New member - New questions (I hope)

[inmortus]

So I've been trying hard to research in order to (try) not to ask what gets asked 20,000 times a day. After much research I bought a Volt, and am currently happy with it using Country/Cowboy cartomizers. I like everything, but there are a few things that have me wondering:

• Without refilling cartomizers it seems that ecigarretes could be as expensive or more expensive than smoking (I know it is possible to save a lot by buying liquid and refilling but just wanted to double check if I am right in my appreciation)... I think... I read each cartomizer roughly equals to 6-8 cigarretes worth of puffs. That means that a 5pk is worth between 30-40 cigarretes worth of puffs. That would mean that (at best) the equivalent of 2 packs of cigarretes is about $9 + tax + shipping, which ends up being more than what 2 packs of cigarretes cost over the counter...
• I love my Volt and I like SI's website but I don't see it containing much information for newbies... I think I understand the differences between cartomizer and clearomizer, and batteries, etc., but I am intrigued by the Nano clearomizer. From what I understand it can hold 1ml which is the same as a cartomizer. Why choose one or the other? Can the Nano clearomizer be reused as much (or more) than a cartomizer? I simply want to understand what the difference would be between using a cartomizer from SI and the same flavor in a Nano clearomizer... If the Nano clearomizers can only be reused certain amount of times (like a cartomizer) wouldn't then that make them way more expensive than cartomizers? (since a 5pk cartomizer costs less than 5 Nanos). So I guess my question is why use them? I'm sure if they sell them it's because I am missing something and there is probably something good or worthwhile about them!
• I find myself smoking about 5-8 times per day, each time just using my volt like a regular cigarrete for about 5 minutes. I have not yet finished my first cartridge. How often should I put in new liquid? I haven't gotten any yet but just wondering...
• Does anyone know about regulations regarding traveling with e cigarretes? Can one carry this in the carry on bag on a plane? What about internationally? Is it something you would yourself having trouble at customs somewhere? What about liquid? Can we carry nicotine liquid on our checked baggage?
• Silly question. If I am not using my Volt, should I keep the rubber cap found on the cartomizer (the one that goes against the "air hole" side) on it?

Anyway, I really hope these are not too silly questions and appreciate your help!

 

[Cloud Wizard]

Came to the right place, here the only dumb question is one not asked...

Without refilling cartomizers it seems that ecigarretes could be as expensive or more expensive than smoking (I know it is possible to save a lot by buying liquid and refilling but just wanted to double check if I am right in my appreciation)... I think... I read each cartomizer roughly equals to 6-8 cigarretes worth of puffs. That means that a 5pk is worth between 30-40 cigarretes worth of puffs. That would mean that (at best) the equivalent of 2 packs of cigarretes is about $9 + tax + shipping, which ends up being more than what 2 packs of cigarretes cost over the counter...

All sounds true to me. Prefilled cartos will not save $$$ but may save your life. Many of us started with them to try vaping and then quickly move to either refillable blank cartos or one of the newer Carto tanks, Vivi Novas, clearos, etc. I use Rebuidable Attys now and am down to less than $0.50/ml (~3ml/day) from $12-$14 when smoking.

I love my Volt and I like SI's website but I don't see it containing much information for newbies... I think I understand the differences between cartomizer and clearomizer, and batteries, etc., but I am intrigued by the Nano clearomizer. From what I understand it can hold 1ml which is the same as a cartomizer. Why choose one or the other? Can the Nano clearomizer be reused as much (or more) than a cartomizer? I simply want to understand what the difference would be between using a cartomizer from SI and the same flavor in a Nano clearomizer... If the Nano clearomizers can only be reused certain amount of times (like a cartomizer) wouldn't then that make them way more expensive than cartomizers? (since a 5pk cartomizer costs less than 5 Nanos). So I guess my question is why use them? I'm sure if they sell them it's because I am missing something and there is probably something good or worthwhile about them!

Clearos come in a lot of different shapes and sizes. Thing in common os that they are clear (see through) and typically do not contain filler material (the fluffy stuff in a normal carto). Clearos also tend to last longer than cartos because you can clean them (you can clean cartos also but I never had great results with that). Peoples tastes are very different so you need to try a couple different heads to see what works best for you. There are a lot of reviewers on Youtube that go through all kinds of tutorials and comparisons of devices. A couple of my favorites are PBusardo and iGetcha69.

