- Status
Well, I got my starter kit yesterday, one week from the day I ordered it. I've never used another e-cigarette before, so I have no basis for comparison, but I can compare it to analog smoking at least (I was a pack-a-day smoker before I got my Blu). I ordered the "light" carts, although the cart boxes are stamped with "MED" on the back (I noticed that on Volcano's carts, light is considered 8mg nicotine, and Blu's lights are 12mg, so it makes more sense that the Blu "lights" are actually mediums. Full flavor is 16mg at both sites).
Anyway, it was an odd experience at first. I started with the regular tobacco flavor and took a pretty big pull, expecting it to not be nearly as satisfying as an analog if I didn't. As it turns out though, that was a pretty bad idea. I got a burnt taste in my mouth and even coughed a little. There was a huge amount of vapor. Thinking the burnt taste may just be because I hadn't "broken in" my atomizer yet, I took a few more smaller puffs. Not quite as bad. The flavor tasted to me, in a way, like hookah tobacco -- a bit sweet and strange, nothing like the Marlboros I usually smoke. Don't really like the sweetness actually, but I still got the nicotine fix and the actual tobacco flavor isn't too bad. Put it down for half an hour or so and then came back to it. This time the burnt taste was gone, but again, still didn't really like the sweetness added to the flavor. I've heard Volcano's tobacco carts taste better, although still somewhat sweet. At any rate, it was much better the second time around. Good vapor, good throat hit, battery was very responsive to my pulls.
Used it throughout the day, also trying a menthol cart. The menthol was much, much better tasting, almost reminding me of a Kool, although again the fresh cart had a burnt taste to it for the first few pulls.
Anyway, I did notice that after about 20-30 pulls from a cart that the vapor would get less and less, which was pretty disappointing, so I came here to see if anyone had any solutions. One tip I found turned out to be really helpful -- instead of just popping on the cart and twisting it slightly like the Blu instructions said, twist it all the way around then pull it off. All the foil and plastic is then stuck to the atomizer and you can then remove it and put the cart back on. This completely eliminated the burnt taste and the vapor is much more consistent, lasting for about 100 puffs before you have start taking really long pulls and it's just not worth it anymore (I wasn't counting, so just an estimate). Not at all the 150 pulls Blu claims, but still not bad. I could see two carts lasting me an entire day.
So, overall, pretty satisfied. It's not an analog cigarette and I have to remember that, but the whole point of me buying an e-cigarette is to get me off of smoke but still allow me my nicotine fix and the oral fixation of "smoking a cigarette." I've tried to stop with gum, patches, etc, but I always felt the need to have something in my hand. I think that's the hardest part about quitting -- not being able to take the cigarette to your mouth, hold it between your fingers, etc. But anyway, I managed to get through all of yesterday by smoking only one analog. That's pretty impressive. Today I have not had one at all. If I can continue getting decent vapor from these, I don't see any reason why I'd return to analogs at all. That's really the most important thing to me.
But I digress. Back to the review. The biggest disappointment I had was that one of the batteries has already gone bad. The one that came pre-charged with the kit that I used for most of the day yesterday is defective. When it blinked twenty times, indicating it was dying, I plugged it into the charger until fully charged. When I took it off, it started blinking repeatedly and has not stopped since last night. Two other attempts to charge it have resulted in the same thing: never-ending blinking. The other battery is working just fine, luckily, but Blu has told me to RMA the bad battery which absolutely hate doing. Especially since they said the turnaround for getting me a new one is going to be about 2 weeks. Sigh.
Overall: Blus are ok. So far. I may change my opinion after repeated use, not sure, but two days in I'm satisfied with what I got (except the busted battery). The thing I have to remember is that it is not an analog and of course it can never actually taste and feel the same. But I'm getting used to it, and more importantly, not smoking.
