Careful with your carto's, guys...

[Automaton]

So I have a vast graveyard of cartomizers. I've mostly gone to dripping now, for the reasons explained below.

Towards the end of my time with cartomizers, I was just sick of buying more. I have really bad luck with washing them - maybe 1/3 came out useable - and I was pushing my cartos a little further than I knew I should have.

Then, I gave up on it and went to dripping, since I seem to have great luck with atties lasting.

Last night, out of curiosity, I decided to tear up one of the cartos I really pushed to see what was going on inside it.

This is what I saw.

It was hard to get the filler out, as it seemed to be melted to the coil. Bad sign #1.

The first picture is the wicking sock. As you can see, a sizeable chunk of its surface area is charred completely black. There are toasted bits in the filler, too.

The second picture is, to my surprise, the carto still firing after being so disfigured. You can see a little vapor trail coming off it.

...And the third picture was taken just as it literally burst into flame. Yes. On fire.

So be careful with your cartos, guys. Don't push them as far as you "can." Who knows what I was inhaling...

 

[uba egar320]

I noticed one of my greensmoke cartos was a nasty burnt mess when I took it apart last year. Made me rethink what I was doing. It seemed impossible that I was not getting some sort of smoke from burnt cloth.

 

[CES]

There are some member's who have been doing a ton of testing-with their own time and money. Here's a link to the subforum....

Cartomizer Issues

and a little light reading. Luckily, there've been a couple of summaries posted in the last few days.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/cartomizer-issues/18530-burning-cartomisers-dangerous-510-kr808-4081-etc-filler-type-cartos.html

(no, I'm not stalking you Uba )

 

[Vapmire]

The fillers won't burn unless they're REALLY dry...

 

[spider362]

Whew!!! Makes me glad that when I decided to try a carto I chose the CE2 v4s.

 

[uba egar320]

There are some member's who have been doing a ton of testing-with their own time and money. Here's a link to the subforum....

Cartomizer Issues

and a little light reading. Luckily, there've been a couple of summaries posted in the last few days.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/cartomizer-issues/18530-burning-cartomisers-dangerous-510-kr808-4081-etc-filler-type-cartos.html

(no, I'm not stalking you Uba )

I got this feeling somebody is watching me lol.

Didn't notice anything until you said that lol.

 

[Automaton]

The fillers won't burn unless they're REALLY dry...

Ehhh, that's not true. To my surprise, this one was actually very wet when I opened it up. You can kind of see in the back ground that it was actually dripping on my tissue. And this was one I thought I'd vaped dry, because it tasted dry.

I think the issue was more how many times I'd refilled it. Just like atties gum up, so do cartos. This one probably wasn't wicking effectively and just started burning.

I didn't even refill it a ton of times. More than I usually do, but probably between 10-15 times.

 

[hairball]

Thanks for showing us this. I use them but very lightly. When they start to lose flavor, I put it in my clean barrel. I hope I can still reuse the already used ones. I'm out of the flavors that i used in mine.

 

[El Dee]

MN, I've had the same issue with that same carto...I've tried more than a few brands as well with very limited sucess...I now have Mega 808s from IkenVape and I'm happy with them. They obviously have a different type of filler material that simply doesn't burn, clog or gunk up and they hold way more juice....I push 30ml of juice thru them easily and I'm pretty rough on equipment..

 

[Automaton]

El Dee - Yeah, I will say I tend to get more burning with V4L cartos than any other brand. I don't know what it is, but they just fry.

I was into CigEasy and VaporNine cartos. Never tried the IkenVape. But I'm tired of buying cartos. Maybe someday...

 

[closetsmokr]

Yes, thanks for that shared experience! I thought about using cartos at one time. I decided to continue dripping, and, I'll be using the Vapemate in a few weeks. But, this was an interesting post for sure!

 

[googled]

You get similar black carbon build ups inside atomizers. It's unavoidable but mostly harmless. I've seen plenty of carbon in cartomizers and atomizers but I've never seen melted wadding and I can't see how it could be melted under normal atomizer temperatures, polyester wadding has a melting point of 250C, atomizers upper temperature range is 50C (Reference), that was 6 volts going into a regular atomizer, so similar to a 3.7v power a low resistance cartomizer. Coupled with the cellulose sheet that sits between the wadding and the atomizer, melting should be impossible.

