Dead Cartos and Atomizers. Trash or Salvage?

[ShogaNinja]

So I got a DOA 306 atomizer that blinks my KGO battery when I install it. I also have a couple of cartos that I tried to clean (boiling them for 5 minutes - and failed apparently) and now they really don't produce any vapor any more (even after blowing them out and leaving them to dry for 10 hours+). What do I do? Throw them away or is there something neat and DIY I can do with them?

 

[ShogaNinja]

nobody? all I hear is crickets and echoes...

 

[Turnkeys]

Actually I was going to post something similar. I have several that produce very low vapor, yet they meter at 2.4 ohms. Are they salvageable? Anyone? Bueller?

 

[ShogaNinja]

it's a shame really. The New Members forum was awesome. You got fast response and all your questions were answered but after I became a full member it was more of a curse than a blessing, now that I can't post in there any more. It makes me want to just start a new account and be careful not to post too much. The other forums are a bit of a mess and they have very little activity, and the threads often close before you can even say anything back. They really need to fix it so that when you advance in rank on the forums you have something useful to show for it other than the ability to use the classifieds... Not everyone is here to buy from, or sell stuff to, other users.

 

[saltysharktoes]

i feel like half the threads i start no on responds to haha. gl and bump for answer too

 

[roxannes]

maybe we should make a group of us that still need help. like .. 'not quite newbies' lol .. I still FEEL like a newbie and have plenty of noob questions, even tho i have more than 5 posts. and i WAS careful not to post too much... BUT.. now I feel like I wasted my 5 questions giving what little info I had in response to others.. Well.. those used cartos? first off, what KIND are they?? I have gotten some info off you tube about cleaning them but never tried it.. I have MILLIONS of blu cigs cartomizers.. and I threw them away when all the good flavor was gone at first, then after getting my 1300 mah battery and finding that the blue cartomizers fit ..(they at least vape..lol) I wanted to try and salvage/refill them.. not much luck, but the best thing i have heard for
'switching flavors' was to vape some unflavored liquid stuff thru them. Which brings me to another question.. what exactly ARE we burning when we vape the cartomizers and those 3 drops of liquid are gone? seriously. I can keep vaping it just tastes awful. If I am vaping that polyfill.. well.. I'll let you form your own thoughts there..but my thoughts arent good. As to what to do with them.. (remember, I am probably newer to this stuff than any of you..so dont take what I say too seriously just trying to SHARE experience.. and I appreciate hearing yours ..I wont boil my cartos..lol) I was thinking if I just had to reuse them because i needed a cartomizer, I would just do it with the blu vanilla flavor in them. it mixes well with all i have tried it with..lol. then, I figured if I had to have it for the atomizer, I would refill it.. BUT if I need the cartridge, I would try taking the cartridge material out and using it in another cartridge.. LOL.. who KNOWS what would happen? havent tried that yet but I still have tons to cartos that will vape, just a yucky taste, which tells me all the blu vanilla is gone. even the few drps i put in to try to refill the thing, leak out black/brown! no matter what color i put in there was, even clear. looks yucky..but smells good. Shame, but I dont like tanks as well as cartos because of the TH. I need to find a place to ask that question..LOL.. Good luck.. I am also going to be waiting for an answer to your question..

 

[Nocturnalpriest]

Personaly I throw my cartos away after having vaped about 10 ml of juice in them. It depends on the juice also, they will last longer with PG juice and get used faster with full VG juice. Darker juices tend to use them faster also, I use to vape 100% VG dark juices in atomizers only.

I'm using 3 ohms Boges on an Ipro and 2 ohms Boges on an Icon V1.1.

Cartos are cheap and in my opinion you should throw them away as soon as the polyfill gets darker than the initial color of you juice. You can feel that weird taste when the polyfill gets darker, it's easy to detect.

I've seen that some shops sell a special set (like a big syringe that allows you to drain them with water) to clean cartos, but that's not a thing I would like to do. Remember that these things can get full of bacterias and cost only 2 bucks.

 

[mostlyclassics]

I do clean and reuse cartos. If the FDA has its way, our PVs and other hardware like cartos could become unobtainable in the future, thus cleaning cartos for reuse will be a useful skill.

I steep used cartos in 91% isopropyl alcohol for a few days. This says "boo!" to any lurking bacteria. Then I put them on one of those syringe contraptions and suck-and-push the IA through them until the stuffing turns white again. Finally, I dry them for a couple of weeks before reusing them. And before reusing, I carefully poke out the central tube with a paperclip and multimeter them to make sure they show the correct resistance. Maybe one out of ten gets killed by my cleaning.

Another way to extend carto life is to use them on a bottom-feeder or punch them and use them in a tank. Either way seems to about triple the life. And you can still clean them.

 

[ThankYouVapdGod]

Why must they dry all the way if your just going to re-wet them with juice??? Iv'e hear of members cutting up e juice with distilled water. Will having a slightly damp carto then filled with juice not perform?

