The Journey So Far...

[Kahnighit]

Wall of text to follow. So I'll break it up into separate posts.

Salutations e-cigarette form peeps!

I'll just start off with saying thanks for being an invaluable source of information. One can get quite the education here. May just be able to get an electrician's apprenticeship.

I’ve been a PAD smoker for almost 25 years. Came close to quitting a couple times but life and significant others who were actively smoking always tripped me up. I had tried Blue e-cigs something like 3 or 4 years ago. They didn’t cut it except for in very situational and extreme settings like 4 hour road trip in a non-smokers car.

About 2 months ago I purchased a starter kit from a gas station. It was a brand called Haus. Another $25 flushed down the drain. I have a suspicion that all of the brands you can find in a convenience store or gas station are designed to fail if not because they’re directly owned by tobacco companies than because they’re subsidized by them. The quality, longevity and even instructions included with those products are sub par. One way or another you’re going to get frustrated with them and go back to old reliable. Anyway, this Haus gets relegated to road trips and venues like concerts/bars. I’m at a concert (NIN, Soundgarden) trudging along to the little boys room smoking a regular cause it’s an outdoor venue and I see a guy blowing an impressive cloud from an ecig. I ask him about it, tell him my experiences, show him this Haus P.O.S.. He tells me he’s been smoke free for 6 months, the better gear/juice is where it’s at, it’s really not that much more expensive than the gas station stuff to start and basically to look up ego on the internet and go from there.

So I did and I found out about other equipment: Mechs, Regulated, clones, batteries, pushed in pins, brass/copper threads, carts, clearos, BDC, BVC, RBA, RDA, coils, wicking, organic, Japanese, rayon, kanthal, ribbon, etc etc etc… Hours of reading these forums (thank you guys and gals), watching video reviews and price hunting led to an immediate reduction of analogs to 2 per day which has led to being analog free for just over a week. More specifically it led to…

 

[Kahnighit]

The first purchase was an iTaste MVP 2. Anything with huge utility features grabs my attention. Meanwhile, I couldn’t find anyone with anything bad to say about it. Battery life, VV and VW, backup battery capability for phone charging and pass-through were all huge plusses. The pass-through feature in particular as the fear of having a dead battery and in a moment of weakness running for analogs was a concern. But if I’m honest, I was pretty sure more mods would be taking residence soon enough. I got the MVP on ebay as part of a kit. $35ish shipped. I also think I prefer the box shaped mods. There’s a time and place for wielding sex toy shaped objects.

The MVP came with an iClear30 (no B or S). It lasted 3 days before the coil gave out. Went to a B&M and bought a Kanger T3D and a couple extra coils to hold me over (turns out the guy at the store sold me single coils not knowing any better. This would become a theme). In the meantime constant reading on clearos. Placed an order for a Mini Protank 3 and 2x 16D clearos on line. Rational was I’d be buying boat loads of juice samplers and flavors to figure out where I’d mostly settle for an ADV and what varieties I liked (more on that later).

Wandered into a different B&M to try some juices as the Haus brand stuff was 24mg and gunking up my coils and wanted to try something non-tobacco flavored. Bought a Kanger T3S assured by the salesman that it was dual coil and the pack of coils I bought with it were also dual coils. Wrong on both counts. I only bought the tank cause I didn’t have another on me and wanted to immediately vape what I bought. Meh. The T3S is actually not bad. Better than the 16Ds but not as good as the ProTank 3 mini which came in the mail soon after.

Next purchase was an Aspire Nautilus Mini and another Protank 3 mini. Holy crap the Nautilus mini is a beast. Slight flooding issues and getting juice splatter on my tongue at first but most likely due to heat of the car and pulling too hard with one of the more restricted airflow settings. Problem solved on next BVC rotation. Swapping between 2 heads every 3 days. 1 gets rinsed, soaked in vodka and dried while the other is in use. 1 week in no issues.

I’d like to note that it may or may not be a coincidence that the day after the Nautilus Mini showed up was the first day without an analog.

Discovered Vapor Joe’s website. Uh oh… Vamo V3 deal too good to pass on even knowing about the issues with the pin, threads, batteries probably garbage etc… This one goes to 15 (well kind of but depending on who you ask, not really).

