Noob alert! I have a couple of Qs

[jrobinson3k1]

Hey everyone, I've been browsing the forums for some time now trying to piece together as much info as I could before taking the dive and buying an e-cig. I've only been smoking analogs for 3 years, and I smoke about 10-12 cigs a day (Marlboro 27's). I finally decided to order the 510 kit, and that came in the mail today. Here's a couple of questions I have:

I know from reading here that you're suppose to take soft, long draws when inhaling. About how many of these inhales is equivalent to smoking 1 cigarette? I'm having a hard time of telling how much nicotine is actually hitting me.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I still have a minor craving for an analog. I guess I can't expect to completely convert over to e-cigs on day 1. Is this typically normal?

There's a lot of parts that have to be in working order to get delivered the proper inhale. I've read of signs thats your e-cig needs refilled/recharged, but I haven't been able to quantify it. Is it safe to assume that as long as the vaper is thick, everything is in working order? How do I know the juice is low and needs to be refilled? Will the battery work at 100% until it dies and needs to be recharged, or does it drop off over time? About how often will I need to refill my juice (estimated amount of draws before I need to refill)?

Thanks for all your help! I hope to eventually become a regular here. I'm really hopeful that I will be able to quit analogs this way.

 

[helper]

To start, welcome! Now on to the questions...

One of the bad things that I experienced to start was over or under filling my carts. I am one of those who feels that I need to get all the bang for my buck, so there was a couple of days that I actually let my carts run dry or close to dry. Needless to say, this did not leave a very good taste in my mouth. The learning curve for determining how many hits I could get from a full cart was directly proportional to how I sucked. If I sucked hard and fast the atty would not wick up fast enough and I would "think" that my cart was dry. On the other hand if I sucked slow and easy it did not seem that I was getting much vapor since much of the vapor was "vaporizing" inside me.

There is a temperamental balance here, and from what I read here and on other forums, this is part of the learning curve and the number of hits that you will get will depend on how you develop your own "style" of vaping.

Craving the analogs was normal for me -- especially first thing in the morning and after a meal. I smoked a few to start, but that craving slowly passed. By the way, I was a two to three pack a day smoker and I started with 18mg. I now have a couple of bottles of 24mg and a couple of carts preloaded with the strong stuff to get me through those craving times.

I am not sure which batteries that you have with your 510, but the LED on mine will blink when the battery is low and will not light at all when it is too low to work. I do have one automatic battery (which I do not like) and I have not run this one down.

Just a word of warning, you may not know at first how much nicotine that is too much (or at least that was in my case). I ended up OD'ing a couple of times and ended up feeling a bit woozy and the following day had a "run" to the reading room a couple of times.

To summarize, my recommendation would be to not worry about having an analog now an then -- this urge will pass as you develop your own style for vaping.

Good Luck and again, Welcome!

 

[reece86]

sorry to .... in to your post, im very new to all this just at the researching stages, now is the cart that little barrel with the little piece of cotton that your refill with the liquid? and another thing how long do the batteries last before you have to buy a new one? thanks.

 

[Blaze]

I know from reading here that you're suppose to take soft, long draws when inhaling. About how many of these inhales is equivalent to smoking 1 cigarette? I'm having a hard time of telling how much nicotine is actually hitting me.

I've found anywhere from 10-15 draws equals a cig in terms of drags, but not necessarily in terms of nic, that depends on level of smoke juice your using. But, yes, the draw is much different from an analog (took me a week to adjust)

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I still have a minor craving for an analog. I guess I can't expect to completely convert over to e-cigs on day 1. Is this typically normal?

Alot of ppl say they've quit analogs day one. I've been vaping for about a month now and still smoke about 8 analogs a day (but that's down from about 40 marb reds daily, so it's still a total win )

There's a lot of parts that have to be in working order to get delivered the proper inhale. I've read of signs thats your e-cig needs refilled/recharged, but I haven't been able to quantify it. Is it safe to assume that as long as the vaper is thick, everything is in working order? How do I know the juice is low and needs to be refilled? Will the battery work at 100% until it dies and needs to be recharged, or does it drop off over time? About how often will I need to refill my juice (estimated amount of draws before I need to refill)?

All of this will depend on the model of E-NI your using. Example: I just replaced my first batt with my Tornado after 3 days of use, and the very last vape tasted and vaped the same as the first, whereas my Sidesho would taper off over time until I get about half the amount of vapor, but no reduction in flavor. I use the PTB cart mod, I find it the easiest as far as determining when to top off your cart, as you'll get a distinct taste, w/o the "burnt" flavor (you'll have to try it for yourself to understand the "taste"), and that's when I know it's time to top off, but IMO it's easy to assume about 15-20 draws before you should check your cart until you become comfortable enough to do it by taste alone.


Thanks for all your help! I hope to eventually become a regular here. I'm really hopeful that I will be able to quit analogs this way.

