What am I doing wrong?

[Elphaba Thropp]

Newbie here.

I have the “Smoke Stik” brand. I haven’t even heard them mentioned here, so maybe that’s my problem.

At first, it worked well enough when I was relaxed at my desk and only wanted a little maintenance puff. When I’m really jonesing, like after several hours in a meeting or something, it doesn’t cut it at all and I want a real smoke. Or it gets warm and seems to be shut down.

At one point, it went for several days and gave me nothing or a tiny puff that’s worse than nothing. I figured it was burnt out and sent for a second atomizer. Now they’re both doing the same thing, on and off.

Then I got some Marlboro juice. Whether I replace the cartridge with a truly new one or add a few drops of juice, it still acts funny. On and off, and I don’t see a pattern.

At it’s best, it gives just a wimpy little puff. Pathetic as it is, I could live with that if it was consistent. And there's not much throat hit, even with the Marlboro juice.

Am I doing something wrong, or is this the way it’s supposed to go?

 

[Elendil]

Again, not familiar with the brand you are talking about.

I have a couple of questions for you. What were your smoking habits before taking up ecigs? Looking for type of cig smoked and # packs per day.

The reason I ask is that many ecigs, especially the ones that are very close in size to a "real" cig are simply not designed to stand up to heavy usage. These type of ecigs are best used in the same way that a real cig is smoked. Take 3-4 puffs and set it down for a while go back in 30 minutes take a few more puffs, set it down, etc, etc.................

The issue becomes that almost everyone "vapes" way more than they smoked (even if they were a very light smoker) because they can do it in a lot more places. Never smoked in your house? No problem, now you can. Never smoked at your desk? No problem, now you can......... Never smoked in your car?..............You get my drift........

That is why I ask about your smoking habits. Based upon what you say, many here can make a more educated recommendation about the ecig that might work best for you.............

 

[DC2]

It sounds like you are really struggling trying to get your automatic battery to work for you.

Try standing in front of a mirror and watching how the battery responds as you draw in various different ways. From what I can tell, many automatic batteries will function better if you take the long, slow draws. But you have to balance that with not getting the battery cutoff to kick in and shut you down.

I struggled with these issues for awhile and then just bought a 510 with a manual battery.
That solved all my problems.

 

[tankerman]

I am with Elendil more info is needed to try to help.
I looked up smoke stick it looks like a two peice ie 1 batt and one atty with cart am I right??

I do not know where your location is (that would help) so I cannot give you advice on where to get a better quality of ecig at.
For me my prob was not enough kick and punch. I wound up getting a heavy hitter maby that is what you need or just a ecig that is reliable.
Please respond and maby we can help

 

[Elphaba Thropp]

Yes, it has a battery, an atomizer and a cartridge. I thought they all had pretty much the same. I’m on the East Coast, USA.

My regular brand was Virginia Slims Light 120, about a pack a day.

I probably don’t need a mirror, it seems to light up enough. I’ll try it anyway sometime. Once in a while blinks, which I assume means it needs a recharge.

I now have three batteries and two atomizers. I keep them side-by-side so I can switch off. It’s still not really working. Maybe I need six of them.

It lights up at the end, but sometimes I get a reasonable puff and sometimes I get nothing. I figure maybe it needs another drop, but then I end up with a mouth full of juice.

I suppose it must be shutting down. Put it down for a half-hour? What kind of crap is that?

What’s a 510 manual battery?

And I don’t want to change my habits concerning where I can use it. I’m anti-social. Skipping out for a smoke is an excuse to get away. Half the fun is in putting up a smoke screen. The most annoying people tend to run away the fastest. I don’t plan to tell them that it’s a fraud.

Anyway, thanks, guys. I’ll keep working on it.

 

[newbutt]

It's hard to tell from the pics on the website, but it looks like the typical mall model. It sounds like atomizer probs, it's just hard to tell. If you get one that works right,they work pretty good. That model just seems to have a quality control issues worse than some of the others.

The 510 manual batt has a button you push when you take a drag. there's pros & cons

good luck,
NB

 

[tokarev]

The Smoke Stik model you describe sounds like a RN4081. Search the forum for RN4081 and you will find tons of information regarding it. It is not considered to be very robust by many on this forum, but some people seem to love it. I don't have one, so I can't offer an opinion about it.

In general, the symptom you describe might be the atomizer flooding or clogging. Try holding the cartridge end of the atty with a tissue or paper towel and blowing through the battery end to get the excess juice out of it. See if it works any better after that. Keep your battery contacts clean as well. Automatic batteries are notorious for failing because excess juice leaks inside them.

