My first Variable Voltage....

[SchmidtyKy]

So...since I began vaping a little over 1 month ago, I've been going through these "fits".....where it seems like nothing I do works right and I can't get consistency in my vaping. One minute I will feel like it's awesome, and getting a lot of satisfaction from vaping. Then the next moment, it's like vaping feels like just sucking on air. Perhaps it's cigarette withdrawal, perhaps I am still learning the tricks to getting this right. I don't know. I do not know if I am experiencing technical errors from time to time or if I am just going crazy.

Well, today, I was having one of these "fits". No matter what juice I tried and no matter which battery or clearo I was using, it didn't feel right. Not enough throat hit, not enough clouds, etc. It's crazy. And although I still have 1/2 a pack of analogs, I have not lit one. It's been 20 days since my last cigarette.

I went to the B&M near where I work just to buy a few new coils (won't do that again, they are selling them for $3 each!) and started looking at the batteries. I decided to by an Ego-C Twist variable voltage. I notice a difference in my vaping, and would like to reach out and ask for advice.

What are tips and tricks I need to know about using variable voltage? Someone once told me on here that since I prefer 2.2 ohm coils over the 2.5 coils, that I enjoy a warmer vape. Well, one of the juices I am using tastes better on the VV set at a 3.6 volts. But perhaps other juices I will feel different? If not, I may as well have saved my money and continued using the regular "Ego's" that I've been using. And I put the word "EGO" in quotes because I now feel as if my original batteries (plain ole Ego T's) are indeed cheap imposters.

Sooo...what do I need to know about VV? My goal is not to have the latest, fanciest equipment. I simply want a consistent vaping experience where I know what to expect each time I pick up my vape.

Additionally, I would like advice on cleaning out my coils. I've heard a myriad of things. Vodka? Distilled water? Rinse? Soak? I have one coil that's going on it's 3rd week and working just fine. I have another coil that seemed to crap out on me after 2 days. I use mostly clear juices. Nothing that is supposed to clog them up too much. I usually rinse with hot water, dry them out, and I'm good.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading. Looking forward to responses/advice/opinions.

BTW, I use a Pro Tank and a Pro Tank mini on "Ego-T's", one is 600mah and the other 900mah. My new battery is the Ego-C Twist at 600mah. Have an EVOD clearo but not a huge fan. It's a "back up" for me.

 

[daviedog]

It's the withdrawal . Yer gear is good enough to have a satisfying experience. Took me about 3 months. Two years later? Love to vape . Try higher nic value. DON'T cave in, yer close,, good luck..

 

[BustaMooooove]

Its probably a combination of practice makes perfect and still adjusting to vaping vs. smoking.
But stick to it! With VV you'll find a different sweet spot for each juice, tank, and a new clean carto vs a broken in one, battery life, etc.
You'll get the hang of it, just stay strong brother!

 

[BernieVideo]

Different flavors will taste better at different wattage. That is why VV is so great. You can fine tune your device to suit what you are vaping.

Wattage is defined by voltage x voltage / resistance (ohms)

In your example (3.6x3.6)/2.2 = 5.89 watts
(3.6x3.6)/2.5 = 5.18 watts

So, there is some difference there.

Start with a lower voltage, then slowing increase it until it tastes better.
If you are looking for more vapor, keep turning it up until it doesnt taste as good, then back it down a bit.

 

[DebbM]

I stared with an eGo C upgrade, went to an eGo twist, now using an Itaste VV,VW 3 and this is the best. My local vape shop told me to focus on the wattage and not on the voltage. My iTaste is set at 6.5 wattage and the difference in the flavor, throat hit and vape is amazing!

 

[danca90]

I'm excited to try it. Once I hit the 'Break even' mark. I hope it ends up working for you.

