Am I doing something wrong..?

[Simple Truth]

I'm not a smoker, but I'm wanting to use this e-cigarette as a prop for Halloween, and maybe use it after for more, since I did enjoy it while it worked... BTW I did do some research before purchasing and I did read the manual that came with my ecig, but it wasn't very detailed.

So I bought an NJOY brand ecigarette from walmart and some USP-grade glycerin I'm not wanting to spend too much so I only got the express kit, menthol... It came with a 1.8% cartridge. My girlfriend and I (she used to smoke, I never have), used up the first cartridge in about a day and a half and the vapor production dropped and brown liquid came out of the mouthpiece when I took a draw...

So I figured that it was time to change it out. I mixed a 70% glycerin/30% water mix in a shot glass, and using a baby syringe dripped 1-2 milliliters into the white end of the cartridge (about 4 ml came out of the syringe, but about half of it dripped down the sides rather than into the hole), tilted it, shook it up, blew the excess out of the cartridge, and resumed vaping the now slightly sweet-tasting vapor... About 5 hours later, vapor production dropped again, the LED on the tip started blinking and vapor stopped production mid-hit (low battery, according to the NJOY website). I took out the cartridge and put the ecig on the charger.

I picked it up after a full charge and tried to start vaping again. It was good for about 20 minutes, but then I started getting a smokey burnt taste. Being unfamiliar with cigarettes, I figured maybe there was some really concentrated menthol flavoring left in there, and adding more juice would improve this, but after about 10 minutes I couldn't finish what I'd put into it. I gave one last test draw (about 15 seconds) and the light started blinking again and vapor production once again stopped...

I knew at this point the battery could not possibly be dead, so I figured maybe the ecig was telling me the cartridge was spent. I got ahold of another (new) cartridge from a friend and tried to see if it stopped working after another 15-second draw. At this point I figured the atomizer was "dirty" and tried to clean it out, so i took the presumably burnt cartridge and flushed it out with water, dried it, and put <1ml of just water in it, and I didn't taste the smoke taste anymore.

I vaped out the ecig for a while (thinking I was "cleaning it"), and it started working normally, without a burnt smell. 15 minutes later the blinking started re-occurring and the burnt smell returned. At this point, I gave up and opened up the cartridge. It was burned right in the middle <.<

I called NJOY and told them what happened (excluding the refilling, of course), and they said it was most likely a manufacturing defect and that they were sending me a new one via snail mail...

I'd like to prevent this from happening to my replacement as well... Did I do something wrong, and if so, what? Any steps I can use to avoid this type of thing from happening again?I'm already considering opening the cartridge up (white end) and directly putting the juice directly on the cotton pad so I know exactly how much goes into it, and maybe checking/replacing it more often... Any thoughts/suggestions?

 

[Azphat12]

Usually when you get the burned taste it is either...
Low juice to the atomizer (heating element)
Cotton burned (maybe from over heating or touching the heating element)

A low battery will usually not give a burned taste, but moreso less flavor / throat hit / vapor production

I believe these NJOY from Walmart are disposables? If so, they are really not meant to last a long time.

I would recommend a Joyetech 510 system from a local shop since you want it for halloween.
Much better build, and considerably longer lasting with better build quality. Also rather cheap.

 

[Simple Truth]

Usually when you get the burned taste it is either...
Low juice to the atomizer (heating element)
Cotton burned (maybe from over heating or touching the heating element)

A low battery will usually not give a burned taste, but moreso less flavor / throat hit / vapor production

I believe these NJOY from Walmart are disposables? If so, they are really not meant to last a long time.

I would recommend a Joyetech 510 system from a local shop since you want it for halloween.
Much better build, and considerably longer lasting with better build quality. Also rather cheap.

No, it's rechargeable, says so on the box and comes with a charger... That's why I said I charged it. They were just under $20 (I was trying to stay under $30)... There's not much for e-cigs in my area. I went to every gas station and smoke shop nearby, and all I could find was either NJOY, Blu (I've heard is terrible), and Mistic, so I went with NJOY... I also didn't really want to risk waiting for something to show up

 

[Azphat12]

Without seeing this particular device...I am just going by what I have used before.

