Help me figure out what I may (or may not be) doing wrong, please!

[Landhew]

I am one day into vaping. I love it so far. However, I feel like I have to top off my cart very often. I have a Riva 510. I thought I would treat vaping like I did smoking...setting aside 5 minutes here and there for my fix. I ended up just taking a puff or two every 5 to 10 minutes throughout the day. After about 5 or so puffs or drags or vapes (or whatever you want to call it), I tend to lose flavor, vapor, and throat hit. I then open her up, drop some more liquid in the cart, and carry on.

I have blown out the atty 3 times today, so I don't think that's the problem. How often should I have to add liquid? I don't take very long drags, and I vape the way I smoked...taking it in my mouth, then inhaling. Being new to this, I don't know how often is normal for having to top off the tank.

I would love to get more puffs out of this thing before having to disassemble and refill.

Thanks for your help!

Oh, and did I say that I LOVE vaping. It's the miracle I've been waiting for to get me off analogs!

 

[4mehealth]

Are you just using the regular stuffing that came in the carts?

If so, you should look up the blue foam mod. Do that and you should be ok.

I think you're (and I may be wrong as I don't use the carts) vaping too fast for the wick to absorb more juice. I don't think it's a flooding issue. You just have to keep topping your cart off as you vape.

 

[Levitas]

You can try straight dripping, with no cartridge. Though, you'll have to drip more often, the flavor will be stronger and better tasting in my opinion.

Or, you can try a cartomizer. Which is just an atomizer with built it filler-type material. Most can hold at least a milliliter of juice and you don't have to top off nearly as much. CRYSTAL CLEAR VAPING Sells them 15 for $20

Or, you can try a tank of some sort, though, you might want to try the carto/dripping first

Good luck buddy! Congratulations on starting your vaping career!

 

[JC Okie]

Hi, and welcome to the forums. Yes...these are the miracles I'VE been waiting for, too! Best invention of my lifetime....

I don't use carts much anymore, but when I did it seems like I got more puffs than that out of a cart. I modified all my carts removing the polyfill and replacing it with blue foam. You can find lots of info about the blue foam mod for carts on this forum. But before I used the blue foam, I tried a simpler modification that will prob. work for you. The polyfill that holds the juice is pretty dense when it comes from the manufacturer. A simple fix would be to take the polyfill out and cut about 1/3 off of the length. Fill the cart with about 10 drops, then with tweezers, insert the polyfill back (slowly) into the cart. Drop a couple/three drops on top to make sure it's wet, then pop it on. That helped me. It allows you to put a little more liquid in your carts, so it'll last a little longer.

Also, you said you vape like you smoke. Well....you should be taking loooooong, slooooooow drags into your mouth. Then inhale. The long, slow is the secret there for lots of vapor. Also it helps the unit wick better.

Look up the blue foam mod for carts....it's worth it.

Good luck,
Jan

 

[Landhew]

Yep, just using the standard issue filler. Will look into the mod.

I have thought about dripping, but thought I'd give doing it the standard way a fair shake first.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[AttyPops]

It's a journey, for sure. lol. 1st they tell you that pre-filled carts are like a pack of smokes. Then you try em. Then you learn what dripping is like, but are still trying to use the cart (you end up topping off so often, you may as well drip), then you try a bunch of cart mods:

1) Blue Foam
2) PTB
3) PTB with straw/ swizzle sticks, etc.
4) springs
5) springs/mesh with foam

None work very well IMO.... although I did use the PTB/straw or blue foam for quite a while. So then you try cartos..... some stay with that, others get tanks, others hate cartos too (like me) and just pull the foam out of everything and drip! AND... I'm at 5 volts, so I drip even more frequently. 10 puffs, drip 3 drops in, 10 puffs, 3 drops........

So there's some keywords for your searches. Most people end up with either cartos, tank/carto, or dripping. Like I said, you're close to dripping anyway. If you pull the foam out, and just drip 3 drops into the atomizer (right on the bridge/wick) it will end up being less messy after you get the hang of it. If it gurgles, it's flooded.... drip less frequently. If gets NBT (Nasty Burnt Taste...lol) then drip more often keeping it wet. You'll figure out when to drip based on taste/performance.

 

[hairball]

Get yourself a drip tip and a box of Boge cartomizers. Use the drip tip and direct drip 3-4 drops in at a time, vape it until the flavor/vapor diminish and repeat. This beats the tar out of using carts. The cartomizers are for when you just can't drip like while driving. Fill them with your juice and take on the road or whenever dripping can't be done.

 

[Credo]

If you are using regular 510 cartridges, they don't hold very much liquid and alot of it stays stuck in the filler.

If you are dripping right on the atty with an empty cart (no poly-filler) or a drip-tip...the bridge and bowl can hold from 5 to 8 drops depending on how your bottle drips, the juice itself, and the technique you use to prime the atty. That should be good for 20 to 40 puffs till it's 'totally dry' (depending on how hot your atty runs and how long you burn/draw).

With drip tips...many folks prime the atty good with 5 to 8 drops, and then just add a few more drops in the drip-tip every 8 to 10 puffs or so.

Check these links out for all sorts of options over standard carts:

The Dripper - notcigs.com

Super T Manufacturing, Innovative manufacturer of electronic cigarette products.

http://www.gotvapes.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=119&products_id=471

FLüX MaXimizer Giantomizer : GotVapes.com, E-cigarette Supplies - Atomizers Cartomizers Mods Juice and more

GotVapes VISION Clear Giant 3.5ml 510 Cartomizer 1 Piece [gv-visionclearomizer-3.5ml] - $8.95 : GotVapes.com, E-cigarette Supplies - Atomizers Cartomizers Mods Juice and more

FLüXomizer™ 510 BLK/Stainless : GotVapes.com, E-cigarette Supplies - Atomizers Cartomizers Mods Juice and more

Cartomizers

https://www.cignot.com/category_s/67.htm

 

[Cronus6]

The carts that come with Rivas are a joke.

Try the mods, they help, or even better just get some cartomizers as others have suggested.

I have a Riva too, and Boge cartos make a WORLD of difference. Add a drip tip and it's even better.

 

[JD1]

I wound up liking the ce2s really well. the wick in them is silica and won't singe at all, so they provide a very 'atty' like taste. They're a pita to fill if you leave the plugs in because you have to use a syringe. I solve that by taking out all the plugs and leaving them out. I mostly drip a couple of drops and vape it off so that my juice doesn't cook but if I'm out and about I fill them by dripping down the side of the ceramic cup. I have to keep the pv upright because they'll leak out the top with no plugs but that doesn't seem to be a problem for me. I recommend the metal ones over the clear ones as there seems to be less problems with them.

Some of the newer designed cartos seem to have a minimum of singing and they might suit you just fine. The boge 2.0 seems to get good reviews as does some of the bottom coil cartos. One of the cartos I'm going to try is the ego duel coil. Madvapes has them if you want to check them out.

 

[Iffy]

One of the cartos I'm going to try is the ego duel coil. Madvapes has them if you want to check them out.

Great CHOICE if it's Mega. Here's WHY.

And here's a STARTER KIT for those cartos.

 

[morepyro]

The quickest and easiest cart mod to try is the one:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/cartridge-mods/79418-highping-cart-mod-simple-gets.html

Basically, you take out the polyfill, cut off about 2/3 of it, and put the the small piece back in the cart, sort of like a plug. The advantage is you can use the material you already have, it doesn't need a spring, and you can pretty much vape the cart dry. It's what I used, back when I still used cartridges. Now it's dripping and cartomizers for me.