Problems! Problems! Problems!

[KcGoods]

First of all not sure if this should be here or somewhere else. So mods move it if it doesnt belong here please.
Its long and sort of a rant.
I have been vaping for about 4 months or so. I make my own ejuice and spend countless hours researching. I now have around 60 base flavors which can be made into around 150 other flavors if mixed and all of the stuff that goes along with it. I vape aorund 20 ml a day at 10% nic. I have adjusted to where im liking a 65/35 pg/vg mix
I use the evod kit that is so popular with beginners. I have added twist batteries. I have also moved onto the t3s tanks as well as I have a Aspire viva nova.


Nothing seems to work right.
None of the flavors are right with the except of about 3-5
I have ordered from just about every vendor there is. Nothing seems to come out right no matter what the ratio or mix. Or steep time

Now when I do find something that tastes right. I have other issues. I just cant seem to get enough vapor or flavor or something isn't working right.

So I bought the viva nova thinking bigger tank dual coil more fire more vapor maybe more flavor. No that lasted about 3 hours and just doesn't work. It doesn't draw very good and it actually holds less than my t3s. So its sitting in a box now.

My original evod batteries. They last about 3 hours and take about 5 hours to charge so they spend more time charging than being used.

My new twist batteries: I was thinking again more power more heat more vape more flavor. Not so, they are worse than my original evod battery.

Now flavor wicks. This is my real pain. I clean my wicks daily sometimes multiple times a day. I cant figure out why we dont have a workable solution. When i buy a new tank I put juice in it wait a couple minutes (sometimes) and its good to go taste is of the juice and not silica or cotton or chemicals. Still after boiling I get that acrid chemical taste for at least the first tank after replacing the wick. I have tried silica and cotton both. At this point I prefer the silica. But its still a pain to boil and dry to get the majority of the manufacturing flavor out of it. And I just cant seem to find the right size. 1mm is working best for me right now.

Why dont we have available the same product that they use in the new retail off the shelf tanks.

I tried sweetener today. Lots of research and decided on Ethyl Maltol Powder. Mixed 1/4 teaspoon in 50/50 pg/vg mix which I heated first. 100% of the places I checked said it is the same thing used for cotton candy flavor.
This is so not true. Its neither sweet nor tastes anything like cotton candy.
I am now however used to this failure when mixing something new.

I have several people in my area interested in getting off the analogs. They quite often look to me for help in selecting things. So I really would like to help them but I obviously am not getting it myself.

I have alot of money wrapped up in the process. So far it doesnt seem like im saving any money over cigarettes. And they were easier. I dont want to go back Ive been without one for almost 4 months now.

I would like to find an affordable solution for a battery , atomizer, coils etc.

Any and all help is appreciated. so what does everyone think. Am I the only one who has all of these problems? I see people posting about this problem or that problem but it seems as if I have them all.

 

[rodeo302]

Go check out the diy section in the e juice area they have recipes there to try and maybe your post there would get more hits from the right people.

 

[samcm010]

Just a suggestion try buying some already mixed E Liquid check out the many well rated juices on here and then work on getting your set up firing on all cylinders with that juice. Then at least you will know you have your mod/atty set up working well. All the while you can be working on your DIY juices.

 

[Alien Traveler]

Since you are DIYing, try unflavored juice. It is really satisfying for as long as you are trying to get rid of smoking. It is easy on wicks and you can experiment on PG/VG ratio. Once you have mastered vaping with unflavored, you can go ahead and enjoy DIYing with flavors.

 

[KcGoods]

thank you for those replies. I have tried multiple already made juices. They are by far not as good as what I can make already. I do have some unflavored mix that I vape once in awhile still not satisfying. I think I am past the wanting a cigarette and its become all about the vaping now. My issues are mostly with the delivery. I just cant seem to get the right battery and heat etc. I am aware that the juice will not more than likely taste like its flavor is meant to. Im unsure why but do have those few flavors that are spot on. Right this minute my frustration is with batteries. I have used 3 batteries today and all 3 are on their 2nd charge of the day. Being fully charged this morning and now all 3 are dead. 2 of those batteries were new on Friday. so im not sure why I mean do they really only last a couple of hours? Surely there is an inexpensive (under $100) setup out there that works.

