New Guy with a few questions.

[Shadow102]

First off, hello from the Eastern Panhandle of WV. Second I apologize in advance for what will invariably be a rather long post, however as a scientist by training and a manager by trade I am forced by my personality to research extensively before taking action.

So after spending a few days lurking, including reading all 48 pages of the "Advice on what to buy for newcomers" thread, I've decided to switch to vaping, I think I've made a decision on what to go with for my first and hopefully moderately long term PV.

My interest is primarily in the KR8 manual. Currently I'm a PAD smoker and yes I realize the battery life on the KR8 is a good deal shorter in comparison to the Ego or other fat bat models. However, like most noobs, I have to transition myself with something more analogous to an analog. I also am more inclined to the cartomizer merely for ease of use.

What really turned my on to the KR8 was not just the overall shape but the availability of a pass through model. I'm a gamer and can easily spend 4+hours a night sitting in front of my PC, so the idea of having the PT option works for me.

So coming to this conclusion has left me with a few ideas and a lot more questions.

1. Starter kits and where to buy.
I found what appears to me to be a nice starter kit from myvaporstore.com. KR808D1 - Ultimate Starter Kit
Price seems good, in comparison to some other sites, and the reviews and threads in their EFC forum are quite positive. Any criticisms from users, or alternative sites to check out?

2. Battery longevity.
Not a question of how long a charge lasts, but all Lithium Ion batteries have a lifespan, that point in their existence where they cease to hold a charge. We've all experienced it with cell phones, Mp3 players, cameras, etc. What I'm asking is how long have you been using your batts before you feel they're under-performing? (specifically aimed at the KR8 users but all are welcome to respond)

3. Cartos, blanks vs. prefilled.
I understand the differences in prefilled vs. blank cartos and how much/how often you can refill them. And I realize there are quite a few sights that offer prefilled samplers as well as liquid sampler packs. Any recommendations toward one approach or the other? According to dormouse cartos are more reliable with a low VG ratio, but it seems not all sights disclose the percentages in their liquid mixes, let alone what ratios their prefilleds run. Any brands to lean towards or away from in terms of avoiding carto gunking?

4. Juices. Flavors and Nic levels.
As I said, PAD smoker and more of a Camel fan than other brands. Currently killing myself with the Blue 99's. And yes like all noobies I want to start with something slightly similar to what I'm used to, although I understand my tastes will change and that everyone has their own preference as far a juices go for vaping. Any recommendations on good transitioning brands/flavors, I guess this kind of goes with the above question seeing as the concept of prefilled or blanks could also come into play here. As far as Nic lvls go, I'm not sure if I should go with 18mg or 11mg to start with, eventually planning on getting down to 0, but I would prefer to avoid the nic fits along with the withdrawl from the carpet cement. Knowing what I smoke and how much any thoughts on one lvl or the other?

Ok, that about does it for now, I'm sure there will be plenty of replies which invariably lead to more questions, both from me and you, but I look forward to it.

 

[Chaz.0]

Hi Shadow, congrats on trying to quit cigarettes. A lot of people on this forum is/was right where you are at, including myself. I'm a noob on the forum but have been vaping for about a year now. I'm sure you will receive enough replies to help make this decision easier. Best of luck!



...KEEP VAPE ALIVE...

 

[Ryan Cummings]

If you like the kr-808 Go for the voltits the same thing with better battery life and cartos... you can get it with a charging case (a case that charges your batteries on the go ) at Smokeless Image And here is How to fill a cartomizer.By the way... mostly all cartos are refillable They are way better tan atomizer/cartridge combo and you can boil them to clean themonce you have refilled them a couple times
Also check out e juice fromBlue Mist Vaping. Its only about 30 bucks for a 180ml bottle of juice! thats 5 bucks per 30ml! lol I just found them and most of their juice is fantastic.
Finally you may want to check into getting drip tips for your cartos. they make topping them off a breeze

 

[Ryan Cummings]

Also, an eGo is not a "fat bat mod". a tube mod with an 18650 battery is a fat bat mod... IE the roughstack from madvapes. The eGo is a proprietary battery like the kr808 but is roughly the size of a small cigar. Just givin you more info good luck I hope my info helps you out!