Not sure how much help this is, but hopefully some. From one newbie to another, welcome to the wonderful world of vaping! Enjoy your freedom from the cancer sticks

 

[jrobinson3k1]

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I'll use the 15-20 draws as a reference to refill for the time being until I get used to the signs of needing to refill. And I believe the model I have will blink when it's low, it hasn't got to that point yet (I've been switching out the batteries pretty regularly so far just incase having a half-charge battery meant something, which apparently it won't affect anything).

So far since I got home today at 4pm CST I've only had 2 analogs so I can already tell my cravings for them are diminishing.

Another question. The starter kit that I got came with 2 packs of empty cartridges. How often should I be using a new cartridge? I'm sure that eventually the cotton (forgot the actual material) will become unuseable, but what about the cartridge itsself? Would it be much cheaper in the long run just to buy a bunch of the absorbent material as opposed to constantly buying new cartridges?

 

[lightinup]

The carts can be used over and over again. I use a fresh cart with each new flavor and change the cart after a day of use. I would certainly recommend that you give your used carts a listerine bath. Just let them soak in some listerine mouthwash for about 10 minutes or so, rinse them thoroughly and let them air dry. As for the filling, most people modify the filling material. Some use Fluval, Blue Foam and the PTB. You can find more info here: Cartridge Mods - E-Cigarette Forum Good Luck!

 

[VallyGrlOR]

Hi jrobinson

I have been using my 510 for about a week and a half, one of the things I have gotten in the habit of doing is pulling the cart off and looking at the filler, you know what it looks like when you fill it fresh right? When it starts getting dry it will get whiter and whiter, closer to looking like when the cart was brand new.. kind of fluffy even. Generally on mine that white spot starts dead center where the atty heats it.

As for the stopping analogs, I had hoped to stop the first day too, but that didn't work out. I was doing both for about 5-6 days, when I ran out of analogs I didn't buy anymore and haven't smoked since (today is my fourth day with out an analog)

Day one was pretty stressful (lots of anxiety) but I was smoking close to two packs a day and had been a smoker for about 25 years. Each day has gotten easier and yesterday I was confident enough to throw away all my ashtrays!

My manual 510s seem to last about 4 hours if I am vaping a mouthfull or two every hour, not always the case, but at my computer I do vape more. My battery blinks and then is totally dead, it wont even work one more vape after the blink.

 

[Hammond Egger]

I'm new as well and I found the best thing to do is go to youtube and just started browsing videos related to ecigs, vaping, etc. You'll find tons of reviews and instructional videos.
Not to detract from this forum. I got more info here than anywhere but I found it much easier to adsorb by seeing it visually via video.

 

[jrobinson3k1]

Is it normal for the TH to be so damn harsh? I've noticed I end up coughing every other draw. I guess it's just something to get used to. What causes the TH to be so harsh?

 

[VallyGrlOR]

Honestly, I don't think it is harsh, but it could depend on the juice or carts you are using, the nicotine level and even the flavor. For example I think the Virginia flavor is way too harsh, it about makes me sick.

However, new atomizers on the 510 taste different to me and if the polyfil starts burning or even gets too hot it will make me cough. I tried a tea bag mod and that really helped until the bag was about a day old and then it was pretty nasty.

I have read that juice can go bad or rancid too. I keep all of my carts and juice in the fridge and haven't noticed a change in flavor, but it is supposed to be unvapable bad when it goes rancid.

 

[jrobinson3k1]

Well it's kind of strange, every other draw I cough, sometimes before I even try to inhale, and then the other times I can inhale with no instinct to gag. Maybe I'll switch out fillers.

Thanks for the input.

 

[mwahle1]

Is it normal for the TH to be so damn harsh? I've noticed I end up coughing every other draw. I guess it's just something to get used to. What causes the TH to be so harsh?

The TH is dependent on many factors (voltage, pg vs. vg, juice flavor, nicotine concentration). The nicotine content and voltage are probably the two most prominent factors that determine TH.

I coughed the first day or so; you definitely get use to it. I never cough anymore.

 

[jrobinson3k1]

I feel like I'm coughing less than I did yesterday, so I suppose your right.

So far I'm really enjoying it. I've had 3 analogs since about this time yesterday, and I can see the craving getting less and less. I'm happy with my purchase thus far I'm going to look into trying new juices pretty soon.

 

[Kurt]

Is it normal for the TH to be so damn harsh? I've noticed I end up coughing every other draw. I guess it's just something to get used to. What causes the TH to be so harsh?

This may be just acclimating or this could be due to PG, which tends to irritate the throat and mouth. For some this is a strong TH, for others, like me, it is just a raw mouth and throat. Get some vegetable glycerin, and add about 20% distilled water to it, and vape that alone, no nic. Your issue could be too high nic level, but it could also be PG. If the VG vape is smoother and less cough producing, I think you may want to consider VG juices. That said, the 510 is known for its massive vapor and TH.

Some say the reg batts taper off gradually, but in my experience they drop off very fast right before going dead. They will flash about 20 times when in need of recharging.