12hrs with an Ego C

[Tara]

Well I swear my lovely postman recognises TW packages now and calls at my house first as he never usually get here before 11 and sometimes as late as 13:00 but since I started vaping (and told him why I was eagerly peering out the window for parcels) they seem to miraculously appear by about 09:30.

So there it was on the coffee table in the Hall when I got back from the supermarket, I opened it up, inspected it  very carefully, filled a cart and attached a battery, I'd read in the manual that the batteries came switched off ( yes folks, here is a fundamental difference between man and woman, a woman reads the manual first so as not to go wrong a man reads it after to work out why they went wrong), so I tapped the button 5 times and promptly tried to take a draw, nothing, attached the other battery, tapped the button 5 times again nothing, assumed they were discharged so screwed them into my usb charger on my pc and both showed green hmmmm, after 30s of head scratching I tapped the button on one 5 times again and 'lo an angel appeared, well not quite, but a puff of vape and the metatrons voice perhaps, with a choir of angels going ahhh ahhh ahhh!

No seriously, a lovely smooth draw, and a big bang full of flavour, better than I'd ever experienced, I was really starting to think that folks that raved about a flavour (including the friends I know who vape) were actually full of BS because at best all I ever got with a standard tank was a "hint" of a flavour; I was starting to wonder if they were bigging it all up because they desperately wanted it to be THAT good, well actually with the C atty it really is, and in fact, I've vaped about twice what I normally would today because I'm like the proverbial kid in a toy shop re-trying all my disaster flavours which I was slowly resigning myself to tipping. Many of them now have been put back into the "use" section of my tool box yayayayay I'm sort of saving already on this kit

On a more techincal note, the atty's come in a strip blister back and are quite small, I have considered cutting them and keeping a spare in my TW 'nado case but I think I will just keep them in a strip as one on it's own is  likely to get lost, however, they are easy to fit into the base and the cone screws smoothly on the top, was a little concerned about whether I had tightened it up enough but so far I am leak free and I'm about 3 full tanks in now.

The batteries do indeed have a white/sky blue/dark blue colour to them, I know I've been through both today, not unusual, I tend to go through 1 and 1/2 batteries a day anyway, I'm a fairly heavy vaper and I'm thinking my next purchase is a 1000mAh passthrough as most of my day is at the PC, but the sky blue / dark blue is easy to miss, my first battery was dark blue before I noticed, this evening with the 2nd batt I was more observant, but to be honest, just a low level indicator of any form is great, when I popped out to the supermarket before I took delivery I took my 'nado with me and I'd barely pulled the car out the drive before I got the flashy light, with this, if I go out and I'm on blue (which ever shade) I'll swop the battery knowing it will see me through, especially as I vape less when I'm out and about.

There has been some discussion about increased juice usage, and I'm pretty sure the atty isn't actually burning any faster, we are just vaping more, and that is another thing, I've been running at any one time 3 - 5 standard tornado attys for different flavours because of flavour contamination, I'm generally a fruity girl, but I'm a sucker for Absinthe and a home mix of Cherry and Titan Menthol, the stronger flavours tend to linger in a standard atty but not so with the new C atty, I've run about 12 different flavours through this atty today and there has been minimal cross over, maybe 3 or 4 puffs and the flavour runs clear, which is just such a boon and the TW case I bought back at the start of my TW vaping experience was woefully inadequate within days, not so now, two batteries, one or two 5ml juice bottles and a fully assembled C and I'm set for a night out and away, I can even squeeze the usb charger in too, you have no idea how much of a relief that was, I'd even been contemplating a bigger handbag and I sooooo don't do handbags, I'm a stuff things in a pocket kind of girl.

I like the smokey black tanks that come with the kit, I have been favouring the clear tanks for a while because I can see the juice but they sort of detract from the sleek black lines of my funky black PV, these guys fit the job but I am going to question whether they are eventually going to be needed, the taste change at the end of a cart is more noticable with the C and as yet I've not got to acrid before I've realised the tank is finished.

