I'm new to this forum, as I am to vaping. I look forward to build up towards spending loads of money, but for now I want to budget. The basic material for vaping, coils and batteries etc, is it okay for them to be bought through eBay?
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Cheap eBay batteries... yay or nay?
- Thread starter vemporarytape
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Hmm for the most part I'd say no. While I think ya can get some good deals for wire there, I'm not sure. For batteries I'd only buy from Liion Wholesale, Illumn, and another one I forgot the name of. While you can buy from other sites and probably be fine, I wouldn't chance it personally. Also with batteries, only buy from the big three: Samsung, LG, and Sony. As for gear like mods and attys, there are a ton of places. The three sites I use are Element Vape, Vape NW, and Vapor DNA. There are plenty more, but those three have treated my right so far. You could always drop by your local shop and check the prices, make sure you're not getting ripped off.
What type of vape do you think you'd like? Mouth to lung like a cigarette? Or an airy sub ohm vape? What kinda juice would ya like? Creamy, fruity, tobacco, etc?
Welcome to VU, glad to have you're here.
EDIT Auto correct, the bane of my existence
What type of vape do you think you'd like? Mouth to lung like a cigarette? Or an airy sub ohm vape? What kinda juice would ya like? Creamy, fruity, tobacco, etc?
Welcome to VU, glad to have you're here.
EDIT Auto correct, the bane of my existence
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Hmm for the most part I'd say no. While I think ya can get some good deals for wire there, I'm not sure. For batteries I'd only buy from Liion Wholesale, Illumn, and another one I forgot the name of. While you can buy from other sites and probably be fine, I wouldn't chance it personally. Also with batteries, only buy from the big three: Samsung, LG, and Sony. As for gear like mods and attys, there are a ton of places. The three sites I use are Element Vape, Vape NW, and Vapor DNA. There are plenty more, but those three have treated my right so far. You could always drop by your local shop and check the prices, make sure you're not getting ripped off.
What type of vape do you think you'd like? Mouth to lung like a cigarette? Or an airy sub ohm vape? What kinda juice would ya like? Creamy, fruity, tobacco, etc?
Welcome to VU, glad to have you here.
Wow, I've never felt so welcomed. Well, my cousin recently gave me one of his vapes that he does not use very often, which seems to be the Tsunami Mech Kit by Geek Vape. I don't know what direction I should head into now. He left me with little knowledge on this device, with no battery, or coil. I've gotten the juice sorted out already and I'm just in need of guidance in terms of the right battery, and the right coil. I do smoke cigarettes, but I want to try something new and aim for some pretty hefty clouds.
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Hmm I don't own that device so I don't know about it, but I know Geek Vape has quality shit. I'd personally recommend one of the kits from eleaf, as they tend to be pretty decent for beginners, but that's up to you. As for batteries, it depends on many factors, first I would familiarize myself with Ohm's law. As for the right coil, again dependant on several factors, such as wattage, amps, and desired cloud and flavor strength. You said you wanted clouds, so it'll be sub ohm. Now a lot of people will say beginners shouldn't start with sub ohm, but everyone vapes different. I started with my buddy's old sub ohm tank myself, but if you do decide to go that route, you will need low resistance coils, like .2 ohms or so, open airflow, I'd leave it open at half till you get used to it, high VG juice, optional but a good 70% VG is good for clouds and easier on the throat, and a juice you love, I reccomend low nic levels like 3mg or so.
For kit recommendations, if you don't want to make your own coils I would go with something from eleaf or joyetech, as for building your own coils, I don't know as I don't make my own. For batteries I'd check Mooch's blog on ECF.
Notes, learn Ohm's law, it'll be your friend. Vape at what you're comfortable with, I like 60 watts on a .15 or .2 coil, while others like it a lot higher. Be careful when cloud chasing, especially while you are not used to it. Finally, have fun with your vaping, I wouldn't enjoy it as much if I wasn't having fun with it.
For kit recommendations, if you don't want to make your own coils I would go with something from eleaf or joyetech, as for building your own coils, I don't know as I don't make my own. For batteries I'd check Mooch's blog on ECF.
