Smoketip Issues

[Triage]

It's hard to really draw a line for "equals 1 pack of cigarettes".

I mostly drip. So when I go out for a "smoke break", 2 drops lasts me about 10 drags, which is about what I would have gotten out of 1 cig. Takes me a couple minutes, given how often I drag, so that's also about 1 cig. When I was filling carts, I would get about 20 drops into 1, so by that math, it's maybe a 1/2 pack? If you spin and whatnot, I think you can get almost double that (but when I tried, I flooded pretty badly, so maybe more like 30 drops total).

When he says "about 2 hours" you need to think of that as almost constant use. PV in your hand, puffing the whole time. Based on that, how many cigs would you go through? Again, probably around 10.

 

[teikyo30]

I think I need some analogue smokes till I get the hang of this. I feel like I'm feverish (like when I tried to quit altogether in the past), and I'm craving, so I must be doing something wrong. It's been two days without regular smokes and aside from being neat this experience has been kind of odd. , and now I'm worried it'll cost me more money to vape than to smoke regular cigarettes.

 

[Triage]

If you are buying strictly pre-filled carts. Buying no juice and not re-filling them yourself at all, then no, there is likely no financial upside.

The more you DIY the cheaper it gets.

Filing your own is cheaper that pre-filled. Using attys and carts is cheaper yet. DIY your own juice (or at least messing with doublers) is cheaper still.

 

[teikyo30]

When he says "about 2 hours" you need to think of that as almost constant use. PV in your hand, puffing the whole time. Based on that, how many cigs would you go through? Again, probably around 10.

I can't imagine hitting a cigarette non-stop for two hours. Even if I still smoked pot I wouldn't hit it like that. His lungs must ache.

 

[teikyo30]

Filing your own is cheaper that pre-filled. Using attys and carts is cheaper yet. DIY your own juice (or at least messing with doublers) is cheaper still.

I haven't seen these tings for cheaper than $6 for 5 cartomizers yet the same companies that have that price have them filled for the same price. In that case I'd buy them filled them boil them when they were empty and reuse them I guess since I think I read you can do that.

Are there any wholesale sites that have them cheaper? Like for resale, but that you could just buy for yourself?

 

[Hendry]

With the blu that makes sense, but with the rest of them like smoketip...they are bigger. I've had been hitting one for two days before I got a burnt taste from it.

If these things aren't close to a regular pack of cigarettes, then that means we're getting raped by these companies in costs since it would work out to be much higher than an actual pack of cigarettes.

What I mean is if each one is say equal to 7 cigarettes like the Blu's are, but costs $2 each like the Smoketip ones do, then that's $6 a pack, plus shipping, plus lack of convenience. Where's the upside other than not actually smoking?

That's why most people refill cartos to make them cost effective. I only use cartomizers at work so I don't have to mess with juice at the office. I alternate 2 cartomizers during the week and refill them. At the end of the week I toss them. I figure I use maybe 1/4 of a 15 ml bottle that cost me around 10 bucks. So thats 2 bucks each for the cartos and 2.50 on juice. So 6.50 for the entire week at work.

 

[teikyo30]

That's why most people refill cartos to make them cost effective. I only use cartomizers at work so I don't have to mess with juice at the office. I alternate 2 cartomizers during the week and refill them. At the end of the week I toss them. I figure I use maybe 1/4 of a 15 ml bottle that cost me around 10 bucks. So thats 2 bucks each for the cartos and 2.50 on juice. So 6.50 for the entire week at work.

What about at home? What do you use there? I'm going to go buy a pack of regular cigarettes. I know everyone is like "Noooooooo!" lol, but I'm having some serious nicotine craving which is weird since these things have 16mg of nicotine in them, but maybe they aren't hitting right. I think maybe stopping analogue cigarettes cold was a bad idea. Maybe I should phase them out while I phase these in/stop altogether.

I notice some of the brand new cartomizers from Smoketip have a wicked burn as soon as I take a puff (I do a small puff without exhaling first, then I take a nice deep drag). Does that mean they send some bad ones with the others?

 

[Hendry]

What about at home? What do you use there? I'm going to go buy a pack of regular cigarettes. I know everyone is like "Noooooooo!" lol, but I'm having some serious nicotine craving which is weird since these things have 16mg of nicotine in them, but maybe they aren't hitting right. I think maybe stopping analogue cigarettes cold was a bad idea. Maybe I should phase them out while I phase these in/stop altogether.

I notice some of the brand new cartomizers from Smoketip have a wicked burn as soon as I take a puff (I do a small puff without exhaling first, then I take a nice deep drag). Does that mean they send some bad ones with the others?

I use the ZFM at home. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/cartridge-mods/53487-zfm-zero-filler-mod.html

Not everyone quits right away, took me a week to phase them out. Takes some people longer. Just go at your own pace.

