New member, vaping since November 2012

[alorachan]

I finally switched from regular cigarettes because I had moved to a much colder climate than I'm used to and didn't want to freeze my .... off going out every two hours for a smoke. Plus my husband hates the smell and never kissed me after smoking.

At the high recommendation of my husband's best friend (an avid vaper for nearly two years now) I got myself a Volt X2 battery and a couple X2 clearomizers from Smokeless Image. I also proceeded to get some liquid from Crystal E-Liquid.

I've now been vaping for nearly five months and have sadly seen no end of hassle.

It was great in the beginning. The flavors were tasty, the USB cord charger made it nice to keep charging while vaping on the couch. Clean up seemed easy and everything was going smooth. Two months later my battery just craps out on me, randomly, while out of town... had to go back to normal cigarettes until I could order a new battery (didn't have a spare because I figured "hey, rechargeable, this should last me a long long while!"). I also ordered a different cartomizer because the ones I had been using only lasted a week or two and easily started tasting like burnt cotton if I vaped too frequently.

So I switched up to the T3 Clearomizer, also from Smokeless Image. This is where I start getting irritated... The vape quality is clear and smooth, however there's these three obnoxious air-intake holes along the base of the cartomizer that gives such a pathetic weak vape if all three are left open. Several reviews on the Smokeless Image page suggested clogging up one or more of the holes with the ends of toothpicks to increase the vapor strength. I plugged two and it suddenly had the same throat-hit as the X2 Clearomizer I had been using before. While I was happy to now have good throat-hit again, it felt really obnoxious to have to basically jurry-rig the damn thing to obtain good vaping quality.

Now, for some inexplicable reason, every single day my T3 leaks. It usually happens after I've been charging it. I charge it overnight. I've tried setting the ecig upright, on it's side, with clearomizer attached, without it attached, it doesn't seem to matter. After the few first puffs in the morning after a full night of charging, several drops leak from the cartomizer and plug up the air-intake passages. I then have to spend a few minutes every day rolling up the tips of kleenex and putting that into the air passages in order to clear it out, which sometimes is only a temporary fix and I have to do it again in about twenty minutes.

I emailed Smokeless Image asking them what was up, but their response basically amounted to "oh I've used the T3 a lot and never had it happen, here's some credits to buy another", which does me no good since I've now used two different T3's and about 5 different heads. I responded telling them this and their new response was "the air-pressure in the reservoir may not be good, make sure the rubber bushing squishes a little when screwing the head on to ensure a tight fit", which it does every time, so I figure it's not that.

And then tonight my latest battery died on me, completely dead. It was vaping fine, I set it down to turn the page in my book, pick it up, suddenly nothing happens when I inhale. I go plug it in, wait five minutes to get the initial charge going, still nothing. I grab my spare (learned from the first time) and it works fine, so it's not my cartomizer. I come back an hour later and my dead battery is truly dead. The charging light turned itself off, should mean it's charged, but nothing happens when I try to use it to vape.

I'm seriously at the end of my rope here. I'm so irritated and ...... having to deal with batteries dying after two months, cartomizers leaking and needing to be cleaned every day, wasting liquid...

I'm not using colored liquid (I have both been told and experienced first-hand that food coloring can clog carts), I don't vape like it's an oxygen tank, I don't throw it around or stick it in the microwave or the freezer, I clean my cartomizer regularly. I can not for the life of me figure out what I am doing wrong. There are so many rave reviews on Smokeless Image's website that I figure it must just be me.

I'm also about ready to just try a different ecig, because this is just too obnoxious.

And sorry for the long post, felt I had to be thorough to get the best support from my fellow vapers.

 

[Iusedtoanalog]

Hi Alorachan. First welcome to ECF. Second I feel your grief over the T3. I too am one of us who enjoys the T3 when it works, but I really do not appreciate its phinicky nature. I have retired mine to the "visit later" portion of my arsenal. I have re-wicked, and re-coiled them, with moderate success for a while, but when I plug the air holes I begin to over-feed the coil. The more holes that are plugged , the more it is capable of flooding. I use a relatively thin , clear liquid. I even tried to thicken my liquid mix vith vg, again with limited success.

So on your question you may want to look into a different feed system if dorking around with the t3 gets to be too frustrating. The Vivi Nova from vision has a been my go to device as of the last few months. They do not leak, they have a robust coil and provide good flavor as well as very easy to service and to fill. Otherwise there is the standard cartomizer form Boge or Smoketech, which also do not leak, and provide a great throat hit as well as reasonably long life expectancy, if the are kept wetted properly. When I use cartomizers i usually get 30+ml of liquid through them before performance tapers off and theyget tossed out.

