Switching to Liquid

[Gimby]

Hi Everyone

I am pretty new to all this (had my e-cig just under 2 weeks) but I am loving it. With my first purchase I got throw away cartridges for ease, as I wasn't sure what to expect. They have done me good, however after reading the comments on this forum I would like to try out refillable cartridges with liquid, as it seems pretty accepted that they have more vlavour and produce more vapour.

So I just have a few quick questions before placing my new order as money is pretty tight so if I make a mistake with a purchase I can't really change it...

I currently go through maybe 2 throw away cartridges a day... If I continue to smoke at the same level how long is a 20ml bottle likely to last me?

Is Totally Wicked E.Smoking liquid a good choice for a first try?

Is it really as easy as it appears? Remove the cartridge, drop a few drops of the liquid onto the gauze, replace the cartridge, start vaping?

How do you know when the cartridge needs more liquid? Do you just keep using it until there is no more vapour, or is smoking it totally dry a bad idea for any reason?

Thanks for the help in advance people, and keep spreading the word...

Gimby

 

[judasburrito]

Hey Gimby!

Here's my take on it. If you have a mini or a supermini and go through about 2 cartridges a day, I'd (roughly) expect a 20ml bottle to last maybe 2 weeks. It might end up lasting much longer, though, and if so, bonus!

Totally Wicked I haven't tried (I'm in the States), but if you're in the UK, it seems to be very highly regarded on this forum--I'd love to try it out, given what I've heard.

Yes, if you consider that whole song and dance 'easy', it is exactly as easy as it appears--though it's something I wouldn't do e.g. while driving. As far as knowing when a cartridge needs more liquid, you'll find your vape production dropping, and at this point, I pull off the cartridge and see if it's gone white (i.e. doesn't look to be soaked with liquid anymore). It's bad to vape on a dry cartridge--people have noted that this shortens your atomizer life, and if it goes into an auto-clean on a dry cartridge, you're pretty much ****ed.

Hope this helps.
Matt

 

[e-pipeman]

Hi Gimby,

Hope you haven't thrown your old cartridges away because you can re-use them. As Judasburrito says it's a good idea to check the cart the minute you suspect that vapour is dropping. Another thing you could try is dripping onto the atomiser - there's lots of posts about that on the forum so it's worth a quick search.

Good luck!

 

[Chrissie]

Gimby, which e-cig do you have? Just wondering why the cartridges you got with it are throw away ones?

I have the Super & a Mini & you can refill the cartridges that come with them.

I use Totally Wicked juice & it is well ....... Wicked.

 

[Chrissie]

Oops must remember to refresh a thread before posting.

 

[Gimby]

Thanks for the responses everyone

If I can get more than a week out of each bottle then it's well worth it, and 2 weeks would be great! I will definitely order a bottle tomorrow... now I just need to decide which flavour to go for, regular tobacco or something a little more... adventerous.

I have a super-mini, so I'm glad you all told me the cartridges can be reused! All my empty cartridges are sat on my bedside cabinet in a nice little pile... I kept meaning to throw them out but never got round to it. Bonus

 

[BadSeed]

Watch the topping off, dripping and other maintenance video here

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-forum/2562-helpful-links-videos-new-user.html

and Dusty'll show you how to refill your carts. I think he's using a mini in that one, but it'll apply just as much for the super mini.

I personally use 10ml dropper bottles I get from the pharmacy at Sainsbury's to hold my liquid when I'm out. They're a little bit more portable than the bigger bottles the liquid comes in.

 

[Natty Bo]

From one new user to another (I exclusively top up now) I'd say be careful of the strength of juice you buy. To give you some idea of my pre e-cig habit I used to smoke my way through 20-36 prison style (i.e. thin as twig) rollies a day with Natural American Spirit rolling baccy which is quite strong. If it was tailor mades, anything that was a light. I've found High (24mg) to be very strong, perhaps too strong for me, I will only use it in the morning for the first few puffs. Too much of it and I get very strong nic buzz. I'm prefering Medium (16mg) for the morning or nights out. Low (11mg) is my main stay throughout the day until bedtime.

There's a thread here somewhere by Kate I think about comparable juice strengths and cigarette strengths. General concensus iseems to be High (24mg) is like full strength Marlboros, Low (11mg) is like any light.

Your big problem will be choosing a flavour. I like going for (rough and ready) tobacco like flavours, my brother a fellow vaper has a bit of sweet tooth and loves cherry, melon, etc.

 

[Kate]

Hi Gimby and Natty Bo, welcome to the forum.

Is this the thread you mean Natty? http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/e-cigarette-suppliers-forum/3285-nicotine-measurements.html

Most cigarettes deliver between 0.5 - 1.2 mg of nicotine per cig. (rollies are around 1.2mg each).

1ml of 24mg juice delivers 24mg of nic.
Most people vape 2ml of juice per day.

This might be of interest too - http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/health-safety-e-smoking/3598-nicotine-safety.html

 

[Natty Bo]

That was the very thread I was thinking of. And the nicotine safety thread was a very interesting read too, thanks for that Kate.

Most cigarettes deliver between 0.5 - 1.2 mg of nicotine per cig. (rollies are around 1.2mg each).

Really? Rollies are that high due to a lack of any filter? This will vary on the thickness of the rollies you make. Do remember that Am Spirit rolling baccy packs had a thickness gauge of the back.

 

[Gimby]

Thanks once again for all the advice people, the general friendliness of this forum compared to most amazes me

I went ahead and decided to make the switch to liquid. Just ordered 20ml of Totally Wicked Cherry and 20ml of Totally Wicked Coffee (decided against the tabacco flavour as I was feeling adventerous, lol), so hopefully they will arrive in the next couple of days and I can get started.

BadSeed - Thanks for the vid link. I watched the topping off/dripping one and it definitely helps. I didn't realise the guy in those vids was a member of this forum... I checked out a couple of his review on yourtube before deciding to switch to e-cigs.

Natty - I already decidced super high wouldn't be for me. lol. I got the Coffee 18mg and Cherry 11mg. I am sure they will be more than enough. The past 2 weeks I have been smoking 18mg and 14mg carts and they have been fine. I don't think I would even dare try the 36mg, even if I did spend a large part of the last few years smoking Lucky Strike filterless sticks. lol.

Kate - Thanks for the nicotine info. How you say most people vape 2ml a day... what is that in relation to refills? How many times can you refill a cartridge with 2ml of juice?

 

[Kate]

Really? Rollies are that high due to a lack of any filter? This will vary on the thickness of the rollies you make. Do remember that Am Spirit rolling baccy packs had a thickness gauge of the back.

I can't remember where I found that measurement but it represents an average of nic intake for Golden Virginia roll ups. Some were more and some were less but that's a close yard stick.

Kate - Thanks for the nicotine info. How you say most people vape 2ml a day... what is that in relation to refills? How many times can you refill a cartridge with 2ml of juice?

I can't answer that Gimby, I don't usually use cartridges. However, a classic cartridge holds around 0.8-1ml of juice from dry and a mini is around 0.3-0.5ml from dry.

A drop is approximately 0.05ml (15-20 per ml).

You'll have to start counting

 

[Gimby]

I can't answer that Gimby, I don't usually use cartridges. However, a classic cartridge holds around 0.8-1ml of juice from dry and a mini is around 0.3-0.5ml from dry.

Wow! Well I smoke a super-mini and generally only go through 2 cartridges a day! Going by those numbers if I smoked the same amount and refilled the cartridge twice a day a 20ml bottle should last me much longer than I expected. Bonus. Yay ​

 

[shawnp1]

very true looks like u got lucky on this one