Intermittently Working Cartomizer

[YuHoo]

My order from litecig of a manual Kr8 passthrough and 5 blank cartomizers (2 ohms) just arrived today and I have been experiencing some odd behavior that I'm not sure if it is my fault or if something is defective.

The problem is that only 2 of the 5 cartomizers work at all with the passthrough. At first I thought that I had flooded the 3rd, but when testing out the 4th and the 5th, I used fewer and fewer drops (down to 5 drops at the battery end). Nothing at all, no warm, no sizzle, just kaput.

As for the first 2 that I have, one seems to be working fairly well, even with VG in it, but the other has only PG in it and does not work very well at all any more. At first it was big clouds of vapor, no problems, so I set it aside and decided to try out another cart with a nice cappuccino mix. As I said earlier, that one seems to be completely dead (even letting it sit for 5 hours now. But when I went back to my splendid PG filled cart, it only worked intermittently. Now, no matter how long I hold the button, it only produces vapor for about 2-3 seconds. Then, if I take a drag shortly there after, I only get maybe 1 second and so on until it no longer produces any vapor at all. But, if I let it sit for a minute or so, it goes right back to the 2-3 second production.

I became so frustrated with losing about 1 ml of my new mix to the third cart and with the strange performance of this one that I decided to try holding down the button for about 30 seconds (knowing that I might burn out the cart). Strangely, it will work and then cut out, then after a few seconds it will work again, then cut off and so forth.

Does this reflect an improper filling method, or simply a bad batch of cartomizers, or is it the passthrough that is mucking it all up? (or is this normal behavior?)

 

[hiram13pm]

Just the passthrough? Clean the contact on the PT (alcohol does this pretty well with a q-tip). It could also be a slight variance in the connector itself; I've used some connectors on my mods that, in combo with certain cartos, need a little fiddling with how tight or loose the carto is screwed in before the whole rig works right.

Dunno about KR8 cartos, all mine are 510... but some of the symptoms you list make me think they're all underfilled. A soft-tip 510 carto generally holds about 22 drops from a common dropper bottle. The 'works for a second or two, then cuts out until I let it sit' sounds like it's WAY dry and just takes a long time to wick the juice into the coil. Hope that helps.

 

[dormouse]

What are you running the PT on?

A computer's USB port is not enough and a single battery charger AC to USB is not enough. PC USB is only specced to supply 500mA and most single ecig battery charger AC to USB adapters are usually 500mA max. Most PTs need either 1 full amp (1000mA) or 2 amps (2000mA).

Use a 2amp max AC to USB. I use a 4-port Rosewill. If you can find out what your PT needs - if it only needs 1 amp than you could use it AND charge 2 batteries at the same time (charging a slim cylindrical ecig batteries usually needs 500mA or less). If your PT need 2 amps then you would have to run it alone on a 2 amp max adapter. And I am a software geek, not HW, but I think how much the PT will need may depend on what ohm carto you put on it.

If you are using a correct power supply for your PT then check for any film of juice on your carto threads ends and the PT. But 2 ohms? gee. Normal KR8 cartos are I think 2.8 (Premium) and 3.2 or so (Coolcart). 2.0 seems very low for a 3.7 volt ecig. I guess a PT should handle it but you sure better have the right power supply because those are going to suck power. BTW with those cartos I think you would have to runt he PT alone on a 2amp AC to USB.

 

[Scootypuff]

I became so frustrated with losing about 1 ml of my new mix to the third cart

If the carto really is dead, you can extract the juice using the reverse Taryn spin method illustrated in this video:

YouTube - Reverse Taryn Spin

 

[YuHoo]

The low power source sounds like it might be the culprit. As the atomizer heats up the resistance should drop and the PT might simply not be able to handle the wattage. So either the PT is dropping out due to it looking like a short, or my computer might be cutting out if sees a short across the power lines. I'll try getting some standard Boge cartomizers and try them out.

I'll try getting the other carts filled with more juice and see if they work. The worst case scenario is that I'm out a few bucks, but the same thing happened to me when I let my rolling tobacco dry out and I'd lose half an ounce.

Thanks for all the insight.

 

[dormouse]

A PC USB is just not up to running a PT, especially one with an LR carto. I think get a 2mp AC to USB. And don't burn your lips - I think that carto may get mighty hot. I don't even like 2.8's on a KR8 battery. If the PT is 3.7 volts too then a 2.0 ohm carto may be very hot.

 

[YuHoo]

I grabbed my meter and the PT with no load on it runs at 4.2 volts, so it may be that my computer is detecting what it sees as a short. I'll try the AC to USB adaptor as well. Where would I go about finding one with those specs? Most of the ones that I see are rated at only 500ma and specifically say that they cannot run a PT.

Anyways, thanks for all your help, I'm just going to chalk this up as an overly ambitious buy and get some regular cartomizers. Maybe I'll dissect one of them and figure out how to fill them more efficiently with a syringe and clean them.

 

[toddos]

It really depends on the PC. I use both of my PTs on PCs (laptop at home, USB plug on monitor at work) and they work just fine. I suspect your issue here may not be with the PT but with the LR cartos. I use V4L CoolCart cartos almost exclusively, which are 3.3-3.5ohm and have used some 2.8-3.0ohm cartos as well (and a 2.8-3.0 clearo that tasted burnt -- that one is definitely not for use on a PT). 2.0ohm cartos are almost certainly way too low resistance for a PT.