The madness begins...

[Mudfinger]

I just got into vaping/steaming a couple weeks ago, after trying one of those Blu disposables. I know a good thing when I see it, or in this case inhale it, so after taking a look on the Internet, I bought an eGo starter kit from Envy. Great deal! 2 batteries, 2 clearomizers, some smoke juice, a wall/usb charger, and a couple other doodads like a carrying pouch and button guards, all delivered in a handsome box only 3 days after I placed my order. Very satisfied with the folks at Envy.

But, I do see the limitations of my rig, particularly the clearomizers. I got a solid week of use out of the first one, although there was a bit of dripping, particularly where the the tank was joined to the battery screwplate. I think that was at least partly due to operator error; I probably screwed the clearo on too tight, and I'm sure that I held it by the tank at least a few times before noticing cracks at the edge of the tank, at which point I got wise, and took a bit more care with it. My 2nd clearo is in much better shape than the 1st was a few days in.

Still...replacing clearomizers every week or so in perpetuity doesn't thrill me, and their capacity is a bit on the low side. So, after taking a look around ECF, I decided to give the Kanger T3 a go. Ordered the tank and a set of 5 attys. I'll let yall know how it goes, of course.

Looking forward, I can see the appeal of the larger tanks, like the Vision Vivi Nova. I wouldn't mind a larger diameter PV, but the length of my current eGo setup is just a hair longer than I would like it to be. I see plenty of larger batteries, but most of them are much longer than the eGo batteries I'm currently using, which are listed on Envy's website as 650mAH each. Is this something I'll have to fabricate, or is there a retail option I'm missing?

 

[droknich]

Hey Mud,
Sounds like you want to take a look at some 18350 or 14500 mods. The 18350 battery is pretty stubby and its around 6-800mah. Something like the Smoktech Natural Mechanical mod may be shorter than a 650 ego in 18350 mode, but you don't get the nice features of a VV/VW mod. The evic with a 18350 battery tube is tad longer, but not anywhere near as long as a 18650. Diameter is increased quite a bit, but I find tanks and bigger 'toppers' look better on them and are more stable if you like to stand it up.

Thing with the VV and VW's is the electronics take up a good bit of space, so finding one thats small and powerful, is gonna be pretty hard.

Some options (but there almost all longer :/ )
Legacy Mini
Evic with a 18350 tube (buy tube and control head to make it evic 'mini')
Smoktech Natural
Zmax Mini
Pro Vari Mini
A KGO VV is only a tiny bit longer than a ego 650 and its quite powerfull for its size

 

[diegobre]

I would suggest a tank system ..... using CLEAR e-liquids (they don't clog the coils so quickly).
If you can afford it, try a variable voltage cigarette (provari is very good, but expensive).

 

[r77r7r]

there is an ego 350-400 size- just google it. I believe it also comes as a variable volt at that size also. A 650 is considered small around here

You can use a shorty carto/shorty drip tip on it to make it even smaller.

There are also great quality versions of the ciggie size.

 

[rockb4]

Check into the ego-t 2 upgrade mod. Can get 18350 and 18650 tubes. These will require separate batteries and a charger also.

Joye EGO-T 2 MOD

 

[Mudfinger]

Thanks for the replies! Some food for thought, indeed. The Evic and Smoktech are both similar to what I had in mind, so I now have some retail options to consider while I test out the Kanger that is currently on its way to me, courtesy of Vaporbeast. The eGo-T 2 also looks pretty nice.

Those eGo mini batteries sure do look...cute...but 650mAH is just about a day's worth of electricity, so I'm not keen on anything like that, including cigarette-sized units. A bit more amp-hours would be welcome, but the one feature of my current rig that is totally kopasetic is battery life.

 

[darkhood]

Replaceable batt mods are your next step along w/ either a carto tank or some sort of atomizer tank like the kanger protank comin out soon (this weekend? hope so...). Also might wanna try dripping and eventually RBA's.

