vaping in a void, need some cliff notes

[nikki tine]

Hi,
I live in an area with no e cig retailers to advise me, so please bear with me! I have an off market rn4081 model and an EgO coming in the mail. I'm a new convert and as thrilled as everyone else here...I never thought I would 'quit' smoking!!!

The guy that sold me my kit advised me to buy a cartomizer, but until I can I'm using the atomizer/cartridges that came with it. The cartridges are inconsistent, usually running out in 3 or so hours. They have a bit of the cotton stuff with a little plastic cup inside the fake filters. They are still wet when they stop performing well. Is there a mod for this? I have only one atomizer to tide me over, how to care for it? This transition is expensive for me, but I can't afford not to do it!

 

[BeauJangler]

Hey nikki I kindof had the same problem when I started , the best thing I could think to help is try tapping down the led end of your ecig in the palm of your hand like packing a cigarrete, gently of course. This should feed more ejuice to the atomizer.

 

[bobsyeruncle]

Are you buying prefilled cartridges? Because you should really consider buying juice separately. When the cartridge stops hitting well, you can just top it up with more juice.

So, there are a few cartridge mods, but the easiest thing to do would be to just keep the cartridge wet. Just keep periodically adding more juice to your cartridge. As long as the atomizer is getting a good supply of juice (without being flooded), it should be ok. If you're changing juice, you can just take out the white filler with tweezers (don't pull on the loose strands of the filler with anything else), rinse it out and let it dry before using the tweezers to put the filler back in teh cartridge.

If you've got juice, you can look at: teabag mod (replace white filler with teabag), cutting white filler in half, replacing white filler with blue marine foam or fluval (fish filter foam). Youtube can help here.

When you have your eGo, you might consider getting Ego Mega Dual Coil Cartomizers to go with it.

Sites that sell good juice are: BackwoodsBrew.com, Boba's Bounty AveJuice.com, TastyVapor.us, GourmetVapour.com, VermillionRiver.com and several others.

For hardware, you might consider: MadVapes.com. VaporKings.com sells RN4081 supplies, but you would probably be better off focusing on Ego accessories to keep you going.

Is this a good start?

 

[nikki tine]

Thank you, that seems to help... Is three or so hours what one expects out of a cartridge? If so a starter kit with only a few cartridges seems really stingy! Also, how much liquid will I need to keep a tank filled for a week or so, considering I was a heavy smoker? I have to either order online or make a long road trip to buy supplies, so I need to plan ahead. I bought the kit off Craigslist to tide me over, btw. It was a disposable that hooked me.

 

[nikki tine]

Hey, sorry, posted my last reply before seeing Bobsyerunkle's response.

 

[nikki tine]

That is a good start, I'll make a note of the suppliers...
After that disposable Blu from Walgreens got me all excited, I realized two things; that I had to stick with vaping (didn't even know the word then) and that I could not afford to keep buying disposables. That's why I did some quick reading here and ordered the EgO. I ordered juice, but none of it will come til after Thanksgiving.
I went on quite a quest trying to find local dealers...no luck. The kit I found on CL has an interesting story; the man that sold it to me had them manufactured in China before going, as he put it, broke. He never marketed them. They are nice to look at but maybe the quality isn't so good. Nothing to compare them to. He gave me 25 cartridges. They taste nice enough but don't last long...

 

[swedishfish]

Cartridges hold about .5 ml of liquid. The average person if there is such a thing can vape anywhere from 2-3 to 5 ml of juice per day.

You can order a box of boge cartomizers at Joogler. Use the code ECF5OFF for $5.00 off your first purchase. You get a free bottle of juice with your first purchase. Cartomizers hold about 1 ml of juice but need to be kept full to prevent burning.

Boge - LR 510 Cartomizers

 

[nikki tine]

Thanks, I'll place that order on Friday, and that should set me up for a while...
I'd just bought a carton of cigs when I started vaping...I guess I could have smoked them while I assembled my supplies, but it wouldn't have been right, somehow.

 

[Steelmage]

Nikki, I have been using my eGo with 900mah batteries since Jan of this year. I use the cone Type A low resistance atomizer with the Type A cartridge. I'm a pretty heavy vaper and usually have to fill up the cartridge with juice about every 2 to 3 hours. The low resistance Type A eGo Atomizers put out great vapor and an atomizer typically last me about a month to month and half before they either burn out or suffer significant vaper level drop of get realy hard to draw on. I do boil them out every two weeks which seems to make them last longer. I should note however that I have had atomizers last as little as one week but I've also got a couple that are over 3 months old and still going strong. I bought my first kit at an ecig vender that operates out of a local flee market. If you have a local flee market you may want to check them out as there may be a local vender there. I typically buy my juice from Liberty flights or my freedom smokes but the forum here has a large list of venders. All of whom are well known and reputable dealers in devices and juices. Best advise is to spend some time shoping these sites. There are many great deals to be had. Also, Welcome to the ECF and the Vaping adventure.

 

[bobsyeruncle]

Steelmage, are you using an eGo-T? The tank cartridges, which come in Type A and Type B (as do the tank atomizers) are not the same as the cartridges used by the RN4081.

I didn't even bother to ask nikki tine whether that was an Ego-T or a regular Ego that was coming in the mail.