 

[pufZeppelin]

Hi Schmidty

well I think it sounds like you 'get it' with the V.V. -- start low volts and just move up to the sweet spot that you like
different coils, tanks, juices (start low-move up to preferred)

don't give up on the EVOD's, if you like/use ProTanks you should be able to get some quality VAPING
from the evod also...

think your BATTs are 650mah (600)

watch youtube vid for DIY on cleaning coils (pretty simple)

think we all go thru the "fussy' e cig won't work" phase (why it's nice to have several, one should work)

Kanger bcc coils about $1.19-$1.39 ea
- http://www.vaporbeast.com/Kanger-Evod-Replacement-Coil-Head-5-Pack-p/64-0214-000.htm
- Kanger ProTank Coil Replacement **5 Pack - 2.2 ohms

Good Luck

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

Next step is an Advanced Personal Vaper or APV one that can do Variable Wattage VW

Right now you have to manually chase that "sweet spot" on your coils to get the right heat and taste (as mentioned above...START LOW and work your way up...if you can do the math...you can get ballpark close with the ohms law calculator below)

Once you get the resistance of the coils and volts you can find your wattage with a bit of math...once you notice a pattern you can then take a VW rig, set the watts you want and vape on!

By what you are telling us above with the 2.2Ω at 3.6vdc with OHM's law E / I x R, you will see you are pushing approx 1.64 Amps of electrical current thru the coil wire...which equates to 5.89 watts...MOST users find 6-7 watts to be more than enough for a good vape and a good flavor
Ohm's Law Calculator

I have a Vamo V3 (more or less an inexpensive "introductory APV"), set it for 6.5watts..it does the math in the "electronics" of the control head...no matter what resistance coil on it I put on it...it self adjusts the voltage to give me that perfect vape...EVERY TIME

Good luck...

 

[Train2]

You got it - some juices may taste better at different voltage.
Also, the adjustable voltage gives you some flexibility to adjust for the coil resistance. If you buy some 2.2 coils, some may actually e 2.0 and some may be 2.4. They're just not that consistent. So changing the voltage lets you account for that to a certain extent, and still find a setting that vapes OK.

Fiddling with a ProTank is sometimes necessary to improve the performance. Even with juice that isn't thick, it seems to me that they come with too much wick lying above the coil- it blocks up the opening and not enough juice can get to the coil. If you think you're getting "dry hits" - not enough vapor and a little "burnt" taste, you could try removing about half those threads. You just wiggle and pull and get the little tube to pop off, then use a tweezer and take about half this wick out. Then put it back together.

This is mentioned in a LOT of threads, and somewhere there's a video...

 

[SchmidtyKy]

Its probably a combination of practice makes perfect and still adjusting to vaping vs. smoking.
But stick to it! With VV you'll find a different sweet spot for each juice, tank, and a new clean carto vs a broken in one, battery life, etc.
You'll get the hang of it, just stay strong brother!

Thanks, Brother! Thought I would have this figured out after being a month in. Will keep at it. Not going to smoke a cig!

 

[SchmidtyKy]

I'm excited to try it. Once I hit the 'Break even' mark. I hope it ends up working for you.

Yeah...that's another thing. I'm afraid to even calculate how much I've spent getting started on vaping....

 

[SchmidtyKy]

You got it - some juices may taste better at different voltage.
Also, the adjustable voltage gives you some flexibility to adjust for the coil resistance. If you buy some 2.2 coils, some may actually e 2.0 and some may be 2.4. They're just not that consistent. So changing the voltage lets you account for that to a certain extent, and still find a setting that vapes OK.

Fiddling with a ProTank is sometimes necessary to improve the performance. Even with juice that isn't thick, it seems to me that they come with too much wick lying above the coil- it blocks up the opening and not enough juice can get to the coil. If you think you're getting "dry hits" - not enough vapor and a little "burnt" taste, you could try removing about half those threads. You just wiggle and pull and get the little tube to pop off, then use a tweezer and take about half this wick out. Then put it back together.

This is mentioned in a LOT of threads, and somewhere there's a video...

