Semi new to ecig's, have questions, could use some help!

[Duckburg80]

Hi All, Sorry for the long post. I've been vaping for probably 2 months now, and I seem to be more confused now than when I first started looking into e-cigs. I had a couple questions and I was hoping to find some help here. My first e cig was just a disposable from a smoke shop around the corner from my house, I was very impressed! When I decided I wanted to actually start vaping, I got the Blu Cigs pack. They were ok at first, but I was a little underwhelmed and the cartridges did not seem to last very long. I then purchased an ego express and loved it. I'm now using an ego-C battery with a Vivi mini tank. It's been great so far, but I start to lose flavor after about a week of vaping with it. Generally I will buy 2-3 atomizers every week just to keep the juice tasting fresh. I've read/tried different ways of cleaning the wicks, but generally when I clean them, the flavor is weaker than before I cleaned it. There is a local guy here in town that I’ve been going to get my Juice/tanks basically everything E-cig related. He told me that the Vivi is the best around. I’m slowly finding out that there are quite a few others which I may like better. I'm very confused with everything though. I keep seeing all these words tossed around. Atty's, Carto's, Clearomizers, Tanks, 510's Ginny’s, Ohms, Volts, Lava tubes etc. It's all very confusing and I’m not sure which the best is and which is used/preferred by most. I also have these V-nano tanks which do not have a wick. Those seem to hold their flavor longer, but these little guys tend to fall apart :/

To summarize, my questions are:

1. what is the difference between an Atomizer, Cartomizer, Clearomizer, Tank systems etc? Atomizer is the tank/wick right? Cartomizer is the solid piece with no wick and just a hole in the metal piece in the tank..Like the V-nano? Which kind is better and which will hold its flavor the longest without having to clean? I don’t even know how to, or if you even can clean the V-nano tanks. I dont see that you can get a new cartomizer into this tank...it looks too small. Luckily, the V-nano's are like 4 bucks each so i generally just throw them away every couple weeks.

1a. What is the best way to clean the wicks/atomizers. I'm having a lot of trouble with this one. I found a few places here on the forums as well as a few youtube videos. Dry burning seems to leave the atomizer with a burned type of taste. Soaking the wick/atomizer in water seems to weaken the taste of the juice a lot. Is scraping the coil things inside better?

2. Best battery? I've seen a frigging TON of different battery types floating around. Which is the best (most affordable) adjustable voltage battery. The GGTS looks absolutely amazing, Like a damn Ligthsaber! but it's also very pricey. Is there something comparable, that's not $250? Also, what is the point of changing the voltage on the battery? Does it make the juice burn hotter and produce more vapor? It's all very confusing :/

3. Best Juice? I know it's really a matter of preference, but I wanted to get some input on Juices. Good flavors, Best brands etc. I've only tried two different types of Juice, but many different flavors. I've tried Johnson Creek and a coupel different local brands. I bought a variety pack from them when I first started vaping. I would refill the cartridges for my Blu Cigs. It tasted great, but i felt it was lacking. I tried putting JC juice in my first ego tank that came with my ego express. Big mistake. Gunked it up really bad. JC seems to be a very thick jucie and i ended up ruining 2 different tanks with this juice. My favorite so far is from the local guy I mentioned. He makes his own Juice in the store. He makes this one called Smurfberry. It's absolutely Deliscious!. It's Blueberry, Strawberry and Cranberry mix....I think. Anyways, it's very very good.

I apologize about the rambling. Theres just a ton of different brands out there and i have no idea which direction i want to go with my vaping. Thanks in advance.

 

[Jwaterski]

Welcome. I'm sure eventually all your questions will get answered. I'm relatively new myself so my experience is limited also but I also use a vivi some and have had limited success cleaning the heads, I can usually get maybe 1 tank of nice taste after cleaning before they taste bad again. I also use a protank and have had more success with them, the protank may not be as satisfying to you though. Some people just don't like the draw or vape of it.