So ordered batteries. 2x LG 18650 2500mAh and 2x efest 18350 + nitecore d2. Also slowly gathering tools and knowledge for RDA/RBA expansion. 28ga kanthal, torch, ohm meter, wire cutters, jig (not necessary), tweezers, etc.

After much deliberation pulled the trigger on a Trident V2 clone. Others in the running were (all clones): Russian 91%, Magma, Veritas. I suspect I will own one of those RDA’s next and then the Russian before completing the set.

Without getting into the specifics of coil building (different post). I will say that the Trident has been fun and definitely adds to the dimensions of the experience. It also adds a crapton more variables.

 

[Kahnighit]

Given my mods I have no intention of dipping below 1.2 ohms on my builds. Used coiltoy to get ball park figures of how many times to wrap around what size “mold” for lack of a better term. Tried 1.8mm, 3.3mm and dual 1/8” builds. Given my batteries (at the time only the 18350s that came with the vamo and not stacked) perhaps I didn’t have the power to run either the 1.8mm or the dual coil setups well. Then again could have been the wicking too. Ultimately a 6 wrap 3.3mm micro coil has been the best performer.

Now that I’ve got some better batteries in house I’ll try for some other builds tomorrow. Not sure how elaborate I can or should go with these considering my equipment and their limitations. I don’t imagine I’ll ever go the mech mod route. I’ve read plenty of pro/cons threads and what those offer+demand of you just doesn’t seem my cup-o-tea. As it stands I’m quite happy with this simple build and varying wattage between 7.5 and 11.5 depending upon the juice.

Anyone care to chime in and give me the true limitations of the Vamo V3 with the LG 18650 2500mAh battery or dual efest 18350 700mAh batteries? I suspect the batteries are capable of more than the vamo will allow. Will the vamo even be able to pull off what it says it can on its own spec sheet?

 

[Kahnighit]

So first off, in a general sense, I’ve found that juices that work in clearos don’t necessarily work in the RDA and vice versa. Is this something you’ve experienced as well? My guess is the two predominant factors influencing this are: wicking material and airflow. I’ve had juices that taste passable in clearos but in the RDA taste like dishwashing detergent and juices that taste like old shoes in clearos taste as advertised in the RDA. There does seem to be a slight correlation on this with the higher VG juices. Granted this is a very limited sample size.

So my first binge order was entirely based on indoorsmokers youtube reccomendations. A sample pack from Viper Vape and Virgin Vapor. I covered the bases on trying 100% VG and a 50/50 blend. Little sampling of fruit but mostly tobacco flavors. Also the more aromatic ones intrigue me such as Jasmine. In my sampling at B&M’s I’ve found I’m not too fond of most fruit flavors or the overly candy/sweet ones. For some reason I just shied away from the bakery type stuff (possibly to my disservice).

For the sake of brevity I’ll just say what’s made it onto the possible re-order list. Maybe I’ll say something about the ones that didn’t work to an extreme as well.

Viper Vape:

Cappuccino Diablo: Gets the honor of being my first ever re-order. You get the coffee flavor but it’s beaten into the background. I drink my regular coffee light and sweet so there’s a parallel here. It’s sweet but not overly so and creamy with a hint of vanilla and caramel. I’ve ended up with a bunch of bland tobacco flavors. I’ve also ended up with a handful of go-to flavors to add to those bland’os that make it tolerable-good. This is one of them.
American blend: It’s ok. There’s more flavor than their Kentucky blend (bland bland bland) but not enough to reorder. At least not now. I’m gonna let these two + the other 3 flavors from them steep and see what changes.

Eve’s Delight: A good apple that isn’t overly sweet. However, and I don’t know if this is a common trait for all juice makers, it’s almost like there’s a hole in flavor where the sweet would have been. Like you get subtle [insert flavor here] on the front end or the finish but never both and whatever the converse may be there’s nothing there. Like they can only do APPLE+SWEET but if they don’t have the sweet it’s “apple+_______”

Virgin Vapor:

Organic Best Damn Tobacco: I suspect this is an anomaly but I’ve been using this one to add flavor to the other more bland tobaccos I’ve ordered. Added bonus of it creates more vape. I thought 100% VG blends were supposed to be short on flavor. Not this one apparently.