Yeah..I've removed the top wick on one of my 2.5 coils and this worked great for my pro tank mini. Did not work well when I tried this on a 2.2 for my Pro Tank......perhaps more liquid caused more pressure which caused flooding? Not sure.

 

[Vapeaddikt]

You want consistency in your vape and great flavor with little to no fuss? Come to REOville.

 

[XeniaMike]

It took me about a good 4-5 months to get to where I had a dependable vape. Not saying it will take you that long, just me. It also depends on what clearo or tank you're using. All VV is is a way to taylor the power output to the juice, tank, or device you have attached to it. I like a cooler vape, so Protanks work for me and with a 2.2ohm head I'm just about perfect at 3.8v, anything over and I tend to get a burnt taste. If I use a carto tank for a warmer vape, I have a 2.0ohm carto in there but the voltage seems perfect at 4.2v. Another advantage to VV is tayloring it to juice. If I'm not getting enough throat hit or vapor from a juice, just turn up the voltage and try again and if it tastes burnt, back down the voltage slowly until it's perfect. Most all of this stuff is trail and error. You will eventually get to where you want to be, don't worry.

 

[SchmidtyKy]

You want consistency in your vape and great flavor with little to no fuss? Come to REOville.

REOville? Tell me more?

 

[pufZeppelin]

yea, check these out, some top notch stuff :

http://www.reosmods.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=29&Itemid=3

 

[dice57]

Yeah..I've removed the top wick on one of my 2.5 coils and this worked great for my pro tank mini. Did not work well when I tried this on a 2.2 for my Pro Tank......perhaps more liquid caused more pressure which caused flooding? Not sure.

The trick on PT's & PT II's is to allow enough time for the flavor wicks to fully saturate with juice before the first vape. Do not remove any flavor wicks they will flood. I usually allow a minimum of 15 minutes to an hour before vapping on a new PT coil head.

As far as variable voltage & wattage devises go, stick with what you have, search the reviews on the High end units and then go with that. Look at SVD's, MVP's, VTR, Lavatube, Provari, Vamo 3... the list goes on. Pick a quality product, because no matter what you pay you'll want it to last, then you can start looking at rba's and genesis devices, and quickly learn your investment on your VV/VW devise is well spent, and minimal compared to the high end atty's and such. lol

 

[onjre]

Out of curiosity, what nicotine juice are you vaping. First time I was introduced to e-cigs was when someone else who wasn't a vaper got them for me to encourage me to quit smoking. They got me 6mg/ml juice. Needless to say I tried it a couple of times and went right back to smoking analogs. It wasn't until 6 months later that I realized just how low 6mg/ml juice was. I ordered 24mg/ml and haven't looked back since. I was vaping on little cigarette look-a-likes that lasted no more than an hour of real vape time and honestly, in retrospect they were horrible. But the high nic juice made it bearable until I ironed out "all" the wrinkles. You can even get 36mg/ml juice and I imagine that stuff would knock you on your .... (I haven't ever tried it).

That being said I still want more vape gear and I think I always will, as most people here can attest to. We're continually ironing out another wrinkle or two with this mod or that rebuildable.

 

[SchmidtyKy]

Out of curiosity, what nicotine juice are you vaping. First time I was introduced to e-cigs was when someone else who wasn't a vaper got them for me to encourage me to quit smoking. They got me 6mg/ml juice. Needless to say I tried it a couple of times and went right back to smoking analogs. It wasn't until 6 months later that I realized just how low 6mg/ml juice was. I ordered 24mg/ml and haven't looked back since. I was vaping on little cigarette look-a-likes that lasted no more than an hour of real vape time and honestly, in retrospect they were horrible. But the high nic juice made it bearable until I ironed out "all" the wrinkles. You can even get 36mg/ml juice and I imagine that stuff would knock you on your .... (I haven't ever tried it).

That being said I still want more vape gear and I think I always will, as most people here can attest to. We're continually ironing out another wrinkle or two with this mod or that rebuildable.