All in all it is so far a very positive experience, with one exception, I think I still prefer my beloved Absinthe in my 3 month old heavily maintained and refurbished atty, might need to look at tweaking the mix The only other thing to mention and possibly down side is the lack of a choice of menthol in the kit, I went off tobacco flavours very quickly once I decided to vape full time and although it was never going to put me off buying it, I did baulk at the idea that the black carts only came in tobacco flavour, but several folks had suggested that over time I might come to appreciate the flavour of tobacco, so I had decided to try a low nic cart, I opened the box and the smell was overwhelming, I got as far as opening the sealed plastic the cart was in and was close to retching, the hubs took pity on me and emptied the rest of the tanks out for me and washed them as I actually went green, so having a menthol option might be really nice

[Hoppy]

Fantastic Tara what a great review  Do you work for Which?  lol. No seriously great best review I have read. If I hadn't already got one and didn't agree with everything you have written. I would buy one just from your review. 

[Tara]

Fantastic Tara what a great review   Do you work for Which?

Lol not quite, despite being an engineer by trade and a qualified teacher by accident, I currently earn part of my living by writing freelance, lol I'm even a published author hahaha, no really stop laughing, I am

[Timuk]

Great write up Tara....

Makes mine look like a footnote  ....and not a Terry Pratchet one at that......

Glad your Vaping away happily on your new shiney ..

Tim

[pufferfish]

Echo...echo... great write-up Tara 
After all this time it seems that the atties perform so well that very few have even mentioned giving a dry burn to clean and they are going on and on.....
the best flavour producers available it seems, glad you're getting better taste now and I guess you're over your cold and the tragic tastebud episode ! 
Looking forward to your updates, gal 

[Knoton]

Great review Tara 
Very well written.
However I did not get what atty you prefered with Absinthe?
As you know I am a huge Absinthe freak and curious about everything Absinthe related 

[Tara]

Great review Tara 
Very well written.
However I did not get what atty you prefered with Absinthe?
As you know I am a huge Absinthe freak and curious about everything Absinthe related 

I currently prefer my  bulk standard ordinary tank atty for absinthe, but I've just mixed a small sample batch at 10% with 20% Pg / 80% Ag instead of my usual all Ag mix, going to play with the mix until I get it right in the C atty.

[Tara]

Well today will be an interesting test, I've got a 200mile road trip to do; I find motorways dreadfully boring and usually have my PV in my hand the whole time, I have found with a standard T Atty, that when driving I either lose my technique or the vibration from the steering wheel causes juice to wick out of the tank and its not uncommon for me to end up with a sticky mitt because it leaks, it will be interesting to see how the C assembly holds up to my abuse.

On a side note: Knoton, the test batch I mixed up last night with a touch of PG in the dilutent is coming through much clearer, just thought I would keep you updated

[Knoton]

Well today will be an interesting test, I've got a 200mile road trip to do; I find motorways dreadfully boring and usually have my PV in my hand the whole time, I have found with a standard T Atty, that when driving I either lose my technique or the vibration from the steering wheel causes juice to wick out of the tank and its not uncommon for me to end up with a sticky mitt because it leaks, it will be interesting to see how the C assembly holds up to my abuse.

On a side note: Knoton, the test batch I mixed up last night with a touch of PG in the dilutent is coming through much clearer, just thought I would keep you updated

In my opinion there is something about PG that help flavours coming through much better than VG/AG...

[Tara]

Quick Update: The C didn't seem to suffer the same problem I had with the T, so no sticky hand half way down the motorway from leaking, and it even survived a flying bounce down a cobbled road after it slipped out of my hand. I've a few little scratches on the cone, but nothing that will bother me and the atty still seems to be going strong; very impressed so far. As I suspected though, the tank atty I took with me didn't even get a look in, I do wonder if my "spare" parts will ever actually get used, but hey ho, at least they are there in case of emergency

[Tara]

Further update: Today I lost my first atomiser after 12 days heavy vaping - approx 5mls a day and not even bothering to blow it out at night, it's performance had dropped off in the last few days and the backwash was becoming increasingly grim, almost black, and the flavours were pretty muddy too. So I decided to give it a soak in vodka for a few hours and then a rinse through with boiling water. The Vodka turned brown rapidly and the rinse yielded a large amount of crud, so I figured I was all set, but I really didn't notice that much of an improvement once it was dried. So I prised the spike from the body and left most of the wick behind which was fused to the biggest lump of gloopy crud I've ever seen, I actually dry burnt the crud off the coil, and debated re-wicking but to be honest, at £4 an atty it hardly seems worth the effort anymore.

All that being said the 2nd atty popped in easy peasy, no 2nd atty syndrome I've noticed one or two folks suffer with, and its vaping like a dream again, leak free; I'm going to blow this new one through each evening to see if that prolongs the life of the atty, but this might all be a bit of a red herring as I did hit some of the darker liquids I had in my stash rather hard to use them up, and they are pretty well documented to be atty killers, as is Green Cow and I put at least 10-15mls of that through it as well.

