Handicapped and new to e-cigs...need help on refilling

[Suffragette]

Hi all~

I hope there is somebody here who can help me with this. Please forgive all my jargon mistakes, as I'm not sure that I'm using the right words: as in cartomizer, cart, carto and all that...sometimes they are the same thing and sometimes they just...aren't. Correct me if I screw up.

I started vaping--and if I screw up and say "smoking" pretend I said "vaping"--about 3 months ago using V2 products. When I was lining them up with all the other e-cig retailers out there, I noticed they were very against refilling cartridges. I worked out that their problem was caused by refilling kicking a hole in their business model and wrote it off.

V2's prefilled throw-away carts are ideal for me because I have a neuromuscular disorder that makes my hands shake, sometimes so badly I can't sign my name. Once I used to do calligraphy and embroidery and actually get paid (most of the time), but those days are gone. My shaky fingers have put an end to all that.

But after my three months, I've tried out all of V2's cartridges and learned three things:

1. They're expensive.
2. Their flavour ranges from from tolerable to execrable.
3. They're expensive.

Also, V2 has worse customer service than the Army, but that's another story.

So I got interested in refilling carts, as so many of the people here do. I've watched a lot of You Tube vids and noticed that even the minor nervousness of the camera makes their hands shake badly enough that sometimes it takes them two or three times to perform they said was a simple operation. I tried to imagine myself doing that, imagined my self and my furniture covered in smelly yellow liquid, imagined the vet bill for treating nicotine poisoning in three cats if I were to drip some onto their fur...and knew I needed expert advice.

I'm hooked on the "looks like a tobacco cigarette, can be carried around like a tobacco cigarette" feature of the KR808D1 but I don't know what would be the best method to refill them.(I could get a needle into the hole on either end but it might take two tries, just to give you an idea how shaky I am...I know that's not how it's done.)

I've ruled out a few techniques as just not for me. Dripping seems gross, plus it requires carrying niq. liquid with you, which I can't do. I have yet to work out what the hell the condom and sponge technique is about, but it sounds like explaining contraception to a kid, so unless someone can explain it to me I don't think that will work. Besides, I'm happily married--but if my husband starts finding condoms around the house I might not be.

Is there any way to help me out? What's the most foolproof method for filling carts? If there is no good way and I have to keep with use-once-and-toss carts, who makes the best ones for my KR808D1? I've spent a fair amount of money on this adventure and right now I don't have money to switch batteries.
Any suggestions? Of any type? From anyone?

Thanks for reading my rambling. I hope you can see the screen through the clouds of smoke long enough to reply!

 

[swedishfish]

I think refilling cartomizers- the bigger the better would work for you. Don't get anything with an automatic battery. If juice gets dripped onto the battery it will ruin the battery.

I know you said 'looks like a cigarette' but something like the go-go or echo would be ideal for you. Why? The cartomizer holds 3 ml of juice. That means that depending on how much you vape that could be a whole day, even a day and a half. The cartomizer is large and it can be refilled over 100 times.

Mini's don't hold a lot of juice. Cartos are smaller but you could probably position them on something to refill them if you can find something to prop the carto upright. If you have problems with a squeeze bottle, would a syringe be easier for you? Or a dropper bottle? Batteries only last a few hours with the mini so you'll be screwing, unscrewing and charging batteries.

 

[CBB]

I think a blunt syringe would probably be your best bet. Having something to hold the cartos still for you maybe a clothes pin or maybe if you know a hunter or marksman who may have an old .38 ammo box filler that would make an excellent carto holder. Then you would be able to two-hand a 16 gauge blunt tipped needle to fill cartos. I would also consider trying to find something to hold the juice bottle as well.

Another option may be a 901/KR8 tank mod, it will fit on a KR8 battery and hold a large volume of juice though it would be a little awkward on a slim battery.

 

[swedishfish]

I don't know your budget or if you want to stick with what you have or get something new. Here is the echo. The battery should last you at least a whole day, maybe longer. And as I said, same thing with the cartomizer. It's $50

Echo Series | Cropduster901.com

 

[swedishfish]

This is going to sound weird, but do you have a muffin pan? They usually have two holes for hanging them up. My mom has problems filling a carto and she puts the battery end down in the hole in the muffin pan and drips juice into the carto that way. Maybe you could get someone to drill some holes in a piece of wood to stick the cartos in to fill.

 

[rolygate]

Condoms eh... Don't fancy a trip back in time?

Actually it just refers to the small plastic transport cap that cartos come with, it's a convenient name for them.

Well, Vapor4Life's models are KR8s so that would align with what you want. I'd get the big (longest) batteries as the small cigarette-size ones don't last all that long.

Their cartos are also easy to refill - they have a soft white cap that pops off, then you can drip liquid in easily.

I think you need some sort of hand-steadying or locating device in order to do this efficiently. If you are at home then perhaps there could be a way of holding the carto securely (perhaps locating it in a hole drilled into some timber?). It is best at a slight angle, because ideally you drip down into the edge of the carto, not centrally, as that is where the air hole is. If the carto is secured, it will be easy to pop out the cap using a biro point or similar.

Next you need a way to secure your hand or hands so they don't shake e-liquid around. This whole thing would be best done on a desk top or kitchen counter, so that liquid spills can be easily mopped up. Right now the best I can come up with is that you rest your hand on a chair back while dripping the liquid in. The dropper bottles are easily managed as long as you have reasonable grip strength. What you are looking for is a way to support your hand so that it could hold a cup of coffee over the worktop without spilling it. It might take a bit of serendipity to come up with something but I'm sure you will.

