Traps to avoid?

[X P3 Flight Engineer]

6 in a year? I thought they were supposed to last like 6 months?

After 6 months my 1000mAh Twist is starting to hold a charge for less time now than when it was new. New it lasted me 6 hours on a charge, now it lasts about 5 hours, but I may be using it at higher voltage than I was before. For the price they are still a bargain and since improved gear is coming out several times a year (at least, Lol) I would find it impractical to pay for something that would last forever, but be outdated within a year.

Ego's are disposables. They will charge ~250 times. I was charging mine 3 to 4 times per day. YMMV You do the math

The 250-300 charge cycles refers to complete charge cycles so if it was charged at half charge the number of charges would be 500-600 charge cycles. The 1000mah Twist lasts for about 6 hours on a charge and takes about 3 hours to charge, so, yeah, when you do the math on 3 to 4 cycles in a 24 hour period it does get interesting.

How long do they last on a single charge?

Depending on the voltage setting, the Twist lasts me from 5 to 12 hours. I use a low setting for light fruit flavored juice and a low resistance head. I use higher voltage for heavier juice and higher resistance heads. Although they say that higher resistance at higher voltage gives longer battery life, in fact when the voltage is boosted above the actual battery voltage with a buck boost circuit (like the Twist and ProVari) the losses negate any advantage. Most people vape near 4 volts and on a Twist this lasts about 6 hours. YMMV

*****

Most of the gear that I use today was not available last year. It was impossible to skip the steps that I would have avoided because the gear I would have skipped to was not available at the time.

I would have skipped Variable Voltage and gone to Variable Wattage, but it was not readily available for a reasonable price at the time. Now it is readily available for $39.95. I would have bought the Nova and only one of each of the other cartos, clearos, and attys, instead of the dozens (some of them, several dozen) of each! Lol

Creativity and competition is driving the technology faster than ever before. Things are becoming reliable, standards will be set and adhered to. Right now, I believe, joyetech is the only manufacturer who meets any electrical safety standard. Things are improving and I hope that soon all manufacturers will meet safety standards voluntarily, if not they will eventually be compulsory. Things are looking up!

 

[damthisisfun]

Blu disposable and Pro smoke made me quit - wish I had done it years ago...........

 

[DC2]

There is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to vaping.
That's just the nature of the beast.

This poll shows quite clearly how diverse we all are in what we need from the vaping experience...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ou-put-down-those-last-couple-cigarettes.html

You can only know what you need by getting started and trying.

If you're lucky, you'll stumble onto what works for you quickly.
And if you're not picky about it, then the field of what can work for you expands greatly.

But in the end, it is what it is.

 

[SissySpike]

Its all about the journey kinda like life. It takes the bad stuff to make ya strong and helps you apriciate the good stuff. When I bought the Mall ecig it did what it was supposed to do so I wouldn't change a thing. Glad Im here enjoying this forum with all of you good people!

 

[X P3 Flight Engineer]

I started with cig-alikes and progressed by steps as I found better gear. I have tried to "jump start" people with more advanced gear so they could avoid the trials I went through. None of them stuck with it. I'm thinking, maybe these steps are as important (maybe more so) than the end result of Fabulous Gear. Maybe it makes the transition easier.

It is discouraging to not be able to help others, but maybe we all have to make the mistakes to learn from them, or maybe starting small makes it easier.

The couple that I recommended the Volt to (because they wanted a cig-alike with a light on the end, Lol) stuck with it!
Go figger'

 

[damthisisfun]

I am happy with my KGO 1100mah, YJ VV and pass through. Am happy with limited ability to rewick and recoil......quest for good DIY juice continues as does quest for affordable ready made ones...........

 

[Johnnie Price]

I probably would have gone straight for the ego clone I'm planning on buying after Christmas rather than progressing from the cig-alikes to the standard 510 I have now.

Nothing else to change though. I buy from an over-priced vendor because they buy ad time on my favorite podcast and I'll continue to buy my hardware from them.

I don't plan on progressing past the 510 and ego. I work outdoors across 3 counties every day, so losing out on $40 bucks of equipment is much easier to handle than losing say, a Provari. Disposability and portability is a benefit to me.

