Few questions on buying new.. everything Rda, coils, pods and mods

[mj79]

Well , I just went to our local vape shop and looked for a new coil for my Falcon, and maybe look at a new tank ( Sakerz ) or maybe a new mod kit in general as Im still using a smok alien, and Smoant battlestar mod lol. Both probably 5+ years old now. But anyways, was shocked to see how much the vape shop has changed in 2 years or so as I always ordered my juice as they didn't carry a lot that I wanted. All pods, pod mods, disposables and a handful of box mods .. where is all my cotton, coils, wire, for my RDAs, didnt even have any 18650s as my 6 year old sony vtc5s are about done ..

That being said.. I did end up buying a caliburn G ( not the g2, as it wasn't available ) and juice Head 25mg strawberry kiwi nic salt, then fell for rip trippers video for the GeekVape Aegis Hero, as he so highly recommended it ..

Using the juice head salt in both devices, I am actually very surprised that I'm getting much more/better flavor out of the caliburn, which is less wattage, with a smaller coil. Maybe i just need to break in the larger coil ( geek vape B series 0.6 ) for a tank or so?


which brings me to my next question.

At what point do you transition to freebase 6/12 MG vs using salts in a pod mod like the hero? The hero is obviously much more power, bigger coils , and you have the ability to inhale MUCH more vapor than the caliburn?

The caliburn i completely understand the salts, but the hero, or any other 40-60 watt "pod mod " is a different story, especially if I were to put in the 0.4 coil and vape at 40watts. In that case , it almost seems like a 6MG freebase would be better / safer especially if you vape a lot during the day.. If I was taking one big hit every hour , the 25 MG salt in the hero wouldn't bother me , but if Im taking a few good hits every 5 minutes.. Different story

Just wondering what you all think.


All that being said, lol

Is there a one stop shop in the USA to get things anymore, or is it kind of spread over different sites.

I live in Wisconsin ( if it matters for any vape mail issues )

I need

A new RDA ( currently still using a DROP )
Cotton
batteries
Good pre built coils ( I bought a coilology pack last year , but they all seem to OHM out to low when using them in pairs ( which I do in the drop RDA )


Which is odd as the 7 in 1 kit I have states each coil from between .21 and .36 ohms, which run in pairs should be about .1 to .18 (ish) ??


Thank you everyone for reading, Sorry it was so long, but there was alot on my mind

 

[MLEJ]

where is all my cotton, coils, wire, for my RDAs, didnt even have any 18650s as my 6 year old sony vtc5s are about done

The days of B&M vape shops carrying things like that are just about finished. Actually, the days of vape shops are just about finished, unless you're looking for hemp products. A good shop may order stuff for you; you'll probably pay a premium, though.

Maybe i just need to break in the larger coil ( geek vape B series 0.6 ) for a tank or so?

Maybe. In my limited experience, GV's coils are far from the best.

At what point do you transition to freebase 6/12 MG vs using salts in a pod mod like the hero?

Whenever you're ready. The right time is the time that works for you. As a general rule, high nic concentrations should never be used with low Ohm/high power coils in the first place. Different folks have different needs but 0.8 Ohms is the lowest most go w/ high nic e-liquids like your 25mg. Listen to your body and find what's right for you.

Is there a one stop shop in the USA to get things anymore, or is it kind of spread over different sites.

No one carries everything. Shopping around can be fun.

A new RDA

i'm not the best one for info on RDAs but HellVape's Dead Rabbit products seem popular. Others probably have their favorites.

Cotton

Lots of online vape vendors carry it. Some folks get it from Amazon and some from beauty supply shops like Sally. Make sure it's organic cotton because otherwise it will have been bleached.

batteries

18650BatteryStore, LiIonWholesale, IMRbatteries, Orbtronic. All .com's & all reputable.

Good pre built coils

CoilClout has a good rep.

they all seem to OHM out to low when using them in pairs

The Ohms get lower when you clip the leads. That maybe it but i'm no expert.

