Hello

[Walt]

Just a quick hello as I am new to this forum. 

Bran new to vaping and have a ton of questions that can wait until I read more of what is already posted.  Have smoked for a very long time and am not a fan of quitting.  I truly enjoy the activity and I am addicted to nicotine.  I don't see the nicotine addiction as a problem.  I do see the delivery system of a cigarette a problem.  I like the delivery system of vaping and so far I am very much enjoying the activity of vaping.  Time will tell, but so far I am really enjoying the change. 

TTYL!

 

Walt

[Tam]

Welcome to Vapor Talk.   

[Edna]

Welcome aboard

 

[VapeMama]

Welcome! Good place here for information and community!

[Bebop]

Way to go Walt.  You won't regret the switch. Many of us in the same boat.  Welcome.

[cany]

Welcome aboard Walt

[Walt]

This is a tough nut to crack.  No pun intended. I share the challenge many here express.  I can't tell where my nicotine level as both too much and too little leave me feeling dizzy and buzzed. I have also noted how little I knew about exactly how I exhaled cigarettes. The second discovery is a gift.  I can work on that. And then oh course, there's the brain. "Grab a ciggerette, that works". Lol, sorry, wrong answer. 

I have enough nerd in me to be intrigued with trying different juice recipes and building custom heating coils etc. There's a real "hobby" aspect to this that I look forward to.  So many benefits!  

 

[cany]

54 minutes ago, Walt said:

This is a tough nut to crack.  No pun intended. I share the challenge many here express.  I can't tell where my nicotine level as both too much and too little leave me feeling dizzy and buzzed. I have also noted how little I knew about exactly how I exhaled cigarettes. The second discovery is a gift.  I can work on that. And then oh course, there's the brain. "Grab a ciggerette, that works". Lol, sorry, wrong answer. 

I have enough nerd in me to be intrigued with trying different juice recipes and building custom heating coils etc. There's a real "hobby" aspect to this that I look forward to.  So many benefits!  

 

Its a fun hobby and a much better one than cigs

[Tam]

1 hour ago, Walt said:

This is a tough nut to crack.  No pun intended. I share the challenge many here express.  I can't tell where my nicotine level as both too much and too little leave me feeling dizzy and buzzed. I have also noted how little I knew about exactly how I exhaled cigarettes. The second discovery is a gift.  I can work on that. And then oh course, there's the brain. "Grab a ciggerette, that works". Lol, sorry, wrong answer. 

I have enough nerd in me to be intrigued with trying different juice recipes and building custom heating coils etc. There's a real "hobby" aspect to this that I look forward to.  So many benefits!  

 

We've all been there and are very happy to help. Just give us details and information... chances are very good that we'll have alternatives for you to try. Ask questions. Lots of questions. We welcome those who are wanting to learn. You'll probably get more answers than you want, but then that's the nature of vaping, it's a very personal thing. Everyone is different and will experience vaping in a different way so it's up to us to give you choices, up to you to discover what works for you. It's a fun challenge.    

[Walt]

On a whim, I picked up a second vaperizer. This one has the form factor of a pen. I immediately noticed a much lesser propensity to choke with the pen.  My first unit is an Eleaf pico.  I'm assuming the difference is the amount of vapor and breath generated in drawing. The pico has a much greater volume of air movement per draw.  If this is true, I am wondering if I can get a smaller mouthpiece for the pico or of this will cause problems with functioning, e.g. heat dissipation. 

Also did a little reading on media.  I am surmising a greater proportion of VG would be the ticket for me. As I understand this, it would provide a thicker, sweeter, and less cloudy experience which I would find preferable. 

Any thoughts?  

Regardless, my new vaporizer friends made my night last night. Had band rehearsal last night and the temps here are below freezing. Happy as a clam vaping between songs and the band mates loved not having to break while I got my fix. Everybody loves this thing!  

[cany]

1 hour ago, Walt said:

On a whim, I picked up a second vaperizer. This one has the form factor of a pen. I immediately noticed a much lesser propensity to choke with the pen.  My first unit is an Eleaf pico.  I'm assuming the difference is the amount of vapor and breath generated in drawing. The pico has a much greater volume of air movement per draw.  If this is true, I am wondering if I can get a smaller mouthpiece for the pico or of this will cause problems with functioning, e.g. heat dissipation. 

Also did a little reading on media.  I am surmising a greater proportion of VG would be the ticket for me. As I understand this, it would provide a thicker, sweeter, and less cloudy experience which I would find preferable. 

Any thoughts?  

