My thoughts on the ego(T)

[tsbrewers]

I know all these have been covered in different threads, but after having both the wife and me using one, I have a few things that I noticed.

1. The #1 factor for everything is the wick. When it is clean and in the right spot, the entire system works great. no leaks, great vapor, no burnt taste, etc. You really can't be afraid to pop it out with that dental pick or what ever you use. Most of mine have been pulled 25 times and never a problem.

2. When you get that burnt taste or low vapor, 95% of the time this can be fixed by popping out the plate, taking the wick to an open flame, and burning off the gunk. I put it to flame for 5 seconds, then pull it out, repeat. You will see at first the wick will light on fire, this is just the old juice burning. once you get most of that stuff off, the wick will quit burning and be nice and white again. Also, #3

3. Dry burns. The coil does get dirty with baked on crud. You have to dry burn (IMHO) to get it cleaned up and burning hot enough to get the flavor and vapor back. I tend to soak in alcohol for an hour or two to get most of the juice out and maybe loosen the crud on the wick up. Let it dry for an hour or two, then do some dry burns. Normally for only a few seconds at a time, and while sucking on the tank end for the first few to get the old vapor out. This should be done with the plate still out so you can see the coil. Then do it a few more times until the coil seems to light up quick and burn bright orange. SOMETIMES, I will take one of my syringes and gently scrape and pick at the coil to get rid of more of the crud. Obviously be very careful here.

4. The dark juices should be avoided if at all possible. They really do seem to caramelize on the wick and coil faster. I tried a cinnamon roll flavor once and within a few minutes, the PV was barely working. really had to clean it out well (see above) to get it working again.

5. The higher the PG in the mix, the longer the atty will last. I am using 70/30 mixes and my wife uses 100% PG juices with menthol and hers last twice as long as mine. We both got them the same day, but I am on atties 4 and 5, she just opened #3. This is after 2-1/2 months+.

6. Leaking, I have only had 1 leaking experience, and that was fixed by pushing the wick "up" (towards the tank) slightly. This is done much easier by just poping the plate off and pushing it up. Instead of trying to get below the wick and pulling up, or fiddling with it, while the plate is still in the atty. Since then, and since checking this when I pull out my plates to clean everything, I haven't had another problem.

7. This probably should be above somewhere, but after cleaning the wick and dry burns, I put a couple drops of my juice on the dry, clean wick, make sure ithe wick is pretty much bunched together and sticking strait away from the plate, then reinsert back in to the atty. This gives it good contact with the coil and no burnt taste.

8. We started by using syringes to fill the tanks, but after about a week, we just started popping the caps off and filling them that way. Much easier, and haven't had a single problem with them leaking either. I have noticed they don't "click" on as strongly as they once did, but are still staying together fine. At a buck a piece, if I have to order 5 more after 6 months, no big deal. Worth the convenience of not needing a syringe.

Even the atties I have retired still work -ok. The coil still turns red, but it takes about 5 seconds to get up to that point. And they don't seem to ever get completely up to the right temp. I am hanging on to them in case a good ultrasonic cleaning brings them back. Or another trick gets figured out.

That is all that comes to mind right now, but I really do like mine. Battery lasts all day (1000mah), no messing with carts, good vapor, small size, even with the above, it seems to be less hassle than most of the others I have tried. I have a few dark juices that I won't use in it and tried dripping, and that only last a few minutes before I go back to the ego. Overall I am very happy.

Brew

 

[madmach]

Sounds like to much fussing to get it to work i will stay with the gogo less fussing

 

[DaveP]

I've used the tank for a couple of months now and like it. As tsbrewers said, you have to perform some maintenance on them to keep them peaked out. Even with the little aggravations, I like the tank better than the mega type B atty. Tanks are easier to deal with than polyfill or blue foam.

Yes, they need to work on coil crud accumulation and wick shifting. I think the wick is a little too small to maintain a feed to the coil. You can lose a few fibers here and there as you clean the wick and once that happens, it's time to unpack a new atty.

 

[cbabbman]

Too much work for me. Never consistent and it always seems to take a dump as soon as I leave the house. When compared against a regular 510 atty, or even 808's with a cartomizer, it's not even close IMHO.

