FRESH NOOB questions and ponderings - E-cig purchase imminent...

[winston000smith]

Hello All! What a fantastic forum you have!

I am turning 30 next month, and have smoked far too much baccy so far in life - and am adamant about switching to e-cigs for the sake of my health etc.

I've read a fair bit and have become more confused as a result - there are also some questions I've been unable to find an answer to anywhere. Both about devices and vaping itself. I'll cut to the chase, many thanks in advance if you can take the time to answer any of these.

Firstly vaping in general.

This will sound silly but, if are inhaling water vapour; is it a common problem for people to get "water on the lungs" from vaping? If not why not?

Do E-Liquids (esp. fruit flavours), contain artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame, Sorbitol etc? Are the ingredients printed on the bottle?

Is it possible to buy 0% nicotine E-liquids?

Secondly and more urgently "The right device for me":

Up until recently I was reasonably sold on the Ego-T, but then started reading posts featuring phrases like "leaking problems", "metallic taste", "hassle", "overrated" and so on. Now feel a bit put off. I was impressed by demos on youtube - the vapour production looks incredible and like you'd really feel it and taste it.

Having some experience of smoking fruit flavour tobacco through hookah pipes I will be looking to experiment with fruit flavours and the eGo T looked easy to refill. The position of the liquid right next to your mouth makes me apprehensive - is there any risk of drinking it?

I currently get through aprox. 3 - 5 king size rollies of rolling baccy per evening, unfiltered. Very rarely do I smoke during the day but that rule sometimes goes out the window on days off.

I have tried a friends cheap entry level e-cig and was reasonably impressed, but do not think it will be quite enough of an experience to ween me off various kinds of analogues. This got me looking at bigger models with better batteries and intrigued by the idea of flavoured e-liquid.

Despite the eGo-T being flung up as the "best" model, I am still concerned about the eGo-T tank coming off in my mouth and making a mess. Also bad tastes and inconsistent performance sounds like bad times!

Ultimately, I'm open minded and looking for a strong hit/taste/vapour production, versatile yet not too difficult reloading/refilling and if it has an LED on the end all the better (this condition can be disregarded if quality is at stake, but would be a lovely feature to have).

Thank you for taking the time to read this long and demanding first post, any suggestions will be much appreciated!

 

[Stef64]

Welcome to ECF.

First, when vaping you are not really inhaling water vapor. Juice is made out of propylene glycol and/or vegetable glycerin, nicotine and flavoring with maybe some small amount of water. I believe some juices are sweetened with artificial sweeteners (found in the flavoring), and I have not seen a list of ingredients on the bottle. You can vape juices containing 0-36 mg/ml of nicotine.

As far as the eGo-T, some people have had good experiences with them, but most report some problems with the tanks. If you like the eGo form factor, look into the KGo, Riva or the ePower. Combine them with a Boge or Smoktech cartomizer and you have a good, reliable beginner setup.

 

[rock_lobsterrr]

I would strongly recommend starting with an ego-t despite the negative things you've heard. It's a quality device. Don't worry about anything coming out in your mouth. The tank fits snugly into the atomizer. I loveeee my ego-t. Granted I've ditched the tanks for cartos but I still use it daily. Purchased mine back in Oct and just now finally getting into mods. It really is a great starter kit.

There is a LOT to learn and the ego will give you options later on. Im sure later on you will want to experiment with cartos, tanks, etc and the ego will allow all of this.

 

[sailorman]

You won't get water in the lungs. Not an issue. If anything, PG is a humectant, so it'll dehydrate you a little, especially when you first start, so drink lots of water.

Some e-liquids contain artificial sweeteners and/or flavors. They're generally the same flavors used in food production. Most ejuice vendors are pretty up front about ingredients and the info will be on the site, if not the bottle. You shouln't get any nasty surprises in that area.

It is definitely possible to buy 0 nic juice. Peruse some of the juice vendors and you'll see which ones do or don't have that option. A lot of people vape 0 nic jice.

As to what to buy, that's a complicated issue. You might want to nix the idea of the light. It's cool at first, but quickly wears off and interferes with "stealth" vaping. Also, most of the better e-cigs don't have it. When I started, I used a regular "cig-looking" Joye 510. The first replacement battery I got was ordered with NO light.

As for the rest, it depends on your budget. If you're pretty sure you'll be happy with vaping, my recommendation is to skip the entry level kits and the ego/vgo/riva/***go/ proprietary battery type sticks and get one of the mods. You're going to end up going there anyway. I only lasted a couple months before I sprung for a Baby Bullet. It's been fantastic now for nearly 2 years and had a 5v passthrough as well. You don't need to go whole hog and buy a Darwin or an Provari, but there are many high quality mods out there that take a single 3.7V lithium battery and are heads and tails better performing than any of the **gos that are, essentially, sealed batteries. In the long run, you'll save money. If you really like the **go's, at least get the one that takes separate batteries. Strong hits/taste/vapor is a funcion of many things. If the proper voltage is supplied and transferred, it's really up to the juice and the atomizer/carto. I'd be looking for reliability and build quality. In that respect, there are better choices than the **go. But again, it's going to depend on your budget. If you have $80-150 to spend, you'll be golden.

