KR808D-1 = Best E-Cig?

[uzzaperez]

I think so.

Not to *bump* my own post, but I did a lot of trying stuff out to conclude the the KR is THE way to go for me. I posted my search and conclusion in The Search for the Perfect E-Cig here: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/general-e-smoking-discussion/64170-search-perfect-e-cig.html

I thought I'd share it here because the V4L KR Club might enjoy my conclusion, and for troubled KR users I posted the tips that I think solved all of my concerns with the KR and made it the perfect choice for me at the end of the above post. They are tips I WISH WISH WISH I had heard when I started using my Vapor King, so I think they are definitely worth sharing with anyone with any KR808D-1 troubles.

 

[Pugzley]

Nice job! I skimmed parts of it, but the KR section was well done. Thanks for posting that here.

 

[SMILIN]

I think so.

Not to *bump* my own post, but I did a lot of trying stuff out to conclude the the KR is THE way to go for me. I posted my search and conclusion in The Search for the Perfect E-Cig here: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/general-e-smoking-discussion/64170-search-perfect-e-cig.html

I thought I'd share it here because the V4L KR Club might enjoy my conclusion, and for troubled KR users I posted the tips that I think solved all of my concerns with the KR and made it the perfect choice for me at the end of the above post. They are tips I WISH WISH WISH I had heard when I started using my Vapor King, so I think they are definitely worth sharing with anyone with any KR808D-1 troubles.

The SEARCH for the PERFECT E-CIG
Tags: KR808D-1, DSE-901, RN4075, DSE-801, RN4072, RN4081, 510, Vapor King, Ace

This post is about my experience in searching for the right e-cig. I’ve tried a lot (not all), spent a lot of $$$ to do it, and reached my conclusion which I will share here. I hope this post will be of help to others either starting out, or just trying to make a choice and be done with the costly and seemingly endless process of trying them all. I also recommend you search out another post: The Search for the Perfect e-liquid. I haven’t actually written up the e-liquid post yet, but I’ll have it ready to go by the end of next week.

I also hope other people will post their experiences and conclusions too. Everyone wants to know what works best for you and why! If you don’t post it in this thread please post a link to your thread here so I can read it.

In scouring these forums I’ve sometimes gotten tired of endless recommendations without any shared frame of experience around them to shed light on how and why the recommendation was reached. As everyone seems to know – the “right” e-cig(s) could be different for you depending on your priorities. So, hopefully this post is helpful instead of long and boring. If you find it boring you can always just skip down to my recommendation.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Most e-cigs are branded versions of the numbered models described below, though some are truly unique creations of there own. Don’t fall for branding – know your models, know what you are getting – then you can evaluate different suppliers.

FIRST E-CIG(s): Smoking Everywhere and Gamucci “disposable”.

I saw an ad on-line for some e-cig or other and decided I had to try it. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money to try it, so I found a disposable somewhere branded “Gamucci” for about $20. I ordered it. Then I couldn’t wait so I ended up going down to the mall and spending a mint anyway on the Smoking Everywhere.

The Smoking Everywhere was a let down, from the purchase experience to the finicky performance to the short lived atty. (Side note: can you believe these people try to sell you multiple batteries and no extra attys? Are they trying to make you give up? That is like selling a car with five gas tanks and no tires). Luckily, I got educated on this forum and didn’t just give the whole thing up. The SE is really just a branded, over-priced RN4081. And it is actually not so bad for portable direct dripping, but really, you can do much much better, and if it is your first e-cig you probably don’t know what direct dripping is yet so the whole experience pretty much sucks.

Then my Gamucci came in the mail. It blew away the SE because it worked instantly and satisfied until the battery died after about a day of use. The Gamucci they sold online that wasn’t “disposable” appeared to be just another branded RN4081, so I began looking for something like the Gamucci disposable model that wasn’t so…disposable. That’s when I found this forum and the KR808D-1, which I ordered from Vapor4Life.

