Cleaning Cartridges

[Jinx10000]

I've tried cleaning cartridges a few times following the steps below.

• Ran hot water through the top for a minute
• Blew the excess water out
• Let them sit overnight.
• Fill them up with liquid the next day

They have no taste. Like sucking on steam. What am I doing wrong?

By the way, what does PV stand for?

 

[Bullette the Cowdog]

I don't clean my cartomizers. When they don't perform as required I throw them away.
PV = personal vaporizer.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

They prolly still have water in them and thus no flavor cuz the flavor is diluted by the remaining water in the cart. Are they cartridges or cartomizers?

 

[Cyrene]

You need to pull the polyfill out of the cartridge. Run it under very warm water, and then
use a paper towel to dry it completely, squeezing out all the excess. Rinse the empty cartridge,
blow it out and use a q-tip to get any excess liquid out. Put the polyfill back in, and refill. Presto
magic, cartridges can last a very long time if you keep them clean.

Hope that helps!

 

[Jinx10000]

Thank you for your answers.

Cyrene. Is there an easy way to get the polyfill back in? I tried that once and was very unsuccessful...

 

[Jinx10000]

I'm not great on the terminology. It is the cartridge with the heater built in. Two piece system.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

It's either red or blue...

Different delivery systems:
atomizer/ atty- an element on to which 3-4 drops of juice is dripped
cartridge/ cart- a container with sponge (filled with juice) that is used with the separate atty- juice drips on to atty from cart and is vaporized
cartomizer/ carto- metal tube with stuffing and element.

The cartridge is easily re stuffed but the cartomizer is not.

 

[Bronze]

I've tried cleaning cartridges a few times following the steps below.

• Ran hot water through the top for a minute
• Blew the excess water out
• Let them sit overnight.
• Fill them up with liquid the next day

They have no taste. Like sucking on steam. What am I doing wrong?

By the way, what does PV stand for?

You can find numerous YouTube videos online. Do a search like "Replace e-cig cartridge stuffing" (or similar). There are two materials better than polyfill.

1) Fluval Water Polishing pads
2) Marineland Rite Style U

Don't waste your time cleaning the stuffing. Just replace them. $8 on these products is a lifetime supply. Both can be found at PetSmart or Petco or similar pet store in the aquarium section. But for a permanent solution, ditch the carts and go to clearomizers (see Kanger M3).

 

[Jinx10000]

gotcha. it is a cartomizer. Thanks for the info.

 

[Bronze]

Thank you for your answers.

Cyrene. Is there an easy way to get the polyfill back in? I tried that once and was very unsuccessful...

Get yourself a pair of tweezers. Bunch up the fill very tightly and grasp it with the tweezers so the bulk of the filler is in the throat of the tweezers. Slide it down the cart. If necessary, slide in part way, release the tweezers and re-grab the filler part way up and repeat the proces until the filler is all the way in. When you go to pull the tweezers out, place a finger along the side to hold the filler in the cart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsQtyHIVOW4

 

[Cyrene]

First of all, I use a set of tweezers to yank it out. Boge cartridges have a small piece of plastic
to make it easier to put back in. I don't know if you have that? If you don't, try using some tweezers
to squeeze them back in and keep the top of the fill flush with the top of the cartridge.

And Bronze, that's a great idea, BUT, right now I'm on a very tight budget, as I'm a full-time student
and so I can't afford to buy the clearomizers right now, or really anything else. I have to make do with
what I have. I've had zero issues cleaning my polyfill and refilling, come out like brand new. I have to keep to
the bare minimum for a couple more months. Saving my cartridges is the first idea, sure they are cheap, but
I don't like to order from places unless I'm doing a order big enough to justify the shipping charges.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

You can clean cartomizers though...



When I cleaned cartos I bought a $2.00 http://www.walmart.com/ip/Apex-Oral-Medication-Small-Syringe-1-ct/10811118
Can be used to flush hot water through carto and also be used to flush water out of carto...hot water flush= 20 times. To dry flush air 30 times through carto and can be used immediately. Can also be used for DIY BUT clear coat nail polish the numbers first.

gotcha. it is a cartomizer. Thanks for the info.

