Is it me, the carto, or the juice, or all of the above?

[Tommy Aces]

So, I've become a big fan of carto tanks. Seeing as I always liked cartos, I guess this makes sense. Ive been using them for several weeks with no problems whatsoever. Anyhow, I got my order from Mt Baker a few days ago and have, for the most part, been nothing but impresses with their products thus far. One of the juices I got is their Chocolate Tobacco. It's a fairly dark color and it tastes great...for the first 20-30 puffs anyway. Then I start to get a smokey, turning to burny taste. I've tried it in 3 cartos now, and on two of them, the resistance has increased from 3 or 3.1ohms to the 3.5ohm range. And once I get that taste, it's in that carto for good. When I try a new one, its great for a while and then it's not.

Im using SmokTech single coil XL cartos that are pre-punched (but I do enlarge the holes slightly) on a VAMO. The juice is a 65/35 PG / VG mix with 2 extra flavor shots.

ive heard of juices that are "carto cloggers" and whatnot, but it surprises me that it would happen so fast. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

 

[boomerdude]

Yes, that's the problem with thick juices, especially sweet or dark tobaccos. That's one of the reasons I gave up on carto tanks. Of course the SS wick tanks gunk up almost as fast but burning off is a breeze as the coil is sitting right there and you don't have to fiddle with it. A fellow vaper shared her theory that the lower humidity in the Winter months, drys the juice quicker when it's sitting on a cold coil. She even started to wrap cling wrap over the whole tank if she wasn't going to vape it in less than an hour. The burning isn't the wrapping, it's the built-up encrusted juice on the coil that's burning. Some juices can be downright nasty. She changes out the cart with a fresh one. Then, she blows out the cart and puts a little PG mixed with PGA or vodka in the cart and vapes it without inhaling. When it's dry she does a force flush with the same liquid.

Me, I'd just toss it. Then I'd go find a co-op buying wholesale cases of cartos.

 

[Tommy Aces]

Yes, that's the problem with thick juices, especially sweet or dark tobaccos. That's one of the reasons I gave up on carto tanks. Of course the SS wick tanks gunk up almost as fast but burning off is a breeze as the coil is sitting right there and you don't have to fiddle with it. A fellow vaper shared her theory that the lower humidity in the Winter months, drys the juice quicker when it's sitting on a cold coil. She even started to wrap cling wrap over the whole tank if she wasn't going to vape it in less than an hour. The burning isn't the wrapping, it's the built-up encrusted juice on the coil that's burning. Some juices can be downright nasty. She changes out the cart with a fresh one. Then, she blows out the cart and puts a little PG mixed with PGA or vodka in the cart and vapes it without inhaling. When it's dry she does a force flush with the same liquid.

Me, I'd just toss it. Then I'd go find a co-op buying wholesale cases of cartos.

Heh. Yeah. It kills me to because its just a fantastic juice. I don't find that it's that thick, but it seems to be fairly sweet. It just surprises me how quickly that happens. I'm not a big fan of clearos or atty tanks as I find the vape a little cool and on the dry side. I ordered a bunch of the stuff BC I tried it and loved it. I'm also not going to go through the trouble of cleaning or replacing cartos every 30-60 minutes. Maybe I'll have to become a dropper to get through all 150ml of this s&@$! How incredibly frustrating! the thing is, I researched online and couldn't find anyone with issues with any of the MB tobacco flavors.

As a side note, if I blow out the carto, I get some pretty. Dark juice coming out the post end. Not sure if this confirms anything or not.

 

[boomerdude]

Well, you've got a good set-up with the VAMO and XL carts. Another thought I had is maybe MB uses TA in the chocolate tobacco and it wasn't filtered very well. That would clog things up quickly. Your 65/35 mix shouldn't be causing it. I do 50/50 without a problem. I'm gonna go with the extra flavor shots. Once one coil gets encrusted the rest follow quickly and that burning crust taste like a bag of ... *****. At 3 ohms I imagine your putting out some wattage, you might go higher if your not already at max. You shouldn't have to settle on skipping anything really. If you like a double shot of flavor and that particular juice then stick with it. Maybe a double coil carto or a lower resistance might help. Or if your using a small tank like a 1.5 - 3 ml. try a 5 - 6 ml. tank.

 

[masguapoakosayo]

I've been having the same problem using smoktech cartos, so I switched to boge pre-punched cartos and it seems to last longer without clogging and the burnt taste.

 

[Tommy Aces]

Well, you've got a good set-up with the VAMO and XL carts. Another thought I had is maybe MB uses TA in the chocolate tobacco and it wasn't filtered very well. That would clog things up quickly. Your 65/35 mix shouldn't be causing it. I do 50/50 without a problem. I'm gonna go with the extra flavor shots. Once one coil gets encrusted the rest follow quickly and that burning crust taste like a bag of ... *****. At 3 ohms I imagine your putting out some wattage, you might go higher if your not already at max. You shouldn't have to settle on skipping anything really. If you like a double shot of flavor and that particular juice then stick with it. Maybe a double coil carto or a lower resistance might help. Or if your using a small tank like a 1.5 - 3 ml. try a 5 - 6 ml. tank.

