Changing flavors in a Stardust - rinse method?

[Clovery]

I'm totally new to all of this and I have a few ego vision/stardust cartomizers. Two of them I've used to vape maybe 2 to 3 ml of liquid each. I'm expecting a new shipment of liquid today and I want to change flavors. What's the best EASY method for rinsing them out? I'm not ready to take them all apart like some of these youtube videos I've seen. I'm okay with tossing them when they get gunky or whatever. But these are still pretty much new, just want to put a different flavor in.

I've read that you can just rinse them, but some say vodka, others say warm tap water, distilled water, rubbing alcohol, etc. What do I use? If I rinse it out do I need to avoid getting water in the center hole? (the hole that I'm not supposed to drip juice into). What's the correct way to dry them?

I have some supplies here: sterile water, rubbing alcohol, a variety of syringes (some "flush" and some with needles). I'm also heading to Walgreens in a bit and could pick up some other stuff if needed. I have a bunch of these curved tip flush syringes, maybe they will be useful for this?

Thanks in advance for any help - I'm really just looking for a simple method that is low-frustration since I am totally new to all of this. I'd rather retain a bit of flavor than do something really complicated or difficult.

 

[Vchick]

I just ordered and received 2 of them. One I've used and since drained, rinsed and filled it again with water & shook it and drained it. I blew through the battery connection end to get anything in the center tube out and wiped the exterior and battery connection dry. I tried dry burning & so far so good. hth!

 

[harleydiva]

I pull out the little silicone cap on the top (just reach in with tweezers or something).
Rinse out with water.
I then put them in an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner with half water and half white vinegar and run 3-4 cyclles.
Rinse again.
Put back in cleaner with just water for another 3-4 cycles.
Put silicone cap back in the upper neck.....
Insert drip tip...it will push the silicone cap down where it is supposed to be. (You might have to adjust it with the tweezers if not straight all the way around)

 

[harleydiva]

The ultrasonic cleaners are pretty cheap at Amazon.....they work great on vaping stuff. I clean my glasses every morning with it too. Oh yeah....I guess you could use it for jewelry too....LOL.

 

[thatguyjeff]

I just use hot tap water and a turkey baster. Using the baster, I force hot water through the top (remove the mouthpiece first) about 5-6 times. Just don't squeeze the bulb hard, that or wear an apron. Then let it sit to dry for a couple days.

 

[Clovery]

thanks for the replies here. I posted this then couldn't find the thread

I ended up just rinsing them out and using the dental syringe thing to blast the wicks. I'm having issues getting them dry. I have ones with the longer wicks and some of the short wicked ones too. The short wicks are easy to dry - if there's still a bit of moisture I can just vape it away. The longer wicks just will not dry. My husband and I went for a drive this morning and I brought them along and held them out the window for a long time and that seemed to help a bit.

I read about an oven method for drying other types of cartomizers, where you bake them at 170 degrees for a couple of hours. Would that work for these? Not sure if the plastic can handle it.

 

[div]

I semi cleaned out mine with the longer wicks, I say semi as I probably didn't do a good enough job. I notice after a couple of fills, my liquid gets really dark and I know they will start to get thick and syrupy in there. That's what happened with the short wicks also. Is my riva's and igo cooking the liquid too much? I use 50/50 liquid and some 70/30 also. I cleaned two right now, warm water and shake it alot, repeat over and over, but the wicks don't go back totally white.

 

[rlh445]

I usually just do this: Maintaining the CE4+ Stardust cartomizer - YouTube

 

[CCC]

You can cut the long wicks if you want. I usually just put the next flavour in without cleaning, untill they get really gunked up, then i just rinse them in tap water, dry burn rinse again, etc till the water runs clear. A hair dryer will speed up the drying process.

 

[div]

I had a heck of a time finding pointy tweezers or something that would work. Paper clip worked for me. I have one that broke off at the curve part...perfect to fit in the hole and it popped right out. Cleaning without that silicon thing on made a big difference. Thanks!

I usually just do this: Maintaining the CE4+ Stardust cartomizer - YouTube

 

[rlh445]

I had a heck of a time finding pointy tweezers or something that would work. Paper clip worked for me. I have one that broke off at the curve part...perfect to fit in the hole and it popped right out. Cleaning without that silicon thing on made a big difference. Thanks!

No problem div! Yea, makes cleaning the Stardust easy

 

[Zooker]

Thanks for that video link! I was just rinsing mine out with hot water, placing my finger over the hole and shaking the water inside---worked pretty good for me. I hadn't tried to remove that plug thingy though, I will do that next time!

 

[rdwg]

I had a heck of a time finding pointy tweezers or something that would work. Paper clip worked for me. I have one that broke off at the curve part...perfect to fit in the hole and it popped right out. Cleaning without that silicon thing on made a big difference. Thanks!

I had to go down the womens beauty aisle at Walmart to find some.

 

[rdwg]

thanks for the replies here. I posted this then couldn't find the thread

I ended up just rinsing them out and using the dental syringe thing to blast the wicks. I'm having issues getting them dry. I have ones with the longer wicks and some of the short wicked ones too. The short wicks are easy to dry - if there's still a bit of moisture I can just vape it away. The longer wicks just will not dry. My husband and I went for a drive this morning and I brought them along and held them out the window for a long time and that seemed to help a bit.

I read about an oven method for drying other types of cartomizers, where you bake them at 170 degrees for a couple of hours. Would that work for these? Not sure if the plastic can handle it.

I use alcohol to clean mine and stick them in the grill of a fan to dry. Dries real fast this way

 

[daniele25]

I know this is going to be a dumb question....but I want to get this right. A few people have mentioned a "dry burn" after rinsing, etc. I assume that means you attach it to your battery and act as if you were going to take a puff, so push the button, etc (without actually taking a puff though) before filling it with juice?

 

[Clovery]

I use alcohol to clean mine and stick them in the grill of a fan to dry. Dries real fast this way

that's a great idea! gonna try it, thanks

 

[Elnroth]

The ultrasonic cleaners are pretty cheap at Amazon.....they work great on vaping stuff. I clean my glasses every morning with it too. Oh yeah....I guess you could use it for jewelry too....LOL.

Do you have a suggestion for which one works best?

 

[Yinzer]

I know this is going to be a dumb question....but I want to get this right. A few people have mentioned a "dry burn" after rinsing, etc. I assume that means you attach it to your battery and act as if you were going to take a puff, so push the button, etc (without actually taking a puff though) before filling it with juice?

Correct. On both the non-rebuildable and rebuildable Stardusts, I generally rinse it a few times with hot tap water. Then wipe everything off on the outside, attach, and press the power button. It'll take a number of tries (make sure to let it cool, too), but you'll start seeing/smelling smoke. That's good. It's gunked up juice burning off. When the coils begin to glow, I stop and rinse and let it air dry over night.

The rebuildable stardusts make this very easy. They're generally good as new....with a break in period of one or two tanks of juice.