Anyway, it was an odd experience at first. I started with the regular tobacco flavor and took a pretty big pull, expecting it to not be nearly as satisfying as an analog if I didn't. As it turns out though, that was a pretty bad idea. I got a burnt taste in my mouth and even coughed a little. There was a huge amount of vapor. Thinking the burnt taste may just be because I hadn't "broken in" my atomizer yet, I took a few more smaller puffs. Not quite as bad. The flavor tasted to me, in a way, like hookah tobacco -- a bit sweet and strange, nothing like the Marlboros I usually smoke. Don't really like the sweetness actually, but I still got the nicotine fix and the actual tobacco flavor isn't too bad. Put it down for half an hour or so and then came back to it. This time the burnt taste was gone, but again, still didn't really like the sweetness added to the flavor. I've heard Volcano's tobacco carts taste better, although still somewhat sweet. At any rate, it was much better the second time around. Good vapor, good throat hit, battery was very responsive to my pulls.
Used it throughout the day, also trying a menthol cart. The menthol was much, much better tasting, almost reminding me of a Kool, although again the fresh cart had a burnt taste to it for the first few pulls.
Anyway, I did notice that after about 20-30 pulls from a cart that the vapor would get less and less, which was pretty disappointing, so I came here to see if anyone had any solutions. One tip I found turned out to be really helpful -- instead of just popping on the cart and twisting it slightly like the Blu instructions said, twist it all the way around then pull it off. All the foil and plastic is then stuck to the atomizer and you can then remove it and put the cart back on. This completely eliminated the burnt taste and the vapor is much more consistent, lasting for about 100 puffs before you have start taking really long pulls and it's just not worth it anymore (I wasn't counting, so just an estimate). Not at all the 150 pulls Blu claims, but still not bad. I could see two carts lasting me an entire day.
So, overall, pretty satisfied. It's not an analog cigarette and I have to remember that, but the whole point of me buying an e-cigarette is to get me off of smoke but still allow me my nicotine fix and the oral fixation of "smoking a cigarette." I've tried to stop with gum, patches, etc, but I always felt the need to have something in my hand. I think that's the hardest part about quitting -- not being able to take the cigarette to your mouth, hold it between your fingers, etc. But anyway, I managed to get through all of yesterday by smoking only one analog. That's pretty impressive. Today I have not had one at all. If I can continue getting decent vapor from these, I don't see any reason why I'd return to analogs at all. That's really the most important thing to me.
But I digress. Back to the review. The biggest disappointment I had was that one of the batteries has already gone bad. The one that came pre-charged with the kit that I used for most of the day yesterday is defective. When it blinked twenty times, indicating it was dying, I plugged it into the charger until fully charged. When I took it off, it started blinking repeatedly and has not stopped since last night. Two other attempts to charge it have resulted in the same thing: never-ending blinking. The other battery is working just fine, luckily, but Blu has told me to RMA the bad battery which absolutely hate doing. Especially since they said the turnaround for getting me a new one is going to be about 2 weeks. Sigh.
Overall: Blus are ok. So far. I may change my opinion after repeated use, not sure, but two days in I'm satisfied with what I got (except the busted battery). The thing I have to remember is that it is not an analog and of course it can never actually taste and feel the same. But I'm getting used to it, and more importantly, not smoking.
Scry, another thing you can try to get the most out of your pre-filled carts is when the vapor starts to diminish, take some tweezers and remove the filling, turn it around and put it back in. That way the juice that got settled at the bottom will be at the front near the atty and will be wicked much easier.
Awesome review though. I'm glad you are giving it a go.
Also, if you don't want to take the wait time and already considering getting more batteries anyways. Hit up the Volcano store, they will ship in 24 hours and from experiance should arrive to you in about 4 business days. I have only had a minor problem with one of their batteries so far. :S (The sensitivity is REALLY low and I find myself doing for puffing to get a lot of vapor instead of taking drags. I make up for that by getting the atty a little heated up so it kicks out a bit more.)
I hope you get your problems sorted out and enjoy it alot more!
Also to your part about not tasting the same. You should try Halo Freedom Juice. It is a VERY good mild tobacco flavor I think you would really enjoy. I would take it over a Marb any day.
Awesome review though. I'm glad you are giving it a go.
Also, if you don't want to take the wait time and already considering getting more batteries anyways. Hit up the Volcano store, they will ship in 24 hours and from experiance should arrive to you in about 4 business days. I have only had a minor problem with one of their batteries so far. :S (The sensitivity is REALLY low and I find myself doing for puffing to get a lot of vapor instead of taking drags. I make up for that by getting the atty a little heated up so it kicks out a bit more.)
