I plan on giving my blu a chance.

[hxj]

I just wanted to jump in and ask. How is blu comparing to other models? Cons, pros?

The blu and other branded L88b models (Volcano, etc.) run cooler than most other models and don't hit as hard. They also have a much lighter, smoother draw, however, and MUCH better flavour fidelity in my experience. I was shocked at how different the same liquid tastes in a blu vs. in a 510, for example.

The blu's advantages (for me, anyway) are flavour, size, weight, draw, and having a decent PCC. I've been off nicotine for ages, so I don't care about how hard it hits, but people who are more than light-to-moderate smokers may well have trouble switching from cigarettes with the blu as their main e-cig.

I've also got 510s, 306as, and Revolver Elites (702). Among these, the Elite is my next-most-used because it has an even better PCC, which has an LCD readout to show you how much charge is left in its internal battery, and it automatically shuts off when it's done charging an Elite battery. The Elite itself is even smaller than the blu, but it runs quite a bit hotter, and it's taken me a long time to learn how to hit it moderately enough not to scorch the liquid and kill the flavour. Also, it uses 401 cartridges, which I find don't work terribly well, though PTB helps a lot. And the automatic batteries are VERY sensitive to sound, a problem I have never had with any of my ten blu/Volcano batteries.

I really like the 306a, which does run a bit hotter than the blu, but not too much, and the flavour is pretty good. However, there's no PCC for it, so I really only use it occasionally around the house.

I actively DISlike the 510. It runs too hot and every liquid starts to taste the same to me. It's too big to use like a regular cigarette, even if I were to get automatic batteries for it, so I haven't bothered, and I hate having to hold down a button while inhaling. And the PCC requires you to unscrew the atomizer from the battery every time you put away your 510, and screw them back together whenever you want to use it, which is a terrible design in my opinion. I bought a bunch of 510 equipment because of all the hype, but haven't used it in months. What I've kept, I keep as a backup.

However, the 510 seems to be the most popular e-cig by a large margin, so obviously your mileage may vary. Right now I use the blu and Elite about 50/50 (both with PTB, both with VG-only 0mg liquids), though I like the blu's performance better.

 

[Schmoe]

Well, I've been using the blu for about two weeks now and must say, I have no complaints. Like the way it recharges on the go. Now, I'm going through the task of figuring out what kind of menthol flavor I like. I got the J.C. artic menthol in and I'm not all that impressed. I need more of a menthol hit. It has a good taste, just not all that.

 

[Schmoe]

Oh, does anybody know what I have to do to be able to post new threads or edit?

 

[hxj]

Well, I've been using the blu for about two weeks now and must say, I have no complaints. Like the way it recharges on the go. Now, I'm going through the task of figuring out what kind of menthol flavor I like. I got the J.C. artic menthol in and I'm not all that impressed. I need more of a menthol hit. It has a good taste, just not all that.

I've been using the Revolver Elite exclusively for the past week and change, but I was in such a hurry this morning I left it on my desk at home. I still had one of my blu packs in my coat pocket, though, and yes, it is MUCH easier to deal with than the Elite—more consistent draws, plenty of vapour, and a lot less worry about hitting too hard and burning the liquid. If the Elite didn't have such a good PCC (or if blu/Volcano made their PCC better), I'd probably leave the Elite behind for good. Although I have to say, I like the battery options for the Elite, too: they have a stainless steel with green LED, and a black with white LED.

On the menthol front, I was never a menthol smoker, but I'm very fond of ECOpure Menthol. I bet it's too mild for your tastes, but InnoVapor has formulated their own USA-made ECOpure knockoff called ULTRApure, and I know that even when they were selling actual ECOpure they had an "ultra" Menthol, which was ECOpure Menthol with additional menthol crystals mixed in.

ULTRApure is all-VG-based, like ECOpure, so I bet it'll perform very well in a blu, and I have a feeling the Menthol-Full-flavoured will suit you. They sell little 3ml trial bottles for $2.97.

