"Isn't this common knowledge?" And the hiring standards to work a B&M...

[MarKa]

What set up are you uesing I run 28 gauge 4/5 wrap dual coils with 2mm ecowool at .4 ohms I have 1/16 boar I tried 3/32 and it seemed to airy for me I filled the holes with JB weld and went back down to 1/16

The one I'm working with now is on the IGO-W. 3/4 dual-coil on silica 28ga, .3ohms relatively high amp draw but my MNKE should be able to handle it, going from the specs listed on the merch website! I actually like the airyness. The 5/64 is pretty decent, still a little hot though. Clouds on clouds

I have friends who have gone up to 1/8th holes! Nice draw but man you can hardly taste the vape...

 

[mommafish]

One vape store knows nothing but sell sell sell. This nice little one up the street makes his employees use all equipment he sells he said he would rather buy one extra for employees to learn on then saying ummm I think u do this. Plus when they stop selling the model he raffles the used one away. I think thats a cool idea!

 

[rogergendron1]

Wow I definatly feel spoiled

My vape store ... Eastervapors will bend over bakwards for u. They are all members on here and know there sh#t well . The owner however hates mechs and only uses a provari with standard but top of the line clearos and cartos his buddy however is the mech master lol and the two of us get lost in vape talk for hours when I show up there .

Yup spoiled .
Not the best prices but its fair and they are honest and know there stuff like the back of there hand all they do all day is research vape gear and scroll the forums . Bolth are also members of f#uckcombustion another vape forum .... Only about vaping a diff substance ... Lol they know there stuff on bolth fronts .

 

[WBB0]

When do you walk into any type of retail business expecting anything more than a hand to take your money and hopefully give back correct change? Sure, there are exceptions. Really, it sounds like this place was an exception, actually got good service.

On a slightly related note... I'm new to all this so please forgive my dumb question. Protected battery? Did someone set themselves on fire because a simple fuse is somehow a bad idea?

 

[The Ocelot]

You could be describing the B&M in my town. I've been in there a total of 3 time: once when I was new; once when I wanted a Twist (which has just hit the market); and once a few weeks ago because I was bored.

I didn't go back after the second time, because they didn't have any Twists and said they weren't going to stock them because they were "junk." The clerk said his broke within 2 weeks and so did his buddy's. The last time I was there they had a sign that they were hiring, but I just couldn't do it. They sell generic eGo kits at a 200% mark up and listening to the sales clerk's spiel I almost choked. I would get fired the first day.

 

[dr g]

This is absolutely NOT common knowledge, heck it's rare knowledge even on enthusiast forums. The effects of big intake holes are one of the biggest little secrets of atomizer building, apparently.

 

[The Ocelot]

Good luck with that;-) Ive been asked to stop telling the customers about ECF in shops cause they know their customers will find other products than theirs if the start hanging out in ECF

The manager/head clerk/whatever of the B&M was tracking me the whole time I was in the shop. I was only able to sneak an ECF card to one customer, but I tried. Unfortunately, the place is really small and he was glaring at me. I actually stood next to a guy debating to buy a kit and tried to send him brain waves to go out and have a cigarette to think about it - that's what I used to do when I couldn't make up my mind. It didn't work.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

Spend any significant amount of time on ECF, walk into even the best B&M in your area, and you are instantly the smartest person in the room.

I am blessed with a very good B&M with knowledgable, helpful staff and very good customer service. Pricing is typical B&M, but not unreasonable (ProTank 2 for $25, coil heads $3, etc). They know me by face and name, and they know that I know what I'm doing and pretty much stay out of my way.

 

[SissySpike]

Wow I definatly feel spoiled

My vape store ... Eastervapors will bend over bakwards for u. They are all members on here and know there sh#t well . The owner however hates mechs and only uses a provari with standard but top of the line clearos and cartos his buddy however is the mech master lol and the two of us get lost in vape talk for hours when I show up there .


Yup spoiled .
Not the best prices but its fair and they are honest and know there stuff like the back of there hand all they do all day is research vape gear and scroll the forums . Bolth are also members of f#uckcombustion another vape forum .... Only about vaping a diff substance ... Lol they know there stuff on bolth fronts .

