What is an electronic cigarette?
The electronic cigarette didn't just appear from nowhere as many will claim; interestingly it was first patented and described as “a smokeless non-tobacco cigarette” in 1963 by a gentleman called Herbert A. Gilbert. This involved the replacement of burning tobacco and paper with moist, heated, flavoured air. This device heated the nicotine solution (now known as Eliquid) and produced steam. In 1967 Herbert was approached by several companies interested in manufacturing the products, but it was never commercialized and disappeared from the public record after 1967.
Back in 2003 Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik lost his father to lung cancer
and decided to go about finding an alternative to smoking that was less
harmful; he came up with the electronic cigarette. This revolutionary concept
went into production in 2004 and has since go on to become a very popular
product with smokers and become a major business.
The electronic cigarette, e-cigarette or e-cig for short comes in a dazzling
variety of shapes and sizes and they all work based on common principle. Made
up of a battery, cartridge that acts as a mouthpiece and liquid tank, and a
heating element called an atomiser, which contains a coil (heating element);
You load the cartridge with a nicotine liquid called e-liquid or vape juice
which is vaporised when you take a puff to make a vapour that very closely
mimics how a regular tobacco cigarette works.
There is an alternative to the atomiser called a cartomizer which is different
as it contains a filler material which absorbs the liquid in a one piece unit.
While atomisers are more convenient as you can see the level of liquid, change
from one flavour to another and are hassle free to fill, cartomizers provide a
closer feel to the smoke in the throat sensation aka throat hit of a cigarette
when compared to atomisers.
Batteries and Selecting the Right one
There are different types of batteries to use for your electronic
cigarette experience; the major feature than differentiates them is automatic
and manual use. An automatic battery starts working as soon as you inhale,
while the manual requires you to push and hold a button as you take a puff. We
consider manual batteries to offer superior flavour, throat hit and vapour, but
automatic batteries have a closer feel to smoking a normal cigarette as all you
have to do is put it to your lips and inhale.
There are batteries on the market with variable voltage which allow a great
deal of control over your vaping experience, higher voltage generally means
more vapour and richer flavour up to a point. Most people find that the ideal
voltage level of vaping is between 4 to 4.5 volts, very few automatic batteries
can reach this voltage levels.
The choice between automatic or manual battery is ultimately down to personal
preference. A very important point on batteries is battery life, this depends
on how much you use it and the level of usage, the battery will have a very
different life span if you charge it once a day compared to two or three times
a day. On average one battery can last you up to six months so if you take into
account that most starter kits come with two this lifespan is double.
Choosing therighttype for an e-cig kit the first time can be tricky, without previous
experience of electronic cigarettes many people make their based on design or
aesthetics thinking that more or less all batteries perform the same, but if
you take time to look you’ll find this isn't the case, depending on how heavy a
smoker you are there are many options to choose from.
If you are a light or social smoker the cigarette shaped batteries may be okay for you as an occasional or light smoker but if you smoke anything above 5 per day a bigger battery is required to ensure you get the satisfaction you are after. As a rule of thumb all the commonly known EGO batteries have an output of 3.7 volts, these not only last longer (as long as you have the right batteries cells inside them, quality varies vastly) but they provide the punch required. With any electronic cigarette batteries with a 3.7 volts or below it would be recommended to use an 1.8 ohm coil to optimise the experience.
If you are a heavy smokerthe standard Ego might not offer enough kick for you, so it may be worthwhile thinking about a variable voltage battery. The variable voltage batteries have a variable output of 3.2 volts to 4.8 volts and do offer much more vapour, throat hit and flavour for those times when you might need it keeping all the cravings for a traditional cigarette at bay.
Always remember satisfaction is not only based on battery power but also about having the right strength and flavour to suit your specific needs.
Atomiser vs. Cartomizer
There are clear cut differences between atomisers and cartomizers; Although Atomizers / Clearomizers have now outgrown the popularity of cartomizers through convenience, ease of use and now also the technology has advanced considerably making clearomizers really satisfying and cost effective.
