New VIP S.G. Members Introduce Yourself!

[Benjaimin]

Hi, My name is Ben. I've been vaping for a little over 2 months. Haven't even touched a cigarette since I started vaping. I started coming to the E-Cig forums because I needed help with information on why I was having trouble tasting certain flavors, and for other information on what to buy, instead of walking into a store and being sold a bunch of stuff I might not like. Which is what led me to this forum, even tho I would say that my vaping experience is much much better than smoking. I still have questions on more technical stuff and I am more hands on vs reading.

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Hi Ben! Welcome to the VIP group! Lots of local vapers that are happy to help you out, get together with you and give you recommendations for what has worked for them (liquid? well, taste IS subjective).

Be sure to check out the sticky threads in our VIP group forum here for local vendors, announcements, etc. Also, our monthly meetings (3 a month usually, in 3 different valley locations!) are posted in our forum.

If you are on facebook, check out our group of members at www.vapinginphoenix.com (will take you right there to our facebook group). Lots of chat going on in there and pretty much instant answers to any questions!

Feel free to PM me any time if you have questions, or if you need help navigating ECF to find an answer to questions.

 

[Vwls]

Hi all! Angel here - today is my very first day of vaping and I hope never to smoke another tobacco cigarette! I'm pretty excited!

I picked up a cheap eGo CE4 kit at Zerona up in Moon Valley after work today, and have vaped this evening on and off for a few hours (got the menthol 4EverEjuice - 16 mg - it was the only brand they had at Zerona with a menthol flavor I guess)...

The mod I bought is working fine, but I really want something sexy and chrome and beautiful to look at... There are so many choices as I read through these forums that I feel completely overwhelmed. What's the best brick and mortar here in town I can go to to look at and try out all the cool mods? At Zerona, the only mods they carry are eGo's - just the plain looking ones too.

Saw this on Google pics and thought - YES!!!

I'd love something like this - all glass and chrome and style... something that provides a nice full cloud of vapor and looks fantastic doing it! But I don't want to mess around with anything that requires rebuilding or too much tinkering because I am a busy girl - single mom and working two jobs. )

Thanks for making me a part of this great group!

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Welcome to the group Angel! Looks like you're doing pretty well. Zerona is a "tobacco" shop, right? SO many other places for you to find good products, good prices and good help/information by owners and employees who vape and actually use these products 24/7. We have a sticky at the top of our home page with a list of B&M vendors. All on the list are recommended for our members.

Also check out our social group meeting notices. We have a West Valley meet coming up! We'd love to get to meet you. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Also, check out www.vapinginphoenix.com for our FaceBook group.

 

[NebulaBrot]

Hi Vwis (Angel),
Welcome to vaping and congrats on your first step into a much more enjoyable tobacco free life. As you can see, vaping brings you into a wonderfully supportive new community. Little miss Helen (develish angel that she is), is a - cough - awesome lady! She is largely responsible for the AZ network.

One of the interesting aspects of vaping is that all the various attys/cartos/tanks and power levels can each provide a different character to the vapor. The same juice will "vape" differently in various combinations. On the one hand, this provides many many many different combinations to find your "better/best" vape experience which can and will be different from other peoples'. So, be a bit careful about blindly accepting other opinions about what is bad/good/better/best as they are sharing their opinions/preferences. On the other hand, it poses a bit of a conundrum as you sort of have to try various combinations to find YOUR bad/good/better/best.

I'd encourage you to start slow and try some gear at the lower end of the cost spectrum, attend the Phoenix meets (check out Hellen's link to the FB page and the announcements in this sub-forum). Meets are a great way to see and try other devices, gear combinations and juices - not to mention meet lots of friendly and supportive vapers. Just be sure to bring your own driptips (some stores have disposable driptip covers that are very inexpensive and great for trying other peoples' combos in a more hygienic fashion).

The tank you show is a nice glass tank but (and I am not 100% sure as I can only see what is shown in your photo), if like the others I've seen of that design, may not be the easiest to refill. Others I've seen of similar design require you to insert a syringe needle between the rubber gasket and carto to refill = not so easy and/or most convenient) - but they DO look very nice (and you may not mind that refill approach = is all very subjective). There are many nice glass tanks that may be easier to use. Keep in mind that the "tank" does not contribute to the amount of character of the vapor - the heating coil design/model and power do. There are also various tank designs and materials (poly carb, metals, glass). Some tanks have a built in filling hole w/cap, others allow you to use a "filler tool" that enables you to simply slide the tank upwards and fill (the tool blocks the top of the cartomizer so it will not flood) and there are other designs too (some the topcap/mouthpiece-driptip are all one piece and you just pull the cap off to easily refill). I use Phiniac glass tanks with delrin endcaps and the filler-tool method for my preferred carto tank setup. Again, meets are a great way to see gear and learn from others - but in the end, you have to find what YOU like.

