One week later - a few questions

[Darkginger]

So, I've been vaping for a week now, using my eGo Twist starter kit from e-smokeireland. Well, that and a few extra clearos. All is going well, but I do have a few questions:

1) I'm using clearos - they seem to come in 2 pieces - the bottom bit which unscrews (the head?) and has the wick in it, and the tank itself. How does this differ from a cartomiser? Does the latter always have some kind of wadding in it to soak up the juice? Is there more than one part to a cartomiser? Do they require you to add drip tips, or do they come with them attached? Why would I choose a carto over a clearo, or vice versa?

2) Can't for the life of me work out what a MOD is - looks like just another battery to me. Please explain!

3) I'm very happy with what I have, but am wondering why people end up with loads of different bits of kit - are some better at some things than others? What is so great about a Provari that makes it cost so much more? Should I aspire to one?

4) Still not sure how I'll know when to change my clearo heads - or, for that matter, my clearos.

5) Why does resistance matter, and what is it?

6) If my clearo runs dry, will it harm it? I've been trying not to let that happen, but no idea whether it's an issue or not.

Thanks to anyone who can help. In some ways, this vaping lark is very easy, but in others it's a minefield of jargon. Can't wait to meet some other vapers face to face (going to the meet in London on the 23rd) so I can see if I'm doing it all 'right'  

[chykensa]

Hi Darkginger, and hope I can start the process of answering some of your question!

1) I'm using clearos - they seem to come in 2 pieces - the bottom bit which unscrews (the head?) and has the wick in it, and the tank itself. How does this differ from a cartomiser? Does the latter always have some kind of wadding in it to soak up the juice? Is there more than one part to a cartomiser? Do they require you to add drip tips, or do they come with them attached? Why would I choose a carto over a clearo, or vice versa?

A cartomiser is a one piece bit of kit, with the option (recommended) to attach a 510 driptip to the top to make it more comfortable to vape with, and also to cool the vapour a bit before it reaches your mouth. They all have wadding in, and come in a variety of sizes, and also in different ohm ratings (see below). They are also available in single or dual coil - this basically means that with a dual coil, there are two coils to heat the juice and therefore twice the vapour, but the downside is that the juice tends to disappear very quickly! IMHO cartos give a slightly warmer vape, with perhaps a bit more flavour. They can be tricky to fill, and there are various different techniques, including the 'condom method' (no sniggers at the back please!)!

2) Can't for the life of me work out what a MOD is - looks like just another battery to me. Please explain!

Essentially, if a battery is a one piece unit like a Twist, Spinner, eGo battery or Riva, it is a battery. If you have a battery holder which takes interchangeable batteries which are usually charged elsewhere in a charger, it is a Mod. Mods sometimes come with other options such as Variable Voltage and Variable Wattage (I'll let someone else explain that bit - electrical doesn't come easily to me!).

3) I'm very happy with what I have, but am wondering why people end up with loads of different bits of kit - are some better at some things than others? What is so great about a Provari that makes it cost so much more? Should I aspire to one?

I only have a Vamo, so can't really comment much here. Suffice it to say that my Vamo cost me about £25 and a Provari costs about £180, and the Vamo does more in terms of adjustments than the Provari. Nuff said. (I'm sure that will get me into trouble!)

4) Still not sure how I'll know when to change my clearo heads - or, for that matter, my clearos.

When the clearo starts to show signs of muted taste or excessive dry burning, leaving an unpleasant burnt taste in the mouth, it is usually time for a clean. If you use rebuildables, you can change the head, or if you have disposable clearos, chuck and replace.

5) Why does resistance matter, and what is it?

Here goes - think of water flowing through a garden hose. If the hose is narrow in bore, it could be said to have high resistance (i.e. 2.8ohm) and therefore not much current gets to the atomiser. On the other hand if we increase the diameter of the hose, then more water gets through, and this would equate to low resistance (1.8ohm), giving a hotter 'burn' as more current reaches the head. Please correct me if I'm wrong here, folks!

6) If my clearo runs dry, will it harm it? I've been trying not to let that happen, but no idea whether it's an issue or not.

Let's just say it would be a good idea to avoid this if possible - you will need to tilt and swish the juice across the wicks as the level decreases, but there comes a point when even this technique doesn't work. The answer? - refill!!


Andy

ETA: Reading this back, I'm sure there will be corrections to my post, but this might teach me something, so I'm going to let it stand as is. Hope this helps DG!

[Darkginger]

Thank you so much, it's all becoming a bit clearer now. Think I'll hold off until after the London meet before I buy anything apart from more juices (can never have too many juices!). I actually understood your answer about resistance, so I hope it's right - lol! Thanks again!

[Bluefish]

Liking the resistance explanation mate

[Jen]

I have been led to believe that higher resistance is good for sweeter, desserty, fruity flavours, and lower resistance for tobacco flavours. Not sure whether this latter is to replicate the throat hit/heat of analogues? I've been meaning to experiment.

[sleepyduck]

An excellent answer from Andy . To pick up on a couple of points:

Resistance. A high resistance head needs more volts to "drive" it. On my Provari (I'll come to that...), I tend to use just over 4V with a lower resistance head, just under 5V with a higher resistance one.

As for the Provari, it's essentially a luxury item. As Andy says, a Vamo has greater functionality, but a Provari is just a beautiful thing. Some say a Provari will last longer, which may or may not be true... Comparing a Vamo to a Provari is a bit like comparing a Casio watch to an Omega; a Ford to a Mercedes; and so on...