 

[Bronze]

I'm not great on the terminology. It is the cartridge with the heater built in. Two piece system.

So it's a cartomizer, not a cartridge. Disregard all my posts. I understand it is not easy to ask a question when you're first starting out and trying to learn these contraptions. But don't let that stop you from continuing to ask. There are no stupid questions and we all started out the same way. Good luck. And don't be afraid to experiment. A good next step for you would be a small clearo like a Kanger M3.

 

[VetMist]

Has anybody checked out the ultrasonic cleaning methods they are using for atomizers? There has been some talk on that thread about cleaning cartomizers in one as well, but they say you still need to boil them first so you get all the flavor completely out. They also mentioned that you might only want to do it with stainless cartomizers because the colored and rubberized (not sure that is the right word for that black rubbery paper they put around them) possibly won't hold up that well. Sorry, having a little trouble finding the thread right now, but if anyone else can find it hopefully they will post a link.

 

[Bronze]

First of all, I use a set of tweezers to yank it out. Boge cartridges have a small piece of plastic
to make it easier to put back in. I don't know if you have that? If you don't, try using some tweezers
to squeeze them back in and keep the top of the fill flush with the top of the cartridge.

And Bronze, that's a great idea, BUT, right now I'm on a very tight budget, as I'm a full-time student
and so I can't afford to buy the clearomizers right now, or really anything else. I have to make do with
what I have. I've had zero issues cleaning my polyfill and refilling, come out like brand new. I have to keep to
the bare minimum for a couple more months. Saving my cartridges is the first idea, sure they are cheap, but
I don't like to order from places unless I'm doing a order big enough to justify the shipping charges.

Understood Cyrene. But if you have to place an order anyway, look at the M3 (or similar). They cost $3 and last several weeks.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Be patient and wait for sales. I just bought a whack of Smok Tech XL single coil 1.7 cartos aka The Resurrector for .75 each.
My cartos last before getting tight draw using a tank:
light juice=80-90 ml
dark juice= 50-60 ml.

And Bronze, that's a great idea, BUT, right now I'm on a very tight budget, as I'm a full-time student
and so I can't afford to buy the clearomizers right now, or really anything else. I have to make do with
what I have. I've had zero issues cleaning my polyfill and refilling, come out like brand new. I have to keep to
the bare minimum for a couple more months. Saving my cartridges is the first idea, sure they are cheap, but
I don't like to order from places unless I'm doing a order big enough to justify the shipping charges.

 

[awsum140]

I don't think I would suggest pulling the polyfill out. Getting it back in seems kind of like getting toothpaste back into the tube. I just boiled them for about 10 minutes or so, spun them dry in a little sling I made, then let them dry for a few days before reuse. Now, with CE3s, clearos and such, I haven't used a cartomizer in weeks.

 

[Cyrene]

Understood Cyrene. But if you have to place an order anyway, look at the M3 (or similar). They cost $3 and last several weeks.

Thanks Bronze, I am hoping to upgrade my own system, and I will look into this also when I do.

And since this is a cartomizer and not just a cartridge, I can't recommend anything as I don't have
any experience in the cartomizers, but there are a ton of great YouTube videos and members here that
can help.

 

[Jinx10000]

You can clean cartomizers though...

When I cleaned cartos I bought a $2.00 http://www.walmart.com/ip/Apex-Oral-Medication-Small-Syringe-1-ct/10811118
Can be used to flush hot water through carto and also be used to flush water out of carto...hot water flush= 20 times. To dry flush air 30 times through carto and can be used immediately. Can also be used for DIY BUT clear coat nail polish the numbers first.

I will check that out. I tried one I did last night and still nothing. Poured more liquid into it until it was drenched. Hard to draw. Blew out the excess and wonder of wonders now it's working. Thanks for all your help everyone.

 

[VetMist]

Do you think you could use a salad spinner to dry them faster? Haven't tried it, but it may speed up the wait time of air drying.