I hope you get your problems sorted out and enjoy it alot more!
Also to your part about not tasting the same. You should try Halo Freedom Juice. It is a VERY good mild tobacco flavor I think you would really enjoy. I would take it over a Marb any day.
Tried the tweezer trick, but it's a bit difficult to get the filling out without pulling out whole inner cartridge. It's stuck in there pretty good. But you're right, when I took it out the top of the filling was completely dry and the bottom was soaking wet, yet I was getting almost no vapor from that specific cart. Flipped it around and took a pull and almost choked on how much of a difference it was.
Which leads me into my next question.. people are talking about liquids and such, and I've been reading about the PTB mod working pretty well for Blus if done right. However, if I understand correctly, this means to store extra carts in my Blu charging pack they'd need to be capped with extra atomizers so they don't dry up. Would that work? Don't really feel like carrying a bottle of liquid around with me all the time. I'm considering getting a bottle of the Halo Freedom Juice as a lot of people in this forum seem to really like it, and they also promise a good throat hit and vapor.
So, bottom line, should I take my empty carts, remove the filling, do the PTB trick, and then use juice to fill them up and extra atomizers to cap them? It really seems that the biggest problem with Blus are their pre-filled carts not being engineered all that well.
I also came across some pre-filled carts at AquaVapor's site that you can buy to fit the L88, and 25 carts is $5 less than Blu is charging. They also say their 'Regular' flavor is 'Like Marlboro.' Thinking about giving it a shot, and if they're awful I can bite the $20 cost and move on to liquids.
Which leads me into my next question.. people are talking about liquids and such, and I've been reading about the PTB mod working pretty well for Blus if done right. However, if I understand correctly, this means to store extra carts in my Blu charging pack they'd need to be capped with extra atomizers so they don't dry up. Would that work? Don't really feel like carrying a bottle of liquid around with me all the time. I'm considering getting a bottle of the Halo Freedom Juice as a lot of people in this forum seem to really like it, and they also promise a good throat hit and vapor.
So, bottom line, should I take my empty carts, remove the filling, do the PTB trick, and then use juice to fill them up and extra atomizers to cap them? It really seems that the biggest problem with Blus are their pre-filled carts not being engineered all that well.
I also came across some pre-filled carts at AquaVapor's site that you can buy to fit the L88, and 25 carts is $5 less than Blu is charging. They also say their 'Regular' flavor is 'Like Marlboro.' Thinking about giving it a shot, and if they're awful I can bite the $20 cost and move on to liquids.
I highly doubt theirs is like "marlboro" check out volcanos carts too. you can buy them in just packs of 5, not just in 25's, and they are cheaper the more you buy.
You can cap them with other things, I currently use small ear plugs. There are also stuff you can get from hardware stores, like plugs for holes in water hoses, etc. They usually fit perfectly.
Another thing you can do, which I do most of the time if I am not driving... is carry around a eye contact lense case around with about 5 - 10 drops of liquid in each part, and just dip the atty in it partially for two seconds then use a blank cart.
I personally prefer the Blue Foam over the PTB mod. You can buy precut, or go to a petsmart and get your own and cut it to fit. I find that it whicks just as good, if not better. and washes amazingly. (Not to mention hella cheap.) Just cut it to about 1.5 the size of the cart, not double.
Hmm, I had not read about the Blue Foam. Do you have any sites to recommend that sell them pre-cut for L88s? I'm loathe to mod things myself as I'm afraid of destroying my equipment, so I'd prefer work done by someone who's already been through all this already. But I'll definitely give Volcano a shot. They really seem to be on the ball as opposed to Blu in a lot of aspects.
go to strictlyejuice.com and go to the fillers page. .75 cents a baggy for precut 'blue foam' fluval filler. I haven't got the precut before... but it should be the right size, if its a bit too big, just slim it down a bit. You shouldnt have any problems messing up your stuff... unless you overfill the cart.
Guess I'm going to have a go at it.
I'm on Day 3 of my first e-cigarette experience. Like Scry, I'm reviewing from a first-timer's perspective, as this Blu is my first PV, and all I have to compare it to is a 15-year, pack-a-day Marlboro Light Menthol 100's habit (which is now 3 days in the past). I also ordered the Medium-strength carts.