[mybad]

Mar 12, 2013 19:36:37 GMT chykensa said:

Hi Darkginger, and hope I can start the process of answering some of your question!

1) I'm using clearos - they seem to come in 2 pieces - the bottom bit which unscrews (the head?) and has the wick in it, and the tank itself. How does this differ from a cartomiser? Does the latter always have some kind of wadding in it to soak up the juice? Is there more than one part to a cartomiser? Do they require you to add drip tips, or do they come with them attached? Why would I choose a carto over a clearo, or vice versa?

A cartomiser is a one piece bit of kit, with the option (recommended) to attach a 510 driptip to the top to make it more comfortable to vape with, and also to cool the vapour a bit before it reaches your mouth. They all have wadding in, and come in a variety of sizes, and also in different ohm ratings (see below). They are also available in single or dual coil - this basically means that with a dual coil, there are two coils to heat the juice and therefore twice the vapour, but the downside is that the juice tends to disappear very quickly! IMHO cartos give a slightly warmer vape, with perhaps a bit more flavour. They can be tricky to fill, and there are various different techniques, including the 'condom method' (no sniggers at the back please!)!

2) Can't for the life of me work out what a MOD is - looks like just another battery to me. Please explain!

Essentially, if a battery is a one piece unit like a Twist, Spinner, eGo battery or Riva, it is a battery. If you have a battery holder which takes interchangeable batteries which are usually charged elsewhere in a charger, it is a Mod. Mods sometimes come with other options such as Variable Voltage and Variable Wattage (I'll let someone else explain that bit - electrical doesn't come easily to me!).

3) I'm very happy with what I have, but am wondering why people end up with loads of different bits of kit - are some better at some things than others? What is so great about a Provari that makes it cost so much more? Should I aspire to one?

I only have a Vamo, so can't really comment much here. Suffice it to say that my Vamo cost me about £25 and a Provari costs about £180, and the Vamo does more in terms of adjustments than the Provari. Nuff said. (I'm sure that will get me into trouble!)

4) Still not sure how I'll know when to change my clearo heads - or, for that matter, my clearos.

When the clearo starts to show signs of muted taste or excessive dry burning, leaving an unpleasant burnt taste in the mouth, it is usually time for a clean. If you use rebuildables, you can change the head, or if you have disposable clearos, chuck and replace.

5) Why does resistance matter, and what is it?

Here goes - think of water flowing through a garden hose. If the hose is narrow in bore, it could be said to have high resistance (i.e. 2.8ohm) and therefore not much current gets to the atomiser. On the other hand if we increase the diameter of the hose, then more water gets through, and this would equate to low resistance (1.8ohm), giving a hotter 'burn' as more current reaches the head. Please correct me if I'm wrong here, folks!

6) If my clearo runs dry, will it harm it? I've been trying not to let that happen, but no idea whether it's an issue or not.

Let's just say it would be a good idea to avoid this if possible - you will need to tilt and swish the juice across the wicks as the level decreases, but there comes a point when even this technique doesn't work. The answer? - refill!!


Andy

ETA: Reading this back, I'm sure there will be corrections to my post, but this might teach me something, so I'm going to let it stand as is. Hope this helps DG!

I take my hat off to you sir for the patience you have given for this informative reply, well done

[Chrissie]

Agrees with Mybad - excellent reply Andy

Just to add my take on Mods (big battery holders) I splashed the cash on a purely mechanical early version GGTS - got to be coming up to 3 years ago. I've used it every day since I bought it. Dropped it several times - including down a flight of concrete stairs & it still vapes as well as the day I bought it. So to me it's been worth every penny I paid for it. It's virtually unbreakable & that was my main reason for buying it.

I did treat myself to a Vamo for Christmas & as Andy says, for a VV/VW mod the price is excellent - even if you pay a bit more from a UK vendor as I did.

[irishcas]

Darkginger well done on your 1st week

[Roscopecotrain]

Great reply andy. Explained it better than i could.
Well done on your 1st week Darkginger


Sent from my Galaxy Note 2

[Darkginger]

Thanks for the congratz I can't quite believe I've been off the cigs this long, and have NO intention of ever going back NO desire to whatsoever. I just wish I could get my husband to try this, but nah, he won't!

[irishcas]

I am same darkginger cannot believe I am over 5 weeks off them with no effort no cravings and absolutly no desire to ever go back.
Your husband will get curious some day and try or he will be jealous when you are vaping away in a pub or something during one of those days olny the West of Ireland does best rain wind and low temps...
By the way the West also does some lovely sunny days with fantastic scenery lovely walks friendly people etc

[Roscopecotrain]

I agree with irishcas. When everybody starts asking you what that is and congratulating you and saying well done and then turning to your hubby and saying why are you still smoking then he might come over to our side. Hehe.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2

[Roger]

Great post chykensa. One of the reasons we have different resistance atties (covering all type of atty/cart etc) is that a few years ago most people were using regulated batteries, ego types and some mods etc and all that was really available were SR atties. When VV devices started to appear, some vapers were raving about the great vape they got at around 4.2volts with an SR atty.

LR atties then started to appear to allow those with regulated batts to experience what those with VV were getting, juice consumption and battery run times were affected of course. If you look at the figures:
An SR (2.8) on a VV @4.2 volts will give around 6.4 watts.
A LR (1.8) on a regulated (3.4volts) will give around 6.4 watts.

I could of course be talking absolute bo***x