That is a nice shop I checked it out last year when I was working in MA Very good guys! It was a little drive for me so I just went the once to check it out got some juice there.

 

[SissySpike]

Spend any significant amount of time on ECF, walk into even the best B&M in your area, and you are instantly the smartest person in the room.

I am blessed with a very good B&M with knowledgable, helpful staff and very good customer service. Pricing is typical B&M, but not unreasonable (ProTank 2 for $25, coil heads $3, etc). They know me by face and name, and they know that I know what I'm doing and pretty much stay out of my way.

Dont you ever sleep! ;-)

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

Dont you ever sleep! ;-)

Heh. I was up late the other night, but can't do that with the kids getting up for school.

 

[Jim Diamond]

This is exactly why I do my shopping on the Internet. I learn what I need here on ECF then order it online. So far it's worked out great.

Spend any significant amount of time on ECF, walk into even the best B&M in your area, and you are instantly the smartest person in the room.

I am blessed with a very good B&M with knowledgable, helpful staff and very good customer service. Pricing is typical B&M, but not unreasonable (ProTank 2 for $25, coil heads $3, etc). They know me by face and name, and they know that I know what I'm doing and pretty much stay out of my way.

Agreed to both. JD

 

[EmeraldLeo1982]

You guys are all spoiled lol. The only place around here that sells anything vape related insists that Ego is a brand name, 10ml of liquid is 4 cartons of smokes, and a single CE4 clearomizer will last you a lifetime... and if you try and tell her anything it's an argument because she runs a small closet full of cigarettes on the side of the road so she couldn't possiby be wrong about anything right? lol

 

[MrStik]

This is kind of a rant so I apologize.

I went into a local B&M today to get some holes in my IGO-W cap enlarged (from 1/16th to 3/32), because the vapor from my dual coil build was relatively hot. A friend of mine has the same build as me with 3/32 holes in the cap and he let me try it out last night. The larger holes completely solved my problem.

So one employee takes it to the back while I sit at the juice bar and try some flavors. He comes back out and says that the largest the had was 5/64, which I was ok with (1/64th of a difference is fine). He takes it back and drills it. The entire time he's working on my cap the rest of the staff is trying to convince me that larger holes will only make the vapor hotter.

Really? I thought it was common knowledge that larger holes cooled vapor? I get that increased air flow makes the coils hotter, producing more vapor. But the vapor itself has been cooled by larger holes in every one of my past RDAs. And there were 3 employees telling me this. This is their job.

The week before that I went in to another location for a new battery. I asked if they had AW18650s, the guy pulled out an AW 18650 and a generic ICR18650. The AW was actually cheaper, so he was trying to convince me to get the generic ICR. He tried to sell me on it by saying, and I quote, "This one is cheaper, but its way worth it because this one puts out more mAh."

...

The AW was rated at 2000mAh and the ICR was at 2600mAh. At this point I could have brought up what mAh actually meant, gone into detail about safe chemistry, and the C rating of the batteries he was showing me. But I chose to feign ignorance to save him the embarrassment. He also saw that I was using a mech mod and still pursued selling me the unprotected ICR. That's just unsafe. I did end up writing to the stores customer service e-mail about it later, though. I felt they should be aware.

Am I just having bad luck here with B&M employees? Does anyone else run into this issue with local vape stores? It seems like most of them know the names of current trending mods, how to build, and which flavors taste the best, but not much else when it comes to technicalities.

I understand that the demand for vape store employees sprung up rather quickly. Many locations probably didn't have time to field test their new hires. I'm just saying that its the the responsibility of the B&M operator to ensure that his staff is properly trained and educated. Especially when dealing with unprotected batteries. And I don't really see much of that in my local shops.

