I can't make my pods last more than 2 days

[Andi de Jager]

Hello there,
I'm trying to stop smoking with salt nic and pod systems. I have the smok nord and the smok novo 2. Both the novo 2 pods and the nord coils are lasting me only 2 days at most and I don't know why. Apparently they are meant to last a week. I always prime my coils and I've been dual wielding the nord and the novo 2 so I'm not chain vaping on a single device. (So I'm taking a few puffs on the novo2 and then a few puffs on the nord). The only thing it could be is the juice. I'm using a fruit monster salt nic juice that i bought on takealot and its 50/50 pg/vg juice. It doesn't taste particularly sweet but maybe it's made with low quality ingredients? I'm at a loss for what to do. Someone please help!

 

[Hooked]

Hi Andi,

I also have a Nord and the coil lasts just over a week.

I just want to check with you - which coil are you using? For nic salts it should be the 1.4ohm.

I don't know that brand of juice, so I can't comment on that. However, the ratio of 50/50 VG/PG is correct for nic salts and correct for a 1.4ohm coil.

You would need to try other nic salts to see if the same thing happens.

How many coils have you gone through? And have they all been from the same packet? It could be a dud packet, wich unfortunately happens sometimes.

EDIT:
IF it's a dud packet of coils, don't blame Takealot. Any commercial coils are mass-produced and one does get duds sometimes. Could be you got a bad batch.

 

[Resistance]

Hello there,
I'm trying to stop smoking with salt nic and pod systems. I have the smok nord and the smok novo 2. Both the novo 2 pods and the nord coils are lasting me only 2 days at most and I don't know why. Apparently they are meant to last a week. I always prime my coils and I've been dual wielding the nord and the novo 2 so I'm not chain vaping on a single device. (So I'm taking a few puffs on the novo2 and then a few puffs on the nord). The only thing it could be is the juice. I'm using a fruit monster salt nic juice that i bought on takealot and its 50/50 pg/vg juice. It doesn't taste particularly sweet but maybe it's made with low quality ingredients? I'm at a loss for what to do. Someone please help!

Smok knowledgeable vapers.
@Room Fogger
@StompieZA
@Grand Guru or
Tag someone you know please

 

[Grand Guru]

Try change the juice and don’t buy juice from Takealot as you no guarantee you’re getting genuine stuff there. There are 10s of vape shop in Cape Town where you can test vape a few juices... I stay in Bloem where we litterally have less than a handful of vape shops and I never took that risk. Enjoy the journey and remember: safety first!

 

[Andi de Jager]

Thanks for the replies they have been very helpful! I will definitely go to a vape shop to buy juice from now on. I use the 1.4 ohm coil in my nord. Ive gone through 5 novo pods in 7 days and 3 nord coils in 5 days. I don't think it's a dud pack though as I've used from different packs to check if it is a dud pack and they all fail after 1-2 days so I think it would have to be the juice. I will try a new juice from a vape shop and post an update! Thanks again!

 

[Room Fogger]

Thanks for the replies they have been very helpful! I will definitely go to a vape shop to buy juice from now on. I use the 1.4 ohm coil in my nord. Ive gone through 5 novo pods in 7 days and 3 nord coils in 5 days. I don't think it's a dud pack though as I've used from different packs to check if it is a dud pack and they all fail after 1-2 days so I think it would have to be the juice. I will try a new juice from a vape shop and post an update! Thanks again!

@Andi de Jager , I use the Nord coils in my Smok Trinity Alpha, and I get at least a week on a coil, usually even more or nearer to two. But it runs with the rest of my daily pack of about 5 setups, so not continuously.

As I don’t do Nic Salts as a rule I use the 0.6 ohm coils I think, and with a 6 or 9 mg MTL juice they are great. For me a great head rush too as I tend to chain vape and usually mix at 2 mg, so like taking a shot from Mike Tyson if I don’t watch it. Did the higher resistance coils and I am quite sure they didn’t last as long, have to collect some ceramic ones when I’m on the road again from another formite to see how they match up. Felt as if it was gurgling a bit more, go figure. Just got a RBA, going to start testing it hopefully the weekend, going to about 0.8 to 1 Ohm there, see if that works well and report back.

