Bad Quality Hardware

Anyone

Ok, this is a semi rant, and a request for some advice on where to go next.

Basically, I am sick to death of poor quality hardware. In the last 3-4 months, I have had 4 batterys(Ego's and iTaste) just break or die on me. Numerous tanks have gone as well, Kanger T3's, Kanger Pro Tank mini's,iClear 16's. All in some way have become unusable. And dont get me started on wicks.

I really am tired of shoddy, unreliable inconsistent peices of kit

As it stands, I am trying to vape through a leaky iClear 16, and with the holidays I'm not going to be able to get anything new until next week.

The only piece of hardware I would recommend to anybody now is Evic, and even then finding a reliable tank is a nightmare.

So....any ideas or recommendations folks?

Ionised

You could come to the dark side of very shiny vaping things...but be aware they will suck money out of your wallet!

I must admit I was frustrated with dodgy ego batteries and gurgly clearos...then took the plunge and invested a few coins in a decent rebuildable atomiser and mechanical mod (FYI...currently using a Dingo mod and Kayfun atty. Both pretty much unbreakable and very reliable as long as I remember to charge a spare battery or two).

That said...my wife is using a couple of new ego twists and Aspire BDC clearos and finds that combo works well. (Actually she has stolen my Provari this week and I get the feeling I may not see it again)

Gillian72

Hiya! Yeah, I have the same problem. My two eGo K's are broken, and the button on one of my iTaste VV is just about to croak it.

I have tried every kind of clearamizers on the market, but they all gurgle and leak. (I'm gurgling now as I type!) I reckon my batteries broke coz of all the juice leaking into them.

You'd imagine it would be easy enough to make a clearamizer that doesn't leak, so how come I can't find one? Or is it my fault that they all leak?

I don't think I'd be any good with the re-buildable ones. I'm hopless with anything technical.

It's an awful shame that clearamizers aren't more dependable, or maybe it's me that's the problem. I'm gonna try an E-Roll next, I'm keeping my eye out for one on sale, coz I've spent way too much on e~cigs in the last few months.

The search for the perfect e~cig continues...

Green Hornet

A good carto tank and some Boge carto's. Job done.

Gillian72

Green Hornet wrote: »

A good carto tank and some Boge carto's. Job done.

Hi Green Hornet! What exactly is a carto tank? Is one of thingy's that you have to build yourself? Coz I just know that I wouldn't have the patience or the know how to do that.

What's the difference between a clearamizer and a carto tank? Is a carto tank less likely to leak and gurgle?

Thanx!

StickyIcky

Kanger eGo batteries are the best ego style batteries.

Few of those and a few clearomisers with a load of spare heads.

Small box of boge lr cartomisers in the drawer as backup or full time use.

Some variable wattage device with an agr carto tank.

A mech mod with a rebuild able device on it.

That's what I have and I'd never be without a couple of good working choices.

StickyIcky

Kanger eGo batteries are the best ego style batteries.

Few of those and a few clearomisers with a load of spare heads.

Small box of boge lr cartomisers in the drawer as backup or full time use.

Some variable wattage device with an agr carto tank.

A mech mod with a rebuild able device on it.

That's what I have and I'd never be without a couple of good working choices.

BeansBeans

for me the Puritank is a horrible bit of stuff, awful threading, lots of leaking and just average performance. Threading was so bad i just binned it second Puritank was fine, but fairly meh performance.
Had an Evolv Kick that was DOA.
And the AGR+ the biggest disappointment for me, I loved the original, but this just does not work, leaks like a sieve and very fussy about how large the holes in the carto are, waste of money.

Green Hornet

Gillian72 wrote: »

Hi Green Hornet! What exactly is a carto tank? Is one of thingy's that you have to build yourself? Coz I just know that I wouldn't have the patience or the know how to do that.

What's the difference between a clearamizer and a carto tank? Is a carto tank less likely to leak and gurgle?

