Is my cartomizer needing replaced?

[MrLonelyLobo]

So I bought the eGo-V V2 Mega kit a couple of weeks ago, which came with a CE5+ wickless cartomizer, and it's done me good for the time I've had it. I don't know if it's the juice I recently bought or if it's on its way out but I'm starting to get a burnt taste every now and again. It doesn't matter if it's just been refilled or if it's 3/4 the way through the juice, I'll randomly have a nasty burning taste. Is it time for me to replace it?
For some reason the website says it's an atomizer but it's really a cartomizer. CE5+ Wickless Atomizer for all eGo series E-Cigarette and others brands with Standard 510 Fitting - Scan.co.uk

 

[The Ocelot]

Hi

The webpage listing looks like a copy/paste from a Chinese product description. They often call all vaping gear with a heating element "atomizers," since technically that's what it is, we just use the term differently. What you have is actually a "clearomizer," not a cartomizer.

You said you've had it a couple of weeks, have you cleaned it? I can't tell from the description if it has a replaceable head. If it doesn't, it's probably on it's last legs. Honestly, it's a little piece of mass-produced plastic, try not to stress yourself out if cleaning doesn't get rid of the burnt taste. The trash bin is your friend.

 

[dice57]

Time to start Tank shopping.

 

[crxess]

Unscrew Knurled Base
Slip Tube/base out of plastic Tank
Soak in Vodka/alcohol for an hour
Rinse in Hot water
Pat off excess moisture
Blow through tube to remove water
Set aside to dry

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

The CE5+ is rebuildable. You can get replacement coils cheap. Remove the assembly from the base, unscrew the old coil head and screw in a new one.

That's a top coil clearomizer. To avoid burnt taste, you must tilt and twirl the device to make sure the liquid reaches the wicks at the top of the coil assembly. It's also a good idea to keep the tank about half full. Letting it get too low makes wicking more difficult and raises the chance of a dry hit.

 

[AngiBe]

Sorry to thread bomb on this, but can someone provide a link on this forum or help me w/a question that kind of goes w/this topic...

What is the average time a clearo tank/coils last and beside burnt taste, is there any other way to know its on its last leg? It's hard to remember how long I'm using them when I have several tanks loaded and "going" at one time. So if someone says "3 weeks and replace" or at least clean the coils, is that 3 weeks of actual use or just sitting filled???

I'm using a Halo Triton and haven't had any issues EXCEPT, vapors tongue, again. I'm not tasting my liquids and I've only been vaping about a month and it seems like half of that time has been zero flavor w/this damn vapors tongue. and yes, i switch up flavors, drink a crap load of water and using Biotene gel..all of the stuff i need to do and its driving me crazy.

Can a "dirty or old" tank/coil cause lack of flavor? Or a battery that's not charged enough? I'm just trying to learn everything that can cause no flavor production besides my stupid taste buds going whack. I also noticed when I do vape, I point the tip down in my mouth right to my tongue instead of level towards the back of my throat. I wonder if the direct hit on my tongue is causing this. I don't know, grasping at straws right now...

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

What is the average time a clearo tank/coils last and beside burnt taste, is there any other way to know its on its last leg? It's hard to remember how long I'm using them when I have several tanks loaded and "going" at one time. So if someone says "3 weeks and replace" or at least clean the coils, is that 3 weeks of actual use or just sitting filled???

There are too many variables for a hard and fast rule on clearo/coil lifetime. The liquids used, the type of clearo/coil being used, the amount of time it's actually used and how you use it all come into play. It's a trial and error process and with time, you learn to realize when the device is no longer performing well enough and needs cleaning or replacing.

Battery power and coil resistance are also factors in how liquids taste and how the device performs. A freshly charged battery with a reasonably low resistance (1.8 to 2.2 ohm) coil should deliver a satisfying cloud and decent flavor. If the battery gets weak and the coil resistance is high, performance suffers.

This is where a regulated mod with power management/review features really come in handy. The Vamo, SVD and other such devices can tell you what the current battery status is and read the resistance on the coil, and allow you to adjust power as necessary to get to the vapor sweet spot. Even a variable voltage Ego style battery would come in handy, as you can just bump the power up until things get better.

 

[AngiBe]

There are too many variables for a hard and fast rule on clearo/coil lifetime. The liquids used, the type of clearo/coil being used, the amount of time it's actually used and how you use it all come into play. It's a trial and error process and with time, you learn to realize when the device is no longer performing well enough and needs cleaning or replacing.

Battery power and coil resistance are also factors in how liquids taste and how the device performs. A freshly charged battery with a reasonably low resistance (1.8 to 2.2 ohm) coil should deliver a satisfying cloud and decent flavor. If the battery gets weak and the coil resistance is high, performance suffers.

This is where a regulated mod with power management/review features really come in handy. The Vamo, SVD and other such devices can tell you what the current battery status is and read the resistance on the coil, and allow you to adjust power as necessary to get to the vapor sweet spot. Even a variable voltage Ego style battery would come in handy, as you can just bump the power up until things get better.

Ok thx! There's so much to learn that it's overwhelming sometimes. I had a suspicion there's A LOT to the flavor aspect but kind of rolling into one if that makes sense. Aside from my battery literally going dead, there's not a lot of ways to tell when it's about dead on mine. I wish it had like a blinking lite to let me know it has like 20% left or whatever.

I'm learning but damn, I'm learning slow! I guess a lot of it is trial and error like you said. Again, sry OP about thread bombing, but the thread was close to what I was wondering too!

 

[Bob Chill]

I second IBCR. You will learn to "know when" pretty quickly. I used to try and squeeze life out too much. I got over that for the most part. I keep lots of replacement heads in stock at all times and have gotten into a routine of switching every 3-4mls regardless. Get some pure grain alcohol from a liquor store(you'll see the PGA acronym used here. that's what it is) and soak the heads in a shotglass for an hour or 2. Rinse with hot water and let dry and you're good to go.

As soon as a head doesn't taste right after a clean, toss immediately. I do the dry burn thing and keep them running for max life but that's another step for another discussion. The things are cheap. Sweating over $1-2 with something that lasts a month or more is probably silly but for whatever reason I like to make things run till the wheels fall off. I haven't owned a car that didn't run nearly 200k miles for 20 years. I suppose I have issues. LOL

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

pfft. My Chevy Silverado has 170k on it and it's just getting broke in good.

To the OP, if you like the flavor and vapor of that top coil clearo, by all means keep using it and get a ready stock of coil replacements. You might also want to pick up a couple of backup clearos so that one out of service for cleaning/maintenance doesn't mean zero vaping.

You might find that bottom coil clearos produce better for you. Check some other sites for models like the Kanger Evod, SmokTech Aro and Davide systems. The vapor is a little cooler and you're not constantly tilting and twirling to make sure the wicks are wet. They're relatively low maintenance and hassle free, and they also have replaceable coils.

 

[dice57]

I get about a 50 ml bottle run through my protank coil heads before they need to be cleaned, replaced or recoiled. I run 2 PT's with a different flavor in each, so as I run out that juice I know when it's about time to recoil or replace. I Just stared on by first coil build for my new rba Russian tank so will have to learn the lifetime of that coil build. Then when I receive my Zen style genesis tank I'll have to learn all over. It's all a learning process with no totally right or wrong answer.

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

I agree with IBCR and Bob and Ocelot.