I So Wanted To Love The CE3's :(

[madmartyr72]

Just like the title says, I really wanted to love the CE3's, but I just can't get past the issues that seem to plague them.

PROS:

- Ultimate Vapor production
- Makes taste outstanding
- Really good throat hit
*Basically everything you look for in the performance of a really good carto is in abundance with the CE3's


CONS:

- Nasty nasty nasty primer taste that sometimes cannot be gotten rid of
- Must be syringe filled
- Vacuum seal is easy to bust rendering the carto unusable
- Constant leaks
- More constant leaks...


I know this topic has been discussed many times before, but I just thought I would share my opinions and observations. The CE3's work great, better than any other cartos I have used before...when they work that is. I once had a 4 hour old carto completely leak out into a pool of juice upon my table (thankfully it wasn't in my pocket at the time). Just for some reason it worked great then poof! I have yet to have a CE3 that doesn't leak on to my battery post at least a little bit. I find myself having to unscrew the carto from time to time just to wipe off leaked juice (you can tell there is some leakage by the gurgling popping sound it tends to make). On more than a few CE3's I have not, no matter what I have tried, cannot get rid of the primer taste. Gagh! Some I could simply clean to get rid of the primer, while some I could dry burn/vape out after awhile. Yet, there has been some that had to simply be tossed out because of the taste (mind you, before this would happen, rest assured I had done everything in the bag of tricks short of boiling them on the stove, which I was pretty sure would have just damaged the seal making it a moot point regardless lol). Yep, I really wanted to love these things...

On a brighter note, can't wait to try out the new CE3's coming out! Knowing SI's commitments to their customer's needs and wants, I am positive they will get it right the second time! Happy vaping Volties!

 

[bivie]

My problem with them is they always end up tasting burnt. I have to constantly burp it then
give it a few hard primer hits, then it tastes OK. I followed all the advise on filling and cleaning,
and they still do it. Alas, I'm not giving up. I'm getting ready to clean them all again and give
them another chance. When they work, they are the bees knees (never understood what that
meant).

 

[madmartyr72]

My problem with them is they always end up tasting burnt. I have to constantly burp it then
give it a few hard primer hits, then it tastes OK. I followed all the advise on filling and cleaning,
and they still do it. Alas, I'm not giving up. I'm getting ready to clean them all again and give
them another chance. When they work, they are the bees knees (never understood what that
meant).

Sounds like your either getting the primer taste (which can give a bad burnt taste) or your coils may be gunked up. If you vape a lot of darker juices and/or juices with a high VG content, they have a tendency to clog coils faster. Even though its not recommended for the CE3's, a good ole fashion dry burn will usually do the trick on gunky coils. If it's the primer taste your getting, especially by your second or third refill, chances are no amount of cleaning is going to get rid of it.

 

[bivie]

Yeah, they've been refilled several times. I've got nothing to lose, so I'll try the dry burn on one. Thanks.

 

[kia2]

Using the CE3s has been a learning curve with me. Although I still get an occasional leak, I've figured out where I need to be with the filling and refilling of the CE3 cartos. It has been trial and error with me.

I hated the primer of the first batch I got. Youch, that stuff was bad! Dry burning is tricky (well, it was for me), and I found if I burned off too much, I would get a burnt taste thereafter. However, my last batch of CE3s doesn't seem to have primer in them and I haven't been dry burning them. I certainly haven't fired them all up, as I ordered quite a few to last me a while. I'll take it as I go.

I've learned how far down I can vape the liquid in the CE3's in order to refill and maintain a vacuum. Once in a while I get a few drops coming down when I'm refilling, but the vacuum has remained for the most part. Once in a great while, I miss the mark and I end up withdrawing the liquid out again with my syringe and mark that cartridge as "it ain't happening" and toss it. I haven't done that but a couple of times in all the cartridges I've used.

SI has been improving upon all the "common" products along the way. I'm now awaiting their replacement to the CE3s, I can't wait to see what they are like. The new clearos look great and will be coming in a couple of sizes, so that is something I'll try too, but the CE3s are a more portable product for me, so those new replacements are what I'm really looking forward to.

Regardless of all the new products, I'm still using the standard carto blanks to test new flavors and liquids. They still work on all the batteries and are still readily available. I prefer the XLs but I have plenty of both the standard and XLs with which to test liquids.

 

[mudhill]

My problem with them is they always end up tasting burnt. I have to constantly burp it then
give it a few hard primer hits, then it tastes OK. I followed all the advise on filling and cleaning,
and they still do it. Alas, I'm not giving up. I'm getting ready to clean them all again and give
them another chance. When they work, they are the bees knees (never understood what that
meant).

