Smoketip Issues

[teikyo30]

I got my kit on Friday and was excited to use it, but the first problem I had is one of the batteries no matter how many times I charged it, or tried cleaning it according to their troubleshooting, it wouldn't keep working without me blowing in it between drags. Major bummer. They're sending another battery so hopefully that solves it.

The other battery works fine. My main question is how do I know when it's time to switch cartridges? I've been using one of the menthol ones for two days now and it's still making thick vapor. Maybe it isn't as minty....but it seems to be working still. I put in a few new cartridges and none of them made anywhere near as much vapor. I'm a little confused by all this.

I'm planning on buying Blu to compare even though I don't like the idea of the 3 piece system. Blu is smaller, I like the case, and I read a lot of good things. Smoketip has some really good prices for everything, so I want to make sure I'm using it correctly.

Thanks.

 

[Whistle_Pig]

Hi teikyo30. Welcome to ECF!

Sounds like a bad switch in an automatic battery. YMMV and all that, but I encourage you to try a manual battery with your next purchase. I'm pretty new to this myself, so I can't comment too strongly on that Smoketip system, but their pricing doesn't seem all that competitive to me. Compare a Joye 510 Kit at $35 against the Smoketip kit.

I'm sure lots of folks here will chime on 2-piece systems you might find to compare with as well.

 

[Seabrook]

Hi Teikyo30,

Ditto Whistle_Pig's suggestion on the 510 starter kit -- lots of vapor -- great customer support -- fast shipping -- 510 parts more interchangeable w/other ecigs. You'll not regret it, imo. I've been vaping w/my Joye510 starter kit going on 2 months (that I later added 2 XLg batts to). On the cart changing issue, some change their carts everyday, some change their carts every week -- depends on how sanitary you want to keep it. So, welcome to ECF and happy vaping.

 

[teikyo30]

I looked at the comparison chart there and the smoketip chart looks the best. 25 cigarettes per cartridge, lifetime warranty, price is very similar. I ordered my kit on Wednesday and had it Friday. I emailed about the battery and I already have a tracking number for the replacement. So far I can't say anything bad about them. I might try that one you guys suggested just to have a second system to try out, but that system looks more like a fountain pen than a cigarette. lol

As for the cartridges, should I just get in the habit of tossing them every day or so? I can't say as the one in question is very minty any more, but it's still making huge clouds of vapor. So I guess the next question would be is it possible it's out as far as the flavor/nicotine, but still has pg in it making the vapor?

Also, some of the flavored cartridges that I opened to take a hit or two from seem to be making really weak vapor. Should I stick with menthol/regular and leave the candy flavors alone? To be honest having a cherry flavor cigarette seems pretty stupid now that I have them.

 

[Whistle_Pig]

I looked at the comparison chart there and the smoketip chart looks the best.

Hey, I got no reason to slam them, cuz I've never dealt with them. But just remember that in a comparison chart they produce, of course they will list products against which they come out ahead.

Just sayin', look beyond the comparison info they're giving you. They list just 4 other e-cigs. There's a wealth of info here at ECF to help you find something that works well for you. And if the Smoketip system still works best for you, then that's cool as well.

If you haven't yet, you might want to go here and read the 6-part "Wonderful World of Vaping" threads.

 

[Windsage]

The smoketip product is a KR808d-1. If you look around the forums you will find many suppliers of this model. It's actually a very popular build. Smoketip only supplies what are known as shorty batteries. There are much longer ones available.

One very interesting note is that smoketip actually provides a lifetime warranty on their batteries. I don't know of anyone else that does this.

If you want to stay with the shorty KR808d-1, I highly recommend getting one of the personal travel chargers to keep the battery charged up.

I believe smoketip uses the standard KR808 cartridges. There are premium carts available from other vendors that seem to be replacing the older style. The premiums hold more juice and last longer, but do not seem to be able to be refilled as many times.

Also, from a cost and taste standpoint, you might want to check out tasty vapor or another custom juice shop for bottles of liquid for refilling. You can wash out carts and refill them usually many times.

 

[teikyo30]

Does someone on here have a step by step idiot's guide to refilling these things? I know Smoketip and the other companies say it voids the warranty....I'm not really worried about that. I just want to know how to do it without accidentally killing the thing.

 

[teikyo30]

That tasty vapor website has 48mg flavored liquid. Wouldn't 48mg of nicotine be like a potentially hazardous amount to be inhaling?

 

[Windsage]

If you look on the the TV site, they sell what they call a doubler that has 0 nic. The idea is that you buy 48mg juice and a doubler in the same flavor and then cut the juice down to the strength you want. Its a cheaper way to go if you are sure of the flavor you want. If you don't want to mess with all that, then just buy the strength you want.

There are tons of videos on how to refill carts. The easiest way is to fill on of the cart caps about half way up, and slowly slide it on the cart on the mouthpiece end. This forces the juice into the cart. Look on youtube or search through the forum some to find peoples methods.

 

[teikyo30]

It would be nice if tasty vapor had empty cartomizers. Is there a one stop shop for all the refill needs?

By the way, in between messages I took the cartridge I thought bought it (aside from huge amounts of blah tasting vapor) and went ahead and opened it with a paper clip. The top came off, then there was another plastic piece, then a piece of cotton around a wick-like thing. I'm not sure how the whole thing works, but I'm guessing like a stinger. Battery to wire to produce heat. So as far as I could tell there isn't any atomizer in it unless that's all an atomizer is.

