Ughhh I keep burning my atomizer...

[Plumes.91]

So I have a new reo mini and this is my 1st bottom fed mod evarrrrrrr.
But I keeep burning my atomizer and I'm worried about her.
She didn't come home last night and shes been talking to the waterjug delivery guy longer n longer.

Anyway, the more I vape my reo the more I (think) understand how to squonk.
As far as I can tell, the lighter you squonk, the better the next few drags.
If I really press on my bottle and kinda flood the atomizer, sure its wet for longer, but the drag is tight.
SO, am I right to assume that I should try to learn light squonking over hard squonking?
Or do you, yes you there, i'm talking to YOU! Do you prefer heavy or light over the other option?

Also, I find that there is a bit of a learning curve and I'm getting there....
Buuuuuuuuuuuut, I'm not there yet and I keep burning my atty as I said above.
I'm the type of person that likes to take a big drag into my mouth & then inhale all of it at once.
Soo, I'm slowly learning to take tiny tester inhales throughout my drags.
(or at least let it hit the back of my throat a bit)

But I'm still getting dry, burnt hits, and I'm worried about my atomizer. Its just a 1.5 So young...
Like, how many dry hits is she gonna take before her performance drops considerably?
I have another 2.0 atty but I haven't broken em out yet.

I mean, my 1.5 was working great when I 1st put her on. Now her draw is getting tighter.
But I don't have a LOT of experience with 510 attys and Idk if this is how its supposed to draw?
Idk if I made it tighter from the dry burns or not and I'm really curious. If I did I'll switch attys!
I'm wondering if that is the dry burn's fault, and if it were new, would it be performing better?

Do ya'll notice that 3-4 dry burns truly does noticeably decrease an atty's performance?

 

[nerak]

Atomizers and REO's have a learning curve that's for sure!

Different brands, types, and ohms can all require a different squonk. They can also determine how long each inhale should be for that good hit. How many times you inhale close together will also have an effect on the atomizer and the juice.

Long, hard draws use more juice and get the atomizer hotter. If you draw like that you will need to squonk more often. You can't just squonk longer and put more juice in there. That will only get you some juice in your mouth, and a flooded atomizer.

The tighter draw after awhile might be normal for that atty. You can take it off, rinse it with hot water, blow it out and try it again.

The dry burns should not decrease the atty's performance. But it is easy to have your battery voltage drop and decrease performance.

I took my batteries out a lot at first and metered them. I learned to tell by the draw when the voltage dropped and I needed a new battery.

The AW IMR hold the voltage longer than some of the others. I really am pleased overall with their performance.

I wonder if you are blind squonking? Drawing while squonking and stopping the squonking as soon as you hear the gurgle. That is the only way I do it.

If your batteries are new they will take a few cycles to really work well. Really! They do get better with some use and time.

 

[Commie]

You can temporarily switch to cartos. They don't taste quite as good, but can be more forgiving. It was easier for me to get used to bottom feeders like that.

 

[Plumes.91]

Thank you nerak this is all really interesting.
I have 1 AW IMR 14500 and 2 Efest IMR 14500 batteries. I like the Efest bats better so far.
But I didn't know that the AWs could perform better after a couple uses. I'll try to use it now.
But I really do recommend these Efest batteries. I looked them up, and at voltages at and below 4 volts, many tech charts by tech reviewers show Efest work better. I like it. I'll give the AW a try next though.

I have not yet tried squonking while taking a dry hit. I'll definitely try that next. Instead, I've been practicing my squonking without watching the drip cup. The blind hit method sounds good!

I'm using a 1.5o smoktech 510 atty I believe. It seems like the less juice I have in it, the looser the draw. So, I'm only going to let a little juice in at a time and practice noticing the tell-tale-signs of it drying up. And I'll also practice the new blind squonk technique. Thanks for that.

 

[ltrainer]

On a blind squonk you do not hit the firing button. Just listen for a gurgle sound or a very slight pressure difference. When the bottle is full it doesnt take much time to feed your atty. As the bottle goes down in volume the push will take longer to feed the atomizer.

 

[redeyedancer]

I should add the smoke tech atomizers are ruthless even I get dry hits when using them . I would try another brand of atomizer . The smoke tech cartos are great but I am not a fan of the atomizers .

 

[uba egar320]

Been a long time since I used a bottom feeder and atty's...and you probably already know this, but I thought I'd throw it out there. I used to get the same thing whenever my contacts would get wet from leaky atty's...Some did it more than others.. Some wouldn't leak at all.

Hope you git'r figured out man.

 

[Rhapsodies Fire]

Also, for consistency, try counting your vapes. I know it seems elementary, but that is how I dealt with my learning curve. I knew this was going to be different that the eGo/carto combo I was using before the REO mini. So I would squonk, then vape ...counting them as I went until it felt/tasted like I needed to rejuice the atty again. Typically, when I was working with a new atty, I would get about 4-5 pulls before I could tell it was getting dry. Then I would squonk again. After that, it was simply a matter getting into that rhythm. After a short while it became second nature, hardly ever needing to think about it. I rarely ever get a dry hit. And yes, flooding your atty can cause your juice to start burning. It is a delicate balance between too much and just right.

The downside to atties: There are just some that won't work right for whatever reason. Ciscos were my favorite before I got into the RBAs. But every now and then, I would get one that just burned, no matter what I did....even after pulling the wick out. I never did understand it.

Now...you're using a 1.5Ω atty. Are you vaping a sweet juice? It is possible, if your juice is sweet that your atty is just plain too hot for it. In this case, switching to a higher Ω atty might be the answer. With sweet juices I typically went for the 2.0Ω atties.