[vp_smoker]

Funny you should say this Tara, as my atty finally gave up today just after I praised it in another thread!! go figure. I thought I got good use out of it 2 weeks vaping putting through between 7 - 10 ml a day, I also tried taking the thing apart and damn I was heavy handed and pulled the little bit of wire that was fused with black gunk to the spike plate and wick out with it. As you say no biggie as I got a load of them and they are cheap, and the bonus was putting a new atty in was like that first days vape all over again. I love this this eGo-c.

[8Ball]

OMG!!!!!   I've just got to keep up with my forum reading!   I can't believe I didn't see this sooner.   What a great review Tara!  Please do more for us.  If I could figure out a way to do it, I'd run mine through the shredder after reading yours (maybe caz or Darth can help me with that...... oh Daaathhhh, lol).

I know what you're on about with the Absinthe Tara.  I've not tried that many flavors in the "C" yet, but every one I've tried except for Absinthe   and maybe Doppio, taste better in the "C" than anything else.  Although I do enjoy the Absinthe in the "C", I find the flavor I get with it in the CE3s to be just a bit better.... same as for the Doppio.  I'm sure it's just a matter of adjusting my mix, but not sure which way to go with it.   And for me, the PGs out.  Don't want any more throat hit than I'm already getting, thank you very much.   So if you find an Absinthe mix that you like in the "C" that doesn't involved PG, please do dish, won't you?  And the flavors that I think are better in the "C" are so much better than in anything else, even the CE3s, that it's really hard to believe.  In fact, I had to dial back on flavor concentrate percentage when I took some of them to the CE3s from the tank, and I think I may have to cut it down again for the "C".... for at least a few of my flavors.  Well, again, thanks for this great review Tara!



Hey vp... that'll learn ya to go a bragin' on yer atty.    As I've said elsewhere I got about 6 weeks out of my first "C" atty.  And although I'm a chain vaper, I'm constantly switching off between devices, so I've no idea how much juice I got through it.... but that said, I was using it pretty heavy for the first 3 weeks or so... and with juice that's less than kind to attys.  Anyway, I've got three of them on the go now (ATM, it's Absinthe, Belgian Waffle, and Doppio) so I'll see how that works out for me.

[imdstrbd]

Sorry to change the topic a little but I keep hearing people talk about absinthe. Can anyone give me a slight idea on the taste. I am hooked on the ego-c just need to find a flavor I can stick with for the most part.

[Tara]

OMG!!!!!   I've just got to keep up with my forum reading!   I can't believe I didn't see this sooner.   What a great review Tara!  Please do more for us. 

I'm pretty sure there will be more, particularly as this place is taking over from Crackbook as my preferred method of procrastination 
Perhaps I could persuade Mr. Wicked to let me become the "in-house" reviewer hahaha yes I know fat chance and join the back of the queue, but ya know, a girl can hope

I know what you're on about with the Absinthe Tara.  I've not tried that many flavors in the "C" yet, but every one I've tried except for Absinthe   and maybe Doppio, taste better in the "C" than anything else.  Although I do enjoy the Absinthe in the "C", I find the flavor I get with it in the CE3s to be just a bit better.... same as for the Doppio.  I'm sure it's just a matter of adjusting my mix, but not sure which way to go with it.   And for me, the PGs out. 

I'm thinking that either I need to up the percentage flavour or add "something" else, in my opinion the problem seems to be that the AG/VG only mix makes it too sweet, its actually a bit like when you run a shot of absinthe through too much sugar on that fancy spoon you get with the "real" expensive stuff . I'm right with you on the PG I've mixed a few different things with the 20%PG/80%AG dilutent I made up and I've developed an annoying tickly cough - not sure it if its the mix as my nipper is poorly at the moment (actually she currently catches everything going as she has EBV, I think you guys across the pond call it Mono) and she shares all her germs with me 

Anyway, I'm rambling, my jury is still out on the use of PG, Ellie did me some lovely mixes as part of a trade, and once I've worked my way through them I'm going to buy the concentrates and try them all AG and go back to my all AG ways to see if the cough doesn't subside. So I'm wondering, either just one or two drops of somthing like menthol in a 10ml batch, or even "Herbes de Provence" might savoury up the mix just a touch without destroying the flavour of the Absinthe, I shall keep you posted

But thinking seriously about it, Absinthe is never an all day vape for me, I maybe go through 10ml in a fortnight as it is often an evening out or with a cup of esspresso after a meal type thing, so having one old style atty just dedicated to Absinthe seems like small potatos in the whole scheme of things, and with all the extra room I have now in my carry case, easily acommodated 

[Knoton]

Sorry to change the topic a little but I keep hearing people talk about absinthe. Can anyone give me a slight idea on the taste. I am hooked on the ego-c just need to find a flavor I can stick with for the most part.

