Help me find something that works

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lilith79

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My MIL died at the end of July. Standing outside of the hospital after we left the room I asked my SIL for a cig...and it didn't taste like crap to my amazement! About a week later I bought a pack....and then another....and another...you get the picture. I really like Marlboro Smooths..which I think is part of the problem. I never found a tobacco flavored juice that tastes like tobacco, most tasted like hazelnut to me-which is ok, but it's not tobacco, you know? And I found I couldn't vape menthol, gave me headaches-which is funny because when I was a kid menthol second-hand smoke gave me headaches.

I have an eGo, tank, carts and traditional atty/carts. I prefer the tank, but I've noticed that flavors get odd. I have a custom mix that tastes like sweet licorice, but in the tank it tastes more like french vanilla at first and then the anise when it's almost gone. Same goes for the TV Kretek juice and TV AC juices I have. I don't think the eGo is doing it for me, but I also can't afford to run around buying a bunch of different units until I find the right one for me. I did try one mod, and ended up giving it to BIL because I didn't like the cool vape that came from it. I like heat, I like harshness. Help?
 

ScottinSoCal

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Yeah, with variable voltage you can make it as harsh or as smooth as you want it and you don't have to worry so much about what the resistance of the attie/carto is. In fact, you're actually better off going with a standard resistance one (about 3.0 to 3.2 ohm) because you get the most flexibility on the voltage range.
 

DC2

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As far as heat and harshness go, the standard old-school eGo is the bottom of the barrel at 3.4 volts.

I would recommend something, but there are so many ways to get more power that I hesitate to suggest what might work for you.
But I do feel confident in saying that it sounds like a move upwards in power is most definitely in order.
 

ScottinSoCal

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Aside from the price, what are the differences between Provari and Lavatube? I like the looks and price of the Lavatube, but I know that Provari has been around longer if I recall correctly. :)

Yes, the ProVari has been around longer, but the biggest difference is build quality. Not just the package, but the electronics. It holds the setting better as the battery power drops, and is more accurate overall. And I wouldn't dare drop a lavatube as many times as I've dropped my ProVari. The only evidence of the many times it's fallen off my garage work bench, out of my coat pocket onto asphalt, off my nightstand in the bedroom, off the barbeque in the backyard, off my lap as I got out of the car... well, there's a little ding near the power button. I notice it, but no one else seems to.
 

lilith79

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Iffy-A what now?? I am a little leery of LR carts because I've heard they can kill battery life.
I am interested in a VV mod...but the price of the Provari is an issue, and honestly the Lavatube seems a bit better in that it has +/- buttons...I'm a fiddler and having to go around the horn to get a slight drop would drive me bonkers.
 

MickeyRat

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Is a LR cart the same as VV though? I could handle that, so long as I don't have to drip (I know not all LRs require this) because dripping is too inconvenient at times for me, such as when I'm driving (which is when I'm very likely to smoke).

Yes and no. With an LR carto you will increase the watts used. That is the energy that is used to vaporize the juice. If you use a 3.0 ohm carto at 3.4V you'll be getting around 3.85 W. A 2.0 ohm carto on the same set up uses 5.78W. It'll be hotter and you'll get more vapor. You'll also have to charge your battery more often. You aren't going to kill your battery trying it. If you want to go LR permanently, you might want to look at something with a beefier battery.

With a VV mod you can vary that difference to tune it to where you like it. Since you haven't tried LR stuff before, I think you should before buying a VV. That will give you an idea what the mod can change and you'll have an idea whether it will help you.

If you decide you want to go VV, the Lavatube has an amp limitation that limits what it'll work well with. It won't work well with many dual coil cartos for instance. The Provari is less limited there.

I'll add that both the Lavatube and the Provari have up/down buttons to adjust the voltage. So, you must have something to tell you where you are. That means they must have a display for the voltage and that looks impressive. However, I've only used VV mods with a knob and if you have a knob, you don't need the display. You know about where you like it and you adjust up and down from there. The Smoketek Varicool is less expensive than the Lavatube, it doesn't have the same limitation but, it has a knob. The Buzz Pro is less expensive than the Provari, it will actually perform better on dual coils but, it has a knob. So, it's your choice what the bells and whistles are worth to you.

If you want to see the effect that varying the resistance and voltage has on the watts, check this Ohm's Law Calculator out.
 

John D in CT

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I have several suggestions.

I currently have Joyetech 1000mah (3.4 volts), Smoktech e-Power 14650 (3.7 volts), and a Smoktek Woo (5 volts).

I would have said that "one of my PV's is an eGo-T", but I think it's absurd to link a battery/power unit to any particular atty/tank setup, whether it's a Joyetech -T, -C, or -XYZ. It's a 3.4v power unit that happened to come with a one-piece atomizer and some 1-ish ml tanks. You can obviously put a wide variety of attachments on it.