Thanx!

A carto is a little tube that has filler material which soaks the juice. The atomiser is embedded in the filler.

The carto tank is a tank that the carto sits in and it has a little hole to let the juice through to the carto. They can be bought pre punched with the hole or you can punch it yourself.

The Boge F17 carto kit is an off the shelf carto tank kit. There are also carto tanks that you can buy separately and the Boge cartos will fit in them.

This is an example:

http://www.e-smokeireland.eu/product-p/subtanks.htm

You can buy a 5 pack of cartos for about 6 euro (?) and put it into the tank when the carto starts to fail. A carto probably lasts about a week.

In my experience, clearo's always flatter to deceive......a carto will always deliver consistent vaping, might get the occasional dud but they work very well.

Filling them first time is the important bit. You could use the condom method and that works very well. You could just load it slowly either and let it soak.

There are all kinds of tanks from probably 1ml to 5ml or so.......whole days or couple of days vaping without needing to refill....

Anyone

Cheers Green Hornet,

I'll give them a go I think, pretty much done with clearo's at this stage. Its a shift away from what I am familiar with so time to do some research.

Green Hornet

Loads of stuff on the internet about them. The only thing to be careful of is the first filling - make sure it's soaked with juice. After that, faff free.

StickyIcky

If you're using cartos on an ego battery maybe try the Boge 17 carto tank...

My favourite carto tank is the AGR (not the AGR+) but it's big so needs to be on a mod (is too big to go on an ego).

Like GH says just make sure to prime the carto properly by filling it for the first time till it looks like a slushing inside it's so full of juice and let it sit for a good 15 minutes so all the juice is evenly distributed inside the filler material.

Then it's a matter of punching the cartos correctly. Google punching cartos cus I need a cuppa right now

Gillian72

This is the most recent one I've tried:
http://www.e-smokeireland.eu/product-p/ce8.htm

It wouldn't connect with my iTaste VV VW, I think my iTaste s a bit wonky coz it doesn't connect with half the clearomizers I buy. I took a tweezers, and I got it working. I was perfect for a day and a half, I thought I'd found the perfect clearamizer, but then it started leaking and gurgling and it hasn't stopped since. I really think I'm the problem, not then clearomizers....

The most reliable clearomizer I've bought is the Ce4 V3, the ones sold in Smokedifferent. I've bought them else where, but they haven't been as good quality. I haven't been in town in months, so I've been trying different stuff out.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=478862795533256&set=pb.478847122201490.-2207520000.1388274164.&type=3&theater

I'm gonna give the Submarine Tank a go, I've looked at it a few times on esmokeireland, but I'd never heard anyone talk about it, so I was afraid to buy it. But I am willing to try anything now, coz I'm soooooo sick of leaking and gurgling. I reckon all the leaking is what damaged my batteries.

Thanks for the advice Green Hornet! Thanks StickyIcky too, I'll also check out the AGR. Thanx!

Lister1

Gillian72 wrote: »

The most reliable clearomizer I've bought is the Ce4 V3, the ones sold in Smokedifferent. I've bought them else where, but they haven't been as good quality. I haven't been in town in months, so I've been trying different stuff out.

I'm using the Aspire BDC. Best clearomiser I've come across in my short time vaping. Have suffered no leakage problems and no burnt taste problems either so would recommend.

http://www.ecigwizard.com/accessories/cartomisers/aspire/aspire-bdc-clearomiser.html

Green Hornet

I tried that (pyrex version) and it does vape very well, no burnt taste and great flavour. Started gurgling about half way through the tank though and changing the head didn't stop it either. Could be due to the fact that I wasn't lashing it out of it and it was a good while between vape sessions though.

I agree that it's the best clearo alright but that flooding is a real no no for me. The heads do work really really well in terms of flavour, vapour and wicking (maybe wicking too well in fact.....).