Absinthe is a mix between anise, fennel and wormwood.
it has a licorice like taste with some extra herbs...
I like it strong, I mix it at 15% flavour, the premix is 7,5%
It is my absolute favourite, vape it all day long, day in and day out  

[Tara]

Sorry to change the topic a little but I keep hearing people talk about absinthe. Can anyone give me a slight idea on the taste. I am hooked on the ego-c just need to find a flavor I can stick with for the most part.

Absinthe is a European drink much favoured by 19th centuary bohemians, sometimes referred to as the "Green Fairy", it is sort of a little like aniseed, a little like liqurice and a little like well wormwood, which it has infused in it (and if taken neat will send you mad and turn your liver to Fois Gras), it's both sweet and savoury (not sour) at the same time and I love it to vape, but like the real drink, in moderation; however there are folks here who swear by it as an all day everyday vape

[Knoton]

I believe the C gives Absinthe a more smooth taste, some of the sharpness I sensed
with the Tornado Tank Atty is gone. I also think it taste better, but cant really describe it.
I have tried them simultaniously, that is in the C and in the old Tornado tank atty.
And I find the C is much better tasting. Which is excellent since I love Absinthe.
I got a bit nervous about getting short on it so I bought some bottles of concentrate and
have a bit more than 100ml concentrate today  And it is mine, all mine 

[Tara]

I believe the C gives Absinthe a more smooth taste, some of the sharpness I sensed
with the Tornado Tank Atty is gone. I also think it taste better, but cant really describe it.
I have tried them simultaniously, that is in the C and in the old Tornado tank atty.
And I find the C is much better tasting. Which is excellent since I love Absinthe.
I got a bit nervous about getting short on it so I bought some bottles of concentrate and
have a bit more than 100ml concentrate today  And it is mine, all mine 

Hahaha but I can click "pay with paypal" and it arrives the next day, what with the fact that I live in the UK, but we can forgive you

I actually should fill up two clean tanks and break out two new atty's and do a comparison, but I think it is the "sharpness" that I am missing, hmmm you've given me an idea for that added "something" I was just talking about, a few drops of LIME ZINGER!!!!!

[Knoton]

hahahaha ouch that backfired on me 
When I run out I gonna need help to order...

It is funny how one persons dislike in a flabour is another ones liking.
Like when I come to think about that some types of atties I find way to harsh in my throat
others call it very good throat hit.
I can understand that you prefer absinthe in another atty if you miss that sharpness.
Lime zinger could help, or maybe a drop or two of menthol 

[Tara]

Well 7 days later and I was noticing a little drop off on the 2nd atty's performance, not massive but definitely there. I've been soaking it in a little pot of vodka for the last few hours and there is a lot of crud making its way out. I am starting to think that the C attys might need more regular maintenance if you want to keep them for extended periods of time; either that or my vaping style is not totally compatible with this type of atty living a long and productive life.

I'm still using T atty's aswell, and I have to say I don't get quite the same deep satisfying crackle and hiss with the C atty. And I am wondering if the atty really is dropping off or just breaking in. If that is the case then I dislike the amount of crud coloured back wash you get after 7-10 days.

This all being said, the taste and vapour production is still brilliant, and I know I am a bit of a tight arse when it comes to disposable goods, so perhaps what I will do is use an atty for 7-10 days and swop it out, once I've got through the whole strip I'll do a batch of maintenance but won't cry if I lose one or two.

[Knoton]

I have been doing quite some of the dry burning maintainance on them.
Not one have failed due to it 
I think I even will do that a bit more often, maybe once every week.
Like a weekly routine on sundays or something.

[Tara]

I've also considered weekly maintenance, perhap when this weeks atty drops off I will give the dry burn a go A lot of this is experimentation at the moment to find the right routine

[lordy]

I've never been one for 'dry burns' - I've always boiled them up and blown them out - but Rtsjr posted that you could take out the spike with just a small flat SD.

