Regular Atty Drippers (A Dying Breed?)

[Mr.Mann]

Your goals are the same as mine, and I'll tell you where I'm at...

The same atomizers you just bought are the ones I have been using for years.
And they now sit on top of a 650 mah Twist battery, which is normally pegged at 4.8 volts.

This setup is as small as I can get, and it fits in my pocket just fine.
If 650 mah is not enough, you can carry a spare battery right alongside in your pocket.

This setup works fantastic for me, but your mileage may vary.

Man, I don't know if I forgot or didn't know, but we're both at 4.8v with the standard res Joyes. Now, sometimes I do get one that can go to 4.9v comfortably, and even less often at 5v (but I have gone there more than a few times). I am happy to know that there is someone else out there that can vouch for the great vape at those temps. Too many people go off those damn charts and think we're in the "red zone." LOL

 

[TokyoTony]

Still drippin'

Tried the iSmoka tank thing and the Davide Anyvape. Both good products for sure, but nothing gets the taste and the throat hit of drippin'

Funny too, my gf and all of my friends who vape still drip. I think if smokers would try dripping first, THEN transition to tanks or whatever, they'd be a lot more successful.

What are your guys' thoughts on bluecig, greensmoke, and all the rest of the big corporate brands? I wish more people understood how much better it gets than those.

 

[billherbst]

What are your guys' thoughts on bluecig, greensmoke, and all the rest of the big corporate brands? I wish more people understood how much better it gets than those.

I started out on ECF in October 2010 doing research before trying ecigs, so my first purchase was a Riva eGo kit. Went right from there into mods and APVs. Along the way, a couple of vendors included as freebies with orders little mini-cig kits with one 280mAh battery, an atty with a couple of filled carts, and a charger. One was a 510 kit, the other was an 808. While not quite as bad as I feared they'd be, both were pretty anemic. Not quite a total fail, but a half-fail. Neither would have gotten me off cigarettes.

I see ads on TV with spokespeople and/or celebs hawking Blu ecigs and the like, and I wonder, "Do people that use those things have any idea what they're missing?"

 

[billherbst]

Well, as so often happened in my earlier life (when I had actual love affairs), an early infatuation is quickly followed by Trouble in Paradise.

After less than one day with the bottom-fed A7 Mini atomizers and bottom-fed-modded YK1 Mini-RDAs installed on four of my bottom-feeders, the A7s are still fine, but the YK1s aren't. Those little buggers hit so hard that they sent me into coughing fits, even when using 12mg juice.

Over the past month or two, I've experienced occasional coughing when I vape---nothing dreadful, but enough to notice. I've also found myself "clearing my throat" more often, as if my lungs need to expel some congestion. I'd been fine for three years since I stopped smoking and my chronic smoker's cough-and-wheeze quickly diminished to nothing. My internist has consistently given me the AOK of clean and quiet lungs when he listens with his stethoscope at my twice-yearly checkups, but any idiot knows that 40 years of chain-smoking causes at least some irreversible damage in the lungs. Coughing when I vape, even mild and sporadic, worries me.

While the coughing may be partly caused by seasonal allergies intensified by aging and diminished immune response, I'm concerned that a significant cause might be A) my home-brewed tobacco and coffee extracts---if they gunk up coils, might they also be gunking up my lungs? B) too much nicotine---I've used 18-24mg juice mostly for the whole three years of my vaping, or C) a combination of all these factors---allergies, NETs, and nic.

Anyway, I swapped out the micro-coiled low-res (1.3 ohm) YK1s for regular 2.0 ohm atties on the Phid and Luicy Juicy. Standard atomizers don't hit as hard and give a smoother vape. My lungs thanked me. I did try winding a new coil on one of the YK1s using 32GA Kanthal, but even 2.3 ohms still hit like freight train.

