Hello! New E-Cig User here...

[scythe944]

Just wanted to say hi to everyone, and to let everyone know that I live in Maryland, US.

I just received my first e-cig today, and I'm very excited with the results. I purchased a 901 from puresmoker (thanks steve?) I think that's his name. I've been reading some posts from this forum, and I'm learning a lot.

I'd like to say that Leaford's reviews helped my decision a lot.

Actually, it's funny because my girlfried saw an ad in her US Magazine with smoke51.com in it. I saw it and immediately wanted to go to their site and buy one, but I'm a geek, and an IT guy, so I went to google and searched around.

I eventually decided to buy a kit from epuffer.com (eaze magnum *I like the 2 piece idea) and I did puresmoker.com as well, because I figured the one from california might make it to me faster (the faster I could quit analog's the better!).

I just want to know if anyone that has been smoking for years (a pack a day) gets the same feeling from these cigs? I mean, they're great, and even after a few hours of smoking them, a regular cig was completely unappealing to me. However, I seem to be dragging on this thing a lot more than I would have on a real cigarette. I think I've almost gone through 3 cartridges on this 901 already (1 high menthol, 1 high marlboro, and now I'm on 1 med marlboro). I also noticed that by taking the cartridge off, and smoking from the atomizer, that it was still producing a lot of smoke...

I'm guessing that the cartridge juice soaked the atomizer, and that's why I"m getting smoke, but is that supposed to happen?

Anyway, I still love this thing, even if I have to buy a billion cartridges to satisfy my fix. I can't wait to start taking this around town and to bars, and to work! I've never seen one of these things anywhere but the web, and I hope to "release it to the world" in my neck of the woods.

Thanks for the site and excellent info everyone, looking forward to the rest of my life, with e-smoking!

 

[Sun Vaporer]

Welcome scythe944 - -it is very common to vape like crazy after you give up the analogs. As for the cartridges--it is very easy to burn through them. They are equal in my opinion to maybe 5-6 analogs at best--Get some e-qluid and refill your cartridges. You will save yourself a lot of hassle and money!! Hope that helps--Sun

 

[2-cardis]

I just want to know if anyone that has been smoking for years (a pack a day) gets the same feeling from these cigs? I mean, they're great, and even after a few hours of smoking them, a regular cig was completely unappealing to me. However, I seem to be dragging on this thing a lot more than I would have on a real cigarette.

scythe, when I first started, which is only about 4 weeks ago, my husband said he thought I was smoking it a lot more than I would normally smoke. I told him that I thought it was because it tasted so much better than a real cigarette!!! I don't worry to much about it, I'm using 4mg juice and don't think I could really o d on it.
Good Luck and welcome

 

[scythe944]

Thanks for the replies. As for the e-fluid, that does contain nicotine as well as the "flavor", correct? I'll do a little browsing and figure it out, but I'm sure that it does come with nicotine.

If it does, that may be the way to go for a while, until I get used to the "drags" of an e-cig compaired to the analog ones.

2-cardis, my girlfriend said the same thing to me when I started yesterday... and I agree that it's probably because it's so much better!

Now, I guess my next question is if you can use liquid with the two-piece models. I know that I've seen plenty of types for the DSE901, but with the atomizer built-in to the cartridge on the two-piece style, it might have adverse effects. Of course, you can throw it away and plug in a new one the next day, so I don't think it would be ruining anything!

Thanks again, and look forward to hearing your replies.

Hopefully, I'll become a regular poster with decent (if not better) knowledge soon.

 

[Kate]

Hi Scythe, welcome to the forum.

When you're buying eliquid you will notice it comes in different strengths like zero, low, medium, high, etc. Or they'll say 0mg, 6mg, 11mg, 18mg and so on. That's a measure of the amount of nicotine in the eliquid. It's measured in mg per ml, so 18mg/high is 18mg per 1ml of liquid. Johnson Creek is measured in mg per 1.2ml so theirs isn't as strong.

You can top up the disposable atomiser/cartridge combos a few times, have a look for Smoke 51 or Loong Totem posts to find out how it's done, I've never done it so can't advise.

 

[JustJulie]

Congrats on your decision to e-smoke. I started e-smoking on January 27th and had my last tobacco cigarette on January 29th. Woo-Hoo! I was a 2+ pack a day smoker for 30 years.

For the first several days, I "vaped" like a crazy woman. Just couldn't seem to put it down. I had a lovely sore throat during that time, although I finally figured out that drinking water helped wash the nicotine residue down and therefore helped my throat.

I've been at it a week and a half now, and I'm not vaping as much as when I first started. And when I do vape, I might take a couple of drags then put it down, something that rarely happened with a cigarette, where I'd mostly smoke it to the bitter end.