 

[PerfectELu]

Shadow, most of the 510's and eGo's have a pass thru available. I think the batt's in most 510 and eGo types are built to last 4 - 6 months before replacing although I am sure some have different experiences. eGo's are about 22.00 for replacement batt's, sorry haven't really looked at the KR8's I have a Volcano Magma which was ok to start but after a month...I am researching Mod's to move up to. I bought it because like you it seemed the most like a analog in the look and feel department. Starter Kits are just that and seem to be the best bang for the buck initially.

Nic Level...that is purely your decision, I started with 16mg and I am actually looking to move up not down lol...getting down to Zero maybe a future move but I like the idea of the rush with out the cough and I didn't really start vaping to ween off of nicotine but more because I got tired of smelling like cigerettes and I can do it anywhere, I am a federal employee and we get shuffled out to 200ft from any building and in enclosed areas to keep regular citizens from seeing federal employee's taking smoke breaks.

Carto's are the way to go, play with the LR models to get a better throat hit and more flavor, play with the juice mix to get more cloud and flavor, PG is more flavorful but doesn't produce as much cloud and throat hit as VG, so a good PG/VG mix will fix that. Volcano has "Tankomizers" which is a atty designed to take blank tanks, which is what I use most...I can fill tanks with different juice and carry them around for the flavor swap. Dripping is my fave though....most vapor cloud and thoat hit by far.

I hope this helps at all, good luck and welcome to Analog's Anonymous lol

 

[wizard10000]

Welcome and congratulations

I'll give a shot at answering your questions even though I'm not an 808 user. Here goes -

I'm not gonna try to talk you out of the 808 as you said yourself it might be a n00b mistake - if it is you can correct it and an 808 will keep you going until new hardware arrives - other than battery life the only thing you're gonna miss out on is the ability to use LR atomizers, which for a lot of us is kind of a big deal.

The spousal unit hated the eGO we picked out for her when she started vaping but likes my old 510XL pretty well. If she's gonna be out and about and doesn't want to take a handful of batteries she just swipes one of my eGO batteries and a cone and goes about her business. She really doesn't care for the big battery, though. I, on the other hand really like not switching batteries three times a day

Where to get the 808? A lot of people swear by the Volt - Smokeless Image | Only The Best Electronic Cigarette | Electronic Cigarettes | Wholesale Electronic Cigarettes | E-Cigarette | Best Electronic Cigarette | Electronic Cigarette - it's not the cheapest but a lot of people would probably tell you it's the best. Not sure if a generic 808 kit will be better or worse.

On battery longevity - I figure you should expect at least a couple hundred charges out of a battery. If you charge the battery once a day that'd be about six months but I think most people get a little more than that.

Blank vs. prefilled cartos? I can only speak from personal experience but the prefilled cartos I've bought lacked quite a bit in the flavor department - better to buy decent juice and fill them yourself IMO.

Juices? As a PAD full-flavor smoker I'm fairly certain you'll find 11mg juice a bit light for your needs - 18mg might work but the majority of folks I've seen start out around 24mg. I'd suggest starting there as if you get a shipment of 11 or 18mg juice and it doesn't work for you it might be kind of a tough quit - and at 24mg quitting was pretty much effortless for me - but everybody's different.

I didn't answer all of your questions but hopefully have got some of the big ones out of the way. Again, welcome

cheers -

 

[Shadow102]

Ryan and Wizard- Thanks for the link to the Volt, I didn't notices Smokeless Image on the vendor page so I probably wouldn't have found it otherwise, looks like a pretty nice set up.

Ryan-I realize the Ego isn't a fat bat mod, I was just referencing it as far as increased size goes, but I appreciate the point you were making.

Perfect-Thanks for the note about nic levels, and may I ask why you're looking to mod up from the Volcano?

Wizard-Ton of info in your post, glad you responded. I'll take your advice and start with the 24mg juice and fill the cartos myself. You mentioned that with the 808 I'll be missing out on the LR option. I've noted that LR is mentioned occasionally in the posts I've lurked in around here, but what exactly is difference between standard and low resistance?

 

[themysterious1]

I started with the ego-t because of the ease of use and the battery life was great used it all day on a charge would charge it when I went to bed and would be ready for the next day. I was a PAD smoker also and started with 24mg and it seems to be just right for me.This is totally up to you.I think its better to start high and if its to much back down or it will be hard to stop the analogs.I have my ego-t up for sale with juice samples and stuff in the classifieds if interested.