I'm pretty sure I'll keep playing around. This is, after all, my hobby, and I usually can't leave well enough alone. LOL. I also have three more cheap little RDAs coming---ordered two weeks ago from FastTech---to be bottom-feed-modded, so those toys will beckon.

By the way, I don't want to leave the impression that the stainless steel YK1 Minis are crap. They're quite something, actually, and truly amazing for less than six bucks. Tiny and powerful. They just hit too hard for my particular vulnerabilities.

 

[Jerms]

Bill, I also really like the YK1 (aka, Cyclone clone, Chyclone, cyCLONE) from FT. It's one of my favorite small rebuildable drippers, just under the IGO-S and A6 from EmpireMods which are my favorites.

You modified it for bottom-feeding, but kept the side air hole as the source of air flow right? If so, try experimenting with the vertical placement of your coil, to alter where it is in relation to the air hole. If air flows over the coil, by setting the coil under the air hole, you'll get less throat hit. If air flows under the coil, by placing the coil above the air hole, it gives a much harder hit. I'm guessing your coil is too high, so try pushing it down to mellow that hit. My preference is for the air hole to aim smack dab in the middle (vertically and horizontally) of the coil. I also like to have my coil as close as possible to the air hole, almost but not quite touching the top cap.

 

[Jerms]

What are your guys' thoughts on bluecig, greensmoke, and all the rest of the big corporate brands? I wish more people understood how much better it gets than those.

I started out with a cig-a-like; SmokeTip brand KR808 starter kit with prefilled cartos. Almost right away bought juice to add to the prefilled cartos once they empty. I really liked it, but joined ECF right away so knew of other options. The KR808 experience wasn't really a hassle for me, not compared to being a smoker with a girlfriend who reacts very poorly to the smell of smoke (now THAT'S a hassle). I was intrigued by all the flavors available pretty quick, and soon had a bunch of cartos labeled with different juice. I wanted to try dripping, and also was starting to get frustrated with the performance and constantly changing batts, so moved up to the PigCig "fat bat" with a KR808 connection.

After trying a 901 with my new PigCig, I fell in love with dripping, both the performance and being able to switch flavors on the fly. Bought some KGos to try 510 and 306 atties. I stuck with the unregulated "fat bats" for a while until the variable voltage eGo Twists came out. Then in the last year I got my first APV, a VAMO, and finally got into mechs with rebuildable drippers which is what I use most now. I also still get plenty of use from my Twists and VAMO though.

So my power supply has changed and what I drip into has changed, but since first discovering the 901 I was hooked on dripping, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. But to tell the truth, the original cig-a-like with cartomizer experience was enough to convince me I'd rather vape than smoke.

 

[billherbst]

Bill, I also really like the YK1 (aka, Cyclone clone, Chyclone, cyCLONE) from FT. It's one of my favorite small rebuildable drippers, just under the IGO-S and A6 from EmpireMods which are my favorites.

You modified it for bottom-feeding, but kept the side air hole as the source of air flow right? If so, try experimenting with the vertical placement of your coil, to alter where it is in relation to the air hole. If air flows over the coil, by setting the coil under the air hole, you'll get less throat hit. If air flows under the coil, by placing the coil above the air hole, it gives a much harder hit. I'm guessing your coil is too high, so try pushing it down to mellow that hit. My preference is for the air hole to aim smack dab in the middle (vertically and horizontally) of the coil. I also like to have my coil as close as possible to the air hole, almost but not quite touching the top cap.

Thanks Jerms!

I did try the 2.3 ohm coiled YK1 on my Phid---which is powered by an 18650 that provides a bit more than 4 volts unloaded---and the hit was somewhat reduced from the tsunami that YK1 produced on the 5-volt regulated Luicy Juicy (the other YK1 with the 1.3 ohm coil was just way, way, too much for me at any voltage).

I'll play around with moving the coil in relation to the side air hole in the cap as you suggest and see what happens.

 

[Jerms]

Thanks Jerms!

