Cleaning and Discarding Cartomizers - Salivation and No Throat Hit Problems

[deback]

I've discovered that, after cleaning and then refilling a carto, if the filler is still wet or damp, I'll have a salivation problem and have to spit out saliva with every drag, which is actually the water from the filler ending up on my tongue -- and when vaping a flushed-out carto, I'll have a problem with not being able to get throat hits for a few hours.

I've experimented twice with soaking cartos:

1) Soaked 11 cartos in boiling water (and didn't allow them to dry long enough): The fillers shrunk by 33%, and the taste was still funky. Two died completely. The rest of the cartos caused salivation problems for the next week (those that still worked and weren't too hard to draw on), until I realized that the fillers were not completely dry when I refilled them. Those cartos also caused the problem I was having with not being able to get throat hits. I discarded all of those cartos soon after refilling them.

2) Soaked 15 cartos in hot tap water and allowed to dry for 3½ days: The fillers didn't shrink, but the taste was still funky or the draw was too hard or the carto didn't work at all. I also had a problem with not being able to get throat hits for a few hours after refilling and testing a bunch of these cartos. I've discarded all of these cartos.

I also worry about vaping mold that might be inside the filler(s), and I'm not gonna put cleaned cartos in the oven or in the dryer.

I've had the best vaping results when quickly flushing a carto (without soaking it), using hot tap water and the syringe and rubber cone described in my blog, and drying it in front of a fan for a few days. But doing this isn't really worth it. They're only $1.59 each!

I've found that it's just not worth taking the time to clean or flush cartos for any reason! From now on, I'll use new cartos for three to five weeks, and when they start tasting funky or are harder to draw on, I'll toss them!

 

[otrpu]

At 5 weeks certainly, 3 weeks very likely, . . .I'd say you've gotten your money's worth out of um. I'm tossin E2 XL's after a month. It seems to be getting towards ridiculous to try and get more out of them.

Cheers,
otrpu

 

[deback]

Yea, I think 3 to 4 weeks is about right and agree that 5 weeks is stretching it. I don't think I have too many I'm still using that are five weeks old, if any. Would have to get out my litcigusa.net invoices to know for sure.

Edit: An estimate of 20 refills is about right, give or take a few, depending on the quality of the carto to begin with.

 

[Zurd]

Finally after 7 months of vaping cartomizers I'm starting to understand the problems of cleaning cartomizers. I need to stock up on 'em and come up with a plan to discard them every X weeks too without the cleaning.

 

[Godzilla]

I bought 20 of them, and filled them with many of my flavors, to test each flavor out on a cartomizer. I am bummed that these cannot be cleaned, so I guess I will have to vape through all of the flavors I dont care for before refilling them with my faves.

 

[deback]

I bought 20 of them, and filled them with many of my flavors, to test each flavor out on a cartomizer. I am bummed that these cannot be cleaned, so I guess I will have to vape through all of the flavors I dont care for before refilling them with my faves.

What I would do if I was in that situation is to put a tall condom on the mouth end of each carto with most of the condom sticking out, to allow enough room for removal of the juice. Then rubber band all of those cartos and place them mouth ends down into an old sock. Then spin the sock like a windmill (I usually spin about 100 times to get all the juice out that I can), and then carefully remove the rubberbanded cartos (or juice could seep back into the fillers, if they're tilted a little). Then your cartos should be almost empty (unless the juice has been in the cartos for a long time - then you won't get much out).

I've also had success with flushing out old juice with hot tap water and NOT soaking the cartos at all. Just use a syringe and rubber cone (pictured in my Cleaning Cartomizers blog, accessible over at the left under my avatar) to flush out the old juice and then flush out the excess water (this takes about a minute for one carto) and place in front of a fan for about 3 days. Some people have had success drying them in an oven for a few minutes at 175 or 200 degrees or putting them into a sock or something and drying in the dryer, but I haven't tried those methods and I probably never will.

I know I'm still using some cartos that I flushed out that way and never had any problem with them, as long as I allowed enough time for them to dry completely. If there's any moisture or dampness in the filter, I'll have to spit out water that ends up on my tongue when vaping until the water's been vaped out.

 

[Zurd]

I bought 20 of them, and filled them with many of my flavors, to test each flavor out on a cartomizer. I am bummed that these cannot be cleaned, so I guess I will have to vape through all of the flavors I dont care for before refilling them with my faves.

Like deback said, you have many options to re-use them, they can still be salvaged, I too tried about 20 different flavors this week as I just started DIY, I'll just flush them with a syringue with hot water and let them dry for 3-4 days, I'll just use them less than usual, prolly 1-2 week then garbage. They're still good but really, nothing beats a brand new cartomizer, it's so yummy with them !

 

[deback]

So I got out my invoices and estimated how long I used each set of cartos. I refill at least 12 cartos every day, sometimes more, so it looks like an average of 20 refills is how long one carto will last for me, give or take a couple. Started vaping 09/14, 64 days ago.

First 15 cartos - two to three weeks

Second 15 cartos - two to three weeks

Third 20 cartos - three to four weeks

Fourth 30 cartos - three and one-half weeks and currently still using 28 of them

Fifth 15 cartos - still new and in boxes, will be filling them probably in a week or less.