Available locally at a few vendors e.g. http://www.vapourpal.com/aspire-dual-coil-et-s-clearomiser.html

Lister1

I got mine before the Christmas period and have been using it daily for the last 2 weeks and haven't experienced any gurgling with it at all. I've yet to change the head on it but will let you know if I have any issues with it when I do so...

grindle

Lister1 wrote: »

I'm using the Aspire BDC. Best clearomiser I've come across in my short time vaping. Have suffered no leakage problems and no burnt taste problems either so would recommend.

http://www.ecigwizard.com/accessories/cartomisers/aspire/aspire-bdc-clearomiser.html

You'll find Aspires cheaper in Ireland @ e-smokeIreland.eu, vaperus.ie and ezsmoke.ie.
British vendors have pricing issues, especially the larger ones like ECW, LF and TW. Not sure if they've heard of supply chain economy but larger bulk shops are supposed to price downwards, not upwards. You'd swear they were M&S!

Lister1

grindle wrote: »

You'll find Aspires cheaper in Ireland @ e-smokeIreland.eu, vaperus.ie and ezsmoke.ie.

I'm based in the UK so hence the reason for purchasing from a UK vendor. The dodgy clearomiser I was using at the time meant that I needed a replacement urgently!

Next time I will be sure to take a look at the vendors recommended here.

Green Hornet

After a bit of reading up on the flooding, it seems that the airflow can cause this. If you do a dry pull it will cause it too.

grindle

Lister1 wrote: »

I'm based in the UK so hence the reason for purchasing from a UK vendor. The dodgy clearomiser I was using at the time meant that I needed a replacement urgently!

Next time I will be sure to take a look at the vendors recommended here.

OH! Sorry, missed your location when I zoomed into your text on mobile.

Well then...

Gillian72

Loads of great advice on here! Happy New Year to you all! 🌠

StickyIcky

Happy vape year vapers

Anyone

Ok, so took the plunge and bought some Boge F17 Tanks and Carto's. Got them today and will try them later on. I'll let you know how I get on with them. Thanks for the input and advice folks.

Green Hornet

The only thing to be careful of is the first fill. Make sure the carto is soaked before you fire it up. It'll hold a lot of drops.

Note sure if those cartos come with the little rubber caps? If they do, you could half fill one and dip the threaded end into the cap and let the juice soak in. After the first soaking you need never do it again with that carto.

Soak the carto. Put it into the tank. Fill the tank and off you go.....just top up the tank when it runs low.

Anyone

Yeah, it seems an odd setup(well it does as the first use after only using clearo's).

This is what I got btw

http://www.ezsmoke.ie/boge-cartomizer-tank-p-349.html

Theres a carto already in it, I'm guessing I can unscrew that from the bottom of the tank and follow the video instructions after that.

Anyway, hopefully it will work out.

*Edit* The replacement Carto's have the rubber caps, so I can fill them using the condom method.

Green Hornet

Yeah, the first fill can be a nuisance the first time you do it but it becomes a knack after that.

The crackling is normal by the way.....when you're vaping it, it crackles.

Gillian72

Hi Anyone, PLEASSSSSE report back and let me know how you get on. I've been having the exact same problems as you with clearomizers, so I'm dying to hear how you get on with that yokey~ma~jig! Best of luck!

dePeatrick

I'm curious too as to how the cartomiser works out, I have never used one and am considering it.

Green Hornet

Cartos brought vaping from the level of people who REALLY WANTED to give up and were prepared to live with leaks, dry hits, burnt taste, adjusting wicks several times a day, plastic tastes etc. to people who would NOT have converted without reliability and good performance out of the box. Not sure if I'm making any sense with that statement but hopefully you get the gist.

They only cost about 1.50 euro each or maybe 6 euro for 5 and each carto can last up to a week or 2 depending in the usual factors.

You don't need a tank to try them out. You could throw a couple of Boge LR cartos into your next basket and give them a go. If you liked them, buy a tank and the tank will hold between 1ml and 5ml depending on the tank.

