It's the end of day two on my cartomizer experiment. Got 5 more to go!
I purchased all 3 off the different 510 cartomizers sold by Lite Cig USA. The Boge Hard Tip, The Boge Soft Tip, and the SLB Soft Tip.
Haven't used an atty/cart for the past 2 days, cartomizers only, except for when I'm dripping on my pass thru at home, mostly to check out the stuff Jaxx sent me, and to try out a new recipe I picked up @ VapersPlace.
A couple of things have already become quite obvious.
The Boge hard tip cartomizers, which were a bit cheaper, work just fine, but are a pain in the .... when you compare them to the soft tip ones. At 20cents each savings....it's just not worth it. And you can't use drip tips on them without industrial surgery. I'll use them until they quit working, but seriously doubt I would ever order hard tip cartos again, when the soft tips are so readily available at such a nominal price difference. Sure you can bulk order 50-100 at a time for astounding prices, but.....why would you want that many of them in the first place?
Both the Boge & the SLB cartos are what I would refer to as 'cold natured'. The first vape on either of them, when they have not been used for a while, is weak. The second hit is better, and by vape #3 both are fully warmed up and produce quite well as far as I am concerned. Of course, with 30% VG in most of my mixes, vapor production is never been an issue for me. They do produce slightly less visable vapor, but I've got enough to spare that it's not really being missed!
I tried testing the resistance on both, but either my multi-tester is fried, or I've forgotten how to use one! Both show up as 6 ohms, which I know is not right, I suspect my old multi-tester is due for retirement! Actually they are spec'd @ 3ohms, according to the research I have done. Just a little bit higher than the Magma. This means they run a little cooler than a Magma atty, which would definitely explain the slight reduction in vapor produced. Probably also explains why they are cold natured as well.
I've already decided that both seem to perform pretty similar. Plainly stated, that means that in two days, unless I look at the threads, I can't tell which one I am vaping. My overall preference is for the Boge, simply because it's filler material seems to be a bit bigger, and consistently those cartos will take more juice. I've been getting an average of 30 drops into a new empty carto, which easily equals almost double what I was able to use in a modded Magma cart.
The SLB has this funky donut covering the filler, which some say should be removed during filling, although my experience is that, trying it both ways, it doesn't seem to matter. What does matter is that the filler in the SLB seems to be smaller to allow space for the donut, which obviously means they hold less juice. I am assuming by looking at them that their purpose is to help keep juice from getting sucked up back into the mouthpiece.
I also like the caps from the Boge cartos better than the SLB ones, which are just plain caps. The Boge caps have a '.... plug' for the screw end, which comes in handy during filling and storage, and the top cap also has a small plug that goes into the opening in the mouthpiece. As the cartos wear out and have to be retired, you can bet I will be saving the Boge caps. Who knows, I might just salvage those donuts and put some in the Boge cartos too. Wouldn't that technically make them the best of both worlds?
So far I have to say I'm impressed with the overall performance and convenience. Although I have plenty of opportunities to vape @ work, what I don't have is a lot of time to mess around with topping off/changing carts. With almost double the capacity, and using the cartos with a drip tip I can just drip 5 drops or so every once in a while and they keep right on vaping. In fact, to me they are the ultimate auto-drip accessory, a lot less fussing around to keep my PV working while I am working too!
The cartos also performed well on my Magma auto batts, my mega manual batts, and even my eGo batts. In fact, with a fully filled carto, and a freshly charged battery, the performance for either is pretty much identical. I honestly found my Carto powered Magma auto batts just as capable as any of the others in producing a satisfying vape, and I will be the first to admit I was pleasantly surprised by this. Maybe it's something in how the carto works, but the auto batts operation seems to be a lot smoother, no hard draws, no issues with cutting in & out, etc. In short, it just works, and works quite well. You couldn't ask for more. In fact, I would go so far to say that selling a 'disposable' or starter kit with a battery, a charger, and about 3 filled cartos would give Volcano a big leg up on the disposable competition!
I also quickly realized that they are the cat's meow for use with my Sit & Go Pass thru in my van while driving. With highping/Starkification modded carts, I could drain a cart just getting to & from work, and I don't really drive that far! Anything less than a completely full cart and I was either switching carts, trying to drip while driving (NOT a pretty sight!), or rummaging around for a backup PV. The cartos get me to where I'm going with juice to spare.
Last but not least, flavor separation is no longer an issue! In fact, with cartos you are actually using a dedicated atty for every flavor. This means I can enjoy those flavors I have that I would have either used a dedicated atty for, or fully expected to have to do a major atty clean after vaping. It's been great to haul out my DIYFlavorshack RY4 and 555 Menthol and enjoy them without having to think about atty cleaning as a part of the decision to vape them. Tomorrow Lava Flow is getting a carto fill for sure!
Other than all of this, the only other big thing that needs to be determined is longevity. From everything I have researched, the trick is getting maximum life from a carto is to never ever run them dry. This was the over riding consideration in using them with drip tips. At 60 days I still have all of my original Magma attys in serviceable condition. And while some folks do clean cartomizers (using various methods), it's not going to be as quick and easy as my Magma atty cleaning routine.
Speaking of which, I decided as long as I was testing the cartos, I might as well give every atty I own a good thorough cleaning. Gave them all a thorough hot water force flush with my trusty booger sucker, and now they are all sitting in a mug filled with effervescent denture cleaner and in the morning I will flush them once more, and they should be ready to storm the beaches at a moments notice!
With any luck, the guys at Volcano will have some more info for us soon on their plans to add cartomizers to the store. I for one can't wait to see what it is they have planned for us!