Regardless of what the answer is, I sure hope you find your vaping nirvana. I know how frustrated I would get when things just weren't right. Keep us posted!

 

[Plumes.91]

Thank you everyone. I was a big carto/tank user before my reo came, but I like the bottom fed atty a lot more. Its still better than filler flavored leaky annoying cartomizers lol. (even if I get a dry hit every 100-200 drags) It might be the smoktech atty too, I can see that being the case redeye. I've used a lot of smoktech products and they can be great, and they can be funny. lol. Hell, I even got a dry hit with cartomizers every once in a while.

Uhh, since trying the suck and squonk technique I've only had one dry hit, which is great. I'm also learning to feel for it. I'm DEFINITELY gonna try the counting my vapes idea, thanks for recommending that Rhapsodie. Perfect idea. I'll try counting with long drags and counting with sharper drags and I'll try to squonk the same for each time and see what number I get. Sweet.

From what I can tell, the atomizer is still performing well, even after the (I think I've counted...) 6 dry burns I've put it through. Now that I'm only putting a teeny bit of juice in per squonk, it performs nicely, even right after a dry hit, which is what happened right at the beginning of this paragraph. (included in the 6, lol) So as long as my atomizer works well, I'm happy. I just don't want to break it my 2nd day with it from all of these dry burns. I was under the impression that dry burns would burn the wick that the coils are around and 5-6 of them would kill my atty like 5-6 would kill a carto. apparently not? Good thing I'm teaching myself to detect a dry burn before i inhale it because I'd have one sore throat if I didn't. lol. Even 1 dry burn around bed time used to give me the worst throat ache in the morning.

I don't think its the sweet juices fault. I'm vaping bwb virginia, 12mg. Its a light juice but I'm not getting that scratchy burny taste or feeling for 99 out of 100 drags. Its just when the atomizer runs out of juice. Which I've always struggled with, even when I 1st started vaping (I was strictly a dripper back then, and even back then I got dry hits frequently)



I hate when my posts turn into essays. I just can't help it. I'm a natural writer and I always have been. Anyway, thank you, everyone thats contributed and helped me. I appreciate this. I hope my brother will see my reo and want one. He needs to quit as soon as possible, for his kids. If only he knew how good it was. The only time hes tried my e-cigs, he nearly caughed up a lung, so I think hes afraid they are a little harsh. ugh.

 

[nightfell]

How I learned was a combination of attys and cartos. If I got too frustrated with the atty I'd switch over to a carto, blind squonking works the same way with both. You might also be overheating your atty which can cause a burnt taste.

 

[pianoguy]

You might want to try out some of those shorty Smoktech 1.7 cartos - they're very REO-friendly, just a quick squonk and a new one is ready to rock and roll. They were my favorites before I switched to RBA's, and still are my Mrs.' favorites.

 

[CATastrophe]

You might want to try out some of those shorty Smoktech 1.7 cartos - they're very REO-friendly, just a quick squonk and a new one is ready to rock and roll. They were my favorites before I switched to RBA's, and still are my Mrs.' favorites.

This is good advice. I use them and they are effortless. I also use LR Bauway atomizers that meter out at about 1.7. (Ugh, I see they are out of stock.) They are very easy to use and very consistent. I've found anything under that just doesn't work well.

 

[Plumes.91]

NO more burnt atty inhales. I think I'm mastering the art of not inhaling burnt atty

 

[Slithytoves]

Hi, Plumes. And HELLO, FELLOW REO MODDERS! New to ecf and pretty new to my beloved reo mini. I was reading this thread and was so excited to get to help out (while I've been lurking on the forum, I've been on the receiving end of great help), but then pianoguy and CATastrophe swooped in and stole my thunder! They're right. Those 1.7 ohm single-coil super shorties seem tailor-made for the reo. I spent a wad of cash on the MOST expensive attys before I found the super-affordable little wonders. Let us know if you try them and if you're happy with them!

 

[Slithytoves]

Oh, embarrassing. I was typing at the same time as you, Plumes.91, and wouldn't have posted had I known your issue was solved. Red cheeks. So glad you've found reo love!

 

[Plumes.91]

haha no, i'd still like some input. i'm going to try the 1.7o atty next.
right now my major struggle is switching flavors. apparently switching flavors is NOT a good idea.
for the past day i've been vaping maple tangarine cookie dough lol

 

[Rhapsodies Fire]

Welcome, Slithytoves!
No worries...I do that all the time too!

 

[Rhapsodies Fire]

haha no, i'd still like some input. i'm going to try the 1.7o atty next.
right now my major struggle is switching flavors. apparently switching flavors is NOT a good idea.
for the past day i've been vaping maple tangarine cookie dough lol

eww...

I'm lazy....so I tend to run a couple REOs at a time, each with it's own flavor. That way, I don't have to switch often. What did you do to clear the flavor?

 

[nightfell]

When I'm in the mood to flavor switch a bunch, I tend to drip on the reo and keep the main flavor in the bottle.

 

[Plumes.91]

I thought I could do that, but nope, because the main flavor is REALLY light. (bwb backo)
So, nope. The flavors I dripped overtook once another and I tried to vape them as much as I could, I even dry burned as much as i could between dripping new flavors, but, they somehow ended up stacking on each other. To change the flavor I just keep dripping the same stronger flavor (that I actually want to vape) and its working... for now.. But to get this flavor out, I may have to try the grimmgreen vodka technique