The eLiquid everyone is talking about comes in various concentrations of nicotine and in various flavors from various manufacturers. Most people use them to top off existing cartridges or to refill cartridges. However, there are some who exclusively or occasionally "drip vape" or "drip smoke," which consists of putting one or two drops directly onto the vaporizer and then vaping without the cartridge. It produces a lot of vapor and more "weight" to the vapor, which, if you're like me, is far more satisfying.

Many have reported that the life of the atomizer may be reduced with drip vaping/drip smoking, but I can't speak to that. I haven't had any problems with it, but I'm only doing it with one of my e-cigs, my mini DSE901 from PureSmoker, and it hasn't been a problem. Then again, I've only been doing it for a week with the DSE901. I just don't get greedy--only two drops, no more--so I hopefully don't overheat the atomizer or flood it.

Wish I could answer how this would be done with a two-piece model, but I just don't know. Perhaps someone else will be able to answer your question.

Anyway, there are several of us who are vaping exclusively after giving up a substantial tobacco habit. While some report discomfort while giving up the analogs entirely, many of us have found this to be relatively pain-free. But even those who have struggled a bit more have substantially reduced their analog intake, which in and of itself is pretty amazing.

 

[smokum]

Here's a copy and paste from a post I answered of my own personal experience refilling the Smoke-51 cartridges (one of the two piece units that your asking about):

"quote"

After being on this forum a bit, I found myself so intrigued with the different flavors available in the liquids that are offered that I ordered up a sample pack from Christian at Johnson Creek thinking that I would simply "experiment" and see if I could reload these cartridges myself.

It can most definately be done, however, you'll need to realize that you cannot remove and clean the wadding due to the atomizer style and overall design. This means that you are limited in how many times you'll be able to drip liquid into the cartridge before it becomes too non-absorbant or too contaminated to continue using it safely without risk of germ or other unknown cultivations.

I oppologize that I'm pretty much non-tech and can't offer you a video to view specific to the Smoke-51 cartridge reloading, but I'll try and best describe my own experience:

- I found that the occassional cartridge wouldn't provide the advertised longevity due to premature drying out as well as the weak "tasting" flavour than I expected, and this wasn't satisfactory to me, so I decided to experiment and experience the vast available flavors that weren't offered for the 51.

- Ordered a sample pack from Johnson Creek in two different strengths, both higher than whats advertised from Smoke-51 to allow me to both sample the different flavors and to experiment with nicotine strengths to best suit my heavy analog use.

- I had started keeping all my spent or inaffective cartridges precluding my decision to experiment, and also held onto the plastic caps that came with them.

- Before trying to refill the cartridges, I decided to disect one and investigate its construction if not simply to see how it worked but to also see if I could do it or not. I don't think this is necessary for YOU to do simply because the design is basic and I'll cover my findings below. But if your simply the inquisitive type..... have at it.

- Because I'm pretty much a sterile freak I take care to having a clean surface to work on that I wouldn't mind should I spill any liquids or damage the surface I use.

I also sterilize ANY implement I will use with alcohol making sure they are disinfected. And I will have a very small container of alcohol to drop the cartridge seals (see below) into to clean and disinfect.

And call me crazy, put I also will put on cheap bought sterile gloves to avoid skin contact with with liquid nicotine and prevent myself from OD'ing on nicotine.

- Plan on doing at least a pack of five cartridge refilling at a time, as the setting up is not worth the effort to only do a single cartridge at a time.

- You will first need to remove the seal at the end of the mouthpiece. I ended up getting those little mini needle nose type pliers that have a curved tip on the end of them simply because the cartidge tip was obviously put in hot and adheres itself to the cartrige shell and wanted something more rigid than tweezers to jiggle it out.

Insert "one" tip of the pliers into the hole of the mouthpiece seal on an angle (just enough to enable you to grip its edge but not enough to distort the hole itself), and gently grip the outer surface with the other tip of the pliers and jiggle/pry it loose then out. You may need to attempt it at different locations around the seal to prevent damaging the seal itself. Drop the removed seal into the tiny container, thimble or cap that you prepped to clean it/them and sterilize and let it sit in the alcohol for now.

- Visually inspect the wadding you will now see exposed to make sure that it is not discolored or burnt. I tend not to use the cartridge while vaping to the point that it runs completely dry giving that burnt taste with the intent that I will be refilling it. Don't bother refilling cartidges you've taken too far, as the burnt taste will never leave it.

You will also now be able to see the atomizer system with the core (heating) element wire running thru the center hole of the wad.

Do not disturb the wadding by attempting to stretch it out as this will chance destroying the atomizer setup that this design uses.

- You can use your own ingenuity to create a holder for the cartridges to drip into so as to prevent them falling over. I use a crude made piece of styrofoam at the moment until I find an 8" long by 2" wide and 3" thick piece of solid pastic to drill holes into to hold the cartridge.

