Economic Vaper

[Samthejuicemane]

Things I've learned so far to save money on vaping equipment and juice:

Build your own coils- buying pre made coils usually ends up costing more because they only last at most a month, purchase a pack of kanthal wire and cotton and you will save more money over time.

Build a high ohm- using a sub-ohm build may give more vapor production and flavor, but ends up eating a lot of your juice. Sub-ohming with not a lot of knowledge and an unsafe device can give you a costly medical bill.

Buying large quantity of juice- online juice suppliers offer large quantity of juice for a higher ml per dollar, which may cost more up front but saves you money over time.

Ordering online- buying ecig products and juice online is usually cheaper and saves you gas money.

Most of these things take time and are less convient and don't appeal to every vaper, but you might as well save a few bucks where you can.

 

[englishmick]

With you on that lot. Then once you've got the equipment juice is going to be the main expense. I've been thinking about that lately and reading up about it. Once I figure out how to make protank coils I might give it a try. My first coil was a masterpiece, but I've made a dozen since then and the best I've managed is half way decent.

 

[alicewonderland]

you can save tons of $$$ on DIY, making your own ejuice as well =d, 10$-20$ for 250ml of unflavored nicotine eliquid (3-24mg). then concentrated flavoring additives are about 2-3$ per 10ml.

 

[Ryedan]

Yes, you've covered some goot points Sam. Get a small RTA or RDA, they last almost forever and can be re-coiled a lot of times. I say small because if you go with the bigger ones you'll probably need more power and then you're back to using more juice. Also buy a good quality mod. There are some pretty inexpensive mechanical mods out there, but you need to know which ones are good. Dependable regulated mods will cost more upfront, but there are some great bargains out there too.

Making your own juice is probably the biggest money saver. It should cost a few cents per ml, so 10 ml will cost say $0.30 - $0.40.

 

[440BB]

I find the equipment to be more like a vcr, while the liquid is like renting movies. The liquid cost is ongoing, and at about 8ml/day, DIY liquid costs about 40 cents a day versus about $4 per day for the vendor liquids I like. That saves about $1300 per year at my usage level. As I use heads that cost about a buck a piece, and about two per month, I can be pretty lazy about winding coils unless shortages arise.

 

[GinnyTx]

Thanks for the tips Sam...we're approaching the DIY and rebuilding at six months now since we quit smoking, so decreasing the "fiddle factor" and having a good love love love it vape has been important in success from quitting.


so learning what the tastes we like are...and reading reading reading and fiddling with the lil dripper and Russian (my future son in law lost parts to it..so it's gone) and being confident I know what I"m doing w/o blowing something up in our faces..time is approaching. I'm a "planner" so hopefully after the first of the year...it'll be DIY time, I'd like to be fully there by the first year after quitting.


and thanks to you all for helping us get there!!!

 

[alicewonderland]

I find the equipment to be more like a vcr

vcr? what is this vcr you speak of? is that a friend of the cassette?

 

[Susan~S]

vcr? what is this vcr you speak of? is that a friend of the cassette?

... or a friend of the 8-track!

 

[twgbonehead]

vcr? what is this vcr you speak of? is that a friend of the cassette?

No, the VCR was a natural evolution from the 8-track. It existed in the form of the BetaMax; the cost of players dropped from about $6000 to less than $500, while simultaneously their weight was reduced from several hundred pounds to only about 50 or so. The format died an abrupt death when laserdisks came on the scene.

ETA: Damnit, Susan!!!!!

 

[Signmaker]

One point on the low ohm/high ohm thing, it's not really that big of an impact. For the most part, watts = vapor, as long as your build is relatively efficient. For every unit of vapor you produce, you produce the correlating unit of nicotine.

This is commonly seen as people reduce their nicotine levels when they drip a particular juice; because the same time spent vaping consumes more juice, and ergo more nicotine.

So in the end, 3ml @ 10mg a day will give you the same amount of nic, whether it's delivered by a 1.8ohm clearomizer, or a 0.4ohm dripper. It's just that the clearomizer will take many more "puffs" to get there.

Higher efficiency would be easier to achieve with vaping technique. Holding a drag longer before exhaling will give the vapor more time to settle in the lungs, delivering a higher dose of nic. While no scientific measurements have ever been taken, Ketucky windage logic says holding a drag until there is no visible vapor on exhale will sharply increase the nicotine dose.

 

[George Ogilvie]

I'm real new at this so my recurring cost of juice and coils is less that $30 a month. Compare that to 1.5 PAD @ $9 @ a pack. I'm saving a s**t load of money. May have to look at a new bike

 

[alicewonderland]

orrrrr, perhaps spending that saved money on some sweet vape mods lol thats what ive been doing. even splurging on mods im still saving money cuz im just saving so much. i used to spend ~150-200$ a month on cigs. now dropping ~200$ on a nice mod and vape gear every few months seems like nothing in the big perspective

 

[Samthejuicemane]

Thanks for the replies! I would have included DIY liquid but I don't have much experience in that area and would not want to give advice about something I don't know a lot about lol.