We can’t claim one is better than the other as this is also down to
personal preference and each brings different benefits to the table with
different trade off's.
The Atomiser has been around since the beginning of electronic cigarettes and
is essentially a two piece component made up of a tank that holds the e-liquid
and a heating coil which heats and vaporises the e-liquid when you inhale.
The greatest advantage in our opinion is that you can actually see how much
liquid you have at your disposal at a glance, it is also a very good option if
you want to use more than one e-liquid flavour as you can quite easily wash it
out and fill it up with another e-liquid of your choice without traces of the
previous flavour remaining in it.
Despite this being a matter of personal preference, many users feel that
atomisers don’t deliver as a strong a flavour, throat hit as cartomizers
although this is now switching quite quickly. You can now buy clearomizers of
many different sizes and shapes ranging from 1ml capacity to 5ml capacity.
These are also available as what is now known as Glassomizers which are a more
permanent type of clearomizer.
The cartomizer which is a fairly old system now, initially was available as a
pre-filled disposable cartridge but has since become widely available due to
its popularity and you can buy them pre-filled or in empty multi-packs. These
aren't as cost effective buying pre-filled as buying blanks you can fill these
several times each over a number of days.
Cartomizers are essentially one piece component made up of a sponge like filler
material that soaks up and holds the e-liquid and a heating coil which heats
and vaporises the e-liquid when you take a puff.
They are considered by many to have a consistently rich flavour, stronger
throat hit and high levels of vapour compared to atomisers; this is especially
true with the recent addition of a double heating coil for an even better
vaping experience.
The trade off for these benefits is that you don’t know how much liquid is in
them unless you take off the rubber cap on the end and look or get a burnt
taste when they are finally empty, cartomizers are only really for one flavour
as due to the filler material they tend to leave traces of any other liquid you
may have used in them and adding a new flavour will generally result in a mixed
and not very pleasant flavour. While they are compared to atomisers more time
consuming to fill and require a bit more care (liquid is more likely to leak
through onto the battery if you aren't careful) the option to buy them
pre-filled with the flavour of your choice is a viable option.
On average both atomizers and cartomizers will last at least 10 days to two
weeks dependent on usage and care, though sometimes they can pack up and stop
working. A well cared for atomiser or cartomizer will have no problem lasting
anything up to three weeks, a month or more.
E-liquid Types
This is a tricky one; there are two main types of e-liquid on the market
today, Propylene Glycol (PG) or Vegetable Glycol (VG) form the base of these
e-liquids both of which we go into detail in the “What is an e-liquid?”
article.
The important aspect of these is how they work with atomisers and cartomizers.
PG is the thinner liquid of the two and is found in food flavouring and
pharmaceutical products, it’s considered a safe low toxicity compound and
tastes sweeter than VG thus giving better flavour.
PG is less likely to clog up your atomiser or cartomizer. VG on the other hand
is a thicker liquid, known as a food additive and often used as a sugar
substitute. While VG isn’t quite as sweet as VG, being a thicker liquid it
vaporises at lower temperatures giving a gentler throat hit and produces huge
amounts of vapour which many vapers prefer.
The trade off is that it may clog up and kill your atomiser or cartomizer more
quickly than PG.
Both of these liquid bases come in a variety of different nicotine levels,
which is not standardised for all e-liquid companies, so it’s always a good
idea to look at the different nicotine levels on offer for each e-liquid to
choose which one is the right one for you.
If you’re unsure aim for a higher level as you can always cut back with
something lower. In the beginning you might need to perform a little trial and
error before you get it just right.
There is a great deal of information on all the above in this great post from the e-cigarette forum
“…There does not seem to be a clear pattern as to what strength nicotine you might need. Some people find they need higher strength than they thought. Some find that they need lower strength…”
This would be our recommendation on strength of eliquid based on what you smoke if you are currently converting:
1-5 cigarettes = 6mg
5-10 cigarettes = 9mg - 12mg
10 - 20 cigarettes = 18mg
20+ cigarettes per day = 24mg