bad results with e-cigs

[anoregami]

Hi everybody,


After having a relatively bad first experience with e-cigs, namely tanks/cartridges + attos that I did try with 510 batteries, what I got was only leaks and a burnt taste ... Not so great !

So I asked advice on another forum (Chrissie told me it'd be more appropriate for me to post here, btw hello to you Chrissie if you come across my post ) and I've been told to keep my current batteries and order clearomizers, and some dual coil cartomizers plus a VV battery. That's what I did, a bunch of various models and received my new stuff 2 days ago.
But now I am encountering other issues:

- I don't know if I did something the wrong way (not unlikely because I'm still a newbie to vaping), but after testing both a clearo and 2 cartos, I only seemed to inhale air (no vapour/taste or so little it was virtually invisible/unnoticeable) but although the burnt taste was gone (phew), my throat felt like it was literally burning from the inside, worse than eating spicy food for instance. I use mostly diluent (~70% PG and 30% VG), a few drops of flavour and the nic content was roughly 20 mg/mL all in all. I let the e-juice soak in for a while (I tried after one hour or so, and then one more time after letting it stand overnight, but that made no difference whatsoever).

- Overall I found the liquid to be too thick (and perhaps it might be poorly absorbed trough the wicks in the clearo as a result?), so I wonder if I could add some water into my preparation in order to thin it down? Not tap water, but what about source water? Or must I exclusively use distilled water? And up to what amount of water can I include in my final e-juice? (10-20% etc... ?) I could also use less VG, but I heard it'll sooth/diminish the hit throat of the vapour and I don't think 30% (actually less than that since I didn't take into account the nic fluid and the favour concentrate) is that much, is it?

- When there's a hole (small tube) in the centre, should I only fill the clearo or carto on the outer edge? So far I attempted to avoid accidentally dripping some juice into the centre tube. But I can't assume it is the correct method since I didn't obtain the result I expected.

- I thought clearos were fully sealed, but there's a moment when I happen to see a few drops coming out of the bottom end (where you attach the battery) when topping them off.

Please note I only used my former ego battery, I think it's 3.4V and SR attos.

I also heard that the first filling of clearos/cartos is the most important, so I hope I didn't ruin them by not doing it properly


Any advice is welcome, thank you.

[maccafan]

If you are a newbie to vaping why don't you buy pre-mixed juices and try rather than mixing yourself? Maybe you have mixed a juice with too high a nicotine content?

Never ever put juice in the center hole when filling, whether it is cartos or clearos. After filling, blow the center hole clear gently to get rid of any juice in the airway. There are always airflow holes otherwise you won't be able to get any draw if they are completely sealed so the drops that you are seeing at the battery end is condensation. That is normal and you just need to clean it with a an earbud once in a while.

[azzie]

Heya & welcome, thats alot of questions

Do you have any problems with premixed juices as Macca has suggested?

[Deleted]

No wonder the juices taste rank , a new juice takes a while to steep and settle into a nice flavour . To be fair I wouldn't be trying to tackle mixing your own juices till you get the hang of vaping with pre mixed juice

[Bluefish]

Sounds like a battery/connection problem to me? you should at least get some vapour.

[Karma]

After you've filled your cartos, hold a bit tissue under the conector end and blow through to get rid of any accidental juice in the centre

[anoregami]

Thank you both for the replies.

I didn't buy pre-mixed juices because I didn't know what nic content juice I would want in the first place (and I still don't because I didn't really vape that much as of now), and also because I could save a few quids by getting the different liquids separately in larger quantities. That also allows me to try more flavour concentrates and adjust the flavour more accurately.

I tried to blow in the centre hole, apparently it was free of e-liquid.
maccafan do you think that 20mg of nicotine per mL is too much?

As far as I can remember, for my first e-cig, I was able to draw a few puffs with a pre-filed cartridge with a nic content of 18mg/mL, before it rapidly becomes a burnt taste, when it was okay (no burning pain).

Yes azzie that's a lot of questions , but I'd really like to get my PV to work as intended, so far I must say I have had no luck with my e-cigs :<

[Deleted]

I average 20mg on both premix and own mix

Now I know this might sound a silly question but does , the button on your battery light up when pressed ?

[2risky]

Hi & Welcome,

Concentrate on getting either clearos or cartos to work, not both at the same time. 20mg 50/50 PG/VG is a decent starting point, but the flavour may not be pleasant until you know more about mixing.

If you go for cartos (a good idea because they're cheaper and you can afford to bin them if necessary), look up the condom method for filling.

If you fill a carto properly, with premixed juice, and it still doesn't work you will then have eliminated most of the possible causes (basically you're down to connection or battery problems, which can be solved).

