Coming up a cloud. Where vapists gather!

[DerGolgo]

Can you quantify the Billow V3's airflow, as in so-and-so-many-such-and-suches, compared to other atomizers or something?

[jae]

Can you quantify the Billow V3's airflow, as in so-and-so-many-such-and-suches, compared to other atomizers or something?

Nope, not really. My only experience so far is with the Kanger Subtank Mini, and the Nebox. Even with the Billow 1/2 open with the small tip, it feels at least twice as easy to draw as the Subtank fully open, but that's not really a quantification you can probably use. Best bet for an experienced opinion would probably be a youtube review comparing the Billow to something else you're familiar with.

Maybe I can do some sort of short video myself this evening.

[DerGolgo]

Maybe I can do some sort of short video myself this evening.

I shall look forward to that!
I've found, unfortunately, that many reviewers won't really do much comparing like that. Just asking someone who actually has the damn thing is usually easier.

[jae]

I found a few who do comparisons during reviews. Rip Trippers is one of my go-to's, though I understand that at some point recently he fell out of favor with vapers because of some comments he made.

Either way, here ya go.

[media]https://youtu.be/DHUMtucabAg[/media]

[DerGolgo]

Haven't watched much of Rip's in the last few months.
Don't remember a lot of one-on-one comparisons, but I'll take your word for it.
Nice video, too!

[DerGolgo]

I was in the neuro-rehab for a month, as you know, so didn't do any wicking and building for a while.

My VCMT, still the godfather of all the tank-atomizers, wasn't responding as quick as I liked. So I took out the big, heavy Clapton coils and installed a pair of Wismec Notch coils. Thos have criminally short reaction time. But, also, are only about 4mm interior diameter. On the VCMT, I had taken to winding my coils with 5mm, so I could get sufficient cotton and hence liquid flow through the coil.
The notch-coils appear severely more efficient than others. Make more vapour at lower wattages than other coils.
Flavour isn't quite so good, though. And from 80W up, they'd scorch in a hurry, even with Cotton Bacon V2. With the Clapton, I was running this beast at 135W, and even the notch-coils won't measure up to that when they're only fed 75W.
And then I found this, and read some reviews that highly praised it for flavour, very short break-in time and, crucially, much better liquid transport than other cottons.



I ordered it, took delivery today and just wicked the notch-coils in my VCMT about twenty minutes ago.
The notch-coils don't increase the amount of vapour with increasing wattages as others do. But I've run it for a few minutes at 135W, and no burnt taste.
Dialled it bat to 115W, enough vapour and pleasant vapour temperature. But this wick can handle more.
Recommended!

[DerGolgo]

I've just been made aware by friends of this fellow:
The Modfather

Not quite the cloudy beast that the VCMT is, but at least comparable to a Gemini or TFv4, if not better. "Open draw".
I already have a device of similar design and, unless I try it in person and find it to be mind-blowing, don't have and need to buy this myself.
But, as you can see, it does have a 9ml capacity. A nice, big deck with nice, big wire-holes, should make rebuilding easy. Refilling is possible without spillage, if done correctly (or so I've been informed).

[jae]

Man, I didn't realize how much better the flavor on the Billow is (vs. my Kanger setups) until I'd used it for a few days and went back to the Kangers. This is a pretty impressive tank, though I haven't used any others that are probably more comparable.

[Jaeger]

Man, I didn't realize how much better the flavor on the Billow is (vs. my Kanger setups) until I'd used it for a few days and went back to the Kangers. This is a pretty impressive tank, though I haven't used any others that are probably more comparable.

Interesting. I haven't experimented with other gear yet 'cause I'm cheap. All I have is the Kanger tank. Makes that big a difference?

--Jaeger

[jae]

yes, but it's also a lot more labor-intensive (no pre-packaged wicked coils) and burns a TON more juice, which is probably why there's more flavor. I don't know that I'd use this setup much if still purchasing all my juice off-the-shelf, but it has pushed me to get into mixing.

I haven't actually started mixing my own yet, but a friend started recently and is mixing the juice I'm using now, and since he's willing to share the recipe I like, I'll probably start soon.

[Jaeger]

yes, but it's also a lot more labor-intensive (no pre-packaged wicked coils) and burns a TON more juice, which is probably why there's more flavor. I don't know that I'd use this setup much if still purchasing all my juice off-the-shelf, but it has pushed me to get into mixing.

OK, good to know. Yeah, I found a local shop that does a good homebrew juice, but I don't need to be spending MORE. That, and increased labor intensity is not appealing.

Sounds like the sort've thing it'd be nice to have in reserve, but like I said when i got into this, I'm for simplicity. These goddamn things are fussy enough as it is.

--Jaeger

[DerGolgo]

For anyone who wants "RTA flavour" but ready-made coil-head convenience, there is now a solution.
Yes, it's a damn fast moving market.

It's the "GeekVape Eagle RTA".