You might also consider poking around the DIY subforums, because I assume plenty of people are just buying menthol crystals and adding them to liquids, so you can boost your JC Arctic Menthol. Or, since JC's return policy is outstanding (60 days, full refund even on opened bottles, they pay shipping both ways), you can just send it back to them and get your money back.

 

[hxj]

Oh, does anybody know what I have to do to be able to post new threads or edit?

Your post count has to reach a certain number... I think 15?

 

[Schmoe]

Thanks hxj. I sure enjoy reading your inputs on the blu. It's been very informative and helpful. Kind of like cigarettes, for methol that is. Either the tobacco is metholled or the filter has crystals in them. That's exactly what American Spirit does. You can shake the cigarette and actually hear the crystals moving around. I really don't want to go that route. I could live with the JC stuff, but curious as to what is all out there. Kind of like how I did it when I use to roll my own cigarettes and making my own beer. Beer turned out to be far easier than anything else. No beer is bad beer, espeically after about the 3rd one or so......
I watched the PTB mod last night and got a question. If I'm just using the carts from blu, seems like the actual material to put in the cart is very small. It's almost like the surface tension of the liquid prohibits the juice from actually filling up. Is it better to just stay with the "wool" that the blu carts come with? I'm not unopposed to buying more carts, it's just that I've gotten confused. So many different combinations out there that I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I also really like the convience of the blu pack and don't want to have to modify anything to make it all still fit in the case.
Also, this may be a stupid question, but does the actual material in the cart, be it PTB or "wool", come into direct contact with the atty? I mean, does it get hot enough to vaporize that material? I don't want to be inhaling all those PCB's and organic chemicals. I suspect not, but I haven't read anything along those subject lines. I will try your suggestion on the other menthol flavors. I'm not exactly old, 46, but once I find what I like, I usually stick to it. I know my wife and daughter are tickled that I've just about quit smoking. Still get the urge from time to time, but.....

 

[Schmoe]

Hmmm, just tried to order from that website and there seems to be some sort of problem with the internet. There site also comes up certificate error on the security aspects. Not giving me a warm fuzzy. I even called the customer support number to order via telephone, but it went straight to voice mail. Whasssup wit' dat????

 

[hxj]

Kind of like how I did it when I use to roll my own cigarettes and making my own beer.

You should definitely take a stroll through the DIY subforums, then, because you might really enjoy making your own liquids! I don't do much of that myself, mostly because I've found plenty of ready-made liquids that I like, so I don't feel it's necessary. But it can also be a huge money-saver.

I watched the PTB mod last night and got a question. If I'm just using the carts from blu, seems like the actual material to put in the cart is very small. It's almost like the surface tension of the liquid prohibits the juice from actually filling up. Is it better to just stay with the "wool" that the blu carts come with? I'm not unopposed to buying more carts, it's just that I've gotten confused. So many different combinations out there that I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I also really like the convience of the blu pack and don't want to have to modify anything to make it all still fit in the case.

I've found that the PET material from the Pyramid tea bags really does solve the single biggest problem with the blu as shipped: the cartridges don't wick fast enough. People constantly complain that they get five or six good hits off a new cart and then the vapour drops off sharply. The liquid's in the cart, it's just not flowing to the atomizer quickly enough! The PTB mod fixes that, so yes, I definitely recommend it.

Since the blu carts are small, I find I can stuff four of them with the PET from a single tea bag. The PTB mod (if you stuff the carts with rolls of PET in a sort of column) also automatically alleviates the surface tension problem you describe, because the gaps between the PET layers are air channels running from bottom to top. I find the best way to refill/top off a PTB-modded cart is to touch a drop of liquid to the very edge of the inner cart and let capillary action pull the liquid down to the bottom. As long as you stay at one edge, the air in the cart can flow up and out at the other edge, if you see what I'm saying. (Some people just use a syringe and fill from the bottom up, but I don't like messing with needles.)

If the liquid does start to pool, the cart's either full or there's an air bubble. The easy way to check/fix is to pull the filling out a few millimeters and push it back in. This will clear the bubble if you have one.