I find myself smoking about 5-8 times per day, each time just using my volt like a regular cigarrete for about 5 minutes. I have not yet finished my first cartridge. How often should I put in new liquid? I haven't gotten any yet but just wondering...

Cartos hold ~1ml. Most follks will "top them off" occasionally instead of going through a complete refill process. Literally just pull off the little rubber cap and add ~10 drops into the filler material around the edges). When I used to use cartos it was time to switch (would carry 3 or 4 at all times) when the vapor starts dropping off or the flavor starts dropping off. Be careful NOT to vape them dry or they will burn (filler material literally gets charred and tastes horrible). Once burnt, I don't know of any way to get rid of that horrible flavor so keep them wet and they'll last a lot longer.

Does anyone know about regulations regarding traveling with e cigarretes? Can one carry this in the carry on bag on a plane? What about internationally? Is it something you would yourself having trouble at customs somewhere? What about liquid? Can we carry nicotine liquid on our checked baggage?

I've not travelled Internationally since I started vaping but have flown at least a dozen times in the States. regulations may vary by location but I've never had an issue with TSA. I always bring everything with me in carry-on (especially batteries) and put all juice bottles (up to 60ml bottles which is less than the 3oz max) in a plastic baggies with my shampoo and soap right in the scanner bin. Cool part too is that every airport I've been through hasn't minded vaping in the lounges so no going back through security to go outside with the smokers. Be advised though, this is one of those times a little restraint goes a long way. Vaping at the bar subtly is fine but wouldn't blow vape rings at the smokers who are already agitated by not being able to smoke or the other patrons who think smoking is evil.

Silly question. If I am not using my Volt, should I keep the rubber cap found on the cartomizer (the one that goes against the "air hole" side) on it?

The little rubber carto caps are slang named condoms. I always did keep both condoms on a carto when not in use but never bothered for the one connected to my battery.

 

[Grimwald]

The cartomizer is supposed to be equal to about 300 puffs (1 mil of liquid). a cigarette is about 20 puffs so 1 carto = approx 15 cigs. Of course you can let a cig burn down or toss it before it's finished and that doesn't happen with a carto so these comparisons are somewhat meaningless.

Yes, it's much cheaper if you fill your own. I find that a carto last about as long or a little longer as the charge on a 78mm battery. So for me a chain vaporer thats about 3-4 hours. When it tastes funny or dry its time to refill...and you don't need to vape it dry, just top it off with a few drops every so often. "THAT TASTE" when you know it's empty will become almost second nature to you before long.

The nano is really more like a clear cartomizer...it has filler inside the metal tube...I don't find them any better than cartos. The ce3 clearos are a different story and some prefer those. The best for me is the X2 clearo with and X2 battery. I have not used the newer T3 clearo. Mostly I just stick with the regular cartomizers.

I don't see any reason to cover a carto while it's on the battery...unless you're going to leave it for more than a day or two.

I don't hear or read many problems with traveling. Large bottles of liquid should be avoided...and smaller bottles well labeled.

 

[bobbybilly]

Inmortus thank you for the well written questions. I have some of the same questions, but don't do so good at wording them clearly and concisely. You did a good job. Welcome to this wonderful new world of vaping! Well maybe it's not new, but it's new to me and lots of others.

Cloud Wizard thank you for the informative answers! I really appreciated the answers being in plain English and not to technical in content which at least for me would have been confusing. I really like this forum because of the nice and intelligent people here. Granted a lot of spammers earlier today, but I guess you can't have a public forum and totally avoid the scam artists and folks out to make a fast buck. At least the moderators got them cleaned out pretty quickly.

 

[Criterion]

Without refilling cartomizers it seems that ecigarretes could be as expensive or more expensive than smoking (I know it is possible to save a lot by buying liquid and refilling but just wanted to double check if I am right in my appreciation)... I think... I read each cartomizer roughly equals to 6-8 cigarretes worth of puffs. That means that a 5pk is worth between 30-40 cigarretes worth of puffs. That would mean that (at best) the equivalent of 2 packs of cigarretes is about $9 + tax + shipping, which ends up being more than what 2 packs of cigarretes cost over the counter...

