Cartomizer just not lasting

[chrizzle]

Hello everyone, I've been vaping for well over a week now, closer to two. I purchased a VK KR808 along with prefilled coolcarts and 10 premium blank cartos from V4L. I also purchased some juice from FSUSA at 20%PG 80%VG. The prefilled coolcarts and my first fill of the blanks seemed to last me for a fairly long time. I refilled them all again and I can't seem to get the longevity of my cartos that I expected. Each one took about 20 drops using the condom refill method. Most of them I can vape about 4 times at 5-10 minutes at a stretch before I start tasting nastiness. I don't notice reduced vapor production, but I am assuming they are getting empty by the taste. I vape like I used to smoke. Instead of a puff or two every now and then, I hit it like mad for a few minutes as if I was having an analog then I put it down.

Funny thing is that this is not across the board for all my refilled cartos. Last night I was hitting a V4L premium that I refilled with that thick 80% VG juice and it went for a couple of hours. I started noticing that this carto was different so I tried to test it. It kept going and going for two solid hours of pretty heavy use. Tonight I had one die on me after a total of about 15 minutes of combined vaping...3 sessions of about 5 minutes each. The liquid in this one was a sample so I have no idea what the PG/VG mix that FSUSA used.

I'm getting somewhat discouraged as I am burning through over 4 cartos of 24mg nic every day and this seems pretty excessive. 8-o I understand that most of us vape considerably more nicotine than we smoked, but that seems pretty high.

Any insight as to what is going on? Is this normal? Will an eventual switch to the newer ceramic cartos help once they have been fully tested? Are my excessive use of emoticons annoying? Can I think of any more questions?

Please help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

 

[K24A3]

That's just how Carto's are, they degrade after each refill and tend to burn out quite quickly.

I have a batch of the new Edition 2 carto's and they are almost ready for prime time. (they have minor leaking problems, 510 threading issues [KR808 is ok], the XL size needs more tweaking)

Advantages of CE2 over the standard filler carto:

1) Fresher/cleaner flavor
2) More throat hit
3) Only need to draw for 1 or 2 seconds
4) Can be refilled many many times
5) Warmer Vape (choose higher ohms if you dont like a warm vape)
6) The air draw doesn't degrade at all over time
7) No burning taste! (actually the juice can burn a little bit when the carto is near empty, but its no where near as bad as burning material)
8) XL size holds almost 2ml (Twice the capacity of normal carto's)

The only disadvantage I can think of is they can be tricky to refill.

I believe V4L will switch over once they are happy with them.

 

[oettinger]

I personally believe it is because the juice is very thick, and does not wick through the filler properly.

I have had MULTIPLE problems trying to use e-juice that has color, like most that are USA made, because they use food and candy flavorings with sugar and such that burns on the atomizer.

I ONLY buy clear liquid now, and my cartomizer/ atomizer problems are GONE.

 

[StormFinch]

Welcome Chrizzle.

I've still got a number of V4L premium cartos in my arsenal, though I've quit buying that particular make and lean toward the cool carts now. I think part of the problem you are having with taste is your vape style. You say you are "hitting it like mad" for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. The premium cartos are a lower resistance and tend to run hotter than any of the others types. You may be overheating the cartos a bit which is causing the off taste. Try slowing down on it a bit and see if that helps, or purchase a pack of cool carts to try. They vape cooler but also hold a bit more juice.

As for the length of time they last, from what I can tell you seem to be right on par with what I vape. I was a pack/pack and a couple a day light smoker for close to 30 years. From the very beginning I was vaping around 3 mls a day, which in premium carto terms means approximately 4 to 5, depending on how full you get them.

 

[chrizzle]

Thanks guys.
@K24A3 - I can't wait for the CE2 cartos to become a little more mainstream. No more concerns with glue or nasty tastes? I haven't been following that mammoth thread too closely and am not really interested in the XL version. How bad is the leaking issue on the KR8? Any idea when these might be readily available in the states? It's not an issue of the carto burning out. They are just not lasting. I can fill them up and one will last for a couple of hours non stop vaping, and another can go just 15-20 minutes before tasting nasty.

@oettinger - I thought that may have been the issue as well. I am going to get some 80/20 and 50/50 juice to see if that corrects the problem.

 

[K24A3]

The leaking isn't too bad. The first day half of them leaked, but two days in, there is rarely a leak. I think the trick is not to overfill them, and make sure the inner silicon cap is secure on the cup. Apparently the latest "Revision 3" ones have resolved the leaking issue. If you order from e-liquid.cn today, you should get the latest ones.

The XL ones last at least twice as long as normal carto's. They are not affected by filler, so a quick 1 second vape is equal to say a 4 second vape of a normal carto, which seems to save on juice in the long run.

 

[Lorizgal]

I have had the same cartos going for the last 3months, when I think they are not working I let them sit for a day or two. Sometimes they aren't working but mostly it's because they are too full. If they seem to get that burnt taste right after filling them, I take them and fill them from the top. Then let them sit for 1-2 days, and then try again, usually I find the condom method doesn't work really well when they start taste burnt.

 

[zelda]

3 months! What kind of cartos are these?

 

[K24A3]

What kind of cartos are these?

Edition2 carto's by RoyalSmoker
RoyalSmokers electronic cigarette factory in Shenzhen

 

[chrizzle]

Nice! Can't wait to try these, but I'm going to wait until I can order them stateside. I don't want to drop that much on shipping for 30 of these things. I'd like to try out a smaller quantity first.

 

[K24A3]

No more concerns with glue or nasty tastes? .

There is no more glue, but they now put 'interesting' Primer liquid on the wick which can destroy the flavor of the juice. There are two ways of removing the Primer, either dry burn it using a manual battery until the Primer evaporates, or remove all the inner rings and soak the carto in hot water for 10 minutes. The latest "Revision 4" ones apparently have no Primer and the leaking issues have improved. So you may want to wait a couple of weeks before ordering.

 

[oettinger]

My 510 CE2 cartos from 2 different suppliers had NO primer. I just syringed em, and vaped em. I have one from each vendor I am using, as they are 2 different colors. They both work great, and have been refilled at least 20 times each.

I did have one (weird) that I could not suck ANY air through. After I couldn't get any air through it I turned the screw, nothing, Disassembled it, nothing, I think it may have been soldered shut at the bottom...

Oh well, only one bad one out of the ones I have tried seems like pretty good odds, and similar to my experience with other vendors cartos.

 

[dynasty]

dang! 25 bucks for shipping! i think ill wait till for a place in the us to have em lol

 

[chrizzle]

dang! 25 bucks for shipping! i think ill wait till for a place in the us to have em lol

That's what I have been thinking. I wouldn't mind paying that much for a bunch of them, but I don't want to order 30 of them without knowing the current issues are taken care of. Some folks like oettinger don't have any issues, others seem to have at least one problem or another with them. Hopefully, they get it squared away on the next revision. I'm taking K2's advise for now and waiting for the new revisions to be tested.

 

[oettinger]

I got mine stateside...

There are vendors, but you have to stalk them. They sell out within hours of them being available. I think V4L made a mistake by not offering these.

 

[K24A3]

I got mine stateside...

There are vendors, but you have to stalk them. They sell out within hours of them being available. I think V4L made a mistake by not offering these.

CE2 carto's still have slight burning problems on V4L's KR808D-1 batteries. They give off a burnt taste if you vape on a full battery or if you vape longer than 2 seconds. Once all the little problems are resolved, I'm sure V4L will take them on board, or at least offer them as blank carto's to begin with.