As a Menthol smoker, I naturally fired up my first Blu with a Menthol cartridge. I began with the full twist, then remove foil method that everyone recommends. The taste was definitely different. A slight hint of Menthol with an almost sugary sweetness. Not what I expected, but I liked the taste. It had a bit of a throat hit, but nothing to rival that from my cigarettes, and it seemed to stop at the back of my throat. What I missed was the hit from my cigarettes, which you could feel hitting you all the way down your throat and even in the tops of your lungs. Guess I'll call that a "lung hit." There was none. Also, the vapor production was awful. I read a lot about technique. Take long, slow drags and breathe out slowly to improve vapor. Don't hold it in your lungs very long, as vapor dissipates quicker than smoke. Tried everything, no improvement.
I watched these forums for tips to improve the vapor production and throat hit of the Blu, but pretty much every tip I could find involved cart mods, dripping/dipping, and/or changing e-liquid. Not having ordered any e-liquid to go with my pre-filled Blu carts, I couldn't try any of these suggestions. I tried Vanilla next, then Cherry, and had much the same results. By this point, I was beginning to get very frustrated. I'd read many a disparaging comment on these forums about the Blu, but there were also a few posters who preferred the Blu, so I had to believe it had some merits. I went to bed really really craving a cigarette.
The next morning, I woke up and was finishing off last night's Cherry cart, yawning and browsing the forums. Someone suggested shaking the Blu like a thermometer when carts were getting dry to bring the liquid from the bottom of the cart up to the atomizer. That was an excellent suggestion, and I got some new life out of the carts I'd been through. That afternoon, when I was convinced all those carts were dead, I put on a Classic Tobacco cart.
Whoa! What a difference! Tons more vapor production, and a throat hit and lung hit easily comparable to my cigarettes. Perhaps my atomizer was finally breaking in as well, but going back to Menthol or Vanilla carts since then, they've been just as disappointing. However, the Tobacco flavor, though it lacked the menthol flavor I'd gotten so used to smoking for 15 years, had everything else I wanted. Perhaps a little more vapor would be nice still, but the vapor production improvement over the other flavors was huge. And I was getting the lung hit, and that's what I was really missing before. It seems just to be a difference in the juices. The Java Jolt flavor (although I hate coffee, and didn't like it) performed admirably in the lung-hit and vapor production categories as well.
Newly optimistic about the Blu, I ordered the PG sampler from Johnson's Creek. Still waiting on that to try dipping, dripping, and refilling my carts. Definitely gonna try a PTB mod as well and see what I think. I think just a few modifications and slight tweaking to the Blu's vapor-production (hopefully will happen with better liquid and/or the cart mod) and I'd be perfectly content with it. Not to say I won't try other devices in the future as well.
I will post a bit more when I get to try actual e-liquid and see how much that ups the performance of the Blu. If it improves even just a little bit from the Classic Tobacco and Java Jolt flavors, I'll love my Blu.
The batteries have all worked great, the PCC keeps pace with me great. By the time I wear one battery down, the other is charged and ready. One thing I'm needing to learn is to measure my vaping. Without the natural rhythm of "my cigarette's burnt down to the filter, so I'm done smoking for a little while," I find I tend to just vape and vape and vape, which might be why I've been so disappointed with how long the Blu carts last.
The device itself is fine, but the carts are terrible. The tastes are okay (except Java Jolt, bleh), but the liquid seems to produce very little vapor on three of the five flavors, and absolutely no satisfying lung hit. Classic Tobacco is alright, though. I'd still like more vapor, as blowing out that cloud, blowing smoke rings, doing smoke tricks and such are why I started smoking in the first place. I just think it looks awesome. However, I hear the few Blu supporters on the forum saying that gets better with different e-liquids and cart fillings, so I'm axious to try that.
So, overall, the pre-filled Blu carts are pretty awful overall, but the rest of the kit is, so far, pretty awesome. I was worried at first, but now that it seems like the whole problem was the Blu's carts and juices. Once I get some decent e-liquid (and I've heard many recommend Johnson's Creek), I expect my Blu to be a wonderful thing.
The most important point, however, is even with the crappy pre-filled carts, I haven't smoked an analog in 3 days. And better yet, I can see that trend continuing.