Yeah. Using a 6ml U-DCT.and running at about 8.5 watts. I tried a 2.0ohm XL SC, and had the same problem. I added about 2ml of flavorless 50/50 (no nic) to 10ml of the pre-mix to cut the flavor and added 10 drops of vodka. Seems to be ok right now, but the real test will be when I come back to it later. I'm thinking of trying some different cartos, maybe boge XLs or something. You know, I've not really seen any vendors do this, but they ought to mention if a particular juice is a coil clogger. Especially considering that MBV offers up to 6 extra flavor shots and I only got 2.

Interestingly enough, I cracked open an old Green Smoke carto and filled it with the original pre-mix and it actually Vapes pretty well (for a cig-a-like anyway) I'm thinking that the Smoks just aren't up to the task here.

As far as filtrating, I do notice that if I give the carto a little blow out after using it, I get a darker liquid with what almost looks like a small amount of sediment coming out. I wonder if its possible to filter the juice, or if that ship sailed if the flavoring wasnt properly filtered first.

And now, on top of everything, I just dropped the $&@ $&@?! thing and broke a brand new drip tip. ...!!!

 

[Tommy Aces]

Update.....unfortunately, as I expected, even after tinkering with some of the above mentioned juice a little, it is still apparently gun king up the coil and giving off a burnt taste and smell.

I'm kinda beside myself right now. Not only do I have a bunch of this stuff, but also have 2 other 50ml bottles of very dark flavors (Butterscotch Tobacco & PB Cup) that I'm afraid to even try now because I fear that they'll do the same thing.

I've burned through almost $10 in cartos on this stuff, and I'm just not gonna burn through any more. I have 2 additional 50ml bottles of this stuff that tastes awesome before it starts giving off that awful burnt taste, so needless to say, I'm rightly peeved-off.

I just don't even know where to go with this. Maybe I'll try contacting MBV tomorrow.

 

[Tommy Aces]

I think I'm resigned to the fact that this stfd (Chocolate Tobacco) is going to be virtually unvapeable unless I get some flavorless nic liquid to SIGNIFICANTLY water down the flavor. Not only has it destroyed 4 Smok cartos in a matter of minutes each, but it also did it to a T3, and an old Green Smoke carto. It even destroyed an SI Volt carto, which IMHO are about the most durable cartos out there, in about 20 minutes.

Is anyone aware of a good method to try and filter this juice? I think there may be tiny bits of flavor sediment that are helping to cause my problem.

 

[boomerdude]

Well, you could try a coffee filter. Have you considered a rebuildable atty? Those Octopus' are only $8 and an A-7 type goes $12-14. I have several and the taste is better than any carto I've tried save an 801 Fusion. There are also some pretty good Cisco spec atty's like the LR or SR510's or even an HH357. The only clearos I use now are EVOD's and VapeOnly's. Those are both bottom coils. If I have to use a carto I go with a Fusion or Kanger HC-XL of which I have several 5-packs to go through. I realize this doesn't help much with a tank set-up of which I have little experience.

As a last resort, you could try rinsing and blowing out the carto when it starts burning and you switch to a fresh one. Toss the used ones in a bowl or box and when you have a bunch of used ones, clean them thoroughly and re-use. Soak them in Iso alcohol 90% for 15 minutes. Boil them in distilled water until there is no gunky foam build-up at the top of the water. Use the Taryn Spin method to dry them.

If this works for you, at least you'll be saving a little money on carto purchases.

 

[Caridwen]

So, I've become a big fan of carto tanks. Seeing as I always liked cartos, I guess this makes sense. Ive been using them for several weeks with no problems whatsoever. Anyhow, I got my order from Mt Baker a few days ago and have, for the most part, been nothing but impresses with their products thus far. One of the juices I got is their Chocolate Tobacco. It's a fairly dark color and it tastes great...for the first 20-30 puffs anyway. Then I start to get a smokey, turning to burny taste. I've tried it in 3 cartos now, and on two of them, the resistance has increased from 3 or 3.1ohms to the 3.5ohm range. And once I get that taste, it's in that carto for good. When I try a new one, its great for a while and then it's not.

Im using SmokTech single coil XL cartos that are pre-punched (but I do enlarge the holes slightly) on a VAMO. The juice is a 65/35 PG / VG mix with 2 extra flavor shots.

ive heard of juices that are "carto cloggers" and whatnot, but it surprises me that it would happen so fast. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Someone suggested making a third hole higher up on the carto. I don't know if this would help or not, might be worth a try.

