Just got my 808 and really need help please

[needtoknow]

I got my V4L 808 in the mail yesterday after studying here for about a month. I have been very excited about at least replacing my smoking at work with e-cigs, and as I have been reading maybe replacing my smoking all together.

Well here's what happened, I did not order a kit I just ordered what I think I need. One manuel batt, one auto batt, 5-pack of kamel 18mg cartos, blank cartos, extra med juice chargers etc....also got some freebe's 555 11mg carto, and more.

I charged the batts for about 6 hours and opened up one of the kamel 18mg cartos and put it on the batt and tried to take my first vape, I immediately started coughing and hacking (worse than any cig has made me do) and of course I tried it for the first time in front of my wife and kids, (my wife has been hesitant about this whole thing anyway) and she got this look of "oh great". I tried it on and off for the next couple of hours but, every time it tasted nasty, and I would cough real bad, there was not even very much vapor. I even tried the 11mg 555 carto and did not get any better results. Finally, very frustrated, I went outside and had a smoke and went to bed. I tried it again as soon as I woke up and it was the same result.

I used to smoke Camel light 100's up till a couple of years ago when the price went up, I now smoke nasty generics. They don't say on the pack or carton how much nic they have in them.(they are from Paraguay)

I really want this to work for me, I have to leave to go to work in about 30 mins. I am not going to take my PV today, not until I figure this out, it was embarrising enough at home.

What did I do wrong? What did I forget to do or not do??
Please help me, I know that so many people on this forum are loving there's and I want to join you. But as of now I am not having a good time.

 

[just-cass]

oh no im so sorry your not having a great day...my other half was the same in the beginning he thot they wouldnt work... it aint good when ecigs show u up in front of scepticals....

i dont have a kr8 so i cant help with the details...perhaps you have a flavor that aint right for you?(some prefer sweeter flacors to tobacco ones?)are you taking long slowwwww puffs from it....start with lil puffs in the beginning to help with he coughing(not one short massive inhale but one little soft inhale)...(we all had this first cough reaction dont worry bout it...it takes a day to get used to inhaling as its different from real cigs)...if u exhale completely before taking a puff and take a really slow soft inhale and then build up after say 2 seconds to a harder inhale thats the only way i can describe the way i inhale...

if u know this already sorry that im not helping...you just sounded like you needed some encouragement to bring your ecig along with you...id say bring it n c how it goes...or wait til your relaxed at home later and try again?

 

[donnellyk]

It's normal. The coughing. Til you get used to the vapor unstead of smoke. I started by taking small draws into my mouth (close off your throat) then exhale through the nose...(where you will get the nicotine absorbsion anyway, mucosa membranes). Just keep practicing, eventually you can be more daring and take a bit more, try a lung inhale, etc. There IS a learning curve to inhaling water vapor but the rewards are immense...get the nicotine hit without all the nasties...good luck to you!

 

[doots]

one thing you can do is prime that carto with a few drops of juice. place 3 drops of juice in the little hole in the end that screws into the battery,, then press your manual button and hold for a seond or two without inhaling yet and then start to inhale very slow. these cartos take some time to start making vape at 3.7.

vaping is wonderful if you have the right device and alittle practice..

let us know how you do. sometimes new cartos take about 10 or more hits before they start going good..

Also myself personally always fill my own. I dont like the stuff that comes in them.

 

[doots]

I might add that on 3.7 devices I alway press my button a couple of seconds before starting to inhale. get a little head start.

 

[doots]

another thing you can do that Id suggest is get an adapter from altsmoke or goodprophets that lets you vape on a 510 atty.

get your self a couple of 510 attys.
get 1- adapter that allows you to use your 808connector with a 510
808>510 adapter

you will be blow away by the vapor you get out of it. cheap solution and it works well and you can use your current setup.

 

[tarkus]

It could be how you are inhaling so you will need to experiment. Inhaling directly into the lungs is much too harsh for me. A couple of puffs and then only taken into the back of the mouth works great for me.

 

[AlexTM]

Well, I'm not really a fan of the KR8, other people can probably help you a lot more, but I did find that you really need to line up the little gaps in the cartomizer with the holes in the battery, otherwise they can get extremely hot.

Also, coughing on your first vapes is normal. Your lung has no idea what's coming, and it says "no" on general principle. That goes away very quickly.