 

[stevegmu]

If juice making were so easy, there wouldn't be much of a market for commercial e-liquid. 20ml a day seems like a lot to go through with your setup. I wouldn't boil things which are made to be disposable, but that's just me.

It sounds like you need a simple beginners kit, like a Halo Triton set up. Loved mine and it was easy to use and learn vaping with. Most will probably just recommend a sketchy Fastech generic with fiddly, leaky tanks, though...

 

[MelvinTheDude]

None of the flavors are right with the except of about 3-5

Pretty much. I have had a hard time with DIY myself, but basically it comes down to I found a few I like and 30 that sit in a box. It's definitely a process of exploring what company makes a good flavor or two. The DIY section is the best place for this discussion though.

My new twist batteries: I was thinking again more power more heat more vape more flavor. Not so, they are worse than my original evod battery.

If you turned your twist all the way up, you're probably getting a nasty, burnt taste, degrading your coils and burning your wicks. It just doesn't work like that with those clearos. Find your atomizer's ohm value and a wattage chart and aim between 7 and 8 watts. Higher voltage is also going to eat your battery quicker.

Air flow and kanthal quality matter. Low airflow burn your coils and wick out quick and give you that disgusting flavor. Higher quality kanthal wire burns clean longer. It took me a while to realise how much my bargain price eBay kanthal was THAT terrible.

I used to recoil my T3S with slightly larger airholes and a 28 gauge 2 ohm, cotton wicked coil and it was a great vape. My best vape right now is a 1.8 ohm cotton coil on a Kayfun 3.1 rebuildable clone and an Innokin MVP 2.0. It has great flavor and the setup cost less than $90 with wire and cotton.

Now flavor wicks. This is my real pain. I clean my wicks daily sometimes multiple times a day.

If you're dry burning them everyday, your wick and coil hates you.

 

[Susan~S]

Consider a MVP v2 (small box style battery)

1. Huge (2600 mah) battery
2. Variable Voltage - Voltage can be adjusted from 3.3 ~ 5.0 in 0.1 volt increments
3. Variable Wattage - Wattage can be adjusted from 6.0 ~ 11.0 in 0.5 watt increments
4. Ohms Meter - Reads the resistance of your atomizer
5. Pass through ability
6. $40 shipped at many online stores

Pair it with a mini Naulitus with the new BVC's (bottom vertical coils) an you will have a great vape!

 

[eyerhere]

Lot of things going on here. I am still a noob to diy so I can feel your pain. Getting your mix just right can be very tedious. There are sections of recipes in diy, just copying them and making small tweeks realy helped me get more of a feel for it. Em is the same as cotton candy flavoring. When added in small amounts it can have a sweetening effect. If you mix it straight 5% would be tastless 10% would start to get that cotton candy taste. If you go to strong it gets a kind of nutty woody yuk. If you add sweetener go up 1% at a time. A little goes a long way.
As far as your tanks they could be part of the problem. If you were to get a rda on either a regulated or mechanical mod you will get a big improvment in flavor. Yup more to spend and more to learn but worth it.
If you dont want to do that then rewicking your present coils with cotton may help your flavor a bit.
Good luck

 

[samcm010]

thank you for those replies. I have tried multiple already made juices. They are by far not as good as what I can make already. I do have some unflavored mix that I vape once in awhile still not satisfying. I think I am past the wanting a cigarette and its become all about the vaping now. My issues are mostly with the delivery. I just cant seem to get the right battery and heat etc. I am aware that the juice will not more than likely taste like its flavor is meant to. Im unsure why but do have those few flavors that are spot on. Right this minute my frustration is with batteries. I have used 3 batteries today and all 3 are on their 2nd charge of the day. Being fully charged this morning and now all 3 are dead. 2 of those batteries were new on Friday. so im not sure why I mean do they really only last a couple of hours? Surely there is an inexpensive (under $100) setup out there that works.

with all respect I am confused how can you say they are by far not as good as what you can make? When in the post you state you cannot get your flavoring right? I do agree you are working with set ups that work for many but might not be up to what you are looking for. I agree with many that an MVP2 is a great choice to step up as is the new Istick by Ileaf.

