Do you use Cartomizer ? Do you clean it? DONT! Read this topic!

[sh_]

Hello guys,

An important thing that I've learned with cartomizers is that even if you're cleaning them using the syringe to pump water through it it will still keep some of the juice inside of it and overtime it will change the flavor of the juice completely.

I was cleaning my cartos to reuse use them at least for 4 full refills. I topped off my cartos with the same flavor and the taste was fine but I noticed that a few of them started to heat too fast or to have a really disgusting flavor.

Something was wrong on those cartos, even the new ones (I am only using Boge SR cartos btw).


Yesterday I got the proof, and errrrghh... that was terrible.

I removed the stuffed thing (that ended up destroying the whole thing anyway), then unrolled the stuffed thing to see how the inside would seems like.

I also noticed that the smell was too strong to be the same smell of the juice that I was vaping.


For my surprise I found something really "muddy" inside the carto, the smell was terrible and I couldnt believe that I was vapping that thing.


Just a few days ago I got a bad soar through so I wonder if it was generated by these contaminated cartos. (well that happened like only 7 days ago and that carto as like new, or only had 2 days usage).


I started vaping only about 3 months ago, I tryed to use attys+tanks and it didnt work for me so I moved to cartos and never looked back since. I though that it would be the perfect world and I had found all the answers to my concerns but I was wrong, definitely wrong.

As result I got my atty back, filled one tank (510 regular tank+atty) with my favorite juice and vaped away. The flavor, vapor and all the rest were WOW!!!!

Needless to say that the vapor production (SR ATTY) was awesome and the flavor was really my favorite juice flavor.


I have a LR carto here, and its a double coil but I really didnt like that thing. It heats really fast and made all my juices taste mellow.


Bottom line:
- I will never use a carto again for more than 4 days straight.
- I will never clean and reuse a carto again! (If you saw what I see on that cleaned carto, you would agree)
- I will keep using my atty/tank kit (original stuff that I got with my Riva 510 and used only for drip tip/taste new juices)
- Its annoying to use atty+tanks but seems to be cleaner and maybe "healthier" due you can see whats happening, when the juice run out and started to taste like burnt.

I know that you guys possible have lots of different ways to cleanup your cartos and I've read alot of comments here and watched to lots of videos explaining how to clean it. As result of that you see this topic here, maybe it can be done, but it will not work to everyone or should not be recommended at all!

I am only adding this topic here due my health concerns. Once you cant see whats inside the stuffed thing inside a carto, which has the coil, you will never be sure that it will be clean enough or retain some burnt juice that will change the flavor or even create an environment to reproduce bacterias.

Suggestion?
- Do that yourself, you will destroy a carto but at least you can see how your cartos will be after a few days vaping, cleaning, vaping again... Try that after 1 week, then after 2 weeks to have a good comparison.

 

[khilpaine]

I have also tried cleaning with mixed results most of my carto go about 5 days before i replace my goal is 5 a month i stock up when they are on sale so i spend $5 - $8 dollars on cartos a month i used to spend that in a day on analogs !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didnt switch to save money but you do the math lol

 

[steliosak]

Hi everybody.

I do clean my carto's one time.
I find that they acceptable (not like new of course) after one cleaning but after that I just chuck them.

I usually put them in boiling water for 10 minutes and leave them a day to dry.

 

[sh_]

Hi everybody.

I do clean my carto's one time.
I find that they acceptable (not like new of course) after one cleaning but after that I just chuck them.

I usually put them in boiling water for 10 minutes and leave them a day to dry.

I was doing something similar too but even tho I found this issue.

If you still cleaning them, and you have 1 carto to spare I would suggest you to remove the stuffed thing and see whats inside of it... Hopefully you will not find the same thing I found.

 

[sh_]

I have also tried cleaning with mixed results most of my carto go about 5 days before i replace my goal is 5 a month i stock up when they are on sale so i spend $5 - $8 dollars on cartos a month i used to spend that in a day on analogs !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didnt switch to save money but you do the math lol

Yeah, I switched because of a lot of reasons, money is just one of them

 

[steliosak]

I did once , when I burnt one.

Sliced it open with a Dremel more to see what was wrong with it.

Apart from the fact that the wicking material had burn't thru in one place and the polyfill has also burnt behind it it was fairly clean.

What juice do you vape ?

 

[KeysBum]

I never clean cartos. I tried it. Didn't do it for me. I use them for a few days and pitch'm. Cartos are cheap.

 

[Uncle Willie]

My Boge units generally last at least 5-7 days .. there is no compelling reason to clean them, as the daily cost is in cents .. in addition, burnt fiber / loss of flavor / hassle to clean / mixed results by cleaning / time is money / etc ..

