Cleaned DCCs but still have a hard drag

[Patches]

Hey guys,

I've been vaping for several days using a Lavatube at 5.5v using a 3ohm DCC vaping on Geoff's Blend (70/30 PG:VG). I have a Big Daddy 5ml tank and I punched the carto twice over the original hole (forgive me as I can't remember who makes the DCC; a friend of mine gave me two that he uses on his tanks with his Provari).

I ended up flooding the tank on accident one time, which then led to me taking in fluid. I swapped cartos for the time being, and then cleaned out the flooded one (boiled water, dropped in it for 2 - 3 minutes, blew it out, repeated twice and let air dry for 24 hours).

However, the drag is now stiff as a rock. I don't get much vapor out of it (even changing voltage between 4.2 up to 5.5) and I'll occasionally get a draw ending in a mouthful of fluid. I know the coils are firing as I can hear the pop and sizzle, but no vape. Changing out to a new DCC fixed the issue, but I would like to go back to the original one and keep swapping between the two every now and then.

I do vape pretty heavily (about 2 - 3mls a day) so using a regular addy or a drip is pretty much out of the question. Even when I was using a Joye 3.7v battery and a low resistance DCC I had the same problems (no tank, just filling).

What would be the best way to get it breathing like normal? I've tried different videos on YouTube, but it seems to me that the air hole is getting blocked. I don't really want to tear apart the DCC seeing as I only have two 3ohm available and I do like vaping at the higher voltages. Am I not cleaning them properly?

Sorry if this has been covered a million times in the past. I've tried to search the forums and Google, but always come up to the same stuff that I've tried and no real results other than carto specific advice.

Thanks in advance

 

[iKN0WaGH0ST]

Is there a gap between the bottom of your tank and your lavatube? If no there should be a small one. I don't have lavatube (yet...hopefully), but I've seen plenty of videos. There should be about a half a center meter gap (if I had to guess).

 

[Patches]

There is a decent gap between the tank and the tube (the DCC I am using has a lip to stop the tank from dropping down to the 510 connection). I say decent, but it is roughly around a centimeter or so. I was thinking that could be a problem, so for the sake of troubleshooting I moved it up a few millimeters with the same results.

But it also happened with a DCC without a tank, leading me to believe its me not doing something right in cleaning out the DCC. It's like there is something blocking the breather hole on the adapter, but I can't seem to put my finger right on it.

 

[CMC]

I have nothing close to the setup you're describing but I can say that I haven't had good experiences with boiled water. Just like you said, my cartomizers were stiff even after a decent drying period. I started flooding my cartomizers with vodka [one shot can clean a hand full of carts] using a blunt syringe and the pull returned to normal for me. If vodka isn't an option maybe vinegar or pure PG?

 

[jnnfrlsw]

I am also using a dc carto in a tank and I prefer to just load a new carto every other day. Its not worth the hassle of cleaning with their being so cheap. Also, nothing vapes as good as a fresh-new-carto-in my opinion anyways.

 

[Patches]

How do you clean them with the vodka? I can probably pick up a shooter tomorrow and try it on one of my low res DCCs, then post results. I'm just trying to find a decent method that I can stick with. I have a plethora of DCCs laying around that are all hard to drag, and if I can get them freed up I'd be one happy camper.

 

[hairball]

Patches...first off...welcome to ECF. I love the dcc's but I can tell you what the problem is. It's the juice you're using. TV juice will clog a carto quickly...ranks up there with PrimeVaping's stuff also. You can try this but I doubt it will help much. Take a long sewing needle and from the battery end..gently poke it in the hole and through the airway tube. If you meet any resistance, stop!...you've hit the heating coils. Some times the airway has compressed and not allowing enough airflow through. You might also poke it in the airholes just above the threads...there should be 2 of them.

For a vodka clean, just pour some in, let it sit about 20 minutes, rinse, let dry about 3 days. I think you said you allowed 24 hours right? Not enough time to completely dry. If you have a food dehydrator, use it...they work great drying cartos. If nothing works, toss it and start over. They are cheap enough that I don't bother with cleaning them anymore these days.

 

[Patches]

Thanks for the replies you guys. As of right now I am going to do the vodka method first, primarily because I do not have another DCC to swap out with at the moment. I know there's plenty of threads discussing good DCCs but for the sake of convenience any places to start my search for some 3ohm cartos?

Also to Hairball, thanks for the idea with the sewing needle. Though it didn't help my high resistance it did help my low resistance cartos which made it nice to have something to fall back onto.

I did pick up a shooter of vodka today so I'm going to try the method and then update with results.

Again, thank you guys so kindly for your input