How can I get longer battery life?

[TheBlueAdept]

I don't know yet if I like/need dual coils. I'm still too new to this. But its been recommended to me that my next step would be the Twist, but I can't afford a $25-30 battery every week along with all the other stuff.

So a 900 or 1000 pass through with a battery (why would one not want the battery?) wouldn't power a dual coil because it would be using a usb power cord. Do they make any that just plug into a wall outlet (I'd prefer that anyways)? What about lower resistance dual coils? I was using the ego Mega Clear DCT (1.6 ohms).

So everything points to a Provari. The drawback for me on the Provari it the 15 clicks to do something. No way I'll remember what I'm doing with all the clicking. I liked the Darwin, except for seems like they break down often and they aren't available. I'm more concerned about performance and ease of use than looks. As long as they don't look like a personal vibrator like some do.

I myself prefer dual coils;after trial and error and a little more time you'll know what works best for you.

As to passthroughs without batteries, they are cheaper and work fine for non dual coil setups. I'm not aware of any that just plug into the wall with no USB adapter. Low resistance dual coils such as 1.5 and 1.6 pull enough amps that you'll need that inline battery to use on PT.

I have heard good things about the twist, and agree that may be a good step. I'm not sure why you think you'll need new batteries every week or two as you should be able to get several months out of them. I have some six month old 18650s that are fine still...

Regarding the button, I moved from the Lavatube which had dedicated voltage buttons. I thought it might be a pain,.but in day to day usage I don't mind at all. If.I constantly brought up menus it might be annoying, but with how infrequently I do it hasn't been a big hassle and is far outweighed by the quality of the vape and device!

Sent from my phone; Please excuse typos / autocorrections.

 

[JaneinMesa]

Well, from what I've read it sounds like when the start to not stay charged as long its getting close to the time to replace them. I just have the Kgo (Ego-style) so I don't know about the 18650's. Today I timed it and one battery took 5 hrs to charge, just as my other fully charged battery died. Is there a 18650 pass through (inexpensive)?

 

[TheBlueAdept]

Yeah, I've heard the EGOs take forever to charge. I agree they will hold less and less charge and that's when it is time to replace. Are you saying that happens for you in a matter of a week or two?? The 18650s charge up in 3-4 hours, and you can use a 2-bay or 4-bay charger, so it's easy to juggle if you have a couple in rotation. I'm not aware of any 18650-based passthroughs, unfortunately. I don't know of any one device that does what you need; I think you'll end up needing to get a passthrough with inline battery as well as an 18650-based device.

 

[JaneinMesa]

Yes, that is what I'm thinking. I'm home a lot and can be plugged in without too much hassle.

I sure wish there was a brick and mortar store close to me to see some of the models out there. Awfully hard to invest $200+ in something you've never seen (Provari). I'm intrigued by the iTaste as it seems to be a passthrough, with easy to operate up/down buttons, automaticaly reads the ohms of your carto. It appears to be a Lithium polymer battery and I can't find info on the life of that type of battery. The battery is not serviceable, so I guess you just toss it when its used up. Would like more info on that one.

 

[TheBlueAdept]

I highly recommend looking into units with replaceable batteries, as this will allow you to have several in rotation and always have one available to put in the unit and use while others charge, not to mention the waste of throwing away perfectly good bodies just because the battery is 'used up.'

I was initially under the impression that having dedicated voltage buttons would be a good thing, but in reality I don't adjust voltage that often that I need them. I have about 5 juices in rotation, and two carto types. Most of them fall into one of two voltage ranges, so I have two devices set to different voltages and just rotate the tanks amongst them accordingly... For me it is easier than messing with voltage constantly, regardless of how it is done.

I'm not familiar with the iTaste, but you might ask about it on the General Vaping Discussion subforum and see if anyone there knows (this is the Provape subforum, so answers you get here will generally relate to that )

 

[JaneinMesa]

IMR = Lithium Manganese, which is a safer chemical composition. What does AW mean? Protected? Is 18650 the size/shape of the battery? Is 18650 the best available "replaceable" battery at this time?