I did try the 2.3 ohm coiled YK1 on my Phid---which is powered by an 18650 that provides a bit more than 4 volts unloaded---and the hit was somewhat reduced from the tsunami that YK1 produced on the 5-volt regulated Luicy Juicy (the other YK1 with the 1.3 ohm coil was just way, way, too much for me at any voltage).

I'll play around with moving the coil in relation to the side air hole in the cap as you suggest and see what happens.

Luicy Juicy.. what a name for a mod. Reminds me of a Jucy Lucy, a cheeseburger with the cheese in the middle of the patty. Also reminds me of an ex-girlfriend.

Next thing you know they'll release a bottom-feeder called Missy's WetBox..

 

[DC2]

Over the past month or two, I've experienced occasional coughing when I vape---nothing dreadful, but enough to notice. I've also found myself "clearing my throat" more often, as if my lungs need to expel some congestion. I'd been fine for three years since I stopped smoking and my chronic smoker's cough-and-wheeze quickly diminished to nothing. My internist has consistently given me the AOK of clean and quiet lungs when he listens with his stethoscope at my twice-yearly checkups, but any idiot knows that 40 years of chain-smoking causes at least some irreversible damage in the lungs. Coughing when I vape, even mild and sporadic, worries me.

While the coughing may be partly caused by seasonal allergies intensified by aging and diminished immune response, I'm concerned that a significant cause might be A) my home-brewed tobacco and coffee extracts---if they gunk up coils, might they also be gunking up my lungs? B) too much nicotine---I've used 18-24mg juice mostly for the whole three years of my vaping, or C) a combination of all these factors---allergies, NETs, and nic.

On occasion I have experienced coughing, increased phlegm, the need to clear my throat, and frequent nose-blowing.
But this only happens in the morning after I was using juice with too much VG for me.

Anything with more than 30% VG seems to do this to me.
And I will not vape anything with more than 50% VG because then it gets much worse.

I might have to consider the possibility that using NETs also adds to this problem.
But then my favorite NETs are 50/50 so the issue is somewhat confounded.

Nevertheless, by the afternoon my situation has cleared up so I am not too worried about it.
And since I usually don't start vaping these days until the afternoon, it works out okay.

 

[billherbst]

On occasion I have experienced coughing, increased phlegm, the need to clear my throat, and frequent nose-blowing. But this only happens in the morning after I was using juice with too much VG for me.

Anything with more than 30% VG seems to do this to me.
And I will not vape anything with more than 50% VG because then it gets much worse.

I might have to consider the possibility that using NETs also adds to this problem.
But then my favorite NETs are 50/50 so the issue is somewhat confounded.

Nevertheless, by the afternoon my situation has cleared up so I am not too worried about it.
And since I usually don't start vaping these days until the afternoon, it works out okay.

DC2,

Good to hear.

It hadn't occurred to me that VG might be a contributor to the congestion, but, after reading your post, I can see how it could be, especially with it's significantly higher viscosity. Over the past year, I've increased the percentage of VG in all my liquids---retail and DIY---fairly dramatically, so I'll do an experiment and make up small batches of some of my favorite daily juices with a lowered VG percentage to see if anything changes on the congestion/coughing front.

Thanks!

 

[DC2]

DC2,

Good to hear.

It hadn't occurred to me that VG might be a contributor to the congestion, but, after reading your post, I can see how it could be, especially with it's significantly higher viscosity. Over the past year, I've increased the percentage of VG in all my liquids---retail and DIY---fairly dramatically, so I'll do an experiment and make up small batches of some of my favorite daily juices with a lowered VG percentage to see if anything changes on the congestion/coughing front.

Thanks!

Looking forward to hearing your results.

 

[Mr.Mann]

Looking forward to hearing your results.

Soon as I read your response, DC2, I knew there was nothing for me to post as I was going to say the same thing.