 

[sailorman]

One more thing. I don't want to sound like I'm slamming the **go e-cigs. I've never owned one and I've kind of lost track of their various reincarnations over the last year or so. But, in general, I'd stay away from anything the needs a "special" atty or connection or anything from the atty connection up. I know some models are like that. The Apollo is one. Buy an Apollo and you'll have to buy their cartos from then on out. The fact that an e-cig works best, or at all, with a particular atty or carto or cart or tank would be enough to put me off of it. I don't want to be dependent on a particular source for these items. If I have a 510 device, or an 810 or whatever, that's as much restriction as I'll tolerate. As for the **go's, I constantly see questions about their compatibility with other devices because of the cones they use. Sounds like a PITA to me. There's too much good hardware out there to be limited to something designed just for a particular PV or something I need adapters or special cones for.

 

[catalyst]

I'm new to vaping also. I am now using an ego-t and haven't had any problems. I think you will enjoy it right out of the box. Just remember to order some e-juice!

 

[acorn54]

people often lose sight of the practical reason for e cigarettes, that of getting off analogs
i just keep it simple with the 808 batteries. it is a two piece device, half is the battery the other half the cartomizer that holds the juice.
i have been using it.instead of analogs for the last six months.
the only vendor with quality equipment is vapor for life as far as the 808's and wow cartomizers are concerned
this is my personal experience

 

[sailorman]

people often lose sight of the practical reason for e cigarettes, that of getting off analogs
i just keep it simple with the 808 batteries. it is a two piece device, half is the battery the other half the cartomizer that holds the juice.
i have been using it.instead of analogs for the last six months.
the only vendor with quality equipment is vapor for life as far as the 808's and wow cartomizers are concerned
this is my personal experience

That's cool as long as you'll be satisfied with what you have right now forever. Otherwise, why bother? Flexibility doesn't necessarily mean complexity. Would you buy a car that you had to go to the mfg for tires or oil for? A PV is NOT necessarily a 2 piece item. What about atomizers for dripping? Tanks? CE2 cartos? Can you use all of those when you get tired of vaping burnt filler material or you'd like to experience a really clean vape? There are standardized sizes of battery connections and a whole lot of quality vendors for all of them. Personally, I'm glad that over the last 2 years I haven't been shackled to one vendor, no matter how good they are.

 

[winston000smith]

Many thanks to everyone for replying. Opinion seems varied.

There are still dilemmas-a-plenty. Having not found any uk retailers for the Kgo, I may go the eGo route for the sake of simplicity. While I've listened to Sailorman's advice, as a complete beginner the selection of mods and so on seems a bit confusing and until I get a starter kit it will be hard to know how I want to modify the device.

One thing I've been wondering; does it make a difference which retailer you buy from - e.g. Is a Janty device better quality than a Liberty Flights device?

Cheers All. I hope to join your numbers and kick the tobacco!

 

[wv2win]

I would steer clear of the ego-t for several reasons. For a new person, the tank system is harder to learn and tweek. Second, the ego is only 3.4 volts.

Better alternatives in the same category is the E-Power, Kgo or Riva. All of these are 3.7 volts and all come standard with a 1000+ mAh battery whereas ego's standard battery is only 650 mAh. Here are several well supported suppliers:

E-Power

KGO 1100 mAh 2 battery kit

e-Power

 

[dormouse]

If you get the Ego-T you can also buy some cartomizers which are what most people end up using.

Downsides of the Ego-T are the atomizers are expensive, and the wicks may need adjustment to somewhere betweeen leaking and burning taste. But it's ok to start on and some stick with the tanks - just get some cartomizers as back up (Boge 510 2 ohm are most popular).

Upside is the 5-click enable/disable on the batteries make them safer to pocket.

 

[nansc]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[kwalka]

Welcome,
I have been using the eGo T for about 4 weeks. I love it. I did ditch the tanks and attys right off the bat and went with dual coil cartomizers. I went from 2+ packs a day straight to all vaping 6 weeks ago and have not touched an analog, nor have I had any nasty cravings. I vape fairly heavy IMO, 24mg juice about 5-6mls per day. Its the best thing I ever done. After 15 yrs of smoking I found this a relatively easy transition. Just make sure to order lots of small different juices, and a few different compatible carts. Also make sure the vendor is an authorized Joye dealer, as not to get an overpriced knockoff.
Give it a shot! Is your life worth less than a hundred bucks?

