E Cigs: The Facts

While there are several different models of personal vaporizers, or electronic cigarettes, on the market, there are a few main types. All are comprised of the same basic components, with some minor differences.

Components

The largest component is the rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery, similar to one you might find in a mobile phone or laptop computer. Often these have an orange LED at the end, which lights up like a burning cigarette would. Sometimes these LEDs are other colors as well, to showcase how unlike a tobacco cigarette they actually are. The next part is the atomizer, or vaporizer. This is activated by inhaling on the cartridge end or by holding a manual switch, depending on your model. On a pen-style electronic cigarette, the atomizer is contained in a metal tube that looks a lot like a cigarette holder, where they're far more hidden on a mini or super-mini ecig. The atomizer instantly heats the liquid into a vapor, which lingers in the air for just moments after exhaling. The final piece is the cartridge. The cartridge is the mouthpiece. On minis and super-minis, it's often made to look just like the filter of a regular cigarette. Inside the cartridge is a polyester fill material which holds the earlier mentioned solution.

Pen-Style

The first type of electronic cigarette created. They have the appearance of a cigarette in a  holder, like  the ones popular from the 1920's to the 1960's. These have a large, standardized  cartridge that holds  about 1.3mL of juice. The DSE 801 is an example of this type.

Mini

A compromise between physical size and liquid capacity/battery life. These generally look quite a bit  more like a traditional cigarette, but are still slightly larger. Mini cartridges vary greatly, but usually  contain between .5mL to 1mL of juice. The DSE 901 is an example of this type.



Supermini

Frequently almost the same size as a traditional cigarette, this hardware has smaller capacity  cartridges and batteries. The batteries do, however, charge significantly faster than other types.  Supermini cartridges also vary greatly, holding between .2mL and .5mL of juice.

Electronic Cigar

The e-cigar looks similar to a cigar. Thicker around than most other e-cigs, they  employ a similar cartridge to the pen-style, with a greater capacity. E-cigars can  sometimes hold as much as 1.5mL of juice. There are also disposable e-cigars  available, which look similar to an actual cigar with no external mouthpiece.

E-Pipe

As the name may suggest, these look just like a pipe. They have big cartridges, but blanks aren't quite as readily available as the rest of the styles. The cartridges hold more than 2mL of juice at a time.

Disposable

There are many shapes and sizes of disposable e-cigarettes & e-cigars on the market.  These aren't refillable, and should always be disposed of responsibly when used up.