Hitting a rough spot here, need some advice!

[scribe]

Heavy smoker for 50 plus years, now a month into vaping, first a 510, then on to an eGo. To my surprise, no analogs for over two weeks, which makes me very happy.

BUT! I have hit a rough spot here and am getting very frustrated at how much time it is taking me to find this elusive "sweet spot" I hear so many talk about.

On either the 510 0r eGo, I get a satisfying "hit" for maybe three puffs on a new batt, then it drops off a lot. Went up to 26 mg pg nic, helped some, not much.

I am spending way too much time fiddling with everything, trying to determining what the problem: is it the atty? The juice? The cart filler? And I'd hate to tell you how many hours I've spent reading this site, trying every other thing I see addressed here.

Right now, it just seems like way too much time and work for the few good hits I get, and I really NEED for this to keep working for me. (I already have COPD and do NOT want to go back to cancer sticks.) It's all making me very crabby!

I just don't understand all this electrical stuff..volts, watts, mah..whatever, well enough to determine if I need something more powerful than the eGo..or not!

Geeze, the more I write the crabbier I get! I will shut up now, and listen awhile!

 

[bornagainst]

scribe, it's ok to get frustrated.

Vaping is an adventure....and with the good comes the bad.

It takes some time, but once you find your battery/strength/flavor, you will not have these issues.

Myself, I started with a M401, blu, 510, sidesho, Kr808, COUNTLESS mods, you name it, I went through it.

All in the name to stay smoke free.

At this time, dont worry about Mah. You have an ego battery, which is GREAT.

Volts/Watts - it's all relative at this point. If you are vaping, not smoking, changeups don't need to happen.

If you want something a bit easier, perhaps a cheapo 510-901/kr808 adapter and prefilled cartomizers may help. Saves you the hassle of dripping etc in the short term.

Lots of folks here are willing to help you.

I went that route for quite a while, and once I got the smoking demon in check, I felt comfortable revisiting older equipment that at one time really bugged me.

Glad you posted and vented instead of going back to analogs.

One day at a time, for sure.

Ryan

 

[mistinthewoods]

Try wiping off the connecters. It took me a long time to realize that they need to be kept clean to get a good connection. Just take a tissue and give the center post and threads a good wiping down. See if that helps.

 

[keyzygirl]

I to suggest the 510-808 adapter and prefilled 808 cartomizers.They work and you dont have to refill and topoff all the time.you can use them with the ego you just need the adapter.

They also have 510 cartomizers that will fit right on the ego,but I dont know enough about them to recomend them.Sorry,you can research and see about those.

I get my prefilled 808s at Vapor4life and I get adapters at Madvapes or Altsmokes.

 

[dubd1c3]

Scribe,

Those who suggest cartomizers are wise.

Your uneven hitting is most likely due to uneven 'wicking' otherwise known as 'new juice going to the atomizer'

Cartomizers do a GREAT job at making sure the atty is wet for the next hit. If you are using cartridges that screw onto the atty, and you are getting inconsistent hits, I believe you will see tremendous improvement with the cartomizers.

Do a search for "510 cartomizers" those are the ones that will fit your devices. Buy cartomizers, buy juice, fill cartomizers, vape away.

You want "soft cap" not other types. Soft caps let you easily take off the caps with a paper clip for easy filling. Each cartomizer contains 15-20 drops. Megacartomizers hold more.

I do not know who else sells soft cap cartos, but I know Electronicstix does. They also sell cartons of them, which is pretty awesome.

Your inconsistency is most likely due to the cartridge/atty combo. Try cartomizers.

 

[BradSmith]

There are lots of things to consider. The LR atty used on a 510 is great for putting out a ton of vapor and throat hit. The 510 cartomizers from Mad Vapes are nice if a little lacking in flavor. Have you tried dripping? For me that works the best and the cartomizers next. I tried a ton of different mods for the 510 carts and didn't get what I was looking for out of any of them.

Good luck and keep trying you will find it and lose it and find it again.

 

[Neekyme]

Keep with it! I think we all have 'off' days.

It took almost exactly a month for me to find the perfect flavor of juice. I felt like I was constantly fumbling around and never satisfied the entire first month. It's been so much easier now.