Notes, learn Ohm's law, it'll be your friend. Vape at what you're comfortable with, I like 60 watts on a .15 or .2 coil, while others like it a lot higher. Be careful when cloud chasing, especially while you are not used to it. Finally, have fun with your vaping, I wouldn't enjoy it as much if I wasn't having fun with it.
There used to be a saying in the US, Penny wise and dollar foolish. Do people still say it?
The difference between buying cheap and authentic ones from reputable dealers is what? Maybe $3 maximum per battery. If you buy 8 batteries that's $24 that'll buy you safety and peace of mind. If one were to write down every penny they spent over a month, they'd find that $24 being spent on things like coffee or other things that are consumed once and then gone forever. Penny wise and dollar foolish.
The difference between buying cheap and authentic ones from reputable dealers is what? Maybe $3 maximum per battery. If you buy 8 batteries that's $24 that'll buy you safety and peace of mind. If one were to write down every penny they spent over a month, they'd find that $24 being spent on things like coffee or other things that are consumed once and then gone forever. Penny wise and dollar foolish.
You might consider buying these batteries. Bookmark that vendor's site while there. IMR is a reputable vendor of batteries and battery supplies. For coil wire consider buying here, they have various types of wire & again are reputable.
You comment you're new to vaping, I might suggest you find a local vape shop and ask to look at some regulated mods. If you're unable to locate a brick and mortor in your area, check out some of the vendors that Vaping Underground has listed and look fook for variable voltage and wattage mods. Someone new to vaping would probaby do better starting out with such a setup.
"First you crawl. Then, you walk and after a spell you run." That axiom is good to recall & not simply for new to vaping but applicable in all of living really. Good to see you're in one of the correct places to start toward running. Welcome aboard.
You comment you're new to vaping, I might suggest you find a local vape shop and ask to look at some regulated mods. If you're unable to locate a brick and mortor in your area, check out some of the vendors that Vaping Underground has listed and look fook for variable voltage and wattage mods. Someone new to vaping would probaby do better starting out with such a setup.
"First you crawl. Then, you walk and after a spell you run." That axiom is good to recall & not simply for new to vaping but applicable in all of living really. Good to see you're in one of the correct places to start toward running.
Welcome aboard.
I'm using roughly 80% VG and find that I build more toward 0.30 (R) ohm coil set ups. Often, I use dual coils to hit that mark. At 0.30 (R) ohms I can do rather well for clouds yet I'm not exactly a cloud chaser. I'm not saying one new to vaping ought not sub ohm. I would as many though offer the advice someone new gains further understanding prior to diving in. Vaping is not smoking, it requires knowing a little more. Thank you for mentioning Mooch's blog.
Rule #1 of Vaping - Never buy batteries for vaping off Ebay or Amazon
Rule #2 of Vaping - Never buy batteries for vaping off Ebay or Amazon
/end Fight Club Parody
2nd issue, for most beginners a mechanical mod is not the best starting device. Reasons, there is no protection against possible catastrophe other than a mech user learning basic concepts of "Ohm's Law", battery safety, basic tools required, and most of all what "Ohm Reading (Resistance of their Coil(s))" attached to that mechanical device. Closer you get to absolutely no resistance on an electrical circuit the higher your amps become on your batteries, and thus closer to the ledge of falling off the cliff toward a catastrophic battery event which leads to an expensive hospital bill if you are lucky. The formula of Ohm's Law that we suggest for a mechanical device is this:
4.2v/Resistance (the ohms of your coil)=Maximum Amps Needed
4.2v/1.0ohms=4.2amps
4.2v/0.5ohms=8.4amps
4.2v/0.25ohms=16.8amps
For now, starting out into vaping I'd set that Tsunami aside and look into a regulated device, which will have circuit protections between you and the batteries and for the most part control the output from the batteries safely. Suggestions I would give would be the Hohm Slice, Hohm Wrecker G2, Smoant Battlestar, Eleaf iStick Pico, or a good quality 2battery mod. You'll be looking at at least a $50 to $100 initial investment right now, including batteries, and an external battery charger.
