G6 Cartomizer Lifespan, Cleaning Methods, etc

[Cyrus Vap]

For all us Halo-ers:

(this will all be in the context of how heavy you vape the cart, so let us know!)

1) how much use do you get out of a carto before having to either 1) chuck it, 2) wash it. This is assuming we all top off regularly and keep them wet, for me personally that means I habitually reload about 2-3 drop per 15 big puffs (6-7 secs) (thank you brnkwest!)

2) what cleaning/carto resurrection methods, if any, do you prefer?

3) Any success doing a more cursory cleaning, e.g. cleaning out the battery end, air tube, etc with a pipe cleaner, tooth pick, etc, to free up gunk? If someone knows how to do this without destroying the the low lying horizontal coil (been there, done that ) that would be great info to have!

I think this would be a great thread for all of us, as well as people on the fence about Halo, as these cartos perform obscenely well in my understanding and experience thus far

Cyrus

 

[Lady J]

1. I have two G6 cartos that have been going strong for just about a month without cleaning. Both of those were used with a Halo liquid. These hadn't dried out ever. I refill a few times a day, 5-6 drops at a time. I may try your 2-3 drops every 15 big puff method though, if I get less lazy

2.The others didn't clean up very easily for me. (I used the boil and bake cleaning method someone posted elsewhere in the forum. blech. 3 of 5 tasted funky afterward.) I attribute this to uh, human error. I am searching for other cleaning methods that don't involve me standing around swinging the thing around in the air BUT! this means 5 of my original G6 cartos from Halo are still in use 1 month after purchase!

3. I haven't tried the "cursory cleaning" with cartos yet. I mostly just wipe down the outside with a tissue if they get liquid on them. If the outside gets sticky (not the battery end) I use a handi-wipe. >.>

 

[spicyed]

Typically for me cartos tend to last 3-10 days, most of the time when I decide to chuck them it is because the flavor changed or the draw gets tight not that they stop working.

I have tried cleaning and for me decided that it is not worth my time. After cleaning they were always a bit funky though maybe I am doing that wrong. The best luck I had was using 99% isopropyl alcohol to flush the carto, (99% Iso evaporates a lot quicker then water but you really do not want to vape this, you must make sure it all evaporates.) which was a bit better then water when reusing but still not great. After flushing them I let them sit on a table battery end down with a fan blowing over them to keep the air moving.

As for cleaning the connections themselves I do this: How to Clean Vapor4Life Batteries and Passthroughs - YouTube

 

[Cyrus Vap]

As for me

1) I got my halo kit 12 days ago, and despite chain vaping 200X more than I ever analoged, all my carts are still blazing, with one exception, which was a result of my tinkering which destroyed it. I was trying to clean off the chocolate gunk (vapriot Chocolate) with various small, slim objects. At first it worked great, then I think I dislodged the coil a bit because it just stopped working. At one point I had put a den tek brush in the vaping side of the carto, down the air tube, and when I pulled up, the whole thing came out lol. Tried to push it back down, but it was never the same.

Haven't tried to clean any carto's yet, but when I do, I plan on using a combination of 160 proof ethanol soaking and flushing, maybe some water after that, and drying. Saw on another thread that someone found a cheap (5$) ultra sonic cleaner that they do an ETOH/Water wash of their cartos with, and apparently it works well. Keep you posted

What is encouraging is, I dropped the chocolatey gunky dissected cartomizer (no burns by the way! impressive!) in 2 oz of devil springs vodka (160 proof) and after a few hours all components are shiny and brand new

2) Spot cleaning: I place a tissue between the cartomizer and batt, and screw in. Gets all the crap off the threads. If I get a juice leak, I'll wrap a toothpick in a thin layer of tissue and clean out the batt end. I haven't tried the exact methods in the above links, but plan to when things get really gunky

 

[FAAmecanic]

Good thread.... and answers some questions. Anyone else have good methods to re-use/clean out Cartos? I like the idea of using a fairly inexpensive ultra sonic cleaner and 99% iso-alch (or high test vodka). I imagine you can get these cheap from any CVS/Rite Aid/ or even Wal-Mart (used to clean jewelry).

 

[angryguy77]

Anyone have an update or suggestion for this topic?
I have a couple prefills that are not taking as much juice as they used to. They're only 5 days old.

 

[Sa Da Tay]

Nice thread. I syringe-feed my cartos and refill when I can barely detect a reduction in flavor/vapor. I can usually refill a carto at least 4 times before it starts having issues. I've successfully flushed/reused some with the methods above but if I'm stocked up I'll just toss the old ones- probably wasteful but oh well. I do recommend the oral gum cleaner things you can get from drug stores- they are very pliable little sticks with rubber spindles on the end; great for cleaning out the center tube and any gunk around the battery post.

I love halo's cartos. Never a bum one, long-lasting, nice flavor/vapor/th production, and never a problem with 100% VG's.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

What I've been doing

1) soak in PGA, anywhere from 12-72 hours depending on the flavor. Menthols are harder to wash out. If you plan on refilling with the same flavor, hot (not boiling) water for 15 minutes is fine

2) flush the crap out of it with a baby syringe/adaptor, or a turkey baster, pulling water through the battery end, and flushing it through that same end. hot water used here.

3) air dry for 1-2 days. if I'm impatient I'll stick them in a sock and throw them in the dryer for ~10 minutes, then let them sit for a few hours