First post, introduction and a few questions

[Vapolith]

Greetings, all!

I used to be a regular smoker years ago. I finally quit cigarettes, but still smoked sweet cigars. Finally quit them for the most part back in 2004, but I have a few friends that come over every week and I usually smoke with one of them, cigarettes or sweet cigars. A friend at work was vaping and sparked my interest so I bought a starter kit from Smokeless Image and really enjoyed the experience.

So far I've tried their regular cartomizers, several of their clearomizers, and tonight their CE3s. I mostly stuck with the juice they sell, and ended up liking Ry4 and 555 the best, with NicQuid's biscotti rounding up the group.

Always the curious sort, I lurked around this forum and found a few people who really like Darth Vaper's juices, so I ordered some 555 and Ry4, both with extra flavor, but zero nicotine. Got them tonight and filled up a CE3 with their 555 and a drop of Koolio from Alt Cig to try and get a little throat hit. The Koolio didn't really add the throat hit I was hoping for, but more concerning was the bizarre, strikingly, non-tobacco like flavor, it tastes sort of soapy, that's the only word I can find to describe it. So I filled up another CE3 with just the 555 and no Koolio and it tasted the same without the coolness. Finally I tried some in a spare clearomizer, in case I was tasting the primer hits from the CE3, but the taste is the same, absolutely nothing like tobacco, nothing like Smokeless Image's 555, which tastes very tobacco-like to me.

I know taste is subjective, but DV's 555 tastes way off from what I expected. Could I have gotten a bad batch?

Another question: If a clearomizer starts to get that burnt taste can you use a syringe to salvage the remaining juice before tossing the clearomizer, or will it taste bad?

Thanks for any help. I really appreciate the wealth of information shared on this forum.

 

[Vapolith]

Wow! this forum moves fast! Probably shouldn't have posted this in the middle of the night.

 

[440BB]

The flavor can vary from one source to another, sometimes radically. You'll find that a lot of juces that get great reviews may not be to your liking at all - everyone's palate is different. Another factor may be the viscosity of the juice. Juice which has a 50% or more VG base may not wick very well, causing a burnt flavor from somewhat dry puffs.

The burning issue with your CE3 could be fixable or not. If the burning flavor has been there with any juices from the beginning, the coil may be wound a little too tight around the wicking, so liquid doesn't flow enough - not fixable. Another possibility is the the silicone cap over the wick is just a little too long, crushing the wick a bit and limiting liquid flow. You can use a paper clip in the top metal piece to gently rock the sleeve and pull it up a bit, being careful not to push it in too far so as not to hit the coil. That may help. If it does, remove the cap and trim off a tiny bit of the bottom.

If the CE3 was working fine initially, it may have just been some dry hits that caused this. As the wicks are silicone, they don't burn, so if you do a couple draws on the CE3 without power to make sure the sick gets wetter, you should be able to get rid of that flavor after a few puffs.

Worst case, you can simply pour the liquid out of the bad clearo into a new one and recover most of your juice without using a syringe. Good luck!

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Hi and welcome to ECF. Many custom made juices need to steep to allow the flavors to "marry" and certain odors to evacuate the mix.
Fast steep:
Shake and place bottle in hot tap water for 30 mins.
Shake and place in dark cupboard with cap off.
Next a.m. shake and place back in cupboard with cap off.
Next a.m. shake and vape.

Another question: If a clearomizer starts to get that burnt taste can you use a syringe to salvage the remaining juice before tossing the clearomizer, or will it taste bad?

That's usually an indication it needs to be cleaned- darker juices will foul up the head (wick+ coil) quickly. There's also juice gunk on the coil that you may need to burn off. Clearos are great but they do need to be maintained IMO.

 

[Vapolith]

Thanks! Good info!

 

[DaveP]

Time may improve soapy tasting juices. Steeping helps the components of the juice to mix at a molecular level and become one.

Sometimes a new head or a new clearo is the only thing that will restore that fresh flavor. I keep a bag full of SmokTech cartomizers around as well as a couple of Vivi Nova and Kanger T3 and Protanks for variance. There's always one that works better with certain juices.

Right now, I'm enjoying one of my favorite juices: Awesome Vapor Desert Tobacco. It's absolutely the best flavor I've found, although I'm a fan of certain Dekang juices, also. I like Dekang Tobacco, DK-Blend, and Dekang RY4. Your taste may vary, but there are lots of cigar flavored juices around, too. You might find one that matches your expectations. Sample packs are a good way to experience what's out there without spending a lot of money on full size bottles. Halo offers a good sample pack of tobacco juices. I like Torque56 (a good cigarette replacement) and Tribecca (RY4 type).

 

[Vapolith]

I'll let it steep then, thanks. I tried it with the Koolio in a ce3, then without the Koolio in another ce3, finally I tried in my new Kangertech E-smart Clearomizer, which unlike the ce3s, I could rinse out, thankfully.

Yes, sample packs are great. That's how I tried out all the Smokeless Image flavors.

It is amazing seeing all the varieties of gear, juices, etc. Haven't seen this much passion for modding since my foray into head-fi.org a few years back. Yeah, I spent way too much money then too. ;-)

Thanks again, all.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

I'll let it steep then, thanks. I tried it with the Koolio in a ce3, then without the Koolio in another ce3, finally I tried in my new Kangertech E-smart Clearomizer, which unlike the ce3s, I could rinse out, thankfully.

Yes, sample packs are great. That's how I tried out all the Smokeless Image flavors.

