Hardware and Its Affect On Flavor?

[RPGZealot]

Having (just about) made it through day one without an analog (it's been a beast, truth be told), I'm already thinking about getting more involved -- that is, if I'm really making the transition. For the purposes of these questions, I'll assume that I am.

Q1: Does hardware have a substantial affect on flavor?

I'm wondering, because, with the EVOD starter kit (+2 MPT2s) I'm using, I feel like the flavors of my juices have been muted, weak, or otherwise unsatisfactory. Could be the vendor, or me, but its impractical to just keep ordering sampler after sampler to see. So, I'm wondering if it's just this setup. People are always talking about VV/VWs (I still don't quite get it) and how the perfect settings are different for different juices. Maybe I just haven't found it the right method for me? I don't know. Oh, and I tried an atomozier for kicks and it not only kinda scares the crap out of me (it's leaky, it's hot, it clearly requires a level of finesse I'm void of) but it tastes even funkier than the clearomizers.

Q2: If the answer to Q1 is yes, then...

What's a reasonable step up? Should I just upgrade the battery? I'm confused. I tried to read up on things but people throw around makes and models and I just get more confused. It took me two days of reading just to decide on the EVOD kit. I actually felt melted brain dripping out my ear and considered a trip to the ER.



Q3: If the answer to Q1 is no, then...

Am I some sort of tasteless mutant? Is it the juice, mayhaps? I've tried a few vendors now with all sorts of flavors and/or PG/VG ratios. It's either sickly sweet and cloying or muted to the point where I swear I'm just tasting the PG/VG itself. Not necessarily true, but that's what the (un)flavor seems like.


Thanks for any help/insight. I'm hoping that someone has had similar issues and can let me know what did/did not work for them.

 

[State O' Flux]

Q2: If the answer to Q1 is yes, then...

What's a reasonable step up? Should I just upgrade the battery? I'm confused. I tried to read up on things but people throw around makes and models and I just get more confused. It took me two days of reading just to decide on the EVOD kit. I actually felt melted brain dripping out my ear and considered a trip to the ER.

Let's try not to overthink this, OK Zealot. ;-)

VV-VW APVs can be advantageous if you use a variety of attys with a variety of resistances. If you settle on one atty, one resistance, even then, some APVs deliver voltage more, ah... for lack of a better word selection, more "cleanly and evenly".
Even if you do only use one atty with one resistance... do you use only one juice? VV and/or VW will allow you to compensate for variables there.

I'd start with a Innokin iTaste VV-VW APVs... from $35 to $70 at discounted prices. Want to drop some cash... Provari, Svoe Mesto Semovar, Fluid Cyborg and NexGen Futura.

 

[Jayvaps]

A couple of things to note.

First and foremost. It sounds like you just quit smoking. That can have a dramatic effect onyour taste buds. Smoking damages them. And it can take some time before they heal after quitting. That could be part of your problem.

But yes, hardware can have a significant impact on flavor. I can certainly reccomed 'what worked for me' but keep in mind you maybe different. As flux said, an MVP by innokin is a good starting place for a 'step up'. Same with its little brother the itaste vv/vw3. Either one would come with some type of top coil clearomizer. I liked them and still do over the evods. The evods coils are on the bottom and...to me...they muted the flavors. I tried lots of devices before I settled on the innokin iclear 16 and 30 line. Again, those clearos would come included with most kits of the MVP or itaste3. I prefer cartotanks even more now, but I don't want to really confuse you.

As far as why variable voltage or variable wattage. Well, again, everyone is a bit different. And some prefer a hotter vape, some don't. Sometimes different juices taste differently at different levels, sometimes they don't. I certainly can tell when my setting are outside the area I prefer. I have found my desired area, but everyone is different, and these devices allow for one to customize these settings to their own prefered setting.


Good luck!

 

[ShariR]

Hi and welcome to ECF. Those first few days to a week or so can be tough. The kit you have is a pretty basic starter kit. That is going to buy you time to pick up something better that will satisfy you for a longer term. Believe me, what you have now is a lot better than what a lot of new people start vaping on when first trying to quit smoking.

