Bought myself an e-cig and so naturally I registered here.

[Rayder]

Hey everyone, I'm Rayder. I just bought and e-cig called a Fuma Electronic Cigarette (...::: FUMA International LLC :::...). The starter pack came with one battery, one charging unit with aUSB dongle, one regular flavor and one menthol atomizer. This pack cost $35 (US). I also bought a refill pack of 5 atomizers for $15.

I made a slight mistake when I registered, I didn't give props to sirlordwhitman as the referrer, since it was his YT vid ( YouTube - FUMA electronic cigarette REVIEW ) that pointed me towards this site. If the mods could maybe correct this little oversight and properly credit him with a referral +1, that would be great. Not sure how important such things are here, but I like to give credit where credit is due.

His review is pretty spot-on with my experience thus far.

It's been about 3 hours now since I smoked a real cig. I'm going to see how long I can go without a real (or "analog", as I understand it to be called) cig and only smoke the e-cig and see how it goes. But the problem is, I normally smoke nearly 1.5 packs per day. One atomizer is supposed to be roughly one pack of smokes. A pack of 5 atomizers is $15. This will yield me 3-5 days supply at best. At this rate, the unfortunate reality is that it is cheaper to just keep smoking real cigs....health issues notwithstanding. I can get a 1lb bag of tobacco for under $20 and get over 2 cartons of smokes out of it. The same amount would cost me over $100 with e-cigs. There has to be a less expensive way to use e-cigs.

I've read around the web a bit and noticed that this FUMA e-cig looks identical to ones they call KR808D-1 and DSE901 models. Are these generally considered decent e-cig models? I mean, it seems good to me now, but I've only had it a couple hours, so it's too soon to really make an informed opinion. Is there a cheaper way to refill, or maybe buy refillable atomizers as opposed to just throwing used ones away when they die and paying $15 for 5 new ones all the time? Because that's gonna add up quick.

I'd like to use e-cigs as a way to eventually quit cigs altogether, but really need to cut down the cost of the refills to make it practical. Any good tips, tricks and/or links would be appreciated.

 

[Eddie.Willers]

My 2 cents worth, as a fellow noob...

1. Smoking roll-your-own will always be the cheapest way to smoke tobacco.
2. We use (or should) a PV/e-cig so we can get the nicotine WITHOUT all the other crap that burning tobacco produces-
3. One's first e-cig purchase may well be a disappointment - thank the lord for forums like this, eh?
4. Filling your own cartridges is more satisfying and allows YOU to control flavor and strength.

Hang in there - it gets better.

 

[DC2]

Hang in there - it gets better.

That's one thing about electronic cigarettes, it gets better ever day.
Well, it gets better every day as long as you keep learning.


After almost 22 months, it stopped getting better for me awhile back.
Because now I have exactly what I want and need.

 

[classwife]

Welcome Rayder ! Make sure you read the stickies ....tons of knowledge in them !!!!
Congratulations on the switch !!!

 

[DC2]

But the problem is, I normally smoke nearly 1.5 packs per day. One atomizer is supposed to be roughly one pack of smokes. A pack of 5 atomizers is $15. This will yield me 3-5 days supply at best. At this rate, the unfortunate reality is that it is cheaper to just keep smoking real cigs....health issues notwithstanding. I can get a 1lb bag of tobacco for under $20 and get over 2 cartons of smokes out of it. The same amount would cost me over $100 with e-cigs. There has to be a less expensive way to use e-cigs.

Oh, yes, definitely it can be much less expensive.
You need to refill your own cartridges/cartomizers to get the bang for the buck.

And it has the added benefit of opening up a world of options...
--You can get much better flavors
--You can get customized PG/VG ratios
--You can get the right nicotine strength juice for your needs

But if you REALLY want to reduce costs, you can make your own juice.
Then it gets really, really cheap.

 

[hearay1010]

$15 for a pack of 5 is a bit pricey. I usually place an order for 2 packs of blanks (5 in a pack) and several different juice flavors for about $30 and it lasts quite a while. I don't vape much during the day, but once I get home it's pretty constant. I use to only smoke about a pack or two a week so my supply would probably not last as long for you. I am pretty new to this, but in the short time I've been vaping I can already tell that I feel a ton better. I smoked a cigarette the other day while out shopping with my sister who smokes like a chimney and it tasted disgusting. I could taste all the chemicals.....it may have been in my head but whichever made me throw the cigarette out. Hang in there, you will probably enjoy vaping much more after more of your taste buds come back and you can breathe again.

 

[hearay1010]

one other thing.....i have noticed my carts seem to last a lot longer than expected. like where i've heard 1 is equal to about 200 puffs i think i'm getting much more out of that. i think you should at least try some blank carts and get some sample size juices to see if you like that better. freedom smokes usa is pretty good, the blanks are about $8 for a pack of 5 and the sample size juices are under $3 each.

 

[hairball]

Okay, first you refer to them as atomizers, proper term in a cartomizer. A cartomizer is an atomizer and filler combo. An atomizer is a heating element with a cartridge that you can remove. I have a new cartomizer (kr808d-1) if you would like it to see if it will fit your battery. I will send you a sample of juice also. I will shoot you a pm with my email so that I can get your mailing address if you'd like. Please let me know. I don't know how to tell what's what but I figure that this is a good way to try it.