SECOND E-CIG(s): KR808D-1 and E9

I got my KR and loved it. I actually feel pretty lucky that I landed on the KR second instead of having to work through some other models first. The KR provided a solid benchmark by which to judge the rest of my trials. By this time I was on the forums, enjoying DonDaBoomVape’s “Wonderful World of Vaping” – perhaps the best single post in the forum, located here: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-forum/36180-wonderful-world-vaping-illustrated-guide-e-cigs-parts-1-through-6-a.html

So I saw Leaford’s five favorites video in the Wonderful World post and ordered both KR808D-1 and GreenTech E9 cartomizers, since these ranked at #3 and #1 respectively in his favorites list. (Side note: Looks like Vapor King no longer sells the GreenTech E9’s L!). Leaford ranked the E9 at #1 because he places quantity of vapor at a higher priority than all else. I myself found that I preferred a proper KR set up, but pre-filled KR’s do not all perform as consistently as the E9 – particularly not on a 3.7 volt battery – so I understand his recommendation. More on what makes a proper KR set up later, for now, I found that the KR had some weaknesses that caused me to continue my search.

Even though later you will find that the KR808D-1 is my ultimate recommendation, here are the experiences that caused me to move away from it in the first place. These problems can all be corrected with proper understanding and use, but there is a learning curve to it. First, the disposable cartomizers seemed expensive (if you actually believe they are just disposables as advertised) because even though they last longer than most other pre-filled carts it is not readily obvious how to refill them so you can go through them pretty quick. You are essentially throwing out an atomizer or two every day – which costs about the same as analogs probably.

Second, they seemed to get hot and force an unwanted pause in the vaping experience in order to let them cool down. Third, when they get hot, and if they are low on juice, due to the design of the carto you can actually burn some of the filler material, getting a burnt taste. Then, if you pull out the inside of the carto to look at what burned you find you were smoking filler! Yuck! And scary since the point was to get away from inhaling burnt $heeet!

Third, upon discovering that you can refill them by dripping into the battery end, you quickly waste a lot of juice trying to refill burnt carts, overfilling because you can’t see what you are doing, and finding out that refilled carts just seem to suck and don’t perform like new carts do. To restate what I said earlier: this is all USER ERROR and can be corrected EASILY. But, moving on…

I still thought the KR carts were the way to go for some key reasons. 1) Size: they are small and very portable and pocketable, 2) They never leak, a huge feature in increasing the portability and convenience factor, and 3) New carts consistently perform great without a lot of maintenance work.

But still I wanted to direct drip to save money. So, I found you could cut a GreenTech E9 in half (they are made of soft metal unlike the sturdy KR carts) and direct drip on the truly unique fiberglass-hair wick in that atty model. This worked great at first, but later proved to be quite harsh depending on the luck of the draw – some carts were better than others. Even though I have since moved on from this, I do recommend that any KR user try dripping a dismembered E9. IMPORTANT NOTE: the GreenTech E9 does not work on the KR manual battery – only on the auto batteries! This is due to the auto battery allowing air flow through the E9 while the manual battery does not. But, dripping the modified E9 seems to never leak, so your auto battery is still safe.

THIRD E-CIG(s): 901 (and RN4075)

Still trying to direct drip my KR, and finding that the E9 did not work on the manual battery, I did some research on the forum and found that a 901 atty fits the KR batteries I already had. So, I went to a 901.

IMPORTANT NOTE: the 901 atty has interesting air flow characteristics. First, to get proper air flow with a KR battery you have to remove the air flow restricting whistle tip from the 901. Then to protect your lips from the heat of being right on the barrel, you have to cut the closed end off of a cartomizer “condom” and slip the condom over the atty – this leaves it open for dripping and makes a nice place for your lips.

Another IMPORTANT NOTE: You have to suck the hell out of 901 atty on a KR auto battery or pass-thru to activate the battery – it is not pleasant, it doesn’t work well. However, the 901 works great on a KR manual battery, without the whistle tip (as described above) it is as good as on a 901 battery. Plus the 901 is prone to leaking, so using it on an auto battery is an all around bad idea.

So, anyway, my first puff from a 901 on an auto battery was awesome. Like a dream! I was sure this was the solution I was looking for. But…not so fast. After going through a few 901s I had learned that their vapor production dies down relatively quickly, and they are seriously prone to leaking. Considering those two BIG problems, the 901 just wasn’t working. I will note though, that even though I don’t like the 901 I still keep a couple around because they are great for sampling different juices – they only take a few drops to get started and they are easy to blow out from both ends to clean an old flavor out and try a new one.

Another note: the RN4075 is like a 901 with a low “bridge”. I prefer it to the 901 actually, but it is basically the same thing.

