new member-looking to buy

[brainfreese]

hey guys, i'm new here but not to forums. i have a few questions, i purchased an e-cig previously but honestly hated it, it was cheap and pretty much bogus. what i'm looking for is a cigarette that gives full drags, has refill options as well as being moddable (i don't think that's a word but i'm using it anyways.) i'm a heavy smoker, 1-2 packs a day. that being said, i want a REAL e-cig, i want it to have some body to it. i have no preference on auto or manual, just as long as its affordable, refillable, and life-like. any suggestions? i was looking into apollo kits but i didn't find any literature on refills aside from the Tgo kit (i think).
Thanks!

 

[Nunnster]

I have tired a few kits out there, and so far I very happy with my Riva from LF. Great battery life, very easy to use and priced very reasonably. I have not gotten into mods or anything, but I think there are a lot of upgrade paths with the 510.

 

[brainfreese]

what do you know about refills? that's my main concern really, i don't mind doing all the work myself.

 

[marlou]

If by life-like you mean like an analog in size, check out the Volt at smokelessimage.com. I smoked two packs a day and I love the Volt. It's a 2 piece PV, battery and cartomizer. The cartos are refillabe but after so many refills have to be tossed. You can look into it and see if that's what you have in mind. I'm sure other will be along with more recommendations and advice for you.

 

[jonny2hottie]

Check out the trex kits from e-vape-kits.com
They work great with dual coils, which are also on sale at that site, and it's a cheap kit that works like any other tgo,ego,riva kit.

 

[roxics]

Yeah if you're just looking for something small to start out with, check out the Riva 510. It will give you about 6-8 hours of vaping on one charge and you can use a variety of atomizers and/or cartomizers with it. An atomizer and drip tip will let you drip liquid. 3-4 drops will give you 12 drags. Then another 3-4 and so on. Or you could go the blank cartomizer route and just refill a cartomizer with 1mL or liquid and vape. That will last you about the equal of 6 cigarettes before needing to be refilled. You can go back and forth from dripping to using a cartomizer. All depends on how you feel.

 

[dormouse]

The only lifelike things I recommend are 9.2mm diameter (thicker than a cig) because everything as thin as a cig is crap

Look at Joye 510 manual in white and use thin (mostly PG) juices with the white or tan Boge 3-ish ohm cartos at NiteLiteVapor.us and see the nice cig-pack look PCC at NoSMokeVA.com

For the Joye 510 white manual check LiteCigUSA.net and Liberty-Flights.com (at the latter press the 20% off upper left front page before shopping). Also check Avid Vapor. I used to recommend Cignot for these but they apparently started putting their own logo on their 510's.

The white or tan carto will take the place of the atomizer and cart and then it will be 100mm and look like a cigarette. I prefer the black Joye 510 manual with black Boge cartos and blue LED but you could do the cigarette look combo.

I recommend you not cheap out and buy non-Joye because some clones are junky and one is reverse polarity and one thing called 510 is not even a 510. I recommend manuals because the Joye 510 manuals have a fully sealed metal threaded end and it should be near-impossible to damage or kill with juice leaks. You can also use a drip tip on the atomizer to test juices (not recommended on auto batteries). And manuals make it easier to get a good hit, and they won't turn on accidentally from wind or vibration.

 

[Nunnster]

what do you know about refills? that's my main concern really, i don't mind doing all the work myself.

I am not sure what you mean, but to refill carts is simple, just add a few drops into the poly fill slowly until it looks "slushy" like. If you get caromizers there are many videos out there and may methods to refill them. I get about 4-5 refills on my carts until I can taste a burned taste. I dont use cartomizers enough yet to give you an honest opinion on them, But I have some coming in the mail and I can have an opinion on them once they get here. I usually drip at home anyways as I find it it much simpler (word?) then messing with my carts.

 

[roxics]

The only lifelike things I recommend are 9.2mm diameter (thicker than a cig) because everything as thin as a cig is crap

Look at Joye 510 manual in white and use thin (mostly PG) juices with the white or tan Boge 3-ish ohm cartos at NiteLiteVapor.us and see the nice cig-pack look PCC at NoSMokeVA.com

The white or tan carto will take the place of the atomizer and cart and then it will be 100mm and look like a cigarette. I prefer the black Joye 510 manual with black Boge cartos and blue LED but you could do the cigarette look combo.

You must like a really lite vape. There is no way I could survive on that kind of setup. lol

 

[brainfreese]

i'm not as worried about size as i am about the feel of smoking. that being said, and having read all of your posts, i think i have a lot to learn here. i'm thinking maybe a GOOD starter kit is in order while i try to catch up here lol
thanks for all your posts, it means a lot, and keep 'em coming! i'm checking out all the setups you guys have mentioned here

 

[the_vape_nerd]

If you get an analog look-a-like, my view is that you are going to be buying something bigger in a few months anyway. You might as well go ahead and skip that cost and get one of the fat battery models right away. I have an e-power and love the thing. Gives you about 10 hour charge. You can use tanks on it, ce3s, ce2s, cartos, atomizers and anything else that is a 510 threaded accessory. The e-power initial set up cost is on par with most of the analog lookalike kits. That being said, there are other fat battery options, e.g., the Riva, the Gogo, the eGo, and so on. I'd recommend the e-power because it has interchangeable parts, the batteries are much cheaper than the others, etc. The one problem with the e-power though is the charger. Be careful with it and buy yourself a higher quality charger when your budget allows.