/rant

Which stores in SoCal are you going to? The stores I go to in OC are very knowledgeable

 

[release the kraken]

Yeah, the OP and a few others are spoiled with b and m stores that aren't just money money money. The chain in my area (and yes its a chain now because they found enough suckers to open another store) is clueless. I believe they think as well as train the employees that the vaping world only lives in their store and anything outside is pure evil. Their single 650, ce4, usb charger kit is $45. They sell ego-c type a cones and cartridges for $10 and evod tanks for $15 and kanger attys for $5. And that's it, that's all they sell for hardware. After I paid $126 (that's with a $25 off coupon) for two batts, two ego-c cones and two evods and 45 ml of juice, I called them up to find out exactly what parts I had since everything was rebranded with their logo. I was trying to research how to maintain the equipment such as clean and how often to change the atomizer, etc so I called them and THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT THE EQUIPMENT WAS. I even talked to the manager and he said they hadn't sold that stuff in months so he forgot the part numbers... Seriously I had just purchased no more than two weeks ago so it wasn't months ago. I even went by a few days ago just to see if anything had changed (note this was 4 months after they told me they stopped selling this hardware), and they still have the exact same hardware, so pretty much impossible that they stopped selling said equipment... Yeah, im not bitter... I even heard them bad mouthing other customers that had come in earlier that day to buy juice but aren't using their equipment. I quote, "yeah some ..... came in with a $2000 setup he bought on the internet. some people are just stupid and don't get it."

I did try to start by looking at webstores and reading ecf, but there is just way too much info and when you ask for basic starting setup on here or read any of the other threads, the responses are all over the map with so many varied opinions. I have even seen people recommend mods out the gate.

Of course it sounds like if I had gone to your store to begin with, I would have spent way more than I originally did and walked out with a mod or two.

EDIT: wow, ecf dotted out the word i.d.i.o.t above. mental note taken.

 

[rogergendron1]

I forgot to mention before I knew about icr imr and li ion batterys nicad and all that and before I knew about my local b&m .... Its hidden behind a lawers office and not visable from the street .... You have to be in the know ... Lol as in handed a buisness card and instructions on how to find it ... Lol litteraly !

I bought a mech and went to batterys pluss for my battery and there w as a guy there who does mech torch/flashlight mods for hoby guys .... Damn man those flashlights he had will blow your eyes out !!!! So he convinced me to get a tenergy icr unprotected as its whet they use in mech flashlights of super high power .

It wasnt untill I found eastern vapors that I found out it was a bad idea ! Mark asked me what kind of battery I was using and I showed him and he asked what the ohms on my coil where and I told him .... He paused and politly told me that I was pushing the amp limmit of this battery and if my coil was any lower it would be over and could cause failure, I explained about the guy who modded flashlights and that he recomended It . Mark told me that the flashlight guys use those because even tne powerfull led lights dont draw more than 5 amps and the button acts as a fuse or safty in most all lights aven modded ones so they use them to fit there high mah needs . Then he showed me an aw battery and talked to me about the differance . Awsome guy seriously awsome guy . He even ofered to sell me a used one for a few bucks it was a aw 18350 from his own provari .... I turned the offer down went home and ordered 3 aw batteeys right off the batt .

That store has an underground cult following and right then I knew why . Great shop cant say enough good things except that the owner sounds rude on the phone lol but thats just how he talks in real life hes pretty cool and will help you with anything .

Just bought some juice today French Vanilla and no can do a mellon flavor and wile vaping in the lil vape lounge a older lady came in and complained about her evod leaking .... Mark took it appart cleaned it up dumped her juice replaced the head and refilled her tank alll free of charge then told her that some of the replacment heads come doa or leak out the box and if u ever get another bad one come right in and we will replace it ... That blew my mind I sort of sat there with my face in full pause thinking wow ... Nobody does that not even the best online vendor.

I am willing to pay thease guys the extra markup for juice and protank heads because I know the service I am getting is bar none the best around and if I am unsatified with a replacment head or ego battery, they will take it back appologize about it and repace it or offer something of equil value .


Edit ... Also they buy home made mods from you if they like them and resell them in shop sometimes . They had a home made dna 20 nes remote mod for sale and what looked like a bear brass mod that,was custom machined by someone, brass end caps polished with a hardwood tube and a recessed 510 conector looked verry classy and the workmanship was outstanding . Wouldnt tell me who made it though they did say he was making a full mech out of turned brass and it would be in for sale soon . The custom mods are rare tbough as there is only one guy who makes them good enough for them to want to buy

 

[soba1]

U know there is a guy who I used to buy cigs from. Then I learned that he added ecigs to his store.
He wasnt a smoker, and not really a serious vaper.
Heck I have only been vaping close to three months and with all the knowledge
gained here I was teaching him stuff lol.
So I'm not suprised

 

[The Ocelot]

Check this out kids. I started a thread about my favorite rip-off predator vender - TKO Vapor (formerly known as "Totally Knock Out Vapor"). It seems they got a clue, because when I started my thread in May they were selling a kit containing ONE 650mAh rebranded or cloned eGo Twist, ONE rebranded or cloned Vivi Mini Nova (two heads included) and a USB charger for $149.95 - now it's down to $69.95. I wonder if my thread and similar posts member have made in threads had anything to do with it?