One thing to remember is not to overfill; the blu atomizer has a very pronounced mesh wick which protrudes right into the inner cart itself, and if you fill a cart right to the top, it'll overflow and you'll get spillage, leaking, liquid in the mouth, a flooded atomizer, etc. It's taken me a long time to force myself not to get greedy while filling carts.

Also, you don't need to buy more carts—just keep refilling them! Of the 25 carts that came with my blu starter kit last July, I probably still have about 15 whose foil has never even been broken. Although I do personally prefer using 306a carts, which are blu-compatible without modding.

Another thing about refilling carts: since the original carts are foil-sealed and meant to be thrown away, there's no cap for them. There are a couple of ways around this:

1. One is to use 306 carts, which come with rubber stoppers. The stoppers are a little too long to fit in the pack, but it takes all of ten seconds to cut a millimeter or two off the top (there LOTS of extra rubber there) and then they work perfectly. This is a good option if you plan to stick to one or two flavours for the most part.
   
2. The other, which is what I do, is to buy more atomizers and use them as caps. At $5 apiece, blu atomizers are cheap, and since they will die eventually, there's good reason to have extras around. A blu or 306 cart with an atomizer attached fits perfectly in the pack, unmodded. And the other benefit is that you can carry different flavours around and get no cross-bleed when you switch carts on the same atomizer. I just checked my pack and I've got six flavours with me (ECOpure Rich, ECOpure Menthol, DV Absinthe, DV Parma Violet, DV Habana Reserve, and a Shirley Temple concoction of my own), all with their own atomizers. When a cart runs dry, you just unscrew the entire cart-and-atomizer assembly and screw another one on.

Also, this may be a stupid question, but does the actual material in the cart, be it PTB or "wool", come into direct contact with the atty? I mean, does it get hot enough to vaporize that material? I don't want to be inhaling all those PCB's and organic chemicals. I suspect not, but I haven't read anything along those subject lines. I will try your suggestion on the other menthol flavors. I'm not exactly old, 46, but once I find what I like, I usually stick to it. I know my wife and daughter are tickled that I've just about quit smoking. Still get the urge from time to time, but.....

Yes, the mesh part of the atomizer DOES come into contact with the filler, which is how the liquid gets to the heating coil. But only the mesh wick touches the filling, not the heating coil itself! In some e-cigs, this is still a very real concern, because they run so hot, that bleedover heat can make the mesh hot enough to literally melt the filling and the cartridge plastic. In the blu, however, the atomizer never seems to get hot enough to do that. (In my Elite and 510, it's very easy to watch the atomizer coil glow red-hot, but I've never seen the blu atomizer run that hot.) So I'm less concerned about heat and the filling material in a blu. The PET in the PTB is obviously intended to be submersed in boiling water, so I feel a bit safer knowing that.

 

[hxj]

Hmmm, just tried to order from that website and there seems to be some sort of problem with the internet. There site also comes up certificate error on the security aspects. Not giving me a warm fuzzy. I even called the customer support number to order via telephone, but it went straight to voice mail. Whasssup wit' dat????

Their new web site just went live a day or two ago, probably just some technical issues to iron out.

Incidentally, I just wandered over to the InnoVapor subforum to see if anyone else was having trouble, and found this coupon code post:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...upon-permanent-forum-discounts-20-35-off.html

And this thread is about the new ULTRApure and makes for enlightening reading:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/innovapor/65246-new-ultrapure-usa-made-e-liquid-0-36mg.html

I definitely need to read up on all their changes. They seem to have severed ties with Intellicig (makers of ECOpure), because InnoVapor doesn't seem to carry the Intellicig EVO e-cig anymore, either.

For the record, there are definitely others having trouble ordering, but it looks like things are improving.

 

[Schmoe]

Thanks for all those answers and recommendations!!! I've been reading a lot lately and the more I read, the more I wonder or question. Been reading over at the health section and the comments on shortness of breath and how safe is "vaporing."
I'll give them another day or two before trying to order again. On the carts, I have kept all my blu carts and like you, have some with foil on them as well. One thing I have done is after filling what I'll need for a day or two, to fill up the unused sections on the blu pack, is put the carts in upside down, where as the openings are up instead of down. As worked good as long as I can keep the pack upright. However, I wonder if oxidation is degrading the liquid? Can't imagine it would be a lot as long as your not storing these that way for weeks at a time. I really like the MM and the CC on the blu carts. The JC menthol is way different than blu's MM. I wonder what exactly is in the MM from blu. I'd love to find that recipe.