Regardless, my new vaporizer friends made my night last night. Had band rehearsal last night and the temps here are below freezing. Happy as a clam vaping between songs and the band mates loved not having to break while I got my fix. Everybody loves this thing!  

VG will give you bigger clouds PG will give you more flavor/less clouds  Have you tried turning down the airflow adjustment on your pico??

Edited December 21, 2016 by cany

[Tam]

@Edna can probably tell you more about the Pico and some suggestions on how to make it work for you (if I'm remembering correctly, she has one). Can you turn down the Pico? If you're choking, it sounds like you might need to turn down the watts/volts on the battery. Start low. Vape. If it's not doing anything for you, turn up a bit. Vape. Repeat until you either get a slight burnt taste or it gives you a harsh vape, turn down just a touch and that should be your sweet spot with that tank/coil/juice combination.

With your pen-style battery, what tank are you using with it and what resistance in coil?

[Earthling789]

I'm curious on the pen-style too... 

[Adversarious1]

Welcome to VT.

[Edna]

22 hours ago, Walt said:

On a whim, I picked up a second vaperizer. This one has the form factor of a pen. I immediately noticed a much lesser propensity to choke with the pen.  My first unit is an Eleaf pico.  I'm assuming the difference is the amount of vapor and breath generated in drawing. The pico has a much greater volume of air movement per draw.  If this is true, I am wondering if I can get a smaller mouthpiece for the pico or of this will cause problems with functioning, e.g. heat dissipation. 

Also did a little reading on media.  I am surmising a greater proportion of VG would be the ticket for me. As I understand this, it would provide a thicker, sweeter, and less cloudy experience which I would find preferable. 

Any thoughts?  

Regardless, my new vaporizer friends made my night last night. Had band rehearsal last night and the temps here are below freezing. Happy as a clam vaping between songs and the band mates loved not having to break while I got my fix. Everybody loves this thing!  

Hi @Walt  sorry I just saw this..

I love my pico as @Tam said. It's my go to mod.

The pico mod itself isn't the  the cause of the choking problem, it's probably the tank/juice are you using on it?  Though some of it can be an after effect of quitting analogs. I coughed for a couple of months while my body readjusted.

If you're using the melo III that comes with the pico in the kit yes, it can have an airy draw. If you're enjoying your pen style vaporizer I'm assuming that you vape mouth to lung like when you smoked your analogs. It  might remedy the melo if you can switch to a ming type drip tip and somewhat close your airflow valves on the base of the melo or you can try a tank like a nautilus mini that is more suited to that style of vaping. The melo III also has ECML coils  you can get which are specifically for MTL vapers which might also help with the problem. I would try the ECML coil before buying a new tank though personally. The ECML coil is 0.75 ohm so you can vape at a lower wattage than the 0.3ohm which will be cooler and might make it better for you.

Yes, the pico/melo combination is a sub ohm set up and if you have the 0.3ohm coil in it then anything over a 6mg nicotine juice would be harsh. I would think that if you used at least 70vg/30pg juice in a lower nicotine level you'd be happier with your set up. A higher VG has less of a throat hit than PG which can trigger coughing/choking too. Personally I use a 3mg 80vg/20pg juice and it's perfect for me. I quit analogs in May and after a while I switched from MTL to direct to lung so my suggestion is to hang on to your melo no matter what because you'll probably enjoy it more as your vaping style changes and it's great to have back ups.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Edna

[Walt]

You folks are the best!  

Your post is like Paul Harvey's "rest of the story".  I visited my favorite Vape store and chatted a bit with the folks there yesterday. Your information is filling in the gaps. The Pico stays.  I'll find the upper inhalation components per your advise. So far, I have changed the juice for the pico to 3 mg, 65/35 (best they had) and the vape is very pleasant even with my analog habits (interesting nomenclature). Part of my analog habit was to chain smoke during seditary activities. The new recipe is great for those times!  The 3 mil "dose" is much more palatable than the nic levels obtained from multiple analogs. 

[Tam]

One more thing I would suggest for you is... if you chain vape (like chain smoking), get a 0 nic juice and switch to it an hour or so before bed time. This will help with the usual motions of smoking/vaping, but it will give you 0 nic so you can sleep better. Having multiple tanks with different nic levels for specific things will be helpful so you don't have to dump out your one tank of juice, change out a coil, etc. 

[Walt]

You folks are the best!  