 

[FlukeSDS]

Why must they dry all the way if your just going to re-wet them with juice??? Iv'e hear of members cutting up e juice with distilled water. Will having a slightly damp carto then filled with juice not perform?

If you're referring to mostlyclassics' cleaning method, I imagine it's to allow all of the alcohol to evaporate.

 

[ShogaNinja]

I do clean and reuse cartos. If the FDA has its way, our PVs and other hardware like cartos could become unobtainable in the future, thus cleaning cartos for reuse will be a useful skill.

I steep used cartos in 91% isopropyl alcohol for a few days. This says "boo!" to any lurking bacteria. Then I put them on one of those syringe contraptions and suck-and-push the IA through them until the stuffing turns white again. Finally, I dry them for a couple of weeks before reusing them. And before reusing, I carefully poke out the central tube with a paperclip and multimeter them to make sure they show the correct resistance. Maybe one out of ten gets killed by my cleaning.

Another way to extend carto life is to use them on a bottom-feeder or punch them and use them in a tank. Either way seems to about triple the life. And you can still clean them.

I use Boge 2.0 ohm LR cartos.

You can just take a turkey baster and run water through them that way. Pop off the bulb, put the carto in battery terminal side down, and run the hottest tap you can get through them in a glass or pot for a few minutes each, changing the water every minute. I got a brown carto back to snow white doing this. I recommend boiling them instead of using an alcohol that's bad for you to ingest. If you are going to use an alcohol method use everclear (if it's legal in your state - it's illegal in mine). Germs really aren't a problem though since you are vaping them at more than enough temperature to kill anything. 145 degrees fahrenheit is what the food industry suggests kills all germs.

I did it last night with an oral syringe (which was smaller and took longer) and it seemed to work. I'm in the drying phase right now and I'll let you know what happens.

If you don't let them dry all the way they produce no vapor. That's why I started this thread. We'll see if I can resurrect the ones I thought were completely destroyed last time. I think the drying part is key to this working. I may try the 250 degree (fahrenheit) for 15 minutes oven method.

 

[ShogaNinja]

I want to be clear. I didn't start this thread to learn how to clean cartos (although I still suck at that). I started it because I want to know if there is some McGyver type do-it-yourself type things I can make out of dead cartos and attys. If there is some use to them beyond low vapor production and funky taste. I thought I read before to save them but I can't find the thread to save my life and I never got the chance to read it.

I did the baking method earlier. Some of the black tape on my cartos got a little melted and shinier but they seemed dry. One that was utterly clear to blow through before I put it in came out clogged up. I put a paper clip through it to see what would happen. I haven't tried it yet. The other that was clear but I screwed up cleaning the first time I put the same juice in it with the condom method (my first time with that) and filled it a bunch after that soaked in and every time I hit it I get the dry atty taste. Not sure what happened there. Once again, this is a 510 Boge LR 2.0 ohm.

 

[ThankYouVapdGod]

You could probably make small novelty pens out of them

 

[mostlyclassics]

I recommend boiling them instead of using an alcohol that's bad for you to ingest. If you are going to use an alcohol method use everclear (if it's legal in your state - it's illegal in mine).

By waiting so long before reusing, I ensure that the cartos are completely dry. Isopropyl alcohol is all one compound and evaporates totally; it's not like denatured alcohol, which might leave residue of the compounds used to denature it. I'm very familiar with how isopropyl alcohol works: I've used it for decades in my tobacco pipe cleaning and refurbishing activities.

And, yes, I've tried Everclear. It gives me exactly the same results as 91% isopropyl alcohol. But Everclear runs $20.00 per 750 ml. bottle, while 91% isopropyl alcohol costs about a buck per pint (roughly 500 ml.) when it goes on sale around here.

 

[HerbVisions]

I would definitely recommend cleaning your attys, as they can withstand the cleaning process much easier than a Cartomizer. As far as the cartomizers though, I have heard they clean up ok...and sometimes I hear that it isn't even worth it, just chuck it and grab some more.

 

[ShogaNinja]

I'm not talking about cleaning them, I know how to do that. I am talking about the ones that are no longer useful or even dead. Is there any use for them other than landfill? We're talking MacGyver stuff here. Can you rebuild them, repurpose them, convert them? Are there any pieces inside worth salvaging?

 

[sandybeach]

It sounds like possibly your cartos aren't making a good connection with the battery. One thing you can try is to gently pull the center pole out with a pin.

 

[ShogaNinja]

I got one Boge 2.0 Ohm that was low on vapor and flavor and then I cleaned it and refilled it before it was dry enough and I got no vapor at all. Then I cleaned it AGAIN, and dried it in the oven (250 degrees fahrenheit for 15 mins, let cool and did 10 more minutes) and now it tastes like a dry atty. Hmmm. I had another one that was good to go really, I cleaned it anyway and it was blocked afterwards, no airflow. I'm not having a great time so far with resurrecting these things. It's like 50/50.