What is the largest mah in the 18650 batteries that can be used in a pv? But from what I've read, one also has to be concerned that it fits into whatever PV you are using. For example, one IMR AW 18650 may have a different top than another IMR AW 18650?

So I need to consider this when choosing a PV? They IMR AW 18650's seem to run about $13/ a battery?

Can the Provari be upgraded with a new end cap (does Provape keep up) if they come out with a physically longer battery than currently exists? I saw they have two different ends caps already.

 

[TheBlueAdept]

AW is one brand of IMR batteries, and the one that Provape recommends / sells / ships with their units. To my knowledge, IMR batteries are not protected. They have a safer chemistry as you noted, but it's also important to choose a mod that has good safety features (short protection, thermal protection, venting holes, reverse battery protection). The 18650 refers to the physical size of the battery, yes. I'm not sure if they are the best, but they are the most common large size battery I've seen so I imagine so.

The ones I have are AW / 2000mah. I think there may be some panasonic IMRs that are 2200mah, but I don't have any of those. There are two different types "button tops and flat tops" -- the button tops look like most batteries you're used to. The flat tops don't have a protruding positive contact. Some mods can work with both, and some only one or the other. The ProVari works only with button tops, for example (though this is primarily to enable the reverse battery protection feature). If you're going to buy more than one mod, battery compatibility (flat top versus non, as well as size) is certainly a consideration.

The ProVari comes standard with an endcap that fits slightly smaller batteries (18490/18500), and one optional extender endcap that allows it to fit the 18650. If a longer battery ends up being invented, I'm pretty sure they'll come up with a longer endcap to work with it.

Hope this helps!

 

[JaneinMesa]

I plan on going to a local vape meeting tomorrow and hope to gain more insight. It's difficult because I don't know anyone who vapes and its very frustrating trying to do this via web. I hope someone has a provari for me to see.

 

[TheBlueAdept]

There are many good videos on youtube, if you haven't checked that out.. But yes a local vape meet and getting hands-on is certainly the best way, and you'll learn a ton I suspect!

 

[JaneinMesa]

To be honest, I really have had up to here looking at all the youtube videos. I think I spent too much viewing really awful ones and it was a waste of time. Now I only look at grimmgreen or pbusardo's. I have watched several, not the same as in person. Just looking at the Provari site - yikes - when I added in all the accessories and upgrades I'm well-over $300! What is the approx. life of the 18650 vs 18500 batteries for a chain vaper? If I'm going to do this I want something cost-effective and don't want to have to buy any more stuff (aside form cartos and juice) for a year. I've found this vaping is already much more expensive than smoking.

 

[TheBlueAdept]

I agree there are a mix of good and bad out there, and I enjoy pbusardo's videos also. I see people getting 6 months to a year out of their 18650 batteries, depending on how they are treated, but I don't know anything about the 18500s. I imagine it is the same, since the factor is charge cycles and the only difference between those two is the amount/size of cells.

It can certainly be expensive during the period where you are trying different equipment to find out what works best for you. The ProVari, with the 2-year warranty and 4 batteries, ends up costing you somewhere around $15/month over 24 months. I don't know about you, but I spent more than that per *week* while smoking!

* I realize there are costs for juice and atomizers/cartomizers too, and batteries at $12 per, but even factoring these in it is nowhere close to how much analogs cost.

 

[JaneinMesa]

I rolled my own so it wasn't that expensive. I've already spent well about $150 (includes everything to make my own juice). I need new cartos, tanks, ?????? I'm just preparing since my batteries are already not lasting. Good to know those 18650 batteries have a long life. Guess I'll start saving my pennies for a Provari. I think maybe a pass-through might be worthwhile to use while I'm sitting around the house, too.