Need help in purchasing my first mod, batteries and charger

mj79 · Feb 22, 2017

Well, my first mod that isn't mtl, and hi wattage .

The time to try something new is here. My little mvp2 and Nautilus mini have been great, I'm smoking less than 5 cigs a day, but want to try DL vaping as the few times I have tried it, it seems much more flavorful ( I'm not a big cloud chaser... Yet )

I was looking at the 75 watt single 18650 pico , but decided to go with something with a little more power as well as something I can fit a big tank on down the road if I choose too, whether it be in ml, or wattage such as a tfv8/12 cleito 120 etc )

The only one I really can decide on now is the smoke alien kit with the baby beast tank, so any other really good 2 battery options that would be comparable, please let me know

And would also like to try another tank for comparison, probably a cleito, uwell crown, or the freemax starre pure to compare to the baby beast.

Batteries.... Well I've read up a little on them and it seems for anything under 120 watts or so , a good 2500 mAh, 20 amp 18650 should be fine. Currently I have been looking to pair the alien with a Sony vtc5, vtc5a, or vtc6.. I know there are so many good options from Sony , lg, Panasonic, Sanyo, imren , hohm etc. It just makes it easy to pick one the Sonys because I've seen it recommended so much. But any other options I'm wide open! Only thing we have locally is efest , and I haven't heard the most positive things about them, not saying they're not good, just haven't been as well received as the other companies I mentioned.

Finally... Charger... Batteries and charger will be something I would think everyone would want to spend a few bucks more on, due to quality, and or safety, but it seems ( around here at least ) people want the cheapest option available. So... There are a few options... And many more I'm sure people will suggest.. but I see alot of efest and Nitecore chargers around.. so I'm guessing both are pretty good in that aspect.?

I think that's it for now, so thank you in advance for any advice you all can give !!

Matt

abn75 · Feb 22, 2017

Good dual battery mods? I like the battlestar, the wrecker g2, the minikin, and the 160 watt tc boxer by hugo. All great mods. The g2 is ugly as sin but vapes great. The others are smaller size mods, but all work like champs. I personally feel you can't go wrong with any of them.
Batteries? I use the sony vtc5a in my 18650 mods. Higher amp limit, and good mah. I do carry extra batteries, so that's not a worry for me.
Charger? I use several, but to recommend one or two, the luc v4 or the xtar brand. Either will do you right.
Tanks? Oh man there are so many I use and love. Right now I'm using all obs tanks and loving them. Can't go wrong with a obs engine in my opinion.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Eskie · Feb 22, 2017

Charger, Nitecore or Xtar. Both have fans. Get one with 4 bays, even though you're looking at a 2 battery mod. Believe me, down the road you'll kick yourself for only getting a 2 battery charger.

The Alien is a great kit. Well performing and pretty popular around here. The BB is a great cloud machine but only 2 ml which will disappear quickly. There have been some who report paint issues, but mine looks fine, and lots of reports from others that it's holding up just fine. However, it's an issue to be aware of.

For a second tank to play with, I like a Tobeco Super tank. Inexpensive and takes any Atlantis style coil. that means lots of choices from different manufacturers, so you're not as limited in coil selection as say the BB is.

As for batteries, any of the 20A offerings from LG, Samsung, or Sony should be fine. Buy only from a reliable dealer such as Iuum or IMR, as counterfeit rewraps are common on eBay and even Amazon (through third party sellers). Here's a useful list of recommended batteries from Mooch, our battery expert.

celticluvr · Feb 22, 2017

Well I do own the Alien and I'm using the LG HG2's (chocolates) they are really great for battery life and just using the baby beast on it I don't push it too hard at 62.5 watts for the t8 coils.

mj79 · Feb 22, 2017

Thanks everyone. Well I'm guessing this would be a good charger to go with then... Then I can finally quit using my crappy energizer chargers for all my rechargable AAA and AA batteries too

Thanks for the link to the batteries. I did read alot of what mooch wrote , but alot went over my head too lol.. super smart guy

Well now that I got the most important things down with the batteries and charger, I guess everything else is just trial and error.

mj79 · Feb 22, 2017

Forgot to post. This was one of the chargers I was looking at

Amazon.com: XTAR VC4 Li-ion/Ni-MH Battery Charger Premium USB LCD Display Charger Compatibale with Li-ion Battery and Ni-MH battery: Home Audio & Theater

r055co · Feb 22, 2017

Stick with Mooch's recommended battery list from reputable sources. I source all my batteries from Liion Wholesale and IMR Batteries, never get them from eBay or Amazon (high chance of getting fakes there).

For Charger I really, really like the Opus 3100, very nice feature is it has a built in fan which keeps things cool.

Eskie · Feb 22, 2017

mj79 said:
Forgot to post. This was one of the chargers I was looking at

Amazon.com: XTAR VC4 Li-ion/Ni-MH Battery Charger Premium USB LCD Display Charger Compatibale with Li-ion Battery and Ni-MH battery: Home Audio & Theater

I don't have that one, but I know plenty of folks around do and are happy with it. That's more than up to the job required. And yes, it's nice to have a charger that handles more than just vape batteries.

mj79 · Feb 23, 2017

r055co said:
Stick with Mooch's recommended battery list from reputable sources. I source all my batteries from Liion Wholesale and IMR Batteries, never get them from eBay or Amazon (high chance of getting fakes there).

For Charger I really, really like the Opus 3100, very nice feature is it has a built in fan which keeps things cool.

Will do. If wanting to order from Amazon , as long as it says "ships from" Sony, lg, xtar etc it should be authentic correct?