Spent $151 on cartos plus shipping for about 3 months of vaping = $51.70 per month for six boxes of cartos

Estimated cost for juice per month = $60

Savings (not counting the purchase of batteries, drip tips, chargers, adapters, passthroughs, etc) = $103 per month (over what cigarettes cost -- at $215 per month at the prices I was paying two months ago)

Just more useless information....

 

[otrpu]

I just ordered a ProVari, pushes my break even out another month. Hey what the heck. . .Christmas is a commin.

g'dam darlin, you a vapin 12 cartos a day? Whips my ole fanney fur sure. I do a couple XL's.

Cheers,
otrpu

 

[deback]

I just ordered a ProVari, pushes my break even out another month. Hey what the heck. . .Christmas is a commin.

g'dam darlin, you a vapin 12 cartos a day? Whips my ole fanney fur sure. I do a couple XL's.

Cheers,
otrpu

Yea, but I vape about 1/2 mL from each carto and then refill them - that's about when the flavor gets less and the draw gets a little harder.

 

[Vchick]

I've pretty much switched to all cartomizers, I flush with boiling water thru a syringe and then blow thru any excess water out the battery end. Once no more moisture comes out (test by blowing thru the cartomizer onto the back of your hand for any excess dampness) then refill.

I find new cartomizers suck out of the box, takes longer to absorb the liquid, but when slightly damp and you refill they take the liquid better with no down time and better vaping. HTH

 

[mister kil]

when my e2's get too gunked up I recently discovered oven cleaner takes even the hardest gunk off the wick. (I DO NOT SUGGEST ANYONE ELSE TRIES THIS.) After letting the oven cleaner sit on them for 4 hours I flush them out with alcohol repeatedly and then toss them in a jar of alcohol for a few days and bang good as new.

 

[deback]

I've pretty much switched to all cartomizers, I flush with boiling water thru a syringe and then blow thru any excess water out the battery end. Once no more moisture comes out (test by blowing thru the cartomizer onto the back of your hand for any excess dampness) then refill.

I find new cartomizers suck out of the box, takes longer to absorb the liquid, but when slightly damp and you refill they take the liquid better with no down time and better vaping. HTH

There's no way your method would work for me. As I mentioned, I get water on my tongue with every vape, if the fillers inside the cartomizers aren't completely dry. Water in the filler also causes me to NOT get throat hits for a few hours. I wouldn't recommend vaping water, which is what you're doing by not flushing out the excess water (blowing doesn't get rid of the sogginess that still exists inside the filler) and not allowing the fillers to dry for a few days until they're completely dry.

Also, putting cartomizers in boiling water will shrink the fillers by about 33% and degrades the future performance. Just soaking cartos in any water degrades the future performance and usually results in a funky taste. Only flushing them out quickly, without soaking them, will result in a normal taste and normal performance, as long as the filler inside is completely dry before filling.

I've had no problem filling new cartomizers (25 to 29 drops usually), but I always let newly-filled and refilled cartomizers sit for at least overnight, and preferably, for 24 hours. The flavor, vapor, and throat hits are much better when the fillers have had that extra time for the liquid to soak in real good to all parts inside.

I've been using only cartomizers (and have done lots of testing) for 64 days, so I've discovered lots of stuff about cartomizers, even though I'm not an expert.

 

[deback]

when my e2's get too gunked up I recently discovered oven cleaner takes even the hardest gunk off the wick. (I DO NOT SUGGEST ANYONE ELSE TRIES THIS.) After letting the oven cleaner sit on them for 4 hours I flush them out with alcohol repeatedly and then toss them in a jar of alcohol for a few days and bang good as new.

Well, if and when I buy some E2s, I won't be using any oven cleaner or alcohol to clean any part of them. I haven't checked the prices for E2s, but I can't imagine they're expensive enough to risk inhaling oven cleaner and alcohol.

 

[mister kil]

Exactly, they are really cheap. I suggest no one in their right mind do what I do when in dire str8s

 

[mister kil]

I'm going to see if I can't find some organic oven cleaner next.

 

[arjay55]

I'm going to see if I can't find some organic oven cleaner next.

You should be able to pick up White Vinegar for $2 for 2 litres. Works like Vodka, cheaper than Water.

 

[deback]

Who wants to vape residues of white vinegar, vodka, or water?

 

[bnag0]

Deback,
I tried your method of rinsing with the same syringe kit you have. I attached the rubber cone to one end flush in and out 4 times then switch to the other end and repeat. Ive let them sit to dry for a few days and tried to refill but i think i destroyed all my atomizers in the turbo cartomizers because i don't get any vapor . The reason why i really need to rinse them is because i haven't found a flavor i like yet and the flavors i tried with them almost made me vomit.

Maybe you can tell me if i did actually ruin the atomizers inside and am i doing something wrong?

 

[irwink]

Who wants to vape residues of white vinegar?

Nobody. That's why you rinse with water afterwards. I did it with filler cartos. I do it now with E2's to free up juice gunk accumulation. Works great, no vinegar residue.