It sounds like, at least with your cartomizers, that they are too dry. How are you filling them? Condom fill or dripping juice in from the top?
My preferred method is filling from the top:
A tip that I use when filling the carto is to plug the center air hole with a wooden tooth pick. This blocks any unwanted e-juice from getting into the tube that can cause flooding.
I hold the carto at a slight angle, and rotate it around as I drip liquid onto the polyfill. When the fibers look like a slushy drink, I shake the carto down like a thermometer. This produces the same effect as a centrifuge, forcing the juice down into the carto.
I return to adding more drops, and shake it down again. Repeat this process until the polyfill will absorb no more liquid. Remove the toothpick, and if you use a drip tip, insert it. It is then ready to be vaped immediately.
No need to wait on the carto to "set", as polyfill is as saturated as it can be. No need to blow out the air hole, as the tooth pick blocked any juice from getting in it.
The beginning of this video shows how to perform the top fill method. The rest of the video goes into filling a carto tank.
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I can't really offer much advice about the clearomizers as I stopped using those months ago for better working juice delivery devices. I always found clearos to be too hit or miss, very inconsistant for my needs.
I will ask do you "tip" or "tilt" your clearos often to allow the string wicks to stay continuously wet? As the liquid level in the clearo drops, the strings may not wicks fast enough to your vaping style.
