Thank you, both of you are outstanding. I appreciate all of your help. What kind of build is that? Is there a specific name and is that a beginning build that would be easy for me? I heard that the more simpler builds produce more clouds, is that true?
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I would say that's a simple dual coil horizontal build for a RDA (rebuildable dripping atomizer). I mainly use RTA's (rebuildable tank atomizers). I like Billow V2's and Bellus's. Depending on the tank, wicking will be different. When wicking a tank it can be a little trickier because if done wrong it can lead to either dry hits or leaking (not implying there is only 1 right way, everyone has their favorite). I also only use TC so my wire of choice is SS 430. Other TC (temperature control) wires include Ni200, Ti01, and SS316L. For straight power mode most people use Kanthal A1.
PS SS (stainless steel) wire can be used for TC or Power Mode.
Cheers,
Steve
PS SS (stainless steel) wire can be used for TC or Power Mode.
Cheers,
Steve
I had leaking issues with my crown and my Herakles. I haven't had a single problem with my tfv4. You and jerus both got me into wanting an rta, it's like a mix between rdas and sub ohms. I really want one. I heard the billow v2 and the Griffin are really good rtas. I guess I never really cared for building an rda because I didn't like the fact that I would constantly have to drip it. It just seems like a pain in the ass.
I agree with that assessment. The Billow V2 is rock solid, mine never leaks and the wicking is pretty easy. I don't have a Griffin but I have heard good things about it. The main differences are:
The Billow V2 holds 5ml of juice but has a smaller build deck.
The Griffin holds 3.5ml of juice but has a larger build deck.
I build simple TC coils so I don't need a bigger build deck and like having a 5ml capacity. Some people want to use fancier builds, clapton coils, thicker wire, etc, so they want the bigger deck. The Griffin is probably easier to build because the deck is bigger and uses velocity style posts, but again I don't have one so I'm just theorizing.
Cheers,
Steve
The Billow V2 holds 5ml of juice but has a smaller build deck.
The Griffin holds 3.5ml of juice but has a larger build deck.
I build simple TC coils so I don't need a bigger build deck and like having a 5ml capacity. Some people want to use fancier builds, clapton coils, thicker wire, etc, so they want the bigger deck. The Griffin is probably easier to build because the deck is bigger and uses velocity style posts, but again I don't have one so I'm just theorizing.
Cheers,
Steve
Start with the RDA because otherwise you'll end up doing a lot more work and wasting a lot more cotton and juice on failures. Once you understand the basics then you can jump to RTAs, but I'd suggest just grabbing the TFV4 dual coil RBA to start, it's like $8 and will teach you the same basic principals and once you get that then jump to RTAs.. at least that'd be my cost effective/stress effective suggestion.
And I may know a decent bit, but I'm not an advanced coil builder is what I was getting at, I can't make Aliens, I still screw up my claptons, and I haven't even tried Staples yet... so the "advanced builds" are out of my wheel house.
I'm sticking to Kanthal mainly now, but just because the SS that I use (and love for what I use it for) comes in as too low resistance (26g cored fused claptons come in at .09Ω, a bit lower than I like). But I have a healthy supply of various gauge 316 SS and a nearly full gambit of Kanthal A1.
As for finding coilbuilding tutorials, there's so many good ones I'd just type it into youtube and check it out. What was linked will be great to start, but try typing Parallel coils into google, Zipper, Twisted, Clapton, Fused Clapton, Alien, Staple, Framed Staple, Helix, Chain Link... lots of types and even more guides on how to do them.
The beauty of the Griffin is really only shown when you utilize that big deck, be it a long simple micro/macro coil or a Fused Clapton or bigger. It's the coilbuilders dream RTA, but many others have their features that are nice. I was pretty torn between the Crius, Billows v2, Lemo v2 and Cthulu v2 for a while and by the time I decided on the Cthulu the Griffin had come out and had me rethinking so I never ended up picking up one of that generation of RTAs, instead I grabbed a Haze that I had also been looking at. The Haze is one I'd highly suggest for it's ease of building and quality of Vape, not to mention the $10 price tag for the clone from 3fVape I got, I still use it all the time, I'm convinced I could ball up some wire and cotton in my hand secure the leads and it'd still vape nicely
, actually very tempted to try it sometime. Anyways, point being if you're not going to use the space in the Griffin it very well may not be the best option, the reason it's so popular is because it has so much room so those that are using the big bulky coils with more surface area that produce more vapor can plug it in. So it gives a near RDA experience with the convenience of a tank.