Organic Night Bloom Jasmine: notable because it’s the only place I’ve been able to find it so far. It’s ok. Slightly chemical tasting and a bit overly floral. Perhaps with time it’ll develop. Again, worth mentioning it’s the only place I’ve found it. I’ve enjoyed Jasmine in hookah bars so thought it would be a good candidate to translate to this medium. Apparently not a lot of people feel the same. =/

Juicemafia:

The 2x 50ml for $25 deal could not be passed on. Stingy Irish heritage…

Turkish Tobbacco: Currently it’s the go-to ADV but almost always with a dash of something mixed it. It can work on its own in the nautilus mini (which is my carry out primary) but it’s a bit subtle and actually makes a great base for just the slightest bump from other flavors. Looking forward to adding frenilla to it when it gets here.

Toro Blu: Supposedly a Red Bull energy drink + blueberry concoction. I was really skeptical about this one but gave it a shot. I don’t know why considering I don’t like the taste of redbull. I prefer Monster and they even have a monster flavor but something seemed right about that combination. Regardless, very much digging it and happily surprised by that. Not an ADV but kind of a lighter option/change-of-pace to most of my tobacco/heavy flavors.

I’ve got orders inbound from Nicoticket and ITC vapes. The former because of all the raving reviews of their product (while I understand most seem to prefer steeping it I’m not happy about having to do so. Instant gratification, damn it) the latter because of the awesome pricing (see earlier Irish heritage comment).

 

[Kahnighit]

With the way the industry is regarding speed of development on the tech end vs the slower to develop methods for practical application of said tech where is the current “overkill” line? For example. I have my Trident V2 RDA, I don’t want to spend hours fabricating complicated and elaborate coils for marginal gains in flavor and/or vapor production. I want to stick with regulated and I’m fairly certain that deep sub-ohming is mostly unnecessary with these mods. So, for my needs, where is the appropriate line considering VW mods? 20, 30, 50 watt? What’s overkill? 30, 50, 80, 100, 150?

Or considering that a DNA20 clone goes for roughly $50: justify a DNA30 @ $60, iPV V2 50w @ $90, a raptor 100w @$100, an IPV V3 150w @ $125 or a vaporshark dna30@ $170

With the Cloupor DNA30s what’s the preferred battery setup: 18650 or the 2x600mAh Li-Po?

On a scale of 1-10 how concerned are you that regulation is going to ruin everything? 10 being you’re hording juices, DIY juice supplies, and apvs?

Have most people weaned completely off of nicotine and just do it for the physical habbits + enjoyment of the experience + hobby?

What percentage have no intention of cutting nicotine out completely?

What percentage do you suspect go from analog to vape to nothing?

 

[Susan~S]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Glad to have you here!
Wonderful dissertation on your journey! Complete with capitalization, periods & paragraphs!

Anyone care to chime in and give me the true limitations of the Vamo V3 with the LG 18650 2500mAh battery or dual efest 18350 700mAh batteries? I suspect the batteries are capable of more than the vamo will allow. Will the vamo even be able to pull off what it says it can on its own spec sheet?

I'll address the batteries. And if someone doesn't get to if before I have time to research it, I'll get back to you on the Vamo.

1. LG18650HE2 2500mah -- The wrapper probably says 35A. What it doesn't tell you is that it is really 20A continuous. The 35A is pulse (an arbitrary number and in effect it is meaningless). For our purposes use 20A as its amp draw.

2. purple Efest 18350 700mAh -- This battery is rated 10.5A continuous.

The source of this information is ECF guru Baditude (our battery/safety expert):

Battery Basics for Mods: IMR or Protected ICR?
* choose the safest and right battery for your applications here. Includes a list of name brand, high-drain, safe-chemistry batteries with mAh & amp ratings in 18350, 18490/18500, and 18650 sizes.

 

[Kahnighit]

Thanks for the welcome!

Sad state of affairs that one feels compelled to point out and compliment proper grammar. Not using proper punctuation, sentence structure and (whenever possible though I'm admittedly terrible at it) spelling is the written equivalent of mumbling. If you're not going to put in the effort to ensure you're clearly understood why should I put in the effort to listen/comprehend what you're saying? Thanks for noticing And get off my damn yard!!!!! /curmudgeon rant.

I was aware due to Baditude's post that I was getting exactly that in the LG battery. I figured it'd be ok since the intention is to use it in a regulated mod that has a 1.1 ohm floor and a 15w ceiling.

