Switching from carts to liquid

[Animac]

Hi everybody, happy to be here

I was a smoker of 20 a day for 25 years. I quit smoking October 2013 after reading Allan Carr's book and receiving one too many filthy looks from my kids as I sloped off outside for my fix, in all weather..

I quit cold turkey for 3 months, no hiccups and no regrets, and the only time I truly missed a smoke was when I was standing in the beer garden with my friends. So, I started smoking Skycigs, 3 cartridges a week. I liked it, I had no guilt, no worries for my health, my kids were proud of me and I was saving a ton of money.

I heard I could make it even cheaper by switching to e-liquid, so that's what I did last week after 1 and a half years of cartridges I don't vape with sweet flavours, I like the tobacco taste and I can smoke them whatever I'm doing without taste clash! I smoke the 1.8mg liquid, the same strength as the skycig/blu carts.

Today, I noticed that I was getting a bit croaky, much like when I first started smoking the skycigs. That went fairly quickly, so I'm thinking this will clear up too. What is new though, is that I have a cough, and I'm producing (sorry) some phlegm. I haven't coughed anything up since Christmas 2013, 3 months after I stopped smoking, and I didn't have a cough at all with the skycigs, certainly no phlegm.

I think you can see where this is going, I'm worrying a little that the liquid is too much for me. I haven't had a chesty cough for years, and so to be hacking today is really off-putting, especially as I'm really struggling to clear my throat.

I use an ego-t and Vapetronica UK Gold liquid (which I believe is just pg), but I also bought a 50/50 pg/vg tobacco liquid too, from Dripdrop - I've only used that once - it was a bit too sweet. I'm smoking about 1ml a day on average.

Has anyone been in the same situation? I'd be gutted if I had to switch back to cartridges, as I much prefer this.

 

[Baditude]

Did you say what juice delivery device you are using for the e-liquid? Some sort of tank?

This coughing & phlegm could be because of a number of things. First of all, you might be catching a cold.

I occasionally get a cough or tickle in my throat with my setups. It generally passes away with no help from me. Drink more water; pg and vg in the e-liquid vapor draw moisture from the mouth and throat, so that moisture must be replaced. It may help to suck on some hard candy or chew some gum if your throat/mouth are dry. The workings of the tank you're using may have an effect. If a disposable tank, it may be time to discard it. If it uses replaceable coil heads, time to replace them.

 

[Animac]

Thanks for the response and sorry, thought I'd remembered everything! Yes, I use the clearomiser that comes with ego-t starter kit. I've bought a pack of 10 replacements, but actually it didn't occur to me that It might need replacing because I've only had 6 days use of it.

I do drink 2 litres of water a day, whether vaping or not, so do you recommend I drink more? I generally have a cup of tea when I'm vaping, out of habit from my analogue days.

I'm still undecided about which liquid to go with. I like the Vapetronica, but I read that you get more vapour with vg, which is why I ordered the 50/50 mix. I was told it would be thicker than the pg juice, but it's actually thinner and I've noticed no difference in the amount of vapour.

I guess I'll get there in the end.

 

[Thrasher]

I usually get more congested the heaver I go with vg
I don't go over 25% now

Some flavorings bother some people more then others as well

As for more vapor it takes more then a small % increase to notice a big difference

Also some companies actually add thinners to their heavier VG juices for better wicking.

If you want to play with some VG clouds get a small bottle of pure VG thick like glue and super dense vapor

 

[Animac]

I'm going to try and mix my own.. jumping right in at the deep end. I'm on a quest to find the perfect flavour of tobacco, so I'll probably still be looking in 10 years or so!

I'm interested to see the vapour clouds, definitely, but I guess the throat hit is what's most important.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I'm sure I'll be back soon enough

 

[djsvapour]

Hi

If you were genuinely only using 3 skycig carts a week, you should have quit altogether.

I was using 1 or 2 E-Lites cartomisers a day and should have just quit there and then. These products are very, very low Nicotine YIELD.

I got taken for £500+ or more and had unbearable cravings, never totally quit smoking and got in a mess because my moods swings and behavior was dreadful.

Anyway.... (sorry, but it makes me cross, still)

Vapetronica is almost certainly Chinese liquid. Not all Chinese liquid is bad, but I wouldn't vape that, no way....

I've never heard of Drip Drop, which is worrying to me as well.

When you say eGo-T - do you mean the tiny cartridges with separate atomizers (Totally Wicked) or just a battery with a plastic tank? The "real" eGo-T is appalling.
A generic eGo-T is just an eGo e-cig and can be perfectly good, for sure.

Are you feeling OK otherwise though? if you were using 18mg in skycigs, you could easily use 12mg in an eGo e-cig, maybe even 6mg on a good one.