I'm on Day 3 of my first e-cigarette experience. Like Scry, I'm reviewing from a first-timer's perspective, as this Blu is my first PV, and all I have to compare it to is a 15-year, pack-a-day Marlboro Light Menthol 100's habit (which is now 3 days in the past). I also ordered the Medium-strength carts.
As a Menthol smoker, I naturally fired up my first Blu with a Menthol cartridge. I began with the full twist, then remove foil method that everyone recommends. The taste was definitely different. A slight hint of Menthol with an almost sugary sweetness. Not what I expected, but I liked the taste. It had a bit of a throat hit, but nothing to rival that from my cigarettes, and it seemed to stop at the back of my throat. What I missed was the hit from my cigarettes, which you could feel hitting you all the way down your throat and even in the tops of your lungs. Guess I'll call that a "lung hit." There was none. Also, the vapor production was awful. I read a lot about technique. Take long, slow drags and breathe out slowly to improve vapor. Don't hold it in your lungs very long, as vapor dissipates quicker than smoke. Tried everything, no improvement.
I watched these forums for tips to improve the vapor production and throat hit of the Blu, but pretty much every tip I could find involved cart mods, dripping/dipping, and/or changing e-liquid. Not having ordered any e-liquid to go with my pre-filled Blu carts, I couldn't try any of these suggestions. I tried Vanilla next, then Cherry, and had much the same results. By this point, I was beginning to get very frustrated. I'd read many a disparaging comment on these forums about the Blu, but there were also a few posters who preferred the Blu, so I had to believe it had some merits. I went to bed really really craving a cigarette.
The next morning, I woke up and was finishing off last night's Cherry cart, yawning and browsing the forums. Someone suggested shaking the Blu like a thermometer when carts were getting dry to bring the liquid from the bottom of the cart up to the atomizer. That was an excellent suggestion, and I got some new life out of the carts I'd been through. That afternoon, when I was convinced all those carts were dead, I put on a Classic Tobacco cart.
Whoa! What a difference! Tons more vapor production, and a throat hit and lung hit easily comparable to my cigarettes. Perhaps my atomizer was finally breaking in as well, but going back to Menthol or Vanilla carts since then, they've been just as disappointing. However, the Tobacco flavor, though it lacked the menthol flavor I'd gotten so used to smoking for 15 years, had everything else I wanted. Perhaps a little more vapor would be nice still, but the vapor production improvement over the other flavors was huge. And I was getting the lung hit, and that's what I was really missing before. It seems just to be a difference in the juices. The Java Jolt flavor (although I hate coffee, and didn't like it) performed admirably in the lung-hit and vapor production categories as well.
Newly optimistic about the Blu, I ordered the PG sampler from Johnson's Creek. Still waiting on that to try dipping, dripping, and refilling my carts. Definitely gonna try a PTB mod as well and see what I think. I think just a few modifications and slight tweaking to the Blu's vapor-production (hopefully will happen with better liquid and/or the cart mod) and I'd be perfectly content with it. Not to say I won't try other devices in the future as well.
I will post a bit more when I get to try actual e-liquid and see how much that ups the performance of the Blu. If it improves even just a little bit from the Classic Tobacco and Java Jolt flavors, I'll love my Blu.
The batteries have all worked great, the PCC keeps pace with me great. By the time I wear one battery down, the other is charged and ready. One thing I'm needing to learn is to measure my vaping. Without the natural rhythm of "my cigarette's burnt down to the filter, so I'm done smoking for a little while," I find I tend to just vape and vape and vape, which might be why I've been so disappointed with how long the Blu carts last.
The device itself is fine, but the carts are terrible. The tastes are okay (except Java Jolt, bleh), but the liquid seems to produce very little vapor on three of the five flavors, and absolutely no satisfying lung hit. Classic Tobacco is alright, though. I'd still like more vapor, as blowing out that cloud, blowing smoke rings, doing smoke tricks and such are why I started smoking in the first place. I just think it looks awesome. However, I hear the few Blu supporters on the forum saying that gets better with different e-liquids and cart fillings, so I'm axious to try that.