I do recommend maybe trying some cartos. I just got a 510, and think the KR808 with cartos was the wise choice for me to begin with. I'm sure I'll get used to the 510, but I don't think I'll ever give up the cartos - they're so easy and convenient.

I like the blank (empty) cartos, and filling them myself. The Vapor4Life Cool cartos are nice, but even the cheap dollar 'n change ones you can get at other places are fine too. I got a bunch of colored ones from Ikenvape during a 1$ sale.

I havent tried the 510 cartos either, but CigEasy had some on clearance (the 510 Gold label cartos) recently, they might still have them....I think they were $1.40ish each. I've heard they are good, comparable to the Turbo 808's I believe.

Good luck and stick with it!

 

[foebea]

I had exactly the same problem with the perfection lasting only a few uses. I took to constantly topping off the cartridges, and after a while switched to direct dripping and have not had to mess with any cartridge now for many months, and feel as though the success of my setup is now directly controllable by me.

Good luck!

 

[roadrash]

Hey Brother, i know what you are talking about. I am a former fifty year, sometimes 2 @ a time 3+ packs a day smoker. I have been off analogs for 10 weeks and it is a struggle every hour of every day. I have a half dozen mods, lr this and carto that, 5v 6v 7v and I am never satisfied. I spend way to much time fiddling with stuff during the day. But when I go to bed at night, I have a smile on my face for having gone another day. As 50 year smokers, we had a addiction and I believe most of our lives problems should take a back seat to our healing and over coming. we had to be stubborn people to smoke for 50 years and I take that stubbornness and use it to vape.
venting here is a smart thing to do. don't give up and make good use of the forum.
if you do not have anyone to talk to about ah, mah lr or whatever, Pm me.
I am on most of the time.

 

[scribe]

As 50 year smokers, we had a addiction and I believe most of our lives problems should take a back seat to our healing and over coming. we had to be stubborn people to smoke for 50 years and I take that stubbornness and use it to vape.
venting here is a smart thing to do. don't give up and make good use of the forum.
.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, roadrash..and all who have responded. I am so glad I wrote in rather than give up. I can't deal with this addiction alone anymore than I could have dealt with late stage alcoholism on my own. I've got 29 years off alcohol, but damned if I could dump the cigarettes, until just this past few weeks. Every smoke free day feels like a miracle. I think I just got scared that this might stop working for me, and thanks for helping me relax and keep trying.

 

[classwife]

Hang in there. It does get easier. (3 mos. vaper-was 40 yeara smoker) roadrash's "smile at bedtime" is a great idea for a wonderful reward to give yourself.

 

[topaz_stone71]

I've spent a small fortune on devices, looking for the elusive sweet spot. The trouble is that this changes from day to day. Some days, the Ego does it for me. Other days, it is the Lady Vypr. Lately (after some personal news that hit me hard), nothing cut it. I fell off the wagon and went through a pack of cigs in a few days. I refused to let myself buy another pack and have been *ahem* crabby, to put it nicely. I just got my wonderful, beautiful, fantastic Saber Touch and, whoa Nelly- it has really helped through this rough time. I actually overdid it yesterday and felt sick because I couldn't put it down. My Tasty Vapor order came in the mail today and the kick of the Kretek at 5V did the trick. I'm not craving a cigarette right now and I'm so grateful for that. I'm sure that in a few days, I can manage with the 3.7 devices again during the day and the ST first thing on waking and last thing at night.

 

[Little Girl]

Another thing you might want to try is to puff differently on your e-cig. Many people say you don't need a primer puff, but I swear my 510 tastes better and is more satisfying if I do a very quick primer puff followed immediately by a long, slow pull. I've tried occasionally to just do a long, slow pull without the primer puff to see if it really is just as good, but for some reason I don't like it as much. You might want to play around with how you puff on the thing to see what's most satisfying for you.

 

[homer-simpson]

scribe,

i have been off cigs for about 5 weeks. started with 510 style e-cigs and it just didn`t do it for me. it was like switching to an ultra-lite cig. i almost gave up when i found a 5 volt box mod and that was the extra kick i was looking for and i still use all my 510 parts (not including batteries) i haven`t had a real bad craving since i switched to the 5 volt. it was inexpensive and you can find more info at boxmods.net and ken is great at answering any questions you might have and service is top notch . hope this helps...