FOURTH E-CIG: HIGH VOLTAGE MOD with an 801 (and RN4072)

So, I was still searching, I still wanted to supplement my cartomizer use by direct dripping. Research showed that high voltage mods were the way to go, everyone loves them. So, next I went to Leaford’s #2, the Prodigy at 5 volts from Puresmoker, and I decided on an 801 atty because I figured bigger must be better and I wanted clouds of tasty vapor. While bigger may not necessarily be better, I have found that I prefer the 801 over the 901 at high voltage primarily for the reasons I described above as to why I abandoned the 901 – it leaks like a 90 year old man, and the 801 vapor production seems better too, and with medium throat hit, so in this case – bigger is better.

Side note: the RN4072 is like a 801 with a low “bridge”. I prefer it to the 801 actually, but it is basically the same thing, as with the 901 and RN4075.

Let me tell you, 5 volts is the way to go. Trying a few different Prodigy switches and researching the forums, I have found that I agree with most in saying that 6 volts is too much for the juice and 3.7 is, well, it is just usually less productive than 5 volts (which is why so many people love pass-thrus). Also, there are plenty of other high voltage mods and hybrids out there besides the Prodigy. For me, because Puresmoker has other products I like such as the CaSH juice and they also carry KR stuff (the “Ace”), I stick with the Prodigy. Other high voltage considerations include the location and type of switch, the feel in your hand, the look (cool factor, i.e. the Chuck), etc, but 5 volts is 5 volts – the rest of the formula is just which atty you want to use.

So, the Prodigy 801 was an instant hit with me. Now I had my direct dripping solution to supplement my KR carto usage. Since I now thought I was satisfied and had found the perfect combination for me (KR808D-1 for portability and Prodigy 801 for regular and heavy use), this gave me some time to play around with a few things. Namely, I hadn’t tried highly recommended 510, and I just knew there had to be a better way to extend the life and value of my troubled KR cartomizers (which at this point I only used for convenience at times when the Prodigy was just too bulky or I wanted the smaller feel and hands free convenience of the KR).

A final note on using the Prodigy – if you are a KR fan like me, you can get adaptors from Health Cabin – I have an 801 to Cartomizer adaptor I use to vape KR carts on my Prodigy. Nice.

FIFTH E-CIG: 510

So, I tried the 510. I had to in order to make sure I’d found the right thing, as I thought I had, but the 510 is the choice of so many people that I wasn’t settled. Now, I have to say I can see why people like it. In my opinion it is the best alternative for people who want to go with a single model set up but don’t like the KR808D-1 cartomizers.

The 510 easily beats my initial evaluation of the KR above (the KR is re-evaluated below though), and doesn’t suffer from the user errors the KR can be prone to as described above. But once you are properly educated in the use of the KR, then I don’t think the 510 holds a candle to the KR anymore – as described in my final recommendation and *now more experienced* evaluation of the KR808D-1 below.

Now, the 510, it runs hot and produces good vapor with good throat hit. The atty doesn’t touch the filler as in the KR so there is never any filler burn. It is smaller than the 801, but performs as well. It outperforms the RN4081 pretty handily, and it doesn’t have the little whole on the side which would so often leak annoyingly on the 901. It has a TON of user support in the forums, lots of people like it.

The downside? It still leaks the same as most attys – out the bottom after a while of direct dripping. And it doesn’t bring out the flavor of the e-juice – this model ranks poorly on the flavor production scale. It is a solid direct dripper model and honestly, I’ll never touch an 801 again because of the 510. So the 510 is great right…well, except that I will probably never touch a 510 again because I have learned how to get the most out of the KR808D-1…

CONCLUSION: KR808D-1 REVISITED

So, by this time, I’ve tried a lot of different models and been learning tips from others in the forum. I’ve discovered that for me, the KR808D-1 is the best atomizer for all purposes. For starters it has excellent vapor production AND excellent flavor production AND relatively good throat hit, and it does not leak with proper use (others leak, even with proper use). And the standard battery it is a convenient and portable size (and even new short mini batteries are available). On a pass-thru or high voltage mod it experiences a serious performance boost – making the KR at higher power the zen option in my opinion.

I’ve found that the problems I had before with the KR are all easily remedied just by being aware of what is causing the problem. Here are the problems with their solutions:

EXPENSIVE??? – No.
They are expensive if you treat them as disposable. You treat them as disposable because they are advertised as disposable, they burn filler when dry, they don’t perform well if you refill by the wrong method, and at first they seem to be a pain to refill. Once you learn that these things are not true (explained below) you will find that you have discovered the cheapest atomizer on the circuit. Depending on where you buy you can get five KR cartos for the price of one 510 (or 801, or 901, or any of the RNs). Even cheaper if you buy blank cartomizers in bulk, though I usually get a mixed pack of pre-filled cartos for a cheap way to try new flavors.