 

[Rickajho]

Wow. As a beginner-ish it sounds like you have too many fingers in too many pies all at the same time. If you can't find a satisfactory hardware solution you don't have a fair way to gauge what is going on with your DIY experimentation either.

Starting with the hardware, most people find that BCC clearos like you are trying to use can really mute flavor. So your first option may be to get away from the likes of the Kanger BCC stuff for now, rather than trying to build your liquids "up" to compensate for their inherent low flavor output.

A top coil device like a Vivi Nova isn't for everyone, simply for the fact that with - coil at the top, liquid at the bottom - you do have to keep working the thing to keep the coil and wick at the top saturated. Again, having to twist and rotate the thing often to avoid dry hits isn't for everyone but generally people report better flavor from a top coil device. Perhaps you didn't give it a fair chance.

Have you tried anything else besides clearos? Even a basic non-rebuildable dripping atty may give you a better perspective on both your hardware and your DIY ventures.

 

[cindycated]

Wow, you vape a lot!

How are you mixing your flavors (what brand, what percentage)?
If your juice is gunking up your coils so fast that you have to clean them multiple times per day, there's probably a problem with your mix. Too much flavoring maybe? That would make them taste off. Are you sure you're measuring correctly? Maybe look at that too. Also, most flavors need sweetener to taste right, and I've never successfully sweetened with Ethyl Maltol. The sweetener that most DIY places carry is Sucralose (it's called "sweetener"). If you have an aversion to Sucralose, you can try Xylitol, but you'd have to do a little googling to find a source for that. You might try rethinking your mixing method too. I premix my base in a wine bottle (750ml of nic + PG + VG), but I leave it unflavored. Then I can just follow juice recipes that I find online and just measure flavoring into a bottle and simply top off with my prediluted base. EJuiceMeUp has recipes and a really good calculator for mixing. Combining premixed flavors doesn't always work the way you'd expect it to. Do your individual flavors taste OK by themselves? I vape about 5-6ml/day - if you were looking to cut down, you could try upping your nic.

Do you replace the heads on your clearos? If so, do you use authentic replacement heads or FastTech knockoffs? What resistance?
Even with as much as you vape, you should be getting at least a couple of days out of authentic stock heads. Knockoff heads are hit or miss. Flavor wicks? Are you rewicking your heads, or are these the two little strands that lie on top of the coil? If it's those, 1mm is too much and you're probably choking your wick, preventing juice from reaching the coil. That could be why you're tasting wick material and getting lackluster performance. Also, when you clean your coil, do you dry burn the crud off? Take a look at the coil. if there's a nugget of black crud on it, you'd have to clear it out, because it prevents the coil from working right. The only way to do that is to "dry burn" it off - put the base on your battery and pulse it until the crud nugget pops off - short, quick pulses, or you'll snap the wire. Then rinse off the ash. Only dry burn if the wick is silica (like on the stock heads). If you've replaced it with cotton, you'd have to rewick, as it would burn and taste scorched. Simply rinsing coils off won't revive them. Or you could simply throw away and replace the heads, but that gets a little spendy.

This is all do-able with the stuff that you already have, but I have to agree - 20ml/day is a lot for what you have. I've been hearing a lot of good things about the Eleaf iStick - it's an inexpensive VV/VW, has decent power, and I believe it can also work in passthrough mode, where you can use it plugged in while it trickle-charges. If you have a USB wall adapter/car adapter for a cell phone or iPad, you can use that. So maybe look into one of those, and use your Evod and Twist as backups. You can keep using your clearos with this unit, but if the thought of having to keep buying replacement heads is overwhelming, maybe look into a rebuildable as well. Maybe an RDA (dripper) and an RBA (tank). Look for easy ones for now, that will allow for single-coil builds. You don't need any more than that to get good performance, so I'd say master that first.

Good luck!

 

[FallenRawToast]

You need to move into rebuildables, is my unbiased opinion.

