Brand new vaper in St. Louis

[Jaster]

Greetings ECF,

I just received my first kit yesterday (SI Volt) and I am really enjoying it. I haven't had a regular cig in almost 24 hours for the first time in 19 years. I harbor no illusions that I've had my last analog but I know that ecigs are perfect product for me to finally kick it. I have gained alot of information from this site and I cannot thank you enough. It has definitely helped me figure out what ecigs are and are not.

Though, I do have some super-noob questions for you all.

1.) I foresee myself upgrading to a clearomizer & bigger batt for home at some point but for now I am going to stick with cartos for simplicity & portability. However, I am having difficulty determining when cartos are dry, I just don't have any frame of reference for it. There was another post today about a burnt, nasty taste. I haven't yet experienced that yet but is that how you generally know it is toast? I am not overly worried about burning up the castos (I have plenty) but some guidance would be helpful.

2.) Right off the bat, the one thing I miss (well not miss, but it is missing) is the feeling of a lungful of smoke, not the throat hit. I am hoping to get some strategies to combat this. I started off with buying 18mg but I am thinking I should have bumped it up to 24mg. Do you think that would help or is it more poor technique by a noob?

Thanks in advance for your replies and, once again, this site has been invaluable to me.

 

[_more_]

If you need more nicotine then bump it up because that will help, imho

 

[NancyR]

First off Welcome to ECF,

Congrats on deciding to switch. You might want to give this a read as it can help proper inhalation technique. Also after you get your 5 posts in check out the MO forum, there are meets in your area. That will give you a chance to get together with other vapers and see whats what, and maybe try some different set ups.

Make sure you stay hydrated also. I know there was a post in new members yesterday where one of the peole was telling how many drops vers how many puffs, tho right now I am not finding it.

 

[Fiamma]

Your cartos should always be wet. Fill them until they look jellied on top of the filler, do not get any down the center air hole. If a first fill, let it sit a few minutes to soak down then check to see if you still see the jellied look on top. If not add more. I generally syringe fill mine to make sure they are totally saturated and to save time.

Top them off when the flavor drops off, you do not want to burn them. Cartos kept wet will last a lot longer than cartos vaped too close to dry.

I generally use cartos in tanks, but I do vape a few Kangers on a Helix or a Silver Bullet off and on. Have one on a Helix that is now 2 months old and still going strong.

 

[candicelwaters]

Welcome! I have been smoke free since 9/2/2011. I started with V2 and cartomizers. This worked ok for me until I found the 1100mAh EGO (KGO) and eGo Vision clearomizers (version 3). I got the Visions from Sweet-Vapes and they are rebuildable. So, you can rinse these out, which saves money. There are alot of videos on youtube showing how to clean these....also called stardusts. With the Kgo I can vape all day before I have to charge vs. the V2 every couple of hours. Good luck to you!!

 

[Jaster]

Thanks for the replies.

I guess it is a trial and error thing. I'm still trying to get the hang of it.

 

[Mroutlaw]

Greetings ECF,

I just received my first kit yesterday (SI Volt) and I am really enjoying it. I haven't had a regular cig in almost 24 hours for the first time in 19 years. I harbor no illusions that I've had my last analog but I know that ecigs are perfect product for me to finally kick it. I have gained alot of information from this site and I cannot thank you enough. It has definitely helped me figure out what ecigs are and are not.

Though, I do have some super-noob questions for you all.

1.) I foresee myself upgrading to a clearomizer & bigger batt for home at some point but for now I am going to stick with cartos for simplicity & portability. However, I am having difficulty determining when cartos are dry, I just don't have any frame of reference for it. There was another post today about a burnt, nasty taste. I haven't yet experienced that yet but is that how you generally know it is toast? I am not overly worried about burning up the castos (I have plenty) but some guidance would be helpful.

2.) Right off the bat, the one thing I miss (well not miss, but it is missing) is the feeling of a lungful of smoke, not the throat hit. I am hoping to get some strategies to combat this. I started off with buying 18mg but I am thinking I should have bumped it up to 24mg. Do you think that would help or is it more poor technique by a noob?

Thanks in advance for your replies and, once again, this site has been invaluable to me.

Welcome jester.

Hopefully I can help as a fellow volt owner. First, the cartos. Figuring out when your carto is empty or almost empty is a learning process. These are some of the hints though. Vapor production is way down, and/or very airy draw compared to normal. The best thing you can do is top them off once in a while throughout the day. Luckily, the smokeless image cartos don't burn nearly as easily as other ones because it is a horizontal bottom coil. I have several videos on YouTube about the volt and one of them shows the volt carto cut in half so that you can see what I'm talking about. If you do burn it badly, it's pretty much junk. Very hard to get rid of that taste.