Again, thanks for the welcome either fellow insomniac or fellow shift worker.

 

[j0sh]

I don't know about your journey since you've traveled way further than me in far less time but I, also, appreciate your grammar.

 

[smgrundy]

With the way the industry is regarding speed of development on the tech end vs the slower to develop methods for practical application of said tech where is the current “overkill” line? For example. I have my Trident V2 RDA, I don’t want to spend hours fabricating complicated and elaborate coils for marginal gains in flavor and/or vapor production. I want to stick with regulated and I’m fairly certain that deep sub-ohming is mostly unnecessary with these mods. So, for my needs, where is the appropriate line considering VW mods? 20, 30, 50 watt? What’s overkill? 30, 50, 80, 100, 150?

Or considering that a DNA20 clone goes for roughly $50: justify a DNA30 @ $60, iPV V2 50w @ $90, a raptor 100w @$100, an IPV V3 150w @ $125 or a vaporshark dna30@ $170

This one is largely subjective based on your own personal thoughts of flavor/vapor production at various watts, as well as on your build. If your builds are, for the most part, going to stay around 1.2 ohms, then at 30 watts you would be pushing ~6 volts and ~5 amps, which in theory would be plenty of power and well within the amp limits of the most widely used batteries. Even if 6 volts is too high for your liking, you have the power to go there if you feel the need, whereas with a 20 watt device
your voltage limit would be closer to 5v or even a little under. Not a huge difference and it's one that you will need to decide based on personal preference. If you decide to build lower, say 1 ohm, then your max voltage output would drop, but only slightly. It's when you get into the sub-ohm coils that you are seeing the need (not just the want) for extremely high wattage devices to push enough power to the atomizer. I would definitely say that, based on your numbers, you would be more than happy with 30 watts and perhaps even have some cushion in the event you want more power or build slightly lower down the road. I run builds as low as .6 on my DNA30 devices often and am quite happy with the flavor and vapor from that. I enjoy .6 a bit more on a 50 watt device running at around 39 or 40 watts giving me ~4.8v, but that's personal preference. More often than not, I'm using a kayfun or expromiser rebuildable tank atomizer at around 1 - 1.2 ohms with my settings at or around the 20 - 22 watt range. This also depends on the juice I'm using. I like some juices more at lower power for whatever reason...

With the Cloupor DNA30s what’s the preferred battery setup: 18650 or the 2x600mAh Li-Po?

I don't personally any of the Cloupor mods with Lipos, but I own 2 of the 18650 box mod clones, along with an authentic HANA that work just great, although keep in mind that the chip inside the Cloupor version is NOT a true 1:1 clone of the DNA-30. The IPV2 is a really nice mod IMO as well. It's 50w, so maybe a little more than what you need, but the SX330 chip inside is proven to be reliable, easy to use, and consistent.

On a scale of 1-10 how concerned are you that regulation is going to ruin everything? 10 being you’re hording juices, DIY juice supplies, and apvs?

11

Have most people weaned completely off of nicotine and just do it for the physical habbits + enjoyment of the experience + hobby?

I can't speak to most people, but I can say for me, I started at 18mg (briefly), then stepped to 12mg, down to 6mg/3mg in tanks and 3mg in drippers now, and 0mg with some juices in RDAs. I plan on going to 0mg completely at some point soon(ish), but I don't know that I will ever stop vaping completely, but regardless, I will never disconnect myself from the ~scene~ as it's become too much a part of my life now, and not just the vaping, but the community as a whole. Getting the opportunity to actually help others is motivation for me to stay strong.

What percentage have no intention of cutting nicotine out completely?

Again, speaking for me only, I plan to cut out nicotine altogether within the 1-2 years hopefully.

What percentage do you suspect go from analog to vape to nothing?

Not sure. For me it will be from analog to vape to 0mg nicotine. We'll see what happens from there

 

[eratikmind]

Whew! After all of that reading . . . Welcome to the ECF community, Kahnighit.

 

[DingerCPA]

Kahnighit, "I faht in your general direction!"

Wow, what an amazing testimony.

"The Journey" - almost 30 years PAD-ish. Started with cigalikes about 4 years ago. Same opinions as you - weak/"chemically" flavor. Smoking analogs was infinitely easier.