- Once you've stabilized all the cartridges securely enough, after removing the seal and inspecting, take your dropper of liquid choice and accurately squeeze slowly about 5 drops evenly around the wad top surface making sure to avoid the center hole that the heating wire runs thru.

Don't worry about the wire lead the runs on the outside of the wad, just make sure not to directly drip into the center hole because for whatever reason it will either make the cartridge unusable by flooding it, or will cause "spitting" of the liquid into your mouth should it still work. And I can tell you honestly that it is VERY unpleasant.

Also, attempt to not drip so close to the outter edge that you cause surface on the "outside" of the cartridge as it will stain the faux finish making it appear unappealing. It is however simply cosmetic and will not interfere with its activity.

- Once you have applied your first 5 drops, at a pace that does not create a "pooling" of the liquid on the top surface area of the wad, move on to your next cartridge and repeat the proceedure.

- When you have complete each one, start at your first one again and apply another 5 drops slowly paying attention again to not cause pooling on top of the wad.

This is where you will need to discern how much you can drip into it, remembering not to end up pooling. It may take the additional 5 drops or it may not, so you'll have to decide for yourself the "total" amount of drops you want to refill with. I have found that I can do so hassle free by limitting my total drops to 10.

- Take your soaking seals out of the alcohol and wipe them clean with a cloth, to remove any stubborn staining or debris, and place it evenly into the opening of the cartridge while gently pushing down on it to make sure it is flush with the out edges of the cartridge.

You'll note which way it will go in by the uneven finish of one side where it adhered to the cartride housing.

- I find that if you leave them to absorb "at least" overnight before using them, they tend to work better and will not spit as they sizzle the juice as it will if you attempt to use it too soon.

----------------------

And thats it !!

I find describing it and pointing out every detail makes it appear more difficult than it really is and that it would take much longer than it actually does. So don't be intimidated by trying it as it is really not that time consuming nor is it difficult at all.

Its all about playing with your toys, lol.

Just a note...... I have tried taking "fresh" out of the box cartridges and opening them to see if they are prematurely dried and will drip into them to enhance the experience from the get go. However, you will obviously need to use less liquid drops to wake them up, and when doing this I tend to leave them "absorb" longer for about 2 days.

You'll also notice that most liquids flavor need time to release their flavor over the original flavor that was in the cartridge. So I try to keep the liquid flavor relevent to the original flavor:

Original cartridge flavor -- Liquid flavor:

Tobacco -- Any tobacco liquid flavours or chocolate
Chocolate -- Any chocolate liquid flavours or tobacco
Menthol -- Any menthol liquid flavours or fruity flavours
Coffee -- Any chocolate liquid flavours or sweet flavours

You get the idea....... but experimenting is key to find your personal preferences.

Again, this is not yet optimized as I have been conversing back and forth trying to get the distributors to push the manufacturer's of the Smoke-51 to offer "blank" cartridges to allow us to add our own choice of strengths and flavours. But, so far it appears as though its falling on deaf ears. I don't think they'll have much choice in the end once these are mainstream and popular or they might find themselves left in the dust hoping on keeping only the market interested in "ease of use".

Hope that helps you out and works well for you. Remember, GO PLAY WITH YOUR TOYS !!!

"/Quote"

VapeOn,
Greg

 

[smokum]

Also, in regards to asking if this will ever "replace" analogs.....

Well, that's a tough question and relies on a personal perspective.

To me, no it doesn't, and the reason I say that is the e-cig is lacking in what many years of 2-3 packs of smoking tobacco has trained my mind to accept as "my" habbit and the feelings and tastes that it gives me.

But, at the same time if you can psyche yourself into realizing what you are no longer inhaling but cutting the tobacco out, and enjoy the inhaling of delightful flavours with nicotine instead then, just maybe, you will be able to create a replacement habbit which satisfies your change.

They definately are a great alternative so its just a matter of fooling yourself beyond the time needed for your brain to except the replacement.

That's my opinion.

VapeOn,
Greg

 

[scythe944]

Wow... Thanks so much everyone!

I was going to go at it with my tools and do an intense write-up of what I found, but smokemchevy, justjulie and Kate have all helped me immensely. Thanks for providing me the information that I needed without having to do the actual investigation, that rarely happens for me!

All that I can say now is that I hope this thread helps someone else, and also I hope to provide some further information in case anyone needs it.

I only have my DSE-901 so far, and unfortunately I'm running low on cartridges already! (5 Starters with various nicotine strengths, and my purchased addition of 5 High Nicotine Menthol flavor carts. *received Friday, now sunday night, and all I have left is a Marl High, a Marl NO nicotine, and I'm on my last Menthol!) However, my EAZE Magnum should be coming early this week, and I'll be ordering some e-fluid as soon as I get paid from some side jobs, so that I can check out how well they work as well.

Thanks again for everyone's input, it's greatly appreciated. Happy vaping!