CE2 Wicks Falling Apart During Dry Burn

[pearlheartgtr]

I've had some of these cartos since the R4s came out (steel and clearo). They had gotten gunked up with some cinnamon juice and other medium toned tobacco juices (ex. Virginia from BWB) and I decided to clean them (which I do every few weeks or when they aren't up to snuff).

I rinsed, let dry, and started dry burning. Two were clearos that I had replaced the tubes on at different points and one was steel. After the smoke cleared, I noticed on the naked clearos, that there were some threads sticking out by the cup. I moved a couple of strands away to clip them and the whole wick fell apart. The threads looked singed at the ends.

With the cartos now fini, I took the wick from one of them and gave it a quick lighter test. It curled a little and then crumbled.

I had only been using the cinnamon juice for a week or so and it was mixed a bit with Backo and menthol (yep, ghetto eJoker's Blend).

I had ordered clearos from Madvapes, Clouds of Vapor, and Got Vapes earlier in the year (before they updated the Fluxo to the big wick), so I couldn't tell you which supplier they came from.

 

[Alžběta Madragana]

This is weird. I just ordered a --load of CE-2s and have been vaping on 2 of them - unlike you, when I do a dry-burn, I don't wash them, just when carto runs out of e-juice, I dry-burn it just until it begins to glow orange. Then stop and refill it.
I read elsewhere here on ECF that cinnamon flavour specifically, cracks clearo tubes. Now it does this?? I am beginning to wonder just what is in cinnamon flavour now..
BTW, I only use various tobacco flavour e-juice, 70PG-30VG Mixx. Right now, I'm on 'Pall Mall'. It's decent.
I'll sub to this Thread, I'm really interested in seeing what other informative stuff will be posted here...

 

[JackSam]

How many dry burns have you done on them. Also do you remove the tube to rinse them?
What I've found is removing and replacing the tube constantly separates strands from the wick much quicker.
Also eventually after 10 or so dry burns the wick gets so brittle that any touch will make it fall apart.
I don't have experience with cinnamon flavors however I've found the best way to make them last is to rinse them with the tube on, shake them out then dry burn with the tubes on. I have a tiny brush I use to gently get rid of the ash. Any stray strands I'll usually just leave as is. When enough of them come out the wick doesn't make good contact with the coil and around this point it's so brittle it will seperate completely so I chuck them.
Basically it's normal if it's happening after multiple dry burns, nothing you can do about it. They don't last forever.

 

[Alžběta Madragana]

Hi JS! Actually, I did 2 dry burns on the first CE-2 I got, then it basically died. The second one I'm vaping now is acting kinda weird - I have done 1 dry burn on it so far. Think I might do a second one on it tonight - the vapour production dropped to basically nil, but I can still hear it sizzle when I put power to it. I have a feeling it's doomed as well. Number 3 is fixing to come out of the box... no I don't remove the tubes - they're the stainless steel ones. I have not figured out how to get one of those mothers off yet, other than cut it, and I don't want to do that. not yet, anyway! But making a carto last for 10 dry burns is pretty darned good in my book - considering it's just a throwaway to begin with. That's value!

 

[JackSam]

What I noticed is juice plays a part in longevity and also need for maintenance.
Vaperite (50/50 and also an extract) clogs it up after one maybe 2 uses max. I can still dry burn them but there's so much more build up (we're talking huge glob on the coil) they get brittle and fall apart really quick.
BWB liquid is much thinner (70/30) and likely has much less flavoring and I've gone 3-4 days without dry burning one and the gunk build up, even when the vapor / taste starts going away, is still barely there.

All I do is get some water inside shake it around and shake it out, do that a few times, dry burn until the entire wick below the coils gets mostly white, then use a really tiny brush or screwdriver to lightly get the ash off. The brushing off the ash have to be careful not to push anything down or push threads out, which I've done. Then putting the plug on, have to be careful not to let my screwdriver slip into the wick under pressure which usually cuts it in half and ruins the thing. Alzbeta, I think you should try rinsing them first, I can't imagine burning the existing juice into them is helping.