"The Gear" - kept trying the cigalikes and getting different flavor cartridges. They were so meh, and the filler material had changed (which IMO made them worse.) Tried blank cartridges and bottled juices, which were better, but I was put off by having to refill them seemingly every 10 minutes. That, and battery life on those little tiny things was frustrating. Ordered up a kit (same online vendor) with 650 and 900mah batteries. Couple of tanks (yay! I don't have to refill every 30 seconds ) Got a little past the gurgling and flooding.... Getting Better. Oh wait, found ECF and realized there are these things called B&M and there's one IN MY OWN TOWN!

(I live in a state where it still seems like the '60s, so I was a little surprised at the progressivness.) Got a couple of Spinners and some EVOD tanks and some extremely tasty B&M-made juice. FINALLY made it to the MVP world.

"Coil Building" - Started rebuilding my Kanger heads and picked up some kayfun clones this summer. Practicing on those (1/16", 30g, 9-ish wraps for about a 1.8-1.9 ohm coil.) Wicking still a struggle sometimes. Did add a full-sized Nautilus this week, and I'm quite liking it. May be my "no-muss-no-fuss" big tank for when I'm being lazy

"Juices" - I'm not much of a tobacco-flavored juice gal. (I smoked menthols - couldn't stand non-menthol.) I like desserts, fruits, vanillas, etc. Tend to like 50/50-ish juices. Started DIY'ing about 6 weeks ago, and fortunately, nothing as of yet has been completely unvapeable!

"The Questions" - MVP is my "most advanced" mod. I'm still trying to figure out what I want/need (if anything) as far as "bigger and/or badder" is concerned. I have one of my kayfun minis configured as a dripper. Granted, not a big chamber, but finding I'm not all that stoked about having to refill all that often. I'd rather swap a tank, even if it is an EVOD.

Regulation concerns - "7" - moderately concerned, although I haven't gone out and bought any replaceable-battery mods (yet) I would be displeased if it gets regulated, as I've been 6 months free of smoking cancer sticks.

Nicotine levels - I've never been a high-nicotine vaper. 6-10mg at the most. I mix all my DIY at 0 and add my own 50/50 nic as my mood strikes. (Plus, I don't like how the nic oxidizes and mutes the flavors when it sits for any length of time in pre-mixed juices.) If I drop nic, I'll drop nic. If I don't, I don't....

I, personally, don't see myself giving up on vaping. Cigarette smoking was my "stress reliever" and "hand-to-mouth" fixation. I've actually lost about 10 lbs since I've started vaping (without changing any other eating habits) because I get to vape all my decadent goodies without the calories!

Glad to have you here Kahnigit! Keep us updated with your findings and experiences. Noobs can learn a lot.

Vape On!

 

[kiele]

Welcome to the forum!

To DingerCPA, I feel like I'm going to lose weight too. I just tried a Red Bull flavor last night and wowwwwww!!!!!

 

[Kahnighit]

This one is largely subjective based on your own personal thoughts of flavor/vapor production at various watts, as well as on your build. If your builds are, for the most part, going to stay around 1.2 ohms, then at 30 watts you would be pushing ~6 volts and ~5 amps, which in theory would be plenty of power and well within the amp limits of the most widely used batteries. Even if 6 volts is too high for your liking, you have the power to go there if you feel the need, whereas with a 20 watt device
your voltage limit would be closer to 5v or even a little under. Not a huge difference and it's one that you will need to decide based on personal preference. If you decide to build lower, say 1 ohm, then your max voltage output would drop, but only slightly. It's when you get into the sub-ohm coils that you are seeing the need (not just the want) for extremely high wattage devices to push enough power to the atomizer. I would definitely say that, based on your numbers, you would be more than happy with 30 watts and perhaps even have some cushion in the event you want more power or build slightly lower down the road. I run builds as low as .6 on my DNA30 devices often and am quite happy with the flavor and vapor from that. I enjoy .6 a bit more on a 50 watt device running at around 39 or 40 watts giving me ~4.8v, but that's personal preference. More often than not, I'm using a kayfun or expromiser rebuildable tank atomizer at around 1 - 1.2 ohms with my settings at or around the 20 - 22 watt range. This also depends on the juice I'm using. I like some juices more at lower power for whatever reason...