They won't blow the socks off you compared to a good quality RBA but they will satisfy and be uber reliable and maintenance free.

The key to them is the first fill. If they are not soaked before you first fire it, the filler will burn and its dead, or at least unusable in real terms.

I never got in with any clearo, even the modern ones. If all RBA's in the world were banned, I'd chug away quite happily on cartos.

As I said though, they are a workhorse for those who just want to fill and vape without any faff. If a person has a good working gennie or something and is happy to faff around rebuildng it, cartos aren't really for those people.

I should qualify this post by saying that I never, ever, had a really good medium term experience with clearo's over the last 3 years but many have so......'shrug'....I guess I'm biased.

dePeatrick

I just made bits of my "out and about" vaper, 1100Ma Ego/miniprotank 2 ....:( slipped from my pocket and too late crunch...way beyond repair....kinda sentimental as it was the one that got me off the cigarettes......

Have a new mod and RBD eyed up, meant to order before Xmas but did not get a chance.....so will throw in a few cartos and see what they are like in next order.

Mr. Chrome

Gotta agree with you GH. Not sure if I would still be vaping if it wasn't for cartos. Never got along with clearos either.
There is a little bit of a learning curve when it comes to carto tanks, punching, filling, etc. but nothing too difficult.

Fratton Fred

I noticed P Busardo uses a carto tank for a lot of his reviews, any idea which one?

Thinking of trying the Boge F17

Anyone

Ok, so started using this on Saturday. My first impressions are the draw is a little airy, however, that could be because of the juice i was using(not my usual all day vape, which I ran out of).

Filling them, compared to clearo's, is a bit of a pain. I would recommend that anybody who is trying them to watch one or two videos, as its a different process to clearo's.

I think I may have flooded the carto also. After topping up my tank, I decided to drop some liquid into the filler material, just to keep it wet. No idea if I put too much in, but after I did, I had a lot of gurlgling.

So....all in all, I cant really give a verdict just yet. One, I need to try them with my standard all day juice(hopefully it will arrive today), and practice a bit more on filling/refilling.

Mr. Chrome

Anyone, what type of cartos are you using, are they prepunched or did you punch them yourself? The size of holes and juice have alot to do with flooding. The thicker the juice the bigger the hole needed and vice versa. If you make the holes too big you will get flooding, too small and you will get dry hits.
If it floods just take it off the mod, put tissue around the air intake of the carto, turn it upsidedown and blow into the drip tip.

Fred, I have an F17 somewhere if you want it, I can send you a few cartos aswell. PM me your address if you want them. As for busardo, god only knows what he uses. I'd say he has a decent collection of them :-)

StickyIcky

Cartomisers are great. Learn to use them without tank. Fill them properly, the condom method is good for this, Google it. Then let it sit for a good 15mins to let it fully soak in so it doesn't burn or its for the bin. Then vape it. To top them up.. Drip into it into the top down the side, don't get any juice in the hole in the middle, if you do just unscrew it, turn it upside down and blow it out into a tissue.

They're great! Get one if you haven't already! They are cheap and can be a life saver!

Cartomisers! Yay

Seriously buy one already.

My favourite are boge low resistance cartomisers.

Green hornet covered it all really well.

BeansBeans

Fratton Fred wrote: »

I noticed P Busardo uses a carto tank for a lot of his reviews, any idea which one?

Thinking of trying the Boge F17

Ah he has a lot of carto tanks, he used the Trap tank a lot (thats from Kir Fanis I think, someone would know better), the Prive tank from Kir Fanis, also the Rapid tank he used for a while, seemed to love it, bit of an oddball tank. You used to be able to get that from Finnvape but dont think its around anymore, sadly carto tanks are not in vogue anymore
These days he seems to use Russian and the Kayfun rebuildables for reviews.

