Bad cartos? Bad user? My cartos last a day and waste a lot of juice.

[austerity]

I'm beginning to feel like a real pain in the ..... All I do on here is start threads to gripe about something. Thanks for all the help so far. At least I have a PV that works now. Anyway, on with the issue.

I recieved these cartos with my KGO kit, Smok Tech XL 510 Single Coil Cartomizer - 5 Pack. I get one day of use tops and they end up taking a lot of juice with them to the trash. I read several threads before using them and watched several vids so I know this can't be right. I'll just give the play by play from yesterday which has been my typical experience with each of the 4 I've used.

At 8:30AM I filled up a new one with 30vg/70pg juice. I just use the drip method to fill the carto. I have the time in the morning and I drip and vape on an atty while I wait for the drops to be absorbed. It held 50 drops, 1.8ml, before it looked slushy and I get no leakage while filling this way.

I stay home with our daughter during the day so I have my PV with me most of the day. I vape by taking 2 or 3 drags and then set it down and do the same 5-10 minutes later. In other words, I use it more or less constantly instead of using it for 10 minutes then setting it aside for a half hour.

It vaped great for 5 to 6 hours this way (until about 2:30 pm) and then the puffs got a little thin. I let it sit there for a few minutes and got an extra puff or two but clearly it needed a refill. So I refilled it (topped it off) and this time it took 25-30 drops. To make sure I waited for everything to be absorbed and added another drop. Sure enough a drop came out the bottom. I waited a little and added another drop and got another drop out the bottom. Clearly it is filled to the max.

So this suggests that 20-25 drops are still stuck in the filler never to be vaped. That is a lot of juice, .75-.9 mls. This makes sense though. The liquid should "want" to be evenly dispersed in the filler, that's just physics, so not all that surprising. Besides, if I can get a lot of uses out of the cartomizer that 1 ml of lost juice will be spread out over all the uses (so to speak). But...

I got about 4 hours out of the first refill/top-off (so its about 6:30 pm). This time it is more like 15-20 drops to refill it. What is going on here I have no idea. Why did it run out sooner this time? Something more than diffusion seems to be going on. This 2nd refill lasts about 3 hours (until about 9pm). And that is it. I refilled it again dropping, waiting and, once it was full, watching it come out the end. It is filled to the max and I can get nothing but the most pathetic puff out of it.

So what is going on? I see people regularly saying they use cartos for a week+. The brand I'm using is supposed to be one of the good ones right?

P.S. I have used the bag spin trick but it adds 1 to 3 puff max and only works once.

 

[mwa102464]

Give the newer and next revised Stone II tank from Gotvapes a try,,,, No filler material in them, CE2 type, these are some super tanks, the next one coming will also have a replaceable CE2 ,,, the flavor and vapor is terrific with these tanks, also the Grande Tank is another one that is very good, no hassles of having to punch or slot cartos, no burnt or filler taste, just a nice clean vape all day long, and for $12 these are well worth the price, try one of each austerity

 

[my4jewels]

I use cartos in a tank now, but when I used cartos only, I topped them off much, much more often. As soon as the top of the filler looked like it was drying slightly, I added more drops. I never waited until the carto seemed to need it by a drop-off in taste or vapor. Keeping the carto nice and wet at all times is the key to longevity. There will always be residual juice that is not being vaped in your carto. It is what it is. IMHO, I prefer Boge over Smoktech cartos. I've never even tried another carto, just really like them...

Perhaps you'd be happy trying a carto tank.

 

[austerity]

I do have some fluxomizers and I will probably be using those most often. It is just that these came with the kit and I'm trying to figure out if what I'm seeing is actually just the way cartos are or if I'm doing something wrong. I'm still only 45 days in to vaping so, in order to decide what I'll use as a typical setup, I just need to make sure I know how to get the most out of each option before I chose between them. (hope that makes sense).

 

[austerity]

That makes sense jewels. I'll try that with the final one that came with my kit. If that does the trick though I'm at a loss for why they would bother to make the XL and mega size cartos. Doesn't seem to be much point to having a really big carto if you still have to fill it all the time.

 

[my4jewels]

I feel the same way. That's why I am a "crusader" for regular sized Boge cartos in a carto tank. Check some of my posts.

 

[apuck]

Something is wrong. Have you tried changing to a fresh battery? I have never used the XL single coil, I do however use the duals all of the time. I love them and have NO issues with them, but sometimes they will slow in vapor production and I take a paperclip and straighten it (leave it just a bit jagged or lightning bolt shaped) and run it gently up through the hole at the attaching end and gently wiggle it around, pull it out, wipe on paper towel and repeat until no gunk. I easily get about 3 weeks use out of my cartos, I could get more, but it makes me feel kinda cheap. I hope this helps.

 

[apuck]

That makes sense jewels. I'll try that with the final one that came with my kit. If that does the trick though I'm at a loss for why they would bother to make the XL and mega size cartos. Doesn't seem to be much point to having a really big carto if you still have to fill it all the time.

I vape pretty heavy compared to my friends but only fill daily once a carto is good and soaked which I've found takes at least a full day of filling and use (I usually fill, let sit, top off, use, top off etc. a couple of times the first day of using an XL).

 

[my4jewels]

Glad that's working for you, apuck. It seems that we all eventually find what works best for us as individuals, and it can vary from person to person. Ain't it grand?

