CE2 cleaning

[Automaton]

Hey folks. I know this is almost certainly redundant, but... the E2 technical thread is about a million pages long, and the old "search for individual posts" function doesn't seem to work since the upgrade. Forgive me.

I clean atties with isopropyl alcohol. Is it feasible/safe to do the same with CE2's? The ones I have now are 510 XL R3. I'm going to get my hands on some Kr808 R4's soonly.

I'm really not comfortable with dry burning. It kind of frightens me. If there's some other way I can clean them, I'd rather do that.

P.S. Do I have to remove the ring with the fill ports? Or can I just remove the mouthpiece and the inner ring that sits on top of the fill ports?

 

[Liv2Ski]

Mistress - I was wondering the same thing. I am a little worried about the ispopropyl though since the CE2 has the sealed container. I was leaning towards PGA. I think it will be difficult to get all the alcohol out of them and was thinking I would rather vape PGA than Iso. I have one I would like to change flavors on and would like a good way to clean it out.

 

[Automaton]

Mistress - I was wondering the same thing. I am a little worried about the ispopropyl though since the CE2 has the sealed container. I was leaning towards PGA. I think it will be difficult to get all the alcohol out of them and was thinking I would rather vape PGA than Iso. I have one I would like to change flavors on and would like a good way to clean it out.

Yup, I was worried about the same thing (which is also why I use PGA to clean regular filler cartos, and not iso). But the iso is ideal, assuming it's safe to do.

 

[Liv2Ski]

I hear that since it is illegal in NY. I have to roll over to VT to get it. But if you are not drinking it and using it for DIY and to clean it goes a long way. I am just concerned you won't be able to get that out of a CE-2 either. I bet that would be one hell of a TH though!!!

 

[Teach]

I've been cleaning my E2s with grain (EverClear) alcohol and it works fine. I remove both plugs, put them in a small sealed container, set that in my ultrasonic (jewelry) cleaner and let it run for an hour or two. After that I blow and sling them out (filler holes out to permit any alcohol to exit) then let dry overnight. If you think there may still be alcohol in them, try blowing air into the filler holes with your filler syringe. The E2 v3.5s I've done that with are working great - I did them before I started using them.

I just got my E2 V4s in and, being over anxious, didn't clean it first and it's not vaping well at all. The coil was clean and it could be a bad one, but I'm going to empty it and see if the cleaning helps... else, it's time to dissect.

 

[nightsong]

I don't like doing extended dry burns on mine either. I rinse them out, let them sit in hot water for ~20 minutes. Rinse again, shake all excess water out. Preheat an oven to ~200, turn it off and set the cartos on a tray and let them dry off. Do a couple 5 second dry burns to get any remaining water out and they are good to go. Good as new and I've got at least 20 or 30 refills on some of these.

 

[E_flavorFlav]

If they have filler like this on 510 xl r4 its not going to dry that easy.

 

[Liv2Ski]

I've been cleaning my E2s with grain (EverClear) alcohol and it works fine. I remove both plugs, put them in a small sealed container, set that in my ultrasonic (jewelry) cleaner and let it run for an hour or two. After that I blow and sling them out (filler holes out to permit any alcohol to exit) then let dry overnight. If you think there may still be alcohol in them, try blowing air into the filler holes with your filler syringe. The E2 v3.5s I've done that with are working great - I did them before I started using them.

I just got my E2 V4s in and, being over anxious, didn't clean it first and it's not vaping well at all. The coil was clean and it could be a bad one, but I'm going to empty it and see if the cleaning helps... else, it's time to dissect.

Makes sense! The PGA is much thinner than PG/VG and slinging it would force the everclear out of the two small fill holes. Thanks man sometimes the obvious needs to be pointed out.

 

[pm2006]

I just dryburned mine and all went well. Hold the button for 10 seconds or so then pulse the button until the smoke goes away ad the wick turns white/grey. I just got this off the e2 thread a couple of hours ago.

Hi Miss. Was I supposed to respond to you about something? I think I was but I forgot!

 

[Automaton]

E-flavorFlav - What the hell!? Are all the R4's coming like that!? Why is there filler in a filler-less carto?

Hey pm, nice to see you about. Cool avi.

Well... maybe I can give it a go. Dry burning just kinda scares me.

I don't know...? If you were, I forgot too.

 

[Chelseafn]

Check this pic out on post #6. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/clouds-vapor/127335-these-e2s-really-version-4-yes.html I just bought some of these and Im not to happy with them. Getting a burnt taste. From reading the posts on that forum Im going to start boiling them and see what happens. Hi Mis and pm how are you doing?

