vendors will warn against using a particular juice inside a PC tank if that juice will mess up your setup.

As far as something that is easy for a newbie, I think most clearomizers were built on the principal of ease of use. I do agree that Kanger evod, protank, or the M/T3s are good starting places for people new to vaping. They are solid clearomizers that last a good while and are easy to replace the head. I would recommend just using them the way they are when you first get them. While some people have had good luck taking out a flavor wick, etc..., being someone that is new to vaping, it may mess up your stuff if you are not careful/do not know what you are doing.

 

[440BB]

I think you may want to give both the regular top coil clearomizers and the Kanger T2 a try. With the updated longer wicks, they require no attention until they are almost empty. Another key benefit is ease of refilling - just unscrew the top and fill with liquid. With something between a 1.8 and 2.2 ohm head, on a 3.7 volt device, they perform very well.

 

[MJTP]

I just wish the little screw-on pre-filled cartomizers weren't all so faulty. Admittingly, I haven't tried every brand in the world, but with the ones I have, it's the simple fact that they always taste like burnt metal or plastic. They need new technology IMO. Otherwise, with those, as long as you do a "triple-puff" and exhale through the nose, the vapor from them has never been bad to me; they certainly give you a head buzz if you do it right. Certainly enough to keep me off of cigs; then again, I went from a pack a day to cold turkey overnight with no e-cigs for a month, and dived into e-cigs again because, simply put, I enjoy smoking something. So I want my e-cig set-up to be completely worry free, compleyely mess free (messes when filling or cleaning is generally fine), and completely health hazard free.

I guess the best question is; which battery should I really go with on this journey? If I'm looking to experiment with different clearomizers and tanks, which battery matches up good to a lot of the inventions out there? Which battery is best for someone who wants to lean toward dark tobacco VG juices? (I really want to find a flavor that reminds me of curing tobacco barns from the south, or a flavor that reminds me of all the complex smells of autumn at Pigeon Forge.) I think that searching out complex juices would be my one hobby with this, and I want a battery that'll suit that journey - simplicity counts, though!

 

[Cactus Breath]

...I guess the best question is; which battery should I really go with on this journey? If I'm looking to experiment with different clearomizers and tanks, which battery matches up good to a lot of the inventions out there? Which battery is best for someone who wants to lean toward dark tobacco VG juices? (I really want to find a flavor that reminds me of curing tobacco barns from the south, or a flavor that reminds me of all the complex smells of autumn at Pigeon Forge.) I think that searching out complex juices would be my one hobby with this, and I want a battery that'll suit that journey - simplicity counts, though!

For simplicity, usable voltages and universally fitting just about any juice device, the eGo Twist/Vision Spinner would be a great choice. I prefer the Spinner over the Twist because it has a longer battery life (1300 mAh vs. 1000 mAh), the voltage numbers/markings are much easier to read and the adjustment knob is easier to turn. The Spinner is slightly fatter, but the same length as a Twist.

 

[aerala]

I only started vaping 3 weeks ago, but I went kinda cray-cray, so I've tried a fair amount of gear and juice so far.
First I tried a generic "wickless" CE4, the kind with tiny holes in the center post where the wick is... hated it, but then again, I didn't know about steeping juice or priming, so mighta been my own fault (or the fault of vendors not including ANY instructions) for messing up the wick or maybe compromising the tank's integrity or just vaping the juice too soon.
Then I got 3 Kanger Evods, 2 of them work great so far, though I haven't even gotten through a whole ml on either yet. The third musta been a dud because it gurgled and leaked so much as to make it unusable.
Today I got a V2 Mop Head, which seems great so far, but I haven't vaped enough to have to deal with the wicks getting dry.
I have some Phoenix BCC XL cartos coming in the mail, which are supposed to be great, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

My advice after all that is to get several of whatever you try unless it is high end because there seems to be a major quality control problem in this area. Ever notice how no vendors give warranty on cartos or clearos?

ps. all these were on ego batteries, one 650 VV (not the twist though), and one 1100 joy-e upgrade.