 

[Automaton]

Maybe it was gummed up juice? All I know is that something was sticking and I've never had such a hard time getting filler out of a carto.

I've disassembled a couple others, which had been treated properly, and looked much better. This is the worst I've taken apart by far.

 

[El Dee]

Yeah melting should be impossible......it happens....and obviously it's quiet the problem...My reasoning is that I was pulling the trigger way too often...Like I said earlier I'm hard on equipment...

MN I've tried the VaporNines as well....I liked the V4Ls better...and got better service..Both have issues and a short life span....Now I'm not connected with IkenVape other than they have some of my money.....Those Megas hold 50 drips plus...I don't count but some do...they are $2 per and are sold loose...The part I like best is the SOB factor....That's really nice,,,they work as they should..I drip too for a change in flavor and too maximize my experience....MadVapes SLB 901s.....love them too....While I'm hear let me say I've watched your videos...very informative...and thanks for taking the time....I like information and when I read about the cartos you had I ran to purchase...Every review was stellar...One of those brands advertised itself as "World's Best Carto"....Well I did like the box...the contents flat out sukk. Iken puts some thought into his product and even ships materials too China...Way better quality...Atties are excellent if you go HV or LR...I don't any more...Selection of regulars is limited..??? Yeah....

 

[kj4lxw]

There have been videos showing people cleaning cartos by actually removing outer barrel, unwrapping filler and washing it out. I'm going to try it but not sure I would do it to all cartos unless I was really hurting on budget.

I know we all try to get the most out of our supplies, Lord knows I do, but they are meant to be dispoasable. I know most times it seems a shame to toss out a carto that still sizzles but have been refilled a number of times and is diminished in performance.

What I do is I put them up for trade, there are those DIY'ers that can reuse / rework them, and there always seems to be someone that is willing to trade one new carto for 3-4 used (and possibly dead) ones.
It works out for me, I get a new one and they get some used ones that they can do with whatever it is they use them for. If you got a bunch laying around Mistress you might try putting them up and get a small return rather than them just sitting there collecting dust.

As I type I am trying out a E2 I got hold of to sample and I'm really liking it. Looks like it might be my new direction.

 

[bassthumper]

You shot urself in the foot on this one. Don't let your cartos dry out and fire them off forever then if they do that!

PS
Ppl still use filler in their cartos? Get with the times- use the CE2's

 

[Jim211]

I've been taking my cartos apart to clean and sometimes put in new nicrochrome but the only ones I noticed that were burnt were the ones I way overused or used when they were low on fluid. Just a little low on juice and they do burn easy. Just my opinion from rebuilding/cleaning about a dozen cartomizers.

 

[iJax]

I think we need to experiment on the amperes and power of a carto. Some people are pushing 5-7 volts through 1.8ohm cartos.
Online Conversion - Ohm's Law Calculator Do the math...at 6v and 1.8ohms thats 20 watts @ 3.3 amps!!!!!!!!!!!!! you can cook food at those levels and you are expecting filler to NOT burn?

What can the filler take? What is too much for the coil?

When you clean (boil) a carto, the carto itself is laying on the bottom of the pot. The heat is transferred directly from the pot to the carto. The best way to clean a carto is to suspend it in the boiling water, use a strainer or colander, which will stop the carto from touching the bottom of the pot. You can also use a block of wood. As long as the cartos are on the wood, the pot will not transfer heat into the carto.

 

[icemanx3]

Great information, thank you. I have brand new cartomizers that I don't use much. Tried them a few times, but sold on bridgeless dripping. I was planning on tearing a cartomizer down just to gaze upon the innards, out of curiosity. That vapor trail and flame is totally awesome! Dangerous, of course, but still.

ice

 

[Firefly13]

This is why we only sell 3.3ohm cartomizers we have made, mine NEVER look like this unless you toast them at like 6v and run them dry.