A manual 510 refers to the JOYE510 model e-cig, sold under many names and generically as the 510. It has an option of using batteries with a manual push button instead of a vacuum or sound activated automatic switch. So it is manual activation as opposed to automatic activation, giving the user more control. It also puts out tons of vapor, but is probably a bit larger than the model you have. It seems to be the most popular model at the moment, but the "most popular model" seems to change every couple of weeks around here. I DO own a 510 with manual batteries, and I can say it pretty much lives up to it's reputation. It really puts out the vapor and throat hit, but the batteries don't hold a charge as long as some other models. They do recharge fairly quickly, though. The price of the great vapor production is that the 510 uses juice faster than many models, requiring more frequent refills or top-offs. Overall, though, I like my 510 and certainly don't regret the purchase.

TT33

 

[Elendil]

I know that Jim Davis uses the 4081, likes it a lot and seems to get good performance out of it. Perhaps he will pop in here and offer some advice..............

 

[Jim Davis]

Howdy guys;
Looks like we have an old fashioned troubleshooting deal. I'll try to give you everything that's on my mind. Try doing only one thing at a time and try it, so if something works, you'll know what you did to fix it.

Here's my thoughts.

1. Blow out the atty, to make sure it's not flooded.

2. Use a Q-Tip to swab a very light amount of alcohol on the contacts to clean.

3. Fill your cart with liquid. Let the drops soak into the fiber until the fiber looks glassy. Most factory carts have low vapor. Put a very small amount of juice into a container and mix in some glycerin. 50 / 50 to start. At this time, we just want to see vapor. We'll worry about nic levels later.

4. Use a good, steady, long draw. As much as you can get into your mouth. Then gently inhale. If the battery flashes erratically while drawing, try covering one of the holes between the atty and batt. The batt may have a stiff switch, and covering a hole will create more suction. I found that some stiff switches will loosen up under constant use.

5. Some chargers (all models) may tend to push the center contact in a bit too far, causing a bad connection from battery to atomizer. If the battery center contact is pushed down, use a paper clip, or a push pin with the end rolled slightly. Almost like a hook. Insert it in the center hole of the battery, and gently rotate while pulling up. The center contact is mounted with a rubber ring. GENTLY!!!! You want to pull it toward the surface slightly, but no farther than flush. You can break the connecting wires if pulled too far.

Ty that & Lets see how it goes. If none of those things work, We'll have to start brainstorming.

Cheers;
jd

 

[Elphaba Thropp]

I tried blowing out the atomizer. Well see how that goes. If not, I'll try the Q-Tip & alcohol. I don't have any glycerin and I'm not gonna get it right now. I wouldn't know where or how anyway. I don't see any holes in the battery. Wait -- that little thing? In the gold stripe between the battery and the atomizer.

If I ever get any money, I'll try one of them there manual 510 thingies. Or a 4081. I didn't know this thing would require so much research.

I don't really follow Jim's item 5 about the paperclip, but I don't think I want to mess with it.

Well, it's a kinda wimpy, but it seems to be working for now.

Thanks, guys.

 

[DC2]

Well, it's a kinda wimpy, but it seems to be working for now.

Hopefully someone will correct me where I'm wrong or add more information as needed...

I believe that atomizers get flooded when there is just too much liquid to allow the atomizer to heat up properly and vaporize it. What I think used to happen to me with my RN4081 (NPro) is that I sometimes sucked on it too hard and pulled too much liquid in too fast. Or sometimes I sucked to softly but for a long time, and pullied up plenty of liquid but did not actually draw hard enough to activate the battery properly or consistently.

I believe this was the essence of my struggles with the automatic battery on my Npro model. I never could figure out the right way to draw between pulling too hard and not pulling hard enough. I probably kept flooding my atomizer all the time without knowing it or knowing what to do about it. I finally bought a 510 with manual batteries and ALL my troubles went away.

So yesterday I was using my RN4081 for dripping, to taste all the flavors in a 12-pack sampler. I have noticed that I have far fewer problems with the RN4081 if I use it for dripping. Well, after a few flavors I noticed that it started getting harder to draw and I wasn't really getting much vapor at all.

So I thought maybe I was flooding the atomizer. I took it off and blew through the battery end really hard a few times, until no more juice was coming out. Then I popped it back on and it was back to normal.

I wound up doing this between each flavor, and found that it worked great.
I tasted 14 different flavors in the span of about two hours.

I learned a lot yesterday.

 

[Jim Davis]

You don't just light em, smoke em, and throw em away. E-cigs are an electronic gadget, and takes time to learn. The more effort you put into it, the better it will respond.