Next class will be how to DIY your juice . I'm just messing around but I do make my own juice - just made 340ml of various juices yesterday. One step at a time though lol
PS You think the learning curve is steep for building coils, it's simple compared to making your own juice
Cheers,
Steve
. I'm just messing around but I do make my own juice - just made 340ml of various juices yesterday. One step at a time though lolPS You think the learning curve is steep for building coils, it's simple compared to making your own juice
Cheers,
Steve
I suggest looking into some cheaper juice options. Especially cloud chasing you'll be going through it faster than you know. Always have your favorite when you want to treat yourself, but there are tons of great cheaper options. VerdeValleyVapes is my favorite juice (more subtle flavor, great for the rich clouds that sweet vapes can be overpowering with) but also very cheap. ITCVapes is another good option. Vapewild is another. BulkeJuice is one I used for a while, simple flavors but some are really good (loved the butterscotch). Have one for chucking clouds and testing with that's cheap, and one for when you really want to enjoy yourself... or in my case they're both the same thing
The velocity was one of rip trippers favorite rdas. I subscribed to him, that's why I know so much about him and his content. I'm sorry if I get a bit repetitive about him, and now that I know he's mostly just advertising, I'm kind of disappointed. I was starting to feel like that on my own because it seems like at the end of every video, when he says if I lost it today, would I go out tomorrow and buy one, he always says yes. I honestly have not seen a video yet with him saying no.
I was looking into making my own juice actually! All you need is nicotine, pg, and vg. I prefer max vg though. I really like the taste of it. Jerus: what's the website you buy from? If I could find a good website with really good juice and cheap I will definitely buy from there consistently. I'm not the type to just try one juice and give up on that brand forever, I'll try all of them and find one I think is best. I'm vaping on 4.5 nicotine out of a 120 ml bottle, it was 38.97 at my smoke shop. The flavor is called nova and it tastes like pink starbursts. The guy who runs that smoke shop custom made the juice for me because normally it goes 0, 3, 6, and so on. Do you know if it's max vg? I even like 70 vg and 30 pg. For some reason I really like the vg
Don't go out and buy another one, you said you had one right? Just start on that, keep vaping on what you enjoy and play with the RDA to get the hang of it. If you're anything like me you'll start to get it within a few days of playing. The idea is simply to introduce you to coil building with some hands on.
VG is smoother, thicker, sightly sweet, and produces more vapor. PG is thinner and is considered a better flavor carrier. I think you can get good flavor either way but it takes longer to meld in VG. Most flavoring is in a PG carrier.
For some reason I've been sticking with vg, I think it's because of the clouds though. I feel like I get really good flavor though. I don't believe I tried more pg than vg yet. But definitely want to try the difference for myself because just as much as I like clouds, I like flavor too. I might change my opinion! which do you prefer?
which do you prefer?
VG = clouds, and PG = throat hit, and also some are allergic to PG.
https://verdevalleyvapes.com/collections/sample-packs
10 flavors 15ml $33, try the Strubba Bubba and Wubba Bubba (strawberry bubbalicious and Watermelon Bubbalicious), my favorite is Keylime Pie followed by Strawberry Lemonade and I love the Strawberry Milkshake, Raspberry Custard, Blueberry Custard, and Honey Milk. I haven't tried all the new flavors yet, they're ordered and on their way, but with it I've gone through 100ml of the Keylime so far and just ordered another 540ml
With that you'll get the choice of 1 100ml bottle of any flavor you like.
And once you find out what you like you can order a 240ml of a flavor for $30 and get an additional 100ml of any other (or the same) flavor.
Order in the "dripper" variety for ~80vg/20pg ratio.
That's what I use anyways, of course not everyone is going to like the same things, so don't blame me if you don't! but the list I put above is some other cheaper options (itc, vapewild, bulkejuice) I always like when a new option has either really cheap 5-10ml samplers or sample packs. Gives me a chance to try things without dropping a big dime.
https://verdevalleyvapes.com/collections/sample-packs
10 flavors 15ml $33, try the Strubba Bubba and Wubba Bubba (strawberry bubbalicious and Watermelon Bubbalicious), my favorite is Keylime Pie followed by Strawberry Lemonade and I love the Strawberry Milkshake, Raspberry Custard, Blueberry Custard, and Honey Milk. I haven't tried all the new flavors yet, they're ordered and on their way, but with it I've gone through 100ml of the Keylime so far and just ordered another 540ml
With that you'll get the choice of 1 100ml bottle of any flavor you like.
And once you find out what you like you can order a 240ml of a flavor for $30 and get an additional 100ml of any other (or the same) flavor.
Order in the "dripper" variety for ~80vg/20pg ratio.
