anyone tried any alternatives to the polyester cartridge filling?

[dc2k08]

im fed up with all the loose strands of polyester that fall into the atomizer and make that plastic taste and probably seriously harm my lungs. i have tried dry-smoking but i think i broke an atomizer that way. im looking into buying a meterial to hold the liquid in these carts. im thinking of using natural unbleached sea sponge. as anyone had any experience with this or other materials?
peace.

 

[RatInDaHat]

i know there were some posts on the dutch forum about it, but i can't find them now.. knew i should have made a bookmark.

Fine stainless has been used, but i'm not sure what else.

-Dusty-

 

[TropicalBob]

Lots of failures, as I remember from posts long ago. Rope, wool, cotton, sponge. All failures. Not even Dr. Loi reported finding a successful replacement for the polyester stuff.

 

[dc2k08]

Lots of failures, as I remember from posts long ago. Rope, wool, cotton, sponge. All failures. Not even Dr. Loi reported finding a successful replacement for the polyester stuff.

hmm, there must be something, even just more tightly bound polyester so the hairs dont fall out. it really is poor design and a health hazard. perhaps a cartridge with a small grill at the top keeping the fibres behind it would help. i wonder if a piece of bread would work. i think i could manage to try that.

rat, what is fine stainless? are you talking about the material the actual cartridges are made of?

took the e-cig to a bar last night, a fair bit of interest, though i did feel like i was being thought of as a bit of a poser. no barman or bouncer saw me so i didnt have to explain it too much. i did end up having a real ciggie later on outside though and then wished i hadnt. im down to medium carts and they dont quite cut it for me on the gargle. i find it strange that the amount of nicotene in the carts dictates what volume of smoke is emitted. is this the same with all brands or just some like mine the Rn4071? anyone know?
peace all
dc

 

[VP2008]

I'm getting lots of vapor out of my zero nic carts, just as much as the medium or low nic carts. When they get empty, I fill them with Bickfords and still get lots of vapor.

The last batch of zero nic carts I got from Smartfixx have this weird sort of sweet aftertaste. I don't like it. So I thought maybe it was just the one box. Opened another box and the same thing. I don't like the taste at all. I should email to find out if it's something different they just got in. Sort of a "flowery" aftertaste - vaguely familiar but nothing I can figure out definitively.

~VP~

 

[RatInDaHat]

Stainless steel wool in a fine grade.. sorry should have spelled that out.

 

[leaford]

Somebody else said they were going to try sea sponge. I never heard back how that turned out.

 

[Nazareth]

I cut up a cows hoof, shredded it finely, bound it in a coffee filter, and used it as a cartridge- the only problem is that I now have hoof-and-mouth disease

 

[dc2k08]

Stainless steel wool in a fine grade.. sorry should have spelled that out.

thanks rat, wonder where i would get some of that, sounds alot cleaner and reusable.

 

[TropicalBob]

Remember, P. Lorillard thought asbestos would make a great Micronite filter for Kent cigarettes back about 1952. It was used for the next five years -- then people who made the filters started dying. Oops.

 

[karenwest1961]

Somebody else said they were going to try sea sponge. I never heard back how that turned out.

I got it. Haven't tried it. My package doesn't say if it's bleached or unbleached so I'm not taking any chances and just gonna scrub my .... with this one and buy one that plainly says it is unbleached. Want to make sure there's nothing unnatural in this thing, ya know? It's hard when you buy stuff off the internet cuz most of the time you can't read the packaging. It doesn't look bleached, but you know how that is. It could very well be bleached and color added for appeal.

 

[UncleMidriff]

I just gave up.

I've squeezed all the liquid out of my remaining carts into dropper bottles from specialtybottle.com, and I'm now a full fledged drip smoker.

I rinsed out my atomizer, dried it, and started dripping. So long, burnt plastic taste of polyester lung death; I haven't had that problem since. Now, when I get low on liquid, there's a slightly odd taste, but nothing plastic-y.

It kinda sucks because a few drops don't really last that long. On the other hand, that fact has helped get my nicotine consumption back under control. Not being able to just sit at my desk, never removing the damned device from my mouth means I consume a lot less, which means my habit will cost less as well.