So, overall, the pre-filled Blu carts are pretty awful overall, but the rest of the kit is, so far, pretty awesome. I was worried at first, but now that it seems like the whole problem was the Blu's carts and juices. Once I get some decent e-liquid (and I've heard many recommend Johnson's Creek), I expect my Blu to be a wonderful thing.
The most important point, however, is even with the crappy pre-filled carts, I haven't smoked an analog in 3 days. And better yet, I can see that trend continuing.
Addendum to my previous post: I got my e-juice in, and wow, what a difference. Vapor's way up, lung hit's way up. Every problem I had with my Blu has evaporated into... vapor! I haven't tried the PTB mod yet, but just the juice made a huge difference. I now love my Blu. I do need to order some more atty's, though, so I can prepare and cap more than one extra cart for when I'm out and about.
So if you're having any issues with your blu, just order some decent e-liquid, will probably help a lot.
So if you're having any issues with your blu, just order some decent e-liquid, will probably help a lot.
Dougrick- My husband had the exact same problem as you. While I loved my blu and had consistent vapor each time, he felt like his just wasn't up to par with smoking. Then we got our juice in the mail and the difference is huge. He's enjoying his a lot more now and I love mine even more than I did. I would definitely say the prefilled carts are going to be a waste of time for a lot of people. We did order some blank carts from volcano so that we can have a few filled for the times it's just not at all convenient to just drip/dip.
I've had my blu for about 3 weeks, so here's my take on them. This was my first e-smoke. After doing some google research, I narrowed it down to the blu. I liked the way it looked and, at that time, offered some advantages that some others ecigs didn't. Like the idea I could charge on the go and that it came with a USB charger for when I'm at work. Website said up to three weeks for delivery, no problem. Actually got it about a week and a half later.
So, open it and was really surprised just how small the carts were. The pictures on their website made them look bigger. Again, first esmoke I've ever encountered so I don't know why I was suprised. Popped in the CT cart, and very dissapointed, but I am a menthol smoker, so didn't really give it much thought, but the CT flavor sucked. It was just plain awful. Yuck. Tried the MM and wow, here we go. I'm the "throat hit-exhale" kind of smoker. The MM delivered, but after about 5-10 hits, the hit stopped. Popped in another one, same thing. Tried the CC, and was surprised just how good it really was. The java and vanilla, well, just not my taste. So, I concentrated on the MM and the CC for a few days. I was still smoking analogs at the time. I probably OD'ed on nicotine, and now realize the tell-tale signs. I also had to learn to pace myself with analogs. I mean, especially at work. Go outside and smoke a analog, then sit at my desk and start hitting the ecig. I don't know if it was the joy of being able to "smoke" at my desk again, or just out of habit and knowing that I CAN. Got to thinking and adding up what all this is going to cost in getting refills at 1 dollar a piece and only going through 5-10 puffs per cart, then adding up the per day, well, that started looking expensive. I knew there had to be a better alternative out there.
Now enter this forum. I found this through a search engine, google. I saw it before when I was doing some research, but just didn't sit down and read enough. Anyway, found this section and got to reading. Holy Cow Batman....so many different reviews, opinions, ideas, tricks, tips, etc. etc. It is funny how just about everyone hates blu. I got a little worried after reading all those negative comments but I wasn't about to give up on it. Still like the concept and the packaging.
From reading on this forum, I gained confidence and started "playing" around with it. Learned about the twist-the-cart method, and that gave me more hits off of a single cart. So far so good. I luckily haven't had any battery or atty problems. Started taking apart the carts and seeing how everything fit together. Learned that the atty bridge is a nickle base material that only serves to pull the liquid to the actually atomizer, that is located in the back, in the middle. From observing the setup, it seemed that the filler would barely touch the bridge, so I found that by pulling the filler material closer to the top of the cart, not pushing the actual cart all the way down into the mouth piece, there is more contact. The bridge doesn't get hot, so as long as the filler is not shoved into the actual atty, it should'nt matter. That really worked. Getting more good hits on a single cart. The got to reading about different juices. So, I ordered "menthol" from innovator, JC and liquid express. Since I smoked about a pack a day, ordered around the 12-18mg nicotine. Liked the JC, but a little dry. Didn't really care for innovator but really like the cool rush from liquid express. Looked at the PTB mod, haven't done it yet, but will probably soon but having good results from using the filling that comes with the carts from blue. Got 25 of those so I may cut some in half and add it to the existing carts I'm using. What I'm finding is that if I fill one of the carts up, and pull it closer to the edge of the actual liquid holder, there is a gap at the bottom. Once the liquid is pulled out of the filler, and even though there is free liquid in the bottom of the actual cup, there are no more good hits. The JC and liquid express give really good vapor.