I live a couple hours drive away so I don't make it to meets as often as I would like but there are MANY wonderfully friendly, supportive and knowledgeable vapers in the AZ groups. If I can ever be of any assistance, PM me here and/or Hellen knows how to reach me.

Again, welcome, grats and happy

Oh - and HELLEN - posting at 4:40 AM = REALLY????? maybe lower your nic!

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

LOL Mr. NebulaBRAT... yeah, I've been an early bird for a long time. A left over from working for an international company and having to be at work early in order to talk to the UK.

Nice reply to Angel. Thanks bud! Now, get your too busy rear end to a vape meet, huh? ((hugz))

 

[Vwls]

Thanks for a great reply Nebula! I will definitely come to a meet up!

I wrote to the guy who makes that gorgeous mod in the picture and here is his reply (can you tell me what he means about "priming the carto?":

"The chrome ecig you found is one of the originals I created. It's designed differently than the rest. Most tanks out there use large bulky end caps which I feel take away from the tank itself, and are a little hard to refill or require using a syringe. My tanks are simply designed using silicone grommets and punched cartomizers which are easily filled by sliding the top of carto down into tank, and then bending the tank in an angle to fill directly through top grommets and right next to carto. The grommets are flexible allowing you to bend tank to the side to fill. And then you slide carto back through top grommet and attach drip tip and its pretty much ready to vape. Cartos do need to be primed properly before vaping or it'll burn out leaving a bad taste. So the cartomizer is the only flaw in my tank design. But I'm currently working on a rebuildable glass tank which will be out by fall!"

Hi Vwis (Angel),
Welcome to vaping and congrats on your first step into a much more enjoyable tobacco free life. As you can see, vaping brings you into a wonderfully supportive new community. Little miss Helen (develish angel that she is), is a - cough - awesome lady! She is largely responsible for the AZ network.

One of the interesting aspects of vaping is that all the various attys/cartos/tanks and power levels can each provide a different character to the vapor. The same juice will "vape" differently in various combinations. On the one hand, this provides many many many different combinations to find your "better/best" vape experience which can and will be different from other peoples'. So, be a bit careful about blindly accepting other opinions about what is bad/good/better/best as they are sharing their opinions/preferences. On the other hand, it poses a bit of a conundrum as you sort of have to try various combinations to find YOUR bad/good/better/best.

I'd encourage you to start slow and try some gear at the lower end of the cost spectrum, attend the Phoenix meets (check out Hellen's link to the FB page and the announcements in this sub-forum). Meets are a great way to see and try other devices, gear combinations and juices - not to mention meet lots of friendly and supportive vapers. Just be sure to bring your own driptips (some stores have disposable driptip covers that are very inexpensive and great for trying other peoples' combos in a more hygienic fashion).

The tank you show is a nice glass tank but (and I am not 100% sure as I can only see what is shown in your photo), if like the others I've seen of that design, may not be the easiest to refill. Others I've seen of similar design require you to insert a syringe needle between the rubber gasket and carto to refill = not so easy and/or most convenient) - but they DO look very nice (and you may not mind that refill approach = is all very subjective). There are many nice glass tanks that may be easier to use. Keep in mind that the "tank" does not contribute to the amount of character of the vapor - the heating coil design/model and power do. There are also various tank designs and materials (poly carb, metals, glass). Some tanks have a built in filling hole w/cap, others allow you to use a "filler tool" that enables you to simply slide the tank upwards and fill (the tool blocks the top of the cartomizer so it will not flood) and there are other designs too (some the topcap/mouthpiece-driptip are all one piece and you just pull the cap off to easily refill). I use Phiniac glass tanks with delrin endcaps and the filler-tool method for my preferred carto tank setup. Again, meets are a great way to see gear and learn from others - but in the end, you have to find what YOU like.

I live a couple hours drive away so I don't make it to meets as often as I would like but there are MANY wonderfully friendly, supportive and knowledgeable vapers in the AZ groups. If I can ever be of any assistance, PM me here and/or Hellen knows how to reach me.

Again, welcome, grats and happy

Oh - and HELLEN - posting at 4:40 AM = REALLY????? maybe lower your nic!

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Good Morning! Priming the carto just means filling it/introducing liquid into it in order to get the inner filler to wick the liquid from the tank.

I found the carto tanks hard to keep wicking correctly and I burned cartos, so I've moved to some of the other tanks that do not use filler materials and just have replaceable atomizer heads. I'm using ProTanks, iClear 30 and BCC evod tanks.

Hopefully, other members here can give you some more tips, as I gave up on the tank/carto idea and they're now gathering dust in my "I ain't got no time fer DAT" box. LOL

 

[TBinAZ]

Take one of the carto end seal that they come with and fill it about 3/4 with fluid. Press the carto into it 510 connector first until the fluid pops out the center tube and floods the filler. Let sit and then top it off with more fluid onto the filler until no more will soak in. Remove carto from seal, wipe off, and then firmly blow into the mouthpiece end into a paper towel. Good to go.

