Darth Vaper

My DSE-901 arrived yesterday from CigTechs, and after charging the batteries I started with the "medium" cartridge, listed on the website as "tobacco" flavor. Here are my first impressions:

1. It made me cough. I'm a pack a day 100's analog smoker for 20 years, smoking premium additive-free tobacco for the last eight months. The coughing upon vaping surprised me. When I ease up on my draw and do so more slowly, it seems to be better.

2. The "medium" cartridge gave me no nicotine effect at all. I vaped for 10 minutes or so, then said, "Okay, I'm ready for a real cigarette." There's no indication on the website or in the packaging to tell me what strength these cartridges are. Today, I inserted the "high" cartridge, and that seems to be doing it for me.

3. I firmly believe that whoever created the "tobacco" flavor for these cartridges has neither smoked a cigarette nor smelled a cigarette, but rather read about what tobacco tastes like in a book. My JC "Starter Kit" cannot arrive soon enough!

Question: After vaping on the 901 for about 15 minutes, I started to taste a "burnt" flavor, which went away after I set the thing down for a few minutes and tried again. The cart seems full enough, so did the atomizer get too hot or too dry or what?

Vangelus

The burnt flavour is usually a case of the wick material getting a little torched. If that happens try easing off it for a couple of minutes. If it's still there, then you need to top off the cart and make sure the wick is moist.

I'd recommend purchasing liquid on its own- most good companies give a mg measurement of nicotine content.

VapeAtron

First note, especially if you are a hardcore analog smoker (which I was, 2 packs a day prior to this) - Regular carts - and almost all carts by themselves - suck.

The cough - its a "dry" smoke. Regular cigs have so much crap in them designed to make the smoke "smooth" - this is definitely dry compared to that. Dripping and having everything extra moist helps this.

Burnt taste/smell - The carts can be dry, or more dry than they should be, even right out of the wrapper. You need to get some of the moisture from the cart down onto the atomizer/wick area. Basically, you want some liquid, and drip a drop or 2 onto the atomizer, AND refill your cart so the liquid is slightly pooling. That should alleviate the burnt taste etc.

Also of note, the atomizers come "primed" with liquid of some sort that has a weird taste. That will be there for a while as you break in a new atomizer. Shouldnt last more than a day or so with regular use.

Tobacco - agreed - not tobacco. None of them. Look for and try flavors that are not tobacco, and find ones you like on their own merit. Ive yet to get a tobacco flavor thats real, and dont really want to at this point. Juices, flavors - its all trial and error, so buy different ones from different suppliers till you find the type and flavor you like. Then buy a case of it

I currently like the "orange cap" liquid, non-branded that many suppliers have. But not all flavors - some are down right nasty. Strawberry, Vanilla, and "Marlboro" have been good. The citrus types in that style - not so good. Its a thicker, harsher juice that to me, when used with dripping, gives me that kick I need to mimic old school smoking.

Also, with all juices, especially during transition from analogs to e-smoking, Ive gone with the 36mg juice. On top of all these tech issues and annoying things, I didn't want to be having a nicotine fit. The carts that come with starter kits were useless to me.

Hope that helps!

Primus

Like Vapeatron said, this is most likely from the crap the manufacturer puts on it and will go away after a day or so.

I have noticed that when dripping I will have a slight burnt taste after the juice has been cooked off the atomizer. At that point it's time to drip more juice or stop for a while.

xMarlboroMan

Ya... what VapeAtron said. I couldn't have said it better myself

I see that you got a JC starter pack on order. May I sugguest you get some 36mg juice as I think you might be disappointed by the JC juice. My first juice was Puresmoker's 36mg True Menthol and the 24mg of their "Pure" series (the orange cap kind that Vape likes). The 36mg is awesome... the 24mg orange cap sucks (sorry vape ). It is waaaay too harsh. For me, there is a difference between throat hit and throat burn. The 36mg hits, the 24mg burns. Although, I still do use the 24mg; I just mix it with other liquids to tame it down.

I have also purchased liquid from JC, Janty and Truevapor (formerly vapore-cigs.com). The JC is weak! Barely any flavor and what flavor there is diminishes quickly. Big disappointment. Janty is mediocre at best. More throat burn that hit and a tad more flavor than JC. Truevapor is decent. I purchased the sample pack and some of the flavors suck (cola is one). Pretty much like JC's and Janty; mild flavor, but has a better thoat hit. The sample pack is only 12mg, so their 36mg is probably much better. (Although I should note that I've had a head cold for about 3 weeks and up until this week haven't been able to taste/smell much of anything; ymmv).