On the battery statement/question. Have you looked into any replacements? I would Point you to a device with a replaceable battery, like the Bolt, or the Smoketech Telescope or even the Joyetech Ecab..... These are Battery housings(container and button) which the batteries can be replaced as needed when or if they wear out. The ecab would require a thread adaptor but most places that sell them have them available. Any of these options would get you a much better unit and get you away from those use and toss proprietary batteries.

I know just how frustrated you are, but once you get a reliable unit with a good feed system on top, it will be much easier.

 

[Slots]

I have only used the Ego twist batteries and have had no problem.
The only time I had a "dead" one was after I took a new one off the charger.
I realized (after a few choice words and a bunch of button pushing), that someone, somewhere, had clicked it "5" times,
and had turned it off.
In my button pushing fury, I accidentally turned it back on. DUH
I don't know if yours has a click 5 times button on it or not, sometimes it's something really simple !
I use clearo's with them, and have had no problem.
The clearos, for me, have been great.
I rinse them out , rinse the gunk off the wick, let them dry overnight, and they are ready to use again.
Once in a while, as the liquid gets thick and low and the wick looks gunky, I add a drop or two of just an unflavored pg/vg base
to thin it and I can finish it off.
I think they gunk up because of evaporation, or because PG being thinner, it's wicked out faster, leaving a thicker mostly VG liquid.
And, .... it make the last of the juice taste better.
I've never had one leak (other than "drippers"), so can't answer your question.
I can only tell you what I use, and of my "bloopers".
Sorry your having problems ... turn to your good buddy that got you started on e-cigs to start with.
Maybe he has some ideas. He's got more experience that you or I.
Hope you find what works best for you.

 

[SteamDaddy]

cleaning very often is good.
but, the more you take it apart and clean it, the more wear you're putting on the o-rings.
you can buy 2 hole cartos.
batteries are going to fail.
clearo's get used up after a couple of weeks or so and just get replaced or rebuilt.
a good mod like a ProVari is something is your best bet.
batteries are fairly cheap and replaceable, and of course rechargeable.
washing with hot water is good but expandes the o-rings. cold shrinks them.
stretch them enough times and,,, they get loose.
buy extra o-rings.
buy rebuildable clearo's like a vivi nove or something.
get extra rings. it comes with extra heads and wicks. easy to change and clean.
they all leak a little out the hole in the bottom. that's where the juice flow happens
you know that.
just clean, clean, clean
then toke, toke, toke

 

[Katya]

I also ordered a different cartomizer because the ones I had been using only lasted a week or two and easily started tasting like burnt cotton if I vaped too frequently.

Cartomizers are disposable and don't last very long. A week or two of normal use is more than they can do; in my experience, 10 ml of eliquid is the limit--after that, their performance goes south and they need to be tossed.

So I switched up to the T3 Clearomizer, also from Smokeless Image. This is where I start getting irritated... The vape quality is clear and smooth, however there's these three obnoxious air-intake holes along the base of the cartomizer that gives such a pathetic weak vape if all three are left open. Several reviews on the Smokeless Image page suggested clogging up one or more of the holes with the ends of toothpicks to increase the vapor strength. I plugged two and it suddenly had the same throat-hit as the X2 Clearomizer I had been using before. While I was happy to now have good throat-hit again, it felt really obnoxious to have to basically jurry-rig the damn thing to obtain good vaping quality.

You have to be careful with plugging those holes. One is OK, two plugged holes may be problematic, as you have experienced. I suggest plugging just one hole and increasing voltage.

Now, for some inexplicable reason, every single day my T3 leaks. It usually happens after I've been charging it. I charge it overnight.
I've tried setting the ecig upright, on it's side, with clearomizer attached, without it attached, it doesn't seem to matter. After the few first puffs in the morning after a full night of charging, several drops leak from the cartomizer and plug up the air-intake passages. I then have to spend a few minutes every day rolling up the tips of kleenex and putting that into the air passages in order to clear it out, which sometimes is only a temporary fix and I have to do it again in about twenty minutes.

Make sure you don't overtighten the battery connection; that often results in leaks. The T3 should just make contact with your battery--no more. And make sure that the T3 is screwed on tightly into its base.

And then tonight my latest battery died on me, completely dead. It was vaping fine, I set it down to turn the page in my book, pick it up, suddenly nothing happens when I inhale. I go plug it in, wait five minutes to get the initial charge going, still nothing. I grab my spare (learned from the first time) and it works fine, so it's not my cartomizer. I come back an hour later and my dead battery is truly dead. The charging light turned itself off, should mean it's charged, but nothing happens when I try to use it to vape.

If it's under warranty, SI will replace it. Those things happen. QC problems.

 

[KerryK]

I am a big fan of SI but I don't think the X2 is a good match for the T3. I did use my X2 passthru with one and it was just not producing the vape quality for me at all, slipped on a cardo and it was fine.

I bought some XL cardo's with 808D threads and went back to cardo's exclusively for the X2. XL cardos are bigger so you don't have to fill them so often.