Reusing Cartomizers with my Smokeless Image Volt

[almost2asian]

Just wanted to started off by mentioning, this E-Cig is amazing. Anyway, now to the questions:

I've been reusing my cartomizers that came with my Smokeless Image Volt. Their dropper bottles make it very easy to refill the cart, but I was wondering:

1) How many times can you do this, and how do you clean them afterwards?
2) Is the condom method better than dripping straight into it?
3) Are the stock cartomizers the best ones for it too?

Any other options that I might not be aware of.

 

[webbcm127]

some people boil the cartos, i usually pick a flavor and stick with it till it goes out, but usually have a few in rotation, either the condom or dripping will work and either way isnt bad, some might say the condom method will get the juice spread a lil more even but YMMV, and the stock ones dont make them the best ones, any will work some better then others, and thats also based upon opinions, for other options you could get an atty and give that a shot if you want, or an adapter and try other threads, glad you like your volt, have a great day!

 

[leftfeild]

1 - Until the flavour drops and you taste burnt filling or the coil stops heating; it's time to throw them. Average life span? Anything from a few days to two weeks or more. I don't clean them; I use the same flavour in one until it's done, and then it's done for me. You can boil them as a simple method or if you're lazy you can run them under hot water for a while. It's the drying that's the pain, you have to really blow them out and give them a lot of drying time. Even if you cleaned a fresh carto that's been used a few times it wont really be as good as it was the first time you used it. Up to you to try it.

2 - It's down to preference. I found the volt cartos were really good for using the condom method with to fill them completely the first time then keep them topped off with a few drops now and then. I'd say both because of that.

3 - Best is down to preference but I love volt cartos. I haven't found anything better for my volt or even my ego with an 808 adapter than the volt cartos. You can shop around for say, boge cartos which have thicker wadding in them, or other company's cartos but for me, I prefer volt cartos.

Don't drip into your cartos if they're on the battery. You can get liquid in the battries and fry them that way, always take them off to dry them.

I leave my volt batteries threaded side down every night and in the morning I take a paper towel and twist a corner into a really tight point and clean out the inside of the battery. It gets condensation in there and if you leave it too long it can really build up. Just leaving them upside down on a paper towel a few times a week overnight should do the trick though.

 

[markfm]

If the top fill works for you, no need or big advantage to condom fill -- it really is just a matter of getting liquid in, keeping it wet.
I tend to use cartomizers about 4 days, 22 - 24 ml of liquid total (I vape close to 6 ml a day), before it's time to clean or toss.
For cleaning, if they have an easily removable rubber mouth end, and use normal filler (looks like polyester surrounding a central tube), do an ECF search on cartomizer cleaning. I used boiling water for some time, just recently picked up a cheap ultrasonic cleaner and got good results.
Are they the best beats me. I've heard the Volt cartos run fairly warm, which means they are probably 2.5 - 2.6 ohms. If you have access to a multimeter, measure the resistance from the center contact of the carto to the threaded exterior part of the connector.
Personally I like boge cartomizers. I've used the 2 ohm on a 510, and use 2.6, 3 and 3.4 ohm on 808 connector equipment (the Volt is just a new generation 808). I pay about $8 for a 5 pack. If you really like the Volt cartos no reason not to stay with them, but if they are radically more expensive (the own-brand premium), I would probably at least try some boge KR808D-1 cartos.
Good luck!

 

[almost2asian]

What are these drip kits I've been hearing about?

 

[WPsharpshooter]

I just want a cheaper way to try flavors, other than filling a carto only to find out that flavor sucks and it gets tossed... some of the prefilled ones I have now are not that great..

 

[almost2asian]

Also, how long after I fill the cart do I have to wait before using? I normally use it right away haha.

 

[leftfeild]

Drip kit is just an ecig kit that comes with a drip tip. They're like open carts with no wadding inside for atomizers so you can drip into the atomiser straight away. They can work with cartos too but it's not really taking that much work out of it for you. Once it's filled it's good for a while but on atomisers you have to drip every few puffs so it's a pain to keep taking the cart off. I wouldn't really reccommend you get a drip tip for a carto on an auto battery incase you fry it.

You don't have to wait but you can get juice in your mouth if there's excess on the top still. I don't wait that long, maybe five minutes or so. I use several cartos in rotation however so I have something to vape any time while I'm topping them off.

 

[The Duke]

If you really want to clean a carto cut the top 1/3rd off a soda bottle, bore a hole in the cap that will hold a carto snug ( a little leaking is OK). Lift out the top assembly of your coffee maker and throw your crude funnel with carto in there. Run a pots worth of water through there, more if you desire. I have found this way better than boiling, and will generally remove stubborn flavors as well. Then dry before use.

 

[cindycated]

So glad you're liking your Volt - I'm planning to order mine this weekend, now that all the new stuff is in.

As far as cartos:
1) you can keep refilling until the flavor doesn't taste right anymore. I've been using horizontal-coil cartos from somewhere else, and they've been going strong for around 2 weeks. I'm only cleaning them now, because well, it's been 2 weeks (bacteria freak). I only clean and reuse because I'm really poor and need to get the most use out of my stuff. Like everyone else says, performance is never quite the same afterwards. Some I've cleaned 3-4 times before they didn't do it for me anymore, others only once. They vary - in production and in what the liquid has done to them.
When you clean, try to find the gentlest method you can (boiling, soaking, ultrasonic, etc.). I did the oral syringe thing once, and screwed up a bunch of them (worked great for a lot of people, but not me). I tried shaking them vigorously too, and they were clean, but never all that great. I think I' might've shaken/jarred something out of place inside. Lots of ways to clean them. Just search here or YouTube.

2) I've been using the condom method (from the mouth end), just because I can measure by capfuls instead of counting drops. I think the pressure of pushing the carto down into the condom helps get the liquid in there too, instead of relying on just gravity. I usually give gravity a few minutes to do its thing either way. If you stick a condom with the buttplug on the battery end and shake it like a thermometer, you can usually speed that up. Whichever method you use, just make sure you gently blow through them and wipe off the battery end.

3) This new design of cartos is so much better than the old-school ones I was using before. Not a whole lot of places carry them - you're lucky you're starting out with one of the places that does. There's that whole voltage/resistance balance too that I just don't even want to think about. That's why it's usually recommended that you get matching stuff - supposedly, they've already worked all that out.

 

[Nomoreash]

1) How many times can you do this, and how do you clean them afterwards?

Depends on a number of factors probably most being the juice. On average darker and/or sweeter liquids seem to gum things up faster so you'll most often get less refills with those. You'll know when they are going, when the draw starts to tighten up, the just starts to take on a funky taste or both.

2) Is the condom method better than dripping straight into it?

Preference, I think it's quicker on the first fill rather than dripping a few drips at a time and waiting for them to soak in. It also seems to help make sure the liquid gets more evenly distributed in the filling. After the initial fill I tend to just drip when needed to top it off.

3) Are the stock cartomizers the best ones for it too?

Again preference but I think so. I like the design, seems to make them less apt to burning the filler. You can certainly find cartos that hold more if that's what your after.

 

[vapourflow]

Hey Gang, i just got my new cartomizers in from smokeless. I had to throw all the old ones out.

I had kind of a nasty side effect from using a carto for too long. My mouth got really irritated and my gums all inflamed. It was pretty painful and it's still not healed up 100%. I THINK it's from using the carto past its shelf life. They were my first ones so i was a noob. Now if they start to taste burnt, i'm going to chuck em!

Im guessing 4 days each of solid vaping from what i heard would be a good estimate?