I'm vaping right now on Black Clove from MtBaker, and it is amazing in my ProTank with the Ego Twist. Freaking delicious.

Today has been a good vape day. Also vaped a whole ProTank full of Thug Juice also from MtBaker. That stuff is amazing. Need to buy bigger bottles of it!

Started the day with a Black Licorice mixed with a stronger than strong menthol. Then switched to Wild Cherry, which has an awesome flavor, but is a big weak on the throat hit....putting it on the VV helped a bit with that.

 

[IMFire3605]

Like many have said above, taking the step toward Variable Volt is a step in the right direction, Variable Power (aka Variable Wattage) is a bit better due to the fact instead of you having to adjust the device each change of coil and such, VW set the wattage output, attach device, device reads the coil resistance, automatically adjusts the voltage to reach the set wattage. Each takes tweeking with to get vapor, flavor, throat hit, and right temperature, VW in 0.5 watt increments, VV 0.1 volt increments. Juices also play a part in this, some juices taste and perform better at higher output while others better at a lower output. I like my coils in the 1.8 - 2.5 ohm range, prefer my fruit flavors at 6 watts, my tobacco and Ry4 flavors at 8 watts, so my voltage range floats between 3.3 volts to 4.5 volts, with an "Ohm's Law" Calculator you can figure out these variables very, very easily, needing 2 of 3 variables, voltage, resistance (ohms), or wattage (power), and the calculator can tell you the last variable, as well as your amperage (current), for instance with your twist battery, knowing your coil resistance and voltage, it can calculate your wattage and amperage by itself, very handy tool, and you can find one on Google Play if you have an android phone. Make notes of these variables per liquid and coil resistance, for when and if you get VW device later on, set you watts and basically forget it, getting a consistent vape no matter the attachment or liquid. If you like the hotter end, remember with liquids when testing output, get it up to the point it starts tasting a bit harsh, not burnt, then back it down 0.1 or 0.2 volts, there is the sweet spot of your output at the highest.

Now onto coil maintenance. I own Protanks, a Protank2, Evods, T3's and T3S's, all Kanger BCC designs. Maintenance on these are simple and straight forward, even though you liquids are clear, 2 other variables can affect clogging and build up, VG content and sweet liquids affect this as well, especially vanillas, caramels, cake flavors, and creamy flavors can gum up wicks and carbon up a coil really quickly. Get into the routine of set of coils in active use (in filled tanks), have another set, either new ready to be put into service or cleaned and idle ready to be in service. Every couple refills, active heads get cleaned, standby heads get into service, this helps extend the life of the heads. Basic cleaning, warm almost hot running tap water baths cross ways across the wicks, then down through the air tube rinses a good amount of build up away. Every week I do a 20 minute everclear soak to disolve some gunk before the tap rinse, then dry burn the coil to remove carbon and crystalized liquid in the wicks followed by another quick tap rinse, let out to air dry at least 24 hours. Dry burning a coil clean is pretty simple.

Take air tube rubber grommet off and set aside, followed by the air tube
Take top floating wicks off and set them aside (requires tweezers or such) inspect for scorching or fraying, if any replace with some easily bought 1mm silica wick you can find at most good online vendors, amazon, or ebay for relatively cheap, I get mine from a company in Florida on amazon in 21 foot sections for really cheap.
Next, attach the coil to a base, attach to your battery, set at lowest output.
Start firing the coil in easy pulses, starting at 2 second intervals working up to 5 second intervals, blowing air down on the coil. Coil should start sizzling, then start vaporizing carbon off, then start to begin to glow orange, eventually glowing orange evenly along its surface from center outward, once it does, reassemble, rinse, set aside to dry, coil cleaned and good to go. If you see dark scorching in the wick all the way across inside the coil, put the head and parts in a jar, don't throw away, you might learn to rebuild them later on. I can get about a month heavy use out of a single coil before replacement/rebuild