A fogger or a kayfun, a good small single coil dripper for taste new juices while you mix. And some sort of 18650 VW device that can handle at least a 0.5ohm coil and adust to 50W.

I needed to upgrade my tech, not my juice to get past my craving point. To improve my vaporization, for flavor, hit and "vapor".

 

[gin828]

As others have stated you need to upgrade The mvp or istick would be the cheapest and most economical choice given the budget of $100. I would say you need to upgrade to an airflow control tank atty. The Aspire Nautilus with BVC coils gets my vote as mentioned in a previous post. You can use a pretty wide range of voltage/watts with them, plus they last quite awhile.

 

[Fir3b1rd]

First of all not sure if this should be here or somewhere else. So mods move it if it doesnt belong here please.
Its long and sort of a rant.
I have been vaping for about 4 months or so. I make my own ejuice and spend countless hours researching. I now have around 60 base flavors which can be made into around 150 other flavors if mixed and all of the stuff that goes along with it. I vape aorund 20 ml a day at 10% nic. I have adjusted to where im liking a 65/35 pg/vg mix
I use the evod kit that is so popular with beginners. I have added twist batteries. I have also moved onto the t3s tanks as well as I have a Aspire viva nova.


Nothing seems to work right.
None of the flavors are right with the except of about 3-5
I have ordered from just about every vendor there is. Nothing seems to come out right no matter what the ratio or mix. Or steep time

Now when I do find something that tastes right. I have other issues. I just cant seem to get enough vapor or flavor or something isn't working right.

So I bought the viva nova thinking bigger tank dual coil more fire more vapor maybe more flavor. No that lasted about 3 hours and just doesn't work. It doesn't draw very good and it actually holds less than my t3s. So its sitting in a box now.

My original evod batteries. They last about 3 hours and take about 5 hours to charge so they spend more time charging than being used.

My new twist batteries: I was thinking again more power more heat more vape more flavor. Not so, they are worse than my original evod battery.

Now flavor wicks. This is my real pain. I clean my wicks daily sometimes multiple times a day. I cant figure out why we dont have a workable solution. When i buy a new tank I put juice in it wait a couple minutes (sometimes) and its good to go taste is of the juice and not silica or cotton or chemicals. Still after boiling I get that acrid chemical taste for at least the first tank after replacing the wick. I have tried silica and cotton both. At this point I prefer the silica. But its still a pain to boil and dry to get the majority of the manufacturing flavor out of it. And I just cant seem to find the right size. 1mm is working best for me right now.

Why dont we have available the same product that they use in the new retail off the shelf tanks.

I tried sweetener today. Lots of research and decided on Ethyl Maltol Powder. Mixed 1/4 teaspoon in 50/50 pg/vg mix which I heated first. 100% of the places I checked said it is the same thing used for cotton candy flavor.
This is so not true. Its neither sweet nor tastes anything like cotton candy.
I am now however used to this failure when mixing something new.

I have several people in my area interested in getting off the analogs. They quite often look to me for help in selecting things. So I really would like to help them but I obviously am not getting it myself.

I have alot of money wrapped up in the process. So far it doesnt seem like im saving any money over cigarettes. And they were easier. I dont want to go back Ive been without one for almost 4 months now.

I would like to find an affordable solution for a battery , atomizer, coils etc.

Any and all help is appreciated. so what does everyone think. Am I the only one who has all of these problems? I see people posting about this problem or that problem but it seems as if I have them all.

So I haven't read the thread entire thread.. so if this J's repetitive I apologize...
The two best affordable mods I would suggested is the mvp- eBay has them for about 35-40 dollars or an istick from eleaf.
I have an MVP so I can say delay hand they are Great little devices. The stick on paper is phenomenal! All I can speak to though are the specs which fat and away surpass the MVP.
it appears as though if you decided down the road to get a dripper to taste rest your DIY you came get a decent pull from the istick.
For a tank if you're not building yet... Nautilus mini. The istick is on eBay for 32 bucks and the Nautilus can be found on eBay for 20. Minimal investment for one Great vape setup!
http://go.redirectingat.com/?id=649...eaf-istick-compact-20w-box-mod-44-99/&xtz=300

 

[KcGoods]

Wow. As a beginner-ish it sounds like you have too many fingers in too many pies all at the same time. If you can't find a satisfactory hardware solution you don't have a fair way to gauge what is going on with your DIY experimentation either.