Up close on some single coils:

and dual coils:


Supposedly all hand-built, good for 40-70 Watt.
The clever bit: you can change out the cotton if it's no good any more.
Or you can just throw in a new coil-head, if that is more convenient.
They are not supposed to be rebuildable as such, but as the following video shows, if you bring your own Allan-key, so you could, if you wanted to.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WviWEhgZOjI[/media]

By rewicking these, the higher cost of individual coil-heads can probably be offset.
The different options of coil on offer look good for good flavour.

[jae]

After a couple of weeks of use with the Billow on the same cotton, I was beginning to get that common burning flavor if I held the power on too long. If I pulsed it so it didn't get as hot I was still getting good flavor though. Decided to re-wick. When I pulled the cotton it wasn't burned at all, but the coils had a decent amount of gunk built up on them. Few red-hot cycles and it all burned off (coils are actually shiny again after brushing the burned stuff off), re-wick and it's good as new.

Is it common for the coils to gunk up like that before the cotton is bad? Either way, pretty simple process and doesn't take but about 5 minutes; well worth it to restore the flavor. Might be ready to build some new coils for this deck though.

[DerGolgo]

Is it common for the coils to gunk up like that before the cotton is bad? Either way, pretty simple process and doesn't take but about 5 minutes; well worth it to restore the flavor. Might be ready to build some new coils for this deck though.

Not sure about common, but I've experienced that, also.
My hypothesis is that the burnt taste comes from the very tips of the wick's individual fibers, which get stuck on the coil.
Gunk buildup on the coils is entirely normal. I just red-hot, or usually, yellow-hot them. I don't often brush my coils, since they are rarely that gunked up that the blinding heat of electricity can't burn it off.

What can also happen is that the coil just goes bad.
Flavor is fucked, but cleaning the coils and re-wicking won't fix it. I think I've experienced that more commonly with Kanthal than with stainless steel or titanium. It is my hypothesis that, after enough use, the coils build up a surface layer of unpleasantness or undergo a chemical change close to their surface, perhaps too much carbon from wick and juice being included. The soft pipe-cleaners I use when I do brush a coil doesn't get rid of that.
But wire is cheap, and I actually enjoy building up an RTA or RDA, so this has not been a great discomfort for me.

[Merlyn]

Is it common for the coils to gunk up like that before the cotton is bad? Either way, pretty simple process and doesn't take but about 5 minutes; well worth it to restore the flavor. Might be ready to build some new coils for this deck though.

Not sure about common, but I've experienced that, also.
My hypothesis is that the burnt taste comes from the very tips of the wick's individual fibers, which get stuck on the coil.
Gunk buildup on the coils is entirely normal. I just red-hot, or usually, yellow-hot them. I don't often brush my coils, since they are rarely that gunked up that the blinding heat of electricity can't burn it off.

What can also happen is that the coil just goes bad.
Flavor is fucked, but cleaning the coils and re-wicking won't fix it. I think I've experienced that more commonly with Kanthal than with stainless steel or titanium. It is my hypothesis that, after enough use, the coils build up a surface layer of unpleasantness or undergo a chemical change close to their surface, perhaps too much carbon from wick and juice being included. The soft pipe-cleaners I use when I do brush a coil doesn't get rid of that.
But wire is cheap, and I actually enjoy building up an RTA or RDA, so this has not been a great discomfort for me.

Next time you run into that, try putting the bare deck (coiled but not wicked) on your mod, heat it to red+ and dip the coil carefully into water. Blows everything off your coil, back to bright metal.

[DerGolgo]

Next time you run into that, try putting the bare deck (coiled but not wicked) on your mod, heat it to red+ and dip the coil carefully into water. Blows everything off your coil, back to bright metal.

A most excellent idea, I shall have to try that! Thanks!

[jae]

I'm kind of an idiot. I think I mentioned in my video that the Billow allows you to fully shut the holes for the juice, sealing off the cotton and coils. I find this handy to reduce leaking (close off both air and juice ports) when I drop my box in my pocket and take off on the bike. Unfortunately last night, I neglected to open the juice flow and got two good hits, then a mouth full of burnt cotton. Doh.

[DerGolgo]

Yah, I'm pretty sure something similar happened to me once, too.
It's all part of being a vapist, I guess.

[jae]

If by some chance one of you guys are interested in picking up some new gear, my freedom smokes is having a sale: buy a mod get a tank 50% off. I mention this because the Billow v3 plus is on their list of promotional tanks, so you could pick one up for about $15.

https://www.myfreedomsmokes.com/hot-dea ... deals.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[andrewrhee]

Anybody tried the latest ANML eliquids?

I'm thinking about picking one up here... looks like good pricing
https://www.lovevapeplus.com/product/an ... age-120ml/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thoughts?

What's everyone's favorite e juice this year?

[DerGolgo]

https://www.lovevapeplus.com/product/an ... age-120ml/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hm, curious.
Just before you registered here, somebody with the email address info@lovevapeplus registered also.
I sent them an email explaining that we don't appreciate people coming in here simply to proffer their business, to sell something.
Didn't get any reply, though.
Wonder what became of that fella ...

[DerGolgo]

This here is a very, very big atomizer.