That's what I use anyways, of course not everyone is going to like the same things, so don't blame me if you don't!
but the list I put above is some other cheaper options (itc, vapewild, bulkejuice) I always like when a new option has either really cheap 5-10ml samplers or sample packs. Gives me a chance to try things without dropping a big dime.
I prefer VG in the most part, but I have taht 540ml of keylime coming, 240 is 70/30 vg/pg, 100ml is 80/20, and if he will do it (VVV is simply astounding at customer service) 40/60. PG is less clouds and I want that option as I find myself out and about more lately and I don't want to be creating my own atmosphere when I am in public.
Since I mix my own I switch it up from a 50/50 mix to a 30/70 mix (PG/VG). Depending on mood and weather (I'm in Michigan and when it's really cold out I prefer a 50/50 mix because it's thinner and will wick better)
I find 50/50 to be a good balance between vapor, throat hit, and not so thick it will turn into syrup when it 10F outside lol. I do mix for a few close friends and family but that's as far as I've considered going with it.
I get 6mg, and yes nicotine affects flavor, but personally I've tried the same flavors at 0 and BLEH gross, they lack the body. Sort of like a light beer. And it's like Coffee/Tea... or again beer... that bitterness is good in it's own way. Again with beer analogies, Stella Artois is one of my favorites because it reminds me of eating sunflower seeds, now this sounds weird, but I always liked when I got that one "rotten" seed in a pack, it'd be kinda gross but in that it'd reset the taste of the rest of it all, just like that the Stella has an almost rotten twinge in it's aftertaste making that next sip all that much better, I see the Nicotine the same way.
I want to order some juices off that website and I'd really like to try wingfans juice. I'm in Florida so it's hot 90% of the time (a little bit of ways from michigan) do you make all kinds of flavors? I don't really know much as far as how to put the flavor in yourself, do you mash up some strawberries and throw it in? Or do you buy the flavoring?
Check out the DIY area, you buy flavorings and mix it like any recipe, .5ml of this flavor, .25ml of this other, 1ml of another, 100ml vg, whatever nicotine and voila, shake it up and let it steep.
I definitely get what you're saying. I think I'm ready to move down to 3. I was vaping on 6 for about a month and a half and it was starting to get harsh. I don't want to go down to 0 because then I'd feel like I'd just be wasting my money on things I don't need. So I've been trying to avoid going down, but in a way, it makes me feel better about myself. Especially now that I don't cough like an 80 year old woman with copd. (I feel bad for them because they never had this alternative, not trying to offend) but my coughs were so disgusting and when I took a breath in, I was wheezing. I was a pretty heavy smoker for the past 4 years (almost 2 packs a day) And I'm only 18, so it is definitely to be proud of.
I get the wheezes with VG sometimes. That's the one drawback, well at least with the builds I use now, you get so much vapor and VG clouds up so much you end up with liquid in your lunge, a single good cough and it's out, so I don't feel like it's an issue, but if I don't cough sometimes I'll catch myself wheezing with all that liquid sitting in my throat/lungs. Still feel 1000000000X better than when I was smoking plant particulate.
No mashing of strawberries. I buy flavorings. Most of mine are from FlavourArt and Capella. I make mostly bakery, citrus, and custards. I made Vanilla Custard, Lemon Meringue Pie, Cheesecake a la mode, and Sweet Tangerine yesterday. A few of my other favorites are Apple Pie and Cinnamon Danish Swirl.
It's not as simple as adding one flavor though. I add multiple flavors and I'm always experimenting looking to make my juices better. That's what I meant by a steep learning curve. As an example, the vanilla custard has 4 different flavors added to make it - I've used as many as 7 in my custards. I just want to clarify, I don't sell juice, it's a hobby that I enjoy and share with a few close friends and family.
Cheers,
Steve
It's not as simple as adding one flavor though. I add multiple flavors and I'm always experimenting looking to make my juices better. That's what I meant by a steep learning curve. As an example, the vanilla custard has 4 different flavors added to make it - I've used as many as 7 in my custards. I just want to clarify, I don't sell juice, it's a hobby that I enjoy and share with a few close friends and family.
Cheers,
Steve
2-3weeks it should be fully steeped. If you're mixing your own give it at least 2 weeks. If you're ordering from ANY discount ejuice source (including VVV) it'll be probably 1-2 weeks before it's fully steeped. That said, some stuff tastes better fresh, the Strawberry Lemonade is my second favorite (for a long time favorite, till Key LIme came out) from V³ but only when it was fresh as it is nice and tart initially, the tartness dwindles with time and it dropped to like my 3rd/4th favorite behind Honey Milk and Strawberry Lemonade. That said things have changed, Honey Milk is now like 6th on the list for the builds I have in my Griffin. My List would probably go Key Lime > Blueberry Custard = White Lodge Vapor Lounge Merchants Stash (diff company but a premium brand I really enjoy) > Raspberry Custard > Strawberry Lemonade > Strawberry Milkshake > Honey Milk.