I love the tank idea and when it works, it's great. I've never really had a leak to speak of...But it's just more maintenance intensive than I'm willing to deal with.

 

[Kent C]

I've used the tank for a couple of months now and like it. As tsbrewers said, you have to perform some maintenance on them to keep them peaked out. Even with the little aggravations, I like the tank better than the mega type B atty. Tanks are easier to deal with than polyfill or blue foam.

Yes, they need to work on coil crud accumulation and wick shifting. I think the wick is a little too small to maintain a feed to the coil. You can lose a few fibers here and there as you clean the wick and once that happens, it's time to unpack a new atty.

Build up on the coil is something that is pretty standard on any ecig. So far I haven't had wick problems. I see some PV's where you have to mess around with the centerposts connections right out of the box as if no one checked, ohm readings all over the place and sand this and file that... popping out the plate and adjusting a wick seems pretty simple. lol

 

[tsbrewers]

Build up on the coil is something that is pretty standard on any ecig. So far I haven't had wick problems. I see some PV's where you have to mess around with the centerposts connections right out of the box as if no one checked, ohm readings all over the place and sand this and file that... popping out the plate and adjusting a wick seems pretty simple. lol

I agree. I didn't mean to scare anyone, or make it sound like it is a huge pain to own one, just post a few observations I have made. From the fairly limited experience I have with other PV's, and a few different mods, it still is much simpler and easier to use and maintain. Really the entire thing comes down the wick. When it is clean and in the right place, it works very well.

Brew

 

[Kent C]

I agree. I didn't mean to scare anyone, or make it sound like it is a huge pain to own one, just post a few observations I have made. From the fairly limited experience I have with other PV's, and a few different mods, it still is much simpler and easier to use and maintain. Really the entire thing comes down the wick. When it is clean and in the right place, it works very well.

Brew

It's a good post. Some read this and are overwhelmed until they actually do what you say - it takes a lot more work to write it out than it does to do it.

There's no maintenance-free ecig. For those of us that haven't had any wick problem, the eGo-t B-type is as close that I've gotten to maintenance-free, and I've had quite a few.

 

[wyojoe]

Sounds like to much fussing to get it to work i will stay with the gogo less fussing

The gogo atty is not like the eGo-t from what I have read it is just a big cartomizer will filler material in it, is that correct??

 

[wyojoe]

I love the eGo-t when it is working and I have had a hard time cleaning them and dry burning and then getting them to work again. I have burned out 4 of them doing lite dry burns and being very careful not to overheat the coil. I won't buy them again because they are way over priced compared to other attys, and I can buy a box of 5 of the best cartomizers for less than the price of 1 eGo-t atty. If they come down to 5 dollars each I might try them again. The e-Go-t is a great system but needs reengineered and a big drop in price. My 2cents

 

[tsbrewers]

I am a little surprised you have burnt a few out. I have done what I described above to at least half a dozen of them, and haven't had a single one burn up. I never go past 3 or 4 seconds though with the button held. I haven't done it with the plate on (can't see the coil) and I normally suck on the PV while doing it, of course blowing out the nasty vapor. Besides that, nothing special. I have read where people have been told to hold the button until you can see the red (with the plate on), but that is WAY too long.

I do a few short burns and sucks until you can see the coil starting to glow(no plate), and you burn off the gunk. Once it isn't producing any vapor and you can see the glow pretty quick, I do this a few more times for about 3-4 seconds a few more times. Sometimes I will scrape the coil with a long syringe to clean a little more gunk off, or if there is some wick fibers stuck there.

One thing I have seen when doing this is that during the first few burns, the wick will start to glow on one side only. Then the glow slowly works it way across the coil. The more you burn it, the quicker the glow moves across the coil, to the point when the entire coil lights up bright orange almost instantly. This can only help with the vapor production IMHO.

Brew

 

[wyojoe]

Thanks Brew, I have found that it was hard to get some of the needle plates to come off and was even more difficult to get it back on. I will with the one I have left try your method. I like the clearomizers because you can see the coil very easily and are very very easy to clean, and has great vapor, and I have never burned out a coil so far. The best is the XL clearo's because the hold more juice that the standart size.

 

[billo]

Thanks for the good advice, tsbrewers. I use 100% PG and flavor is fine, and I rarely clean it--about every three weeks.
But it leaks on top and bottom too much. I've never had any other eGo leak significantly. That is a real pain.