 

[WVvet]

Welcome fellow Mountain Stater! I started with a ciggie size unit and upgraded to an EGO within two weeks. Use with a BOGE 2.0 cartomizer (hated the prefilled cartos that came with both of my units). Got the pass thru with my kit but never use it. Don't like to be "tethered" and my EGO bats last for like 10 hours anyway so don't really need it. The difference between prefilled carts and samples of juice is about taste AND expense. Go with sample juices (usually 3-5 ml each) in 24 mg, get a bottle of plain PG in case that is too strong - you can "water" it down with that. LR cartomizers are an easier "draw".
Hope that helps a little and good luck on your vaping journey!

 

[wizard10000]

Wizard-Ton of info in your post, glad you responded. I'll take your advice and start with the 24mg juice and fill the cartos myself. You mentioned that with the 808 I'll be missing out on the LR option. I've noted that LR is mentioned occasionally in the posts I've lurked in around here, but what exactly is difference between standard and low resistance?

A low resistance atomizer pulls more current from the battery (the reason it doesn't work with small batteries) and generates more heat, producing a warmer hit and significantly more vapor. The down side is they use a little more juice to produce the bigger hit and single-coil LR atomizers are a little less tolerant of being run dry - dual coil atomizers don't seem to have this problem.

I hear a Volt hits pretty well by itself so this may not be an issue for you - I think the bigger issue is gonna be battery life but as I said before, it's an easy issue to correct, all it will take is spending a little money if you don't like the Volt.

I'm recommending big battery devices and dual-coil atomizers to most everybody starting out these days (although it's only been about six weeks for me) - I started out with an M402 device from one of those websites that had lotsa fake reviews, then found this place and bought my 510. The 510 worked pretty well but battery life irritated me a little so when the spousal unit decided to start vaping we went straight to an eGO for her. She doesn't care for big batteries but liked my 510 so we swapped and both of us are happy

In the beginning almost all folks want something about the same size and shape as an analog and *most* of them migrate to something with a little better vapor production and a little more battery life - but some stay happy with the sickarette-sized devices.

But - the important thing is finding something that works for *you*.

Good luck - and be sure to holler if there's anything we can do to help.

 

[CGlassford]

If you go with the Volt, I would recommend getting the Pro kit with the PCC and go ahead and order one or two extra batts. (78mm = longer batt life.) With the PCC, you can charge two batts and the PCC itself at the same time and have them ready to switch out wether you're at home or on the go. I practically chain vape all day and I usually only have to switch out batts once a day. But even if it were more than that, it's no more difficult than pulling celophane off a new pack of smokes while driving!

I don't know about the tobacco flavored pre filled cartos from Smokeless Image, but I would not get the sweet flavors. They taste really bad. Like Cherry NighQuil. Even the watermelon tasted like NighQuil lol The blank cartos are GREAT! They hold quite a bit and SO easy to fill with the soft cap. Speaking of soft caps, be sure to get some of the "Colory Carto Hats" for organizing your flavors.

 

[r77r7r]

"Any recommendations toward one approach or the other? According to dormouse cartos are more reliable with a low VG ratio, but it seems not all sights disclose the percentages in their liquid mixes, let alone what ratios their prefilleds run. Any brands to lean towards or away from in terms of avoiding carto gunking?"

Yes, a common mixture is 70PG/30VG. Unless they state that they only use one or the other, there will be a drop down menu to select your pg/vg choice after you've clicked on the flavor to add to your basket. Also, it'll allow you to choose quantity and other things.

If they only sell vg, you can buy pg nic elsewere and add it, or some water- to thin it out.

 

[Ryan Cummings]

A low resistance atomizer pulls more current from the battery (the reason it doesn't work with small batteries) and generates more heat, producing a warmer hit and significantly more vapor. The down side is they use a little more juice to produce the bigger hit and single-coil LR atomizers are a little less tolerant of being run dry - dual coil atomizers don't seem to have this problem.

I hear a Volt hits pretty well by itself so this may not be an issue for you - I think the bigger issue is gonna be battery life but as I said before, it's an easy issue to correct, all it will take is spending a little money if you don't like the Volt.

I'm recommending big battery devices and dual-coil atomizers to most everybody starting out these days (although it's only been about six weeks for me) - I started out with an M402 device from one of those websites that had lotsa fake reviews, then found this place and bought my 510. The 510 worked pretty well but battery life irritated me a little so when the spousal unit decided to start vaping we went straight to an eGO for her. She doesn't care for big batteries but liked my 510 so we swapped and both of us are happy

In the beginning almost all folks want something about the same size and shape as an analog and *most* of them migrate to something with a little better vapor production and a little more battery life - but some stay happy with the sickarette-sized devices.

