1st attempt at cleaning cartos

[takirb]

So i tried cleaning some old prefilled cartos tonite. I know half the population claims it isn't worth it, too time consuming, etc, but why not try it eh? I had 3 cashed cartos that were originally prefilled with SI's RY4, Cowboy, and Desert Joe. Since they were destined for the trash anyways, I figured why not give it a whirl.

Last night I used one of my daughters old medicine syringes w/o a needle and the bottle adapter it came with. Just pumped it clean with hot water, nothing fancy. Did a reverse taryn spin or whatever to get a majority of the water out, and left them upright overnight to dry.

Of course by this evening, they weren't dry, but the wife was cooking chicken in the oven so I couldn't use it yet LOL Figured now was as good of a time as any to try boiling them, I mean they're destined for the trash anyways. So i boiled them for 15min, only halfway submerged in the water by accident. Cooled them off, another spin on the rope to get water out, and into the oven they went for 25 min at 180 degrees.

Now bone dry, filled and tested one by one, they work! Actually seem to pull better than the blanks I've been using passed 3 days, and no residual flavoring that i can tell.

Anywho, just wanted to share to encourage new folks to at least try the boiling/cleaning method if you're just gonna toss an empty prefill anyways. Now ill be able to utilize my blanks in tomorrows delivery for the new juices in tomorrows delivery. And got enough cartos now to avoid bringing the big 30ml'er bottle to work for topping off!

 

[Cloud Wizard]

Glad you tried. I've had the same experience. I had about 40 pre filled cartos from when I started with a stick batt and said what the "h" and boiled 'em all. I didn't use the stove for drying, just shook out as much as possible and blew out the rest then let them sit for about a week. They are great for "no risk" taste testing and haven't hit a bad one yet...

 

[rc10mike]

Just bought a portable steam cleaner, will report back how well it works.

 

[badmotivator]

Glad you tried. I've had the same experience. I had about 40 pre filled cartos from when I started with a stick batt and said what the "h" and boiled 'em all. I didn't use the stove for drying, just shook out as much as possible and blew out the rest then let them sit for about a week. They are great for "no risk" taste testing and haven't hit a bad one yet...

That's extra good news! I haven't figured out why people are going to great lengths with alcohol or cleaners, since from what I hear (your testimony included) boiling and letting them dry does a pretty fine job. Thanks for sharing these stories, guys.

 

[djwyman]

A PBusardo Tutorial - How I clean my Boge 510 LR Cartos - YouTube

here is a video from PBusardo does them and seems similar to your way.

 

[DreamingButterfly81]

Thanks for sharing! I have 60 spent prefill cartos from my cig look alike I didn't want to waste but I tried cleaning one with a syringe and boiling water and it was about a joke (for me) plus there was still lingering flavor. I will just boil them this way! Did that get *all* the old flavor out? (apologies if that's a lame question lol)

I'm so glad you posted this!

 

[JoltinJoe]

So i tried cleaning some old prefilled cartos tonite. I know half the population claims it isn't worth it, too time consuming, etc, but why not try it eh? I had 3 cashed cartos that were originally prefilled with SI's RY4, Cowboy, and Desert Joe. Since they were destined for the trash anyways, I figured why not give it a whirl.

Last night I used one of my daughters old medicine syringes w/o a needle and the bottle adapter it came with. Just pumped it clean with hot water, nothing fancy. Did a reverse taryn spin or whatever to get a majority of the water out, and left them upright overnight to dry.

Of course by this evening, they weren't dry, but the wife was cooking chicken in the oven so I couldn't use it yet LOL Figured now was as good of a time as any to try boiling them, I mean they're destined for the trash anyways. So i boiled them for 15min, only halfway submerged in the water by accident. Cooled them off, another spin on the rope to get water out, and into the oven they went for 25 min at 180 degrees.

Now bone dry, filled and tested one by one, they work! Actually seem to pull better than the blanks I've been using passed 3 days, and no residual flavoring that i can tell.

Anywho, just wanted to share to encourage new folks to at least try the boiling/cleaning method if you're just gonna toss an empty prefill anyways. Now ill be able to utilize my blanks in tomorrows delivery for the new juices in tomorrows delivery. And got enough cartos now to avoid bringing the big 30ml'er bottle to work for topping off!

Just for the record, what type of cartos did you clean? I did the same thing with some 808 cartos and about half of them came out fine, while the other half refused to hold more than about 4-5 drops of juice. They still tasted fine, but required constant topping off. Has anyone else run into this?

 

[Cloud Wizard]

Yep, that's the video I saw a while ago. He goes through more steps than me. Milage may vary, but I usually only go through 2 10min boiling cycles (with rinsing in-between) you can smell in the steam when they're done. Also, I put them in already boiling water and stir gently the whole time with a wooden spoon. PB really goes the "whole" mile with waiting for the water to bubble nicely (I don't have the patience), but yes the taste is clean afterwards.

Never had the topping off issue, maybe they weren't completely dry?

 

[takirb]

It got all the flavor out of mine, my wife tried them also and agreed. I'm using Smokeless Image cartos for their Volt battery, KR808D1 I believe is the type? YMMV depending on which cartos you have and of course, which flavors you use. I was a bit surprised when i flushed them out with the syringe that the water wasn't discolored at all. I only had enough water in the pot to to cover the cartos halfway (had 2 with battery side down, 1 up just to see if it'd make a difference), but it definitely worked great for me. Like I said, it was worth the effort since they were going in the trash anyways, IMO.

Oh, and i used the condom fill method afterwards. As to minimize possiblly wasting juice if it didnt work, I put 10 drops in the condom, submerged the carto, then topped off the rest with another 10 drops or so. Did that to each of my 3 cartos with 2 different type(flavor) juices.

 

[nutkick5]

I'll have to try that

 

[MisterG]

Thanks for the info!

 

[damanel]

ok so i have tried this method with a few of my cartos and after boiling they all seem to have residue on them tried one in a tank and it does not seem like they are working right any ideas on why things are working like this?

 

[Sissylala]

I got some prefilled carto's with a Volt I ordered and really hated the juice. It stank so bad. I boiled them, rinsed them, then boiled them and rinsed them. My kitchen STANK for like two days! haha! But so worth it, in my opinion.

 

[T-Mac]

I boil some for my wife and mom sometimes when I forget to order more. Never trash them incase they need them one day, times may get tough adn they will come in handy.

 

[Tiesel]

Nice thread takirb. I always preach to people about that, how much work really is it to throw your "dead" cartos into a ziplock instead of the trash. Save a few up and toss em in boiling water for 15 minutes (take the plastic end caps off first!) Bam you just saved some money and have a fresh supply of clean cartos.