Sully, if you are looking to buy a different brand or type of e-cig, I'd recommend looking to Cignot.com for the "authentic" Joye 510, along with the new Joye 510 cartomizers. I order the pre-filled version and it's a nice smooth vapor. It shouldn't hurt your throat, depending on the vapor you choose. I use the 18mg menthol PG for my pre-filled cartos.
I'll be elaborate in my response for the sake of newbies and people reading this forum to help decide if e-cigs are for them. If you don't want to bother with refilling cartomizers and just want to slap on a new one each time you need to reload (at least to get started with it), this is a good combination that produces a mild but satisfying vaping experience. A moderate smoker can make a pre-filled Joye 510 cartomizer last most of the day or evening. At the time I write this, Cignot.com is the only distributor in the US that has them, to the best of my knowledge.
If you order empty cartomizers to fill with the juice of your choosing, I still recommend you get the authentic Joye 510 cartomizers from Cignot.com.
If you are choking on the vapor, this could be from several possibilities, including over-dragging, smoking a juice that is inherently harsh, using an e-cig that produces too much vapor for your liking, or simply adapting your throat to accept the vapor as easily as it does cigarette smoke. It may just take a little lighter approach until your throat adapts.
Here are a few tips and cautions...
When it begins to taste a little burnt, right away it's time to switch cartomizers. If you keep dragging on a nearly-empty vaporizer of any brand or type, it will taste burnt and at that point you are doing potential harm to the atomizer, but more importantly, you are inhaling the burnt wicking that holds the juice. No known health problems from this, but not something you want to make a habit of.
If you get to where you can't put it down, you will empty a cartomizer in an hour or two. In that case, you need to learn how to refill them with your choice of juice to keep it economical. This goes for any brand or type of e-cig.
There are numerous threads on how to refill these Joye 510 cartomizers. Some say you have to dismantle the mouthpiece end and use a syringe to refill them. I challenge that notion. Using what's called the "condom method," I just fill the longer end cap to about one half full, then insert the metal tip of the cartomizer into the cap slowly, which acts like a syringe plunger to force the juice into the cartomizer.
If you force in too much juice or force it too fast (not giving the wicking time to absorb it), it will start flowing out the mouthpiece end, which will require some cleaning up or you'll get juice in your mouth, which is less than pleasant. You can get rid of that excess easily, but let the carto soak up that juice for a few hours first by putting both end caps back in place and standing upright with the metal tip down. After they've soaked up awhile, maybe overnight, you can remove the caps and wipe off any excess juice on the cartomizer with a tissue. Give the carto a thermometer-style shake with the mouthpiece downward onto a paper towel or rag. Most of any excess should get shaken out this way. Then you can wipe the mouthpiece dry and take a gentle draw on it at first. If you hear gurgling, it's overfilled and you may draw juice into your mouth. It's not harmful, but tastes nasty and leaves your lips and tongue a little numb from the nicotine. What you can do to help avoid that juice in the mouth is to blow into the metal end forcefully, like a whistle. I suggest wrapping a tissue around the metal tips to prevent getting juice on your lips from that end, and point the mouthpiece toward a tissue or rag to catch what you blow out. Then wipe the whole carto dry with a tissue and draw slowly until you aren't hearing the gurgling anymore.
I prefer the automatic battery myself, although many prefer the manual battery, which requires you to hold down a button to heat the atomizer in the cartomizer (CARTridge/atOMIZER combination unit). This is a simple matter of preference, although each side has strong arguments for their choices. I've have zero problems with the automatic batt and it's so much easier to not have to use that button, IMO.
You can also refill the Joye 510 cartos by dripping juice into the metal tip slowly, one drop at a time. Hold the carto upright with the metal tip upward. Place one drop of juice on that little hole in the battery end and let it soak in, then another drop, and about as fast as you put a drop on top of that little hole, it will draw it inside until it gets full. If you continue to put drops in after it's full, it will start draining out the mouthpiece, and you'll have to use the steps above to avoid juice in the mouth.
If necessary, it's easy to pop out the little plastic tip of the mouthpiece and dry it out inside with a Q-tip... or a twisted part of your shirt, as I saw on one video!
Hope this helps!
