Help a newb out, I cant find the answers to my questions!

[Philos]

Hello all, I am new to not only this forum but also to ecigs in general. I am happy to say that I was able to quit smoking literally instantly with them (I suppose that means I have the smoking addiction, not the nicotine addiction...) I never cared for finishing a whole cigarette, by the end of them it was just harsh, but now that I have something that allows me to take as many drags as I want anytime throughout the day, it has been more fitting to what I want.

I just bought a Vapor King XL, its amaaaazing. I have 3 questions, though, pretty simple ones (maybe so simple that I can't find the answers to them because no one was dumb enough to ask them).

1) How will I know when to recharge the battery (my guess was that the blue light will not light, intuitively)

2) How will I know when to change the cartomizer?

3) What do (1) & (2) translate into with regards to time? I normally smoked 10-15 cig's a day, and with the VK i'd say I smoked half of that.

Any suggestions? Charge the battery every night or wait til it's dead? (I dont want to short my battery life, so I'll trust the experts, aka you guys)

Thanks in advance...

your newest n00b,
-philos

 

[Shotline]

I don't have a vapor king, but it would stand to reason that it is similar to all the others.

1. On my 510 and eGo, the light flashes when it's time for a recharge.

2. You should detect a reduction in flavor and/or vapor and you might possibly detect a slight burning taste.

3. Depends on the battery. My 510 lasts about 1 hour of moderate to heavy vaping, the eGo lasts about 10 to 15 hours of the same. Carts for me don't last hardly at all, maybe 10 to 15 minutes, a carto lasts me about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes.

As far as extending battery life, it is my understanding that the lithium ion batteries don't have a memory or anything like that so you should be able to charge them at any point.

Hope this helped.

 

[Gravity]

I just bought a Vapor King XL, its amaaaazing. I have 3 questions, though, pretty simple ones (maybe so simple that I can't find the answers to them because no one was dumb enough to ask them).

1) How will I know when to recharge the battery (my guess was that the blue light will not light, intuitively)

2) How will I know when to change the cartomizer?

3) What do (1) & (2) translate into with regards to time? I normally smoked 10-15 cig's a day, and with the VK i'd say I smoked half of that.

Any suggestions? Charge the battery every night or wait til it's dead? (I dont want to short my battery life, so I'll trust the experts, aka you guys)

Thanks in advance...

your newest n00b,
-philos

I'm still a newbie, too... but I can offer some knowledge I've picked up here... and I've started with V4L, too... good choice!

1) If the light blinks 20 times, your battery is dead. You'll probably notice a dip in performance before it reaches that point, though.

2) If you notice a dip in vapor production (if you're sure it's not the battery) or a loss of flavor.... it's nearing the end of what juice is in there. If you bought more juice, you can open it up and drop more in. Check youtube for many different ways to refill the carto. If you get a burning plastic taste, then it's completely dry... remove it immediately.

3) I smoked about a pack a day, and now I go through about 2 cartos a day. If I'm sitting and chain-vaping, I'll just add a few drops of juice every so often and keep going.

I charge my batteries every night, and when I notice one battery is getting low, I'll throw it on a charger. I have the standard size, and they've been lasting me around 5-7 hours of moderate use before I need to recharge them.

Hope this helped!

 

[VermiciousKnid]

The VK battery will flash a few times and then just stop working when the battery is dead. I just got my first XL today, so i cant help you with the time, but my regular batteries lasted about 6 hours. I had 2 and I would swap them out throughout the day.

Cartomizers were the trickiest thing for me when i started out. i couldnt understand why no one could pin down exactly how to tell when a carto was dead. BUT...you learn quickly. They just start to taste weird....at first just lacking flavor...then plasticy...then burnt. If they burn, toss em, cause you cant revive that. It took me about a week to beging to sense when a cart was going.

I use V4L Cool Carts and I can get about 25-30 drop in each. I topp them off in the morning and when i go out for the evening, occassionally a few drops during the day. I keep 3-4 carto flavors in my case. Ive had some last for 2 days, others for just a few hours. When my cartos start getting gummed up, i wash them with the boiling method(sometimes i spin out the liquid if i know its still full).

 

[Nyxie]

A VK battery will blink when it needs recharging, it should tell you this in the manual unless you didn't get a manual with your kit.

Cartos usually will last a couple of hours (heavy vaping) before I taste a difference. Then I top them off with juice so I don't burn the filler.

I have charged my battery both ways , completely dead and not all the way dead.. I have not seen any difference in the life span or charge. I believe the newer VK's don't have this memory type battery that everyone use to worry about, but I am not positive. I know that a lot of people don't suggest leaving batteries charging overnight. You might want to wait for someone who knows for sure to answer that question.

 

[markfm]

You might definitely see a reduction in vapor before the low battery signal (LED flashes on and off multiple times when you're drawing on it) occurs.

I've got the standard batteries (larger on order). Vaping 2 - 3 times per hour, about 5 minutes each time, I change the battery midday, then again before heading home at the end of work. (They will go longer, just that it's a convenient changing time.)

(The PCC works well -- with 2 batteries you rotate one into the charger while using the other one. A PCC is good for about 4 battery charges before it needs its own recharge. Just unthread the battery in the PCC a little when its done recharging (when the recharge LED starts to pulse.)

A second battery comes in handy, so you can rotate them.

Concerning the cartomizer, you'll either get the obvious loss of vapor or, indeed, a slightly different taste. I also notice that on a "happy" carto I can hear the popping of the liquid on the atomizer when I draw -- if I'm not hearing the popping of it vaporizing, or it's a lot less often, time to change.

(Cartomizer refilling is easy.)

Good luck!

 

[Philos]

Thank you ALL!