 

[Mudfinger]

Replaceable batt mods are your next step along w/ either a carto tank or some sort of atomizer tank like the kanger protank comin out soon (this weekend? hope so...). Also might wanna try dripping and eventually RBA's.

I'm a big fan of rebuildable hardware, as a general rule, yeah. As new as I am to all of this, and as broke as I happen to be right now, I'll be taking steps in the short term towards making my upfront and daily expenses as limited as possible. I can live with the eGo battery for now, so I'll focus my efforts on tanks and DIY juice.

Most likely, I'll let the VV/VW bus pass me by; as it stands, my main source of displeasure with my current rig stems from the smallish capacity of the CE4 clearomizers that came with my starter kit, and their short lifespan. Second to that is the expense of juice. If the T3 holds enough juice to keep me going for the day, and has a reasonable lifespan, I'll be set for a long time in terms of hardware.

What I anticipate, though, is that the T3 may also be too small for a full day of use, which will lead me to something more like the Vivi Nova or the Protank, at which point I'll be looking for a larger diameter battery to go with it.

Something fully rebuildable, with glass or pyrex instead of plastic for the tank and atty, and a simple mechanical battery setup is the most likely end result of this whole process. Or not, we'll see!

 

[darkhood]

btw I have 3 vivi's - they're great except for the occasional dry hits and turning it upside down all the time to soak the wicks plus they rob flavor so def try one out but also carto tanks (I hate cartos personally so am patiently waiting for the protank to arrive but lots of ppl here use carto tanks and swear by em). If I was you tho I'd look into 18350, 18650, 14500, etc mods. Keep in mind w/ your current batts being non-vv you'll have less options when it comes to the ohms you can use - 2.0 is rly tops for a 3.7 volt batt so any carto tank u try will have to be 2ohms or less plus 2 of the 3 heads that come w/ a vivi will produce lil to no vapor.

 

[darkhood]

I'm a big fan of rebuildable hardware, as a general rule, yeah. As new as I am to all of this, and as broke as I happen to be right now, I'll be taking steps in the short term towards making my upfront and daily expenses as limited as possible. I can live with the eGo battery for now, so I'll focus my efforts on tanks and DIY juice.

Most likely, I'll let the VV/VW bus pass me by; as it stands, my main source of displeasure with my current rig stems from the smallish capacity of the CE4 clearomizers that came with my starter kit, and their short lifespan. Second to that is the expense of juice. If the T3 holds enough juice to keep me going for the day, and has a reasonable lifespan, I'll be set for a long time in terms of hardware.

What I anticipate, though, is that the T3 may also be too small for a full day of use, which will lead me to something more like the Vivi Nova or the Protank, at which point I'll be looking for a larger diameter battery to go with it.

Something fully rebuildable, with glass or pyrex instead of plastic for the tank and atty, and a simple mechanical battery setup is the most likely end result of this whole process. Or not, we'll see!

Ya like I just said, your batt presents limited options but u can try a LR carto tank. 2 of the 3 vivi heads will be basically useless to you especially considering the fact that every 2.4 head I've ever read is 2.6 or over - not rly suitable for a non-vv ego. Protank is 2.2 to 2.4 ohms I think so iffy on ur current batt. Oh and definitely DIY juice - best thing I've done since switching from cigs. If u wanna do it the easy way u can just buy nic base @ watever mg u vape and just add flavor - way I do it.

a vivi + 5-pack of 1.8ohm heads would work btw but vivi heads always rate higher than what they're labeled as - most 1.8's read around 2.2 - not rly ideal @3.7 volts but u can get away w/ it i guess.

 

[Mudfinger]

The T3 arrived today. I've been steaming away the past couple hours, and at the moment I have only positive things to say about it. Almost 2x the capacity of the CE4s I got with my eGo kit, thicker vapor, allows for faster draw, etc.

It's a bit longer than my original setup (5.5" instead of 5"), and the drip tip is less substantial then the CE4 tips are, but most of the extra length is in the drip tip, which can be trimmed enough to bring me back down to the same length I had before.