There are a few filler tools available which really make it much easier when sliding the tank up the carto and when initially installing the carto at the bottom of the tank. It eliminates chipping or tearing the inner tank seal.

When refilling an empty tank be sure to slide the fluid intake hole of the carto outside of the bottom seal. That's where the filler tools come into play so you can slide the tank up enough and not get fluid into the top of the carto when filling. You'll see. Not as complicated as it sounds.

You can PM me if any questions. I really like that "bulb" glass thank. Kind of top heavy on a small mod like the eGo though. There are plenty of other larger or midsize batteries out there. I would be worried about it falling over myself.

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

I have a few of those filler tools that I'll never use. I'll try to remember to bring them for you Angel.

 

[erroric]

Found my way here through a good buddy of mine who has walked me through getting started!
Today was day one and hopefully my last day one! Who knew I was smoking for years just to be
wasting money and missing out! Got myself set up with two evods and an ego-c twist! Looking
forward to moving on to bigger and better things

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Congrats Erroric! We're glad you found your way in to VIP. Feel free to start a new thread here anytime with questions or if you have a discussion idea. We're all here to support and help each other. If you "do" facebook, check out the link in my sig file and also come join us there.

Be sure to check out the Local Vendors List (a sticky) and our social group meeting dates. Everything is in a thread here in our forum.

You are always welcome to PM me anytime if can be of help!

 

[MikeDG]

Hello vapers! new here! found the group browsing through different posts! Hope to meet everyone here in person for suggestions for tips and tricks!

 

[IMFire3605]

Welcome to the group, always room for one more =). You'll find some of us at various times around at local brick and mortar shops, beyond that check out the pinned post on the local vape meets, there is an east side, central, and west side that we got going, so probably the east side chapter and central meet be closest to you out in Gilbert there. Questions, looking for tips and such don't hesitate to post up a thread, someone is bound to have an answer here, we have a diverse group from veterans, to beginners, to advanced and basic equipment. Keep on vaping and leave the plants behind ^_^

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Hi Mike! Glad you found your way in! Welcome to the group. Feel free to start threads anytime in the VIP forum with discussion ideas!

 

[finakat]

Hiya all,
My name is davina or "fina" and I'm a vapeaholic.

Hehe. Just a intro post. West Valley here but might swing easternish if life permits. 3+weeks no analogs, blu helped me kick habit and then it suckiness kicked me to ego &tanks and all. Have spent WAY too much $$$ but will save in long ren, right?!? At least that's what I keep telling my ogre (hubby).

Ummmm... I am a SAHM(looking for job or ebay selling or anything though.) permanently 29yrs old, married to high school sweetheart, 2 sons (Joshua, almost 13 (eek!) & Nicholas, 7yrs.).

Been in Az for 8 years. Still a so Cali person in my heart though! I'm a bit crazy but not ashamed of it and doing my best to just be. OCD/impulse control issues but only in short bursts with obsessions, long habit forming on impulses.

So happy to be not give Marlboro any more $$$!

Can't think of anything else that won't make me sound more crazier

-finakat
^.,.^@~

switching to ecigs will ..... probably save your life and eventually money.

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Hi Fina! Welcome to VIP and congrats on your 3 plus weeks! I'm also a West sider! PM me if you'd ever like to meet up for coffee or lunch out here some time if you find you can't make it out for a meet.

Check out the stickies for lots of info on our meet schedules and locations. We do West side meets monthly now, and our Central meet is tomorrow! There's a post in our forum with all the info. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...al-vip-vape-meet-8-24-13-saturday-1-00-a.html I hope you can make it.

There's also a list of local vendors in the stickies, listed by the area of their shop and info on our facebook group ( www.vapinginphoenix.com ). Feel free to PM me if I can be of any help!

 

[Possessed]

Hi everyone. Not new to the forum but new to the VIP thread. Figured I should say "Hey" to all my fellow AZ Vapers.

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Looking forward to meeting you at the West Side meet Darren! Welcome to VIP.

 

[zekster76]

Hi all
I'm Zeke, I'm a Taurus, I like Chinese food, ok seriously I started vaping primarily as a test I think, tried it before it didn't really stick, I had been telling myself for at least a few years that I needed to quit smoking. Well when I just recently got a new car in May I decided to try and not smoke in it(heavily) well by June I decided after dropping a cig and almost burning my floorboard, that was it NO more cigs in the car, so I started with a Blu disposable. Shortly after I just decided to go all the way and today, after progressing though a Blu starter kit, some ego's, t3s, and vivi nova's I'm now at SVD with a Protank 2. And I must say I wish I had done this sooner, I really love vaping, call me crazy, but anyway glad to be here, thanks for having me