Also, try another cartomizer from another pack. You may have had bad luck and the thing was dry. Should be very rare, but that would taste

 

[CritterBuddy]

Just 18mg makes you cough worse than a cigarette, huh? You're lucky... I started with 36mg carts. Seriously, I can vape 24mg menthols but can't hardly handle 11 mg banana. Go figure!

Vaping is a lot different than smoking, you do have to adjust to it, and different flavors will have different throat hits and strengths to you. First of all, look in your bag of tricks and find a lower nic cart and start with that for your first one on the manual battery. Just starting out the auto battery will cause you to draw too hard. When you take a drag make it a long slow drag of about 8-10 seconds, hold it in your mouth only for a few moments, and then blow it out. You should see more vapor now. Practice this for most of the first cart pausing occasionally to let the cart cool down and the nicotine to have an affect on you. Later you can try breathing a little into your lungs and eventually you'll be fine.

Good luck!!

 

[Ken Mcp]

How were you puffing on it ? Were you sucking? hehe. Take Long slow ones- You might have to tighten the Kart more on the battery?

 

[needtoknow]

Just got home from work,,, I am going to try some of the advice given, it sure seems that this is not at all like smoking. I definately get a buzz from the nic, Maybe to strong?
If a take it into my lungs it is pretty harsh. When I smoke regular cigs, I draw pretty hard and long into my mouth and then inhale it into my lungs. It seems that this method will not work (at least at first) (or with this kind of carto) I will keep experementing till I figure somthing out.

Do you think I started out too high nic? I thought this would be right.

Am I supposed to do anything to the carto before I start vaping? (blow it out?)

If this is too high for me, any suggestions? I don't want to waste the 8 full carts that I have and I have all 18mg juice now and more 18 and one 24 on the way

 

[justincase]

I have the 808 from Vaper4Life and I also had the Kamel carto's. I was smoking Camel full flavor analogs and that is what made me think I would like Kamel.

I didn't like them either.
Try the 555. That's one of my favorites. But, like others have said, start out with your manual batt. Press the button for a second or 2 first, then SLOWLY draw in just LITTLE puffs. Not like you would with a cigarette.

Just keep at it. Remember, practice make perfect. Maybe if your order hasn't shipped yet, you can email and make changes.
Are your new orders coming from V4L? Is so, you can pm Mark or Steve. They will do whatever they can to keep you Smilin!

 

[needtoknow]

. Maybe if your order hasn't shipped yet, you can email and make changes.
Are your new orders coming from V4L? Smilin!

No my other juice orders are comming from rocky mountain and should be here on monday, I have been vaping some since I have been home, it is way different from regular smoking, I don't cough if I can remember not to inhale, I sure can feel the nic though!!!!! slight buzz, I think that was the way it was 30+ years ago. This is going to be an interesting journey.

PS my wife is great she is supporting me!!!!

 

[AlexTM]

If a take it into my lungs it is pretty harsh. When I smoke regular cigs, I draw pretty hard and long into my mouth and then inhale it into my lungs. It seems that this method will not work (at least at first) (or with this kind of carto) I will keep experementing till I figure somthing out.

Actually, I don't think I could vape a KR8 directly into my lungs (and maybe some flavours in my 510, but not many, either), and I am quite sure that most people here don't do that, either. So it seems to me there is something quite wrong at your end. And since it is not that hard to set up a KR8 with pre-filled carts (but do make sure about lined up gaps and holes!) you may have faulty equipment.

May I suggest the following: Take the manual battery. It may have that button to push, but the draw is easier. Maybe try a new cartomizer, if you have the faintest suspicion yours may be too dry. (Don't worry, if you put the cart condoms back on, they last for a while and you can vape it later.) Check to make sure the little holes in the battery are free; if they are not lined up, my KR8 gives me extremely hot vape.
Then take a very slow, long draw into your mouth. And then push out the vape with your tounge, or slowly exhale. That way you can see if you have a decent amount of vape to begin with. If you have, draw again, let cool off a second or two, then slowly inhale. You may cough, that is normal. It will pass very soon. Try that a few times.
If it works, fine, then you just need practice. Remember, your first analog was probably not that easy, either, and you very likely had had the opportunity to watch people do it as well.

If that does not work, I really would suspect faulty equipment. You should contact the seller.