In summary, I recommend drip smoking.

 

[Nazareth]

Uncle- you can prevent hte burning by keeping your cartridges topped with smokin juice- the atomizer won't be able to heat the fiber up enough to burn if it's kept wet enough- Even if a few fibers get caught in the steel mesh. The smell taste only come when we try to smoke too dry a Cartridge.

I suppose one hting to try would be to take cotton, a small piece of it, flatten it, and place it over the steel mesh- then just insert cartridge liek normal- this will keep the polyester from touchign hte mesh, and still allow the liquid to seep through to hte mesh and atomizer

 

[dc2k08]

I got it. Haven't tried it. My package doesn't say if it's bleached or unbleached so I'm not taking any chances and just gonna scrub my .... with this one and buy one that plainly says it is unbleached. Want to make sure there's nothing unnatural in this thing, ya know? It's hard when you buy stuff off the internet cuz most of the time you can't read the packaging. It doesn't look bleached, but you know how that is. It could very well be bleached and color added for appeal.

yeah better be safe than smoke bleach. i wouldnt trust it either if it didnt explicitly say unbleached, but please post the results if you ever try it. i figure natural sea sponge should be porous enough to work all be it a little more expensive but i would say it is worth it. poor little sea sponges. little did they know they would end their shallow existence being used by us humanoids in an experiment to full-fill our nicotene cravings.

only dripping sounds good, but you do have to be careful to top up just the right amount neither over or under-doing it, and i think i ended an atomizer's life by doing one or the other so im kinda weary. this steal wool idea im also interested in, still wondering where i could purchase this stuff with nothing else added. nazeraths's idea might only work on some of those open atomizer types, but their might be a solution in place some kind of small grill at the end of the cartridge to keep the fibres in place. i feel like i have to continuously wash out the atomizers to get a clean smoke, the hairs fall out way to easily. i wonder too about using the filters you can buy for rollies..anyone try this or is it also a danger?

 

[RatInDaHat]

stainless steel wool can be purchased online. do a google search for it.

Regular steel wool is prone to corroding and having little particle break off. That is why stainless is preferred. Don't know how well it works though.

 

[UncleMidriff]

Uncle- you can prevent hte burning by keeping your cartridges topped with smokin juice- the atomizer won't be able to heat the fiber up enough to burn if it's kept wet enough- Even if a few fibers get caught in the steel mesh. The smell taste only come when we try to smoke too dry a Cartridge.

I got the nasty smell and taste with a brand new cartridge. Granted, this was with a Crown 7 cartridge, which appears to have a finer fiber material than other cartridges I've tried. Anyway, I was smoking a brand new cartridge, got a few clean puffs, and then started noticing the smell/taste. I pulled off the cartridge, and sure enough there were a few black bits in it, which appeared to be burnt fibers.

That was pretty much the last straw for me. When I got home that day, I ordered dropper bottles.

For the reason I mentioned previously about dripping not allowing me to smoke the e-cig non-stop all damn day long, I like dripping better so far. It's not even inconvenient; when I want a "cigarette," I go to my e-chamber, grab a dropper bottle, pull the mouthpiece off the e-cig, drip a few drops, put the mouth piece back on, put the dropper bottle back, and that's it. The process actually takes less time now than opening a new cartridge did. It even feels a little bit more like the motions you go through when you light a real cigarette.

The only thing that bothers me is that the unlabeled dropper bottles filled with amber-colored liquid are a bit conspicuous. I can definitely see one of those falling out of my laptop bag at work, and if my coworkers saw it, I've have some 'splainin' to do. My solution to this is to go out and buy a bottle of "Sweet Breath" from Wal-Mart, empty it out, and then use it for on-the-go drip smoking (thanks, Rat, for that idea). That seems like it would be fairly easy to manage, and no one would think twice if they saw me with it.

As for drip smoking being hard on atomizers and batteries, I haven't had a problem with that (yet). I've put as little as 1 drop and as many as 6 drops into my atomizer, and I haven't noticed permanent decline in function. Yes, when I flood the atomizer, it does keep it from heating properly, so very little vapor in produced. The solution to that problem for me has been to tilt the e-cig back a little bit, so that the liquid will drain way from the atomizer, and then take a draw. After a few draws like that, the amount of liquid is decreased and I'm back to normal e-smoking. As for the batteries, I've not noticed any leakage from an over-filled atomizer into a battery yet.

