I think... she's dead. Please, help.

[Swysgreat]

I don't know what happened. 2nd day ever vaping, with my eGo (manual), everything was great, but I wanted to switch from the prepackaged carts to one I had refilled with green tea flavor.

I took off the cart, atty. Blew out the atty. Put 2-3 drops of green tea onto the bridge, puffed, very little vapor. I put on the cartridge. Very little vapor, weird, sharp taste. Tried to puff through, no such luck.

I tried some advice I found on here for a flooded atty, as that is what I assumed I had done. I blew it out, dripped 2-3, puffed, dripped another... then bingo, big cloud of vapor. However, as soon as I put the cart back on, tiny weird tasting vapor cloud again.

Now it seems the atty is heating quickly (the ends of my carts are a little melted?!), and when I took the last one off there were 2-3 threads from my cart stuck to the bridge. Oh, no.

Please help, I was loving this and I fear in my noobidity I've trashed my atty. I swore I wouldn't touch the thing again until I get some advice from someone far more experienced. Hopefully it's not too late.

 

[Swysgreat]

edit: I know there is a universe of technical info on these boards that likely contains the answer to my problem. I just don't know what my problem is. Dry atty? Flooded atty? I'm afraid in trying the solution to one I may just make it worse. If anyone can even tell me what they think I did wrong in the first place, I can look for the solution on my own. I'm just not sure where to start.

 

[daisyd]

Does your cart look slushy on top? If it looks like a pool, you'll likely get a gurggling sound. If the cart is dry IME it will pull juice away from the atty and dry it out. It sounds like your atty is dry. But I'm not too much more experienced than you so...

ETA: I have no idea how, but some people trim the end of their cart if it starts to melt.

 

[jj2]

Just guessing, since you got vapor after dripping a couple drops on the atty, I'd say you aren't getting liquid from your DIY cart. Try more drops on the atty and see if it works.

As for your DIY cart, did you use the same filler? If the old filler, did you clean it?
If it's new, then it could be several things, first thing that comes to mind is you used too much filler.

 

[Blaze]

Sounds like cart misalignment, the atty broke in, and the simple fact that carts suck.

The end of the cart needs to be aligned to the outline made by the nichrome inside the atty (inside looks like a rectangle on top of the ceramic bowl). And the threads stuck to the bridge of the atty are a BIG reason why most mod the cart filler (that, and the fact that polyfil wicks horribly).

I would highly suggest canning the carts and picking up a couple drip tips.

 

[ckc]

Don't worry about the odd few threads from your cart that have ended up on your attie, just pull them off. If your cart looks slightly melted i'd start with a fresh attie. On occasions a cart will melt if not aligned right.

Some atties do tend to burn at a higher rate,just make sure that they kept wet.The weird taste could be a cross-over/mix of the two flavours.

The hit and miss big clouds/no clouds is your attie heating up? Could it be missfiring?

 

[jj2]

I'll go along with Blaze. I use the RN4081 and I've cut the end of the cart so I can just drip.
Less mess to deal with and a lot less hassle.

 

[reptilr]

Hi Swysgreat,
I know your frustration, i was experiencing something similar just a few days ago, i went from melting my inner carts, to vaping burnt plastic, to a very very hot stick. I managed to find out a few problems with my set up, i have a M401 the super mini.
The cartridges that came with my unit are tiny, thus they hold only about 7-8 drops. I found i had to pull out all the stuffing, and make it slightly more smaller. I would then place 6 drops in the tiny holder then place the wool in to soak up, the wool would sit at just over half way, pop in another drop of liquid and then i pop in a smaller piece (1mm) of filler on the top, enough to sit flush with the top of the inner cart leaving no gaps. If it looked a little dry , i'd put one more drop to make it a lil slushy on top.
My atomizers were not wicking properly , for the life of me it took forever to find out why. Under the arch of my atomizer , there were only about 5 stands of fine hair that was attached to the arch, very very carefully i used a pin, to shift more of the wick so it was touching the arch more. If that makes sense, but please be very careful in doing this if you go down this path, as i destroyed one in doing so by not making sure all the hairs were touching the metal arch. Also i found it helped in my case to place half to one drop directly into the atomiser, aswell as onto of the bridge, but again be sparingly with this one as you can flood it and then it travels to the battery and we dont want that.

Hmm i wish you luck, i nearly succumbed back to the analogue because of all the problems i was having, but it was all mostly my error, and i wish i had bought a more well known proper e-cig to begin with.
good luck, I hope you get to vape soon

 

[Swysgreat]

Thank you everyone for the insanely quick replies. I've gone to just dripping right now, and it seems I'm producing a decent amount of vapor (seems like less than yesterday, but maybe it's just in my head). I think there is something I'm not doing right with the carts, and the atty was drying up when I was using them.

I'll stick to the drip method until I can try a couple of the things you all suggested. Maybe pick up some tips for this (or make them).

Before I end this help session. Could someone clarify one issue for me... What are the symptoms of a flooded and dry atty, respectively? Besides the flooded gurgling, does the atty heat up rapidly in both instances? I'm just a little paranoid about not putting enough drops in/dripping too many and flooding it. Guess I'll just need to experiment.

Again, thank you everyone for the quick responses. I love this place.