The f17 is flanged is it not? Some tanks will not be able to fit that (AGR for instance) also cant do the rubber cap fill method which is a life saver .

Seeing as people are talking about cartos, why the hell can you not get 1.3 - 1.6 ohm range cartos (single coil) I really would love a lower resistance carto.

grindle

BeansBeans wrote: »

Seeing as people are talking about cartos, why the hell can you not get 1.3 - 1.6 ohm range cartos (single coil) I really would love a lower resistance carto.

People would destroy their eGos and 510 batteries. On a mech 12-13w on a fresh battery is very hot for a carto - fire a 2ohm Boge at 5.2v if you want that vape but cartos topped out at around 9w for me before certain juices tasted burnt.
There was a 1.25ohm dual-coil from Smoktech but that's gonna be cack because they can't make dual-coils reliably. Seems to be an issue in factories, duals are tricky for employees to get right or something.

Mr. Chrome

Its probably too hot for a carto but I dont think it would destroy an ego.
I think the amp limit kicks in at around 2.5 amps. I use a 1.2ohm coil in an a7 and get around 3.3V under load. Thats an 8.25W vape, bit somehow feels more with the a7.
I know its pushes the limits of the ego bit I've been doing it now for about 6 months and on different egos and nothing bad has happened....yet..*

*famous last words

grindle

Mr. Chrome wrote: »

Its probably too hot for a carto but I dont think it would destroy an ego.
I think the amp limit kicks in at around 2.5 amps. I use a 1.2ohm coil in an a7 and get around 3.3V under load. Thats an 8.25W vape, bit somehow feels more with the a7.
I know its pushes the limits of the ego bit I've been doing it now for about 6 months and on different egos and nothing bad has happened....yet..*

*famous last words

Most eGos people are buying aren't Joyetech's. Generics usually start at 4.2v which is 3.3A. Maybe those teeny tiny batteries have a bit of headroom but I wouldn't like to test the limits.

Green Hornet

BeansBeans wrote: »

Ah he has a lot of carto tanks, he used the Trap tank a lot (thats from Kir Fanis I think, someone would know better), the Prive tank from Kir Fanis, also the Rapid tank he used for a while, seemed to love it, bit of an oddball tank. You used to be able to get that from Finnvape but dont think its around anymore, sadly carto tanks are not in vogue anymore
These days he seems to use Russian and the Kayfun rebuildables for reviews.

The f17 is flanged is it not? Some tanks will not be able to fit that (AGR for instance) also cant do the rubber cap fill method which is a life saver .

Seeing as people are talking about cartos, why the hell can you not get 1.3 - 1.6 ohm range cartos (single coil) I really would love a lower resistance carto.

I think the F17 cartos are narrower than the standard Boges as well as flanged so they'll only fit the F17 tank.

I'd imagine that if somebody was going to go down the carto route for certain, they'd be better to buy standard Boges, a punch and a nice tank.

StickyIcky

The X8 Tank is a bit of a copy of the Trap Tank and much cheaper. My favourite carto tank is the AGR (not the AGR plus) but you need a mod for those are they're too big for an eGo. I never really found a carto tank that I liked for an eGo battery.

BeansBeans

Was looking at the pyrex U-DCT today, i wonder about it though, have read the airflow is a bit crap on them. Im really disappointed with the AGR+.

Back to the resistance thing though. A 1.5 ohm carto would be fine at 4.2 volts, as long as people punch them properly. The reason I would go for the lower resistance idea is that most cartos I have used tend to be 2.2 ohms as opposed to being two. But ya 1.5 - 1.7 would probably be a better choice.

I think im just sick of having to use a huge wand (kicked mech or a VW mod) with a carto.

StickyIcky

Beans here's a dual coil 1.5 ohm cartomiser - never tried them but if you do please post back your results. The AGR+ kinda sucks compared to the original AGR. I've both and far prefer the original one.

http://www.e-smokeireland.eu/product-p/dcc.htm

grindle

BeansBeans wrote: »

I think im just sick of having to use a huge wand (kicked mech or a VW mod) with a carto.