 

[e-pipeman]

I'm just a little worried that the homebrew may be doing it. Extractions from tobacco? I'll take my nic from a lab, thanks. The more tobacco solids the more I worry. Ymmv.

 

[Mr.Mann]

I'm just a little worried that the homebrew may be doing it. Extractions from tobacco? I'll take my nic from a lab, thanks. The more tobacco solids the more I worry. Ymmv.

It's not nic they're extracting.

 

[Susaz]

I find no difference whatsoever between dripping and my Vapeonly BCC. Same amount of vapor and flavor. I do keep an iGo L for the ocassional juice tasting but that's all. I started dripping on a 901 back in 2001. If I have a specially good build on the iGo I might tend to use it more but I prefer the hassle of making a good coil for the Kaifun to dripping.

 

[Susaz]

DC2,

Good to hear.

It hadn't occurred to me that VG might be a contributor to the congestion, but, after reading your post, I can see how it could be, especially with it's significantly higher viscosity. Over the past year, I've increased the percentage of VG in all my liquids---retail and DIY---fairly dramatically, so I'll do an experiment and make up small batches of some of my favorite daily juices with a lowered VG percentage to see if anything changes on the congestion/coughing front.

Thanks!

I think the delivery method is more the culprit than the present VG. Dripping at high voltages and nic makes me congest much faster than vaping on a bottom coil, for instance. The less dense, less humid vapor is better for my lungs than dripping or a top coil. Yes, it's far less satisfying, but it could be the culprit of your problems.
I've also found that whenever I drip I have this dry throat cough that my doctor diagnosed as asthma, although it doesn't happen with cigarettes. He told me humidity has a very high role at this "asthma coughs". I keep my VG at about 30-40% and the cough diminished considerably.

 

[TokyoTony]

I started out on ECF in October 2010 doing research before trying ecigs, so my first purchase was a Riva eGo kit. Went right from there into mods and APVs. Along the way, a couple of vendors included as freebies with orders little mini-cig kits with one 280mAh battery, an atty with a couple of filled carts, and a charger. One was a 510 kit, the other was an 808. While not quite as bad as I feared they'd be, both were pretty anemic. Not quite a total fail, but a half-fail. Neither would have gotten me off cigarettes.

I see ads on TV with spokespeople and/or celebs hawking Blu ecigs and the like, and I wonder, "Do people that use those things have any idea what they're missing?"

Interesting. Yeah, same here about the celebs and stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if they still smoked and/or used a better e-cig but just can't refuse the $$$ they get endorsing those crappy things.

I started out with a cig-a-like; SmokeTip brand KR808 starter kit with prefilled cartos. Almost right away bought juice to add to the prefilled cartos once they empty. I really liked it, but joined ECF right away so knew of other options. The KR808 experience wasn't really a hassle for me, not compared to being a smoker with a girlfriend who reacts very poorly to the smell of smoke (now THAT'S a hassle). I was intrigued by all the flavors available pretty quick, and soon had a bunch of cartos labeled with different juice. I wanted to try dripping, and also was starting to get frustrated with the performance and constantly changing batts, so moved up to the PigCig "fat bat" with a KR808 connection.

After trying a 901 with my new PigCig, I fell in love with dripping, both the performance and being able to switch flavors on the fly. Bought some KGos to try 510 and 306 atties. I stuck with the unregulated "fat bats" for a while until the variable voltage eGo Twists came out. Then in the last year I got my first APV, a VAMO, and finally got into mechs with rebuildable drippers which is what I use most now. I also still get plenty of use from my Twists and VAMO though.

So my power supply has changed and what I drip into has changed, but since first discovering the 901 I was hooked on dripping, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. But to tell the truth, the original cig-a-like with cartomizer experience was enough to convince me I'd rather vape than smoke.

I forget that switching flavors is a big advantage too just because 99% of all my vaping is dripping so I take it for granted.