So, fast forward to this week. I got the bugs worked out, at least for suiting my needs, and started transitioning to using ecigs full time. Now, you have to have the right frame of mind for this and realize this isn't an analog, but YOU CAN adapt. I have. I've now cut my analogs down to about 4 per day. Even when I do smoke an analog, I'm starting to not like the taste and ask myself, why am I doing this? It's just a change in mindset. You still get the nic hit, but without the smell. Talk about the smell. I'm now noticing how my coats smell, yuck. My wife has been on my arshe about the smell, but I didn't pay no attention. Boy, you can now. When someone at the office smokes, I can smell it a mile away. Amazing. I've smoked for over 30 years, if I can start doing this transition with relative ease, you can too!!!
So, open it and was really surprised just how small the carts were. The pictures on their website made them look bigger. Again, first esmoke I've ever encountered so I don't know why I was suprised. Popped in the CT cart, and very dissapointed, but I am a menthol smoker, so didn't really give it much thought, but the CT flavor sucked. It was just plain awful. Yuck. Tried the MM and wow, here we go. I'm the "throat hit-exhale" kind of smoker. The MM delivered, but after about 5-10 hits, the hit stopped. Popped in another one, same thing. Tried the CC, and was surprised just how good it really was. The java and vanilla, well, just not my taste. So, I concentrated on the MM and the CC for a few days. I was still smoking analogs at the time. I probably OD'ed on nicotine, and now realize the tell-tale signs. I also had to learn to pace myself with analogs. I mean, especially at work. Go outside and smoke a analog, then sit at my desk and start hitting the ecig. I don't know if it was the joy of being able to "smoke" at my desk again, or just out of habit and knowing that I CAN. Got to thinking and adding up what all this is going to cost in getting refills at 1 dollar a piece and only going through 5-10 puffs per cart, then adding up the per day, well, that started looking expensive. I knew there had to be a better alternative out there.
Now enter this forum. I found this through a search engine, google. I saw it before when I was doing some research, but just didn't sit down and read enough. Anyway, found this section and got to reading. Holy Cow Batman....so many different reviews, opinions, ideas, tricks, tips, etc. etc. It is funny how just about everyone hates blu. I got a little worried after reading all those negative comments but I wasn't about to give up on it. Still like the concept and the packaging.
From reading on this forum, I gained confidence and started "playing" around with it. Learned about the twist-the-cart method, and that gave me more hits off of a single cart. So far so good. I luckily haven't had any battery or atty problems. Started taking apart the carts and seeing how everything fit together. Learned that the atty bridge is a nickle base material that only serves to pull the liquid to the actually atomizer, that is located in the back, in the middle. From observing the setup, it seemed that the filler would barely touch the bridge, so I found that by pulling the filler material closer to the top of the cart, not pushing the actual cart all the way down into the mouth piece, there is more contact. The bridge doesn't get hot, so as long as the filler is not shoved into the actual atty, it should'nt matter. That really worked. Getting more good hits on a single cart. The got to reading about different juices. So, I ordered "menthol" from innovator, JC and liquid express. Since I smoked about a pack a day, ordered around the 12-18mg nicotine. Liked the JC, but a little dry. Didn't really care for innovator but really like the cool rush from liquid express. Looked at the PTB mod, haven't done it yet, but will probably soon but having good results from using the filling that comes with the carts from blue. Got 25 of those so I may cut some in half and add it to the existing carts I'm using. What I'm finding is that if I fill one of the carts up, and pull it closer to the edge of the actual liquid holder, there is a gap at the bottom. Once the liquid is pulled out of the filler, and even though there is free liquid in the bottom of the actual cup, there are no more good hits. The JC and liquid express give really good vapor.