Check my post on 36mg dealers. Most appear to be out-of-stock right now... with the exception of truevapor.com.

36mg e-liquid seller listing

Oh, and carts suck period!

L8r, x

Edit: Oh, I have also purchased liquid from an ebay seller (logicsmoke http:// E-cigarette-usa.com); 16mg coffee flavored. Pretty good for being only 16mg and the coffee flavor is nice and tasty.

VapeAtron

Orange Cap - only use 36. All the 24s and below have been sub-par. Even the strawberry I like the best in 36 isn't really that good in 18. Dunno why. Nicotine definately affects the flavor and overall quality of the liquid, for good or bad.

xMarlboroMan

I see you posted that e-smokey treats has the 36mg OC's. I might have to give them a try.

Darth Vaper

Much thanks to all who posted. Your comments have really helped steer me in the right direction.

You guys rock!

Darth Vaper

Is this what you mean by the Orange Cap e-liquids?

Attached Thumbnails

xMarlboroMan

Yup, that'd be it.

Tolken

Does anyone use a Janty Dura? I'm thinking about getting the new one, I was curious if anyone thinks the price for replacement parts is worth it.

Darth Vaper

Vapeatron & xMarlboroMan,

You guys were right on the money re: using 36 mg juice to transition from analogs.
My JC starter kit came with the "medium" 18 mg juice and, like you predicted, it just wasn't doing it for me. I still wanted to smoke an analog. The starter kit is a nice little package though, and I would still recommend it to anyone just beginning. If nothing else, the JC juices will be good to mix in with the high test juice.

Well, taking your advice, I bought two 36 mg juices from TrueVapor, (I got Cola and Mint) and THIS is the the STUFF! WOW! Now it feels like I'm getting the nic! Yesterday, my first day with it, I smoked fewer analogs in a day than I have in 20 years, and today I expect to smoke even less. I have some 36 mg Apple on the way from Puresmoker as well, and looking forward to it.

I must say I was apprehensive about getting the 36 mg. juice after seeing some of the posts by the nervous nellies over at another forum (which shall remain nameless). They make it sound as if a nic overdose is inevitable with the super high juices. After having tried them, I can say you'd be hard pressed to OD on this stuff, as the throat hit is so strong I have to put it down after a couple minutes. (In fact, if you read their threads, the one guy who OD'd smoked 36 juice on a screwdriver model pretty much non-stop all day, then got a really bad headache for a couple days).

So let me add my advice to newbies: If you're trying to come off a pack-a-day analog habit and kiss tobacco goodbye, get the 36 mg juice. You can always lighten the nic load later by mixing in lower nic juice yourself.

jamie

It's great that 36mg works for you and some others. If you read enough to notice us nervous nellies over there, you might have also read the many many posts from people who have had too-much-nic symptoms, including several who have ended up in the emergency room. Earlier today we had a newbie join who had started with high strength and began vomiting. Hardly a positive intro to ecigs. I see at least a few posts from folks overdoing it every single day that I read that board, and on other ecig forums as well. And I've had a few scary moments myself.

I'm a fan of having nic-replacement products be strong enough to actually serve as effective replacements, so I don't begrudge anyone their fierce juice. However, 9 months of my own vaping and hearing from hundreds of other users has put me firmly in the cautious column. I don't believe people should use it unless and until their use experience has shown that they need it. That is what you did. Good for you. I encourage others to do the same trial.

Nobody will find themselves talking to a paramedic due to too little nicotine.

BTW, I had little trouble hitting 3+ packs a day and I've yet to need higher than medium. High made me sick for two days.

Primus

Well said. When first starting vaping you may want to start with 24mg or 18mg. Just see what it does for you. You can always bump up if need be.

jamie

Thanks Primus. Although... I would say 6-11mg, being more of a nelly than you.

Primus

Well, for a 3+ pack a day you must have been vaping non-stop for about 12 hours a day!

jamie

That was smoking, not vaping. And errrm, yeah, I do vape a lot.

Primus

Yeah, I'm just saying to vape enough to equal 3+ packs a day would be pretty much non-stop. Especially at lower nic levels.

I think I find myself vaping a bit more then I used to smoke. But the whole paradigm has changed. You don't have to sit there and smoke it real fast before it goes out. You can take your time and puff at your leisure.