My Vaping Experience, So Far...

[BlutO]

I started vaping at the end of August and have been lurking around ECF the whole time. This is my first post

I first purchased an eGo kit from Madvapes on the recommendation of a friend. I got a bunch of EMDCCs and never looked back. My friend said they looked like a "Harry Potter wand' and he was right. They hold a ton of juice, but are kinda inconsistent.

During this time I found Alien Visions and have been addicted to their juice. GJ and Hype were my favorites, but now I am loving the Raf-a-licious!

After reading as much as I could about vaping and watching a million youtube videos, I ordered Cisco's "two 306s and a XL driptip" bundle. WOW! I was in heaven. I loved the flavor and vapor production that the 306s put out, but it was hard to "drip and drive". My quest for the perfect vape continued...

I ordered a couple of 1000 mah eGo batteries from Health Cabin. They are awesome and have really nice battery life. Took a while to get them, though. I prefer dealing with American suppliers, because I'm impatient and hate waiting for vape mail

Next came "the syringe mod" After purchasing a bunch of 20ml horse syringes from a local co-op, I started making tanks. The Resurrectors from CCV have been awesome in the tanks. They work great on the eGo batteries, but felt a little top heavy.

I am an IT consultant, so I had a ton of dead laptop batteries lying around. My friend (the same one that got me into vaping) told me about the hack where you tear apart the old laptop battery and extract the 18650 goodness. Endless supply of unprotected 18650s... Woot! I understand the dangers of unprotected batteries, so don't bother warning me about them.

Now to find a use for all of these batteries... Enter the noEgo from jazzcartopipe. This little beauty is $35 and is regulated to shut off once the voltage drops below a certain level. Excellent cheap mod for these unprotected batteries

I did have a problem with one of the switches on the noEgo, but Laurie sent a replacement without an issue. Great customer service!

While I was waiting for the replacement noEgo, I went back to my eGo batteries and they worked great with the syringe tank. Still wasn't the same. I was spoiled by the 4.2 volt noEgo with a battery off the charger, so I went looking for another inexpensive 18650 tube mod. I found the Shine Mod from Parkes Vaping and it is awesome. I have to be more careful with it since it doesn't have any voltage regulation built in, but it's an excellent backup mod. Now I need to grab a couple of protected rcr123a batteries to test it out at 6v! Fast shipping and a great price from Parkes Vaping! Couldn't be happier.

That's where I am right now. A few more posts and I plan on ordering an 18650 vv mod from Krimson Kustoms

I know this was a "tl;dr" post, but I had a lot to say

Thanks for all of the great info ECF! You guys are awesome!

-BlutO

 

[Tersur]

Always good to see an introduction like that. Welcome to the community!

 

[BlutO]

Thanks, Tersur! I completely forgot to mention how much I love the Quick Nic juices, too. Between them and AVE you really can't go wrong

 

[BlutO]

*Threads get buried on this forum pretty fast, so I am replying to my own post to give it some love*

Welcome, BlutO! tl;dr

 

[kabonk]

laptop batteries really I got a bunch of those laying around 2, welcome from out of the shadows, I have a Krimson mod James is a great guy to work with and he does good work good choice

 

[BlutO]

Yep. Search Google for "laptop battery 18650". The flashlight guys use them all the time, but a lot of their stuff has regulated circuitry. Unprotected batteries take a bit more care, but when you have a ton of them you can swap them out so often they never run down enough to become dangerous.

 

[thepassionofchad]

Pretty nice experience so far. I've only experienced volcano products and i'm itching to try something a little more exotic. =]

 

[kabonk]

as long as I've been in IT and I've rebuilt 1000s of dell laptops doing warranty work I never knew those had round batteries in them I've never taken a battery a part I just toss them to be recycled I just assumed it was some kind of rectangle battery you learn something new everyday

 

[BlutO]

The Shine from Parkes Vaping is a great entry-level 18650 mod if you don't want to spend much money and want to try a tube mod. They do require one 18650 for 3.7v or two rcr123a's for 6v, so you would need to buy those separately and a charger. He only charges $25 for the Shine. They aren't much to look at, but they are cheap and work really well.

If you decide later that you want to move up to one of the fancier tube mods, you will already have the batteries and charger.

 

[BlutO]

as long as I've been in IT and I've rebuilt 1000s of dell laptops doing warranty work I never knew those had round batteries in them I've never taken a battery a part I just toss them to be recycled I just assumed it was some kind of rectangle battery you learn something new everyday

Oh yeah, man. I was stoked when I found out. There can be up to 12 18650s in one laptop battery. I only tore open a couple and I am set for batteries for the foreseeable future

 

[kabonk]

I've tossed so many laptop batteries in the recycle bucket its not even funny who knew

 

[Zogem]

Woot! I understand the dangers of unprotected batteries, so don't bother warning me about them.

Ummm ok..

[...] ton of them you can swap them out so often they never run down enough to become dangerous.

The problems aren't limited to running them low. Perhaps you should revisit the above statement, given you believe running them down is the only risk: "they never run down enough to become dangerous."

"they never run down enough to become dangerous." is incomplete at best, and worthy of rethinking, as the highest risk is rate of drain, and the generated heat/gases, not the fact the charge is low.

Not be a pain, just pointing it out..

Happy, and safe, vaping.

 

[BlutO]

Seriously, you only need to open one or two. There are a ton in each one. I use them in this noEgo that is regulated to blink and cut off if the battery gets below 3.4v (if I remember correctly) and I have never seen one blink yet. I just swap them out all the time since they put out 4.2 off the charger. I like em fresh

 

[BlutO]

Not be a pain, just pointing it out..

I told you not to bother I've read a ton about them and over-charging, over-discharging, and stacking them can all be dangerous. All of my mods have holes in them to release gas in the case of a short. You have to be careful with them and respect the power that they can release. I take great care with mine and will continue to use them. Thanks for the input, though