 

[darkmader]

Great topic. Hell, I didn't really know about the $70+ batteries until I actually read this. I did probably 20+ hours of research on e-cigs, like I do with anything that I buy. I bought 2 ego twists, one was 900 mah that was a twister and the other 1300 is a spinner, it came from different places so I don't know the difference between the two.

Next was the vivi nova tank. Have that, it works fine, switched it out and put different e-juices in and have no complaints. I did buy some smoketec dual carto's too and they work fine unless I change juices. I re-filled them many of times, and your $3 carto that some people throw away you can re-use them. I'm going to boil my 3 cartos, hit the youtube vid of that dark haired guy that is well respected, but it might take 5 boils to get rid 100% of the flavor that was left there. I'm on a budget so that is what I'm going to do, along with my wicks from the vivi nova.

Now for e-juices, it's a long story but the first day I vaped I puked my guts out. I figured that I was going strong with 24mg of tabacco flavor and some vanilla that I bought my twister from, well being a newb, I twisted my vivi the wrong way and some juice went into my cotton pajamas, I didn't think of rinsing it off right away, as I was doing research on here. I took a nap and the next thing you knew I was dry heaving and then I threw up a little. Went back to bed as of course I wasn't feeling well, then 3 hours later, woke up and ran to the bathroom and puked my guts out. I wanted to think it was the can of chicken that I ate, but the same effects of food poisoning, which I never had ever before, is the same with nicotine poisoning too. So yeah, when you dump (espeically 24mg) on yourself, make sure your rinse it off right away, as it absorbed and it just wasn't a fun day.

So I didn't give up and went on a hunt to tried to find some juice that was good as I was about done with e-cigs. That is where I ran into Mt Baker Vapor - Electronic Cigarettes, USA made E Juice, and Accessories 3 weeks ago they were not well known, just a few threads here and there in the general forum, but WOW, now they exploded on here and for a good reason. They don't sell a lot of parts there, and they don't pretend as I just randomly called their # and talked to a guy for 35 minutes or so. They work 80 hours a week on this and grind like no other as they have 2nd jobs too, but for selling 15ml for $5 a pop is unheard of. I think they will take over as the biggest supplier of e-juice in a matter of months as all you need to do is search the general forum or e-juice forum and EVERBODY gives them rave reviews. Hell, you order it on Sat. it will ship on Sat. too, that's unheard of.

I got the extreme ice, the best i've ever had, and got literally 3 people hooked on e-cigs because of that. There is a reason why the owner of the site has this for his all day vape.

Besides that, they have a few great hits. Carmel Apple is fantastic along with the ecto cooler, blueberry, peach and by reviews I could post more, and I will do that after I hit my 5 posts and not be a newbie. I have some that is literally in the mailand I'm excited to try them. Point is this, I've gone through different places but I guess now, after I vaped for a month and content with my setup, mtbakervapor.com for e-juice hands down and I really don't think there is a debate about it for price/performance and that is what we all care about.

I don't mean to sound like an infomercial as I'm new to the game but I want to support these guys and they are the best.

 

[greenground]

" would have skipped it all and wait straight to a provari" ....... that makes me sad I was thinking of doing that but just ended up going with a ego kit. I just want to vape to really want to think to much about the detail and figured when my ego is completely bust then I can get a fancy mod.

 

[mafig]

i like simplicity in my set up,practical in usage and plenty of backups incase of mulfunction or lost due to carelessness..nothing worst than an e-cig that is problematic..i buy multiple sets during sales and e-liquids by the kilo..happy vaping everyone..regards mafig ps my fav is the eGo VV coupled with metal casing cartomizer without filler,i tried many types but only this setup i am fully satisfied..was 30+yrs ex-smoker now vaping in my 2nd year..i dont collect hardwares/accessories on e-cig for looks..but vaping has changed my habit on analogs..will spend as much as i need to..will be needing more stock for my backups down to 3 last sets i now have

 

[DPLongo22]

I wouldn't have started smoking in 1975.