 

[teikyo30]

Wow, that was a shock. I almost choked when I lit the cigarette that I've been smoking for the last few years. lol. Okay, I can now really see the difference. I guess I need to practice more with these ecigs and try filling some when I get some money.

 

[teikyo30]

I use the ZFM at home.

Why is the ZFM easier than the video I watched of just taking the cartomizer and dipping it in the "condom" and filling it that way? All these nuances are driving me nuts. Like the foam and filler people mentioned. What's that stuff? I thought this was as easy as taking the cartomizer, dipping it, or adding a few drops from the other end and being done with it. That's easy sounding. All this cutting and making x's or holes, etc, seems a little complicated.

 

[Triage]

Foam/filler/zfm/ect are all for 3 piece units. Different ways of getting more juice into or out of a standard (510/901/801/ect) cart.

Doesn't apply to the cartomizers. Ignore it for the time being. If/when you decide you need a better cart solution, it will be there, but its not worth getting bogged down in all that detail from day one.

 

[quendelyn]

I'm sorry to disagree, with a lifetime warranty on the Smoketip Batteries, you can't go wrong. That's right, when the battery dies, just mail it in and they'll send you a new one. Who else does that?

 

[WiggleMom1]

You're feeling feverish because you're taking in too much nicotine!

 

[Ralikar]

You should read my Smoketip post in the vendor section to know how they really do business. I was hooked on their CS but they sure stuck it to me hard. The Bloog pre-fills seem like 2-3 of the ST pre-fills as well so cheap is not really better for cost.

 

[Shaitaan]

...still, most of those so-called pre-filled cartridges are junk ...tons of cheap 'fill' soaked with mediocre juice, and the el-cheapo made plastic 'cartridges' were meant to be thrown away... it's the reason they are cheaper than the 'fillable ones'...is it worth it to take them apart to rebuild or refill? I don't think so unless you don't have a choice, for now.... for 99.99% of all cases, you get what you pay for... it's great that there are forums to ask others that have been there and still vaping... more experience and opinions to learn from. I would rather be buying my parts and liquid, and do it myself, thanks to more information I've gone through in the past few months... now that I know more, I've been DIY with atty's, carto's, juice, other accy's and kits made by reputable manufacturer/suppliers...

just remember, you can ask one question and there could be a hundred answers for you... all responses are a matter of personal opinion, and all of them ARE a big help for the uninformed

 

[AteOhAter]

Note: I just realized how old this post is so I'm sure you've already got everything resolved.

I started with Smoketip and although I now purchase from many other vendors, I've never had a problem with Smoketip. I think their customer service and responsiveness are pretty good.

To fill them just pop off the cap and remove the plastic ring, then drip new stuff onto the wicking material.

I prefer this method versus the condom method, which IMHO wastes a lot of e-liquid. Be careful no matter which method you use. Smoketip batteries are automatic and can be easily destroyed if e-liquid drips into it. So never refill a carto when attached to the battery, and be certain to blow excess out of the carto before using it, even if you think it's not been overfilled. Do a search on something like "refilling a carto" - there's numerous threads on the subject. There's also numerous threads on how to clean them, although many people don't bother with it if they're refilling with the same or similar flavor.

The wire in there is the atomizer. Its actually a little coil of heater wire

The Smoketip cartomizers have what's called a horizontal coil, which sits at the very bottom (battery end). So you won't see a wire. BTW, horizontal coil cartos work better, IMHO, so you might not like those with vertical wires. I know the bloog maxfusion cartos are horizontal, but they're pricey. I know there's a lot of others with horizontal coils, but I'm not sure who they are, but I know there are numerous threads on the subject (I know there's a pretty good one in the KR808D model specific forum).

Smoketip only supplies what are known as shorty batteries.

They also sell a longer 102mm battery. It has a capacity of 350MaH, so it lasts much longer than the 'shorty'.

How may time can these things be reused

There's no definitive answer to this. As someone else said, once the filler get's burnt, the carto is toast. Eventually enough 'gunk' builds up and performance goes down and it's time to toss it. I've refilled some 20-30 times while others don't last nearly as long.

I notice some of the brand new cartomizers from Smoketip have a wicked burn as soon as I take a puff

I've gotten some bad cartomizers from Smoketip too. There seems to variability in them, with some producing tons of vapor and lasting a long time, while others don't produce well and don't last long. I believe some come filled to capacity, while others don't have much liquid. I think the variability is not uncommon with pre-filled cartomizers from anyone, although I've never seen any comparisons.

E-Liquids

There's a lot of e-liquid vendors who supply some pretty good menthol flavors, and numerous threads on the subject. Do a search on something like 'Best Menthod' and you'll find them. Refilling is definitely a lot cheaper than buying new pre-filled cartos all the time.