 

[dormouse]

I can get 7-10+ days use out of a Boge cartomizer and for me I mean 2-3 weeks or more because I use the Boge w/ various 510's 1/2 the time and a KR808D-1 1/2 the time. That is so many refills I can't count. but I never ever run a cartomizer dry and usually add juice when it is 1/3 to 1/2 dry judging by the number of drops it usually needs. I only use suitable juices that flow very well (PG w/ 20% or less VG). I never use juices that drop a bunch of flavoring sediment so I am mostly using light colored clear juices. My carto cotton still goes white on top when it needs juice and I have been using this Boge for 30 days 1/2 the time (extra long usage on this one, but I always get 7-10 days use out of each). I get a bit less use out of KR808D-1 cartos, usually 2 weeks of using it 1/2 the time so that is about 7 days use.

 

[Swigger14]

I can echo the Riva 510. I've been using it for about 10-12 days and it is great. I use Boge cartomizers which are pretty easy to fill and do not last forever but I have only thrown out one so far. 510 is a popular model so there are all kinds of atomizers, cartomizers, mods, etc. which fit although I haven't even scratched the surface of the options.

If you want it to look/feel more like an ECig, you can pick up a smaller battery. That's what I did, but I find myself using the Riva way more often because of the better battery and better hit, I think. You can get all of this at LF - the Lite it is around $38 dollars after clicking the discount code in the top corner.

I've gone nuts with juices, placing orders from 5 or 6 different places. Like some from each, not as big a fan of some others, but I think every person has this experience. Hope this helps.

 

[jj2]

Any advice I'd give has been given. Just wanted to say hi and welcome.

 

[phatglass]

you can also check out Madvapes, they have a 3.7 volt box mod, if you don't mind using a box these things are awesome!! I use one with a LR atomizer and get tons of vapor and flavor. Everything is so subjective, so try any of the reccomendations and I think you will be happy.....it all comes down to batt life after that. Welcome to ECF we all hope it all works out for you.

 

[brainfreese]

thanks for the welcome guys! i haven't given the rules section a thorough read yet, are you allowed to post links to products on here? i'm interested in the battery that lasts 10 hours, i don't get a lot of chances to charge stuff throughout the day so something like that may be nice... if links can be posted and anyone feels like posting them feel free! i welcome any and all recommendations!

 

[nash77]

personally, i always recommend a EGO pv to start. Battery life far exceeds the crap you find with the more mainstream brands. the EGO-T works if you don't want carts or dripping, but I find it affects the taste of the juice. theres plenty of good resources on the forum for the ego or similar mods that'll work well for you. good luck!

 

[dormouse]

nash - Riva 510 kits from Liberty-Flights are Ego clones with more voltage than Ego.

Many new vapers want to start with something small and there is no problem with that except:
1. short battery life (and I mean 2 hours of moderate vaping so you better buy a charger for work and a PCC for out). 100mah is usually about 1 hour of moderate vaping (longer for light vaping, shorter for heavy vaping). A Joye 510 is 180mah. A Riva 510 big battery model is 650mah or higher

2. you can't get the hottest biggest hits because only big batteries (450mah+) can use the hotter LR (low resistance) atomizers and cartomizers

But I know how you feel - I wanted some thing small and slim to start with and I still use slim ecigs. But to have longer vaping time between charges I carry 2 complete charged models - Joye 510 manuals w/ Boge carto (2 batteries charged) and KR808D-1 (Vapor4Life.com and SmokelessImage manuals) 2 larger batteries (standard/78mm for 120mm ecig) fully charged, plus chargers for each at work, and a PCC for the 510. Around 6 months into vaping I bought a big battery model (Riva 510), followed by a couple of ECF member-made 3.7v mod boxes. But many people do end up buying a big battery model within days or weeks of starting on a small slim model.

 

[mikeproctor]

I actually started with an ego (not counting my first disposable) and went to a volt but I still vape my egos and got a 5v box mod last week too. I still think this is a great kit for a starter: Smokeless Image | Only The Best Electronic Cigarette | Volt - Standard Starter Kit - Starter Kits
I like the 78mm auto batteries also but a lot of people recommend the manuals. I personaly haven't had any problems with the autos you just have to be careful not to overfill them and blow them out good if you do. You can get basicly the same kit from bloog, halo and V4L also. Not sure if the V4L cartos have the horizontal coil but you can swap cartos and batteries from all of them I think.

 

[brainfreese]

can the volt be refilled?