BEES KNEES= SWEET AND LOW

Larry

 

[starsong]

When they work, they are the bees knees (never understood what that
meant).

same as the cat's pajamas

 

[Baptyzmbyf1re]

I never got satisfactory consistent performance out of the CE3. Not that I like burning money or anything but I just didn't let it get to me. Maybe it is because I'm only a few months in and knew I could just top off a carto and be good to go. Even after the CE3 debacle for me, I bought an X2 clearo. I now have three. They have their drawbacks sure, but I still like them. If these new clearos (T2, right? ) work as they look like they will, I'll have another option.

Did it suck a bit to spend $10 on the CE3 and have them not work for me? Sure. But, I used to spend $10 on two packs of smokes that ended up in an ash tray a few months ago. I can hardly think of a worse waste than that!

 

[MFToms59]

Took me a day and a half to know they weren't "My cup of Tea", to keep the cliches going. PIFed the remaining 12 to a Fellow Vaper, I'll stick with the Clearos until the T3s arrive. My biggest problem with the Clearo is a bit of condensation on the Battery Post, no leaking issues, but I only fill them to the 1ml mark since they're easy to refill.

 

[Harplayr]

The clearo's are a nonstarter for me because I won't vape anything I can't stick in my pants pocket.
Going on 2 months now exclusively vaping the CE3's I've had no leaking problems and nothing but excellent vapes.

I hope the new replacements are as good.

 

[madmartyr72]

The clearo's are a nonstarter for me because I won't vape anything I can't stick in my pants pocket.
Going on 2 months now exclusively vaping the CE3's I've had no leaking problems and nothing but excellent vapes.

I hope the new replacements are as good.

No problems? No leaks? WHAT?!?! The vaping god's must have blessed you with some carto's straight from their own heavenly stash! LOL!

Seriously though, out of 2 boxes of CE3's I have only had three of them to work the way that they should (and they do work well I admit). Could I have just had a bad run of luck on the draw? Sure I could have, but with the new CE3's and clearos on the horizon I'm holding off on ordering anymore just to see if that's what it was (i.e. bad luck).

 

[awsum140]

No problems? No leaks? WHAT?!?! The vaping god's must have blessed you with some carto's straight from their own heavenly stash! LOL!

Seriously though, out of 2 boxes of CE3's I have only had three of them to work the way that they should (and they do work well I admit). Could I have just had a bad run of luck on the draw? Sure I could have, but with the new CE3's and clearos on the horizon I'm holding off on ordering anymore just to see if that's what it was (i.e. bad luck).

I've had good luck with them up until recently, then one leaked on me last night. I did a long, careful inspection to compare it to the working ones and found a LOT of stress craks in the outer barrel. I believe that some of them go completely though and cause a losee of seal which results in a leak. Just for a laugh, take at look at yours, carefully, while holding them horizontally and rotating them slowly under a light. If they're stress cracked, you'll see it very plainly. I've since rebuilt that leaker and it's working fine, but with a different outer barrel.

 

[dupaloop3611]

I have 10 ce3's filled and i have no problems with them at all. not a one has leaked

 

[drummerskey]

I currently have a love/hate with my CE3s. When they work, they are fantastic but they usually leak halfway through the juice. Leak is also probably the wrong word......when it gets halfway down, juice gets into the air hole, in my mouth and on my battery but I could take one that did that and put it bat side down or bat side up and there wouldn't be a leak after I wiped out the juice (that leaked while vaping) with a napkin.

This repeats unless I do one of two things......A. Sit the CE3 bat side up for a few minutes to get the juice out of the wicks and then vape it while keeping the CE3 horizontal and then keeping it upside down when not in use or B. refilling it (and it works fine until I get back to halfway)

It has to say something about the CE3s though. Out of 7, 5 have leaked the way I explained yet I still use these unless I am at home and then I use the clearo so that I dont have to worry about it.......the vape on the CE3s are that good to me and still better than the clearo.

If the new jammies have the vape of the CE3s, no syringe and no leaking issues........my hunt for a sweet spot will be done. The new T-3 things will get a run too, but I need to buy a lifting belt so I dont pull any muscles when I move the T-3

 

[bluecat]

Oh I thought you meant leak leak leak leak... I get they liquid/condensation in the hole on the plastic thingie mouthpiece all the time. I figured it was how hard I vape. I just lick it off. Yeah I know... but it doesn't taste that bad.

After I finish the CE3, about an hour.. I wipe the battery off.. I always figured it was condensation because I suck in through the mouth and blow out the nose while holding the tube in my mouth 2-4 times.

When you said jammies I was thinking about my little girls new Serena Gomez or something like thats new jammies. Sorry it made me laugh.

 

[drummerskey]

This isn't condensation though, it is clearly juice. I get condensation too and more on the clearos. If I dont hold it horizontal or do the steps listed above, it will put juice in my mouth with every drag. It can get to about a drop inbetween the end cap and silicone and a drop on the battery.

