510 Cartomizer Issues

[wmrwl]

I've been using hard tip cartomizers for the past 6 months or so and after a bit of a learning curve I like them MUCH better than a cart/atty.

I recently ordered the soft caps because I figured it would be easier than boiling off the hard caps (since I fill from the top of the caps).

I ordered them empty (I used to order the 510 hard caps full) and was initially impressed until it got a little low. With the hard tip cartomizers I NEVER had that nasty burnt atty taste that I used to get with a dry atty. The soft tips give me that nasty taste again when they run low.

It has gotten to the point that I need to top off with 1 or 2 drops (much more often than I did with the hard tips). The first difference that I see inside the cartos is that there is much more filler stuffed inside the soft tops and it looks like a different material.

The only things I could think of is:
a. The filler material is different and is causing a nasty burnt atty taste
b. The soft tips I got were empty and since I use VG it never fully permeated the material. Maybe I should have filled first with PG and began topping off with VG.

Is there a way of modifying the soft top cartos to fix this?

Any help or suggestions is much appreciated.

 

[glockshooter]

I use boge low res cartoz. They do have more filling in them. Ive found it easier to fill them the first time using the spin method..IE fill them until they start to pool up and throw them in a kroger bag and spin it for 10-15 seconds". It helps the liquid to absorb faster.Repeat after that. I find that the 2nd and 3 refill of soft tip cartos are the best. I dont get a burnt atty taste, but more of a dry empty carto taste. vid on it up on my channel... I love soft tips

 

[wmrwl]

Maybe that's the issue. Maybe I didnt fill it right the first time. I just pretty much dropped liked 15 drops or so on top (of VG). I'll give that a shot and see if it makes a difference. Do you think the one I'm using now is doomed to always taste nasty and I should just fill a new one and start over?

 

[Aaeli]

I use the soft tip. The first fill is a pain, especially with vg bases. I bet that's what happened. I would start over with a fresh one, if any filler burnt it will be still have that taste. The spin method is a really good way to get one going with the first fill. Good luck!

 

[TypeOholic]

15 drops is not enough. I get 30 drops in to a new, never filled carto. I drip 15 drops, 5 drips at a time, down 1 side until they soak in. Then rotate it around and do 15 more down the other side. The last 5 usually take a while to soak in but they always do. I always let a new carto sit for a few hours before using it. I find that if I fill and use right away I get the taste you are describing. So now I just fill up or top off 5 or 6 cartos before I go to bed and they are good to go when I get up. After the initial fill, you will notice that juice soaks in better. I normally top off with 10 to 15 drops as soon as the flavor starts to feel light. I never let a carto get close to dry. They last much longer that way. I am currently using a boge carto that I first filled on christmas eve. Just tonight I started to notice that it is tasting a little bit off. So, tomorrow is probably it's last day.

I use primarily 80/20 and 50/50 PG/VG juices. I find that the thicker juices take much longer to soak in properly but the juice lasts much longer once you start using the carto. I just started ordering more 50/50 of my favorite juices and will probably stick to that once I use the last of my 80/20 stuff. FreedomSmokeUSA gives you options for PG/VG mix and you can add additional flavor which I do now when ordering 50/50.

 

[upStomp]

I agree with Type0. 30 drops minimum into a soft tip. It's much better to overfill than to underfill. At 15 drops, you likely didn't get the bottom of the filler wet at all, resulting in burnt polyfill.

I usually do 20 drops with the condom method, let it sit, then top off with 10 drops slowly on the mouth end. After that I'll drop 4-6 drops or more every 1/2 hour or so throughout the day, depending on how much I'm vaping. Keep that sucker wet.

 

[Aaeli]

30 drops is equal (generally speaking as drop sizes are different) to about 1ml. That's right around the capacity of the cartos. So I agree, 15 is no where near enough. I top it off whenever I happen to be in the kitchen as well. Don't know that that's necessary, but I don't want to burn a perfectly good carto to find out! I also agree about the PG/VG mixes. I tend to do a 80/20 mix but have been okay with 50/50 from FSUSA, as well.

 

[wmrwl]

Thanks guys. I stopped using the first one because I think I burned the polyfill inside. I filled the second one with 30 drops and it pooled pretty heavily. I let it sit upright (inside the condom) for a few hours and just let it settle down naturally. Then I gave it a spin and put another 5 drops or so for good measure, but that overfilled it a bit (didnt matter much).

After vaping the second one for a little over a day I'm noticing that I have to keep it much wetter than the hard tips. I think I might have to start mixing in a little PG. I think the VG is too thick to work 100% with the thick polyfill of the soft tips. I might experiment with removing a little bit of the filler.

 

[Aaeli]

I got a sample of 100% VG from a supplier once and you're not kidding. It is SO thick!!

I have removed a bit of filler from a few of them. Sometimes I'll get one that has filler almost to the top and that can make it a pain to fill properly as well. I use scissors to get in there versus pulling or tugging it.

 

[wmrwl]

I got a sample of 100% VG from a supplier once and you're not kidding. It is SO thick!!

I have removed a bit of filler from a few of them. Sometimes I'll get one that has filler almost to the top and that can make it a pain to fill properly as well. I use scissors to get in there versus pulling or tugging it.

It looks like two different materials inside. Which part of the filler do you remove? The thin one that goes from the center hole and wiggles around or the main fluffy looking polyfill stuff?

 

[Aaeli]

The main fluffy stuff. Sometimes I'll get one that has the surrounding stuff up much higher than the middle tube. I know it's not supposed to be that way. I VERY CAREFULLY clip some back and they work great. After some refills, sometimes it seems to expand and partially cover that middle straw like thing. For that, I take a thumbtack (one of my best "go to" ecig tools, LOL) and push it back down some. The one I replaced today, I used for 5 days straight just refilling it as needed. I only replaced it because I wanted to fill a new flavor and didn't want to mix it.