 

[Grimwald]

Wait...you can save money vaping...who knew?

Seriously, I'm cheap...I mean really cheap. My wife says my clothes are a little dated (and she was being kind). I prefer to think that they will come back in style, some day. Once I found a good set-up (cheap evic easy), and build my own coils (cheap evods...ok and a Kayfun), and discovered I prefer unflavored liquid (can't get cheaper than that), I've fulfilled my destiny...so to speak.

 

[TheOdessa]

I buy in bulk from mtbakervapor.com as it gives me the biggest cost savings. I have on tap 236mL bottles of Maui Sunrise, Hawk Sauce, Wintergreen, and Spearmint. I have a ton of 30mL bottles too from sampling.

Buying in bulk is key, as with anything else. I am looking at doing my own juices. Nicotine and VG is cheap. MBV sells flavoring.

This is also why I like rebuilding. Kanthal and Japanese cotton is CHEAP! A coil lasts 2 months and a wick lasts 3-5 days. I have enough wicking and kanthal to last me YEARS and I spent.......$20? The biggest expense is juice.

OH AND NEW VAPE GEAR I MUST HAVE RELEASED IT SEEMS EVERY WEEK! <- This part is what happens when you get addicted to the hobby.

 

[TheOdessa]

Wait...you can save money vaping...who knew?

Seriously, I'm cheap...I mean really cheap. My wife says my clothes are a little dated (and she was being kind). I prefer to think that they will come back in style, some day. Once I found a good set-up (cheap evic easy), and build my own coils (cheap evods...ok and a Kayfun), and discovered I prefer unflavored liquid (can't get cheaper than that), I've fulfilled my destiny...so to speak.

I buy my clothing from wal-mart when it hits the $5 rack for shirts and my pants/shorts....don't get me started. I used to spend $5 a day on tobacco. It was really sad. This doesn't count my doctor visit bills to get refills on inhalers. I was so dumb.

 

[edyle]

Yes, you've covered some goot points Sam. Get a small RTA or RDA, they last almost forever and can be re-coiled a lot of times. I say small because if you go with the bigger ones you'll probably need more power and then you're back to using more juice. Also buy a good quality mod. There are some pretty inexpensive mechanical mods out there, but you need to know which ones are good. Dependable regulated mods will cost more upfront, but there are some great bargains out there too.

Making your own juice is probably the biggest money saver. It should cost a few cents per ml, so 10 ml will cost say $0.30 - $0.40.

No; I use 30mm rda's single coil; right now they are both 28 gauge 1.3 ohm; I also have a bigd on a flashevapor deck with 30 gauge 2.6ohm and they're all running at 10 watts.

the first thing having a big rda does for me is make it easy to recoil when the time comes with my fuzzy eyes;
same for rewicking- I don't even rewick most, I just rewick the short piece going through the coil!!

the second thing is all that space I more or less padd with cotton which acts as a crude tank of sorts. Come to think of it, I really could put in more juice in my 30mm magma than some people put in there mini tanks!

 

[edyle]

Thanks for the replies! I would have included DIY liquid but I don't have much experience in that area and would not want to give advice about something I don't know a lot about lol.

PG.


The simplest, cheapest eliquid is just plain simple PG.

If you have PG and an rda, you can juice up with PG, vape away, then add a drop or two of some fancy juice for taste.
When you're just drinking with friends you can just vape mostly the PG, and save the expensive juice for special occassions.

 

[HauntedMyst]

With you on that lot. Then once you've got the equipment juice is going to be the main expense. I've been thinking about that lately and reading up about it. Once I figure out how to make protank coils I might give it a try. My first coil was a masterpiece, but I've made a dozen since then and the best I've managed is half way decent.

People make DIY sound a lot more complicated than it is. Simple flavors like bubblegum blueberry are pretty easy. Start with 1/2 gum, 1/2 blueberry and adjust to taste. Even the nicotine and PG/VG is easy if you keep it easy. I mix everything at 10mg and use 100mg nicotine. That way the nic is just 10% of any amount I am mixing. What's difficult is figuring out how to make the same juice taste exactly the same no matter what the nic and having complicated flavors. Roar Vapor's juice blows my mind but I can't figure out the recipe for my favorite so I keep that one store bought for special occasions.

 

[edyle]

Well this is the right thread to mention this:

Don't forget to save on batteries!

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=392367&d=1417049375[img]
When I'm watching tv I screw the upper part of the vamo onto the wire/mod on the right;
when I'm going out I screw it onto the battery on the left;

(actually I don't actually do that anymore {but I could}, I use a separate vamo for mobile now.)