You are filling your carto completely before putting it in the tank, right? I have a friend that vapes dark, thicker liquid and he said he usually has a few pvs going. Vape on one, when it gets a bit warm switch to another.

 

[DaveP]

Try a Vivi Nova type tank. It has a removable head that can be washed out, dry burned, and restored to like new a few times before you toss it. Replacing the head is $2.99 and 60 seconds if you have a syringe to draw out the juice. Once you change the head you can just syringe the juice back in and vape.

Clarity is key in liquids if you are trying to get long life from the vaping medium. Any thing dark frequently contains sugary particulates that turn into caramel and burn onto the wick and coil. If you can't dry burn it, you will end up tossing it. The Vivi Nova is about equal to a good carto in flavor and vapor and much easier to maintain.

 

[XeniaMike]

I'm glad you posted this, because I am having the same problem. I use the exact same cartos in tanks that you do. My favorite dark juices just do not work with them. Light thin juices? Fantastic. I am awaiting my Reo, hopefully that will be a solution for those juices, and it never hurts to have more than one PV anyhow.

 

[Uncle Willie]

I learned some time ago to avoid the really dark liquids .. those that I did try all had sediment that would quickly foul a carto .. and filtering would destroy the flavor ..

I've resorted to emailing any vendor prior to placing an order and asking about the liquid in regard to this ..

I do wish more vendors would place that info on the page the liquid is listed on their site ..

 

[Tommy Aces]

Wow, so many things to respond to here.

First, yes, I am filling the cartos all the way. I even take a couple Vapes off it before I put it in the tank.

Boiling and blowing out cartos every 30 minutes is not an option. Not to mention that I'm using them in tanks.

Punching a 3rd hole in the middle of the carto will not help with the problem of the coil at the bottom gunking up with the crap this juice deposits. If it was a thickness issue, maybe, but that's not the case. It's a 65/35 pg/vg mix and it is not that thick, but it sure is dark.

Rotating PVs makes no sense in my case. It is not a problem that occurs because of hard vaping or the coil getting to hot. In fact, if I haven't begun to get the burnt taste by the time I put my PV down, the coil will gunk up as it cools and the burning gunk will commence on vape #1 upon picking it back up.

Getting AN RBA or Vivi sounds like a reasonable enough option, however, generally speaking, a coil is a coil is a coil, so what am I supposed to do? Clean out a Vivi or RBA every few Vapes? Constantly dry burn it? That is a hassle that I just don't need. This whole situation is a joke and I thing that I'm rightly ....... I bought 7 50ml bottles of juice. You know how many I'll probably be able to actually use? 2. That's 100 vapeable ml out of 350ml. (In addition to the Chocolate Tobacco, the Butterscotch Tobacco, PB Cup are really dark as well, and I'm almost afraid to try them.

Also, like I said before, I could find NOTHING in searching online beforehand about these juices destroying cartos, and I saw NOTHING on Mt. Baker's site warning either that these juices were extremely dark or warning that they've been known to destroy cartos. And, I have gotten NO response yet to the email that I sent to Mt. Baker CS last night. Hopefully I can get some satisfaction of this issue, but right now, my hopes are not very high.

I will hold off on reviewing this vendor's products for a while, or until I get some more information from them.

I apologize for my tone, as my frustration with this is beginning to boil over.

 

[XeniaMike]

That problem sent me outside for an analog last week I was so ....... I had 3 tanks going at one time and all 3 were clogged/burned, useless. At least I had some light colored juice as a back up.

 

[Uncle Willie]

To be fair, this is not a MBV issue or any other vendors issue .. the vendor should not be blamed .. there are ways to successfully use the sediment laden liquid .. just not generally in a carto ..

 

[Uncle Willie]

Also, like I said before, I could find NOTHING in searching online beforehand about these juices destroying cartos, and I saw NOTHING on Mt. Baker's site warning either that these juices were extremely dark or warning that they've been known to destroy cartos.

This information is not rare .. it's cropped up on ECF many times ..

and a general Google search ..

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...t=psy-ab&q=cartomizer+clogging+e+liquid&btnK=

 

[Tommy Aces]

Never mind, that wasnt gonna be a nice reply.

 

[Tommy Aces]

This information is not rare .. it's cropped up on ECF many times ..

and a general Google search ..

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...t=psy-ab&q=cartomizer+clogging+e+liquid&btnK=

Thanks for the helpfully link to google. However, I was speaking more specifically about this juice. If you have a link to that, it would be even more helpful.

 

[Uncle Willie]

as I said ..

To be fair, this is not a MBV issue or any other vendors issue .. the vendor should not be blamed .. there are ways to successfully use the sediment laden liquid .. just not generally in a carto ..

And, yes, as I also posted earlier on your thread, I would like to see all vendors disclose any liquid that is sediment laden and dark ..

And, if you run across any that do, please let me know ..

I am simply providing you with information, nothing more, nothing less ..

So sorry about your anger issues ..