I've had a few that fail, what I would consider, prematurely after only 2-5 dry burns. I've also noticed recently some acting up but it's seems certain it's my batteries going south. i.e. When it seems like it's not working but the battery lights up as normal I switch over to a fully charged battery and it works fine.

It's definitely possibly to get a lot of life out of most of them and also to keep them at infrequent maintenance. OP Perhaps the cinnamon is doing a number on them, I've read those flavors even effect plastic tubes on the clear ones. Maybe try one exclusively with the BWB virginia you mentioned and see how it goes if you haven't done that yet.

 

[Alžběta Madragana]

JS you got a point there on rinsing them. I never really tried washing them. When I get that tiny white ash, I just blow it off and it's gone. I brushed a few and it did the same thing, got rid of the white ash.
I am still vaping on that 2nd CE-2 - I did a quick dry burn and it vapes the same. I have noticed they are pretty thirsty on the juice though. I am running 1 to 1 1/2 ML juice thru them a day.
I use DeKang direct from China, other than the Pall Mall, which I got at eCig Express last month. Then I mix it with the 30 percent flavour VG that I have here already. It's just VG with tobacco flavour in it and no nico. I get 24 or 36mg juice with the nico already in it when I buy the Dekang.

 

[WiηgC¤mmαηdεя]

Hi JS! Actually, I did 2 dry burns on the first CE-2 I got, then it basically died. The second one I'm vaping now is acting kinda weird - I have done 1 dry burn on it so far. Think I might do a second one on it tonight - the vapour production dropped to basically nil, but I can still hear it sizzle when I put power to it. I have a feeling it's doomed as well. Number 3 is fixing to come out of the box... no I don't remove the tubes - they're the stainless steel ones. I have not figured out how to get one of those mothers off yet, other than cut it, and I don't want to do that. not yet, anyway! But making a carto last for 10 dry burns is pretty darned good in my book - considering it's just a throwaway to begin with. That's value!

I have been using the SS CE2's for awhile now and prefer to remove the tube for cleaning.
To do this I attach the CE2 to a old dead battery, slip a metal tube of slightly larger diameter over the tube to just above the connector and mark the tube to indicate which side is the bottom.
Then rock the tube gently back and forth slightly up/down and side to side to loosen up the tube and remove.
To reattach the tube after cleaning I slip it back into place and tap with a spoon to reseat the tube.

As a note I have around 1/4 of my CE2's leak a small amount between the tube and connection end after doing this, but it does make it easier to clean.

All the best,
Wing.

 

[Alžběta Madragana]

Wing, thank you for that tip! I'll give 'er a try and see what happens.
Happy Vaping!

 

[Mr.Self_Destruct]

I have some clearos that came out just before the fat wicks. They are a little fatter but are looped. I tank CE2's and I have noticed these wicks are falling apart before I even use them.

I have never had them fall apart because of cleaing and I use to set the wick on fire to clean the wick before I would do a dry burn.

 

[WiηgC¤mmαηdεя]

Wing, thank you for that tip! I'll give 'er a try and see what happens.
Happy Vaping!

No problem, glad if it helps you out,

Wing

 

[WiηgC¤mmαηdεя]

I have some clearos that came out just before the fat wicks. They are a little fatter but are looped. I tank CE2's and I have noticed these wicks are falling apart before I even use them.

I have never had them fall apart because of cleaing and I use to set the wick on fire to clean the wick before I would do a dry burn.

All my CE2's are pre fat-wick and I have around 1 in 5 that do the same thing. My guess is different batches of the wick and some are bad.
Between that and the occasional pack with a heavy yellowish stain on the wick(I throw these out) they have become a little frustrating.

Wing.

 

[mrspenn]

Sorry to .... in, but... I did a search for 'dry burn'. What is it? Do I need to do it for my new eGo with the really expensive dual coil cartos? If so, how. Thanks for any help you can offer. I had to throw my 1st two cartos and don't want to waste more (one tasted like rubber and was PLENTY full before vaping) and the other was simply dead, wouldn't make any vapor at all.

 

[phoenixfire]

You guys might want to look at this thread in PIF on this forum,
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...9888-clearomizers-map-tank-chitchat-info.html