 

[davidcid]

I have been a cig smoker for 30+ years. Vaping for over 4 months now and not looking back. You mention the vape drops off after the first few puffs. It is true that on the smaller batts' the voltage drops a little on the first couple of puffs. What also maybe happening to you is that if you take long drags in quick repatition where the atty may not be able to wick the juice fast enough for your next drag .
Also, it would be good to get a 5V PT that way, their is always 5V supplied to your atty for each drag while you sit at the computer reading this forum

good luck

 

[Bryce]

Another thing you might want to try is to puff differently on your e-cig.

Little Girl has a really good point. I see this everyday. Customers come in with the same frustration and that in itself often compounds the problem. This may not be the case with you, but stress or fear of it not working often makes "vapists" (is that a term yet? drag harder and faster. So....relax and take a nice easy "sip" of a drag. Try dragging longer than normal while you "sip" the vapor. If your cartridge is full and your device is clean, "sipping" should really help. A tell-tale sign that this is the issue is if your device seems to work better in the morning or evening when you're at home relaxed.

I will say that even now, having been in the industry for a while, the sweet spot can be elusive. I started dripping on a regular old 510 and feel like the flavor and drag is far superior, though still short lived. I place 2-3 drops directly on my atomizer every 5-10 minutes, sometimes more frequently. Though time consuming and sometimes frustrating, the alternative is unthinkable. Keep your chin up and stick with it. Thanks for sharing too!!

-Bryce

 

[DC2]

On either the 510 0r eGo, I get a satisfying "hit" for maybe three puffs on a new batt, then it drops off a lot.

What do you mean by "it drops off a lot"?

I am assuming you mean the vapor production.
Is this also accompanied by a slightly burnt taste?

 

[DC2]

Cartomizers do a GREAT job at making sure the atty is wet for the next hit. If you are using cartridges that screw onto the atty, and you are getting inconsistent hits, I believe you will see tremendous improvement with the cartomizers.

The reason cartomizers do a better job of making sure the atomizer is wet is because of the design.

The filler material is wrapped around a long atomizer coil that runs the length of the cartomizer.
This puts a lot more of the surface area of the filler in contact with the coil.

An atomizer needs more "wicking action" to bring juice down to the atomizer coil.
That means you have to understand wicking just a little bit to get best results.

But the design of the cartomizer also leads to burnt filler if you don't have enough juice getting to the coil for whatever reason. That doesn't happen with atomizers, and there is no need for concern with burning filler material.

And of course, if you drip, there is no filler to burn in the first place.


They say that you need to keep the cartomizers wet to keep from getting burnt filler.
Well, if you think about it, that is not much different than keeping an atomizer wet.

But the difference is with an atomizer, at least you aren't inhaling burnt polyfill if you fail to do so.

 

[shellknob]

Hey Scribe.....I am 63 yrs old and started smoking before I was 20.... Like you I started on 510 and added EGO. I have been off regular cigs for 12 days now. I do think that I vape MORE than I smoked!... but I have a little private celebration in my mind every single day that I go without tobacco!... hang in there ... WE CAN DO THIS!!
Cheryl

 

[316lvm]

@Scribe -

A lot of us here know how you feel. 20+ years smoking 2 packs a day of either Camels or Marlboro Reds. Been vaping about 9 mos and I still get frustrated.

I think the "sweet spot" is when you're vaping and feeling satisfied - with the vapor, the flavor, and nothing dies or needs charging for a few hours.

I hit my first "sweet spot" on my 901 passthrough. Then got tired of being in the computer room all day and figured I couldn't multi-task vaping in the kitchen.

My second sweet spot was when I went with 2 - 5 volt mods - the GLV and Saber Touch. I still have days when it seems like a PITA - swapping out this with that, charging batts.

Despite all that, it beats the heck out of smoking.

- Noticed your in St. Paul. If you're interested in trying some LR 510 carto's - I can send you some to try. - Will pm you.