At present it's hard to advise because there are too many maybes.

Simplify. When you get it all working you'll be amazed.

[Deleted]

You've been watching too much telly risky lol

[2risky]

I barely watch telly, so that wooshed over my head Storm.
Years ago I wrote quite a surreal article about Sherlock Holmes fixing PCs by a process of elimination, so my contribution came from that more than anything.

[Deleted]

Ahh , one of the tactical moves on The Cube is to simplify lol

Not that I watch much too much TV myself by choice but have to endure it when "the boss" wants my company whilst she does

[maccafan]

Jun 15, 2012 18:14:21 GMT anoregami said:

maccafan do you think that 20mg of nicotine per mL is too much?

No it's not too much. My question is how do you know what you are mixing is 20mg/ml? Your first post was quite vague..

Maybe it's technique. Inhaling during vaping is different to smoking. You need to take a slow smooth and steady drag for a longer period into your mouth before inhaling. Are you trying to direct inhale?

A few drops at the battery connector end is normal. It's condensation or may be a couple of drops of e-juice because you were trying to fill using the central hole.

[anoregami]

Jun 15, 2012 18:02:17 GMT @storm said:

No wonder the juices taste rank , a new juice takes a while to steep and settle into a nice flavour . To be fair I wouldn't be trying to tackle mixing your own juices till you get the hang of vaping with pre mixed juice

Thank you for your answer
Recently I only got attos and a few more batteries, all my juices (including flavour concentrates) were quite old (more than 6 months).
It tasted very harsh and pungent.
I didn't think that mixing up some liquids was that complicated :s

Jun 15, 2012 18:04:01 GMT Bluefish said:

Sounds like a battery/connection problem to me? you should at least get some vapour.

I'll charge another battery and see if it is better, thanks.

Jun 15, 2012 18:05:19 GMT Karma said:

After you've filled your cartos, hold a bit tissue under the conector end and blow through to get rid of any accidental juice in the centre

Alright, I'll do that next time I (re)fill a carto, thank you.

Jun 15, 2012 18:18:25 GMT @storm said:

I average 20mg on both premix and own mix

Now I know this might sound a silly question but does , the button on your battery light up when pressed ?

Yes it does, I don't think my battery is dead, but I'll still test another one and check whether or not it improves the vaping experience.

Jun 15, 2012 18:20:12 GMT 2risky said:

Hi & Welcome,

Concentrate on getting either clearos or cartos to work, not both at the same time. 20mg 50/50 PG/VG is a decent starting point, but the flavour may not be pleasant until you know more about mixing.

If you go for cartos (a good idea because they're cheaper and you can afford to bin them if necessary), look up the condom method for filling.

If you fill a carto properly, with premixed juice, and it still doesn't work you will then have eliminated most of the possible causes (basically you're down to connection or battery problems, which can be solved).

At present it's hard to advise because there are too many maybes.

Simplify. When you get it all working you'll be amazed.

Hi and thank you for the welcome message.

Not only the flavour is not pleasant (basically there is none) but most importantly, it is what I inhale that is really irritating to the tongue/throat and I have no idea what cause it.

I have a syringe, using it is not an adequate method to fill cartos? I don't think my e-cigs is gonna get pregant Joking aside, I'll have a look at this way of topping off cartos

I don't have any pre-mixed juice within reach, and as I just placed an order recently, I am somewhat reluctant to get pre-mixed juices to be honest (I already have the approximately 1 litre of e-liquids)

[anoregami]

Jun 15, 2012 18:50:15 GMT maccafan said:

Jun 15, 2012 18:14:21 GMT anoregami said:

maccafan do you think that 20mg of nicotine per mL is too much?

No it's not too much. My question is how do you know what you are mixing is 20mg/ml? Your first post was quite vague..

0
Well my nicotin juice has a strength of 72mg/mL, and I prepared my juice by combining one part of the former with about 2.5 parts of the rest (PG, VG and flavours), hence in fine that's roughly 72*(1/3.5) ~ 20.5 mg/mL of nic.

Jun 15, 2012 18:50:15 GMT maccafan said:

Maybe it's technique. Inhaling during vaping is different to smoking. You need to take a slow smooth and steady drag for a longer period into your mouth before inhaling. Are you trying to direct inhale?

Not I hold it in my mouth for like 2 seconds before breathing in, no direct inhale.

Jun 15, 2012 18:50:15 GMT maccafan said:

A few drops at the battery connector end is normal. It's condensation or may be a couple of drops of e-juice because you were trying to fill using the central hole.

ok