Of course there are a hundred different things people can suggest you buy. Do you have a vape shop near you. It may be worth it to go to a shop where you can look at and hold a few devices and talk to someone who can show you how they work and explain it to you. I was on here for 2 weeks asking questions before I could decide what I was to buy. What I thought I wanted would never have worked.

You have a battery setup that has one voltage. Like a flashlight it is on or off. If you buy the MVP2 that will give you variable voltage and variable wattage (vv/vw) which will allow you to 'dial in' your taste. You can make the liquid be cooler or warmer, adjust the flavor. This is a help for many people. The Vision Spinner and Joytech Twist do the same thing, basically.

The topper that holds your juice is a bottom coil (Evod, T3). It heats the liquid from the bottom and so the vapor is cooler and some say more muted for some flavors. Some people like a warmer vapor. You may be one. There you need a top coil (iclear 16 or iclear 30).

This is a lot of info to absorb. Take your time. What flavors do you have? What is the nicotine level? What is the pg/vg ratio. These should be listed on the bottles. Post what you have and let's see if we can get you more taste from those juices. Do you have a vape shop near you?

Check out these two links for devices:

Innokin iTaste MVP V2.0 - 101 Vape
http://www.myvaporstore.com/Vision_Spinner_Joye_Ego_C_Twist_Combo_p/vvs-c.htm
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...discussion/304212-top-5-vendors-e-liquid.html

The Spinner 1300mah kit and Evods is what I quit with. I smoked 2 pad for 45 years. I quit 4 months ago with the spinners. So it can be done. And I am an old lady and I learned, took me time, but I eventually got it. It is confusing and overwhelming. Post and let us help you.

 

[BDUAres]

Hardware is equally as important as the liquid being vaped.

I use mechanical mods and VV/VW devices. I can take one of my tanks with a 2 ohm coil and place it on my Vamo and it will taste great at certain wattage. Then remove the tank and pop it on one of my mechs and it will barely have a taste at all. Being able to change the power going to the atty is a great advantage in both taste and throat hit.

But as I build my own coils I can also make coils less than 1.2 ohms, which a Vamo will not even fire, but with my mechs they are great.

I can also take the same tank off my Vamo and put it on my Provari and the taste will again change.

Each hardware variant has it's advantages and disadvantages. The trick is finding what you like, and getting the hardware made to give you that experience.

 

[djezewski]

I have 2 Vision Spinners. They are quite handy for me to put on a lanyard. The nice thing is fruit juices seem to burn much easier at a higher voltage than say tobaccos but so they come in really handy for adjusting so you do not burn your liquid. I also have a Vamo 3 and a Sigelei Telescoping. I like the Sigelei much better as it easier not to have to bother with changing the extension tubes for different size batteries. On the Vamo I am not very fond of the fact that you can not lock the up and down voltage or wattage so when you are vaping you can easily hit a wrong button and find you just got a nasty burn taste of juice as you hit the wrong button. DH has a Innokin SVT and it is harder to set. Of coarse I will have to learn all of those setings some as I have a VTR on the way. All of those give a great vape.

Bottom line on suggestion get a spinner for portability and get a VV/VW, there are may out there and there are many good deals out there on those.

 

[Baditude]

Everyone has given solid advice thus far. I agree that since you are new to vaping and recently quitting cigarettes, you likely have Vapor's Tongue (damaged taste buds). They'll eventually come back around, but the time varies greatly from one person to another. Drink plenty of water; this will help keep your mouth and throat moist as e-liquid bases (Pg & Vg) tend to dehydrate you and a dry mouth will adversely affect your ability to taste. Also exhale some of your vapor out of your nose, as your sense of smell has a lot to do with "tasting" your flavors.

Stronger flavors like menthols, mints, and cinnamon can help awaken your taste buds. (Be aware that some flavors such as cinnamon and citrus flavors can crack the plastic in clearomizers and tanks.)

