Cartomizer refill, what am I doing wrong?

[sans pants]

I have been using blank V4L 808 cartomizers. With new cartomizers I am able to get ~30 drops in and they last me about 3/4 of the day before they start to taste dry. I usually let them sit for a day before using them. I have learned to stop vaping them before they taste burnt.

I have been trying to refill these by removing the end cap and the inner washer. I can get about 20 drops in, again I let them sit for about a day before using them.

The problem is that these refilled cartos only last about 30-45 min before they start to taste dry. Refills also seem to get hot very quickly.

I have tried rinsing the cartos in hot water and letting them sit for a couple days before refilling them. By doing this I can get more fluid in them, but they seem to last about 20 min. The refills have almost no taste to them.

I have read quite a number of threads and watched a bunch of vids detailing how to refill these cartomizers, but the life of the refills leaves me scratching my head.

I am refilling with PG juice from V4L.

Would I benefit by going to a 901 setup?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Scubabatdan]

I have been using blank V4L 808 cartomizers. With new cartomizers I am able to get ~30 drops in and they last me about 3/4 of the day before they start to taste dry. I usually let them sit for a day before using them. I have learned to stop vaping them before they taste burnt.

I have been trying to refill these by removing the end cap and the inner washer. I can get about 20 drops in, again I let them sit for about a day before using them.

The problem is that these refilled cartos only last about 30-45 min before they start to taste dry. Refills also seem to get hot very quickly.

I have tried rinsing the cartos in hot water and letting them sit for a couple days before refilling them. By doing this I can get more fluid in them, but they seem to last about 20 min. The refills have almost no taste to them.

I have read quite a number of threads and watched a bunch of vids detailing how to refill these cartomizers, but the life of the refills leaves me scratching my head.

I am refilling with PG juice from V4L.

Would I benefit by going to a 901 setup?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

First right up front, I have never tried the 808's from V4L. I do use cartomizers almost exclusively on a 901 pass-through and 905D PV. I have had great luck with them except for an occasional one dying hours after being opened. I have noticed that new they last me an hour or so, and after refilling (20 drops) they last about as long. I do not keep the white cap or rubber seal in them, I immediately on opening a new one pop the top and throw away the seal and use a blank 901 modified cart that has had 1/4" cut off of it. This makes dripping a lot faster in public. I do not wash or rinse them out, hence that is why they only hold 20 drops. I do carry a 10ml bottle with me and refill when they appear to be running low. It depends on the ma and voltage you are pushing at them as to how long they last between refills. I notice my 905D at 3.7v last way longer than my 5v pass-through, almost twice as long.

The way these are built, the heating coil is wrapped around a 1/2" long x 1/16" dia silica rope from what it appears. This extends up to the batting above and down to the batting below. The whole coil is enclosed in the batting material and from dissection appear to melt a hole in the batting. This leads me to believe that after the first good use the wicking effectiveness is diminished. That would be why they don’t last as long and why you have to refill a lot, and why they get hotter as they are not as wet as when new.

I do not expect them to last and at 1.59 a piece I simply use them until they die or the vapor production is reduced to the point of uselessness. Try this as an experiment

On the first one (new) only use it for 2 hours and top it off, does it last 2 more hours? If so keeping it "wet" and saturated might be the answer.

On second one (new) just keep refilling without washing and see how long it last.

Most of mine last 2-3 weeks this way and then I move on to a new one and save it for a later rebuild. I have finally gotten my tap and die in for 901's so I can finally make a extraction tool to remove the cartomizers base and using 36ga nichrome rebuild them
Well I hope this helps,
If you have any additional questions just PM me.
Dan