Get a decent MTL juice from one of the vape shops, no such thing as being too careful and you can be sure you are getting quality, worth it for the peace of mind.

 

[Timwis]

Thanks for the replies they have been very helpful! I will definitely go to a vape shop to buy juice from now on. I use the 1.4 ohm coil in my nord. Ive gone through 5 novo pods in 7 days and 3 nord coils in 5 days. I don't think it's a dud pack though as I've used from different packs to check if it is a dud pack and they all fail after 1-2 days so I think it would have to be the juice. I will try a new juice from a vape shop and post an update! Thanks again!

Yep try different juice first but @Hooked makes a very good point about dud batches of coils, although Smok QC has improved out of sight when it comes to their devices and their coils have also improved QC with their coils not from personal experience but from reading threads on different forums remain an issue. Dud batches happen with all manufacturers from time to time but Smok have a reputation!

 

[Resistance]

Also check out the supporting vendors thread n the home page for juice and gear options
https://www.ecigssa.co.za/

 

[Andi de Jager]

UPDATE:
So I've tried 3 separate batches of coils. With the first batch the pods started off good and then burnt out very quickly( first batch was from cock and bull). Then I tried a second batch cause I though the first batch might be duds. The second batch (from takealot) WERE duds as they tasted burnt from the get go so I concluded that the first batch was fine so the only thing it could be was the juice I ordered off takealot. So I bought new juice from a vape shop in observatory and a new batch of pods(batch number 3) from the cock and bull. I have been using the same pod since Friday with no sign of the pod burning out. When I spoke to the man behind the counter at the shop in observatory, I saw he was selling the monster range (fruit monster, jam monster etc) and he said that those juices don't destroy pods like mine did and that I shouldn't buy from takealot as they don't know what's real or not.
CONCLUSION/TL;DR:
The juice I was using was a fake and it was burning out my pods very quickly.
PS:
I had to send my nord back for replacement as it stopped registering that there was a pod in it even after I cleaned the pod and the connectors until they were bone dry. According to the guy at the cock and bull, this is a common problem with the nord. Let's hope the replacement works as well as my friends one! (Its never given her any problems, doesn't even leak which is apparently also a apparently nord)

 

[Hooked]

UPDATE:
So I've tried 3 separate batches of coils. With the first batch the pods started off good and then burnt out very quickly( first batch was from cock and bull). Then I tried a second batch cause I though the first batch might be duds. The second batch (from takealot) WERE duds as they tasted burnt from the get go so I concluded that the first batch was fine so the only thing it could be was the juice I ordered off takealot. So I bought new juice from a vape shop in observatory and a new batch of pods(batch number 3) from the cock and bull. I have been using the same pod since Friday with no sign of the pod burning out. When I spoke to the man behind the counter at the shop in observatory, I saw he was selling the monster range (fruit monster, jam monster etc) and he said that those juices don't destroy pods like mine did and that I shouldn't buy from takealot as they don't know what's real or not.
CONCLUSION/TL;DR:
The juice I was using was a fake and it was burning out my pods very quickly.
PS:
I had to send my nord back for replacement as it stopped registering that there was a pod in it even after I cleaned the pod and the connectors until they were bone dry. According to the guy at the cock and bull, this is a common problem with the nord. Let's hope the replacement works as well as my friends one! (Its never given her any problems, doesn't even leak which is apparently also a apparently nord)

@Andi de Jager deserves a medal for persevering, in spite of being a new vaper and being faced with coil, juice and pods problems!!!

Some new vapers have no problems at all, yet they give up after a few days.

I take my coil off to you Andi!!

 

[Chickenstrip]

Monster juice (all of them) gunk your coils. You need to find a juice without added sweetener. I don't believe for a second that the Monster juices he's selling don't gunk up your coils.

Best is to walk into Blck Vapour if you can and ask them for help. They'll mix up juice for you in store and you can tell them your exact specifications: what flavours you want, nic strength/type, amount, zero sweetener etc.

Never met someone who went Blck and then back. Lol.

 

[Andi de Jager]

@Andi de Jager deserves a medal for persevering, in spite of being a new vaper and being faced with coil, juice and pods problems!!!