I find no difference whatsoever between dripping and my Vapeonly BCC. Same amount of vapor and flavor. I do keep an iGo L for the ocassional juice tasting but that's all. I started dripping on a 901 back in 2001. If I have a specially good build on the iGo I might tend to use it more but I prefer the hassle of making a good coil for the Kaifun to dripping.

Interesting.

 

[billherbst]

Well, after a suitable period of investment (moderate money but more sizable time) into the grand experiment of RDAs/RBAs, I find myself heading back toward regular, old-school 510 atomizers.

The financial toll was about $150 for everything, not bad at all considering that I now have a stock of 16 rebuildable atomizers---two A7 Minis, two Igo-Ls, a couple of Phoenix-style SS mesh-wick tank clones, and ten dirt-cheap clone RDAs (from FastTech, of course). Six of the ten are KTS YK1 mini-RDAs, which are Cyclone clones, and quite impressive for being so inexpensive. I converted three of the YK1s into bottom-fed atties by drilling micro-channels through the silicon insulator surrounding the positive pin on the 510 connector. They work just as well on my bottom-feeders as the A7 Minis, which are designed as bottom-fed.

Also acquired along the way were two 100-ft. spools of Kanthal A-1 wire (29ga and 32ga), plus numerous kinds of wicking material---twisted silica, braided Eko-Wool, raw hemp twine, and cotton rounds.

I’ve become fairly proficient in winding my own coils, either “regular” coils of 32-gauge Kanthal, or micro-coils using 29-gauge Kanthal. The learning curve on that wasn’t overwhelming, although I’m sure my current skills don’t put me in the top echelon of coil-winders. I didn’t explore sub-ohm vaping, but instead stuck with resistances from 1.3–2.5 ohms.

By last week's peak of the six-month-long experiment, I was using RDAs on five of my eight bottom-feeders. Yesterday, however, I replaced all the RDAs with the same regular atties I had always used before beginning the grand experiment. Why?

Three reasons:

1. In the final analysis, wrapping coils, threading wicks, and rebuilding atties is not enough fun. Oh, it’s not dreadful, but it’s more work than pleasure, and anything in vaping that stops being fun or pleasurable and starts feeling more like work has a very short half-life for me.

2. The experience of vaping with custom coils and wicks on an RDA is not that much better than vaping with regular atties. Sometimes maybe 10% better, but that’s outweighed by other times when it’s not better (or even worse), and also by the extra amount of hassle in dealing with re-wicking and rebuilding coils. I understand and accept that RDAs/RBAs are a revelation for some vapers who now swear by them, but that just hasn't been my personal experience. And no, I haven't tried a Kayfun or Russian and don't intend to spend the 23 bucks on the Kayfun clone from FastTech just to find out.

3. Basically, I like regular atomizers. I like how they draw and how vapor feels and tastes with them. I also continue to use and enjoy a selection of cartos and clearos, which continue to comprise the bulk of my vaping. Vaping with atties is reserved for my bottom-feeders and for testing new juices.

Anyway, that’s my decision for this week. Next week may be different.

 

[DC2]

Well, after a suitable period of investment (moderate money but more sizable time) into the grand experiment of RDAs/RBAs, I find myself heading back toward regular, old-school 510 atomizers.

I'm only quoting this part, but your entire post sums up my feelings about rebuild-able atomizers.
And I'm saying that while never having even tried one, but your post explains exactly why I have no inclination to do so.


Don't get me wrong...

If Vaping Armageddon comes, I will buy about 10 Mini Reos and take a crash course on what RDAs I should buy for them.
And then I will hope that I will never have to use them, as my 70 standard Joye 510 atomizers should last me at least 10 years at minimum.

 

[LeoRex]

Having a bottom feeding system does change the game some... I really like my attys, but as a go to device, they get tiresome dripping all the time.

One of my greatest joys in life is fiddling with my stuff (easy there)... computers, phones, anything and everything.. so messing around with microcoils is quite satisfying for me. But that's not dir everyone.