New Blu User

[Ethic]

Hello,
I just recently received my Blu on September 17th and am now wishing I found this forum before I forked out any money for it. I've been an analog smoker for 12 years and a friend of mine at school told me about Blu. I went to their web address and read just about everything and was sold within a few hours. Now after having Blu for 2 days I can only express an extreme disappointment with this product thus far. My disappointment led me to this forum in search of "fixes" or "mods" that I could use to make Blu worth keeping.

I'm trying to decide whether or not I should return the Blu or go ahead and try some of the mods suggested on this forum. The only two positive things about Blu that I can think of at the moment are that it has kept me off of analog cigarettes for the 2 days I've had it (although I have to use many carts to get the 1-5 good hits I need) & you can keep an assembled e-cig in the pack. Keeping an assembled e-cig is not a big issue for me, I could really care less. When I purchased Blu I thought I was getting a product that would last as long as they advertised (a bit naive but meh), but this is truly not the case. The carts are garbage I only get 1-5 memorable hits out of them before they are just a watered down e-cigarette. Those 1-5 good hits are in between letting it rest so I can get another memorable hit. I have read about dipping the Blu and the PTB mod, users like hxj and Cowbay Dan said they have experienced great results by utilizing these methods/mods. I am interested in trying them, but is it even worth it? On the other hand if I don't decide to try the mods/dipping I would have to return it, which sucks because I would have to go back to smoking while I wait for the return and decide on a new model.

So in a short, what I'm asking is: Is it worth it to keep the Blu + PTB mod + juice or return it and try a different e-cig?

Thank you all for your time,
-Ethic

P.S. 1st post and hello to everybody!

 

[Bandit]

Although I have all the ones you see listed in my sig below, I still use my Blu for my 'out and about' vape. They are great... but you must LEARN to use them right.

Not only do you need to learn to vape (it is different than smoking a cigarette), you need to learn beyond that with the Blu, it vapes differently than most other e-cigs.

Go up to our search feature, click advanced search, search for my name, and select only the Blu forum. Read my posts... they will teach you how to get the most out of your Blu.

BTW: I don't see how you could do the PTB mod with a Blu cart honestly. 510, 801, 901... absolutely, Blu... I doubt it.

 

[Jorakae]

In short, my opinion is to give the Blu a chance, especially if this is your first e-cig. You have 30 days to return it and you have had it for two. Smoking an e-cig is different from an analog and this takes some adjustment on the part of the user.

I've found just with just playing around with the stock carts, removing the foil completely, and practicing long, slow draws I can get a fairly good vapor every time. Even down to the cart being almost empty. Far more than the amount that you describe of requiring many carts to get 1-5 good draws.

I myself have just tried the PTB mod today. Not out of necessity, just out of experimentation to see how much I could improve my existing performance. Today is my first day using it, so I can't comment too much about it as of yet.

It seems that with re-filling my own carts I get more out of them with the stock carts but this is a completely subjective observation at this time.

In the end you may still find that Blu is not right for you. I find that even with an e-cig I still mostly refrain from smoking in places that I would otherwise not be able to. I try to practice the same habits I would if I was smoking normally and not increase my nicotine intake just because I can. Within the confines of my intended use, Blu fits the bill fantastically.

 

[Cowboy Dan]

BTW: I don't see how you could do the PTB mod with a Blu cart honestly. 510, 801, 901... absolutely, Blu... I doubt it.

Really? Because I'm vaping with my PTB mod right now...and it works really well. I'm a bit confused as to why you would say this, when myself, hxj, and philo (all blu users and members of this forum) have emphasized their success with the PTB mod. Maybe you should try it. I have been exploring alternate filler as I consider this a hobby and the PTB mod is a bit time consuming, especially on the Blu. Is it worth it? Yes. Try it and you will see. You might have to play around with it to get it right, but it most definitely works.

It seems that with re-filling my own carts I get more out of them with the stock carts but this is a completely subjective observation at this time. .

I find this to be the case as well. Trust me, I was ready to throw this thing in the trash. After talking to hxj, trying different juices and mods, I am finally happy with it. Some people don't have the patience for this. I'm a bit stubborn and wanted to make it work. And when it's working correctly, it really is an awesome little e cig.

Like any product, it's all subjective, and not everyone is going to like every e cig.

 

[L8946]

You have to really break in these atomizers i think.

I am totally happy with it now, but at first I thought it was garbage. I couldn't get good vapor. I found out this was because you draw differently with the blu than with most ecigs.

I have refilled a cartridge succesfully with Totallywicked juice. worked AWESOME. And it wasn't that hard...

I could go on but my advice is tweak it, give it some time, expirment with it. The product really is good. There are flaws with ALL ecigs.

 

[Ethic]

Well I'll be ordering a 510 from innovape tomorrow, hopefully while I wait for it to get here I can make the Blu worth keeping, if I can't I'll most likely return it and buy another model on top of the 510.

 

[curmudgeonista]

I agree that the Blu cats do not last long, at least not while giving a satisfying amount of vapor... though I do get more than the 5 hits mentioned. I top mine off a lot to keep it at peak performance. I also make sure to put a drop or two on the atty when I'm refilling. When I'm out-and-about I just swap carts and then refill them all when I get home.

