Cartos, gunk and resistance...

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B.Traven

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Does the resistance of a cartomizer change as gunk builds up around the atomizer? If so, does that not mean that you have to monitor the voltage of a variable for each carto? I have noticed that some of my older cartos will produce minimal volume on a 3.7 volt batt but on my 4.5 v. USB passthru they're just fine and other, newer ones are fine on the batt but taste burnt when I move them to the p/t. This is the reason I've ordered a mini-variable, a mini Lava essentially, but I want to stick with standard cartos for the time being. For me size is an issue and the tanks and clearos are too big for convenient use.

Is there any easy way to minimize the build-up of this gunk, short of the more tedious cleaning methods? I wouldn't mind just squirting something through a carto before I fill it, but darned if I want to soak and rinse and dry a damn $.96 item likes it's some kind of precious heirloom lingerie. And no, I do NOT own or wear lingerie, precious or otherwise--not that there's anything wrong with that--I was just using that as an example of something that seems to need delicate care.

Also, do some blends or brands tend to leave more residue? I'm using 50/50 menthol and am not really interested in all the different flavors but would switch vendors or blends if it would help with the build-up problem. As a matter of fact, I've been smoking cheap-... menthol 305s for years, about like smoking dried mulch, so I don't quite get the whole thing about tastes and flavors. I just want a reasonable substitute for menthol tobacco, not a trip to the dessert bar. I'm lucky I can taste or smell anything at my... Oh, god, I'm off on another geezer-rant! "HELP! He's typing and he can't shut up!"

btraven
 

Xaiver

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Yes, sort of, sort of, not really.... Oh, sure, you want me to explain my answers, don't you? Alright then, I'll indulge you just this once.

The resistance of a carto does change as it gets gunked up. The amount that it changes is negligable though. We're talking about 0.2ish ohms, and the cartos have a tolerance of +/- 0.2 ohms off the factory floor. Your 2.0ohm carto can be 1.8-2.2 and it's acceptable to be sold to you.

The more important thing is that the little cotton diaper around the carto coil gets gunked up. That's what the major problem is, more than the resistance. Your coil is wrapped with a little diaper, it's designed to wick the liquid from the filler, to the coil where it's actually useful. As your liquid vaporizes and leaves behind debris (excess flavoring, parts of the liquids that have a higher vaporization temperature, etc) it accumulates on the coil ergo on the diaper. The diapers gets clogged up and increases how hard you need to draw on it to get vapor, and it also causes the coil to have less surface area to actually vaporize.

Monitoring the voltage and attemping to adjust based on that will only get you so far, you're still dealing with more than one part that's getting clogged. It -might- let you get an extra day or two out of them, but I wouldn't hold my breath. (Unless you're stealth vaping, then hold away.)

I've had mixed luck with trying to clean cartos. Soak in vodka, rinse thoroughly in hot water...Might work...the main deal breaker on that for me was that I'd go through a carto about once a week, and if I divide that by the price of a carto...I'm paying something like 10-20 cents/day. Not worth the effort to clean, imo.

The only thing that will really make any bit of difference on how fast they clog up is the color of your liquid. Sounds silly, right? It's true though. Clear flavored liquids tend to last a bit longer. Whereas darker liquids seem to clog up faster. I've not really looked into how VG/PG effect the clogging, I use a 70/30 mix (pg/vg) in a rebuildable, and I have to change the coil about once a week because it's lost the flavor from all the gunk.

While you're at it, try out some of the more minty, less mentholy flavors. Spearmint and Peppermint are pretty good, and if you really want a treat....mix them together. :)

Cheers!
-X
 
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