Carto playing hide-and-seek

[Automaton]

I have a pre-filled carto that's acting weird. It wasn't drawing well at all, so I tried blowing through it a bit. It was definitely over-filled. Tons of liquid came out.

When the liquid started coming out less, I tried again. Nope. Tried blowing through it a couple more times. Tried again.

Now it's doing something weird.

I put it in my mouth, hit the button, and tried to draw. Nothing. No sound, no vape, no flavor, nothing.

But when I take it away from my mouth and press the button... it sizzles away. I still don't see much vape coming off it at all, but it's clearly not dead.

What's going on?

P.S. Yes, I can see through to the other side when I look right down the hole.

 

[IMWylde]

Strangely enough I have one in the exact same shape. I've been piling flavors on it and somehow got it over filled. Blew it out yadda yadda.

I'm thinking maybe the moisture is mostly water and not making vapor. Gonna clean and dry it to see how it goes.

 

[thelook]

When you hold it up to the light can you see a clear opening in the middle?
If you can not, use a PIN and insert it through the middle and gently twirl it around, I say GENTLY because you do not want to break the wire inside.
See if that opens the airway some.
Just remember Cartomizes are disposable, so if you get a few days off 1 that is good

That being said, I have 100's of used ones that still work over and over.

 

[Automaton]

thelook - Yup, I can see through it. It doesn't appear to be clogged. It was like this when I opened it - over-filled, that is. But I'm getting lots of uses out of my other cartos. Just washed a couple and going to see how that does.

Well, maybe this one is a good candidate for converting it to a dripper. I've wanted to try it, but I'm not made of cartos, so I didn't want to "waste" one.

 

[Automaton]

SUCCESS!

I think it's got to do with airflow.

I tried it one more time before I went ahead and ripped the filler out, and it worked. I popped it off, and compared the feel to another working, new carto from the same blister pack. And then I went back to the weird one, and... it stopped working again.

I gave it just the tiniest twist - it's still on there pretty tight, but just the littlest bit of unscrewing, less than a quarter turn - and it's working great.

 

[Automaton]

I've put the weird carto away again...

It was vaping ok. I think the sticker being placed a bit low was what was causing the airflow to stop.

...But it tastes a little weird.

I only notice on the exhale really. They're mint cartos, and the mint doesn't taste as strong on this one, and on the exhale I get a faint plastic taste... on a completely full, brand new carto.

I opened it up again and I saw that the filler doesn't come all the way to the top of the wicking sock. I wonder if the top of the sock is getting singed or something?

I'm not sure.

I may still rip it apart... Does anyone know if the filter being a little low makes a difference?

 

[GrannyM]

I've put the weird carto away again...

It was vaping ok. I think the sticker being placed a bit low was what was causing the airflow to stop. Try trimming that a bit (xacto knife) so that the notches on the carto are open.

...But it tastes a little weird.

I only notice on the exhale really. They're mint cartos, and the mint doesn't taste as strong on this one, and on the exhale I get a faint plastic taste... on a completely full, brand new carto. Is it possible that you blew too much juice out & now it's somewhat dry?

I opened it up again and I saw that the filler doesn't come all the way to the top of the wicking sock. I wonder if the top of the sock is getting singed or something?

I'm not sure.

I may still rip it apart... Does anyone know if the filter being a little low makes a difference? Don't think so. I've been using cartos for over 8 months now & there's always variations in the amount of filler from carto to carto. And sometimes the "lower filler" types seem to outperform the others.

BTW, I've had cartos that were underfilled or don't seem to have been filled at all, lol, but I've never had a prefilled carto that was overfilled....not doubting that yours was...but perhaps you were overzealous in blowing out the excess?

Hope that helps. In the end, you may just have a bum carto. I guess it happens sometimes.