If I bought one of the 48mg liquid things and enough doublers to cut it to 12mg, how many cartridges would that fill?

Even though I know it costs more the cartridges from smoketip come vacuum sealed, so they have the advantage of lasting much longer I bet.

 

[Windsage]

To fill them just pop off the cap and remove the plastic ring, then drip new stuff onto the wicking material. The wire in there is the atomizer. Its actually a little coil of heater wire.

A cartridge holds about 1-1.5 ml of liquid, so the 1 oz normal will fill like 30 carts. With a doubler it will last for months.

 

[teikyo30]

What's the best spot to get the blank cartridges for the model that smoketip uses (or are all the cartridges the same?)? I doubt re-using the ones that are spent is very healthy.

 

[Moshmarr]

The Turbo blanks from Vapornine are great, they have a one piece soft plastic stopper you can pull out with a fingernail to refill - and Litecig, Cigeasy carry blank turbos as well, but it's really hard to get the tops off of those. They will all work perfectly with a Smoketip, as it was the first ecig I started with as well and I have tried most of the blank cartos out there. I had similar battery issues, but they do honor the lifetime warrranty and send you a new battery right away! I still haven't found another kr808 model supplier who does that.
Reusing cartomizers more than a few times can indeed be a bad thing, make sure you keep them wet when using them to avoid burning the filler as much as possible. when a cart is empty, one of three things usually happen; a drop in flavor, a drop in vapor, or it starts to heat up alot more and you may taste a slight burnt taste. Definitely best to refill before you get to that point.
This thread has alot of good basic info on the Kr8/Smoketip-

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/kr808d-1/45714-frequently-asked-questions.html

 

[Hendry]

The smoketip is just a kr8 shorty battery with regular cartomizers. There are better cartomizer options out there.

Keep reading the forum, you will be upgrading to a better model soon. Trust me. I started with a smoketip as well, using an ego now and waiting for my Chuck.

 

[WiiWok]

One of the COOLEST ways to fill can be found on YouTube by DoctorVapor (thanks to ECF's Dogsbody).

Check it on YouTube (I don't have enough post to link so search YouTube for 'A Great Way To Fill Cartomizers')

Pretty cool method.

 

[Triage]

+1 for searching youtube for DoctorVapor for tips (I can't post links either) he actually has 3 videos of different ways to refill cartomizers, all are very helpful.

I started with the SmokeTip kit too, and still use the batteries in a pinch (though my mainstay is a manual battery now). It's best to treat the cartomizers as semi-disposable. You will be able to open and refill them some, but sooner or later they are going to burn (they are just made that way). Some people (DoctorVapor included) have had a lot of success with repeated refills and even cleaning/rinsing the padding to reuse with a new flavor, but that never worked for me.

The main thing is: if you taste burning at all, you are done! The way a carto wicks and vapes, its possible to burn part of the padding, even while getting decent vapor/flavor out of another part of the padding (I think it actually atomizes the whole length of the cart, rather than just the short end, the way a 3 piece model does).

I hurt my throat pretty badly using one that was partially burning, cause I didn't realize what was happening, and that was my last experiment with refilling cartos. (I'm an idiot... if you are careful, this will likely not happen to you ).

The other thing to keep in mind, is that your batteries are compatible with 901 atomizers as well. So if you are interested in seeing what a 3 piece model is like, without adding in the expense of new chargers and whatnot, you can just pick up some spare 901 attys/carts and try them out relatively cheaply.

That is what I currently use. 808 batteries have a longer life (and when fully charged, a slightly higher voltage) than standard 901s. I'm really enjoying the combination (though it doesn't compare to the pick-up and go convenience of a properly functioning 808 setup)

 

[teikyo30]

Why are empty cartomizers more money on vapornine than full cartridges? It's like $10 for 5 empty ones or you pay pay like $8 for 5 full ones. Even at Litecig the empty cartomizers are the same price as the full ones. The whole point of using eliquid is to save money I thought. There's not much point in bothering if they sell full cartridges for the same amount.

How many times can these things be reused? I watched the video on the vapornine website and got the impression that guy uses the same cartridge over and over, he just keeps adding liquid when he needs it. Isn't that just a little nasty? It reminds me of the people who used to use the leftover tobacco from discarded cigarettes to make a whole one.

 

[teikyo30]

One of the COOLEST ways to fill can be found on YouTube by DoctorVapor (thanks to ECF's Dogsbody).

Check it on YouTube (I don't have enough post to link so search YouTube for 'A Great Way To Fill Cartomizers')

Pretty cool method.

I watched the video and a few things bug me: I thought to refill these things you need a drop or two. A half-full catromizer condom seems like a lot of liquid to be using, and you're going to kill your supply really quikc. He also says after he does it that it will last for a few hours. A few hours? These things are supposed to be equal to a pack of cigarettes (unless you use Blu). A couple of hours is equivalent to a few cigarettes.

 

[Hendry]

I watched the video and a few things bug me: I thought to refill these things you need a drop or two. A half-full catromizer condom seems like a lot of liquid to be using, and you're going to kill your supply really quikc. He also says after he does it that it will last for a few hours. A few hours? These things are supposed to be equal to a pack of cigarettes (unless you use Blu). A couple of hours is equivalent to a few cigarettes.

They are not equal to a pack of cigarettes, thats just a silly claim made by a supplier to get you to buy them.

 

[teikyo30]

They are not equal to a pack of cigarettes, thats just a silly claim made by a supplier to get you to buy them.

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?