Hi Tony!
Belated welcome to the forum, & congrats on making one of the best choices of your life: to make the switch from smoking to vaping! It's good to be free. OK so let's see what we can do to help you with the issues so far.
---
THE "-T" ATOMIZERS
OK so you're new to vaping...and not loving the 510-T tank attys. You're not alone. A
lot of people
hate those. It's not the batt...and it's certainly not your fault. It's the tank attys to blame. Yeah yeah, people say they're convenient to fill...but that doesn't matter much if it doesn't vape well and/or tastes awful, right? I've never personally used any
"-T" tank atomizers. I remember being skeptical when I first heard of them. Then I saw a bunch of people saying
"blagh, these wick terribly & taste awful" and thought
"ahh OK...forget that crap" lol.
So you want a simple newbie-friendly alternative to these tank-things, that can be found in Canada. No problem.
I know where you're coming from. When I was new, I also began with the Joye 510 batts. But I did
not get atomizers. Even the most experienced & avid fan of 'em will tell you...atomizers have a learning curve, & issues that don't magically vanish with maturity. You can know 'em inside & out, and regardless...atomizers can be very fussy & fiddly & messy & different & on & on. Funny taste & leaking & so forth. Attys are pricier too. I did
not want the host of issues that atomizers bring. Didn't want a lot of fiddling.
As a newbie, I knew I wanted something that:
- looked like a cig
- was an affordable but quality product
- was simple to use
- worked consistently, & worked well
So on those counts, atomizers weren't calling out my name.
Cartomizers were. Cartomizers are a cartridge + atomizer all rolled into one...and somehow, they become more than the sum of their parts. I have used these - Boge 510 cartomizers, specifically - happily on
every e-cig model that I've had, from my first day to the present. From the Joye 510, to the Mega eGo, to the ProVari. From day 1 as a newbie, I found them extremely user-friendly, simple, and they performed exactly how I was hoping they would. I love 'em!
1) They're very simple to use, fill & refill as needed: a minute or two of your time, then you're vaping for hours. No dripping, no messing around, just vaping.
2) They're affordable: a pak of five cartomizers typically goes for somewhere between $6.50 to $10 in Canada. But just one atomizer is usually more than $10.
3) They're consistent: all you need to do is keep your carto reasonably wet...and you can just tell when it's getting to that point where it could use a refill. The flavour & vapour production will go down a bit. You're never going to get a plastic taste etc from your Boge cartos. The body on 'em is metal, not plastic. And you really have to vape a carto like super-dry in order to actually burn & ruin it. Keep 'em wet & all you'll ever get is vapourized e-juice.
---
Now I know you're on a budget, so tell you what Tony. If you'd like to give cartomizers a try...just send me a PM with your mailing address OK? We will send you a free pak of 510-threaded Boge cartos, which will fit on your current batts. I'm not a vendor - I'm just a vaper like you. But that's what we're all about here: sharing & helping. So just let me know, k?
You're probably thinking
"OK but where can I get them?" Virtually every vendor in Canada has Boge cartomizers...so no worries. The best current price on standard-resistance Boge cartos is at
CanVape -
$7 for a five-pak. The best current price on low-resistance Boge cartos is at
Phat Clouds -
$13 for two five-paks
(i.e. $6.50 for a five-pak). Links below:
BATTERY LIFE
OK so one more thing. You said your batts are constantly being swapped out, i.e. ...the battery life on your 510s suck.
This is so. It's a fact of life with 510 batts, because there is only so much battery life that can fit in such a tiny model. With a new 510 batt, you should expect around 2 hours of life...maybe 2 and a half, but I would say 2. Approximate 1 hour to recharge. Which means you
have to have at least two batts, so that you can use one while the other charges. You can also expect around 200 charges from a 510 batt before it is essentially ready to die. It may still work at that point...but probably not very well.
A lot of newbies do love the 510 for, you know...helping them to get started & make the switch. It certainly helped me that way, back when. But its
terribly short battery life & low voltage are two of the main reasons that it is only a stepping stone. Very few people stay with the 510 for the long-term.
I would recommend getting an
eGo or a
Mega eGo. Price is super-affordable - they're available in Canada - they have a 510 threading - & the battery life is
way higher than what you have now.
Compare: your 510-T batts are
180 mAh (mAh stands for milliampere hours...which doesn't matter, all you need to know is that it basically refers to how long the batt will last before you need to recharge). Alternatively, a standard eGo batt has
650 mAh. The Mega eGo has
900 mAh. Some newer ones such as the passthrough model in the link below are
1000 mAh. Here's some links to
Happy Vaper, a vendor here in the GTA:
You see? No need to get a starter kit. As you can see at the links...the eGo doesn't 'look' like a cig. But trust me, you don't need it to look like one. It's fairly small...you could fit it in your pocket, easy. So yay.
Understand that the eGo
isn't gonna be the love-of-your-life model for the ages either, lol. It too is an intermediary stepping stone for most vapers. But it will give you a far better battery life & vaping experience than the 510, for a very affordable price. It will give you what you need for now...while you take your time considering mods. Especially if you use 'em with the Boge cartos.
Not everyone loves the Boge cartos either. That's why we offered to send you a free pack.
Hopefully you'll enjoy them as much as I.
---
Sorry for the length of the post, lol. Hope that helps!
If you have more questions etc...you know what to do. All the best, happy vaping & Happy New Year dear,
Rachel