Good luck. If it didn't help, at least this bumped your post.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

If you want one-stop buying and not have to deal with signatures upon deliver, China is your best bet these days.

Fasttech.com
Sourcemore.com
3FVape.com
Healthcabin.net

There are more, but that should keep you busy for a while. All the above have expensive shipping compared to Fasttech, but fasttech requires more patience. After shipping is figured in, Fasttech is usually cheapest but not always and fasttech takes longer to ship. When buying from any chinese vendor, patience is always needed.

Chinese New Year is coming up so there will be sales/coupon codes but that also means you will wait 10+ more days for anything to ship.

But DO NOT use chinese vendors for batteries. Use USA based vendors from the following list

18650batterystore.com
IMRbatteries.com
Liionwholesale.com
Illumn.com

 

[mj79]

The days of B&M vape shops carrying things like that are just about finished. Actually, the days of vape shops are just about finished, unless you're looking for hemp products. A good shop may order stuff for you; you'll probably pay a premium, though.


Maybe. In my limited experience, GV's coils are far from the best.


Whenever you're ready. The right time is the time that works for you. As a general rule, high nic concentrations should never be used with low Ohm/high power coils in the first place. Different folks have different needs but 0.8 Ohms is the lowest most go w/ high nic e-liquids like your 25mg. Listen to your body and find what's right for you.


No one carries everything. Shopping around can be fun.


i'm not the best one for info on RDAs but HellVape's Dead Rabbit products seem popular. Others probably have their favorites.


Lots of online vape vendors carry it. Some folks get it from Amazon and some from beauty supply shops like Sally. Make sure it's organic cotton because otherwise it will have been bleached.


18650BatteryStore, LiIonWholesale, IMRbatteries, Orbtronic. All .com's & all reputable.


CoilClout has a good rep.


The Ohms get lower when you clip the leads. That maybe it but i'm no expert.

Good luck. If it didn't help, at least this bumped your post.

Much appreciated, lots of good info that I needed just to catch up on what's been happening.

I remember going to Direct vapor for alot of stuff and another site I can't remember , but not that's all changed I see..

Definitely going to get some batteries and coils for the RDA, and find a new mod kit as well

I am using the aegis hero ( .6 ohm coil on 25 watts ) with my 25 mg nic salt , but mainly just to see how it did...

I'll probably end up using the .4 at 35-40 watts and then just buying a 6mg freebase

 

[mj79]

If you want one-stop buying and not have to deal with signatures upon deliver, China is your best bet these days.

Fasttech.com
Sourcemore.com
3FVape.com
Healthcabin.net

There are more, but that should keep you busy for a while. All the above have expensive shipping compared to Fasttech, but fasttech requires more patience. After shipping is figured in, Fasttech is usually cheapest but not always and fasttech takes longer to ship. When buying from any chinese vendor, patience is always needed.

Chinese New Year is coming up so there will be sales/coupon codes but that also means you will wait 10+ more days for anything to ship.

Is that all it is? I just have to show an ID and sign for it? Seems like a much better option , opposed to ordering from China , unless I'm completely missing something?

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Is that all it is? I just have to show an ID and sign for it? Seems like a much better option , opposed to ordering from China , unless I'm completely missing something?

US based vape suppliers are using alternate carriers who can take just as long as china and you never know when they are going to deliver so you have no clue when to be there for delivery to sign for it. Some don't collect your signature (against federal law) but you have no idea who is and who isn't going to require signatures.

Also, Chinese vendors do not collect sales and vapor taxes and will ship to any state.

Lastly. for many states, vapor taxes can be significant. China doesn't collect those taxes, however you are still expected to be honest and report the purchase to your state and pay the taxes, usually within 30-60 days of purchase. But that's your call. Since they cannot collect sales data from Chinese companies, there's no way they could find out about the purchase. They can, however, demand sales data from US based companies, as I found out the hard way with cigarettes and had to pay thousands in unpaid taxes, interest in penalties.