As you don't have anybody who can have a look at yours, or show you a working one, you might also consider getting a "true disposable"; not the reloadable ones. I don't know much about US vendors, and found only those, maybe somebody from the US can direct you to another store as well. Because vaping with less potential hassle than those would require an iron lung and somebody to put the PV between your lips. (Of course, they are relatively expensive, don't last that long, limited taste options …) But with one of those, you should be able to get an idea how to vape, and what proper vaping feels like. (And I think one can call them affordable.)
If those are the same units a few stores here sell (and they look that way), those things are excellent for such a purpose.

 

[needtoknow]

So it seems to me there is something quite wrong at your end. And since it is not that hard to set up a KR8 with pre-filled carts (but do make sure about lined up gaps and holes!) you may have faulty equipment




As you don't have anybody who can have a look at yours, or show you a working one,
.

I don't think it is faulty equipment, I think it is more like faulty user, When I first got it, I tried to use it like I was smoking a real cig. I think I just need to keep trying different things till I get the hang of it.

There are a couple of people who live in my town, maybe one of them will PM me and invite me over or meet me to give me some hands on look and some help (hint, hint if you live here)

 

[CaptJay]

Try not to stress over this is the first thing.
It will send you running to the analogs in no time FLAT
2nd thing - go over to the V4L thread on the forums here and throw yourself on the mercy of the helpful bunch that inhabit those strange (to me) lands (lol)
There are a lot of expereinced cart users over there who will give you enough tips to make your head spin! But hopefully they will fix you up.
3rd thing: It may well be getting used to it but I had no trouble going from analog to 510.The difference is the way you draw on it - longer and slower on the PV, not fast like an analog. Otherwise I vape like I smoked, inhale to mouth, hold briefly, then mouth to lungs.
4th: The juice. Some of the juice that comes with the hardware is quite frankly nasty. Not all of it but some of it. Get something else to put in there. made a HUGE difference to me personally, and the stuff I got with my kit wasn't half bad (in fact Ive been back and vaped it all now lol).
5th: Persevere. Its sounds like you want this to work - it WILL work, it may just take you a bit of time.
Best of luck mate!

 

[CritterBuddy]

Since you mentioned you are getting a nic buzz then the cart mg you have now may in fact be too high for you. Don't worry about them going to waste because once you get used to vaping you will use them later either for something different or those times when you are under stress and want more of a "hit".

Also, if money is tight, you can use what you have to get by until you can order some lower mg. It may not be as satisfying because you have to take lighter draws and can't breathe them in like you do a cigarette, but it sounds like you really want this to work so I'm sure you will persevere. It took me a week to completely get off cigarettes so don't beat yourself up if you have to still have a cig or two.

Your carts really are easy to refill so be sure to order some juice to do so. The main thing is once they lose flavor stop vaping on them or you will get a burnt taste which is next to impossible to get rid of. When you order juice order like a 36-48 mg and then another 0 mg bottle of the same flavor so you can mix them to get the strength you need. Will take a little experimenting so get some small bottles to mix in and only mix up like 1-2 ml at a time.

Good luck!!

 

[critterbug]

needtoknow - I started with 18mg and coughed like wild, too. I had to be careful not to inhale too much. I've since ordered in the 8 - 11 mg range and they are all super smooth.

I also took my vk home on Christmas Eve and passed it around to my family members who are smokers. Was using menthol cartos. They coughed like it was an exorcism until they got the hang of it. Everyone kept stealing my vape...

 

[Taryn]

It does take a few days to get used to it, I had to start off with small sips instead of the long slow vapor producing draws until my lungs could handle it. I didn't get good vapor until I was able to do those long slow draws. You do get used to the throat hit, I can vape 36mg now and when I started 18mg used to send me into a coughing fit.

 

[the datarat]

It's normal. The coughing. Til you get used to the vapor unstead of smoke. I started by taking small draws into my mouth (close off your throat) then exhale through the nose...(where you will get the nicotine absorbsion anyway, mucosa membranes). Just keep practicing, eventually you can be more daring and take a bit more, try a lung inhale, etc. There IS a learning curve to inhaling water vapor but the rewards are immense...get the nicotine hit without all the nasties...good luck to you!

Thanks for the suggestion about exhaling through the nose. I posted a few times about the coughing and nothing helped. I just tried the "through the nose" thing and it worked! Someone else mentioned that a manual was better for us noobies. I have an auto and I think I would feel a bit more in control with a manual for my 801. Guess I better check and see if they make a manual for that or if it is interchangable with another model.