One thing if you do order a sampler of V³ if you grab the Strawberry Lemonade, it's a great base. In that, mixing flavors in your tank/cotton is worth messing around with. I have these little bottles of some stronger flavors from another source, one being Watermelon and another Sour Lime Skittles, I like to do this: Prime the cotton with Watermelon or the Skittles flavor, then fill the tank with Strawberry lemonade, I end up with a mixture of the two, I usually do it with my Haze as it's easy to access the coil when the additive flavor dwindles but I'll put a little watermelon or skittles in and get a tarter flavor from the lemonade a subtle strawberry and the additional either sour lime or sweet watermelon. It's fucking delicous. My Haze is my flavor maker. When I want to just have the best tastte I can get that's my guy. It's not my best vape as in overall pleasure, but it's the best flavor and when I mix things up like that MMMMMMMM (picture Homer eating a Donut, mmmm vapor).
I'll add to Jerus post that higher VG juices take longer to steep (that's what I meant by longer to meld together). Creams and custards are also in that category. The lemon meringue pie is a shake and vape juice. It sort of varies with the flavoring and personal preference when it comes to steeping imo.
Strawberry lemonade sounds so good. The key lime pie has to be good. I want to try them all. Do you know if there's any safety issues on pg or vg? I heard of popcorn lungs, but I believe it depends on the flavor.
Unlike Wingsfan I just don't do the mixing myself, I have a friend (who runs that White Lodge Vapor Labs that makes that one flavor I like) show me around and let me get a little hands on one time, but I typically rather throw some money than clutter my already overly cluttered room. Once I get a bigger place I'll certainly dive into making my own, but I'll probably still be purchasing my favorites just like coils, sometimes it's worth the money to save the time. Making your own though can cut the cost from 66cents a mL (typical premium cost of $20 per 30mL) to 5cents or less per mL. Certainly worth doing. Though luckily there are quite a few companies putting out < 10cents per mL juice out there which is enough savings for me right now.
Definitely get what you're saying jerus. I don't want to have to wait for the juice, it would drive me insane. But I think it would be a fun hobby and good to know just in case they do start taxing the shit out of juice like they said they were going to in California. I don't know if they're going to do the same thing in Florida or just ban it all together, which would suck
One more thing I'll add is I can pretty much vape any juice I make right away, not saying some won't be better after a few days or so. However I've never made anything that was bad and steeping magically made good. I tell people if the only way your juice is not bad until months of steeping, you are doing something wrong. I've been doing it for years now and some peoples ritual for steeping is downright comical to me.
First off, don't even worry about that, it's one of those overly exaggerated media things. The people that suffer from that work 8 hours a day in more highly toxic environments than if you strapped a gasmask pumping vapor into your face.
But, it's the Diacetyl that does that. V³ only has one flavor that still has that in it and it's the Honey Milk, but it's low enough that you really don't even have to worry about popcorn lung, though it's still not good for you and if you're very cautious about your health stay away from that one flavor (personally I know living near LA and working the job I am, I'm probably breathing in just as many if not more toxic things every day).
As far as safety on PG/VG, they're both safe, to give you an idea, VG has been used for YEARS in fog machines, used because it's safe. PG has been used again for so long as a carrier for inhaler drugs for things like asthma, again known to be safe. The only real questionable thing is the flavorings in e-liquids. And, maybe the amount of PG/VG we're taking in as it's much more than you get in either of those situations. But, it's better than cigarrettes right?
And with the Diacetyl you get that from cigarettes too, and in FAR higher quantities than any e-liquid, yet the only recorded instances of popcorn lung has been from people working in unsafe environments, never from smoking, still worth being aware of and avoiding if possible.
Well guys it's getting late and I'm going to call it a night. It's been a pleasure chatting with you 2.
Cheers,
Steve
Cheers,
Steve
That makes sense. I'd rather let it steep though, from what your saying, the flavors you make sound amazing. The plus side to making your own juice as well is that you can make as much as you want of it at once. So I think it would be worth the wait for amazing flavor. I get both points of views, and I'm happy I have that option
One last thought before I go. The best things about making my own juice are I know exactly what's in it, I can vary percentages whenever the mood strikes, and I never run out. With that said, have a great night you guys!