You can get good batteries for under $250. Just look around on here for a while, the vamo and MVP seem to be pretty popular. I am still using an Ego myself and its working so don't plan to replace it anytime soon.

I know the PG/VG ratio and type of juice makes a ton of difference on how long they last as well. I use almost all VG so it usually gunks up a little faster. I also use a local vendor so can't really comment on best mail order, MBV is often mentioned on here though with very good reviews.

Not much help huh, sorry but we're sorta in the same boat. Just have to keep rowing, it still beats smoking!

 

[Rat2chat2]

Here is a list of the different delivery systems.

atomizer/ atty- an element on to which 3-4 drops of juice is dripped
cartridge/ cart- a container with sponge (filled with juice) that is used with the atty- juice drips on to atty from cart and is vaporized
cartomizer/ carto- metal tube with stuffing and element.
carto+tank- a carto with a hole punched in it. Carto is than placed in a glass, metal or plastic tank which is filled with juice- juice saturates carto by way of hole in carto.
Clearomizer- a plastic or metal tank with a wick and element. Contains NO stuffing.


I just clean with warm water most of time. Usually after several refills. If I am changing flavors I may put some Everclear in them and shake vigorously. This usually gets all the smells cleaned out.

The best battery... imo is a backup. heehee You are right, there are so many. Great prices at Fasttech. Check them out.

Best juice? MBV is probably the least expensive quality juice from what I have read so far. Don't try to replace your cigarette flavor (not gonna happen). Explore new tastes. Don't go crazy like crab or pizza juice, but maybe try fruit. I found out I'd rather vape a peach than eat one.

Good luck to you and welcome to the forum and your new and improved addiction. You may have to search for a while, but all the answers are somewhere in this forum. If you can't find it, just ask. Wonderful people here.

 

[jSquared]

Welcome to the forum, Duckburg!

1. I'm sure Baditude won't mind me posting a link to his blog entry about the differences between the various juice delivery systems:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...k-what-primer-juice-delivery-attachments.html

As far as cleaning the Vivis goes, all I ever used to do was rinse everything in warm water and pat the wicks dry with a paper towel. Perhaps you haven't been allowing the wicks to dry enough? If the heads ever got to the point where I felt like they needed a dry burn, I'd just toss them.

2. Okay...slow down, man! A GGTS is not a VV device. Nor is it a battery. It's an unregulated mechanical mod (mech). That means there's no circuitry inside it. The voltage a mech puts out depends on the charge of the battery you put inside it. A variable voltage (VV) device, on the other hand, will let the user control the amount of volts going to the atomizer. Changing the voltage will affect the flavor of the juice, the heat of the vape and the amount of vapor that is actually produced. It would probably be helpful if you gave us an indication of how exactly much you would like to spend before we give you any recommendations about specific models.

3. As you said - taste in juice is very subjective, and, for that reason, I stopped giving out juice recommendations a long time ago. The good news is you've found a couple of flavors you like already. Once you've got 5 posts, you can start a thread in this forum and I'm sure you'll be inundated with recommendations!

Hope that helps.

JJ

 

[Topwater Elvis]

Atomizer = atomizes juice, sometimes referred to as the heating coil inside a delivery device, most times referred to as a dripping device.
Add 3 ~ 5 drops, vape a few drags drip some more drops vape again.
Cartomizer = a tube filled with wicking material that keeps the coil saturated with juice. Can be used unpunched without a tank or punched inside a tank.
Clearomizer = delivery device using wicks to supply juice to the coil, can be either top or bottom coil with glass or plastic juice reservoir / tank.
Carto tank system = a punched carto inside a tank. Tank holds liquid that supplies juice to wicking material inside the carto via holes in carto (punched carto) .