Something Safe for Cinnamon & Citrus Flavors

We are experiencing a boom in variety of juice attachments. Top and bottom coiled clearos, single and dual coil clearos, single & dual coil cartomizers, cartotanks, dripping atomizers, RBAs & RDAs. Having such variety is a good thing as it offers more opportunities to find what can best work for you; but having so many choices is also confusing. Different flavors will taste best in different juice attachments.

Batteries can also affect flavors if you get into variable voltage. Few flavors will taste their absolute best at a fixed voltage; being able to use more or less voltage to affect the heat of the coil can have a marked difference in how different flavors taste.

Using the right resistance (ohms) of juice attachment can also affect flavor. For a single voltage battery, your options will be lower and standard resistance. For a variable voltage battery a high resistance attachment will offer a wider range of voltage to experiment with.

Clearomizers such as your Kanger Evod are usually suggested for novice vapors because they are easy to fill and use, but arguably mute some flavors. Many say a cartotank provides more flavor than a clearo, and even more say a drip atomizer provides the best unadulterated flavor since it uses no wick material to possibly alter the flavor. Consider yourself on a journey to discover what works best for you.

Proper Terminology: is it a carto, a tank, or what?

 

[RPGZealot]

Thanks everyone for the wealth of easy(er) to digest information.

I've been using 1.8 ohm coils with the kit's 3.7v 650mAh battery. It seems to produce a bit better than the 2.5's that came with it.

As far as the juices I've been using, they're all 18-24mg with a variety of PG/VG ratios (80/20, 65/35, 50/50) and flavors (fruit, tobacco, desserts, etc.). I must say, from what I can taste, I cannot handle sickly sweet flavors. I also can never tolerate cinnamon (that's just a general rule I live by ). So far, Peanut Butter/Butterscotch (savory) and Green Apple (fruity) have been my favorites.

I'm intrigued by the idea of top coils and warm(er?) hits. Of course, right now I just want something that replicates the smoking I'm sorely missing. Kinda frustrating that I'm weirded out even though I'm still getting nicotine. I suppose I pictured this going a bit easier.

That said, I cannot taste a damned thing this morning (Day 2), which is odd, because two weeks of smoking and vaping together was not affecting me this way.

 

[RPGZealot]

Oh, I do have a shop nearby, just opened actually. I'm thinking of checking it out over the weekend despite it's looking far too chic and trendy for the likes of I.

 

[Ryedan]

That said, I cannot taste a damned thing this morning (Day 2), which is odd, because two weeks of smoking and vaping together was not affecting me this way.

One thing I used to do to avoid this was to switch back and forth between 2 flavors a lot. I had 2 complete ecigs set up and switched after each drag or three. I don't know how often you vape, but not vaping all the time also helps. For example you could try a 4 - 5 minute vape session every 30 to 60 minutes. Kid of like having a smoke once or twice an hour.

Hang in there, it will pass

 

[Heavyrocker]

Actually,some days i find the flavours taste''off'' and i chain vape.Same juice, different day.

 

[juicefreak]

Hardware is equally as important as the liquid being vaped.


But as I build my own coils I can also make coils less than 1.2 ohms, which a Vamo will not even fire, but with my mechs they are great.

exactly. VV's have their place and limitations also. I have to switch to a mech when my RBA ohms drop to 1.4 on my Young June (still kicking i'm amazed!). a VV can be handy like a freshly charged battery was years ago. The nice thing about VV's is you can tweak it up down for that perfect sweet spot of flavor depending on the juice.

 

[ShariR]

Good to see that you are still vaping and found a couple of juices that you kinda like. I have been doing this for 4 months. I have over 80 little bottles of juice sitting around me. I am picky, I guess. I like to stay with one juice for days at a time. I find I do have to switch it up a couple times a day. I agree with the trying to vape like you smoked. The 5 to 10 minutes per hour or so. That is what I did in the first couple of months and it is what kept the flavor better, reminding me of my smoking habits, and kept me off the cigarettes.