I'm liking your thinking on getting at least a 30 watt device. On your .6 ohm build what benefit are you getting from hitting it with ~40 watts as opposed to maxing out the 30w DNAs? Quicker response, more heat/vapor production, longer battery life?

I don't personally any of the Cloupor mods with Lipos, but I own 2 of the 18650 box mod clones, along with an authentic HANA that work just great, although keep in mind that the chip inside the Cloupor version is NOT a true 1:1 clone of the DNA-30. The IPV2 is a really nice mod IMO as well. It's 50w, so maybe a little more than what you need, but the SX330 chip inside is proven to be reliable, easy to use, and consistent.

Your 18650 box mod clones: are they from Fasttech? There's so much contradicting information on these forums about which is better. It seems the general consensus is that the FT Hana clone (latest version) is pretty good or, at least, people like it when/if it works. The IPV2 seems to have a different, more polarizing response. People either love it or hate it. I'm seeing way more power (still determining if the longer life applies to me) with stacked 18350s in my Vamo. I wonder if the same would be true in the smaller Li-Po FT DNA? So many options. I'll probably, ultimately end up getting 2 of these and then SQUIRREL find something new to obsess over.

11

Wow, that bad? I suspect one will always be able to purchase the hard equipment. I mean you can buy a water .... in pretty much any state. The proposed regulations, from the limited amount that I've read, are targeting pre-mixed juices, no? Are they also going after the nicotine concentrate? They couldn't go so far as to limit VG and PG or the various flavorings sold on their own. Wouldn't most of our beloved manufacturers just switch over to selling the non-assembled components? Just seems like this would be one of those situations that would be intensely hard to enforce.

I can't speak to most people, but I can say for me, I started at 18mg (briefly), then stepped to 12mg, down to 6mg/3mg in tanks and 3mg in drippers now, and 0mg with some juices in RDAs. I plan on going to 0mg completely at some point soon(ish), but I don't know that I will ever stop vaping completely, but regardless, I will never disconnect myself from the ~scene~ as it's become too much a part of my life now, and not just the vaping, but the community as a whole. Getting the opportunity to actually help others is motivation for me to stay strong.


Again, speaking for me only, I plan to cut out nicotine altogether within the 1-2 years hopefully.


Not sure. For me it will be from analog to vape to 0mg nicotine. We'll see what happens from there

My latest batch of orders are 6 or 12 mg. Now that I've got my dripper dialed in, I'm definitely getting some effects from the 18mg stuff in it. Once I get a better idea of what my go-to flavors are I'll probably order larger quantities in 0mg and keep some unflavored 24mg 50/50 around to mix batches for my clearos and dripper.

Thanks for the in depth response.

 

[Kahnighit]

Thanks eratik and j0sh!

 

[Kahnighit]

Thanks Dinger,

I don't know why but for whatever reason my transition wasn't gradual. The blu's have lived in various drawers around the house for years only getting desperately searched for when some oddball need arose. The Haus to the MVP to now was fairly quick. It's a bit shocking how different the experience is even spending less than $20 more. Also shocking that I didn't bother looking into it earlier considering how internet empowered DIY I am. Build my own PCs, started building my own furniture, create my own (and others) custom hockey jerseys. I kind of feel silly for not. Meh. I'm here now.

Did you get the BVC coils for the Nautilus? My mini version with them blows (pun intended) all the kanger dual coils I have out of the water.

I've ordered some dessert flavors. The fruits have been mostly disappointing though less so in the dripper. I've tried mostly grape, pear, watermelon and apple fruits. Beetleguise is on the to-order list along with maybe some strawberry and other melons. Maybe mixing in the mint will help. I never liked menthol analogs. Maybe the mint will be better in these flavors as it's serving a purpose in the flavor profile.

As I said in an earlier post. I think I'll ultimately end up somewhere between what you're doing with the DIY and just buying pre mixed. I'll get pre-mixed at 0mg nic and add later to taste. Particularly since I have no idea how long it'll take me to phase out of nic which is the ultimate goal that happens to have no timeline. I figure I've cut out 390 toxins by dropping the analogs. I can take my time on the last few.