 

[Koman]

Heh, maybe that recipe is a commercial secret

 

[deadlock]

Anyone know what is a good cartridge to buy for my blu? i need new cartidges to refill and was wondering if anyone knew of a site to purchase some bigger carts

 

[Schmoe]

I really like the innovapor menthal, not just a big throat hit.

 

[hxj]

I really like the innovapor menthal, not just a big throat hit.

Which InnoVapor menthol? They used to sell Intellicig's ECOpure, but now make their own liquid called ULTRApure. One of ULTRApure's selling points is that it's supposed to have a better throat hit, even in zero-nic form.

I haven't tried the ULTRApure yet, but some is on its way to me. Might even be in my mailbox already.

 

[rickyman]

Schmoe,

You asked about blu's MM? Well, I have some Cool Rush by Liquid Xpress and I think it tastes a lot like MM. I got it from parked at dietsmokes.com

 

[Schmoe]

Cool rush? Maybe I'll try that next. I'm using the new ultrapure menthol, full both 6 and 12 mg of nicotine. I got the small 3 ml trial size. I'm the type of "smoker" that likes the throat hit, then exhale. I don't like taking deep breaths of "smoke." Now with JC Artic at 18 mg nic, it dellivers a throat hit but not crazy about the after taste. I'm in the hunter-gatherer mode here. Trying to figure out if the throat hit is the actual nic, or the juice. By reading your comment above, it's not the nic. Now, the ultrapure does have somewhat of a lessor throat hit, you can feel it, but doesn't wham you like that of JC or an actual cigarette. I find that I take deeper draws to try and compensate for that, which is what I don't want to do. But the flavor of the ultrapure is freakin' GREAT. If I could find a happy medium with the throat hit of the JC, but the taste of the ultrapure, I would have found my dream setup and be done with sampling. Right now I'm going back and forth between the JC, the ultrapure 6 and 12. I actually like the 6, but I "smoke" them down really fast and find myself vaping them alot. I don't think I have conditioned my body for a lessor nic hit. I've been making roll your own cigarettes for quite a while now and I know they have a lot more nic than regular store bought. And honestly, I'm still smoking them along with vaping. I have to make a command decision here and totally quit one or the other. But, I'm going to stick to vaping once I can find own private Idaho. I may try mixing the JC and unflavored 6 mg of ultrapure to see what that taste like. Right now, I'm thinking of mixing JC with the 6 mg full menthol from ultrapure. Wish I could find one right now because thinking of continuing to experiment is kind of a PITA.

 

[Schmoe]

rick.....must be good stuff because it's unavailable right now. I'll be sure to try that.

 

[angelique510]

Anyone know what is a good cartridge to buy for my blu? i need new cartidges to refill and was wondering if anyone knew of a site to purchase some bigger carts

www.volcanoecigs.com He has pre filled carts (some diferent flavors than blu) and blank carts to fill yourself.

~A

 

[bobbysox10]

YouTube - Leaford's Video blog 8-4: My New Five Favorites

YouTube - Leaford's Video Blog 8-5: Runner Ups and Honorable Mentions

Here Leaford rates his 5 favorites and even does runners up and honorable mentions. What makes these vids so good is he gives the pros and cons of all the models he goes over even his favorite e-cig.

 

[Schmoe]

Hope this ain't stupid, but does the volcanoe carts fit EXACTLY like a blu? I mean, will fit the atty perfectly and inside the case whereas you can shut like you would with blu carts? If so, i may check into that but I've ordered 3 different menthols this past week and hopefully I can find the holy grail. I tell you, it was easier starting off doing homebrew than trying to find the right vap. But, at least you don't have to wait as long to get the taste.