Many US vapers have been buying vape from china for 10 years.

Also I made an edit to my previous post. Never buy li-ion batteries from china. Only buy li-ion batts from US vendors from the following list.

18650batterystore.com
IMRbatteries.com
Liionwholesale.com
Illumn.com

 

[BillW50]

They can, however, demand sales data from US based companies, as I found out the hard way with cigarettes and had to pay thousands in unpaid taxes, interest in penalties.

Geez... do they allow monthly payments at least until it is paid off? I always bought my cigs from the local grocery stores or gas stations. Sometimes I RYO and got the tobacco from a tobacco shop. Although I had been known to cross the state line on occasion.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Geez... do they allow monthly payments at least until it is paid off?

That was a long time ago so I don't remember. But I don't think that they offered any payment option - just pay in full by X date in order to avoid more interest and penalties.

I always bought my cigs from the local grocery stores or gas stations. Sometimes I RYO and got the tobacco from a tobacco shop. Although I had been known to cross the state line on occasion.

I was buying cigarettes online from Indian reservations to save money. After all the taxes and interest/penalties, I didn't save anything, saved very little, or actually spent more. Never calculated that.

 

[mj79]

US based vape suppliers are using alternate carriers who can take just as long as china and you never know when they are going to deliver so you have no clue when to be there for delivery to sign for it. Some don't collect your signature (against federal law) but you have no idea who is and who isn't going to require signatures.

Also, Chinese vendors do not collect sales and vapor taxes and will ship to any state.

Lastly. for many states, vapor taxes can be significant. China doesn't collect those taxes, however you are still expected to be honest and report the purchase to your state and pay the taxes, usually within 30-60 days of purchase. But that's your call. Since they cannot collect sales data from Chinese companies, there's no way they could find out about the purchase. They can, however, demand sales data from US based companies, as I found out the hard way with cigarettes and had to pay thousands in unpaid taxes, interest in penalties.

Many US vapers have been buying vape from china for 10 years.

Also I made an edit to my previous post. Never buy li-ion batteries from china. Only buy li-ion batts from US vendors from the following list.

18650batterystore.com
IMRbatteries.com
Liionwholesale.com
Illumn.com

Thanks again for the info.

Well maybe buying local at a much inflated price isn't such a bad thing lol.

They still have 18650s ( ohmlife v4 ) juices salts etc. But instead of the juice being $12 like online they're about $25-30 for a normal 100 ml of a good juice.

Any suggestions on a charger? I had a efest luc v4 that I got many years ago when I started vaping. It's now starting to act funny , so I don't know if it's the charger , my old batteries or maybe both?

But at $15-20 for a new one , it's time to just buy new , that said. Any suggestions? I only need a 2 battery charger

Another efest, Hohm tech school 4 bay, Nitecore?


Also even the bigger companies left like element vape, and zamplebox all use a 3rd party for delivering now?

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Any suggestions on a charger? I had a great luck v4 that I got many years ago when I started vaping. It's now starting to act funny , so I don't know if it's the charger , my old batteries or maybe both?

But at $15-20 for a new one , it's time to just buy new , that said. Any suggestions? I only need a 2 battery charger

The LUC chargers last forever. Get another LUC 4 or a LUC 2.

Efest LUC V2 2 Bay Battery Charger
Efest LUC V4 4 Bay LCD Battery Charger

Don't buy any other Efest models, just the LUCs. I hear everything else isn't very good. The LUCs cost a little more because they come with both AC and DC plugs while many other chargers don't come with any plugs, you have to buy separately or just plug into a USB power source, like the XTAR VC2 2 Bay Digital Battery Charger. Never owned one but vapers like it for an inexpensive 2-bay charger.

