How long does a "regular" carto work for you? including refilling

[renstyle]

Kinda new to this still, only have 40 cartos all told. All were acquired prefilled, and have been topping off some, others I've "spun out" the last of the prefilling and worked with my own juice.

I've only had all of this stuff since 1/31, and I'd say of the five cartos I'm rotating around during a week, they are finally not responding to refilling (burnt taste doesn't go away right after refilling, so it gets tossed).

Not ready to undertake a big "cleaning" since these are just regular cartos (from V2cigs if that matters).

One, maybe two cartos per day, with periodic toping off (3-4 drops). Does that seem reasonable in your experience?

 

[Juicehead]

Don't throw any cartos away! You should save them just in case you're in dire need. Look up some of the several methods to clean cartomizers.

I started with V2cigs as well. Their carto are nice, but there are better out there (V4L, Bloog, etc). After cleaning depleted V2 cartos, I've notice some lasting a couple weeks and some not working at all (even in the same cleaning batch).

I've given up on pre-filled. Now I buy premium blank cartos and fill them with my own juice. I dedicate at least one carto per flavor so I don't need to worry about cleaning. I've been vaping on some of these cartos for weeks and they show no sign of giving up yet.

All in all, the consistency of carto vary greatly, even within the same manufacturer.

You mention you top off with 3-4 drops. Are you topping off after the V2 carto has been depleted (burnt taste)? If the carto is depleted, you'll need more than 3-4 drops- you'll need 15-20 drops

 

[ValleyGirl]

I have this one carto that I've been using since I started (12/31/2010). I call it "The Little Carto That Could", lol. It just keeps putting out great vapor no matter how many times I refill it.

You'll want to get to the point where you can tell it's almost empty BEFORE you get that burnt taste. You'll end up tossing less of them in the garbage that way. It took some practice for me, but I got my system down now

 

[renstyle]

You mention you top off with 3-4 drops. Are you topping off after the V2 carto has been depleted (burnt taste)? If the carto is depleted, you'll need more than 3-4 drops- you'll need 15-20 drops

I've gotten the V2 cartos to the point where the burning is still off a bit maybe half a day? After even just a week of vaping it's easy enough to tell (queue Twilight Zone music)... Then I replenish with 3-4 drops every hour or two. That has gone as long as 2 days topping off, then I spin it out (maybe a drop left in the carto), do the 5-10 drops new, spin, maybe 5-8 more and my stock V2s are full. Cap it off and give at least a day and your back on day 4 with that first carto. I've done this at least a week on one carto, but since I'm new I've been experimenting with diff flavors, switching off quite a bit.

Makes me think that if I'm conservative these 40 cartos could last a month or two, with enough rotation. I've heard estimates from two weeks on carto to 20+ fills and several weeks. Guess it's somewhere in the middle.

This doesn't even touch the subject of cleaning. Can't wait to try some of those Bloog cartos!

 

[OMG!]

I refilled my V2 carts until they either burned or got clogged. After I cleaned them they never tasted good again.

Then I decided to buy CoolCarts which I liked at first but the flavor was always too mild.

Now I'm back to buying V2 carts and refilling. I like the flavor the best and they last a long time.

 

[Irons]

I get almost a week out of a boge on my passthrough, I only use that sitting here in the evening topping off several times a sitting. I also add drops before I let it sit for the day, I have no idea if that helps or not.

I have been rotating 5 XL clearomizers on my 3.7v box mod for 4 weeks now and I'm amazed they are still going strong and really don't seem any different from when they were new. I carry 2 filled and capped with a cut off cart condom and that lasts me the entire workday.

I don't clean them or anything, just re fill with a syringe when all 5 are empty. When I finally break out the next box I will take them apart and trim the wicks and stuff, but so far I'm amazed with these things!

 

[VprNomi]

I have several V2 cartos that I refilled with other juice (can't stand V2 flavors) and they work over & over again. I never clean them. In my experience, once they taste burnt, they ARE burnt (I can see the singe on the filler), so they get tossed.

They take up to 20 drops to fill. I keep them going as long as possible by never letting them get anywhere close to empty. I top them off with about 10 drops after I've used them several times (anywhere from a few hours to a day, depending on how much I used that flavor on a particular day), which tells me that it's about at the half-way point (still 10 drops in there before I topped it off since they hold 20).

I also dedicate one flavor to one carto (keeping several different color-coded cartos in rotation at a time, each holding a different flavor).

 

[FantWriter]

Of the 11 cartos I started with in December, one is still going. It was my fault the others died -- it took a while for me to learn the slight difference in vape and taste when they started to go dry. I've bought 15 pre-filled cartos since then, and only one of them has died, and that, again, was my fault.

I only use them on my PV, which is about 60% of my vaping. For my carry-around, I've switched to clear ceramics so I can see when they need changing/filling.

 

[OMG!]

What brand of clear ceramics so you use, Fan? I'd like to look into those.

 

[FantWriter]

What brand of clear ceramics so you use, Fan? I'd like to look into those.

My current go-to is from MadVapes.
808DCE2CLEAR 808D CLEAROMIZER 2.8-3.0 OHM $9.00 X 1 = $9.00

I've tried the flux... ones and liked them also, but I'm not big on buying from a dozen different companies, and MadVapes has a wider selection of juice and other things I'll probably be ordering regularly.

One thing to watch for on them is that they don't have the deathgrip on the base as stainless steel tubes pressed into place do. If they loosen just a little, the clear tube will turn when you're tightening it to the battery, and if you spin it too far, the wires inside break.

 

[otrpu]

OMG! I'll send you a PM about the Clearo's. Maybe inappropriate in this thread.

Cheers,
otrpu

 

[OMG!]

Thank you so much!