 

[BlkWolfMidnight]

Hum, Can't say that I did it wrong...
Started out on the eGo Tank system which taught me what good vaping was all about, also atomizer/ecig general maintenance.
Went to a Tube mod, this taught me that Ohm's can be and usually are as effective at controlling your vape as the voltage. I learned to accept what is and this is well worth the experience.
Went to LT, taught me that you vape to taste and warmth rather then a chart or numbers, it was a good experience to play with the ranges of things.
Picked up a APV VV/VW and could never be loving life more drawing on the experience of my journey.
In short, I think that its a journey, the destination is important but the lessons you learn along the way are priceless. As once was said to me a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single footstep, well you've taken that already by being here at the ECF, so enjoy the rest of it.

 

[phxemt]

I would not have bought this short wick clearomizer that I'm using right now. I guess it will be easier to clean but now that it's getting low on juice, it's being a pain in my ... I will stick to the long wick or wickless.

 

[cedric212]

Traps to avoid? Hmmm...not necessary traps per se, but below are some suggestions based on my vaping experience:

1)Skip the Ego/Kgo/Spinner 'disposables' if possible (or start with just one) and get a APV
2)Make sure to have either a APV with resistance reading function or DMM (HF $5 Centech is fine) if you plan to go into rebuilding/mod
3)For atty/clearo/carto, it's not just about how good the FTV production is, but also what kind of taste coming off the medium (polyfill, sillica, ss, cotton, etc.) can you tolerate when you get a dry hit. No matter how 'GOOD' a atty/clearo/carto is, you WILL get a dry hit on occasion (especially when you chain vape), and the tastes you get off can range from harsh to unbearable.
4)Label your bottles if you DIY, it's not fun when you accidentally mixup your PG and menthol drop but it would of been deadly if it was my 100mg/ml nic (I use a cobolt bottle for my nic concentrated specifically for this reason). Nicotine is used as an insecticide, so do handle it with EXTREME care.
5)Provari or not, take care of your devices and gadgets it'll take care of you.
6)It's easy to overspend on eliquids and gadgets, so:

-Setup a budget and monitor your spending using a spreadsheet
-There will always be something better and cheaper down the road, so don't go chasing down newly released devices or whatnot
-Most of the $$$ spent on vaping goes into your ejuice, so DIY your own eliquid to cut down the cost. Go with simple 1-2 flavor mixes for your daily vape, use the $$$ you save and get a Provari or some Bobas
-Stay away from classy, co-ops, deals and steals sub-forums, LOL​

7)There are no traps, it's just a matter of finding out your taste preference and what setup works best for you within your budget.

 

[kingblunt204]

I burnt my ego t attys and tanks in a fire I was so ...... at them. I really despise those things.

 

[clphoton]

The blu got me of the analogs and thinking vaping was a viable alternative.
After some time opted for the ego c w tanks.
Wow. OK I assume the more experienced
Will tell of better tools but for starting out this really worked for me.

 

[Jimi D.]

How the industry has evolved in the past year. I admit I've made a few bad purchases. I should have bought the Provari in the first place. but then I look at at this. The V2 is much better. I still use my VV box mod just about everyday (Buzz Pro occasionally) at work.

 

[jtoms101]

I know everyone has their own preferences, but it seems to make it as simple as possible (like blu) to get people to convert from analogs... It is the next step that people want to take that can really start costing people. Instead of opting for an eGo twist it seems majority that posted in this thread would have prefered to go with Provari to save $$ in the long run. So that will be my next purchase. Thanks to all that posted this thread has become a wealth of GREAT information.

 

[X P3 Flight Engineer]

If I had started making my own juice sooner I would have saved mucho dinero! Most of my juices at the beginning cost over 50 cents per ml. I now make what I want, in any combination of strength, PG/VG ratio, and flavoring (or not, even cheaper) and I know that there is no dyes or unnecessary chemicals added to the ingredients.

When you add the daily cost of juice (40 cents) with the cost of owning (and replacing) a Twist ( 7 cents/day) and owning and maintaining a Vivi Nova ( 3 cents/day) it comes to less than the price of one and a half cigarettes per day! The savings are amazing once you realize how little you actually need to be smoke-free and Happy!

 

[hoodieweather]

Started with an eGO-C battery, still use it and I have an eGo-Twist, and eGo-VV passthrough. Couldn't be any happier. I also have a Mini Varitube from ivape. Like people have said, it's a journey, enjoy the ups and downs. I have tried mediocre juice and in my opinion is the only real "trap." Just do your research and you'll be fine! Happy vaping!