I have to agree That the T atty is way overpriced for something that requires so much care. I predict it may not be around in a year, maybe less, unless they drop the price dramatically. But they probably will.

My other question is about the eGo T "B" model. Is it better ?

 

[Doomed!]

Good stuff. I think the LR atties will make a big difference and solve a lot of complaints. I can't wait to get a couple of them. BTW, cignot has the LR atties for $10 a pop. That's only a couple bucks more than a regular LR 510 atty.

 

[tsbrewers]

Thanks Brew, I have found that it was hard to get some of the needle plates to come off and was even more difficult to get it back on. I will with the one I have left try your method. I like the clearomizers because you can see the coil very easily and are very very easy to clean, and has great vapor, and I have never burned out a coil so far. The best is the XL clearo's because the hold more juice that the standart size.

A dental pick is what seems to work the best for me. Mine looks kinda like this picture. What I do is put the pick in where the gap in the plate is. The rotate the pick so the end is under the actual plate, then give it a tug. If the plate hasn't been off before, it most likely will be snug, but it will come off. Just a word of advise, don't have a thumb or finger over the atty opening when you yank on the pick, might just stab a finger.

To get it back on, I push the plate on to a juice tank and use that to slide it down in to the atty. Sometimes it doesn't want to slide right in to place, so if you "wiggle" the tank around a little, it will then start to slide it. Don't force it, you will be able to tell when it is in the right place, then just push the tank the rest of the way in. Not sure if you need to, but I take the blunt end of my pick and tap on the plate to make sure it is completely seated.

Thanks for the good advice, tsbrewers. I use 100% PG and flavor is fine, and I rarely clean it--about every three weeks.
But it leaks on top and bottom too much. I've never had any other eGo leak significantly. That is a real pain.

I have to agree That the T atty is way overpriced for something that requires so much care. I predict it may not be around in a year, maybe less, unless they drop the price dramatically. But they probably will.

My other question is about the eGo T "B" model. Is it better ?

My wife barely cleans hers too, and she is using 100% pg and just keeps working. MOST of the time the leaking mean the wick is a little too low in the piercing tube. I would try to pop the plate, gently push the wick out towards where the tank goes, and that should fix it. Of course, while you are in there, might as well clean the wick off in a flame, wet it with juice and make sure it is nice and straight before you pop the plate back in. You might have seen this already, but I will post it just in case you haven't.

YouTube - eGo-t wick adjustment

I know this sounds like a lot to deal with but really only takes a couple minutes, and I only do it about once a week or less.

Good stuff. I think the LR atties will make a big difference and solve a lot of complaints. I can't wait to get a couple of them. BTW, cignot has the LR atties for $10 a pop. That's only a couple bucks more than a regular LR 510 atty.

I am sucking on a LR from Cignot right now. To be honest, I haven't been too impressed so far. For me, it doesn't have any more vapor than a regular one, and the juice has a slightly burnt taste. But most people do like it, so what do I know?

Brew

 

[six]

I have to agree That the T atty is way overpriced for something that requires so much care.

It doesn't always. There are some quality control issues (as evidenced by all the posts about leaks etc here on ECF), but my ego-t has been problem free. I got 7 weeks and a few days out of the first pair of attys before I had my first leak. I put those aside and began to use another one I bought when i got my kit. That one has been going problem free for more than two weeks now. -- I'll probably pull apart and repair the first two eventually, but I've had lots of 510 attys that didn't last as long as the t attys have lasted for me... and I bought 5 extra attys when i got my kit, so it will probably be several months before I need to think about repairing the old ones.

The only thing I've been able to call a negative about the ego-t is the temperature of the vapor. My tobacco flavors just don't taste so good in that system. My sweet flavors taste fine, though. Root beer, spearmint, black licorice, raspberry etc are all great. I tried LRs, and they weren't much improvement. No matter though. The ego-t is great for what it is and it works well for how I use it. Knowing how to fix the attys is great, but it doesn't mean you're actually going to have to.

 

[orion7319]

It's a good post. Some read this and are overwhelmed until they actually do what you say - it takes a lot more work to write it out than it does to do it.