However, they are still selling ONE replacement tank carto (which now you can choose the resistance of, you couldn't before) for $9.95! And what's with the punch?

The thread is long and locked, but I'll post at link at the bottom in case you want to read it. Here are some highlights:

A help wanted ad on craigslist:

TKO VAPOR/Customer service (Animas Valley Mall)
Customer Service and Sales (Animas Valley Mall, Farmington)

TKO Vapor is proud to announce positions available with us in the Animas Valley Mall. Now seeking a few individuals to assist our clients in excellent customer service and sales of the best electronic cigarettes on the market..

Must be able to stand for 5 to 6 hours at a time.

Must be able to dress professionally.

Must be dedicated to the work that they do 100% of the time.

If you are looking for work and are serious please call Mike at ***-**** to set up your interview.

We will be interviewing, hiring and training new employees Monday and Tuesday - April 21st and 22nd. Looking forward to hearing from you. Paid weekly. Salary plus commission

One would think vaping experience might be helpful.

DANG IT!!! I wished I copied the PDF and not just the link!!! While searching I found a PDF of what appeared to be a commitment form. At one point, when a person bought their gear from TKO they had to "commit" to vaping and sign a letter. I guess my thread (which comes up #2 when you do a Google search of the company name) may have had an impact. They have removed the letter from their server. Rats!

Here are just some of the ways the PDF said customers could deal with problems:

Problem: My Electronic Cigarette doesn’t give enough vapor, enough “throat hit” or gives me too much vapor.
Solution: Use the owner’s manual to properly clean and take care of your unit, and if that doesn’t help, consult your friendly KOV Vapor Technician (found at all KOV locations across the US) to see what parts can be adjusted on your kit that can help you get the desired effect. Your kit can be fitted with many different performance pieces to adjust your vapor!

Problem: I feel that my nicotine level is too strong, or too weak.
Solution: Visit your local KOV Vapor Technician for advice on how to increase or decrease nicotine levels.

There are some really priceless solutions, but this one floored me:

Problem: I found a company that will sell me my E liquids for less money, how do I know if I can trust them with my health, lungs and life?
Solution: The simple answer is that you can’t. Over 98% of our so called “competition” imports their E liquids from China, and as many as 16% tested by the FDA has been found to contain dangerous contamination. Not only can these contaminates damage your E Cigarette, think about what they may do to your body! At KOV, we only sell the absolute best E Liquids made with Kosher grade FDA approved ingredients right here in the USA!

Sorry this is long, but it amazes me! You can't make this stuff up!

I really love this!



(cont. to next post)

 

[The Ocelot]

One more... (you can't put two videos in one post)

If you didn't already know what the little hunny bunny is doing in this video, could you figure it out?




Here's the link to my dead thread if you want to read any further: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...mers-what-tko-knockout-vapor.html#post9518172

ETA: The price of their e-liquid has gone down too, but they still insinuate their competitors e-liquid might be dangerous. Including:

The FDA tested 22 samples of E Liquids from several of the top selling E Cigarette/Liquid retailers imported from China and found 3 samples heavily tainted with several carcinogens. These carcinogens included Diethyln Glycol and Lead, among other deadly dangerous chemicals.

There is no such thing as "Diethyln Glycol." There is "N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide" and "Ethylene glycol." but no Diethyln Glycol.

Hey, TKO! If you're reading this: when you make create fake data, it's much more effective to use things that actually exist. I know you count on your potential customers not to be able to Google. but they may have friends or kids who can.

 

[Penn]

I remember that thread. I actually found it because of the comments on this product in a different thread. That is still a 2 battery ego kit for $299.99.