Introduction

Lomez

Hi all,  A little introduction,  My name is Lomez (Peter) and I have been part of the community for some time now,  I will eventually be assigned to Moderate these forums.   I am a proud vaper and ex smoker so I feel I am in a good position to understand and monitor things sensibly.   I am a member on several other UK based e-cig forums.   My goal here is too try and develop our forum into somewhere where people will come to for advice, to socialise and to share knowledge on everything that is E-cigs.

My story is that around 2 years ago and with the spiraling costs of cigarettes I wanted to seek out alternatives,   I always enjoyed smoking (I don't know why) and therefore didn't want to give up that enjoyment.   I found out through a friend about vaping and proceeded to get a cigalike it was frankly terrible and I was on the stinkys again within a week,  however undeterred I decided to research vaping and eventually settled on a ego/pro tank setup this was fantastic but shinyitus struck and as anyone who know this terminal disease well things have went on and on from that point.

I am currently sat at my pc with 3 box mods and extremely satisified with myself, the world and my vape.


So what is your story and why did you start the journey?

oska

Great to have a fellow vaper on board to moderate! A bit like you I started vaping as I again liked smoking but was starting to feel the ill effects. I found out about vaping from a music forum I have been a member of for years.

Started out with a cigalike kit from Steamlite and as soon as it arrived I used it combined with a pack of baccy in the evenings. When that packet ran out I vaped full time (16/12/2012), found out I could refill the cartomizers myself so my real journey started there. About 2 months later I bought my first eGo kit and then just kept adding to them. I bought bigger ones but always kept fixed battery devices and switched to Kanger eVods. A year later I started rewicking the Kanger heads, which I still do now. My upgrade was to then buy an MVP2 and wonder at wattage mode. I then bought a Sigelei ZMAX and some batteries from a guy at POTV and haven't looked back. The MVP is the back up. Still on Kanger clearos. I have 2 x Protank 2 that I use with pre-made Stealthvape res/no res wires and cotton. I tried the Naturevape heads but they gunk up too much with my custard, kept them for back ups ready wicked instead.

I've not really ventured into proper rebuildables although I may get a Kayfun Lite clone next to try. Not fussed on Mechs, I like the size of what I have and the controllability.

Lomez

You are already doing every thing you will need to do with a rebuildable, just it ups the capicity.    If you do venture into it the kayfun is a good starter rebuildable as it has a clear deck and is straight forward to build on however the rose or squape r are far superior in terms of flavour.

NewfieDrool

Got into it a few years back when I had a Screwdriver and crude drip tip.
Had several Screwdrivers go pop on me and then moved on to a Tornado and those plastic carts that leaked
Got back into it when the Mark T drip tip appeared and by then I got one of the early Provari units. Stuck with that then just recently added a kayfun which is better when I'm out and about.
Still like my cigars though

davidegee

I got in to it from a Newfie post on the 'post your recent purchases' thread.  I was intrigued by the provari and did some googling.

Started with a SD Mini. Then on to ego kit with C5 clearo's.  Next up a Vamo and protank.  I quickly decided I wanted to try making my own mods (despite not knowing how to solder or do anything else associated with making mods).  I've made a fair few tins with various boards (LM2596, OKR-T10, Vamo), a pipe, DNA in hammond, DNA in Hana enclosure.  Got a raptor board ready to go in something too.

I use various rebuildables with DIY juice generally.

I've probably spent a fortune on vaping and bits for mod making, but I've had fun! I only have one 'authentic' atty, so it could have been much worse...

Lomez

Think we have all spent a fortune but its the tinkering that gives me enjoyment mostly there are bad days too but hey isn't that life in general

Timmy C

This is a great addition to the forums so thanks Lomez for getting involved. I find the dedicated vaping forums sometimes a little too technical so hope this will be a place I can get some tips without having to do hours of research just to understand what people are talking about!

I started vaping nearly 3 years ago after a visit to a cold pub beer garden for a smoke. My friend had taken to vaping but as it was far less common then he chose not to do it in the pub for fear of being made to feel uncomfortable by the usual moaning types.  I had a try and was very impressed so ordered a starter kit from Liberty Flights. Just a couple of low power 510 batteries with some sort of small cartomzers and metal cone to make it look nice. No tank or anything. Quickly moved on to a juice barrel (a sort of carto/tank combo) which was a big improvement and stopped me smoking at home but as soon as I hit the pub the cigs still came out. Roll on a year or so of both vaping and smoking and I found myself on tour with a band from the US. One of the members of the band was a vaper and he was confident that with the right kit I could quit the smokes completely. He gave me his spare mini vivi nova and a bigger battery and some nice juice and that was it.....never smoked again!

I haven't moved much further on since then. I now use a full size Vivi Nova with a 1300mah vari volt battery and have taken to re-coiling the heads myself but that's about it. I ran into the same guy that gave me the vivi while on a recent US trip and he now has some huge fat mod device that 'smokes' like a bonfire so my next step is hopefully going to take me in that direction. I'm hoping for some advice on exactly where to go next but will perhaps leave that for a separate thread.

Lomez

Hi Timmy C,  welcome to the forums and congratulations on keeping off the stinkies.   You started off on a similar path too myself in some respects I also used a vivi nova but had issues with it leaking a lot most likely due to myself.   Well anyways in terms of devices that produce a lot of smoke (vapor) there is a few factors that increase vapor production the mix of the juice (high VG juice will increase vapor porduction),  the type of build ( how you set up your coil I'm persoanlly a straight up micro coil guy) I assume since you rebuild your own you know about ohms law and battery safety and lastly how much power you are putting through the coil (This will vary on the Ohm's/resistance of the coil and your mod that you use)

For advice on what you may want too get I would need more information like do you prefer box mods like #
IPV V2 50W BOX MOD - Mods

Or tube mods like this

Nemesis Clone Mechanical Mod - Mods

Then there is the atomiser there is currently a few different types which I will attempt too explain.  

RTA - Rebuildable tank atomiser such as the vivi nova/ Kayfun/ Taifun/ and Rose  bottom coiled with a tank on top for storing juice.

Genesis atomisers -  Top coiled with the juice tank underneath these tend to be harder to build on - tanks like this include Kraken, Sat22, Pulse, and RSM Rocket

Drippers (RDA)- Coiled deck with wick usually cotton where you drip liquid onto the coil/cotton too supply the liquid.  These tend to be what people who blow big clouds use but require a lot more upkeep then RTA or genesis atomisers due to having no tank and needing to be supplied with Liquid.

If you need anymore help let me know.

Lomez.

Timmy C

To be honest, I learnt the basics at school but it was a long time ago. I bought a multimeter along with wire and wick from one of the UK ecig suppliers as recommended on a forum and followed the instructions. I test them to make sure I've done it correctly but haven't gone as far as experimenting away from the instructions I was given.

So with something like the Nemesis you linked to. That would be fixed voltage I take it? Also, can you recommend a good cheap UK supplier for batteries and charger? Someone did give me a recommendation  on here once before but I can't find the page in the thread.

Lomez

Hi again,  yes the nemesis is a fixed voltage tube mod,  it usually needs a couple of magnets for the switch as the spring is usually a bit crap (crunchy) I have some of those i could post to you for free if you decide to get one.  Battery and charger wise I pretty much only use two places.
Torchy - big_f_d_d on eBay
Ecolux - 18650 Unprotected Batteries, 18650 Protected Batteries items in Ecoluxshop store on eBay!

These two have a solid well earned reputation for supplying batteries which are known to be originals.  Personally i tend to use torchy more as he does his own tests on batteries and is very very knowledgeable about them.