CAN’T DIRECT DRIP??? – Yes, you can.
It is a misconception that you can’t direct drip the KR. The KR is the best direct dripper out there in my opinion. People think you can’t direct drip because there is no bridge, no mesh, etc. The KR has the atty coil (the part that vaporizes the juice) wrapped up in the filler. It eliminates the mesh bridge over the coil design found in most attys. When you drip on most attys you are simply keeping the mesh around the atty wet. When you drip on a KR you are simply keeping the filler wet. You should NOT try to direct drip down the hole in the middle of the filler directly onto the coil, you aren’t trying to drip right onto the coil in any other model, don’t do it here (try it once if you want to know why, it just doesn’t do the job). You direct drip the same way you should refill – right onto the filler to keep it full and wet. A wet carto on a pass-thru = truly great vaping.

A PAIN TO REFILL??? – Not really.
There are two methods to refill. The first is to drip through the battery end. Try it sometime. The problem with this is that you are refilling blind. You often end up over filling, which reduces the performance of the cartomizer and leads to frustration or the belief that a good refilled cartomizer is “hit or miss” and you just have to get lucky. So, yes, it is a pain to refill this way – though most people try it because it sounds easier than the other method.

The second way, the right way, is to pop the plastic tip off and pull the little rubber ring out and drip onto the filler to fill it up. The reason people avoid this is because they think the plastic tip is a pain to get off. It is…unless you have the right tool, which is something most people do have. A screw. A drywall screw is perfect, any normal size screw will usually do. Just screw it into the air hole of the plastic tip and pull. The even pressure of pulling from the center pops the top right off easy. Every once in a while you’ll get one that is on too tight and you end up mangling the plastic tip…just use these “tip-less” carts for your direct drippers or use the tip off of a throw away to replace the mangled tip. Another convenience of the screw is that the head of the screw is just the right size to push the rubber ring back down over the filler. The rubber ring is non-essential, it servers to prevent leakage, so it is not necessary to vaping if you aren’t carrying the thing upside down in your pocket.

Now, a quick tip on filling: don’t overfill. Once you see the liquid at the top of the filler (usually 16-18 drops on an empty cart, 12-15 on a refill cart), stop. No need to try and squeeze one more drop in. If you flood this atty it reduces performance until you vape or blot it to an un-flooded condition. If you do overfill just roll up a tissue and press it against the filler, turn the atty upside down for one second to soak up any excess juice, and then you are good to go.

Another tip: After extended use you may find you have “dirty old juice” in the atty – you see that with any atty. While you can wash it with hot water like other attys, you should know you can also drain out the dirty juice like other attys – roll up a paper towel or tissue, press it against the filler, turn it upside down and let it drain into the tissue for a half hour or so. I personally never wash an atty, it is too much of a pain, draining the dirty juice is sufficient for me. I just break out a new cart if I want to fill with an incompatible flavor.

BURNS FILLER??? – Not if you keep it wet.
It burns the filler when you vape it DRY and there is no juice to vaporize. Don’t vape it dry. Don’t even vape it mostly dry, unless you want to bleed it dry and toss it, which is a little like making grilled goose when you could have golden eggs. Grilled goose is good, golden eggs seem to be a better long term plan. Remember, now that you are a refiller and know you are just going to put more juice in the atty, you don’t have to be concerned about sucking that last penny of juice out of the carto before throwing it away.

As soon as you detect a flavor change, reduced vapor, or feel like the carto must be going on empty, just set it in the refill pile and bust out one of your ready refills or a new carto. There is no magic sign when the cart is going low – you just get a better feeling for it once you’ve vaped KR cartos for awhile, be prepared to waste a few cartos during the learning curve. Just keep in mind that it doesn’t matter if there are still five drops in there when you decide to refill. It does matter if there is only one drop left and you are still vaping away on it! The trick to not burning the carto, smoking filler, or ruining the carto is simple – keep it wet! Switch to another carto when you sense it going dry. If you are direct dripping at high voltage this is not a problem because you left the plastic cap off and are refilling every 5 or 6 drops of vape.