I was never really sold on standard cartomizers for that exact reason. I always got the same vibe that I got from inkjet printers... the printer was cheap, but then they got you on the printer refills. I can see maybe using them in some circumstances such as tanks, or wanting a shorty carto for carrying on a mini-ego (cause that is just too cute for words), but at this point I wouldn't consider anything other than a clearo for a "daily driver". I do understand some people really like cartos (everybody has their tradeoff they're willing to make, some choose the convenience over cost, as they're not concerned with the cost, but simply have no problem with paying what they need to get what they want to be healthier), and that's cool, they're just not for me.

I love my Volt and I like SI's website but I don't see it containing much information for newbies... I think I understand the differences between cartomizer and clearomizer, and batteries, etc., but I am intrigued by the Nano clearomizer. From what I understand it can hold 1ml which is the same as a cartomizer. Why choose one or the other? Can the Nano clearomizer be reused as much (or more) than a cartomizer? I simply want to understand what the difference would be between using a cartomizer from SI and the same flavor in a Nano clearomizer... If the Nano clearomizers can only be reused certain amount of times (like a cartomizer) wouldn't then that make them way more expensive than cartomizers? (since a 5pk cartomizer costs less than 5 Nanos). So I guess my question is why use them? I'm sure if they sell them it's because I am missing something and there is probably something good or worthwhile about them!

Since you mentioned you have a Volt, you might be interested in this vid regarding the Kanger KR 510 clearos... (though finding them might not be really easy now)
Kanger KR 510 (aka M3) Clearomizer - YouTube

As far as clearos vs cartos, my experience is that clearos last MUCH longer than cartos. I have never gotten a carto to last more than a week(ish), where my clearos keep going for weeks (and sometimes months... I still have a heroic 2.5ml Vision Extreme that lasted over 6 months.. with 4 of that being daily use.. vaping like a freight train) with proper maintenance. Main difference is you can't dry burn a carto to clear the gunk off it as you would burn the filling. There is also the ability with many clearos if you want to tinker with them, to fully replace the wicks and coil on them just like rebuildable units. Now I'm not talking about the ones with replaceable heads, though that is a consideration as well (which makes those attractive in their own way), I'm talking about actually taking them apart and rebuilding them with raw wire and wick.

All that said, I too am interested in the Nanos, but I've not been able to get any yet.

The nano is really more like a clear cartomizer...it has filler inside the metal tube...I don't find them any better than cartos.

Hmm.. my understanding was the Nanos were basically the same system as a CE3, bottom feed clearo, no filler. Maybe we're talking about different things? Or maybe I've missed this info about them?

 

[inmortus]

Thanks everyone for all your comments and answers!

Criterion: when you say they last you that long do you mean just refilling them, or cleaning them how often, or how does that work exactly?

Thanks again!

 

[Stringer63]

My suggestion to new vapers is to find a good tasting juice and go with the mini vivi nova tank and a couple of ego c-twist batteries. Easy to use, fill and clean - great vapor production. I would mpve away from pre-filled carts.

 

[SissySpike]

Ive flown domestically and internationally with my ecig just check it in your electronics bin. Pre filled are a money waster for sure. Had to smile about the rubber cap I use to think My juice might evaporate or something;-) It you prefer for sanitary reasons you can keep the condom on but its not really necessary.

 

[Baditude]

I put together a sort of picture dictionary of the more commonly available juice carrying devices that are most popular here:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/cartomizers/343294-proper-terminology-carto-tank-what-lol.html#post7562212

 

[Johnnie Price]

The Nano is essentially a micro carto-tank. Not sure about similarities in flavor, but the bottom coil unit is basically a micro-sized 1-hole cartomizer.

The KR510 clearomizers are called M3's for 808's and are pretty widely available, unlike the M3 batteries. They're okay-ish.

The good thing about S.I's cartomizers is that they can be dis-assembled, cleaned and dry-burned but it takes a bit of work and patience. I use larger 3 ml cartomizers that are basically the same design. I have 2 that are 2 weeks old and I just re-built one the other day. It's close to brand new, so I expect another 2 weeks out of it at least.

 

[Criterion]

Thanks everyone for all your comments and answers!

Criterion: when you say they last you that long do you mean just refilling them, or cleaning them how often, or how does that work exactly?