There's no maintenance-free ecig. For those of us that haven't had any wick problem, the eGo-t B-type is as close that I've gotten to maintenance-free, and I've had quite a few.

Hehe! Yup it's much easier to do than to describe. It's not rocket science by any stretch of the imagination. lol. What I like is the fact that I can keep an atty going for months with just some basic maintenance. Compared with a cartomizer that might last a day or two weeks it's just more reliable. Also there is no cotton to burn as there is with cartomizers nor is there any fussing with fillers and droppers like with carts, no big ... mods to cart around that might look like a .... or a thermonuclear detonator or something, no constant refilling or charging. No juice everywhere like you get with dripping... no dripping while driving. The trade offs are some basic maintenance, loss of some flavor and cooler vapor. I would also like to point out that the loss of flavor and cooler vapor can be improved on by using LR atties and Riva 510 SE batteries, and the type B's need to be cleaned less often than the type A's in my experience. So to me I have to pop the needle plate off and clean it every now and then, and in rare cases build another wick from silicate rope... all in all no big deal to me really for what I gain with them.

 

[Kent C]

Hehe! Yup it's much easier to do than to describe. It's not rocket science by any stretch of the imagination. lol. What I like is the fact that I can keep an atty going for months with just some basic maintenance. Compared with a cartomizer that might last a day or two weeks it's just more reliable. Also there is no cotton to burn as there is with cartomizers nor is there any fussing with fillers and droppers like with carts, no big ... mods to cart around that might look like a .... or a thermonuclear detonator or something, no constant refilling or charging. No juice everywhere like you get with dripping... no dripping while driving. The trade offs are some basic maintenance, loss of some flavor and cooler vapor. I would also like to point out that the loss of flavor and cooler vapor can be improved on by using LR atties and Riva 510 SE batteries, and the type B's need to be cleaned less often than the type A's in my experience. So to me I have to pop the needle plate off and clean it every now and then, and in rare cases build another wick from silicate rope... all in all no big deal to me really for what I gain with them.

I agree. I'm done with any carto that has a filler - see the 'dangerous carto' sticky. I've autopsied many and there isn't one that doesn't burn and I can take a bit of burning ejuice over burning PET or cloth. I don't care if the coil is vertical, horizontal, dual or triple - they burn. period. CE2's are the only one's worthy of consideration and when they settle on a revision that works, I'll look further.

I'm with Brew on the B's - the B LR isn't bad and I haven't had any burnt ejuice - just that some flavors don't hold up to the wattage - same with any other PV, really. Wattage enhances some flavors, destroys others. But the regular B's are a pretty good vape - don't vape the tank dry and you won't have any problems if you don't mess up the cap or the wick. Don't blow the atty out with canned air or a compressor I vodka soak instead of dry burning now.

 

[jazdale]

Excellent write-up tsb. One of the best I've seen on the ego-T.

I'm curious how many people threw away their atty, when a few minute operation is all it needed.

I destroyed my dental picks using them as a pry bar, I use a pair of hemostatic forceps (hemo's).
You can get them in hobby stores, fishing stores (great for taking the hook out of a fish), head shops, and free when you go to the emergency room for stitches.

hitliquid sells LR attys for 6 bucks. No idea on quality or performance.

 

[orion7319]

Excellent write-up tsb. One of the best I've seen on the ego-T.

I'm curious how many people threw away their atty, when a few minute operation is all it needed.

I destroyed my dental picks using them as a pry bar, I use a pair of hemostatic forceps (hemo's).
You can get them in hobby stores, fishing stores (great for taking the hook out of a fish), head shops, and free when you go to the emergency room for stitches.

hitliquid sells LR attys for 6 bucks. No idea on quality or performance.

All I use is a flat blade screwdriver to remove my needle plate. Just slide it in on one of the slat sides apply pressure to the needle itself and the needle and plate just pops right off. No special tools required...

 

[Doomed!]

I just found out that you really don't need the wick at all. I just took mine out and it works great. You just need to take one or two good pulls on it without pushing the button to get the juice down to the coil. You get about 4-5 good hits and then you need to give it a couple more pulls. Pretty much like direct dripping. I will advise that I've only tried this on one atty so I don't know if this will work for everybody. But if you're like I was and are about to give up on the ego-t, give it a shot. This took mine from unusable to my all day PV in about 20 seconds.