 

[minitater]

I've had several cartos last three months so far with over 100 refills each. No problems...until I tried to boil
a few just to see if it made a difference. Two worked fine, the other one tasted burnt as in the initial post.
I used that as an excuse to take it apart to see what was inside. It still had some burned gunk on the atomizer part.
Next time I might try soaking in gasoline for a few days! Just kidding. As was said, they are too cheap to fuss with too much.
I think 100 refills is a real bargain.

 

[sh_]

I did once , when I burnt one.

Sliced it open with a Dremel more to see what was wrong with it.

Apart from the fact that the wicking material had burn't thru in one place and the polyfill has also burnt behind it it was fairly clean.

What juice do you vape ?

I was vaping only Raf-a-licious from AVE on that one, but its not a dark juice, nor even a strong juice.

 

[sh_]

I've had several cartos last three months so far with over 100 refills each. No problems...until I tried to boil
a few just to see if it made a difference. Two worked fine, the other one tasted burnt as in the initial post.
I used that as an excuse to take it apart to see what was inside. It still had some burned gunk on the atomizer part.
Next time I might try soaking in gasoline for a few days! Just kidding. As was said, they are too cheap to fuss with too much.
I think 100 refills is a real bargain.

Definitely, I ordered a lot of new cartos and I am waiting them to arrive, I will never clean them again
And you all are right, clean does not really worth it.

 

[Cynder]

I tried cleaning my boge's once, had a musty undertone I know is not in the juice so that will be the last time. However I do know when a carto is done with, some juices last longer than others. Once the flavor starts to drop off it's a fairly good indicator. Some of mine last 4-7 days (that is about average). I have one that has been going for 6 weeks. That is by far the longest. It's a crystal clear juice 70/30 pg/vg. No flavor drop off yet.

If it goes south I'll open it up and see what I find. I notice at least for me is the darker, colored, or sweetened juices won't last long.

 

[Frick]

My Boge units generally last at least 5-7 days .. there is no compelling reason to clean them, as the daily cost is in cents .. in addition, burnt fiber / loss of flavor / hassle to clean / mixed results by cleaning / time is money / etc ..

Same here. They're too cheap to bother with trying to clean, at least for me, and I don't like the idea of water sitting in the batting and potentially growing fungus or mold (inhaling either is *not* a good idea).

 

[Cynder]

that is exactly what came to mind as I vaped one after cleaning it Frick. I don't think it's worth the risk of inhaling that. And after I spoke of my 6 week carto, it died last night LOL. Mind you this carto has a juice that doesn't get vaped a lot...I thought of that after posting. It's my night time vape before bed and only gets a bit of use each night.

 

[madjack]

I never clean cartos. I tried it. Didn't do it for me. I use them for a few days and pitch'm. Cartos are cheap.

...this pretty well sums it up for me...tried cleaning them using pbusardo's boiling method, tried the carto cleananator, a couple of other methods...never was satisfied with the results...I now use 'em around 4 days and toss for new one......
madjack

 

[sh_]

Ty Madjack and Cynder, I really appreciate your feedbacks!

I am still waiting on my Tank and my latest boge carto order and that will be pretty much what I will do, replace them every 4 days. Seems to be healthier too.

I will appreciate any other feedback that you guys can possibly share, its always interesting to hear what everybody experiences that they can share.

 

[Berret]

It took me a while, but I found a pretty good way to clean cartos, even works well on EMDCC. It's the boil method, but the key is to boil for 15 min, drain, rinse and boil again. Repeat the process until there is no smell coming from the steam and also watch how the water boils. If there's lots of little bubbles then there are still chemicals.

After boiling, I give each one a quick blow out and put them in the oven at about 200 for a few hours.

I know it sounds like alot of work, but it's probable only 15 actual minutes of your time. Obviously it doesn't make sense to do this for 5 cartos, but if you have 20 or 30 of them it works pretty well.

Boiling them several times makes sure you get all the juice out and putting them in the oven makes sure you don't have any liquid just sitting in the cartos for hours on end which could cause problems.

 

[Slurp812]

I never clean cartos. I tried it. Didn't do it for me. I use them for a few days and pitch'm. Cartos are cheap.

+1

I get burnt taste, its in the trash....

 

[sh_]

Ty Barret,

Seems that lots of people clean the cartos too, but as soon as I receive my new cartos I will try to keep my stock with a minimum to spare while waiting to the new order.

The taste is never the same, and the results from cleaning them is always different from one juice to another.

My main concern is really health related... and as far as the health goes and assuming that we dont have enough information about the ecigs yet I prefer to be safe as sorry.

Its true that I still use the cleaned cartos, but it will be just a last resort for me.

 

[AZCraig]

I never clean my cartos. When they stop tasting "right" (tank or standalone) I toss em.