I also have a Joye 510 that I like quite a bit, but for different reasons. The 510 carts have more capacity than the Blu, and the manual battery makes it easier to control vapor production. However, I'm also glad I have the Blu.

Work with the Blu while you're waiting for your 510. Get some juice and play with both e-cigs for a while, and then decide if you want to send the Blu back. You'll definitely want to keep the 510, but you'll still need to top-off carts on it. That'll keep it at it's best and saves $$$ over buying pre-filled carts.

Whether you also want to keep the Blu could go either way, but give it a chance before you make up your mind. Like I said, I decided to keep both.

When I was pondering whether or not to keep the Blu, it occured to me that Blu's 30-day guaratee might not apply the extra carts, attys & batts I bought with the kit. Anybody who's returned one know?

 

[BlondieLocs]

I don't see how you could do the PTB mod with a Blu cart honestly. 510, 801, 901... absolutely, Blu... I doubt it.

I use a PTB mod with my 401. Is the Blu cart that much smaller?

 

[Bandit]

Wow, I never considered doing the PTB to the tiny Blu cart, didn't think you could. Cool!

 

[BlondieLocs]

Wow, I never considered doing the PTB to the tiny Blu cart, didn't think you could. Cool!

Yeah, I use the Rho mod on my 401 - DFRF - have to cut it down from the size you'd use on the 510, but it's made a world of difference.

I'm thinking the Blu cart can't be much smaller than the 401.

ETC: At least I'm doing what I think is the Rho mod... LOL. Was a little hard to tell with the video. What I'm doing is working well anyway.

 

[hxj]

Quick list of tips to make a blu work nicely:

1. Buy better liquid. The liquid in blu's carts tastes nice, but doesn't work well in my experience. I have had good success with Johnson Creek, ECOpure from Intellicig (available from InnoVapor and others), and most recently, Decadent Vapours, my new favorite. If you want more vapor, use liquids with a high vegetable glycerine (VG) content.

2. Refill carts. Use a straightened paper clip to poke through the hole in a blu cart's mouthpiece and push out the transparent inner cart. Remove all the plastic and foil from the lip. Pull out the filler, rinse it, dry it, and push it back in, and refill the cart (not too full) with the better liquid you're using because you're following tip #1. Bonus: replace the stock filler with something that wicks better, like Fluval or (my favorite) PET from Lipton Pyramid tea bags. Other bonus: replace blu's carts entirely with 306a carts, which work with blu atomizers and batteries and are, despite one leaking incident, currently making me very, very happy.

3. Learn to pull. The blu has a very light draw. Pull slowly and carefully, and give the blu's atomizer time to vaporize the liquid and add it to your air intake. If you're doing it right, you'll actually hear the liquid sizzling as it's vaporized. If you want to tighten up the draw, use a thick liquid (such as ECOpure), and you can also cover one or more of the four air intake holes (right where the battery meets the atomizer) with your fingers.

Please note that yes, these are hoops to jump through, but they are more or less the same hoops people jump through for other models of e-cig-- buying liquids, refilling carts, etc. Crazy as it sounds to most, I am actually far more satisfied overall with my modded blu than I am with my 510-- the 510 puts out great vapor and throat hit, but I find it too big, too clumsy to use all day, and generally too inconvenient, and it seems to mess with my flavors a lot, too. I leave the house in the morning with a loaded blu pack (one e-cig ready to go, five extra differently-flavored carts with atomizers attached, and an extra blu battery) and I'm set for the day.

 

[Ethic]

Thanks hxj, I received my 510 today, I love it to death. I decided to keep the blu + a contact lens case for dipping w/ ecopure, it works out pretty nice. I leave the big guns for at home and just dip with blu. I wanted to ask though, if you have any detailed instructions for the PTB mod on the blu. I found some somewhere in a thread on this forum but I can't locate it anymore. Any help is greatly appreciated and as always, thank you for your time.

-Ethic

 

[hxj]

Thanks hxj, I received my 510 today, I love it to death. I decided to keep the blu + a contact lens case for dipping w/ ecopure, it works out pretty nice. I leave the big guns for at home and just dip with blu. I wanted to ask though, if you have any detailed instructions for the PTB mod on the blu. I found some somewhere in a thread on this forum but I can't locate it anymore. Any help is greatly appreciated and as always, thank you for your time.

-Ethic

I still haven't written it up properly, but here's the basics as PMed to another member recently. Note: tapering the strip is optional and just creates a better shape, and cutting the roll into fringe is also optional and may or may not increase wicking-- I think it helps, myself, but it's a lot of extra work and quite possibly not worth it.

1) Pull off the string and cut all three seams off the teabag. Empty out the tea and unfold. You should have a long rectangle (two squares side by side). Wash this and dry it thoroughly with paper towels.

2) Cut a long, skinny strip lengthwise from the rectangle. This strip should be about as wide as the blu's inner cart is tall-- a little less, actually. For best results, you can cut straight but at an angle, so one end is a bit narrower than the blu inner cart is tall, and then it tapers so the other end is about half as wide as the blu inner cart is tall. (If that's too confusing, don't worry about it, it's not necessary.)