Now, for vapor production. Smokeless image juice, while good for a hardware company, is 90-100% pg. Before anyone starts telling you otherwise, that is the main cause. It's not the gear. The SI batteries put out the same voltage as the kgo. A couple of things to do to increase your vapor. First, get some outside vendor juice and order it with a little more VG in it. I prefer 70%pg/30% vg. That gives you enough vg to give nice clouds of vapor without muting the flavor and throat hit. Some people like 50/50. Remember though, vg will give you more vapor, but it also mutes throat hit from the nicotine and mutes flavor. As you vape more, throat hit will be less important to you, but it is usually very important when we first get off analogs since we are used to it. The other thing you can do is switch to bottom coil ce3's from the cartos. Almost all my videos show the ce3 on a volt because I love them so much. Cartomizers can mute the flavor and vapor production a little because of the filler. You get a lot more vapor on the 2.6-2.8ohm bottom coil ce3 than you will get on a 2.6-2.8ohm carto. Smokeless image is supposed to be getting them in today. I believe they will be $10 and then you can use the coupon YOURVOLT00 for 15% off. The are a little longer than a cartomizer, but hold 50% more juice, you can see how much is in them and they last 3-4times longer. Plus you can clean them and change juices.

Lastly, for the larger battery. Smokeless image has you covered. When you are ready, they sell the x2. It is the same thing as a kgo but 808 threading. That means you can get the benefit of a kgo or ego, but be able to use all your cartos and clearos.

Here's a link to my YouTube thread so you can see all the videos. Hope they help

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC26Cs_xBdH-qswIi7qKE7BQ?feature=mhee




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[Mroutlaw]

Also, a good site for juice is Vapedudes. They have very good juice and great prices. You can order it with different amounts of vg and extra flavor.

They have two great coupons. The first is FBFREE and it will get you a free 10 ml bottle, shipping included. The other is VAPEDUDES and that will get you 40% off an order. They let you use both on the same order. So if you buy a 5 bottle pack and the free bottle, you can get 6, 10ml bottles for $18 shipping included


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[Jaster]

Thanks Mr Outlaw

It was actually one of your videos that convinced me to go with SI. Your videos have been very helpful and I had used that coupon on my first order.

Thanks for the advice on cartos. I figured it was something I'd have to figure out on my own, tho I'll probably burn up a carto or two. How can you tell when a carto has had too many refills? Does it not hold liquid anymore or does it taste bad? I am going to start refilling them today.

Also, I will definitely keep in mind what you said about the juice. I will probably stick with SI juice for now just to keep it simple. I don't want to jump in to the deep end just yet, there is a lot out there. I do have a question about the ce3 cartos. Do you know how many refills they can take and are they as portable as regular cartos? That seems like the way to go after I finish my current supply of cartos.

This is quite a new experience to me and I think I was trying to replicate analogs. I have gotten much more used to the sensation and I think I am vaping better now. Perhaps I should have waited until I had a couple more days under my belt before I posted.

Anyway, thanks again

 

[Mroutlaw]

Thanks Mr Outlaw
. How can you tell when a carto has had too many refills? Does it not hold liquid anymore or does it taste bad? I am going to start refilling them today.

There are a few clues. Number one, it will taste different possibly really bad. Number two, the draw will be very tight. (always make sure your battery is clean before tossing the carto, clogged air holes will also cause a tight draw), number three, it won't hold nearly as much liquid and you will have to refill it more. Lastly, very low or no vapor production at all.

Also, I will definitely keep in mind what you said about the juice. I will probably stick with SI juice for now just to keep it simple. I don't want to jump in to the deep end just yet, there is a lot out there. I do have a question about the ce3 cartos. Do you know how many refills they can take and are they as portable as regular cartos?

It won't hurt to order the free bottle though, you don't have to buy anything to get it.

As for the ce3, in my experience they last 2-3 times longer than the Carto. In the almost 2 months that I have been using them, I've only tossed 3 (I have 4 in circulation and I refill 2 of them 1-2 times a day). One I tossed because I cracked it, one I tossed just because it was a month old and I figured I got my use out if it, and one because the hole in the silicone ring got too big to hold the vacuum seal (I didn't know that you could buy spares). Oh and I lost one. Other than the one where I damaged the silicone ring, I have not had a leak yet. I take them to work and they get banged and tossed around.

You do have to be a little bit more gentle than with a cargo because you're dealing with a plastic tube instead of a metal one, however not like you would a lightbulb or an egg. The two will crack if you are too hard on it or step on it. All in all though I feel they are pretty durable.

 

[Jaster]

Thank you very much!

All of this has been extremely helpful.

 

[Bad Wolf]

Just wanted to say hi to a fellow St Louisian, Well I am right across the river from St Louis
You definitely came to the right place for answers.