 

[jj2]

reptilr are you talking about the wicking material the manufacture put in under the atty? If so it was put inside the heating coil for a reason.
I personally wouldn't advise removing it unless all you want to do is drip.

If you are talking about the liquid cup filler material you used, then it's okay to remove.

 

[jj2]

Thank you everyone for the insanely quick replies. I've gone to just dripping right now, and it seems I'm producing a decent amount of vapor (seems like less than yesterday, but maybe it's just in my head). I think there is something I'm not doing right with the carts, and the atty was drying up when I was using them.

I'll stick to the drip method until I can try a couple of the things you all suggested. Maybe pick up some tips for this (or make them).

Before I end this help session. Could someone clarify one issue for me... What are the symptoms of a flooded and dry atty, respectively? Besides the flooded gurgling, does the atty heat up rapidly in both instances? I'm just a little paranoid about not putting enough drops in/dripping too many and flooding it. Guess I'll just need to experiment.

Again, thank you everyone for the quick responses. I love this place.

Tonight, before going to bed, blow the atty out and then set it down with the part that screws onto the battery on top.
If you got time in the morning, do a couple dry burns before starting to drip.

 

[reptilr]

reptilr are you talking about the wicking material the manufacture put in under the atty? If so it was put inside the heating coil for a reason.
I personally wouldn't advise removing it unless all you want to do is drip.

If you are talking about the liquid cup filler material you used, then it's okay to remove.

Hey JJ2
thanks for the heads up. yeah i was talking bout that one, I didnt remove it, just moved it slightly to touch the sides more. I think it was merely just made poorly, because on the first addy I had, i thought it was filler fluff and it just came out , it showed signs of twinged burnt bits so i knew that either i was doing something wrong or it was not working the way it should. I did some research on here and you tube and found the help i was needing. On the second atty, i just moved it over a little and it started working like a dream.

 

[Kirssstens]

Those cartridges, I imagine, are manufactured in bulk, hundreds upon thousands of them. Some, if not many, will not be exactly the right size. If your cartd is melting, just cut the top sliver off all the way around and pop it back in.


I use the "highping cart mod" which Reptilr is describing as a sort-of 'modified' cart mod. Take an empty cart. Fill with @9-11 drops. Top off with a small piece of filler or blue foam for that matter. Cover top with your finger and shake gently once or twice. Pop it on and start vaping. Sometimes to get it going on a too dry atty, you can put one or two drops on the atty bridge. My attys seem to last much longer with this method too.

A too dry atty - burnt taste
A too wet atty - gurgling, clogged feeling, low vapor

blow the atty out and then set it down with the part that screws onto the battery on top.

Hey, JJ, interesting, I always set it down the opposite. Also blow it from the thread side. What is the reasoning if the airflow is toward the open end. Just curious, maybe I'm doing it wrong.

 

[DC2]

I took off the cart, atty. Blew out the atty. Put 2-3 drops of green tea onto the bridge, puffed, very little vapor. I put on the cartridge. Very little vapor, weird, sharp taste.

2-3 drops is not enough for a completely blown out atomizer.
It needs around 6 drops if it is completely without juice.

I usually drip 4 drops and let it sit for at least 30 seconds.
Then I drip 2 more drops and go on my merry way.

Also, that weird, sharp taste is probably dry atomizer.
Not pleasant.

Flooding is generally identified by getting hard to draw from and little vapor production.

I'm producing a decent amount of vapor (seems like less than yesterday, but maybe it's just in my head).

It might be your new juice just doesn't produce as much vapor as you want.
Mix it in with a little VG if you want to up the vapor production.

 

[cliff5550]

I got nothin. I just like the word "noobidity".

 

[Swysgreat]

I got nothin. I just like the word "noobidity".

Heh, feel free to use it as your own.

Thanks for everyone's solid advice again. I've been vaping all day with great results. Gotta look into some drip tips. Being a light vapor, I do like being able to leave a cart in for awhile without worrying about adding drops, but if they aren't working right, the drip method seems much simpler than modding my carts.

I guess my original problem was a dry atty, and I just made it worse because I was trying to fix a flooded one. Ignooborance... Nah, doesn't work as well.

 

[reverendg]

I would also suggest using a qtip in order to clean off the top of the battery, as I have read somewhere in this maze that e-juice is non-conductive. and from my personal experience, from flooding blowing out , gurgling with my 510 you'll be surprised at how much stuff you get off of the top of the battery with a simple swipe from a qtip.

I do this almost every time i change batteries because I have had cases where I thought my atty was dead, a simple swipe and the connection was better and clouds of vape. I am still using the same 3 batteries I got with my kit over 3 months ago.

 

[Xanax]

My opinion... You may be flooding the atomizer by using a cart and dripping at the same time. If your cart is completely full, and you drip 2-3 before adding the cart that's very likely. I'm positive you will switch to just dripping in time, but for now, maybe try just dripping one drop on the atomizer then adding the cart and see if that takes care of it!

 

[Xanax]

2-3 drops is not enough for a completely blown out atomizer.
It needs around 6 drops if it is completely without juice.

This is very true. On my 510 atomizers, after I blow all of the juice out, I can fit 8 drops in. And sometimes 8 drops isn't even enough, still tastes burnt. If 8 doesn't do it for me 9 will, and the burnt taste is all gone.

 

[criptix]

one word cartomizers