Kicked 18350? 79mm with the Nemesis [clone]. Only 7mm longer than a 650mAh eGo, 8mm shorter than the 900mAh.
With a long carto + drip tip it's the same length as the Vamo in 18650 with nothing on top.

Mr. Chrome

Grindle, how are you getting on with your chemesis? Did you hear about the black box-white box debacle?

grindle

Mr. Chrome wrote: »

Grindle, how are you getting on with your chemesis? Did you hear about the black box-white box debacle?

Both working perfectly, love them to bits. A friend I see every couple of months (non-vaper) was very smitten with the Nemesis, it reeked of class to him - clones, very classy indeed.
Never heard of this debacle, do go on...

Mr. Chrome

It is nice alright, basically anyone that got one in a white box is getting a replacement or $10 credit because the manufacturer fuked up on a few details. The black box ones are all good though.

Ha, now they're saying they will give 50% credit to anyone that got the white box!

StickyIcky

grindle wrote: »

Kicked 18350? 79mm with the Nemesis [clone]. Only 7mm longer than a 650mAh eGo, 8mm shorter than the 900mAh.
With a long carto + drip tip it's the same length as the Vamo in 18650 with nothing on top.

Finally.. a use for my kick!

BeansBeans

StickyIcky wrote: »

Beans here's a dual coil 1.5 ohm cartomiser - never tried them but if you do please post back your results. The AGR+ kinda sucks compared to the original AGR. I've both and far prefer the original one.

http://www.e-smokeireland.eu/product-p/dcc.htm

Ya I am not a big fan of dual coil cartos for numerous reasons.
My AGR cracked finally after vaping lemon liquids in it, took a while, was willing to sacrifice it (had no choice really, was on holidays) . But the + was a huge disappointment.

grindle wrote: »

Kicked 18350? 79mm with the Nemesis [clone]. Only 7mm longer than a 650mAh eGo, 8mm shorter than the 900mAh.
With a long carto + drip tip it's the same length as the Vamo in 18650 with nothing on top.

Ya I use kicked 18350s unless i know i will be out for a while in which case it will be an 18500 or so.

I am jealous of all of ye who use rebuildables and can actually use an 18350 unkicked basically The Nemesis clone does look very tidy compared to telescopes. Might have to order one of those. Fasttech ya?


Back on topic.

The sigelei Bagua telescope. Beautiful looking mod but it feels really light, very light, the tube when screwed out is wobbly. The locking ring is stuck in the unlocked position.
The air holes at the top are actual vents not air flow. There is a ring to block the venting, which is insanely bad design, someone might not realise their actual purpose. Kind of been put off using it in case the ring winds up in my pocket while walking around, sounds made but i have had toppers screw out of mods in my pocket before

On the plus side, threading is fantastic and looks really great, the button is very nice if a bit of a long throw (easy to adjust with an o-ring). Its a pity though if it was nearly as solid as the Sigelei #19 (another knock off apparently) and the rings were not terrible it would be a favourite.
But its only €20 or so, mainly the safety that bothers me.

grindle

Mr. Chrome wrote: »

It is nice alright, basically anyone that got one in a white box is getting a replacement or $10 credit because the manufacturer fuked up on a few details. The black box ones are all good though.

Glad I didn't have to get involved in that crap, mine were both black boxes, not a peep out of either of them. 22mm dripper on top would be sex, but RDA designers seem oblivious to the size of the devices these things are on top of. Pack of knobs

Mr. Chrome

Yeah thats weird alright, plenty of 19, 20, 21 and 23mm drippers but nothing in 22mm, except for the fatty v3 but thats only 22 at the base...oh the inhumanity of it all!!
Something like the igo w in 22mm with air control would look sweet.