 

[E_flavorFlav]

E-flavorFlav - What the hell!? Are all the R4's coming like that!? Why is there filler in a filler-less carto?

thats the first one I tried tasted like crap and didn't wick well so I took it apart.
the second one I started I did a dry burn first and they taste better now but unfortunately they still don't wick well.

peace flav

 

[Teach]

I agree... they're slow on the wick. Burn very hot too. I find I keep going back to my mega cart.

 

[Yiorgo]

I've been cleaning my E2s with grain (EverClear) alcohol and it works fine. I remove both plugs, put them in a small sealed container, set that in my ultrasonic (jewelry) cleaner and let it run for an hour or two. After that I blow and sling them out (filler holes out to permit any alcohol to exit) then let dry overnight. If you think there may still be alcohol in them, try blowing air into the filler holes with your filler syringe. The E2 v3.5s I've done that with are working great - I did them before I started using them.

I just got my E2 V4s in and, being over anxious, didn't clean it first and it's not vaping well at all. The coil was clean and it could be a bad one, but I'm going to empty it and see if the cleaning helps... else, it's time to dissect.

I'm having the same luck with r4's 2 out of the 5 i guess wicked properly and I've been using one of the good ones for the 2nd day but the 3 bad ones taste like burning plastic after 1 good hit. I think its the juice the 2 that are properly vaping were filled with 100% PG? ?

 

[CloudBurst]

I rinse with hot water then dry burn, it's the only way I could get good taste. Now I just do the dry burn before I fill, right out of the package, fill and vape. No mod on the R3's and for some reason they wick just fine. I think it takes awhile for the juice to stick into the wick. At first, I hated them but now, it's all I use. Give them a few minutes to break in and it's great.

 

[irwink]

As I understand it some of the E2's being shipped as E2 r4's are really what one member has termed r3.75 .......izers - they're a version that should never have shipped. This may account for some of the poor results some folks are getting.

Another issue that affects wicking is that some vendors are selling ~2.5 ohm cartos that run too hot for 3.7 volt devices like 510's, eGo's and others. 3 ohm versions will allegedly perform better with these pv's. I'm just passing along info from The Big Thread. I'm still using r3 & 3.5's.

As to cleaning - I've tried a few things and have settled on boiling them with all rings removed for 10-15 minutes. I then flick the water out of the tanks and do 10 second dry burns until there's no more smoke from the residual gunk and the coils glow brightly again. Using a 3.7 volt device I've yet to burn one out doing dry burns this way. They're much more robust than regular atties where one is easily destroyed with dry burns.

I've been using 8 total r3 & 3.5's exclusively since The first of September. The only one I've killed was a case in which I was picking around the glowing coils with a needle during a dry burn. I prodded a section of the glowing coil and seperated it. It was carto murder on my part.

I tried drying them in the oven for a little bit after boiling them but found it unnecessary and somewhat counterproductive as the process seemed to bake the gunk on the coil making it more difficult to burn off during the dry burns. It's unnecessary because there's no filler to dry and the wicks retain little moisture.

I'm not going to be ordering any r4's until the dust settles and I'm confident in what I'm ordering.

None of the above is gospel. Just my experience and info I've gleaned from The Big Thread and elsewhere on the fourm.

 

[Teach]

Great info IR - thanks for lending us your experiences. I thought of drying in the oven, but it just didn't seem prudent after soaking in alcohol. I did forget to check the resistance on this one too - thanks for the reminder.

 

[Teach]

I'm having the same luck with r4's 2 out of the 5 i guess wicked properly and I've been using one of the good ones for the 2nd day but the 3 bad ones taste like burning plastic after 1 good hit. I think its the juice the 2 that are properly vaping were filled with 100% PG? ?

I primarily use VG. The mix I'm using on this one is VG/PG plus some alcohol from the menthol and mint flavors... much thinner than I normally vape. I got frustrated with it and loaded into a mega cart and it does just fine. I tried the E2 R4 on a 5v PT and it helped, but still has a slow wick. I think I'll go throw it in the alcohol for a sonic clean for a couple of hours and see what happens.

 

[Turbo]

Lots of good suggestions. Cleaning is a personal thing and everyone has their own method and some don't do it at all.

I've been using Vodka in mine, letting them soak overnight and then dry burning. I leave the filler ring in but it would be best to remove all. I just don't like fiddling w/ it.

I did a test on one by pulling up the wicks to inspect them after heavy use (17+days). The wick looked almost good as new. The coil on the other hand had heavy gunk due to my laziness but got mostly clean. If I were more diligent and cleaned every couple days the gunk buildup removal would've been much easier.

I've used these since r2. Those early ones were easy to clean. The filler ring was hard plastic and one could easily remove it. I'm currently using a r4, 808XL and it's great. It didn't have primer or that filler material. It's 3ohms so yes, 2.5 may be too low.

 

[irwink]

I've done the vodka soak thing with no better results than I'm getting now fwiw.