Once you find the right amount, and mixture of juice for your 4081 atty, you'll find it's a real fog machine.

 

[DC2]

You don't just light em, smoke em, and throw em away. E-cigs are an electronic gadget, and takes time to learn. The more effort you put into it, the better it will respond.

Once you find the right amount, and mixture of juice for your 4081 atty, you'll find it's a real fog machine.

I really love the thing for dripping.

I get far more flavor and vapor from it that way, without the struggles. Much more flavor than my 510 for that matter. And now that I have removed the cartridge and bored out the mouthpiece, I get a pretty easy draw as well.

My only problem is I am worried that I am going to ruin the battery by dripping, but so far there doesn't seem to be any issue at all. In fact I don't think a single drop has ever made it as far as the battery.

And I find that if I just use about three drops I can get a good 10 puffs out of it, which is perfect for taking a good old fashioned "smoke break". And if I blow it out completely in between I can even switch flavors anytime I want.

 

[Elphaba Thropp]

I really love the thing for dripping.

I get far more flavor and vapor from it that way, without the struggles. Much more flavor than my 510 for that matter. And now that I have removed the cartridge and bored out the mouthpiece, I get a pretty easy draw as well...

Ok, I give up. What is "dripping?" Is there a glossary around here? And what's the rest of this -- "bored out the mouthpiece..."??

 

[DC2]

Ok, I give up. What is "dripping?" Is there a glossary around here? And what's the rest of this -- "bored out the mouthpiece..."??

Dripping is when you put a few drops directly on the atomizer bridge instead of using a cartridge. But if you do it you have to be careful to get it right on the bridge and not use too many drops. If you get juice past the atomizer and into the battery the battery will no longer work. If you use too many drops you will also flood the atomizer and then you'll have to blow it out again and start over.

As scary as it sounds, I personally do not believe that is is that hard to get the drops right on the atomizer bridge. And as far as how many drops, since you apparently have an RN4081 model, I would say four drops is a good number. That atomizer bridge is nice and big and it is NOT easy to miss it.

As far as boring out the mouthpiece, I just pulled the little endcap off the mouthpiece, then I used a screwdriver to make the hole in the inner cap a LOT bigger so I could get better airflow on my draws.

Of course, a drill would work a better than a screwdriver, but I was drunk and didn't want to chance using a drill, let alone getting off my .... and going into the garage to unpack it and hook it all up.

 

[Elphaba Thropp]

Thanks for the attempt.

I'm still not getting anywhere.

Is there a secret place on this site or some other site for actual newbies?
As in people who really, really, really have no background in this stuff?
Someone who is willing to start from the beginning, speak s-l-o-w-l-y and use small, familiar words?

Or how about a glossary? Does anyone know of a glossary of e-cigarette terms?

 

[Mo JJC]

Thanks for the attempt.

I'm still not getting anywhere.

Is there a secret place on this site or some other site for actual newbies?
As in people who really, really, really have no background in this stuff?
Someone who is willing to start from the beginning, speak s-l-o-w-l-y and use small, familiar words?

Or how about a glossary? Does anyone know of a glossary of e-cigarette terms?

Try pasting, I can't post links yet
e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-forum/8952-new-updated-comprehensive-intro-vaping

 

[sattec]

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-forum/21069-ecf-abbreviations-101-a.html

 

[Elphaba Thropp]

Thanks guys. A little light summer reading...
I didn't know this was going to be a totally new lifestyle & religion.

Those videos might even be useful. My laptop is allergic to utube, so I need to go somewhere else to check it out, but I think this will be worth it.


I might be onto something here --
I couldn't find a screwdriver, so I grabbed a nail and started gougeing.
The end of the cartridge fell off, and it turns out there's another little compartment in there, with another plastic bottom of the the cartridge. It was very gooey from all the drops I've put in. I tossed the little piece and continued drilling. Now it's giving me something that looks almost like smoke. (Adequate if it lasts.)

I tried the same thing on my second assembly, without the same results. Must try a few variations.

It's finally dawned on me -- when you say "mouthpiece," you're talking about a fourth component that I don't seem to have. I just have the cartridge, atomizer and battery.

 

[Elendil]

It's finally dawned on me -- when you say "mouthpiece," you're talking about a fourth component that I don't seem to have. I just have the cartridge, atomizer and battery.

Cartridge and mouthpiece are the same thing. However, when you buy extra atomizers that usually have a mouthpiece attached that does not have the cart filling portion attached. It is mostly to keep primer fropm leaking out of the atty.