Seriously, just cleared up all my questions..

No, I didnt get a manual with my VK, thats why I was so confused haha...

And, I didnt know the thing about lithium ion batteries not having a "memory". Thats actually a really good thing to know... Now the thing about never spontaneously recharging your batteries (which I am notorious for) is just an old wives tale! Everyone spread the word haha...

I'm giving my extra battery to my dad, because he smokes like crazy and I would really like him to stop, its so sad hearing him cough every 10 seconds during a conversation...

I dont do the whole refilling thing. I think I'll just stick to buying the new ones (unless someone strongly suggests I shouldnt), because V4L actually has pretty amazing shipping I've found out (about 2 days... not a shameless plug, just a happy customer!)

Yesterday was my first day of vaping, by the end of the night I kept dragging on it to see when the carto would die, which it finally did. The battery is still going, and I'm on the second carto. (I guess because the battery is monster-long haha).

Very satisfied and very much have quit smoking... 7.13.2010... Thank christ! My lungs thank all of you

 

[VermiciousKnid]

Ok, Ill strongly suggest refilling!! I use the V4L Cool Cart blanks and liquids from Tasty Vapor. The flavor of Tasty Vapor liquids cannot be beat, and refilling is super easy. Even if you dont want to bother with cleaning, you can still get quite a few refills out of each cartomizer. I started with the condom method (You Tube it to see) and now i just pop off the softcap and add drops to the mouth end. Easy!!

 

[jayvap33]

I have your same VK XL. All I can add is that it is a Lithium Ion battery and you should charge it often. It will last longer that way.
Unlike a Ni Cad battery that likes to be depleted before recharging.

 

[Philos]

thank you jay, that was the next thing i was about to ask! wow, this forum business is pretty sweet, this is the only forum i belong to but im already lovin it!

And that makes sense, that you can buy the any liquids to just put into the V4L blanks, didnt think of that either. See how much you guys have helped me already??

Knowledge is amazing, thanks for passing it on!

 

[GtrSoloist]

Yeah I'm all for refilling the Cart's. It will save you sooo much money. Buying blank carts, and using your own juice to me seems to taste better than pre-filled carts.

There are loads of good vapor suppliers, Tasty Vapor, Vapor Bomb, and NHaler, seem to be some of the most popular to name a few. I've had good luck with Vapors Etc.

Here is a link to a list of US Vapor Suppliers: USA eJuice Suppliers | Socrata | Making Data Social

For more on using juices and filling the cartomizers check out this link: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ecf-library/67330-wonderful-world-vaping-part-5-6-a.html
and this one: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ecf-library/67331-wonderful-world-vaping-part-6-6-a.html

Hope that helps.

 

[jayvap33]

Thank you ALL!

Seriously, just cleared up all my questions..

No, I didnt get a manual with my VK, thats why I was so confused haha...

And, I didnt know the thing about lithium ion batteries not having a "memory". Thats actually a really good thing to know... Now the thing about never spontaneously recharging your batteries (which I am notorious for) is just an old wives tale! Everyone spread the word haha...

I'm giving my extra battery to my dad, because he smokes like crazy and I would really like him to stop, its so sad hearing him cough every 10 seconds during a conversation...

I dont do the whole refilling thing. I think I'll just stick to buying the new ones (unless someone strongly suggests I shouldnt), because V4L actually has pretty amazing shipping I've found out (about 2 days... not a shameless plug, just a happy customer!)

Yesterday was my first day of vaping, by the end of the night I kept dragging on it to see when the carto would die, which it finally did. The battery is still going, and I'm on the second carto. (I guess because the battery is monster-long haha).

Very satisfied and very much have quit smoking... 7.13.2010... Thank christ! My lungs thank all of you

Congrats to you!

- Dude I recommend you get manual (push-button) battery. I too have VK XL and my 2 XL batteries never die and I only charge them once per day.
- You definitely should buy some liquid and try it. After nearly a year of vaping I just started refilling cartomizers this past week and it's the bomb, saves big bucks. For $2 a bottle you can get 5ml, which refills 8-10 cartomizers. So you can see the savings when new cartos are over $1 a piece. And it's easy now, you just fill a rubber cap with ejuice and slowly push either end of the carto into the cap until juice oozes out the other side. Wipe and vape!
Caveats:
- If you have a manual (push-button) battery, the fluid will not get into it. BUT for auto batteries the fluid can get into the battery and shorten its life.
- If you fill a new (BLANK) carto, I find you should let it soak for several hours/overnight for best results.

- Watch Leaford's video here if you haven't yet: YouTube - A double demo! The Cartomizer Condom Filling Method, and the Taryn Spin. or E-smoker Forever – by Leaford

- My cartos never seem to lose vapor when depleting, not before I taste carbon/burntness. Since I have juice now I just fill them back up some time after they are halfway spent.

Happy vaping and welcome aboard!

 

[OldCoot]

I've been vaping for about 2 weeks now, and quickly found best route for me was Dripping,,hehe, never a dry atomizer , tons of Vapor and taste, just working on the Throat Hit now..using joy 510, one of the smallest e-cig's out there, only drawback is battery life on this puppy,,ordered a usb
bypass and new Screwdriver, hope it won't be overdose time, lol
play around you will find the best way for yourself, and yes i advise refilling your carts, you can save serious money that way.

 

[Shaka]

An important rule with cartos, if you intend to refil them, is to keep them wet by topping off occasionally. Once you run them dry and burn them, they should get a one-way ticket to the trash can.

Agree with everyone above about filling your own blank cartos...opens up a whole world of flavors that you just can't get with prefilled. You may even want to eventually pick up a new hobby and start mixing your own juice...very addicting hobby I might add.