Too many variables!

[donnah]

Ok.. I'm gonna whine a minute! Before I do, I need to say that no matter how confusing... I never want to stop vaping and go back to smoking! With that being said.........

Sometimes it's the batteries (right now I'm using eGo batteries) Is it strong enough? Is it losing it's charge? Am I keeping it on the charger too long? Is it getting too old? Do I need to buy more? Do I need to buy something else? What is more cost effective? (these are questions I keep asking myself)

when I think I've got a good handle on the battery, the atomizer starts giving me problems (using regular 510) Is it getting hot enough? why am I getting such thin vapor? (could it be the battery? The juice that I just diy? ) could it be gunked up? Why is my new atomizer not producing much vapor after only 2 days? I rinse and burn (using Highping's atty resurrection method) and it works for a few hours and then the vapor tapers off.. the atomizer once again does not get hot enough to really vaporize the juice. (I tend to use the darker juices like chocolate and waffles)

And then the whold damn atty leaks! If I use it on the regular 510 passthrough here at the computer I have to keep a paper towel with me cause it leaks all the time. (and all over me) This is why I like the cone on the eGo, it contains the leaking.

And then when I think I've got the battery and the atomizer figured out I get confused about the juice.. I just started diy and I thought I understood it alright but then I see someone tell someone else that they need to cut the nic juice lower cause they've only left enough room for 8% flavoring WTH does that mean? Where does that figure into the calculations? I thought I just added the percentage of flavor I wanted and the calculator would calculate the rest. It makes me rethink my decision/desire to diy and just order the premixed stuff.

Sometimes everything works just perfect... the atty is producing great vapor and th and the juice is producing great flavor. And then the next day (or hour..or minute) something changes and I'm back to wondering which variable In this whole equation needs adjusting.. changing.. charging..throwing away!

I don't have the money to go out and buy the nice, big, pretty, shiney vv mods and besides that I don't think I need to chase the perfect vape and/or get the newest expensive mod. I have ordered a nice neat little 3.7 box mod from Brad with rechargeable batteries, I'm thinking of pairing it with some LR atties but then without the cone that I have with the eGo battery I'm afraid the thing will leak.

I ask myself, am I expecting too much? It gets frustrating to feel "Hey, I understand this now!" only to feel like I'm back to square one the next day. I was thinking of splurging on a buzz.. a nice no frills vv device and I found one in the classifeds but the person selling it said he was selling cause he liked his eGo better! I don't want to spend $100 and then like my eGo better!

I understand why people get frustrated and go back to smoking. I can't even imagine trying to understand the ins and outs of vaping if I didn't have ECF to come to. I love vaping. I love not smoking. I love being able to go to work and not be self conscious about people smelling me. I love to be able to go to my Mom's after work and not work about being smelly. But I hate being so obsessed over figuring out why this is doing that. I don't really care if one of the variable is doing something .. off.. I just want to know WHY so I can fix it! There's just too many different things that can go wrong for too many different reasons!

I started vaping back last July and quit regular cigarettes in October with no effort. I just needed to vent to someone who might understand what I am feeling. Thanks for listening.

 

[Bozzlite]

I understand your frustration.

I'll address some of your questions in your second paragraph.

Is it strong enough? Yes.

Is it losing it's charge? Should be good for about 300 cycles. I am still using the original Ego batts that I got back in July 2010. They are working just fine, but probably close to the end of their life.

Am I keeping it on the charger too long? That is not a problem. No harm is done.

Is it getting too old? If it's still working for you, then no.

Do I need to buy more? Yes, always have back-ups on hand.

Well, I can't address the rest of your problems right now. All I can say is hang in there.

Where are you getting your juices from. What kind of juices are you using. This all makes a difference in how the attys and the battys function.

It takes a while, but I have settled in with Genuine Joy Cartomizers and Freedom Smoke USA tobacco juices such as Maxboro, Pure cig, American Spirit, and Pall Mall.

If you are using sweet bakery type juices, or heavy syrupy type juices such as maple syrup, or waffle, etc, you are going to have problems with the attys more so than with a clear or semi clear type liquid.

I am really suggesting that you get back to the basics. You seem to be trying to do too much complicated stuff at one time.
Get away from the DIY juices for a while. You can only save so much money.

How much did you spend on cigs before you started vaping?

Well, I wish the best for you and hope that you can work out some of your problems.

 

[toto1013]

Oh yes...I so identify!!!!!! I find myself wanting a cig to deal with the headaches of vaping.

 

[pianoguy]

You might consider something like the Bulli A2 rebuildable atomizer. It's a little expensive up front, but conceivably you'd never have to buy another atty, and it might be more well-suited to the type of juices you're using. A very nice vape that is extremely economical in the long run, and you can make them to your liking. Check out this review thread:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...a2-diy-atomiser-similar-nhaler-ato-miser.html

If you do decide to order one, you can buy 75 feet of kanthal wire on e-bay for $4 (seeing how each atty only takes a couple inches of wire, imagine how many atty's you can make with 75 feet). But you'll want to buy plenty of spare wick material from Bulli, as nobody has found a better wick substitute. I'd recommend the stainless version of the atty, and a few spare cartridges.

 

[keyzygirl]

I still get frustrated with it and Ive been vaping a long time.Its worth it.

 

[pianoguy]

I still get frustrated with it and Ive been vaping a long time.Its worth it.

