I'm going to try to take and tweet lots of photos from Vapercon starting thursday. If you'd like to see them, follow me on twitter @markspens. I'll also try to post a few here.
I agree with Christopher and Jeff, The only other cause may be if you've been a little sloppy and let juice build up and is shorting out that atty. Unplug the passsthru and clean the connector and see if that helps.
You name it, I've probably used it. Just pick something you like and go for it. If you're curious about some different woods you can check out my website--Just a hobby of mine. http://markspens.com/
I agree with Wendall. You have to really want to quit and stick to it. If you fail a few times just think of how many analogs you avoided and build on that.