EDIT: You are not allowing private messages. Go into your private message settings and allow them.

 

[HeatherBee]

Hi there, im newly registered too! My first purchase was a dissapointment. We are here now so we can learn the best methods and products

 

[hiram13pm]

Probably a KR808 (rebranded or knockoff). Anytime I see a site or a manufacturer making claims about "1 Cartomizer is equal to [X number] traditional cigarettes!", the alarm bells in my head start going off. They turn into air-raid sirens when said site fails to mention that the cartos (all cartos, in fact) can be refilled. $15 for a 5-pack? That's, um, a little steep... I get blank 510 cartos for $9/pack, and I can get them direct from China for $4.99 if I want to wait.

Assuming that this is, in fact, a KR808 or compatible, I highly suggest you check out Vapor4life. Their pre-filled cartos are $10.50 per 5-pack, and a 30ml bottle of juice is pretty damned cheap.

Going on personal experience and what appears to be the standard among other vapers here, expect to be using 3ml of juice per day, give or take. That's the average. It could be MUCH higher or MUCH lower, especially at first, but the majority of us seem to fall into the ~3ml range. I don't know about KR808 cartomizers, but a Boge LR carto for the 510 seems to hold about .7ml of juice (I haven't measured it, that's just a guesstimate.) Ergo, 5 fully-loaded cartos would be about a day's worth for me.

I measure my usage in milliliters of juice, though. At 3ml per day, a 30ml bottle of juice lasts me about a week and a half. The cartomizer lifespan is different. Cartos are semi-disposable; you can refill them, but only so many times. Eventually, the filling gets nasty, the coil gets hopelessly gunked-up or fries... and you toss it out. Lots of threads here deal with methods of extending carto life (different methods of cleaning, etc.). Don't worry about them right now; just save your dead cartos, as you may want to experiment with them later on. I find that a new cartomizer, used exclusively and "topped off" several times per day, will last me 4-7 days before flavor and/or vapor production falls off and becomes unusable (or at least something you wouldn't *want* to use).

I would immediately, like RIGHT NOW, order some juice to refill your cartos with. Running a carto when it's dry SEVERELY shortens it's lifespan; you want to keep them moist at all times. A dry carto often results in scorching the filler material, which gives you a nasty burnt taste from that point forward, and your carto may as well be tossed out. The cartos you have will last you quite some time (I could get by a month with 5 cartos), but only if you don't run them dry. Ever. Then you need to determine for sure if your unit is actually KR808 compatible, exactly what threading it uses if not, and find another supplier for cartos.

Just my 2 cents of advice. Good luck!

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

+1 for hiram....good post.

sas

 

[hiram13pm]

Thanks, SaS. I just realized that I'm only about 3 weeks from my 1-year mark! I'm almost at the point where even *I* think I might be giving good advice, lol. Now where is that "pre-veteran" thread....

 

[cookiebun]

Hi Rayder
Those cartomisers you got are very expensive. You can get blank cartos you can fill with juice of your own choosing from $6.95 to $9.00:
KR808d-1 Cartomizer : Cartridge Atomizer | Cigarette Cartridge Pack | Blank Cartomizer | Cigarette Cartridges
Boge Blank KR808 Soft Tip Cartomizers - Avid Vaper


Prefilled cartos (which don't taste very good, btw) can be bought for considerably less:
Vapor King - Premium eCigarette Cartomizers
The best line of KR808D style cartomizers ever: WOW! The ultimate in vaping!
Electronic Cigarette Cartomizers
Check out the forum suppliers here:
Forum Suppliers List
Lots of great deals on hardware and juice to be found there.

I have a kr808 as well and think it's great. I bought it from Vapor4life. I only bought it there because they let you chose the free cartos you get with the starter kit. If I didn't smoke menthol I could have saved a little money shopping somewhere else. Still, V4L is a good company with great service.
Welcome to the wonderful world of vaping.

Edit:
One more thing, they always say 1 cartomizer is like a whole pack of cigarettes. That's almost never the case. Someone who's never smoked probably dreamt that up. For most people 1 carto = 3 to 6 cigarettes

 

[hiram13pm]

I think that whole "one cartomizer equals a pack (or two; I've even seen three!!) of cigarettes" schtick comes from the total mg content of nicotine in the juice when comparing to a cig. Unfortunately, the absorption rate of vaping is far, far lower than actual smoking... so to get a cigarette's worth of nicotine, we have to vape multiples of that in juice.

Plus it's a handy marketing gimmick. Caveat Emptor, eh?

 

[mlinky]

Plus it ensures that you burn the cartos out and have to replace them at inflated prices, instead of refilling them

 

[Rayder]

Well, second day without a real cig. I think these carts have quite a bit of nicotine in them.....I get head rushes after 2 or 3 hits. Battery sure doesn't last long....only like 2 or 3 hours. Used up my first cart last night. Apparently, the one the cashier gave me was a Wild West flavor, same as the refills I bought. It doesn't taste bad, but not really like a cigarette either. Has a sort of appley kind of essence to it.