How about this: do what snipers do - they rest the front hand holding the rifle on a sandbag. Maybe you could create some sort of very firm bag, about 4" high, to place on the worktop and rest your hand on. If you could hold a cup of coffee like that successfully then it would work.

So: a block of wood with a hole drilled into it on a slight diagonal so the carto is tilted - drill size looks to be about 10mm or 3/8ths, the hole can be about 13mm or 1/2" deep - and a sandbag or something to rest your hand on while squeezing the dropper bottle.

Have fun

 

[swedishfish]

Oh and get a drip tip so you don't have to keep taking the little end cap off and on. Just pull the drip tip off to fill and put it back on.

Edit:

Just thought of something else. Another member mentioned that he put a toothpick through the center hole in the cartomizer so he wouldn't drip juice down the center.

 

[lolady]

I've pasted everything here into my Wisdom File!

I'm staring The Big Fill in the face, too. With neurotrash AND low vision.

I was thinking of trying one of those third hand things (and my 10x magnifying mirror) but I'm kind of liking the muffin tin idea better now...

 

[valtergomes]

I would say you should get a Tank system since they are easy to refill.. Look around for a EGO-T system, those are really easy to refill since the cartridges are big and easy to open

 

[Suffragette]

Oh wow, great ideas! I especially like the drilling out a block of wood thought--I know someone who can do that easily. Swedishfish--I love your name and you avatar--I'm going to have to follow up on your thoughts before I can say anything even reasonably intelligent about them...give me a little time on that. It certainly sounds good!

Are V4L's batteries the same as V2's batteries? I mean, yes, they say they are...but I'm sure everyone here has run in assurances that X is compatible with Y--and it is, if the wind is northwesterly and you can tell a hawk from a handsaw. If not, then they aren't compatible. So are V4L's batteries the same as V2 batteries?

So many great ideas...so many things I'm going to have to look up. Rolygate, I have a set of beadmakers braces, meant to keep your hands steady while you spin hot glass into beads, so they will do for this. I'm more worried about have the carts skidding across the table and dropping onto a cat, who will then poison himself licking the nic off his fur. Scary thought.

Please keep the suggestions coming! I'll come back and read more of your thoughts as soon as I finish researching this batch.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Hello and welcome to ecf...
I don't think a syringe would work well for you....the condom method refers to the top cap that comes with a cartomizer....
if you can drip some liquid into it, about half full and then push the cartomizers back on, it will fill it.....
watch Dr.Vapor's video

YouTube - ‪A Great Way To Fill Cartomizers‬‏

 

[redheadone]

All above suggestions are good ones. Two I could recommend to you would be to invest in an ego_T kit Not much aggravation and not much spillage. Something else would be a bottom feeder. If you can squeeze a bottle that would an easy method for you

 

[stillalive]

Hi Suffragette,
I have some disability-related stuff too, and I think the best thing might be a tank mod. Check out stormy's vapor cellar for one of the big tanks. There's plenty of space in the side to drop juice into it and it holds a LOT of juice! Best yet, they're all in the $15 and less range, I think, and you can replace the atomizer equipment when it burns out. It doesn't really look like a cigarette, but it will screw onto a 510 regular battery (or an 808 with an adapter).

Besides that I would say get a whole bunch of XL ce 2 cartomizers and have someone who's glad you quite smoking fill them for you every few days.

 

[slappy]

@stillalive, love the name and avatar.

 

[Suffragette]

I just thought I'd let you all know how the cart filling adventure went.

First, I found the perfect thing to hold the carts still while you fill them: Play-Doh (or however you spell that). Roll out a flat layer about an inch thick, put the little plastic thingies (condoms, right?) on the bottom of the cart, and press into the Play-Doh at the proper angle. As long as you don't press hard on the cart, it stays nicely still.

Second, dropper bottles were a fiasco of epic proportions, as all the nic liquid went down the hole in the middle of the cart, out the bottom, all over everything and made a huge mess. Syringes, specifically a 3cc model with a blunt tip, are much easier to control. If you, like me, have shaky hands wear your braces! They help.

The You-Tube vids on how to fill carts, all kinds of carts, were a huge help. I bought some blank carts rather than getting involved with the mysterious "blue foam." It seemed a little advanced for a newbie.

And finally, there is somewhere on this board a genius whose name I can't find again, but who solved my carrying case problem. He said he carried his stuff in a dart case--so I looked on Amazon and what do I find?

Amazon.com: Viper Casemaster Deluxe Dart Case (Pink): Sports & Outdoors

It's a dart case that will hold 4XL batts plus a dozen carts, or any combo thereof. It fits fine in my admittedly rather large purse, and because it's pink it never falls to the bottom and vanishes. Believe it or not, XL batts are roughly the same diameter as the darts this case is meant to hold--roughly meaning you have to force them through a couple of times. But anyway, who knew? The case also comes in camouflage and basic black for anyone who is afraid his boy-parts will drop off if he carries a pink cig case. Three cheers for the unnamed genius! And if you know who he is, tell him I said he's effing brilliant.

So much for my first venture into cart filling. I'll deliver updates as events warrant.

 

[Beans]

Congrats Suffragette, That rocks! Im glad you figured out how to make it easier on yourself. Life can deffinately be challenging at times. Good luck and Cheeres!

 

[WomanOfHeart]

The Play-Doh thing is sheer genius! I'm going to try that with my cartos. I have MS and sometime I shake like crazy. It's all I can do to drip into them without missing a few times.

You learn something new every day...even from the new people!