And I guess lastly. I see alot of people running the vtc5 , but see more vendors pushing the vtc5a or vtc6.. Are they just newer models? As I see the 5a has a little more amperage capabilities, and the 6 is about 500 mAh larger. It might be that obvious of an answer, but to me they look like 3 extremely similar batteries.

Eskie · Feb 23, 2017

mj79 said:
Will do. If wanting to order from Amazon , as long as it says "ships from" Sony, lg, xtar etc it should be authentic correct?

And I guess lastly. I see alot of people running the vtc5 , but see more vendors pushing the vtc5a or vtc6.. Are they just newer models? As I see the 5a has a little more amperage capabilities, and the 6 is about 500 mAh larger. It might be that obvious of an answer, but to me they look like 3 extremely similar batteries.

You have to look at who it's sold by, not fulfilled. I'm staring at a set of Samsung 25Rs here that are $15.77, and are sold by Exclusive Battery but fulfilled by Amazon. All that means is Exclusive Battery has a bunch of batteries sitting in an Amazon warehouse, not being sold by Amazon. The specs list it as "Blue/Green Assorted". The blue wrapped ones are older, and mixing newer and older stock does not instill confidence in me https://www.amazon.com/2500mah-disc...e-95b0-4160-8611-8c68f18bad61&pf_rd_i=desktop

You can get the same, authentic, new version 25R from Illum or IMR for $5 each. Me? I wouldn't take the risk. The Xtar is probably fine. I haven't heard of any knockoffs of it, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were.

mj79 · Feb 23, 2017

Sounds good I'll just buy from lithium ion wholesale or IMR.. just was trying to hit up everything in one spot, but no biggie. Now I guess the toughest thing is deciding which before to go with, although it is fun checking out all the sites..

Wasn't there a page where you could search for a product and it would list all the sites with their prices?

Eskie · Feb 23, 2017

mj79 said:
Sounds good I'll just buy from lithium ion wholesale or IMR.. just was trying to hit up everything in one spot, but no biggie. Now I guess the toughest thing is deciding which before to go with, although it is fun checking out all the sites..

Wasn't there a page where you could search for a product and it would list all the sites with their prices?

If you want everything from one source, I'm pretty sure IMR, Illum also sell that charger. You can always compare prices.

daviedog · Feb 23, 2017

mj79 said:
Sounds good I'll just buy from lithium ion wholesale or IMR.. just was trying to hit up everything in one spot, but no biggie. Now I guess the toughest thing is deciding which before to go with, although it is fun checking out all the sites..

Wasn't there a page where you could search for a product and it would list all the sites with their prices?

Marry your batteries, charge/discharge in pairs. Till death do they part..

r055co · Feb 23, 2017

mj79 said:
Will do. If wanting to order from Amazon , as long as it says "ships from" Sony, lg, xtar etc it should be authentic correct?

And I guess lastly. I see alot of people running the vtc5 , but see more vendors pushing the vtc5a or vtc6.. Are they just newer models? As I see the 5a has a little more amperage capabilities, and the 6 is about 500 mAh larger. It might be that obvious of an answer, but to me they look like 3 extremely similar batteries.

Nope, Sony, LG, etc don't sell direct to the public.

Stick with Earth's #1 source for IMR 18650 Batteries, Chargers, Cases & Wraps | IMRbatteries.com or Liion Wholesale Batteries | Li-ion battery distributor

Smoke_too_much · Feb 23, 2017

Go with the Alien & Baby combo, it is really nice and you will not regret it. I have a lot of mods but that one seems to stand out a bit from the crowd. As another tank I'd suggest the Crown 1 with the RBA. Can't decide between the two, Crown vs Baby, which is better. They are both great, just a bit different from each other. The LG brown HG2's are a good all around battery and buy them from Liion Wholesale or the other 3 or 4 reliable vendors, never from Ebay or Amazon as you'll never be sure of what you're getting. Nitecore or LUC chargers seem to have the best reputation I went for the LUC for some reason I don't now remember.

mj79 · Feb 26, 2017

just a quick question.... Is the Gpriv worth $30 more than the Alien? Im at a hault, but the touch screen on the gpriv, as well as coming with the big baby beast is tempting

mj79 · Feb 26, 2017

SMOK G-Priv 220W Touch Screen Starter Kit | Includes TFV8 Big Baby Tank

SMOK Alien 220W TC Starter Kit | Includes TFV8 Baby Beast Tank

Eskie · Feb 26, 2017

mj79 said:
SMOK G-Priv 220W Touch Screen Starter Kit | Includes TFV8 Big Baby Tank

SMOK Alien 220W TC Starter Kit | Includes TFV8 Baby Beast Tank

Your money, your choice. The touchscreen does look cool but adds no additional features and is a bit larger than an Alien. But as you pointed out, the G-Priv does offer the BBB, which is preferable if you want a larger volume as blowing through 2 ml is easy with these tanks.

mj79 · Feb 26, 2017

Yea...... I wanted the BBB anyways, so I guess it wouldn't be a bad choice, but just not a fan of the square mods

Eskie · Feb 26, 2017

mj79 said:
Yea...... I wanted the BBB anyways, so I guess it wouldn't be a bad choice, but just not a fan of the square mods

You can buy an Alien mod only and the BBB by itself. The price might not be quite as low as the kit with BB included, but you'd have everything you want.

Need help in purchasing my first mod, batteries and charger

Super Member

Senior Member

ECF Guru

Ultra Member

Super Member

Super Member

Ultra Member

ECF Guru

Super Member

ECF Guru

Super Member

ECF Guru

Vaping Master

Ultra Member

Ultra Member

Super Member

Super Member

ECF Guru

Super Member

ECF Guru

Similar threads

Users who are viewing this thread