Agreed on the stress reliever, hand/mouth distraction, and for me just a companion in the cigs. Awesome you've dropped some pounds. So many pack them on when quitting. Probably should be added to the general lists of why switching over to e-cigs is beneficial. I don't think I've seen that one pointed out before.

Thanks for responding and the welcome.

Be assured, I'll keep yammering.

 

[Kahnighit]

Welcome to the forum!

To DingerCPA, I feel like I'm going to lose weight too. I just tried a Red Bull flavor last night and wowwwwww!!!!!

Who's redbull flavor? juicemafia's Toro Blu is an interesting take on it.

 

[smgrundy]

I'm liking your thinking on getting at least a 30 watt device. On your .6 ohm build what benefit are you getting from hitting it with ~40 watts as opposed to maxing out the 30w DNAs? Quicker response, more heat/vapor production, longer battery life?

I just enjoy the flavor more at 39-40 watts which is roughly 4.8 volts. That's really all it boils down to. There are some juices that I like at less power, but not normally at higher power so I rarely (if ever) would need to be above 40 watts. That makes the IPV2 and/or the OKR-T/10 box mods perfect for me.

Your 18650 box mod clones: are they from Fasttech? There's so much contradicting information on these forums about which is better. It seems the general consensus is that the FT Hana clone (latest version) is pretty good or, at least, people like it when/if it works. The IPV2 seems to have a different, more polarizing response. People either love it or hate it. I'm seeing way more power (still determining if the longer life applies to me) with stacked 18350s in my Vamo. I wonder if the same would be true in the smaller Li-Po FT DNA? So many options. I'll probably, ultimately end up getting 2 of these and then SQUIRREL find something new to obsess over.

I received mine from two different places. The first one from Vapor Tek USA - Amazing Deals on Electronic Cigarettes! and the second was from
Eciggity!. Both seemed similar as far as operation, and both claimed to be from Cloupor, however, the one from eciggity seems to be of better quality. Both appear the same on the outside, however, on the inside, when I take the wire cover off, the one from vaportek is clearly not as "neat", although they both perform about the same. I couldn't compare it to the stacked 18350's in a vamo for two reasons, first and foremost, the Vamo can't hit 40 watts or anywhere close, so I don't think you can compare apples to apples there and two, I can't find my vamo right now to test it

Wow, that bad? I suspect one will always be able to purchase the hard equipment. I mean you can buy a water .... in pretty much any state. The proposed regulations, from the limited amount that I've read, are targeting pre-mixed juices, no? Are they also going after the nicotine concentrate? They couldn't go so far as to limit VG and PG or the various flavorings sold on their own. Wouldn't most of our beloved manufacturers just switch over to selling the non-assembled components? Just seems like this would be one of those situations that would be intensely hard to enforce.

It's not necessarily the juice regulation that I am personally afraid of, as I'm hoping to be nicotine free well before then (I am VERY worried, however, for those that will still need it and those just starting). My main concern is about them limiting or regulating anything developed after 2007, which is about 90% of what I use (and most others use) today. This would mean that the vast majority of safety features that have been added to e-cigs in the last few years would no longer be available without obtaining approval, however, the older equipment and perhaps less focused on safety, may be the only things accessible. That's extremely counter-productive, potentially dangerous, and just plain stupid. Most of the products needing approval will simply die as they can't afford the estimated 3-4 million and close to 5,000 hours of research & testing with highly paid professionals to survive the application process. We all know what evolv has done for this industry, not just in terms of features given to us for a better user experience, but in terms of safety. Even though they are certainly successful, I highly doubt they can easily afford 3-4 million dollars, 5,000 hours of no sales, all with the risk of never making it back to market.

In addition to manufacturers going away, the new trend of small business owners who have opened vape shops around the country to educate and help people find a safer alternative to smoking would be forced to close up shop as well as they would be left with close to nothing as far as products go, causing an economic impact and increasing unemployment.

Who does this leave? Big tobacco. They are the ones with the cash to survive the approval process and leaving your health in their hands is most likely what go you here in the first place.

