Best pre-filled cartomizer cleaning methods for re-use?

[mOjO_420]

Yeah I know there's lots of threads on this but since I have to get a certain number of posts in the beginner's forum before I can post anywhere else I hereby absolve myself from any "RTFM n00b!" type of guilt.

I should preface this info request with a couple of facts about me and my vaping habits so far:

1.) I am using KR-808D1 cartomizers.
2.) I'm all about the 100%VG.
3.) I'm pretty lazy but also rapidly realizing that because of the convenience I now vape more frequently than I smoked analogs before. and need to start filling to reduce my costs.

I've read some people use distilled water... that sounds like a PITA but I do have pretty hard tap water and I guess vapeing chlorine and mineral deposits does not sound fun. I wonder if it really matters though...?

Any caveats or noobish mistakes to be avoided?

 

[Stu99]

I pretty much stick to vg as well. The distilled water helps in wicking in cartomizers (in thicker juices)

Stu

 

[Stosh]

"caveats or noobish mistakes to be avoided"

1) buying pre-filled carto instead of blanks
2) trying to fire up a cleaned carto without letting it dry completly
3) trying to make a cartomizer last as long as an atty

Cartomizers are meant to be disposable, get enough blanks for
one of each flavor you want to vape. If you must change flavors
go from a light flavor to a strong one. That is put cinnamon or menthol
juice into a carto that was used for vanilla, without cleaning, you won't even
notice any left over flavor. Also you can combine flavors that seem to
naturally go together, a little peanut butter on top of chocolate will
be pleasant to vape.

From what I've read and experienced if there is a strong burnt taste,
no amount of cleaning will help, the carto got too dry and burnt.

 

[DocWyatt]

I doubt you really "need" to clean those before refilling unless the prior juice is a strong flavor. At least I never do, but that's me. If a strong flavor then I dedicate that carto to that flavor only - and refill it with that same juice.

The easiest way to refill cartos where the cap cannot be removed is use the condom method. If the caps pop off those then that is easier.

 

[mOjO_420]

Thanks guys. Keep it up.
Also for any other newbs reading this I just watched some great videos here one of which had recommended a quick trick for "cleaning" between flavors being to buy some straight PG DIY solution (no nic, no flavor) and drip it on and vape it a couple of times or until you don't taste the old flavor anymore. That indeed sounds nice and lazy. Although I think If I could automate it with a small vaccuum cleaner or teach my cat to vape instead of having to suck on all that PG it'd be even better. BTW, those videos are quite comprehensive on all topics for beginners and great for any noob. Highly recommended. Thanks to MistressNomad is she's reading this. I really wish I'd watched those *before* I got into vapeing.

Also I know atty's are the way to go if you're filling but frankly I need cartomizers and the more juice I can cram into them the better because my job keeps me quite busy and often running around a lot in the daytime. Despite the fact that I CAN vape inside I don't usually because I'm at customers a lot and prefer to keep a low profile most times. Not yet an eCig evangelist or missionary to the cause and certainly don't want to be a martyr either. ;-) I have my PCC and auto batts and cartomizers for optimum mobility and convenience (no handed vapeing while driving and multi-tasking is nice). Once I'm at home filling up some cartomizers once a week or so is not a big deal but carrying juices around and dripping stuff in the daytime is mostly out of the question for me.

 

[mOjO_420]

Also, while a bit off-topic, at the advice of the person in the video links I just posted, I cleaned my battery (which is auto so I can't dip it in alcohol, but instead I used one of those disposable hand sanitizing wipes followed by a clean tissue using my fingernail to dig in the grooves and removed a ton of crud. Immediate improvement! Much better than hand sanitizer wipes would be those alcohol based monitor wipes which won't have the moisturizers and/or perfumes or such. anything strong enough to not fall apart or shred and with a little moistness to it should be fine so long as you don't get ANY liquid in the batt (if it's auto) and don't leave behind any tissue fibers, etc...

 

[mOjO_420]

I doubt you really "need" to clean those before refilling unless the prior juice is a strong flavor. At least I never do, but that's me. If a strong flavor then I dedicate that carto to that flavor only - and refill it with that same juice.

The easiest way to refill cartos where the cap cannot be removed is use the condom method. If the caps pop off those then that is easier.

Thanks Doc. I intend to do that as much as possible and I also ordered some blank carts but being fairly new to this and really curious I am ordering a huge variety of juices and I'm sure I'll hit upon a few which make me gag and will really want to clean those out. Eventually I'll settle down and order the same stuff over and over I think. As to removing the caps, I have had good success with that by using the binder clip method. I saw in this guide the tip about removing the metal thingy from a binder clip and that worked fabulously for me so I'll probably do that and try the idea about swinging the cart around centrifugally to get more drips into it.

 

[stick]

Thanks, I like fifty-fifty PG&VG, never clean cartos. I know a method to clean my old atty by dripping a couple of drops of water in it and puffing without inhaling.