Your post is like Paul Harvey's "rest of the story".  I visited my favorite Vape store and chatted a bit with the folks there yesterday. Your information is filling in the gaps. The Pico stays.  I'll find the upper inhalation components per your advise. So far, I have changed the juice for the pico to 3 mg, 65/35 (best they had) and the vape is very pleasant even with my analog habits (interesting nomenclature). Part of my analog habit was to chain smoke during seditary activities. The new recipe is great for those times!  The 3 mil "dose" is much more palatable than the nic levels obtained from multiple analogs. 

[Walt]

The unit describe as a "pen" form factor is joyetech ego aio not to be confused with eieio, I guess.  Am using 12mg juice in it and hitting it like an analog without eritation The media is pg heavy. I use it a lot like an analog all the way around. 

Again, thanks for all the replies!  This just adds to the joy I'm finding in this new endeavor. 

[Earthling789]

I'm glad you're finding enjoyment in your new-found vaping experience!  It will quickly turn into a full replacement for analogs, and then into a "hobby", lol...  You'll find yourself looking at all the new shiny stuff and wanting more and more... we call it "a bad case of shinyitus"    But, in the long run, you'll spend less and less on vaping, and begin to reap the monetary rewards of vaping, too, which is keeping up with your (diminishing) Nicotine demands for FAR LESS MONEY than you EVER spent on analogs!

I have been analog-free for nearly 3 years, and my annual vaping expenditure (I don't call it a budget any more) is just a couple hundred dollars now... mostly for supplies such as coils, wire, and DIY juice materials (Nicotine, VG, PG, and flavorings).  Yeah, I still splurge on a new tank or MOD from time to time, but those are just rewards for being a non-smoker, and to replace aging or dead/dying/broken equipment.  Hard to believe I use to spend my annual vaping "budget" in just 5-6 week's worth of analogs!

Edited December 22, 2016 by Earthling789

[Tam]

Like Earthling said, you'll find you spend less... in time. At first, while you're building up your inventory, getting back ups and back ups of back ups, and finding out what works for you through trial and error, you may very well spend more than you did with analogs, but it does taper off once you find what works for you.

Then again, we're all good at helping others spend their money.   

[Edna]

13 hours ago, Tam said:

Like Earthling said, you'll find you spend less... in time. At first, while you're building up your inventory, getting back ups and back ups of back ups, and finding out what works for you through trial and error, you may very well spend more than you did with analogs, but it does taper off once you find what works for you.

Then again, we're all good at helping others spend their money.   

@Earthling789 and @Tam  are the champs at helping you spend your $.... though I plead guilty as charged too

I'm glad you have found that the pico stays and your new juice makes you happy. It's a great set-up.

I'm now hitting the point where I'm not spending much on new stuff though I have admit the occasional case of shinyitus does win. I also have a joyetech AIO and I love it actually for running to the grocery or quick trips out and about because it fits well into a jacket pocket or purse. The leak-proof and top fill features are great. Just so you know, It will function well with the higher VG juices too. I currently have 3mg 80vg/20pg banana strawberry in mine. Your 65/35 isn't a bad mix, it isn't as harsh as others and the coil in the AIO is 0.6ohm and cooler than the 0.3 as well. @Tam's suggestion of 0mg juice at bedtime is great and does pacify the need to go through the motions.

One quick note though, make sure you charge the batteries for your pico in an external charger rather than in the pico. It's better and safer for the battery and the mod.

Congratulations on your new hobby

Edited December 23, 2016 by Edna

[Walt]

Again, Thanks to all!  Everything shared is Soooooo helpful!  Picked up a second eco last night and some 18mg juice for those stressful occasions.  

Had dinner with a friend and topped it off with desert.  12mg Pink Lady. What a thing to believe; an after dinner "smoke" can taste good!  From there we went into his studio an worked on a few pieces he has written over the years and did a little recording. All the while, I'm vaping now and then with a clear conscious. Reminds me of being 16 and having a cigar while listening to music. That was way back when the activity was fun, not an addiction that had to be fed.  To me, this is like a modern day miracle.  Even after a full year of abstinence I was still plagued with constant cravings that were mood altering. Last night I was happy as a clam. Mega bonus!  No more ping ponging with hourly cigarette cycles. Just a nice consistent drip.  I do envision getting a couple more tanks for the pico. Think I'll have some Blue Voodo for desert tonight, lol.  

I hope some of the venues we play will allow vaping. That would add so much enjoyment to shows. 

Ill quit rambling now. This is just too wonderful not to share. 

[Edna]

Sounds like you found your niche    Way to go

[Walt]

Love the cheerleader Edna!  I do understand that I am in the "pink cloud" phase of this adventure and the support found here is amazing!  Had another great day today.