How can I tell if a carto is DOA

[Sequor_Me]

or if I'm just doing it wrong? LOL

I got some CE4+ in the mail today and between DH and I, we've tried 4. His first one worked great at first, then after like 5 puffs seemed to die. My first one hasn't worked at all. I try to vape and nothing. We transferred our juice out of the first two cartos into the next two. His is working now, and mine I can vape from, but it tastes burnt.

Is there a way to tell if the first two are really dead? His second carto also tastes slightly burnt. Mine tasted totally burnt. Am I doing something wrong?

We both are using ego style batteries with them. TIA

 

[sailorman]

The only way to tell for sure that it's truly dead and not a connection problem is to use a multimeter on it. It could be that the center post on your battery connection is not making contact with the center post on the CE4. You can raise the posts with a bent paperclip and see if it makes contact. Do you have a multimeter?

The burnt taste can be from not getting enough juice to the coil. Does it clear up if you tip it horizontal for a few seconds to let the wicks absorb some juice? There is also a "break in" time with these. They might get better as you use them. They can have primer or something on the coil or the wicks. You should also remove the mouthpiece and wipe or wash it because there is sometimes oil or primer on it.

 

[DocV]

Have to agree that the only true way to tel if these are dead is to test with a multi-meter. I would also say be careful if these are ce4+ rather than vision egos as they are prone to coming apart pretty easily in my experience. The plastic "tank" (if that is the right word for it?) comes away from the rest of it really easily. I bought a five pack of these and had 3 come apart like this. I personally will only use the vision ego from now on.

 

[EKDP]

Thanks for the info.

 

[sailorman]

I would also be interested in where you got the CE4+
There are a lot of knockoffs of vision products and the latest is the CE4+
The CE4+ just came out recently and, AFAIK, the only genuine ones are sold by Gotvapes and Discountvapers.
They have a different plastic formulation than the CE4's. It's less prone to cracking with acidic juices, which was always a problem with the Stardusts. It's also less hard and stiff feeling.
Vision stuff is knocked off at a ridiculous rate. There were a lot of Vision Stone Tank 3 knockoffs that were on the market before the Vision version was even released to vendors.

 

[Sequor_Me]

I don't know what a multimeter is so I'm going to say I probably don't have one.

I did get mine from discountvapers. I will try putting in more juice and letting it soak into the wick and be back with an update later.

 

[Sequor_Me]

I googled multimeter so now I know what it is. Yep. Don't have one. Is it something I need to get for future use?

I let it sit over night and it's not quite as burnt tasting today. It does have kind of a plastic-y taste, but hey.. it's plastic, so I guess maybe that's normal?

After a few puffs, it got a little better. Maybe it's part of the whole breaking in process you mentioned above?

 

[Smokalo]

Sometimes the end of the cartomizer is not touching the part of the vaporizer that transmits the electric current but in your case it sounds like you got a bad cartomizer or you haven't had enough time to "break it in." If your cartomizer is not firing at all, you can try gently pulling out the little plate that receives the electric current on the cartomizer so that it will come into contact with the battery.

 

[Greykin]

Another suggestion - make sure that the mouthpiece is screwed down decently tight. I had a couple issues with the Vision V2 (pretty much the same thing as CE4+) because I didn't have mine screwed down all the way, so when I laid my PV down, juice would seep in between the bottom edge of the mouth piece and the little rubber cap that it seals against. This would result in juice dribbling down the air tube and onto the battery lead...screwing up the electrical connection between the battery and the clearomizer. I'd get a couple good hits, a couple so-so hits, then kinda burnt tasting crap hits thereafter.

This can also happen if you get juice into the center air tube while filling the tank. Took me a while to figure out what the heck was going on with mine...hopefully this saves you some time and potential headache.