I purchased all 3 off the different 510 cartomizers sold by Lite Cig USA. The Boge Hard Tip, The Boge Soft Tip, and the SLB Soft Tip.
Haven't used an atty/cart for the past 2 days, cartomizers only, except for when I'm dripping on my pass thru at home, mostly to check out the stuff Jaxx sent me, and to try out a new recipe I picked up @ VapersPlace.
A couple of things have already become quite obvious.
The Boge hard tip cartomizers, which were a bit cheaper, work just fine, but are a pain in the .... when you compare them to the soft tip ones. At 20cents each savings....it's just not worth it. And you can't use drip tips on them without industrial surgery. I'll use them until they quit working, but seriously doubt I would ever order hard tip cartos again, when the soft tips are so readily available at such a nominal price difference. Sure you can bulk order 50-100 at a time for astounding prices, but.....why would you want that many of them in the first place?
Both the Boge & the SLB cartos are what I would refer to as 'cold natured'. The first vape on either of them, when they have not been used for a while, is weak. The second hit is better, and by vape #3 both are fully warmed up and produce quite well as far as I am concerned. Of course, with 30% VG in most of my mixes, vapor production is never been an issue for me. They do produce slightly less visable vapor, but I've got enough to spare that it's not really being missed!
I tried testing the resistance on both, but either my multi-tester is fried, or I've forgotten how to use one! Both show up as 6 ohms, which I know is not right, I suspect my old multi-tester is due for retirement! Actually they are spec'd @ 3ohms, according to the research I have done. Just a little bit higher than the Magma. This means they run a little cooler than a Magma atty, which would definitely explain the slight reduction in vapor produced. Probably also explains why they are cold natured as well.
I've already decided that both seem to perform pretty similar. Plainly stated, that means that in two days, unless I look at the threads, I can't tell which one I am vaping. My overall preference is for the Boge, simply because it's filler material seems to be a bit bigger, and consistently those cartos will take more juice. I've been getting an average of 30 drops into a new empty carto, which easily equals almost double what I was able to use in a modded Magma cart.
The SLB has this funky donut covering the filler, which some say should be removed during filling, although my experience is that, trying it both ways, it doesn't seem to matter. What does matter is that the filler in the SLB seems to be smaller to allow space for the donut, which obviously means they hold less juice. I am assuming by looking at them that their purpose is to help keep juice from getting sucked up back into the mouthpiece.
I also like the caps from the Boge cartos better than the SLB ones, which are just plain caps. The Boge caps have a '.... plug' for the screw end, which comes in handy during filling and storage, and the top cap also has a small plug that goes into the opening in the mouthpiece. As the cartos wear out and have to be retired, you can bet I will be saving the Boge caps. Who knows, I might just salvage those donuts and put some in the Boge cartos too. Wouldn't that technically make them the best of both worlds?
So far I have to say I'm impressed with the overall performance and convenience. Although I have plenty of opportunities to vape @ work, what I don't have is a lot of time to mess around with topping off/changing carts. With almost double the capacity, and using the cartos with a drip tip I can just drip 5 drops or so every once in a while and they keep right on vaping. In fact, to me they are the ultimate auto-drip accessory, a lot less fussing around to keep my PV working while I am working too!
The cartos also performed well on my Magma auto batts, my mega manual batts, and even my eGo batts. In fact, with a fully filled carto, and a freshly charged battery, the performance for either is pretty much identical. I honestly found my Carto powered Magma auto batts just as capable as any of the others in producing a satisfying vape, and I will be the first to admit I was pleasantly surprised by this. Maybe it's something in how the carto works, but the auto batts operation seems to be a lot smoother, no hard draws, no issues with cutting in & out, etc. In short, it just works, and works quite well. You couldn't ask for more. In fact, I would go so far to say that selling a 'disposable' or starter kit with a battery, a charger, and about 3 filled cartos would give Volcano a big leg up on the disposable competition!
I also quickly realized that they are the cat's meow for use with my Sit & Go Pass thru in my van while driving. With highping/Starkification modded carts, I could drain a cart just getting to & from work, and I don't really drive that far! Anything less than a completely full cart and I was either switching carts, trying to drip while driving (NOT a pretty sight!), or rummaging around for a backup PV. The cartos get me to where I'm going with juice to spare.
Last but not least, flavor separation is no longer an issue! In fact, with cartos you are actually using a dedicated atty for every flavor. This means I can enjoy those flavors I have that I would have either used a dedicated atty for, or fully expected to have to do a major atty clean after vaping. It's been great to haul out my DIYFlavorshack RY4 and 555 Menthol and enjoy them without having to think about atty cleaning as a part of the decision to vape them. Tomorrow Lava Flow is getting a carto fill for sure!
Other than all of this, the only other big thing that needs to be determined is longevity. From everything I have researched, the trick is getting maximum life from a carto is to never ever run them dry. This was the over riding consideration in using them with drip tips. At 60 days I still have all of my original Magma attys in serviceable condition. And while some folks do clean cartomizers (using various methods), it's not going to be as quick and easy as my Magma atty cleaning routine.
Speaking of which, I decided as long as I was testing the cartos, I might as well give every atty I own a good thorough cleaning. Gave them all a thorough hot water force flush with my trusty booger sucker, and now they are all sitting in a mug filled with effervescent denture cleaner and in the morning I will flush them once more, and they should be ready to storm the beaches at a moments notice!
With any luck, the guys at Volcano will have some more info for us soon on their plans to add cartomizers to the store. I for one can't wait to see what it is they have planned for us!