It is amazing seeing all the varieties of gear, juices, etc. Haven't seen this much passion for modding since my foray into head-fi.org a few years back. Yeah, I spent way too much money then too. ;-)

Thanks again, all.

You're welcome. Yeah the world of vaping is so very complex with new stuff being released all the time. Realize heat, light and air are the enemies of juice BUT for your purposes it is helpful in regards to steeping.

 

[DaveP]

After 3 years of trying stuff and settling down to a few it's all starting up again. There are good low cost variable voltage mods out there along with new tanks and various wicking schemes. I'm beginning to realize that the maturity of ecig hardware is going to result in full satisfaction with vaping for me.

Cartos used to be the ultimate vape for me but the new Kanger tanks are opening up a new taste and flavor that's closer to smoking than anything else I've tried outside of a brand new carto. That new carto taste only lasts 2 or 3 days, but the Kanger T3 has a much longer life in terms of flavor and vapor. I'm waiting for my Protank to appear in the mailbox today. USPS says "out for delivery".

Poor old postal carriers. Vapors are peeking out the window and waiting at the mailbox when they hear the sound of the mail truck. It reminds me of Pavlov's dogs!

 

[Vapolith]

I'm thinking about trying the ViVi NOVA with my SI X2, I really like the idea of being able to disassemble the clearomizer and replace parts, clean it more easily, etc. I'm just not sure if it will work with my auto X@, and I need to make sure I get the correct 510 to 808 adapter. I read of at least one person ordering one and it not working to connect the Nova to the X2.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

I'm thinking about trying the ViVi NOVA with my SI X2, I really like the idea of being able to disassemble the clearomizer and replace parts, clean it more easily, etc. I'm just not sure if it will work with my auto X@, and I need to make sure I get the correct 510 to 808 adapter. I read of at least one person ordering one and it not working to connect the Nova to the X2.

I've been using the Vivi Nova for 8+ months. Inexpensive and easy to maintain. Heads are lasting 10+ weeks WITH washing and dry burning. Make absolute sure you buy the genuine Vision Vivi Nova- knockoffs are problematic. As for an adapter for an auto 808 I believe Madvapes carries adapters that are not sealed and allow the auto battery air flow switch to operate.

 

[Vapolith]

I've been using the Vivi Nova for 8+ months. Inexpensive and easy to maintain. Heads are lasting 10+ weeks WITH washing and dry burning. Make absolute sure you buy the genuine Vision Vivi Nova- knockoffs are problematic. As for an adapter for an auto 808 I believe Madvapes carries adapters that are not sealed and allow the auto battery air flow switch to operate.

Excellent! I'll check out the adapters there. Thanks again!

Yeah, I've seen a bunch of the knockoffs so far.

This is what I was looking at: GotVapes VISION ViVi NOVA™ 3.5ml V2.5 REBUILDABLE TANK [gv-VIVINOVA-TANKV2.5] - $12.95 : GotVapes.com, E-cigarette Supplies - Atomizers Cartomizers Mods Juice and more

 

[DaveP]

I've experienced the original vs knockoff switcheroo a couple of times. You'd think that if it looked like the original and was made identical to the original it would work like the original. I was duped when people were out of Chinese parts due to the new year. I searched for people with parts in stock and ordered one Vivi Nova and a handful of heads from a site I hadn't used before.

Turns out that it was a Viva instead of a Vivi. My bad. It works, but has serious wicking issues. I've had to mod and adjust to get flavor. Lesson learned. I will verify in the future before purchasing. Some of the ad art is confusing. They will say "replacement heads for Vivi Nova". That doesn't mean Vision made them. If it was SmokTech, then they are probably fine but I don't think they work on the Vision product due to thread and contact differences. All accounts say that the SmokTech look alike is fine but you have to buy parts that are made for the SmokTech.

 

[DaveP]

Excellent! I'll check out the adapters there. Thanks again!

Yeah, I've seen a bunch of the knockoffs so far.

This is what I was looking at: GotVapes VISION ViVi NOVA™ 3.5ml V2.5 REBUILDABLE TANK [gv-VIVINOVA-TANKV2.5] - $12.95 : GotVapes.com, E-cigarette Supplies - Atomizers Cartomizers Mods Juice and more

Those are the real thing. I ordered my first one from GotVapes and it came in a Vision logo branded box with a carved black foam insert. Most, if not all of the knockoffs come in a plastic bag.

I haven't tried the 3.5ml version, but some say you get better performance from the 2.5ml tank. It must be that the wicks are exposed better to the juice in a narrower tank.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

If buying heads here a comparison pic between knockoff and genuine- also shows where the ohms marking are:

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Agree with DaveP. If you're using the SI X2 the 3.5 ml is too large in diameter and is meant for larger Tube Mods. The 2.0/ 2,5 is a much better fit looks wise and I find gives a better vape.

 

[Vapolith]

If buying heads here a comparison pic between knockoff and genuine- also shows where the ohms marking are:

View attachment 208718

Yikes!

 

[Vapolith]

Agree with DaveP. If you're using the SI X2 the 3.5 ml is too large in diameter and is meant for larger Tube Mods. The 2.0/ 2,5 is a much better fit looks wise and I find gives a better vape.

Thanks, yeah, I see that now, and the issues with the 3.5 that Dave mentioned.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Yikes!

Basically if the Vendor is selling the Vision Vivi Nova they will advertise that fact.

 

[Vapolith]

Basically if the Vendor is selling the Vision Vivi Nova they will advertise that fact.

Good to know, thanks!