It's funny, well it really isn't but like I said; I can clean it out and sit it on the table and nothing more will come out until I take a drag.

I say plenty of funny things, no need to apologize at all.

 

[CaliVaper]

@OP... as far as the leaking goes... you must be doing something wrong OR, just happened to get a bad batch. I first ordered the CE3 bottom coil 808's from Gotvapes and just ordered 2 packs from SI a couple weeks ago. I've only had 2 leaks... and that was only right after filling because in those 2 instances I couldn't get all the juice cleared from around the wicks, and even those 2 times, it only leaked a very little right after filling. So I just wiped the threads with paper towel and it didn't leak anymore.

I never clean my CE3's. I vape them as long as possible and then toss them because IMO, after cleaning (whether or not I dry burn to dry) there is a nasty taste left behing that doesn't go away. The only problem I've noticed with them (or any clearomizers) is that certain juices mess up the wick. Some people say "gunked up" but its more like "burnt on". I've taken apart clearomizers and unwound the coil/wick, and its almost like crusty or charbroiled. This has happened mostly with darker juices, but not exclusively. It just recently happened with a juice I tried called TKO, which is like a "blue rasberry" think it was a mixture of rasberry and blueberry, ruined a CE3 before it was half empty, and that juice was 80/20 PG heavy, super thin and almost clear. Yet, one my favorite juices is Vanilla caramel tobacco from velvetvapors ("velvet blend" think its 70/30 PG heavy) and i can run through a CE3 for weeks without any problems.

I'm trying to think of a way to design a clearomizer that has NO wick, that would solve that problem

 

[awsum140]

I'm trying to think of a way to design a clearomizer that has NO wick, that would solve that problem

If you can do that, you'll never have to work again. Just be sure to patent it!

 

[madmartyr72]

@OP... as far as the leaking goes... you must be doing something wrong OR, just happened to get a bad batch. I first ordered the CE3 bottom coil 808's from Gotvapes and just ordered 2 packs from SI a couple weeks ago. I've only had 2 leaks... and that was only right after filling because in those 2 instances I couldn't get all the juice cleared from around the wicks, and even those 2 times, it only leaked a very little right after filling. So I just wiped the threads with paper towel and it didn't leak anymore.

I never clean my CE3's. I vape them as long as possible and then toss them because IMO, after cleaning (whether or not I dry burn to dry) there is a nasty taste left behing that doesn't go away. The only problem I've noticed with them (or any clearomizers) is that certain juices mess up the wick. Some people say "gunked up" but its more like "burnt on". I've taken apart clearomizers and unwound the coil/wick, and its almost like crusty or charbroiled. This has happened mostly with darker juices, but not exclusively. It just recently happened with a juice I tried called TKO, which is like a "blue rasberry" think it was a mixture of rasberry and blueberry, ruined a CE3 before it was half empty, and that juice was 80/20 PG heavy, super thin and almost clear. Yet, one my favorite juices is Vanilla caramel tobacco from velvetvapors ("velvet blend" think its 70/30 PG heavy) and i can run through a CE3 for weeks without any problems.

I'm trying to think of a way to design a clearomizer that has NO wick, that would solve that problem

In all honesty I think I might have just gotten a bad batch of cartos because I know without a doubt I'm using them correctly. I have filled, refilled, cleaned, used harsh language, cleaned, dry burned, used more harsh language, tried different juice consistencies, thinned out juices (mind you, on most I have only used 100% PG clear), let them sit n soak with juice filled in them, yet more harsh language, everything except read them bedtime stories (which I would if I thought it would do any good lol).

Out of ten cartos I have two left that are in use, and one of them is the very first one I filled. Just this morning I noticed it is starting to get a burnt taste, but it has probably been filled/topped off at least 30 times now so I'm not complaining, but regardless it has slowly leaked from the moment I first filled it. I have to admit that when I have gotten the few to work for me, they have all but ruined me on all other cartos I have tried. The VTF on the CE3's is phenomenal! I, like so many others, am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new CE3's/T3's, and I pray VTF is just as good or better. Until then, regardless if it were just bad batches I got, I just can't bring myself to order anymore. I have cussed at these things so much in the last few weeks I feel like a truck driver! Oh wait, I am! Nevermind that...

 

[awsum140]

I never experienced the famous leaking problem, until very recently. Being a detail oriented person, I investigated very carefully and found the outer barrel of my "leaker" had many, many stress cracks in it from manufacturing. Some of those cracks appeared to go completely through both the inner and outer walls of the CE3. As an experiment, I replaced that outer barrel with another one that wasn't cracked, and I had no leaks. I suspect that during manufacturing a machine had the tension set too high and resulted in many cracked barrels and many leakers as a result.