Bigger than most drippers, almost as big as my little friend I had introduced here earlier.
They call it the "Mason Dumptank" by Vapergate. They make it in 30mm and 40mm. As you can see, the deck design rather differs between the two. I cannot talk to what the 30 cal does. But the 40, well.

dddd.jpg

It has much smaller airways than the VCMT I so love. And yet. At all of 73W, it's already in a head-to-head with my favorite tank.
Before anyone asks, re the 73W : I don't build attys as often these days as I used to, and getting a coil in that thing was really tricky. Because the deck on the 40 is of plain preposterous dimension! So I ended up with 0.49Ohm, and the Noisy Cricket II maxes out at 6V in the regulated mode. I'll open her up shortly and try with about half the resistance, that'll let me unleash the beast all proper and stuff.

BTW, about the mod:
Besides the ever robust Tesla, it's my other purchase recommendation.
It's not just a pretty thing milled from a solid chunk of aluminium (it's "billet"!! ).
There are several different kinds of mods.
There's the mechanical mod, which is just something that holds the batteries, atty and fire button together. Can't get simpler.
Two subtypes there.
Parallel, where the batteries are arranged in parallel, so you can draw twice as many amps as one battery will suffer.
Serial, where the batteries are arranged in serial, so you get twice the voltage than a single battery would provide.
Then there's variable voltage or vv, which have some electrical jiggery pokery to deliver a set, stable voltage, as long as the batteries can keep up. Doesn't care what you do with it, just puts it out there.
Lastly, variable wattage, vw, that does what it says and is complicated. Measures the resistance of your atomizer to do it's job, is kinda flaky and judgy, and not relevant here.
Because this one here, the Noisy Cricket II, it's everything but variable wattage. No, really. Two little bit of plastic, with a bunch of contacts on the outside and circuits within. You put one in with your batteries, you'll have a serial mech-mod, you put the other, it's parallel. Or flip that around, and you suddenly have a serial device that lets you dial in any voltage from 2 Volt to 6 Volt.
Maximum wattage possible would depend on maximum amperage, which the manufacturer doesn't publish. But if I'm anything, I'm persistent ... and I have an email .
I kept badgering the manufacturer until they informed me it will handle "about 60 Amps".
Yes, that's hardly what you'd want to hear when you ask someone about maximum amperage on a power supply they make.
I figure I don't go past 50, I'll be fine, and 300 W is where my lungs cry uncle, anyway. Also, makes me cough a bit, so nobody can understand it and my dignity is preserved. It even preserves my dignity. Everything but making coffee.
For anyone getting into vaping and rebuildable atomizers, this is about the best beginners device I know off. Does it all, and will even make experienced cloud-chasers happy.

[DerGolgo]

Okay. New build, dual parallel alien coils. Nothing fancy, 0.2 Ohms.
DAMN.
I had to turn DOWN the air supply when running that puppy at full power, 'bout 180 Watts. Not sure the liquid-flow will keep up, but it's still tasting good so far. This puppy has some punch.

[Pattio]

This NYC establishment is ready to help you



With all your vepping needs

[DerGolgo]

Yeah, it's their offering of FAX that suggests they'll be hip what's new.

[Jaeger]

Woo hoo! Just wrapped my first coil! Yaay! Now hopefully I can stop buying all these overpriced pre-made Kanger coils.

--Jaeger

[jae]

looks like I took the next step...


ordered another billow v3 because the replacement glass I ordered out of China never arrived, I found one on sale, and with the extra glass that came with the kit it effectively gave me 2 of the tanks to use again. also started mixing my own juice. so far, I mixed a butter rum that's pretty good, and one that's supposed to be something like a bourbon pecan pie flavor, but won't know how good it is for a bit until it's ready to actually use.

[DerGolgo]

As someone who has been mixing his own juice for about 2 years now, let me recommend.

Magnetic stirrer.
Magnetic stirrer.
Magnetic stirrer.

I built my own and have been using it without outage for over 18 months.
Glue big badass magnet to big cheap PC case fan. Or a piece of wood with a badass magnet at either end, better still, or a threaded rod, you know where this is going.
Add power supply and RPM controller (if that didn't come with the fan). Bolt to the inside bottom of plastic box. Add a switch if you feel fancy. Done.

Magnetic fish are on the ebays, and the amazon. Waiting six to twelve hours for the juice to stir up nice is HUGELY more convenient than waiting six to twelve DAYS for the stuff to steep and perhaps find you made a hash out of mixing a new aroma there only after such a wait.

[jae]

even without the stirrer, is there really much difference (especially when mixing single flavors to get an idea of strength) in just shaking the bottle really well and letting it sit in a container of hot water for an hour or two vs. letting them sit for weeks?

I remember reading your write-up on building a stirrer, I'll go look for that again and may give it a shot this weekend.

[DerGolgo]

Never tried that hot-water method myself. Never even occurred to me, to be honest, it's a fairly clever approach. I had considered getting an IR lamp to combine with my stirrer, though. Never got around to even checking that out, and never missed it, either.
All I know is, with the stirrer, I get flavour that's rich and creamy and fruity and all sorts of stuff that are supposed to be left to steep for 14 days, with occasional shakes. But it takes me only about 12 hours. Less would probably be enough, but I'm not getting up at 3 AM just to try out if the juice is done.