 

[singu]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

I understand your dilemma about the ego. I was in the same place and didn't want any hassle with tanks and burnt taste, so i ordered the Lea and i'm loving it. No problem with the tank and flavour is great considering it's a tank.

 

[winston000smith]

Thanks All! After a lot of research, I've settled on the Joye Ego C, despite some warnings not to do so, the positive reports outweigh the negative (esp considering, statistically, most folks are more likely to post online about negative experiences than positive/average ones).

I tried a colleague's cheap £10 cig lookalike yesterday and was honestly quite impressed with it's similarity in taste and hit to an analogue. On that basis, I figure that this Ego thing will impress me more (albeit at 6x the price, with a learning curve) and kill my cravings.

There is a certain issue with the avbailability of some kit in the UK. The KGO etc I've had trouble finding here - Ego devices seem to have a lot of availability and it seems to be a strong brand, that coupled with the cheaper maintenance of the Ego C replacable atomizers and the versatility of trying cartos etc swayed me significantly towards the device. I figure I'll be a light vaper compared to some folks here so hopefully it will be enough. I'll grab some cartos and e-juices at the same time in case I need to adjust the device to my liking. I will buy a bigger battery if I need one.

Apologies to all the experts who've been waving their arms in the air saying "No!!! Don't do it!", we've all got to start somewhere so I guess I'll start here. Until I have tried a larger device it's hard to know what I like/dislike. Apologies in advance if it turns out to be a disaster and I come back for advice.

I will be going for a branded one rather than a clone, because as Kwalka rightly says, my life is worth more than a hundred bucks! I had a roll up earlier, it set me off coughing and I put it down in disgust - it's definitely time...

Cheers Guys! I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[nqabassist26]

Thanks All! After a lot of research, I've settled on the Joye Ego C, despite some warnings not to do so, the positive reports outweigh the negative (esp considering, statistically, most folks are more likely to post online about negative experiences than positive/average ones).

I tried a colleague's cheap £10 cig lookalike yesterday and was honestly quite impressed with it's similarity in taste and hit to an analogue. On that basis, I figure that this Ego thing will impress me more (albeit at 6x the price, with a learning curve) and kill my cravings.

There is a certain issue with the avbailability of some kit in the UK. The KGO etc I've had trouble finding here - Ego devices seem to have a lot of availability and it seems to be a strong brand, that coupled with the cheaper maintenance of the Ego C replacable atomizers and the versatility of trying cartos etc swayed me significantly towards the device. I figure I'll be a light vaper compared to some folks here so hopefully it will be enough. I'll grab some cartos and e-juices at the same time in case I need to adjust the device to my liking. I will buy a bigger battery if I need one.

Apologies to all the experts who've been waving their arms in the air saying "No!!! Don't do it!", we've all got to start somewhere so I guess I'll start here. Until I have tried a larger device it's hard to know what I like/dislike. Apologies in advance if it turns out to be a disaster and I come back for advice.

I will be going for a branded one rather than a clone, because as Kwalka rightly says, my life is worth more than a hundred bucks! I had a roll up earlier, it set me off coughing and I put it down in disgust - it's definitely time...

Cheers Guys! I'll let you know how I get on.

I think you'll be really happy with your choice, and in your case it was an educated decision that you put a lot of thought into.

Yes the Ego doesn't have the same power as the KGo, which is a bummer, but as you said, you can't seem to find one in the UK. It is still a fantastic device that has been proven to be reliable, and most importantly it has a 510 connection which allows you to get into the field of many other atty/carto/tank options. (510 connection is the most widely supported, I believe).

The real reason many try to steer you away from the Ego T or C isn't because of the device itself, but because it comes with a tank system based off an atomizer that has a sharp point at the top to poke a hole through the "tank". The system would be perfect if it was possible, but it has its downfalls, and after using my cousins for a while I can agree with the aforementioned complaints.

The replacement parts for the tank are pricey, and that's another complaint. That's another reason why cartomizers are usually recommended, they are cheaper and typically give better performance. At the end of the day however, an Ego is an Ego, it still has that 510 connection which allows you to use a huge magnitude of hardware available.

You'll find what you like through trial and error. I can attest, though, that you are making a good choice by getting an Ego as your starting device, and if the tank system works for you that's great, if it doesn't, cartos are about $1.50 a piece.

Glad you decided to join and become a vaper, best of luck to you bud.

 

[The Red Wolf]

Just one thing to remember, this might be your first device but it won't be your last. Most of us end up with a small fleet of devices that fit various moods / situations. I started with just a plain old Ego and still use it as a backup now and then. As you gain more experience with vaping, your tastes may grow and change in unexpected ways.

The short of it, sit back and enjoy the ride.

- Xeno