3) Roll the strip up as tightly as possible. I took two sewing needles and duct-taped them together, leaving about half an inch of the needles (blunt end) exposed on one side. Then I can thread the end of the material between the needles and roll it up really tightly. If you're using the tapered cut, thread the narrowest end between the needles and as you roll it up, try to keep the long edge of the strip straight. You'll end up with a cylinder that has sort of a cone or cup missing from it. That's to accommodate the atomizer wick.

3) Pull the roll off the needles, taking care to keep it rolled tightly. Flatten the roll between your fingers, and then use scissors to cut lengthwise down the center of the roll, starting at the missing-cone end (not the flush end) and cutting about three-quarters of the way across. Flatten the roll the other way, so you're holding a little stack of strips flat (and the strips are all connected at the flush end), and cut lengthwise again, three-quarters of the way across. Basically you're cutting the first strips into twice as many that are half as wide.

4) Now unroll the roll. You should have the long strip, still, but it should be sort of cut into fringe, something like this:

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
-----------------------------------------

(And if you tapered it, the fringe will be longer on one side than the other.)

5) Thread this carefully back between the needles and roll it up again, but more loosely this time-- you want it to end up being about the diameter of the blu inner cart. Keep the unfringed edge flush as best you can. That's the end of the roll that will go into the cart, and the fringe will face the atomizer wick.

6) Stuff it in the cart. If you have bits poking out, pull the stuffing back out a bit and cut it flush, then poke it back in.

7) Add liquid and go to town.

Hope that helps and isn't ridiculously confusing. This is just how I do it, you can be lots less psychotic about it than I am and just cut a strip, roll it up, and jam it in there. It would probably work just as well.

 

[Phate2013]

Got the blu as my first ecig. Have been pretty impressed thus far. Out of the box, meh, after using the PTB mod and filling with juice I purchased from puresmoker I'm really happy with it. I agree with hjx on all of his quick list of tips. I have been off analogs for over a week at this point. I went about a week at first but ran through all of the carts in a matter of days and had to go back to analogs while waiting for my next order to come in, I've learned my lesson now though to stock up in advanced. Also thanks for the write up on the PTB mod hjx, I've been doing it a bit differently but plan on trying the method you outlined, appreciate the detail you went into there, thanks again.

 

[laidbak101]

Got the blu as my first ecig. Have been pretty impressed thus far. Out of the box, meh, after using the PTB mod and filling with juice I purchased from puresmoker I'm really happy with it. I agree with hjx on all of his quick list of tips. I have been off analogs for over a week at this point. I went about a week at first but ran through all of the carts in a matter of days and had to go back to analogs while waiting for my next order to come in, I've learned my lesson now though to stock up in advanced. Also thanks for the write up on the PTB mod hjx, I've been doing it a bit differently but plan on trying the method you outlined, appreciate the detail you went into there, thanks again.

I made those carts last about a week! Just had too exchange some juice but i placed an order on the second day for my own juice.. But then I just started dripping anyway. I didn't keep the little thing inside out only drained it out dry. That way i wouldn't drink some juice..

Same day my original carts ran out completely was the same day I received my order!

 

[Phate2013]

Same day my original carts ran out completely was the same day I received my order!

That's just good luck!

 

[nashchelovek]

I recall hearing that in the PCC you should keep the cigarette either cart side up or LED side up. Which one is it and what is the difference?

 

[hxj]

I recall hearing that in the PCC you should keep the cigarette either cart side up or LED side up. Which one is it and what is the difference?

Actually, it depends on the filling material in your carts and how full your carts are. If you have a good-wicking cart full of liquid, it's probably best to store the cig LED-up (mouthpiece down) so that the liquid will stay in the cart and won't leak or flood your atomizer. If you're running low on liquid in the cart, or you use blu's prefilled carts as-is, storing it LED-down will let gravity help wick the rest of the liquid toward the atomizer.

I tend to keep my carts topped-off and I use PET as a cart filler, so generally I try to carry the cig oriented mouthpiece-down. However, since I like to pull the cig from the Pack with my teeth, I put it in the Pack mouthpiece-up and then carry the Pack upside-down.

 

[kyivish]

The problem with the blu is tht the atomizer comes to a sharp point, this point pushes the wicking material into the cart and you get very little surface connection between the atty and the wick. Two things you can do about this, one: try different wicking material, two: (somewhat more effective) is the straw mod, plce a coffee stirring straw on the side of the wick material, cut the bottom at 45 degree angle, this help air flow which helps push the liquid up the wick.

Or you can do what I did, go to litecigusa and buy m801 attys, they fit perfectly and have a more rounded bridge so they wick more effectively, don't forget the m801 carts though. The new atty still allows for a complete blu cig to fit in the pcc, nd imo it makes for a very peasant ecig. $17.00 more and you'll have a powerful little champ

 

[Crackee]

Is there a video showing how to do this process? I'm getting confused with the reading instructions.