 

[JÓN-Z]

Alright Nikki! I find e-cigs are a great way to keep off "analog" cigs, though I do still cheat from time to time. You have already gotten some great advice here. I found the cartridges to be cumbersome at best. They will do in a pinch, but they are seemingly always out of liquid. I have used many low risistance cartomizers with my ego, as Swedishfish mentioned. Those work nicely. Lately, I am using Fluxomizer CE-2's from Gotvapes. I get compareable vape to the LR carts, but they have a wick, as opposed to the filler. The flavor seems to be much nicer for longer, and they are a piece of cake to clean. Virtually the same price as well. bobsyeruncle mentioned tastyvapor as an option for e-liquid. I would agree. You could get a one ounce liquid with a high amount of nicotine, and a four ounce "doubler" with no nicotine. That way, you can mix the two to your desired nicotine level. For about $35, I can make that last for roughly a month...maybe longer...and I have this thing in my hand for a good portion of the day. Buying liquid is definitely the way to go if you wish to save money! Good luck keeping off analogs. You have made a good choice!

 

[nikki tine]

Jon Z, I like the idea of a liquid lasting a month. I will try that.
I ordered the type A Ego, randomly. I figured I'd have a lifetime to research and upgrade! In the past couple years I've really 'turned my life around'...excepting the smoking. And I virtually chain smoked some really strong, cheap little cigars made here in Miami and available for $1.25 a pack. (!) (and no vape shops, typical SoFLa). I suspect some of the cartridge problems I have had are due to sucking the heck out of my e cig. At certain times it's still a transition.
Thanks everyone for the help! This weekend I will place orders based on the advice here and the next level will begin. I'm a die hard DIYer, so vaping is perfect for me on all sorts of levels...

 

[tj99959]

Regardles of which eGo kit you bought, the battery is the same. So any 510 threaded attomizer or cartomizer will work on it. Don't be afraid to try different things.
Since you are a "die hard DIYer", there are sub forums here for making your own mods and making your own juice.

Somehow I see your eGo ending up looking like this in the future

 

[hubseven]

Regardles of which eGo kit you bought, the battery is the same. So any 510 threaded attomizer or cartomizer will work on it. Don't be afraid to try different things.
Since you are a "die hard DIYer", there are sub forums here for making your own mods and making your own juice.

Somehow I see your eGo ending up looking like this in the future

What is on top of Ego battery? Thanks, and how does it work out for you.

 

[tj99959]

What is on top of Ego battery? Thanks, and how does it work out for you.

That is called a "carto tank", and they work very well.
Someone new shouldn't worry about them yet, first they should learn the basics of using cartos.
There are some very long threads here on ecf about how to make them, plus quite a few vendors sell them.

 

[JÓN-Z]

Nice avatar TJ!! I see you have a couple pieces of equipment. I've been seeing the tanks around all over these days. Still haven't tried one. I have started using ce-2's. I like them for the clean flavor. Previously, I had been using LR carts, but found that the flavor became sort of nasty after a while. I am thinking that may be from running the carto too dry at times. (another reason to like see through ce-2") So...theoretically, will a tank make the carto last longer, by virtue of keeping it wet more consistently? I sure do love the vapor production of a LR carto! I was finding that I could only get about a day and a half off a single carto, and my motivation is to seek out ways to continually cut my costs...hence the fluxomizers. THey seem to last longer. Any input on keeping LR cartos good, longer? Any feed back is welcome. Thanks!

 

[robblundberg]

a moist carto is a happy carto. someone told me that on here when i first started vaping and it was the best advice i ever got.

i use boge lr carto's on my 808's and ever since i started checking them every half hour or hour or so and making sure they are moist or dry i've been able to keep one carto go for a week easy of continual use. i vape anywhere 1.5 to 3 ml's a day.

 

[DaveP]

Nicki, you have seen some good ideas here. Once you get you eGo kit, you can use the low resistance cartos. Boge LR cartos ann CE2 clearomizers are very popular and you can carry a tiny 3ml bottle of juice in your pocket to top off with a couple of drops here and there. The initial fill of a carto should be thorough to ensure to get the wicking saturated. I like the method in this video. It's quick, clean, and effective.

 

[bobsyeruncle]

The aforementioned video demonstrates a filling method more popularly known as the condom method. (Condom is the term used to describe the rubber caps that come with your cartomizers.) Not everyone uses it because of the mess alluded to in the video, but whatever works. It's quick, but you'll want to keep some paper towel handy. I just drip juice down the side and shake the carto like a thermometer to work the juice into the filler. It works similar to another method known as the taryn spin, but less complicated.

If you like the Ego-T tank cartridges, they're pretty easy to fill. Some people have issues with leaks from the Ego-T and occasional squirts of juice in their mouth. That's why many people just use cartomizers on their Ego-T batteries. If you like the tank system, however, you may like low-resistance tank atomizers better. You'll get more flavor from the low-resistance tank atomizers.

 

[bobsyeruncle]

Almost forgot. When you get your Ego-T system, the tank atomizers are filled with a machine oil that's nasty to vape. You'll want to get some paper towel. Blow into the threaded end of the tank atomizer over the paper towel until the oil stops coming out of the atomizer. Drip 10 drops of your e-liquid directly into the tank atomizer and give it 10 minutes to soak in. Then you can fill up a tank cartridge and pop it onto your atomizer.

When you fill up a tank cartridge, there are grooves on either side of the tank. You want to get the fleshy part of your thumb on a groove, under the cap. Then it's easy to pop the cap off to fill the cartridge. When the cartridge is filled, replace the cap and push the cartridge into the atomizer. Make sure you pop the cartridge all the way until the wide edge of the cartridge meets the atomizer edge; you'll need to use a little force and you'll probably hear it snap in. And then you should be good to vape your Ego-T.