Newbie here, just outside of Columbus, GA. Long-time smoker and hoping I didn't wait too long to quit.
I have been vaping for about a week and still have 2-3 cigs a day, mainly morning and night. So I'm thrilled that I've already cut back that much.
There is a lot to learn here about this new hobby (I'm not calling it a habit) and I appreciate everyone's advice and tips.
I do have one question, for now...why do I sometimes get a crackling and popping sound when inhaling? It is a little scary.
thanks for the help.
Depends on how much of a snap, crackle, pop you mean. You are heating up and vaporizing a liquid so there's going to be some noise in there. My Vision CE5s, when they're running just right, do a kind of hissy cooking sound with some popping in there if I stick the thing near my ear to listen.
Like BlueMoods suggested, you
could be drawing too hard. As smokers, we're all used to pulling the smoke into our lungs to get the nicotine (and the 4,000 other chemicals that are so freaking dangerous). In vaping, the nicotine is absorbed in the mouth and nasal passages (especially if you exhale through the nose which I do to pick up more flavor and nicotine). You don't really want to draw hard in vaping. You're dealing with a water vapor and the droplets are a bit large for the nic to be absorbed in the lungs. In fact, it'll probably make you cough. Lungs and water don't mix well.
Try more of a relaxed draw into the mouth. More like "puffing" on a pipe or cigar. Let the taste of the juice "guide" you. The way you get the most taste is also the way you get the best nicotine absorption. You know, more relaxed, leisurely draws. Letting the vapor "linger" in the mouth. Exhaling through the nose. Your lungs shouldn't be involved except, of course, to provide the power to do the inhales.
Play around with it, paying attention to the tastes. Your body will figure it out since you'll (unconsciously at that) seek to get your nicotine level to what you're used to from when you smoked.
Myself, I don't worry about the occasional "popping" or a crackle unless it results in, say, hot droplets leaping into your mouth. That's not fun. Watch when you fill your--EVOD I think you say lower down--if you get juice down the middle air column of a clearomizer, that can make some crazy happen. Not destructive, horrible things, just irritations. You can take it off the battery and over a sink or holding tissue under the bottom, blow out through the mouth piece to clear it.
Don't blow really hard. I did that once and deflected a couple of drops of nic juice right into my face. That was Very Much Unpleasant.
Dry the bottom (the part that screws onto the battery) and check the battery contacts to see if they're wet. Dry them with tissue (heh, I'm fancy around here, I keep rolls of toilet paper handy
Well, you can take little "sheets" off of them instead of kleenex being big pieces!).
Be sure to tilt the clearo about 45 degrees and don't try to fill really fast. You want the juice to sort of run along the edge of the clearo and not get into that middle air column thing. You can also buy cheap "needle" caps for juice bottles that makes the whole thing easier. 'Specially for those of us who gotta find our reading glasses for just about everything now.
I have been vaping for about a week and still have 2-3 cigs a day, mainly morning and night. So I'm thrilled that I've already cut back that much.
Which is great progress. Not all of us quit all at once. Some do and that's great (well, for them). Me, I took a good six weeks to come to a full stop. I think there's an adjustment period. A "settling in". Finding the kit and juices that work best for you. Some folks hit a good combination right away, others take time to sort through things and hit their "sweet spot".
I remember my "first cig in the morning with coffee" took a good month to die. Nic absorption in the lungs by way of smoke is fast. They say it gets to the brain in seconds. Around 10 or so. For me, it was a little like I needed a "quick fix" right off then could "coast" for hours on vaping.
Then, one day, the thought of one of those stinky things first thing in the morning seemed pretty disgusting and I never did it again...
An Eddie Izzard reference! Nice!
