Cartomizer Refill Results

[HaploVoss]

Ok as promised in another thread, this looks like best place to post the results. After a lot of testing with various juice types and refill 'schedules' I have come up with some interesting findings:

Juices Used:
- 24mg 555 from nHaler
- 50/50 PG + VG, butter rum loranns.
- 50/50 PG + VG, Vodka, flavoring
- PG, Dist. Water, flavoring
- VG, Dist. Water, flavoring

2 cartomizers were used for each juice. 1 type has 4 slots at the base, the other has 2 slightly more shallow slots. I do not know a brand name that discerns these from the other.

Brand name 24mg 555 Juice:
Both cartomizers are still going strong after 10 refills. No burnt taste at all. Very tasty and smooth draw - nice throat hit. There seems to be a very slight reduction in vapor production. I will keep using these until it dies or becomes unusable due to taste or performance.

50/50 PG+VG, flavoring
Both cartomizers are now unusable. 4 slot works but has horrid burnt taste and has very little vapor production and does not hold juice well. 2 slot cartomizer is now dead entirely. Both had 4 good refills before failing in respective manners.

50/50 PG+VG, Vodka, flavoring
Both cartomizers now dead. 4 slot had 8 good refills, 9th started to have a burnt taste and then died. 2 slot died upon the 6th refill.

PG, Distilled Water, flavoring
4 slot still going after 7 refills, but now unusable due to burnt taste. 2 slot died midway through 5th refill.

VG, Distilled Water, flavoring
4 slot died after 6th refill, 2 slot died after 7th refill. Neither ever had a burnt taste and were flavorful with good vapor up to the end.

Generally speaking I have found that if you keep cartomizers wet, and do not 'over-vape' them - as in get them extremely hot, which they are prone to do, they will last a very long time. If they come even close to drying out however, it is very easy to burn them up it is as simple as that, and no matter what, they are going to die end of story.

All of these are indeed the kind that have the atomizer coil running through the center of the filler, not underneath like the GreenCig cartomizers I have heard about. I will try to get ahold of some of these when I can.

Also, I have disassembled a few of these now, tried replacing the filler, but it is just not worth the effort it takes to do so IMHO.

In the end, I now find that cartomizers are still extremely inexpensive compared to cigarettes, and I think even comparable to regular carts / atomizer combinations depending on failure rates if you choose to refill your cartomizers, and the now lowered costs of cartomizers.

That's it! Thanks for reading I hope it helps somebody.

Take care,
- Hap

[Joe81]

thanx for the follow up haplovoss, keep us updated on the greencig refill...btw, dpv9 cartomizers fit about 1ml, would u say urs are the same? are they from vaporking or? anyways, hopefully more places will carry blank cartomizers soon...i'm fine with my 510, but i also gotta try this for some buds who can't bother with a 3-piece during certain working conditions...they get alot of gunk on their hands & i don't think they want to risk adding that to the atty by mistake...

update: how about dripping after u rip out the filler?

[pcore]

I've been vaping the same cartomizer for about 3 days now, using the 555 16mg PG. Vapor and taste are almost as good as new.

What I've been doing is 2-3 drops through the battery hole every 20 puffs or so, then opening the cart up from the bottom at night and refilling several drops from that end before bed.

A couple of times I've lost production due to flooding. In that case, I just take the battery off and blow through the mouth end until a drop or two comes out of the battery end. Wipe, reattach and voila!

Like haplo said, keep it wet! I figure losing a drop or two now and then because of flooding is better than letting the cart dry out and burning it. I'll repost on this thread when (and if!) my cart dies.

[HaploVoss]

I would agree that these hold around +/- 1mL certainly. They hold anywhere between 12 - 21 drops depending on how thick the mixture is.

I purchased my cartomizers from Drew at nHaler, and I also received a few from a user here on the forums when I purchased some more spare batteries. As I understand they were VK.

It appears the greencig cartomizers are quite a bit more than these that I have been using, so hopefully there will be some major benefit to them. I will probably be purchasing some of them here in the next couple of days as I need some juice and 'mizers anyway

Take care,
- Hap

[pcore]

SNAP! I'm on day 7 of a cartomizer. Regular old 808. Working like a champ, no hard pulls, no burned taste. Then I put a few drops of some VG liquid in and BAM! Hard pulls immediately and I bet it'll start burning very soon.