They still have 18650s ( ohmlife v4 )

Forget those rewrap brands. Go with OEM brands like Molicel, Samsung, Sony/Murata, etc.

Molicel P26A 18650 2600mAh 35A Battery

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Also even the bigger companies left like element vape, and zamplebox all use a 3rd party for delivering now?

Precisely the bigger companies as they are high profile.

Well maybe buying local at a much inflated price isn't such a bad thing lol.

Well, but then we've come full circle. You can buy locally if they have what you want or you are willing to vape on whatever they have.

...just went to our local vape shop...was shocked to see how much the vape shop has changed...All pods, pod mods, disposables and a handful of box mods .. where is all my cotton, coils, wire, for my RDAs, didnt even have any 18650s

 

[mj79]

I hear ya... I need everything , so it is a head scratcher ..

There's only a few specific juices I want to order , all the others I can get locally.

But as far as coils for the RDA , and batteries, cotton etc , I'll have to order. Mods I can definitely get locally as there isn't much price difference.

As far as Hohm tech batteries, I thought I read somewhere that mooch said they were not rebranded , but just showed very similar test results as other batteries?

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

List of Battery Tests | E-Cigarette Forum

 

[mj79]

Also!

Out local shops only have the efest ( lush?)

Not sure what the difference is but a few YouTube vids I've watched say there isn't much difference other than the display? Quality is still the same ? And comes with a normal charge cable without a brick...

So I'm lost lol

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

nah. If you want efest, LUC 2 and LUC 4 is the only option imho. Rest is junk from what I have read. My LUC chargers are now 6+ years old. They won't fit 21700 size batts, though. So if you want to charge anything longer than 18650 you should go with Xtar VC2 or VC4 if you want a decent cheap charger.

 

[mj79]

nah. If you want efest, LUC 2 and LUC 4 is the only option imho. Rest is junk from what I have read. My LUC chargers are now 6+ years old. They won't fit 21700 size batts, though. So if you want to charge anything longer than 18650 you should go with Xtar VC2 or VC4 if you want a decent cheap charger.

Finally had some time to do some shopping and grabbed a bunch of freemax onnix 2 pods systems as the coils in my opinion are just as good as a caliber and G, and you can turn off the fire button, but our local vape shop was clearancing them out for $12.50 so I bought a few more once I realized how good it was.. they also have the Uwell Aeglos , that is actually a pretty decent little pod mod was very good coils that was also on clearance for half off at $20..

Bought another Sakerz tank, and still have my falcon as well as two drop RDAs.. picked up some molicel 18650s I believe they were the 2600 milliamp ones, and a few pairs of 21700s ( from 18650 batteries store ) as well as a xstar VC4L , which is apparently the newer version of the VC4. I plan on getting a gaur-21, for some extra power and battery life throughout the day, as rda's drain 18650s quick..

Other than that, I think I'll grab another mod, and so far it's looking like a geek vape l200 or a lost vape Thelema quest.. so other than finding some good pre-built RDA coils I guess the only other thing I need is an RTA, and I should be set for quite a while

So I appreciate all the information from you and everyone else who posted.

Any suggestions on rtas or mods? Like I said it's pretty close between the three that I posted above but I'm also open to suggestions

 

[Coyote628]

As far as mods go, I have had the best experience with the voopo drag. Currently using the drag 3. It comes with the PNP tank and adapter or simply remove the adapter and screw in any 510 tank you like. Again, with that, I have used a fireluke 2 for the past couple years. For an RDA, someone did suggest a Dead Rabbit. Can't go wrong there either.

 

[rosesense]

I suggest looking on the classies here on ecf. You can find some good deals without paying a lot for shipping/signature etc.

 

[mj79]

I suggest looking on the classies here on ecf. You can find some good deals without paying a lot for shipping/signature etc.

I go thru element. Which from what I found has been the cheapest for mods tanks and coils. I don't live in a banned state, and shipping is free so I just have to pay for the $7 signature