If you take off the cartridge, can you see the cotton? or the silver mesh type stuff?
If you can, make sure none of the cotton has stuck on the mesh. Even small little strands can give you a burned taste.
If you can see the silvery mesh, you can always place a drop or two....directly on the mesh. Then puff a few. See how that tastes.
That is basically called direct dripping (you are dripping juice directly onto the heating element area instead of letting the cotton transfer the liquid.) Cotton to atomizer setups usually are not the greatest....imho... to deliver the juice. But they are very common and inexpensive at your local stores.

If you place a drop or two onto the mesh, and the vapor and taste gets better. You can either keep doing that, or try to add the juice directly to the cotton. You can google/youtube 1000's of videos for 510 cartridge mods to get an idea of the lengths people go to get the cotton to atomizer better.

Given what your trying for. Something cheap, and will just work for Halloween. I would just try to drip onto the atomizer (mesh stuff) just a couple drops. Not to many.... that will be the easiest.

Hard to really say without having used this particular brand before, so this is more general advice based off of units I have used before that could be similar.

 

[kiwivap]

Hi Simple truth,
A few thoughts going by what you've posted:

Most cartomizers take 0.9-1.0 ml. Works out at about 20 drops of e-juice. If you are putting more than that in there you risk flooding.
15 seconds is along draw. If your ecig has a cutoff then on the draw time then it will blink and stop when you overdraw. e.g. some ecigs have a 5 second cut off draw time, some 10 seconds etc.
The carto will burn a little if you vape it when it has run dry.
If you washed the cartomizer with water then you need to leave it to dry before vaping it - they can take a couple of days to dry properly. You won't get a proper vape from a carto full of water.

I too suggest ordering a better ecig - you can use the njoy replacement until a better one arrives. There are lots of good suppliers listed in the forum suppliers - tab is at the top of the forum page.

 

[fourthrok]

Without seeing this particular device...I am just going by what I have used before.

If you take off the cartridge, can you see the cotton? or the silver mesh type stuff?
If you can, make sure none of the cotton has stuck on the mesh. Even small little strands can give you a burned taste.
If you can see the silvery mesh, you can always place a drop or two....directly on the mesh. Then puff a few. See how that tastes.
That is basically called direct dripping (you are dripping juice directly onto the heating element area instead of letting the cotton transfer the liquid.) Cotton to atomizer setups usually are not the greatest....imho... to deliver the juice. But they are very common and inexpensive at your local stores.

If you place a drop or two onto the mesh, and the vapor and taste gets better. You can either keep doing that, or try to add the juice directly to the cotton. You can google/youtube 1000's of videos for 510 cartridge mods to get an idea of the lengths people go to get the cotton to atomizer better.

Given what your trying for. Something cheap, and will just work for Halloween. I would just try to drip onto the atomizer (mesh stuff) just a couple drops. Not to many.... that will be the easiest.

Hard to really say without having used this particular brand before, so this is more general advice based off of units I have used before that could be similar.

Simple Truth...just so's you don't get confused...the above post is referring to a cartridge with a separate atomizer (2 piece unit)....it doesn't really apply to a "cartomizer" which has the atomizer contained within that same tube as the polyfill or "cotton" (1 piece unit). You don't fill it or use it the same way at all. Just FYI.

 

[Azphat12]

ahh its a cartomizer. couldnt tell from the picture I saw. Good catch!

 

[TigerLadyTX]

Regular Njoys are RN4801 batteries. They use RN4081 cartomizers. They CAN be refilled, but only need about 20 drops of juice to do so. You can also purchase blanks from several places, but here is a link to one place that carries them: Smok Tech 1.7 ohm RN4081 Cartomizers and here is a link which will hep teach you how to correctly refill a cartomizer: How to fill a cartomizer - (soft top) - YouTube

~Tiger

 

[Jwhittal]

Man am i glad i upgraded to a real E cig