Note that this is with dripping into the battery end the majority of the time. The next one I'll do straight 555 PG and see how long I can actually make it last. Too bad I have 60mL of VG liquid =(

Moral of the story: drip your 808 carts with straight PG liquid and use them a long long time!

[HaploVoss]

Oh crud I forgot to update this thread! lol - thanks for bumping this up with your information!!

Ok here we go:
Brand name 555 24mg juice:
Carts finally died. 4 slot after 16th refill, 2 slot after 14th refill. They both actually lasted right up to the bitter end without so much as a hint of foul taste. I have pulled them apart now and they both do have a tiny area where it was starting to burn through. I am really impressed by this.

All others had died already so what can I deduce??

Drew at nHaler either has magic juice, or a much better mixture than my DIY stoofs - which is quite likely. LOL

Also, I still cannot grab any of the GreenCig cartomizers at this time, but I will do so as soon as I am able. Hopefully over the weekend or first of next week. I have some in a shopping cart just waiting to go through when I am able to do so.

Take care all,
- Hap

[HaploVoss]

Ok, I have a 10 pack of GreenCig cartomizers ordered a la Drew, so they will be on their way to me as of tomorrow. I expect I will have them mid week and I will do a howto on the tear down and refill of them.

I have been doing some research on these so I know there will be some serious advantages, but also a couple of minor drawbacks to them compared to the standard KR series cartomizers. What could those possibly be? Well you'll find out

Take care,
- Hap

[Joe81]

Ok, I have a 10 pack of GreenCig cartomizers ordered a la Drew, so they will be on their way to me as of tomorrow. I expect I will have them mid week and I will do a howto on the tear down and refill of them.

I have been doing some research on these so I know there will be some serious advantages, but also a couple of minor drawbacks to them compared to the standard KR series cartomizers. What could those possibly be? Well you'll find out

Take care,
- Hap

thanx, i been waiting to hear more about the greencig cartomizers...btw, one drawback would be the price i believe hehe anyways, keep us updated! (with pics too, if u can)

[HaploVoss]

Greencig Cartomizer results are in:

Ok so from what I am reading, these new Greencig cartoz are being redone and are a bit lacking on the throat hit and flavor side although the amount of vapor is absolutely friggin astounding -> I can attest to all of the above. Especially the vapor. Holy friggin Gawd! LOL

Ok eaze of refilling: It does not get any better than this. You can re-use these nearly indefinitely.

Pop the white top off - this takes a little bit more work than the standard cartomizers as they are glued down pretty good. So work your way around and around until it pops off. Then there is a small black rubber o-ring embedded in that white 'caulk' glue. I just discard this, and scrape out that thin circle of caulk. Eazy Peazy. Now get this... turn it open end down and smack it good... a CARTRIDGE will come to the end with a flat side to it, take your pick (or paperclip whatever) and pull it on out. No kidding there is a MASSIVE cartridge in here you can just gleefully refill to your hearts content.

Now for a tangent. This thing also has a huge amount of wicking material in the bottom. YOu can easily drip 5 drops of your fav juice down there, and vape away for an awesome throat hit and vape for a good bit.

Problems: Probably wont want to bother putting the cap / mouthpiece back on just to drip (no biggie that is a choice it is simply awesome that you can) - for now, until they get them fixed, you can refill these with 24mg juice that hits you like a ton of bricks normally, put the cartridge back in and close it all up nice and neat, and the hit and flavor is mediocre at best. Although once again, the vapor is impossible to beat. Weirdness.

Awesomenesses: Buying a 10 pack of these is like buying 10 drippable atomizers for a couple of bucks each that will last you for who knows how long. I am going to stress test a single one for the next few days and report back after I have beat the crap out of it with some different juices, all just direct dripping it, and power vaping it to death to see how long it lasts - or if I can kill it at all in a few days. In any case I will keep using the same one until it dies and will report back when that happens.

Take care all and just ask if I missed anything you wanted to know. I LOVE these and I hope they get them back to wherever they were at when people were touting hit and flavor also. If they do.. holy crap I am sold for life!!!

- Hap

[Joe81]

thanx for the info again haplovoss, yea i heard the greencig carts are better for ppl who want a smoother taste, less throat hit, etc...btw, with either cartomizer, do u notice much of an aftertaste from previous flavors? and how long does it last?