I'm not necessarily against regulation to some extent either, as there are a lot of things coming to market I'm not particularly fond of personally, and I think the industry as a whole may be veering slightly off course from the "help the quitter quit" mentality it used to have. I'm not against progression either. I personally own and use several advanced devices that would be considered "progressive" and truly believe that this progression from what I started with (ego style) is what kept my interest and ultimately added to my motivation to stay off of analogs. /soapbox rant

My latest batch of orders are 6 or 12 mg. Now that I've got my dripper dialed in, I'm definitely getting some effects from the 18mg stuff in it. Once I get a better idea of what my go-to flavors are I'll probably order larger quantities in 0mg and keep some unflavored 24mg 50/50 around to mix batches for my clearos and dripper.

Thanks for the in depth response.

Yes! I definitely needed to cut my nic in half (or more with some juices) when dripping. Completely different experience for sure.

Best of luck to you!!

 

[DingerCPA]

Yes, I did order up some BVC coils. I have one of the BDCs in one Nauti, and a 1.8 BVC in the other. I made a huge mistake last night and tried to vape some previously-purchased juice (that I didn't care much for, even back then) hoping that it would somehow magically "improve" in the Nauti. I ended up dumping that tank, but didn't try to clean the coil. Thought that I could vape through what was left. Alas, I'm still getting tiny hints of it (fortunately somewhat of a complimentary flavor), but it's bumming me out ever so slightly.

I'm reading that I can try soaking/dry-burning the coil to clean it out somewhat. Hopefully that will help a bit. Otherwise, off to a new coil

Love the Avi, btw

 

[Kahnighit]

smgrundy,

I think I'm going to sit on making a decision on a 30+ watt regulated mod for a couple weeks. If I can. Stupid expensive hobbies that are even more dangerous to the wallet because they have the built in justification of "it's better for me than the alternative". It's how I became an ice hockey goalie. =/

From what I've gathered the stacked 18350s in the vamo outperform a single 18650 due to the chip. @ 8w in the staked I get a sizzle that takes 12-14w using the 18650 to replicate. Hooking the vamo up to the voltmeter running at 7.5w i get a 6v reading with an 18650. The stacked 18350s produce 8v when set to 7.5w. Dunno. I gotta assume that a better chip isn't going to have this limitation with the 18650, right? Another compelling justification to get a 30+w box mod.


RE: legislation. Perhaps the world hasn't beat all the optimism out of me quite yet. I just don't see how it's going to be practical for anyone to enforce regulations on the delivery devices when so many states can't regulate ....s, hookas and the like. I can buy a one-hitter pipe at the gas station around the corner and ......... isn't legal in my state. When you boil it down what part of the mod makes it the mod? You can't regulate just the chip because you've left out all the mechs. You can't really regulate a mech cause it's a glorified flashlight. Can you/they regulate a 510 connector? It's analagous to an AR-15. Only one part is the one the ATF cares about in terms of registering and it's one of the least "gun" looking parts. Regardless, it boils down to trying to regulate the "drug" aka "toxin" aka "dangerous to the public" material and/or the delivery device. It just seems like there's alot of legal precedence that would ultimately undo whatever they do. Thanks, in no small part, to big tobacco fighting it all these years.

As far as your concerns about R/D. Though regulation would probably cripple it I doubt it'll kill it all together. We're not the only country who uses these things. A company like Evolv could simply change their business model and verbiage to "creating the most consistent, intuitive and high tech mobile power regulation devices on the market today." Nudge, nudge, wink wink. Problem solved. It actually seems like they've already future-proofed themselves based on the information on their website. Innokin, Sigelei, Pioneer4you (green leaf) are all foreign companies anyway.

Yes the B&M's will probably take a hit. But the clever business owners will find the loop holes, rebrand, relabel and forge ahead. The B&M's looking for the quick sale while taking advantage of the uniformed and gouging them will hopefully disappear.

Lastly, Big Tobbaco is being incredibly short sighted on this. Similar to big oil. They should be transitioning their bushiness models instead of fighting, obstructing, kicking and screaming the whole way. Imagine if Phillip Morris got behind and mass produced a DNA30 type mod. They'd instantly consume a majority of the market share. Nope, lets inhibit growth of this industry while fewer and fewer young people start smoking.

Anyway, interesting times. We're in for a show.

Dinger,
I've found the vodka soak to be the most effective. I know, waste of alcohol. It's the cheapo gallon stuff used in frozen drinks though so no big deal.
Thanks for the avi compliment

 

[kiele]

Mt. Baker Vapors' Demon Energy. I guess it's supposed to be Monster flavored, but tastes like Red Bull to me.