You're not going to get the hard hits you want from that power unit. You can get OK ones with a 1.5 carto, either in a tank or not - (I love the Smoktech 3.5ml DCT, just don't use a Smoktech carto in it - they're just gone to crap - bad filler material), or with a drip atty (306's are great because you can squeeze-fill them right out of a bottle for easy tasting of multiple flavors, and optimum saturation of the coils regardless of flavor); but at 3.4 volts, you're only going to be getting 7.7 watts even with a 1.5 LR atty. (Watts = volts x volts / resistance in ohms). Most juices really come alive at higher wattages, like 9-12 IMO.

With a 1.25 carto you could get 9.2 watts, just on what I would call the low end of the enjoyment scale. [So: "Is a LR cart the same as VV though?" Kinda/sorta/with certain juices maybe]. Short-term, and for the least amount of money, you could get some XL stainless steel cartos and a 3.5ml Smoktech DCT (tank), with the latter optional. That tanks works best with stainless steel cartos that A) have a flange on them so the tank won't slip down, and B) are slotted per PBusardo's instructions. You'd need a cheapo Dremel clone with a thin (1mm thick) abrasive cutoff wheel and arbor, but then you'd be getting great hits for hours on end. Hits like you've never had before, ever, even at 3.4 volts.

If you just get the 1.25 ohm cartos (1.5's in a pinch), fill them like this: put in about 10 drops, wait a minute, repeat about 3-4 times until juice just begins to drip out of the battery end, wipe the end off, screw the carto on, wipe where the battery and carto join, put drip tip on, and then enjoy what will probably be the best hit you've had yet in your entire vaping life.

If you do get the tank, you can have about 300 such hits in a row before you have to add more juice.

Obviously, variable voltage is the way to go, and if you can swing it at all, you can just avoid a lot of interim expense and postponed enjoyment by getting a ProVari V2 and some 2.5 cartos which would put you right around 8 watts at 4.5 volts, which is right in the middle of the ProVari's 3.0 - 6.0 volt range. You could also get 3.0's or 3.5's as well just to play around with. Let's see: 6v x 6v / 2.5 = 14.4 watts; yeah, that's enough to crackle any juice under the sun. 6v x 6v / 3.0 = 12 watts; still plenty high, but you sound like you want to be able to create insane amounts of vapor and TH at will, so I'd go with the 2.5's for sure as one of your choices. [Edit: 2.0 ohms puts you right at 10 watts at 4.5V - not a bad way to go either].

Other course of action: get a Smoktech Woo, but order protected batteries at the same time. They come with unprotected batts, which isn't cool. I'd get these bad boys right here: UltraFire 880 mAh Protected Rechargeable Battery RCR123a Compatible

I'm using my Woo as we speak, and it's my best vaping experience so far, without a doubt. Right now it's putting out 5.67 volts; my "studio reference" flavor, Geoff's Blend from Tasty Vapor, at (5.67 x 5.67 / 2.5 =) 12.8 watts .... wow. Sweetness on my tongue that I never tasted before, huge clouds of vapor, nice TH at about 12mg ... yum.

I still have a warm place in my heart for the Joyetech tanks, and I'm going to get a -C setup with LR attys that I'm sure I'll use a fair amount, just for the convenience, and to let people try different flavors relatively easily. I'm working with about 20 people right now who want to get off of stinkies, and the easier it is to let them experience all of the different setups and flavors the better.

So that's it - you have lots of ways to instantly improve your vape, from the super-cheap and satifactory to the not as cheap but super-excellent. If you're going to keep vaping, which I suspect you are, I can't encoutrage you enough to just go ahead and get yourself a ProVari and be done with it. Even with my Woo, I long for the ability to power a particular juice in a particular attachment at a particular wattage, and it's hit-and-miss and quite a hassle, with all the combinations of juices and cartos/tanks I have. With a VV, I could have a perfect vape regardless of flavor of juice, nic level, PG/VG ratio, or what attachment the juice happens to be in.

In conclusion: ProVari V2. Do it, do it, do it.

***

Must mention: The Darwin lets you choose a wattage level, and automatically detects the resistance of the atty that's attached to it and delivers the needed voltage. How slick is that? Downsides: it's a little clunky-looking (certainly not a tube), and the battery, while apparently heroic in lifespan and capacity, isn't replaceable. I'm looking for a mod that does what the Darwin does but uses replaceable batteries. Don't really care what it looks like, as long as it's well-designed and built. Anyone?
 
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lilith79

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I have tried LR atty's, didn't think to mention it. Got them on accident in a co-op. They were OK, but being that they were traditional atty's I didn't use them long term. I like the ease of use and lack of filler burning that comes from the tanks-but clearly they are an issue for me since they seem to make things taste funny.
This has caught my attention as well: Little Sister Variable Vari-Cool - Ken's Boxmods
 

txtumbleweed

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You can get a Mini Lava for 39.99 at DV. I've been using one for over a month and I haven't had any problems at all. I've dropped it several times onto a hardwood floor and it didn't hurt it at all. MiniLava Variable Voltage Device - DiscountVapers.com It is very easy to adjust the voltage with just one click up or down in .1 v steps.
 
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