Starting with the hardware, most people find that BCC clearos like you are trying to use can really mute flavor. So your first option may be to get away from the likes of the Kanger BCC stuff for now, rather than trying to build your liquids "up" to compensate for their inherent low flavor output.

A top coil device like a Vivi Nova isn't for everyone, simply for the fact that with - coil at the top, liquid at the bottom - you do have to keep working the thing to keep the coil and wick at the top saturated. Again, having to twist and rotate the thing often to avoid dry hits isn't for everyone but generally people report better flavor from a top coil device. Perhaps you didn't give it a fair chance.

Have you tried anything else besides clearos? Even a basic non-rebuildable dripping atty may give you a better perspective on both your hardware and your DIY ventures.

I have not tried anything else. However in searching I think this is something to try next. The dripping atty is in my opinion something that will allow me to adjust my juice and get the flavors down pat.

The reason I started making my own juice is because everything I tried fell way short on what it should have. Along with no help or advice or anything from the local shops I went to. Also ordering online pre made just didn't cut it. I say Im not getting my flavors right when in reality what is meant is they dont taste as one would expect. I do know that not much can be done about it. But if I order vanilla and mix it I expect vanilla LOL. This is something I see everyone has issues with so not really ragging on that just saying

I probably didn't give the viva nova a proper chance. Might dig that out and give it another shot

My wicks get gummy don't draw properly. come apart get sucked into the coil etc. So in trying to figure out why and how to fix it is mostly why I clean them so often. Dry burning I don't find necessary unless its just not heating up or working as it should

I have recently found a new shop in town that is a bit helpful. They have tried some of my flavors. This happened because in trying theirs they asked my opinion. I of course gave it so we have helped each other. I know its personal taste and preference. Most of the flavors I have mixed I dont like but other people love. So as far as just mixing flavors i do have that down. Just not as perfect as I would prefer.

I suppose i will buckle down and buy a new setup. Hate to throw good money after bad. But that might not be the case here.

 

[elenamylove]

Hello, here are some links to a site I use that I know sells authentic items you should try...

Innokin iTaste MVP V2.0 - 101 Vape $39.99

Genuine ASPIRE Nautilus Mini w/ BVC coils - 101 Vape $24.99

Super fast shipping - Good luck!!!

Step 1 - You must have a good basic, reliable setup before testing and making juices.

Step 2 - You will be so much more happier!!!

 

[robvanhooren]

[...] if you have an aversion to Sucralose, you can try Xylitol

beware xylitol if you have a dog.

locked up or not, I wouldn't even keep xylitol around the house.

while it doesn't affect glucose levels in people, when ingested by dogs it can cause a dangerous surge of insulin: the blood sugar of a dog that has eaten xylitol will register a marked drop in blood sugar; at higher doses, xylitol is also toxic to the liver.

approx. 3 grams can kill a 65-pound dog.

rapid drops in blood sugar cause weakness, lethargy, loss of coordination, collapse, and seizures.

those symptoms can develop within 30 minutes, and a dog so afflicted will need immediate veterinary treatment to survive. without help, irreversible brain trauma occurs and the dog will die.

it's not worth the risk.

 

[KcGoods]

I just wanted to let everyone who replied to this thread with suggestions and help. I have solved all of the issues I had. I purchased not one but two of the Itaste MVP 2.0 also I managed to get 2 Aspire Nautilus Tanks as well as a replacement tank total cost for all 3 tanks and both Itaste= $110.00. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[KcGoods]

I just wanted to let everyone who replied to this thread with suggestions and help. I have solved all of the issues I had. I purchased not one but two of the Itaste MVP 2.0 also I managed to get 2 Aspire Nautilus Tanks as well as a replacement tank total cost for all 3 tanks and both Itaste= $110.00. Thanks everyone for your help.

No idea why images on here go all nuts. I get three thumbs and no image.