 

[Animac]

Yep, genuinely only 3 cartridges a week. This was most likely because I thought each cartridge was equivalent to a pack, so my brain was tricked! I haven't been a heavy smoker for a while. I started out on 20 a day, more depending on the situation, but for the last year of analogue smoking, I was only on 6 a day. I managed to stop smoking twice before, each time for 9 months, but luckily, being pregnant stopped any cravings. Lucky I guess.

I did stop for 3 months before I went on to cartridges - but I actually enjoyed smoking, especially with a beer, so vaping was the obvious choice for me. With regards to the liquid, I've been reading about the inferior stuff, that's mostly why I'm going to start making it up myself.



That's ^^ what I've got. I didn't really know any better, so I presumed that this still had to be way better than the skycig. I got the dripdrop stuff on ebay, english woman who mixes it up. She had 1000's of positive feedback, so while I was starting out and trying to find a mix and flavour for me, it seemed like a good choice. Obviously I'm not a connoisseur yet.

Yes, I'm feeling good, I enjoy vaping (although I just read that I'm doing it wrong, which goes a long way to explaining my cough/phlegm!), particularly like the act of doing it myself, so no problems here. I'll be fine when I've got my technique down, mastered mixing and am saving £££'s

 

[djsvapour]

Animac - are you going to keep an eye on this thread?

A few comments, and then maybe more tomorrow. I'm driving 300 miles tomorrow and need to get an early night.

1) IMPORTANT. Nicotine liquid is not allowed on ebay. (Seriously, ask on AAEC-UK, ask for "Chrissie" by name)

2) you should mix your own... if you can do it... for sure. why not?

3) You have a generic eGo which is better than a Totally Wicked (Joyetech) eGo-T in my opinion. That's good if you have a supply of tanks. Don't knock it if it's working for you.

4) 18mg in skycig is much less then 18mg in your new e-cig. Take care, because if you get more hooked, you will be in deep do-do next year. In 2016 most products will be banned. We all need to be cutting down on Nicotine if we can.

From 2016, there is a chance you'll only be able to buy either cigarettes (go back to smoking) or tobacco company "single use" e-cig tanks in a few flavours which are going to be £8-£10 per 200-300 puffs.

I've said too much already, probably.

Please do find AAEC UK. It's run by a smashing group of girls who know everything there is to know really.

 

[Animac]

Oh crap, that sounds ominous

Yes, I'll be back here regularly. So, what strength nicotine should I be getting, and I suppose ratio wise for mixing, to be the equivalent of what I was getting from the skycig? I had a few puffs every hour or so, sometimes more but I don't want to be rationing myself, that'll take all enjoyment away. I'd rather have barely any nicotine and be able to puff all day!

So, back to potential problems come 2016 - What's the shelf life off the nicotine (before mixed)? Am I going to be able to stock up, or will it go manky (technical term)??

I'm worried now, although I shouldn't be surprised - those b*stards are unrelenting in their quest to remove all (affordable) pleasure from our lives.

Thanks for the AAEC info btw.

**just reread and saw the 300 mile journey.. Night night

 

[Chrissie]

Hello & welcome Animac

You can keep nicotine base in the freezer & it will be fine for many years

 

[Animac]

Thanks! Just looking for a supplier in the UK, buying myself some glass bottles and a mini freezer After some googling, I saw one guy who has 4litres in the freezer!

Do you have a favoured supplier? I'd appreciate some recommendations please.

 

[Chrissie]

I don't mix myself but here is a list of good UK e-cig & e-liquid vendors -

http://allaboute-cigarettes.proboar...-vendors-discount-codes?page=1&scrollTo=23191

Plus some recommendations for Nic base etc, in this thread on AAE-C UK's Mixology board -

Recommendations for Nic Base, VG & PG | ALL ABOUT E-CIGARETTES UK

 

[Animac]

Thanks, Chrissie. Much appreciated.

 

[Chrissie]

YW Animac

 

[Animac]

Just a quick update - changing my inhalation technique sorted my dry throat/cough issue almost straight away! I've also found my favourite flavour, RY4 70/30 PG VP. It's delicious, and so far goes with everything throughout my day.. I've yet to try it with a beer, but I'll hopefully remedy that shortly

Just ordered myself a mini protank 2 and a few extra 2.2ohm coils and a Vision Spinner (in a pretty rainbow effect). I'm really looking forward to trying it out - I'm expecting a big upgrade in my vaping experience!

**Wasn't sure whether to start a new thread but I presumed I'd be told if I needed to. I could always do a review type thingie..

 

[Animac]

duplicate post!

 

[jwitfield]

I was going to mention you should upgrade..
I started last week on a istick cart setup but I didn't like how you have to suck suck suck and get very little I think drilling holes where theirs are would make ot better but I just went ahead and got a tank mini and a segeli 150w setup..

The taste difference between cart and a tank is way way different it is more flavor and more hit on the nic..
I was 18mg on the cart setup I am huffing 6 and 3mg now after a week..

Sorry also new to this also so... not all my wording is right but close..

Past I used to smoke 2 or so packs of cigs a day since high school.. I'm 41 now.