So, fast forward to this week. I got the bugs worked out, at least for suiting my needs, and started transitioning to using ecigs full time. Now, you have to have the right frame of mind for this and realize this isn't an analog, but YOU CAN adapt. I have. I've now cut my analogs down to about 4 per day. Even when I do smoke an analog, I'm starting to not like the taste and ask myself, why am I doing this? It's just a change in mindset. You still get the nic hit, but without the smell. Talk about the smell. I'm now noticing how my coats smell, yuck. My wife has been on my arshe about the smell, but I didn't pay no attention. Boy, you can now. When someone at the office smokes, I can smell it a mile away. Amazing. I've smoked for over 30 years, if I can start doing this transition with relative ease, you can too!!!
I have a blu too (RN4081 and 510 whoop it IMHO) and I think the burnt taste is a combo of the atty not being wet enough, and that crappy foil / plastic on the inner cart. I took advice from elsewhere and use a paperclip to pop the inner cart out, remove the foil and plastic if I can, and use the paperclip to massage the poly fill inside to get the juices flowing. Then I don't put the inner cart all the way in...I don't want it directly touching the atty but I want it closer than it is "stock"
If you change the carts before the atty is dry (and continue to "massage" or top them off or keep the atty wet) you'll do fine.
Incidentally you're already handling this in a roundabout way by re-using and re-filling carts, but this is a good technique for enjoying your stock carts as much as possible. I haven't tried the regular blu tobacco (which is JC of course) but the menthol was great. Coffee not so good, vanilla "ok."
If you change the carts before the atty is dry (and continue to "massage" or top them off or keep the atty wet) you'll do fine.
Incidentally you're already handling this in a roundabout way by re-using and re-filling carts, but this is a good technique for enjoying your stock carts as much as possible. I haven't tried the regular blu tobacco (which is JC of course) but the menthol was great. Coffee not so good, vanilla "ok."
Start "dipping" that exposed atomizer in straight e-liquid and you might find it much easier to kick analogs. Dripping works too, I just don't recommend more than 2 drops with that exposed and small atomizer.
If it still doesn't do it for you, look into RN4081s or 510s...if I could do it over again I'd still get something "like" the Blu, but probably would go for the Revolver Elite. It's deceptive how Blu markets their personal charging case as an "exclusive" for their brand. It's actually nice so far and works and has lots of storage (including room for a paperclip, which is essential IMHO) but it's not "smart" and will drain your battery if you leave it charging too long.
The Blu atties are cheap and I like having a couple of exposed bridge atomizers kicking around. I picked up some $4 510 atomizers from TastyVapor and they work great with the Blu battery too, and you can "drip" 2 drops on them and hit right off of them because the bridge is recessed.
If it still doesn't do it for you, look into RN4081s or 510s...if I could do it over again I'd still get something "like" the Blu, but probably would go for the Revolver Elite. It's deceptive how Blu markets their personal charging case as an "exclusive" for their brand. It's actually nice so far and works and has lots of storage (including room for a paperclip, which is essential IMHO) but it's not "smart" and will drain your battery if you leave it charging too long.
The Blu atties are cheap and I like having a couple of exposed bridge atomizers kicking around. I picked up some $4 510 atomizers from TastyVapor and they work great with the Blu battery too, and you can "drip" 2 drops on them and hit right off of them because the bridge is recessed.
I wish I had found this post weeks ago! So much of my experience mirrors what has been said here ... I smoked analogs 45+ yrs and had tried every method I knew of to quit - with no success. Then I ordered my Blu. I have no trouble staying off analogs. But, like most of you I found the cartridges disappointing and so I tried Volcano carts - I found those even less satisfying. I ordered some juice and pre-cut filler from strictly ejuice and wow! But after a while I found juice getting into my mouth - yech!
I'm not sure what the problem is so any suggestions would be most welcome. The biggest drawback to vaping is how labor intensive it seems to be. Someone on another post suggested getting 510 cartomizers which they say will fit the Blu and last a lot longer.
But I'm very happy that I got my Blu and finally got off analogs (over a month now). Happy vaping!
I'm not sure what the problem is so any suggestions would be most welcome. The biggest drawback to vaping is how labor intensive it seems to be. Someone on another post suggested getting 510 cartomizers which they say will fit the Blu and last a lot longer.
But I'm very happy that I got my Blu and finally got off analogs (over a month now). Happy vaping!
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