So, I took the head off, got the coils glowing a few times then rinsed under the tap. I then got the coils glowing again a few times, then wiped with loo roll, put the spike back on then tried with the same flavour.

I have to say it's unbelievable. I've already had 20 days out of this atty and all it took was this little bit of maintenance and given the way it's performing again 'as new', I wouldn't be surprised if I got another 15 days out of it!

[Tara]

I've been an advocate of dry burning almost since I started, boil it up, dry, remove spike and burn, I'm currently using a T atty from my original kit that still works like new. But when I tried to pop the spike plate on my first C atty last week ( after 12 days use) the wick was welded to the coil care of a big lump of gunk. So I'm experimenting to find optimum processes

[lordy]

Blimey - what flavour were you using Tara? That sounds pretty severe... I even use a booster with mine and I've not experienced that so far...

[Tara]

Mostly DV Apple, RL Strawberry, DV Green Cow and DV Black Cherry & RL Menthol Mixed, with a few other flavours thrown in here and there RL Bananna is a new favourite. So nothing particularly dark; I know Green Cow is an atty killer, but the one I just swooped out never saw any GC at all and the crud from the vodka soak is comparable to the one I lost last week :S

[Timuk]

I wrecked my first C atty by removing the spike plate before I "boiled" the arty.....in my case I boil by using a small steam cleaner to blast through it for a good 60 seconds through each end and pop the spike off before it cools down...I think that the wick was still stuck to the coil because I had not heated it up enough with the steam to stop the wick sticking.

When I popped the spike off the wick pulled the coil with it......looked like a mangeld spring and was well  beyond help

Been doing this with my 2nd atty once a week making sure I well and truly steam it and has not happened since.... Fingers crossed.....

I feel that the C coil seems to be a much more robust than my T's...... as I managed to murder several of them whilst taking apart....

Still a big fan of the C after 5 weeks..

[Tara]

Well that's two for two now, left the thing soaking overnight in vodka, then gave it a bloody good boil, tried to prise the spike plate off whilst still warm (something I've done dozens of times with the T atty) and yet again the wick was welded to the coil by a big lump of gunk - so another atty in the bin, I'm at a bit of a loss as to how these things are getting so gunky as I stayed well away from dark and caffiene loaded flavours in the last 7 days and its still gunked up way more than my T attys ever were after 3 or 4 weeks.

So the third atty is going to get the followng treatment:-

1) Blow out every night
2) Dry burn in situ with spike plate every 3rd day

We'll see how long this one lasts.

[Tara]

Well to say I am disappointed is an understatement, I've just lost my 3rd atty after only 4 days of use; I know I'm vaping more than usual at approx 6ml a day as I'm up against a deadline, but that is still only 24mls of juice max to have gone through it and I noticed a considerable drop off in the flavour after only 2 days even though I had religiously blown through the atty the previous two nights; so I did a dry burn with the spike in situ which revived it somewhat, but again this afternoon whilst it had a reasonable vapour production the flavour was non existant, so I tried another dry burn and this time there was no appreciable flavour improvement.

Wondering if it was me coming down with a case of vapers tongue I swopped in yet another atty, and 'lo and behold a return to beautiful full and rich flavours as well a vapour, so I tried dry burning the old atty again to no avail, resigned and curious I prised the spike off again to inspect the wick and coil and bugger me if the thing didn't look like some mutant from a tar pit was growing inside, with the wick, YET AGAIN welded to the coil, so BANG another atty in the bin, I've only had this EGO-C twenty one days and already I've lost more atomisers than I did in the previous 3 months of vaping with the old Tornado T - all of a sudden this isn't looking as trouble free and cost effective as it first did because at this rate I will be spending close to twenty pounds a month in atomisers rather than thirteen.

This is such a shame because the flavour and vapour is second to none; I'm not quite ready to give up yet though as I do REALLY want this to work as I can foresee a time when the old T atomisers become obsolete and I don't want to find myself suddenly in the position of not being able to source parts. And I am wondering if I've just got a batch of duff atty's because none of them (including the new one I've just put in) has the deep satisfying fizz and crackle that the old T atty's do, so 5 more atty's arrived in the post today and I will take it from there. But I am at such a loss now, I'm not a complete "newb" anymore and I know how to look after my kit, I know more than a few of the tips and tricks and yet I appear to be getting nowhere near the performance or longevity that others are reporting from this atomiser.

Any suggestions / discussion would be greatly appreciated.