Some new vapers have no problems at all, yet they give up after a few days.

I take my coil off to you Andi!!

View attachment 191534

Thank you! I couldn't have done it without all the helpful people on ECIGSSA giving me great advice! I'm glad I joined!

 

[Lightbringer]

@Andi de Jager , I use the Nord coils in my Smok Trinity Alpha, and I get at least a week on a coil, usually even more or nearer to two. But it runs with the rest of my daily pack of about 5 setups, so not continuously.

As I don’t do Nic Salts as a rule I use the 0.6 ohm coils I think, and with a 6 or 9 mg MTL juice they are great. For me a great head rush too as I tend to chain vape and usually mix at 2 mg, so like taking a shot from Mike Tyson if I don’t watch it. Did the higher resistance coils and I am quite sure they didn’t last as long, have to collect some ceramic ones when I’m on the road again from another formite to see how they match up. Felt as if it was gurgling a bit more, go figure. Just got a RBA, going to start testing it hopefully the weekend, going to about 0.8 to 1 Ohm there, see if that works well and report back.

Get a decent MTL juice from one of the vape shops, no such thing as being too careful and you can be sure you are getting quality, worth it for the peace of mind.

Can you please give an update on the RBA. What wire did you use and how did you find it? Thinking about the Nord 2 with the RBA, but there isn't many build videos out there, and I would like to know if it works well and is just as good as using the rpm coil as far as flavour.

 

[RenaldoRheeder]

Can you please give an update on the RBA. What wire did you use and how did you find it? Thinking about the Nord 2 with the RBA, but there isn't many build videos out there, and I would like to know if it works well and is just as good as using the rpm coil as far as flavour.

I would recommend the RPM RDA for the Nord 2. It is easier to build because it has more space to work on. Start with simple round wire - you might find that it performs sufficiently - Kanthal if you want to achieve higher resistance or Ni80 otherwise.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Room Fogger]

Can you please give an update on the RBA. What wire did you use and how did you find it? Thinking about the Nord 2 with the RBA, but there isn't many build videos out there, and I would like to know if it works well and is just as good as using the rpm coil as far as flavour.

@Lightbringer , I’ll see if I can do a build sometime today, haven’t been using it as much as I would like as I’ve been testing for reviews and work, and it’s not an excuse, me being too lazy to build is.

It performs great imho, not spot on with flavour but acceptable and comparable depending on juice, but I’m sure if one plays around with different wire you will find a perfect combo. Ive been waiting for wire, then lockdown happened. Will see if I can find it locally but I think it will make a difference, but I think I’ll be using it more going forward, even with normal roundwire.

 

[Room Fogger]

Can you please give an update on the RBA. What wire did you use and how did you find it? Thinking about the Nord 2 with the RBA, but there isn't many build videos out there, and I would like to know if it works well and is just as good as using the rpm coil as far as flavour.

@Lightbringer , I had one that was built and took some photos, and I will start using it today, forgot about it until you prompted me to go look. This is bloody small but I got a 2 mm coil in there running at about 0.8 Ohm, think it is normal 28g NI80 if I’m not mistaken. Want to try the superfine MTL fused Clapton wire next, it can maybe even do better. What is nice is that you can unscrew the bottom part and it fits onto a 510 mod, so you can dry burn and sort out hotspots etc.




Wicking is fine as I use it in a Smok Trinity Alpha, underrated system if you ask me, flavour is very reasonable and comparable and satisfies me, I’m a pure flavour chaser and serial vaper, nic is optional as I even MTL with mostly 2-3 mg liquids. It is a slight bit noisier than the commercial coils, and some light gargling once in a while when I get it overly hot, but not to the extent that it is a problem. Draw it tightish, but not overly so, I prefer loose MTL or restricted DL, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Is it worth it, yep, definitely imho, easy enough to build, and I don’t mind rewicking ever so often. Thinking of what I paid for it and the bit of effort I think it’s paid for itself in a couple of tanks. Hope this is of some help to you. Just a disclaimer, I still use some commercial coils when I have them and especially to ensure that if I’m too lazy to rewick I can still vape, always good to have a backup plan.