How to tell if a cartomizer is on its last legs

[bilbobaggins30]

Greetings!

This might sound rather stupid, coming out of a vaper with the experience that I have. I asked a lot of questions in the beginning, did a lot of research, and I thought I knew everything that I needed to know, and found my all-day vape juice (just to be presented with the wife not liking my taste). And now that I have settled down, and have been vaping on one juice and one cartomizer for a while (I punched this cartomizer just for the juice, like I always do when I switch juices. Problem is I have a large bottle of this really awesome flavor, so I have not needed to switch). So my question to the forum is, how do you tell when the cartomizer is at the end of it's life? Mine has not been wanting to fire correctly, and I confirmed that it is not my PV, since I swapped cartos for a bit, and it fired correctly with another one. Could this be that my cartomizer has reached the end of its life, and is ready to be swapped, or is there another issue? I am using a 2 ohm, Boge XL cartomizer.

 

[Disk4mat]

When you say not correctly do you mean not at all? Generally if I notice a slight burnt taste or the vapor is below par then I replace it. I get about 7 to 10 days of use on average out of mine.

 

[Worzel]

Did you try cleaning it and letting it dry? I emphasize letting it dry!

 

[Throttles]

When you say not correctly do you mean not at all? Generally if I notice a slight burnt taste or the vapor is below par then I replace it. I get about 7 to 10 days of use on average out of mine.

I 100% agree. If the draw or production doesn't seem right then it is time. I had one just today stop producing like it used to

 

[bilbobaggins30]

Mine just does not like to fire one moment, then right as I release the button, it fires. Then when I press the button again it fires, and produces vapor. It is a challenge getting it to fire lol.

 

[ScottP]

I have had a couple or carto's (even new) that seemed to need a pull or two to get "warmed up" then they start working great.

 

[Dana A]

Who told you that cartomizers have legs?? Just joking. I just change mine out every 3 days because I cannot stand a tight draw and that's when they seem to tighten up for me.

 

[Ryedan]

Cartos at the end of their life become hard to draw on, can start to flood, can taste off and can produce less vapor. They can be cleaned. Google it and you will find info on it.

Your difficulty firing sounds more like it might be an electrical contact issue. You should not be tightening the carto all the way onto the battery. If it is bottoming out on the battery, you might have a center post that has been pushed in too far on the battery or the carto. If you think this is it, again google 'pull pin e cig' and you will get a lot of hits for how to do that. Just be very gentle when you try it. It does not take much.

 

[cocacola31173]

I find that mine generally last the life of a 30 ml bottle of juice. When Im not using them I put them on the bottle with a rubber band with everything covered up. So far this has worked for me.

 

[SABOTEUR]

I don't know that there's a universal answer...I usually get a week (give or take a day or two), then I switch cartos.

The thing is, I became so concerned with stretch-ing-each-car-to-mi-zer-to-the-ful-lest-ex-rent that it became a bit of an obsession. I'm on a limited budget, but I'm not so hard up that I need to maximize the life of a $1 cartomizer. I waste more money on stuff that offers no where NEAR the satisfaction I get from vaping.

When the carto starts tasting funky...when the draw or throat hit is off...

...I TOSS it.

And, don't give it another thought.

 

[bilbobaggins30]

Thank you for the tips everyone! I have been using mine close to a month lol, and it has served me well... Now I must retire it...

 

[kabonk]

when I used carto tanks I used to buy cartos in bulk and they only cost 72 cents a carto so I would just changed them out every 7 days if I used the tank daily. you don't realize how burnt it tasted until you put a fresh one in

 

[Demiurgous]

Hope this is related enough... Does the PG/VG ratio affect the life of a carto?

 

[steved5600]

Indications you carto is on it's last leg:
Burnt taste
Poor output, have to use a higher wattage setting
change in resistance.
Cleaning will help some. When I used carto's I used and attachment that screwed onto the carto and to a syringe and ran water through it. Soaking in alcohol helps but IME you don't have to use expensive Ethanol just use isopropyl alcohol and make sure to flush and let it dry. Some say jewlery cleaner will clean it but IME only if they are only mildly dirty and not crusted with burnt juice.

 

[BostonVape]

when people say a week.. that makes sense.. but 3 days? must be using some crazy corrosive juice lol.

i can get 2 weeks before I really start noticing a difference.. but I also switch between 5 other tank systems so I'm not using my cartos very often.. more so on the ride to work or at my desk..at home I barely touch my cartos.

EDIT: and as we speak after trying the one I've been using for 2 weeks it may be on its way out lol

 

[Roccov]

when I used carto tanks I used to buy cartos in bulk and they only cost 72 cents a carto so I would just changed them out every 7 days if I used the tank daily. you don't realize how burnt it tasted until you put a fresh one in

Kabonk Sir, Where might one go for bulk purchases? Thanks!

 

[Beccca]

When its hard to draw.

 

[SABOTEUR]

when I used carto tanks I used to buy cartos in bulk and they only cost 72 cents a carto so I would just changed them out every 7 days if I used the tank daily. you don't realize how burnt it tasted until you put a fresh one in

That's a very good point! My cartomizer performance changes so subtly over time that I don't really notice the difference until I change cartos!

And, oh what a difference!

Here I was thinking how marvelous it was that I'd managed to extend a carto so long, but a good portion of that time I'd been depriving myself of "good vapes" without realizing it. That realization prompted me to begin changing cartos weekly instead of trying to maximize them.

So I change my cartomizer weekly whether I "need to" or not.

 

[Unforeseen]

Moved to Assorted PV Topics - Cartomizers

 

[Thompson]

This one is currently 10 days and still works great. Its got a burnt taste to it, but I forgot to dial back the voltage one night so I'm pegging it to that. Thinking I can get at least 2 weeks per carto vaping unflavored.