Thanks again!

You have to do some maintenance to keep them clean and working well. I mentioned dry burning, that is needed when the flavor or vapor diminishes. That's usually once a week or more under heavy use. People have asked me if I'm afraid of burning it out. No. I'm not, but if that happens... oh well. It wasn't working good anyway so no big loss. I've not popped one (clearomizer) yet doing that. I'm not going to go into details here but you can find a good bit of info on youtube that would be more descriptive anyway. They will get to a state eventually that even dry burning, soaking in vinegar or alcohol or any of the methods for rejuving them just doesn't do much. That's when they become re-wicking candidates .

The Nano is essentially a micro carto-tank. Not sure about similarities in flavor, but the bottom coil unit is basically a micro-sized 1-hole cartomizer.

The KR510 clearomizers are called M3's for 808's and are pretty widely available, unlike the M3 batteries. They're okay-ish.

The good thing about S.I's cartomizers is that they can be dis-assembled, cleaned and dry-burned but it takes a bit of work and patience. I use larger 3 ml cartomizers that are basically the same design. I have 2 that are 2 weeks old and I just re-built one the other day. It's close to brand new, so I expect another 2 weeks out of it at least.

That's interesting about the Nano's. Did you take one apart to see this?

I was going to mention cleaning cartos, but dealing with the polyfill is just a tedious thing that I don't care for, not to mention advise a newcomer to do. I pop the tubes off my CE3, rinse, shake off, burn, pop tubes back on and get back vaping in about a minute or 2. I do agree the Kanger horizontal coil (not a fan of heavy reseller branding, they're Kangers) is probably a better carto to do this with since it's less likely to scorch the polyfill. My thing is that as soon as I discovered clearos that actually worked, I was done with polyfill (or anything else.. have so many old carts filled with teabag material, aquarium filter pieces, etc) alltogether.

 

[Johnnie Price]

That's interesting about the Nano's. Did you take one apart to see this?

Actually, I'm just repeating info from others' observations I've read.

I didn't have good luck with the Nano's myself, but others swear by them. Except for the occasional use of a CE4, I've gone back to cartomizers.

 

[hope1]

It is like you have to graduate up in this vaping....I started with the carts, then "gave in" from the look / feel of a cig to an ego....the dependability is much greater with the ego battery than the ecigs that i was using....the other batts were so unreliable I was really frustrated....then it was the flavor....I am preferring the VG to PG. The vapes that are 100% pg really taste like some kind of gas to me....so that has been frustrating...right now I have a blend and I just ordered a blend that was 70 vg and 30 pg...hope to get it soon. Is there a battery "upgrade" that is even more reliable, longer lasting than the ego 650 c?

 

[Criterion]

Actually, I'm just repeating info from others' observations I've read.

I didn't have good luck with the Nano's myself, but others swear by them. Except for the occasional use of a CE4, I've gone back to cartomizers.

Fair enough . Looking at the pics I can find closely, it does look like there could be filling in there rather than a visible wick.

It is like you have to graduate up in this vaping....I started with the carts, then "gave in" from the look / feel of a cig to an ego....the dependability is much greater with the ego battery than the ecigs that i was using....the other batts were so unreliable I was really frustrated....then it was the flavor....I am preferring the VG to PG. The vapes that are 100% pg really taste like some kind of gas to me....so that has been frustrating...right now I have a blend and I just ordered a blend that was 70 vg and 30 pg...hope to get it soon. Is there a battery "upgrade" that is even more reliable, longer lasting than the ego 650 c?

There are larger ego batteries. Those do last longer (longer as in between charges), but the reliability would be pretty much the same. There are other batteries that are considered ego clones, depending on the brand they may be better or worse. Then you get into the world of "mods". These are basically battery holders with various bells and whistles, and just like any other thing, some are better than others. They range from devices as simple as literally, plastic AA battery holders with switches and connectors wired in, to precisely machined metal devices complete with full electronic control and data collection for your use. The thing about these devices is that while many of them do cost more than a simple ego battery, it is a good deal less expensive to replace the actual battery inside them than replacing an ego battery unit. To compare, an ego 650 mAh is usually $15 and up, an 1100 mAh (almost twice the vape time) 18500 battery that fits in previously mentioned AA battery box mod is less than $5.