But - the important thing is finding something that works for *you*.

Good luck - and be sure to holler if there's anything we can do to help.

Well... I have tried the volt. three of my friends have it. something about those particular kr-808 cartos (they are the same as the bloog max fusion cartos but cheaper) is great. They are a little bigger, have a bottom heating element, the wicking material is better, and they put out vapor like a lr carto. I believe (but am not positive so don't quote me on this) they are lower resistance. Not to mention you can mod lr 901 cartos/atty's to work on this .

 

[Shadow102]

CGlass and Ryan-Thanks so much for the information, really great comin from guys who've used/owned the Volt as well.

I'm really liking the Volt Pro kit, but rather than getting a couple of extra bats I'm really leaning toward a PT for home use, since I spend quite a good deal of time at home in front of the PC. I noticed that Volt's PT seems to be Auto only, I know Auto bats can have issues with refilled carto's cause of possible leaking and the open battery contact. Do PT's have the same/worse frying issue (last thing I need to do is short out my mobo with the damn thing) as the regular Auto bats, and if so is it an option to look at an 808 PT from another site to work with the Volt cartos?

As far as juices go, it seems that tobacco flavors aren't too well received by some here, but the other options are mostly dessert/fruit flavors. I've never had much of a sweet tooth, hell I even like my chocolate semi-sweet or darker. Any favorite "non-sweet" juices I should try?

I was checking out some of the sites from the "sample size" thread and ran across BomBayVaping. Any poster have good/bad experiences with them? And any idea's what's with the "flavor strength" option on their samples?

 

[VJH]

Hi shadow and welcome.


1. Starter kits and where to buy- myvaporstore.com. KR808D1 - Ultimate Starter Kit

This is the kit I got and I love it. I got manual batteries and I like how long it is before the cutoff. To suppliment this kit I bought 2 batteries from bloog and didn't like them as much. I went back to MVS to buy an XL battery and am happy with the number of backups I have. (Especially because I bought a cheap bottom-feeder off out of the classified section.)

2. Battery longevity.
I have only been vaping for three weeks- pretty much all day every day- so I can tel you they are still going strong, but can't add much beyond that.

3. Cartos, blanks vs. prefilled.
I understand the differences in prefilled vs. blank cartos and how much/how often you can refill them. And I realize there are quite a few sights that offer prefilled samplers as well as liquid sampler packs. Any recommendations toward one approach or the other?

I haven't found a prefilled I like yet. I am planning on sticking to filling my own. You can buy sample packs of bottles of liquids. There was a great post that listed all of the sample pack sites, but I can't find it now- maybe someone more experienced can dig it up.

Any brands to lean towards or away from in terms of avoiding carto gunking?
In my limited experience (vaping 50 PG/50 and now 80 PG/20) the darker liquids are what killed a couple of my cartos more than the ratio.

4. Juices. Flavors and Nic levels.
Knowing what I smoke and how much any thoughts on one lvl or the other?
I think it really depends on how you plan on vaping- are you just going to vape all day or are you going to vape like you would smoke- have one every 30 minutes or hour or whatever.

I smoked about the same number of cigs/ day, but was a marb menthol girl. I started at 12 then in week 2 I mixed in some 8 or 6mg because I take a draw off of my pv every few minutes rather than having a cigarette every hour.

From one noob to another- I hope this helps.

 

[Michael Curry]

Just a quick chime-in on nic levels. Be prepared to experiment around a bit, it may be necessary to find your level. My wife and I both smoked about 1.5 PAD. To get ourselves to cut down or quit, we switched to "Double Diamond". Seriously nasty sticks. Slight tendency to explode on occasion, and packed a punch.

We smoked the same amount, but I vape 12mg, and she got headaches at that level and had to drop to 6mg.

Two factors will influence where you land with your initial nic levels. One is your vaping style or technique, and the other is how much of that PAD did you really smoke - and how much burned away in your hand or in the ashtray while doing other things.

The good thing is, with vaping, we have a lot of control over our nic levels and can tweak them as we desire.

 

[Boodle]

Congrats on your decision to switch to vaping. You've done a lot of homework. Good for you. I'm chiming in about juices for you. That was the biggest struggle for me. It took me a couple of months to find ECF. I spent 4 months vaping the same juice spending a fortune on skunk juices. The reviews didn't match the taste for me. I started stalking veteran's posts (2010 or earlier with lots of posts) for what they vaped. Bingo! I got winner after winner - finally! Tastes are different for sure. The upside of these recommendations, you can sell them for near retail in the ECF classifieds if they're not your taste. Just keep them in a cool, dark place and record the born-on date should you want to sell/trade in the classys.