Now that I am sure that I will not go back to cigarettes, I tend to chain vape more. For me, it is much harder on the taste buds and I find I have to put it down and walk away for periods of time. And switch up flavors more.

Drink lots and lots of water. Coffee, soda, and beer or other alcohol does not count as water for the hydration.

 

[Criticalmass]

1 equipment can make a difference. Liquid will taste different at different voltages and with different head resistance. I recommend the In no kin MVP 2 kit from 101vapes or an In no kin SVD. The MVP 2 kit is plug and play and comes with the I clear 30s tank. I also recommend a different type of tank as well. VV/VW is only part of the equation. Finding a tank that you like is another part

Sent from my Astromech in a galaxy far, far away. The force is with me. so is Mr. chicken.

 

[RPGZealot]

Okay, here's a silly question: the MVPs are 510 threaded, and will not work with eGo gear, like the EVOD & MPT2, yes?

 

[ShariR]

Okay, here's a silly question: the MVPs are 510 threaded, and will not work with eGo gear, like the EVOD & MPT2, yes?

They sell a little 510 to ego adapter for a dollar or two so that you can use your ego stuff on it. I have seen the Protanks used with the beauty ring that comes with them. On the MVP1 the ring stuck over the edge a bit; I hear with the MVP2 it fits flush to the edge. You will have to look this up to confirm it since I do not use a protank.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ussion/473345-itaste-mvp-v2-owners-group.html

You should be able to get all your MVP2 questions answered in this thread. The people there are active in the thread.

 

[CloudZ]

I think its a good plan to stick with the 1.8 ohm heads in your EVOD's and EVOD batteries for a while, at least until your sense of taste starts coming back a bit more. As far as clearo use goes, this will give you nearly as good of a vape as anything else you could try. Just replace the heads (or rinse and dry burn) and clean the tanks with alcohol before switching to a new flavor.

If you want to try something new, you could go with some of the other good clearos and maybe a carto tank to see if they work well for you. No one is necessarily always better than another and it really is up to personal preference. Again, if you feel the urge to see what VV is all about, I recommend a Vision Spinner. Mine was great when I was new for learning about what changing the wattage (indirectly, from voltage) does to vape quality. I still use it, but always right around 3.8 volts because I rebuild my heads to about 1.8-2.0 ohms. Rebuilding can get you some better performance out of a clearo, but I wouldn't jump into it unless you are interested.


It is quite likely that you'll have to go through several sample packs of juice before you find a few that you really like, that is pretty typical. I would go with a small bottle if you decide to re-order anything you try, since I have changed my mind on that second bottle and sometimes it has been a 30 mL bottle which sat around forever before I got through the whole thing. That's just me though, I don't like wasting juice.

 

[Utew]

Okay, here's a silly question: the MVPs are 510 threaded, and will not work with eGo gear, like the EVOD & MPT2, yes?

EVOD, MPT2, T3S.. all work fine on the MVP2 you just unscrew the beauty ring and voila! Or if you prefer using the beauty ring (though it adds just a tiny bit of overall height, you can use a 510-to-ego adapter as ShariR has mentioned above. MVP's are 510 AND ego threaded.

At the moment my desk has 3 MVP2's on it with one sporting a Protank 2, one with a T3S and one with a Mini-Protank 2... lol, I'm an equal opportunity employer...

Best of luck!

 

[ShariR]

It must be my Evod then. My Kanger Evod will not connect on my MVP2. Huh. I have to use the adapter for mine. I must have a weird individual Evod. Sorry if I gave incorrect info. It is the last thing I want to do. That is strange though because it connects fine on my Vision Spinners. Oh well, I have a flukey one.

 

[Utew]

ShariR,
I think it's the firing pin on the MVP, being a bit short. Doesn't always make contact with all devices, seems to be a common problem. This last (week ago) MVP2 that I received, seems to have a taller firing pin, along with a couple of other improvements in design. New batch from China obviously =)