RUNS TOO HOT??? – C’mon, do you really only have one battery?
Contrary to what might seem obvious, this is more of a problem at 3.7 volts than 5 volts because people vape longer and more repeatedly at lower voltage to get the same amount of vapor. When using standard 3.7 volt batteries, I usually carry four loaded batteries with carts on them in a little wallet size pocket knife sheath. Heck, sometimes I even shotgun (vape two at a time) for a quickie. Anyway, when you feel a cart getting hot switch to your other battery (easier than swapping carts off the same battery). This also helps prevent the filler burning problem. Getting a carto hot is the only real trouble with the KRs, but it is only trouble if you only have one cart to vape.

Have I found the perfect e-gig? No. But in a relative world, with the KRs problems all having reasonable solutions, I’ve settled on the KR808D-1 for superior vape. I have standard batteries for portable convenience, and my pass-thru for higher powered direct dripping, and a high voltage mod (Prodigy in my case) for a high voltage portable power source. So, for me, the choice is KR808D-1…for now. And now should be awhile because I’ve spent enough $$$ trying different things…I need to settle down for awhile.

I still want to try the Juicebox with its custom long-life atty, but I like swapping out flavors too much to go there just yet. All that remains is to find the perfect juice (then I’ll try the Juicebox)…for my experimenting in search of the perfect e-liquid search The SEARCH for the PERFECT E-LIQUID, which I will type up and post by the end of next week.

What do you use? If you’ve settled on your e-cig share your story!


this may help

Get ready for many many new advancements from us, using new factories, as well

Thank You

Steve

 

[Belletrist]

very nicely done!

 

[Iris]

Nice write-up! Very well done!

 

[Randyrtx]

Great write-up!

 

[Scamz]

I agree, but "best" is too subjective to make a real conclusion!

 

[Belletrist]

scored highest on functionality based on...

...reviewer's subjective opinions in each category?

 

[Pugzley]

feh, no one is ever going to agree on everything, but if you take enough opinions and compare them, then it's possible to make a semi-intelligent decision. Luckily e-cigs are not a large investement like a house or a car, so any mistakes might be painful to the wallet, but hopefully it won't send someone to the poorhouse over it.

It's better than having no opinions at all because then you'd have to buy every single one of them to weed out the ones that blatantly suck.

 

[Belletrist]

oh, no, i wasn't saying opinions aren't helpful--already said it was a great write up. just (amicably) teasing Scamz for taking exception to the word "best."

 

[Pugzley]

My post was to Scamz, too. LOL Not you.

Sorry if my post sounds snippy, wasn't intended that way.

 

[Belletrist]

i don't think anyone was snippy, everyone is just paranoid of being perceived as snippy. we're too nice.

 

[plantlvr]

I for one am sick of being 'nice', I want to be 'snippy'!

 

[keyzygirl]

I am snippy,I like it!But I try to be nice!

 

[uzzaperez]

The 901 sucks and if you like it your mamma weened you too early.

There. Snippy.

 

[Belletrist]

 

[uzzaperez]

Get ready for many many new advancements from us, using new factories, as well

Thank You

Steve

Looking forward to it! I see people poking around for news on "VK1"...

And BTW, I love the new VG line of cartos too by the way. Nice to have a mix.

If I could be so presumptious as too make a few suggestions, you guys have excellent customer service but imo you are missing a couple of supporting products to make V4L a one stop shop. These are the things I have to go elsewhere to get hold of:
1. Bulk Blanks...a 50 blank option saves us converted folks some money compared to buying five at a time.
2. 0mg Doublers...ala Tasty Vapor style, so you can customize as needed mg w/out killing flavor.
3. Adaptors..."whatever to KR" adaptors (ala Health Cabin) could get people ordering cartomizers before they commit to all the supplies that go along with adopoting a new model of e-cig.
4. A 5 Volt mod and batteries...or even better a magic battery that is normal size and produces 5 volts (okay, that last may not be likely).
5. Am I the only person who would like a case that has four long slots? I can always put a cart in a battery slot, but for the life of me I can't fit a battery in a carto slot. Even better, a longer case that could hold four batteries with the cartos on them. I think I'm getting off track here, the other stuff is really the one stop shop stuff.

Anyway, I dig your shop and would love to have a one stop supplier. Unless you take over the world and become evil like Walmart, then I'd have to go elsewhere on principle.

 

[keyzygirl]

The 901 sucks and if you like it your mamma weened you too early.

There. Snippy.

WTFI dont even have a 901!Do you?

 

[Taryn]

I don't think that was directed at you keyzy I think he was just playing anyways.

 

[keyzygirl]

I said I was snippy so I thought but okay!!