Avejuice: Boba's Bounty and Gorilla Juice 6ml samples are available
BackwoodsBrew (.net) RY4 This juice is hard to catch in stock but you can get on an email notify list by clicking on the product and 'notify me'.) It sells out in hours.
KickBassVapor: OMG regular flavor (the xtra flavoring makes it very strong) This supplier has a plethora of great juices. I'm assuming from your posts you don't want anything very sweet.

A great juice heightens the experience 10 fold. I hope you find your happy place with juices you love.

The Ego PT is a wonderful PV. Vape away plugged in with no batt worries, unplug and go and you've got an extra PV on the go. I've purchased several PTs without an inline battery. They last a week at best. YMMV. The best PT I'm aware of is the BB with the PT option at AltSmoke. They're quite a bit more expensive. The Egos are $15 to $20 and a good test if a PT is a fit for you. Happy vaping. You're already an asset to the forum. Glad you found ECF.

 

[kuppieb]

I spent a good amount of time on this site lurking before I ever bought my pv. With how many people recommended the ego, that's what I decided to start with. I got an Ego-t Type B kit from Vapor Kings and ordered a bunch of the mega cartos at the same time. I'm not a huge fan of the tanks. They don't have the best taste to me. The mega cartos are nice, but a real pain and messy to fill...

That led me to the boge 2.0 cartos. Awesome! Taste great, tons of vapor which is really important to me, easy to fill and top off with a drip tip. I bought 50 of them which gave me a discount. Brought them down to $6 for 5. Then got a 10% discount on top of it that basically paid the shipping.

I love the fact that the battery lasts me most of the day...even though I chain vape while working. I started on 18mg nic as I gave up a pack a day marlboro light habit.

 

[poetofisis]

Though I would never presume to tell you what to do, I would recommend (as I am doing) you go with the volt (v4l or blood) to start out with. Then upgrade later when you are sure of the hobby and pricetag upgrade to a true mod. Why screw with a big batt if it isn't a true bv mod? Like a fake orgasm if you ask me! I ordered a volt kit for me and the gf last friday witht free shipping and it showed up Tuesday. Ordered juice from v4l same day showed up thursday. Great juice and they tossed a few cool carts my way free of charge. The volt is nothing short of vaping bliss with its simplicity reliability flavor and vapor. Manual works great but the automatic blew me away as it was far and above what people made it out to be. Capes just like an analog. The manual is being finicky with the cool cart after a refill but the auto burns it nicely. So I can surely vouch to the quality of those two companies.

However if you have the dough to throw down, get a Provari darwin or similar as they are the rolls Royce of pv's. If not, then yeah, go with a top of the line kr8. The volt got me off cigs day one bud. (Apologies for typing errors, lousy punctuation, etc. Im using my atrix as my heathen gf dont own a computer, and this site ain't mobile yet so... yeah)

 

[bladebarrier]

I'll only address "2 and 3" for now.

2:

I'm sure most of this was covered, but the batteries of most devices are lithium-ion. As I expect you have a cell phone, or camera, and charge it regularly, you should expect similar longevity, based on the number of times it's charged from 0 to full, but like li-on's in general, you can charge a battery from 50% to 100%, and that's only one half of a cycle, so topping off is ok (mostly).

They have "life cycles" like any li-on and will last just like the rest. I personally haven't had any die on me, because I swap between a lot of them, and have multiple kits, but if you have to charge a small battery 3-5 times a day, it will of course last a lot shorter number of days than a larger battery that only requires a once-a-day charge ratio.

That said, all charging of ecig batteries should be supervised, not left for overnight charging, and always considered a hazard. Our cell phones, laptops, and cameras should be considered similar. However, we would probably go crazy if we worried about everything, so just use common sense and I'm sure things will be fine.

3.

Yeah, unfilled for sure. The ejuice in most pre-filled cartos is a waste of money, and tastes not as well as you would like. You can get filled cartos for a while, so that you get some testing of flavors out of the way, but you'll probably want to switch to something that tastes better shortly after. You can re-fill a carto in a matter of seconds, and it's not only less expensive, but you can pick from a myriad of options (though that's a problem with its own merit).