Basic Care Tips for Newbs?

[moonlitwings]

Hey all! My first post here. Total and complete newbie here. Just purchased a Volcano Express Kit .. Seeing that volcanocigs was selling the old carts at a big discount, I went with an atomizer and the old carts on sale to give it a shot. I'm a very, very light smoker-- the occasional social / party hookah / cigarette type, so I picked up a pack of Zeros and Lights, thought it would be a way to enjoy the flavor, not deal with the adverse health effects and make it yet another little thing to talk about at a get-together.

My kit arrived in the mail I gave it a shot.. almost immediately enjoyed it! However, I've run into one little issue.. Everytime I finish, I disassemble everything-- Atomizer from cart, store the cart with its cap and atomizer back into its original housing. However, I seem to have damaged my atomizer! When separating cart from atty, the chrome housing has separated from the threading, exposing the coil and I had to rescue the atomizer's chrome housing from being trapped inside of the cart! On top of that, I see a very small crack on the chrome housing, so when combining the threading and chrome housing together again they stay poorly adhered. Thankfully its still usable, but its now an inconvenience! I can't help but feel that in my attempt to care for my product, I ended up ultimately being far too rough on it! I've uploaded a picture of what happened.. Anyone else ran into this?

Anyway, there is *so* much info here on the forums.. I've picked up some knowledge in my search, but couldn't find an answer to what I was looking for-- basic, everyday care. I know the atomizers are not covered under the warranty, but for next time.. What are some acceptable ways to store your ecig? Do you just keep the atomizer together with your cart and simply cap the end? Or do you separate and store the two and cap both ends, keeping your atomizer inside of your cart until its time to switch to a new cart?

I may stick with this though, though I'm debating sticking to the newer cartomizers, or try out a drip or tank instead once I learn a little more!

[deleon517]

i too store my atties the same way when i was using the carts(cartridge). never seen that happen even have my two original atties from back in sept of 2010. still in service to this day.

for cartomizers vs tanks its a give and take as both are great ways to enjoy vaping but have different + and - imho.

volcano/magma cartos are great on flavor and vapor production, almost as good as dripping. but its hard to tell how much ejuice is left unless you get the magma clearos(clearomizers) also many people find filling the magma cartos/clearos with the syringe annoying at first unless you pick up the needle top cap for the bottles. the volcano cartos you can simply drip into.

tanko's are by far the easiest to fill, they do offer the clear blank tanks so you can see the liquid level. many find the tanks to mute flavor in juice(i have heard its not as bad with the magma tankos, but i have only tried the inferno ones.)

also if you are looking into dripping the volcano style atomizers are my favorite for this. but its more dangerous to do with the auto batteries, as they can flood easier using this method which can mess up you battery. what i recommend when using a volcano or magma auto battery and the volcano atty is dipping.(get a screw on lid contact case, put ejuice in each compartment. then you just dip the exposed bridge of the atty into the ejuice for a second or two. put back on the drip tip, and vape. you should be good for a couple of inhales. you will know when you need to redip when the flavor or vapor start to drop off.) to use your volcano for this make sure you get the volcano drip tip as the others on the site are for the magma atties. or you can even just use a empty cart as the mouth piece in place of a drip tip

[rawrrrdino]

just so you know, if you received that atomizer within the past 72 hours, there is a DOA warranty on it. that should not have happened, and Volcano will replace it for you as long as you submit a ticket on it within a 72 hour window of receiving your order.

[monarch79]

Hmmm... I've actually never seen that happen! And I've been around the block a couple times!

Looks like you just got a dud, and you're taking it in stride. Which is super cool considering you're a new customer.


I wouldn't take my cart off the atty until it's empty, otherwise it will dry out. The atty gives it a little bit of a seal to prevent that. You know, if it stays in one piece... I always just left mine fully assembled... Sometimes in the PCC facing down, but usually just laying on its side.

I would suggest trying more cartomizers, like the ones that came with it. They are by far, the easiest feeder to use.
There's a reason the cartridges were discontinued, they can be a PITA!

[moonlitwings]

Thank you all for the responses! From the responses I've gotten, I suspect that I got a dud in the mail. I have contacted Volcano to take advantage of the 72-hour DOA rule. The atomizer is still functional thankfully, so I can enjoy that tasty Blue Water Punch I've been itching to try for a while! I'm being careful with this atomizer though.. And I'll be taking your advice, monarch79 .. I may decide to just leave the atomizer in the cart and just seal off both ends-- my express kit came with ends for both the atomizer and the cartridge end and separate it from the battery when not in use.

deleon517 -- I am liking the idea of dripping! I may upgrade very soon to get myself something a little more serious and long-lasting like the INFERNO kit. I don't really mind the extra steps needed to enjoy a drip tank and such.. I've recommended eCigs to a family member though, and cartomizers will provide ease of use in this case. I may get some in the future, too.

monarch79 -- Yeah, I'm a pretty chill guy. Stuff happens, and I partly suspect its a bit of my fault.

Also, another question.. When vaping, should I be careful about letting the atomizer heat up too much? I suspect that the buildup of heat from one too many longer drags caused the adhesive or the atomizer to briefly run into issues at such a hot temperature.. Should I take smaller 'drags', or wait longer between them to allow the unit to cool down a bit?

[deleon517]

well with the volcano battery the only way to know if your draggin to much is to try to use the miminal amount of force when dragging. you pretty much just want to inhale strong enough to light the led. alot of people when then first start inhale like they would when power smoking. try finding that softeest inhale that will light the led and that will give best results.

[moonlitwings]

well with the volcano battery the only way to know if your draggin to much is to try to use the miminal amount of force when dragging. you pretty much just want to inhale strong enough to light the led. alot of people when then first start inhale like they would when power smoking. try finding that softeest inhale that will light the led and that will give best results.

My drags are usually very gentle.. Its enough for me to enjoy the flavor and light the LED. My worry is if I'm letting that LED and atomizer stay powered on too long when I take long, slow drags.. I'm worried that I may be letting the parts heat up far too much, and that it may have contributed? Not sure..

[deleon517]

no i doubt that they were design with the knowledge of them being heating elements, as myself and others have mentioned your the first we have seen of this. i still have 2 volcano atties from my inital order back in sept 2010 and they still run strong

[moonlitwings]

no i doubt that they were design with the knowledge of them being heating elements, as myself and others have mentioned your the first we have seen of this. i still have 2 volcano atties from my inital order back in sept 2010 and they still run strong

Ahh, got'cha. Then I shall wait to see what response I get from volcano then.