 

[austerity]

So, apuck, do you get more or less consistent vapor production during those 21 days or is the first day a lot different from the rest?

1 day vs 21 days, that's quite a difference. At this point I'm feeling like I decided that using umbrellas wasn't a good way for me to stay dry in the rain, except I didn't realize you are supposed to open the darn thing.

 

[my4jewels]

Another thing, darker, sweeter juices tend to diminish the lifetime of a carto compared to clear juices.

 

[apuck]

Really consistent or I would toss them. Like I said I could use even longer but I feel like a big enough cheap-o using them that long (and again I've never used the single coils, so I can't speak for or against them).

 

[apuck]

Another thing, darker, sweeter juices tend to diminish the lifetime of a carto compared to clear juices.

...and thicker juices. But with the paperclip cleaning method you can still extend the life.

 

[austerity]

Yeah, the juice I'm using is from Vixen Vapors and it is pretty thin compared to some others I've tried.

At this point my plan is to top off frequently with the final carto I have and see what that does.

Once GotVapes gets the stardust cart/tank back in I have a big order planned of various cartos to try. I'll include in that order the regular sized, single coil diamond cartos (and possibly the dual coils too) and see if maybe this is just a bad batch or something.

Thanks you two.

 

[apuck]

I have never heard of that Stardust tank before, its kind of sexy. Let us know how it works for you.

 

[Frick]

I'm not sure where the coil is on those Smoktechs, but it might be higher up in the carto than the typical Boge coil if it's the same as the dual-coils minus the top coil. Your extra juice is probably sitting below the coil. That's why 808 horizontal coil, or Boge vertical coil are nice; the coils sit at the bottom of the carto and are pretty much capable of using all the juice in the carto.

Honestly, I wouldn't waste too huge of an order before trying some Boge 2.0ohm cartos. IMO, dual coils only work well with a tank.

 

[VpnDrgn]

How big (mAh ) is that Kgo batt? Your carto is LR, it will work with those types of batts,
but you will get best performance out of the top half of charge.

One thing that I do when filling ( especially an XL carto ), is the thermometer flick.
Juice does try to evenly distribute itself, so if you put the carto thread side down
in a paper towel ( to catch the drips ), and swing it downward like a thermometer,
it will force the juice down into the bottom, so you can put more juice in the top.

Some people use the "Taryn Spin" to accomplish the same thing. The spin is where
you put the carto thread side down in some kind of sling and spin around. This uses
centrifugal force to push the juice down in the carto. This is way overboard IMO,
3 or 4 good thermometer flicks is sufficient.

Another thing I do is to blow out the juice after about a week of use. As you figured,
there is some residual juice "cycling" through the carto because you don't actually use
up all the juice before it is necessary to top off. When the carto is ready for a top off,
I blow through the mouth end out through the thread end into a paper towel. This isn't
really wasting juice because the juice that blows out is pretty "cooked".

I generally get 2 to 4 weeks out of a carto depending on the juice I am using.

 

[Honigschmidt]

Far from a vaping veteran, but filling cartos without, spill, or excess has been my bane since starting, so I have ben playing around with a few variations to find the "One" that suits me best.

I'm still playing around, but I found the Clear Cartomizers to be very very helpful. It's been nice being able to see exactly how filled the carto is getting, and how low the juice gets when I vape throughout the day.

Since going to the clear cartos, I have not had any overspills, leaks, ect, and I found the experience much m,ore enjoyable. It's helped my understanding of e-cigs a lot just to see the innards and how they work

Granted the Plastic tubes are fragile compared to the thick metal/plastic carts, but I am Ok with this for now. 1.6 -2.6 ml seems to be a perfect fit for most of the day vaping.

That's just my take on it though.

 

[austerity]

Oh ok Frick, I didn't know about the coil placement thing. I want to try the boge but the darn $5 shipping hit everywhere I order is getting old. My big order was going to be for stuff like the stardust, the vision extreme, the vision stone suggested in this thread, and a pass through that happens to come with a clear carto called the vornado. I was just going to throw a pack of gotvapes 2.0 diamond carto in with the mix. It says it is a SmokTek quality carto though so the coil might be in the same place. Plus I think they often just rebrand the stuff they buy so it might just be a smoktek anyway. Hmmm. Well I'll keep what you said in mind anyway.

 

[Frick]

Oh ok Frick, I didn't know about the coil placement thing. I want to try the boge but the darn $5 shipping hit everywhere I order is getting old. My big order was going to be for stuff like the stardust, the vision extreme, the vision stone suggested in this thread, and a pass through that happens to come with a clear carto called the vornado. I was just going to throw a pack of gotvapes 2.0 diamond carto in with the mix. It says it is a SmokTek quality carto though so the coil might be in the same place. Plus I think they often just rebrand the stuff they buy so it might just be a smoktek anyway. Hmmm. Well I'll keep what you said in mind anyway.

I'm not positive on the coil placement. I'm assuming it's like the dual-coils, minus the top coil.

I only gave that advice because a great many people, both on ECF and elsewhere, find Boge to be a very well-performing carto for not a lot of money. They can be had for $6.99/5 (with a free 5ml juice sample) from Vaporgod, although shipping is only free on orders over $75. IMO it's worth it to try before investing heavily (the items you listed are not exactly cheap).