You'll need the Mod (control device) itself
Tank to go with it, if you can find a decent priced kit this kills two birds with one stone
For a multi-battery mod, you'll need sets of batteries, example 2x battery mod you'll need 4 batteries (1 set in the mod in use, another set charging or have been charged ready for use) at least
Last a charger for those batteries, the best, lowest priced battery charger would be the Nitecore i2 2bay which can be found for about $10 to $20USD
http://www.vapingunderground.com/th...ons-battery-tables-by-application-use.272640/ <- This is a thread I made that breaks a lot of battery info down into sections, provides quality, trusted battery supply vendors, suggest you read it over slowly at your leisure.
The Battery Mooch's Blog - https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/mooch.256958/ <- Bookmark this, a lot of battery test results and Mooch is a far more great resource on battery knowledge
Baditude's Blog - https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/baditude.88498/ <- Baditude has a great break down of some vaping basics, including Ohm's Law and many good beginner to advanced level vaping info
http://www.steam-engine.org <- Steam Engine has a great host of good vaping calculators and simulators, a great site to have bookmarked as it also includes an Ohms Law Calculator, and a coil building simulator if you go into building your own coils later down the road.
Liion Wholesale's Regulated Mod Amp Calculator - https://liionwholesale.com/pages/regulated-mod-calculator <- A great bookmark for regulated mod users as with regulated mods the formula for calculating amp requirements is different from a mechanical/unregulated device and this page does the math for you, just need to input how many batteries your mod has and the watts the mod is set to.
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Yeah, what IMfire said.
I made the mistake when I first started, of buying batteries on ebay. They were counterfeits, I later discovered, so I had no choice but to tape the positive poles and take them to the batt recycle at Home Depot, since I had no farkin clue what they REALLY were, I sure as hell wasn't going to use them that close to my face, nevermind my low wattage/high resistance vaping.
So, not only NAY, but FUCK NAY!
Andria
I made the mistake when I first started, of buying batteries on ebay. They were counterfeits, I later discovered, so I had no choice but to tape the positive poles and take them to the batt recycle at Home Depot, since I had no farkin clue what they REALLY were, I sure as hell wasn't going to use them that close to my face, nevermind my low wattage/high resistance vaping.
So, not only NAY, but FUCK NAY!
Andria
One more thing, the "Sony VTC4 18650 2100mAh 30A Flat Top Battery"... is the "30A" the maximum amount of amps it can take?
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can someone explain the "2100mAh" to me too?^^^^
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AndriaD
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30A is the max amount it can deliver, in continuous release. Its pulse rate might be higher, but using the pulse rate is a good way for your mod to go boom; you need to stick to the CDR.
I can't say I truly understand the mAh ratings, other than it giving an idea of how long the battery will last. I vape at 9.5w most days, and 2500mAh batteries last me about 2 days; 3000mAh batteries last me about 3, or just short of 3 full days. If you vape at twice the wattage, figure half the batt life. If you vape at 4 times the wattage, figure 1/4 the batt life. Not a precision measurement, but it gives you an idea.
Andria
The Sony VTC4 2100mah though rated at 30amps Continuous is in actuality only a maximum of 23amps Continuous, it can be pushed to 28amps like its brother the VTC3, but this puts undue stress on it, as batteries reach or go above their max continuous limits they literally heat up, heat for a Li-Ion battery is a killer, literally going that high with a VTC4 you will literally cook them to death and destroy their life cycle down to about 30 to 60 days where under normal stress they should last 200 to 300 recharged cycles which roughly translates out to about 12 to 18months.
The best batteries for a mech, JMHO
25amp
Sony VTC5A 2500mah 25amp CDR (Take note of the "A" in its model number, the older VTC5 2600mah is only a 20amp Continuous battery, the "A" variant sacrificed 100mah and added a boost of 5 more amps.
LG HD2, HD2C, HD4 2000 to 2200mah 25amp CDR
30amp
LG HB2, HB4, HB6 1500mah 30amp Continuous (No other Battery on the market exceeds these in Continuous output, any battery that says it is 35 or 40amps in an 18650 format is a lie and they are using the Pulse Discharge Rate which is only 1/2 to 2 seconds, after that the battery has to shift down to CDR or overheat and potentially explode or vent due to heat and pressure internally, only 4 manufacturers in the western world make 18650s, those are LG, Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic/Sanyo, any other brand be suspect of their specs).