Amen to that! I've sorted out and eliminated most of the frustrations, and am so glad I stuck with it.

 

[Stosh]

I'm with you, started vaping in July, and was frustrated for a longer than I like to remember. Trying all sorts of different "it's the latest, greatest" answers to the perfect vape.

Then I broke it down, vaping is a power source, heater, juice supplier, and juice. Finding which of each that works best for you is the trick. I found after some different trials, 3.7v works best for my everyday vaping needs, on most every one of my flavors. Bought a PV-1, rock solid, (keep my ego charged for some of my delicate juice). Tried every atty and carto in every resistance made, found that a CE2 with some small pieces of shrink tubing to prevent cracking works best for me (at 2.8 ohms) YMMV.
I have attys and cartos in my stash, that are now relegated to backup status.

Juices I DIY, but here's where KISS is important. A simple single flavor to start, don't fret the exact nic level so long as you're within 2-3 mg/mL. Small sample batches, and taste your cooking, needs a little sweet, more flavor, a drop or two is plenty for a 5mL bottle. The flavorings that don't work out with my nic juices, I can add a bunch of sugar and make lollipops, no waste. (so long as there's no nic in them)

 

[donnah]

Thanks so much for the support and advice! I just get frustrated sometimes and need to vent..

right now everything is hitting just right.. great vapor, throat hit and vapor. But that could change at any time and I get frustrated trying to figure out what it is that needs fixing (charging, changing, sweetening, diluting, cleaning, added or trashed) I know that vaping the darker juices like I do is harder on the atty than the clear juices so I can't really complain about that one.

And don't worry about me not hanging in there.. I'm not going anywhere!

 

[timato]

Never had success with diy juice, seemed like my results were way too inconsistent. I hope I never have to diy again!

 

[jplanet]

Funny, a few weeks ago I was going to make an almost identical post, but another helpful ECF member set me on the right track. I also use an eGo, and this is what I've learned to make it a predictable and reliable experience: (This all assumes dripping with an eGo/510 for the most consistent flavor and strength)

1) Starting with a fresh clean atty: blow out any primer, put 5 or 6 drops and let it sit for a minute
2) Take a few puffs until it tastes a little icky, then top off with 2-3 drops - no more unless you are positive you can go up to 4

Once you have a new atty started:

1) Only drip as much as you will vape, and vape until it tastes like you need to drip again before putting it down. Leaving juice in the atty while not using it will clog it up
2) When not vaping, leave it on its side - NOT standing up. Leaving it standing up will cause liquid to drip into the small holes and gunk it up.
3) When vaping, hold it horizontally - again, on its side - do not point it up or down
4) Always error on the side of dripping too little.
5) If it's getting hot, put it down for a bit. If you need to chain vape, have two PVs to switch between so one will always have a chance to cool.

The key to a good experience with the eGo, I have found, is to keep it sideways, and not leave it sitting with liquid in it. Holding it straight down, or leaving it standing up seems to cause leaks. And so does dripping too much.

Since doing this, I have found that my eGo performs reliably every time I want to use it. I wish these tips had been in the eGo manual when I bought it - I was going nuts wondering why some days I would get no vapor, and found myself constantly boiling/washing/dry burning atties. Now my atties go weeks without any cleaning or maintenance with no issues. And I use some thick VG juices that many people seem to have issues with.

 

[donnah]

Great advice jplanet! Thanks!!

 

[donnah]

Never had success with diy juice, seemed like my results were way too inconsistent. I hope I never have to diy again!

WoW!! Have you got all the big boy toys or what! I like doing diy.. it seems appeal to the creative side of me.. for now anyway.. I really like the tasty vapor juices though and how they send preflavored nic juice and preflavored "doublers".. it gives the feel of diy without really going through the hastle of diy.. plus I like to mix different tv flavors.. maybe tobacco nic juice with vanilla doubler or something like that. I can imagine getting tired of diy and going back to them... but we'll see what happens. It's all fun whether it works out or not.

 

[jplanet]

Great advice jplanet! Thanks!!

I hope it helps! Also, I forgot to mention - once I had that part down, I realized that the only variable I was really dealing with were the atties. I can get a good hit off the eGo right up until the battery light blinks. I don't DIY juices yet (maybe someday), so I can see that involving a lot of trial and error - I can see how that factor can make having predictable performance of everything else key to knowing what to adjust...

 

[daisyd]

Please point me to the shrink tubing to prevent cracks thread. I had had this thought, but if someone else already troubleshot it, that would be awesome. TIA

 

[pixiedust]

wow..can I ever identify with what you said. What makes it even worse is that I have always considered myself pretty 'handy' there's nothing that can go wrong with a computer that I can't fix, but I have no clue why an atty that has never leaked is now leaking or why I can barely taste the juice I was loving a few hours earlier. It just shouldn't be this hard.

 

[donnah]

wow..can I ever identify with what you said. What makes it even worse is that I have always considered myself pretty 'handy' there's nothing that can go wrong with a computer that I can't fix, but I have no clue why an atty that has never leaked is now leaking or why I can barely taste the juice I was loving a few hours earlier. It just shouldn't be this hard.

Like I said.. to many variables!! Too many different things can go wrong with too many different things (does that even make sense?) I've gotten so much great advice! Thanks everyone for their replies and maybe the ones out there like me can benefit from all this good advice. (I even learned how to make my own atty!) ((not that I will but it's nice to know how if I wanted to LOL))