IMO cartomizers aren't worth cleaning I just replace them when needed.
IMO the best way to clean clero's is using high proof vodka or pga / everclear.
Fill all the way let sit 5 minutes to several hours.
Fill about 1/2 way with with pga shake vigorously, dump out, repeat 2 ~ 5 times.
A couple of quick light dry burns, then rinse in pga again and let dry.

No such thing as "best battery", spinner or twist are inexpensive VV batteries, I prefer go go fury/vv but some folks don't like their proprietary threading. I use a provari as a backup.
You adjust VV to find your personal 'sweet spot' (taste vapor production and th) with a specific flavor and delivery device. No one can tell you what your sweet spot will be.

No such thing as "best juice", I'd say stick with the local guy(s) so you can try before you buy.
I've wasted quite a bit of money buying highly recommended flavors from highly recommended online vendors, never found a single one I finished or would buy again.

 

[Duckburg80]

Thank you all for the wonderful responses. The Baditude link is exactly what i was looking for! something to explain most of it all to me. As far as Batteries, i'm looking to spend 50-100 for a battery. I did not know that about the GGTS. I thought it was a battery. so it's basically a $250 chrome tube? It does not have all the fittings to drop a battery in and start vaping immediatly? I'm glad you mentioned that to me! I've heard great things about the protank. That's kanger right? I've heard great things about the kanger tanks.

Here is what I'm looking for. A variable voltage battery/starter kit preferrably with a tank that doesnt need constant maintenance/cleaning and wont lose flavor so quickly. After having the vivi for about 2 months now, i've relaced the wick or atomizer thing probably 6 times now. I like the 1.8 size wicks though. I seem to get a better vape from them than the bigger ones. Probably a dumb question, but is there a difference from going from the vivi mini to the vivi nova, besides the amount of juice it holds?

Also, can you use a variable voltage battery with a Vivi Nova or Mini and adjust the voltage going to that kind of tank for better vapor?

 

[dataoogie]

It really depends on the ohms of the carto that your tank is using and the wicks in the vivinova. The ideal is usually 4.2 volts with a 2.0 ohm wick or carto.

Batteries don't cost much, you can pick any 18650 battery from most websites, ranges from 2000-2600 mah. I would get the AW IMR 18650 2000 mah batteries which costs around $12 each and can fit into almost all VV mods.
If your looking for a kit, the provari kit is great but expensive (200+). Volcano ecigs has a Lavatube V2 kit for around 130 and the lambo kit my myvaporstore :
Chrome Lambo 4.0 with Resistance Checker | Variable Voltage Ecig

The most basic and convenient tank to me, is the jonboy lava tank but i dont think he sells them anymore, but hoosiervapes now sells them, they call them beauty tanks. Check it out. Good luck to your future vaping endeavors.

 

[MamaTried]

>The best battery... imo is a backup. heehee

actually, that's the best vaping advice i've ever read

 

[szot]

I belive in keeping it simple... initially----2 EGo-C 1100a batteries ($16 each)...1 AC wall and 1 USB charger ($10 total)...most any local shop

monthly-------- 2 disposable ce4 clearomizers ($3.50 ea) from vaping me and 1 bottle 50 ML eliquid from MT baker vapor ($11)...total monthly cost = $18 and no hassles

 

[Duckburg80]

I'm having trouble finding the backup batteries. Can you post a link? I'm looking at the Vamo V2 battery here: VAMO V2 MOD APV Variable Voltage Variable Wattage basically because I like the design. I like the big polished metal designs on the grip. So, if i were to buy that VV, i would have to purchase the battery, USB and Wall Chargers seperately? Will my current Vivi and v-nano style tanks work with that without having to purchase any additional hardware? From what i'm reading alot of the "mods" are just parts, that you piece together? Generally, you buy the grop/handle, then you have to buy hardware for it to make it work?

edit: OH! the chrome lambo looks good too. After adding batteries and the charger to the Vamo, I'm up to about $80 bucks with that one. I think i'm on the right track now. Thank you everyone for all of your help!