I think I'm going to try to find the standard full flavor refills. They call them Colonial or Columbian or something like that. Hopefully they taste a little better. I realise it is near impossible to find ones that do taste like real cigs, but it would be nice for it to at least be close in flavor. You know?

At this point, I think this will only be a test to determine if vaping is the way to go for me. Once I get a little more financially secure, I will look more closely at refilling the carts manually. I plan to get one more set of refills to try and last a full week. See how I feel after a week of not smoking real cigs.

EDIT: Oh wow! My e-cig is charging and I almost grabbed a real cig out of habit. Man! I wish I could just forget about smoking. So tired of being out of breath. I'm 43 and have been smoking since I was about 7.....my friend and I used to think it was cool and would go hide in the woods and smoke his Uncle's cigs. What idiots we were. If only I knew then what I know now......

 

[ShannonA]

Well, second day without a real cig. I think these carts have quite a bit of nicotine in them.....I get head rushes after 2 or 3 hits. Battery sure doesn't last long....only like 2 or 3 hours. Used up my first cart last night. Apparently, the one the cashier gave me was a Wild West flavor, same as the refills I bought. It doesn't taste bad, but not really like a cigarette either. Has a sort of appley kind of essence to it.

I think I'm going to try to find the standard full flavor refills. They call them Colonial or Columbian or something like that. Hopefully they taste a little better. I realise it is near impossible to find ones that do taste like real cigs, but it would be nice for it to at least be close in flavor. You know?

At this point, I think this will only be a test to determine if vaping is the way to go for me. Once I get a little more financially secure, I will look more closely at refilling the carts manually. I plan to get one more set of refills to try and last a full week. See how I feel after a week of not smoking real cigs.

Definitely if you decide you want to vape refill your own carts or you can even drip (do a forum search on dripping to find out more about it) lots of us prefer to drip... lots of us don't like dripping... there are plenty of options to choose from.

Don't get too set on finding a cart (or liquid) that tastes JUST like a cig. They're really rare although if you like Black and Milds I can recommend one that's pretty much dead on. It's better just to find a flavor you like (not too heavy, not too light, not too sweet and so on).

The one I like best so far doesn't have much taste at all just a hint of sweet on the exhale but like cream not sugar.

Good luck I hope you come to like vaping you'll feel much better if you can give up the smokes.

 

[Rayder]

OK, so this FUMA e-cig's part number is: FISKD1-M
The Wild West flavor refills don't seem to have any part number to them.

From what looking around I've done so far, it resembles a KR808D-1 and/or DSE901 models (pics I've seen look identical). What brands are generally associated with those model numbers? They don't appear to come apart to be refilled, looks like I'd have to rip them apart somehow to manually refill them.

 

[dormouse]

FISKD1-M is just a part number Fuma made up - hopefully it implies it is KR808D-1 and not KR808D-2 which is incompatible

If it came with cartomizers it is probably not a DSE901

Vapor4Life.com, Smoketip.com, Bloogplanet.com and plain KR808D-1

Take that person up on their offer to send you one KR808D-1 cartomizer because otherwise you would have to buy a pack. Get 2 more non-spam posts or replies in new members, then wait an hour, and you'll be able to post elsewhere or PM people.

 

[Rayder]

I must say that I am very impressed with the wealth of information found at this forum. I'm also impressed with everyone's tolerance level for people asking noob questions like me. Really, you guys have been extremely helpful. I really appreciate it.

My experience thus far is that vaping could very well replace smoking for me quite easily, but cost, availability and a lack of knowledge on the subject prevent me from maximizing the practicality of using an e-cig.

The complaints I have about the FUMA e-cig I'm using now....
Battery life is horrible. Only about 2.5 hours. I need the battery to last all day, or have multiple batteries. I can't be hassled with a dead battery all the time while I'm out.
Carts DO NOT last as long as the stated pack-per-cart would suggest. More like 5 cigs per cart. Wouldn't be so bad if they were refillable, but the ones I'm using are not. At the rate these FUMA packs are going, it's like paying $15 per pack of cigs.....and about 10-15 recharges during all that. It works nice and presents the illusion of hitting an analog well, but is very inefficient.

I need to get into a brand that has better battery life (I don't care if it looks like a cig or not) and refillable tips. As for flavor, roughly cigarette-like flavor (at least something sort of close) would be preferable to candy/fruit flavors.

Unfortunately, my situation is such that I have to go back to roll-your-own cigs for a bit. I'm going to explore this site in more detail once I get to a point where I can support my vaping more efficiently. It's just not financially viable for me at this moment. Until I can collect up all the sites for the cheapest supplies, and information I need to vape as a complete replacement to smoking, vaping will just be relegated to novelty status for the time being. I'm going to use the couple of tips I still have left to see what some of my friends think about it...maybe get them into vaping too. But I need to investigate the cheapest way to do it. I KNOW this site will be integral to that venture, it's just going to have to wait (and be investigated) a bit more.