I'll post again after a couple days; right now, zero leaks, which was a constant issue with the CE4s after the first day, and there are many similarities between the T3 and the CE4 in terms of construction. Still, so far...winning!

 

[Mudfinger]

Day 2, loving the T3/eGo setup; even with the 2.4ohm atty. Much better than the CE4s were, all the way around, including battery life...

 

[jfalbanese]

who let all these non smokers in here?

 

[Mudfinger]

So much for the madness...

A standard 650mah eGo battery and a T3 are hitting all the marks for me, so for the short-term, I'm good on hardware. Time to check out DIY juices!

 

[Offday]

I started on an ego set up myself. I've stepped up since then, maybe a little too much by some standards...but anyway. If your on a budget, you can always get another ego battery like a 900-1000 muah and screw any tank on them. Not a fan of the twist batteries simply because they're long...too long and you end up with a magic wand.
But that's just me, if you're interested in a big battery mechanical go for an ego 18350 or 18650 tube mod, they go for about $20 online
Of course there's the batteries and charger you'll need. Mountain Vapor sells a straight mechanical 18350 or 18650 for $15 and $17 respectively. Yes that's not a typo. They come in kits too for about $33 for the tube, 2 ultra fire batteries and a tank, ( I personally don't like the tank) but if you buy the tube alone you can add the 2 battery's and a charger for very near the kit price that doesn't come with a charger
Oh yeah. The standard ego 900mah batteries are about $17 each online

 

[albcig]

this is the cheapest most reliable setup i have. no matter what i vape, this one is always in my pocket. it is a 1300 mah battery 15-20$. smoktech tank 8-10$. smoktech carto 1.9-2.3$. you wont believe how good this thing vapes and hits (and i do have genesis and big batteries here ).

 

[Mudfinger]

I started on an ego set up myself. I've stepped up since then, maybe a little too much by some standards...but anyway. If your on a budget, you can always get another ego battery like a 900-1000 muah and screw any tank on them. Not a fan of the twist batteries simply because they're long...too long and you end up with a magic wand.
But that's just me, if you're interested in a big battery mechanical go for an ego 18350 or 18650 tube mod, they go for about $20 online
Of course there's the batteries and charger you'll need. Mountain Vapor sells a straight mechanical 18350 or 18650 for $15 and $17 respectively. Yes that's not a typo. They come in kits too for about $33 for the tube, 2 ultra fire batteries and a tank, ( I personally don't like the tank) but if you buy the tube alone you can add the 2 battery's and a charger for very near the kit price that doesn't come with a charger
Oh yeah. The standard ego 900mah batteries are about $17 each online

Thanks, Offday, that 18350 mod from Mountain Vapor will probably be my next hardware upgrade. I really like the Dingo, but no one seems to have it. First things first, though, I'm going to order some nicotine solution and DIY supplies for making my own smoke juice.

On the Kanger: working like a champ! I just started to get some gurgling yesterday, but it was very intermittent. I'm still on my first atty, so I'll swap in a fresh one when it starts to annoy me. Found a great writeup here on ECF regarding wick replacement for the T3, so I'll be trying that out when I've got a used atty to play with.

Good times.

 

[Mudfinger]

Just ordered the 18350 mod from Mountain Vapor, along with a charger and an extra battery. Hopefully, it will arrive before my camping trip on the 20th...

 

[bugale29]

I advise(recommend) a vamo which is VW and use all the batteries(drum kits) and furthermore is not dear(expensive)

 

[Mudfinger]

I advise(recommend) a vamo which is VW and use all the batteries(drum kits) and furthermore is not dear(expensive)

Too long, and I don't see any need for a VV/VW at this point. I'm getting very thick vapor with my eGo/T3 rig, running 2.5ohm attys. Thanks for the recommendation all the same.

This morning, I'm checking out the larger diameter bottom coil clearomizers and even tanks. Boy, those Phiniacs sure are purty...