20 to 23amp runner ups
Sony VTC4 2100mah 23amp
Samsung 25R 2500mah 20amp
Question 2, Mah
Mah stands for Milli-Amp Hours, this is a measure of how long a battery can operate during a charge, 1500mah or 1.5Amp Hours (battery should run from full charge (4.2v) to minimum charge of 2.5v to 3.0v in about 1.5hours at 1amp output roughly, ask more amps this run time goes down.
I say that about my boss all the time.of course I'm almost 40 so I guess it comes with age. Or just hearing it all my life. Ha ha
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I have been using high end panasonics for a few years from ebay sellers without any problems, maybe I've been lucky, I don't know but so far so good (do they still say that?)
Panasonic/Sanyo for the most part stay out of the higher end, higher output in amps market, so thus not many try to clone or deal in fake Panasonic/Sanyo batteries. Sony, LG, and Samsung on the other hand because they are very popular for higher CDR, especially in higher output vaping, you know the time, if there is a scam to be had there will be someone that will try. With Ebay and Amazon, these unscrupulous types of vendors get in, sell off a big stock and then run with the money, when you need 15 or 20amps of CDR from a battery but the battery you have only maxes out at 10amps though the label says 20 or more, UhUh, not a good situation to be in. Like my Panasonic NCR18650B's, 6amps yes, but when they are being used for no more that 10watts max in an Innokin SVD pushing a 1.6 to 2.0ohm coil, I'll take the 3400mah runtime for that purpose anyday.
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Honestly, I don't remember the ones that I bought last time on ebay, I just look for sellers with excellent feedback, who have been in business a long time. And again honestly I don't know how to spot a fake from a real one, I just don't go for the lowest price, I go more for reputation as far as I can tell.
I did order two yesterday off of aliexpress, here is the link.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2pc...Li-ion-battery-for-panasonic/32806485685.html
Aliexpress.com is my general go to for shopping for anything vape related and electronics, as the prices are less than ebay, however, if you have a problem with a seller, it's harder to fix. I am willing to put up with the longer shipping times and odd issues with sellers for the excellent prices.
I am an American living in Europe and getting stuff from China here is a dead no brainer, but if I order from the states, expensive shipping and customs charges are the kicker, so, if I really need something, I have to wait until my annual trip to see my mom, order it shipped to her place, and bring it back to the states. 90% of the time, aliexpress works for me, especially for anything like vaping goods since let's face it they are all made in China anyway.
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Nay for me. One of those cheap batteries barely last a week for me. The other one a little more than that, and I didn't even vape that much.
Not the cheap ones, I never buy them. Samsung, Sony, Panasonic top end ones that cost about 9 or ten dollars each. You are right, if you buy cheap it costs you more in the long run.
I am all about saving money but only on certain things.
Juices hell yea ima buy stuff that's cheaper but good, compared to high quality that's either worse or nearly the same, in most cases not in all tho.
Tanks and coils, sure why not if you find a good sale, but I wouldn't buy clones tho.
Batteries and mods you can't and shouldn't skimp on, wait for sales if you want one so badly or save up. Both I would never buy off eBay. Mech mods for beginners a other thing I wouldn't recommended, unless you like to join the "I've made it into the news/paper" crowd. Safety ppl safety is the first thing and should always be kept in mind! Common sense another... Should answer that question bout eBay pretty much on its own.
Juices hell yea ima buy stuff that's cheaper but good, compared to high quality that's either worse or nearly the same, in most cases not in all tho.
Tanks and coils, sure why not if you find a good sale, but I wouldn't buy clones tho.
Batteries and mods you can't and shouldn't skimp on, wait for sales if you want one so badly or save up. Both I would never buy off eBay. Mech mods for beginners a other thing I wouldn't recommended, unless you like to join the "I've made it into the news/paper" crowd. Safety ppl safety is the first thing and should always be kept in mind! Common sense another... Should answer that question bout eBay pretty much on its own.