So, I don't see myself going back to cartridges anytime soon, at least not until they figure out a better way to make them. I'm sure keeping your cartridges topped up is certainly better than smoking half-dry cartridges, but I'm enjoying drip smoking too much now to go back to cartridges.

 

[Kit]

I got the nasty smell and taste with a brand new cartridge. Granted, this was with a Crown 7 cartridge, which appears to have a finer fiber material than other cartridges I've tried. Anyway, I was smoking a brand new cartridge, got a few clean puffs, and then started noticing the smell/taste. I pulled off the cartridge, and sure enough there were a few black bits in it, which appeared to be burnt fibers.

That was pretty much the last straw for me. When I got home that day, I ordered dropper bottles.

For the reason I mentioned previously about dripping not allowing me to smoke the e-cig non-stop all damn day long, I like dripping better so far. It's not even inconvenient; when I want a "cigarette," I go to my e-chamber, grab a dropper bottle, pull the mouthpiece off the e-cig, drip a few drops, put the mouth piece back on, put the dropper bottle back, and that's it. The process actually takes less time now than opening a new cartridge did. It even feels a little bit more like the motions you go through when you light a real cigarette.

The only thing that bothers me is that the unlabeled dropper bottles filled with amber-colored liquid are a bit conspicuous. I can definitely see one of those falling out of my laptop bag at work, and if my coworkers saw it, I've have some 'splainin' to do. My solution to this is to go out and buy a bottle of "Sweet Breath" from Wal-Mart, empty it out, and then use it for on-the-go drip smoking (thanks, Rat, for that idea). That seems like it would be fairly easy to manage, and no one would think twice if they saw me with it.

As for drip smoking being hard on atomizers and batteries, I haven't had a problem with that (yet). I've put as little as 1 drop and as many as 6 drops into my atomizer, and I haven't noticed permanent decline in function. Yes, when I flood the atomizer, it does keep it from heating properly, so very little vapor in produced. The solution to that problem for me has been to tilt the e-cig back a little bit, so that the liquid will drain way from the atomizer, and then take a draw. After a few draws like that, the amount of liquid is decreased and I'm back to normal e-smoking. As for the batteries, I've not noticed any leakage from an over-filled atomizer into a battery yet.

So, I don't see myself going back to cartridges anytime soon, at least not until they figure out a better way to make them. I'm sure keeping your cartridges topped up is certainly better than smoking half-dry cartridges, but I'm enjoying drip smoking too much now to go back to cartridges.

Your right uncle !

dripping on atomizer now thats e-smoking

 

[TheEmperorOfIceCream]

I've just started dripping and it's pretty good. There's a slight loss of convenience but the gains outweigh that drawback. The clincher for me is vapour outlasts nicotine with a cart by quite a margin. I'm puffing away, seeing the clouds and all should be well, but I ain't getting my fix. I believe dripping high-nic juice will address this. Anybody confirm or deny?

Emp

 

[UncleMidriff]

I've just started dripping and it's pretty good. There's a slight loss of convenience but the gains outweigh that drawback. The clincher for me is vapour outlasts nicotine with a cart by quite a margin. I'm puffing away, seeing the clouds and all should be well, but I ain't getting my fix. I believe dripping high-nic juice will address this. Anybody confirm or deny?

Well, I'm a bit puzzled about this aspect of drip smoking.

When I first drip, the vapor is usually good and I can feel the nicotine on the back of my throat. But then, the way that I can tell it is time to drip another few drops is that I'll still get a good amount of vapor, but I don't feel the nicotine on the back of my throat anymore. If I continue puffing for a bit, the vapor will start to get an odd smell. Not plastic-y or burnt, just...different. By then, the "magic" is gone, and it doesn't come back until I drip a few more drops.

 

[Spider]

I still don't get this dripping stuff, I'm gonna order some e-liquid and try it - is there a thread someone can point out to me about how to do it right and how to look after my atomiser etc. I take it you remove the cartridge etc. ?