It this a strange carto?

[The Ocelot]

I got a little tank that came pre-installed with a cartomizer. I knew it had oblong openings on the sides instead of holes (I'd seen a picture on the website) which I thought might be pretty cool for wicking.

It looked even more odd in person. The draw was tight and although it read around 2.6 ohms, it started to taste burnt at 4v. It continued to taste burnt, so I took it apart. I have never cut open a carto before, but I have seen pictures, and this one looks strange to me. I'm wondering if it is an older style or ??? or am I mistaken about what cartos look like inside?

When I pulled the drip tip out to prime it, the first thing I noticed was that the batting inside was lower than usual. About where the red line is in the picture. It also didn't have a wire coming out of the center tube; it looked like a straw.

Out of the jacket the batting/filler, while short, looked normal as far as thickness. The coil was inside of the sock, wrapped around wicks that went outside of the sock into the batting. The wires were also outside of the sock. (The sock was intact when I opened it, I sliced it to get to the coil.)

While the wick wasn't burnt, the sock was starting to.

I sliced away the sock to get a better picture of it.

 

[The Ocelot]

Well, thanks, except that it was packaged as a cartomizer and I was using it in a carto tank. Sigh. I was trying to be good and post in the correct forum, rather than the general one. I guess I should have titled the thread What is this strange carto?

This is the tank it came in:510 SCT-V2 3.5ml Tank

And this is the carto that was inside. Unfortunately, I bought 5 of them. Replacement Cartomizers 2.6-2.8ohm 510 SCT-V2

 

[Steeler Girl]

I have cut open cartos before and have never saw one like this. I read the reviews at the site and it appears you are not the only one having this issue. Someone suggested they are fine below 4V.

 

[The Ocelot]

I have cut open cartos before and have never saw one like this. I read the reviews at the site and it appears you are not the only one having this issue. Someone suggested they are fine below 4V.

Thanks for responding. It's very weird. I got them specifically because they were listed as 2.6-2.8 ohms and I want to play with my new VV.

 

[VpnDrgn]

It looks like a hybrid between a clearomizer ( CE2 ) and a cartomizer.

Cartomizer - filler wrapped around a "sock" wrapped around a coil
Clearomizer - coil wrapped around a wick

There are a least 2 problems with this concept.

- even when the wick is dropped directly in juice, it always had problems wicking
fast enough to keep the coil wet; now it's trying to wick through filler

- the sock was supposed to keep the coil from burning the filler, but it is the first
thing to burn if a carto gets too dry

One reviewer stated he had a 1 out of 4 failure rate. I am surprised it wasn't higher.
This seems destined to fail, and kind of redundant, as they have CE2's slotted for
carto tanks.

 

[The Ocelot]

It looks like a hybrid between a clearomizer ( CE2 ) and a cartomizer.

Cartomizer - filler wrapped around a "sock" wrapped around a coil
Clearomizer - coil wrapped around a wick

There are a least 2 problems with this concept.

- even when the wick is dropped directly in juice, it always had problems wicking
fast enough to keep the coil wet; now it's trying to wick through filler

- the sock was supposed to keep the coil from burning the filler, but it is the first
thing to burn if a carto gets too dry

One reviewer stated he had a 1 out of 4 failure rate. I am surprised it wasn't higher.
This seems destined to fail, and kind of redundant, as they have CE2's slotted for
carto tanks.

Yes, I agree on a failed concept. And it wasn't dry at all. The filler was very wet when I cut it open (it's dry in the pictures because it was sitting out for a few days).

 

[The Ocelot]

Yes, I've seen them before. CE2 for tanks. Somebodies effort to get a clearo in a cartotank. Thanks for the research

Thanks for the tip. I've seen CE2 for sale on sites, but I never paid any attention to them. For some reason I thought they only came in clear plastic. I dug a little deeper and found a review of a punched CE2 carto for a tank. The description is spot-on until it gets to the pictures of the inner workings. It doesn't look like the CE2 has any batting/filler in it, just a wick. CE2 Tank Cartomizer Review

I have a Frankencarto. (Actually 4 still in unopened)

ETA: After doing some research on CE2 punched tank cartos, the plot thickens... CE2s do not have batting and have a cap on top of the wicks (like in a clearo). The coil is not in a sock. A CE2 looks almost like a clearo/nova stuffed into a punch metal sleeve for use in a tank. Okay...

The origins of Frankencarto the über weird carto/clearo hybrid remains a mystery.

 

[VpnDrgn]

A little back-history for you.
Atomizers, with a sponge filled cartridge that sat on top, were first.
Then cartomisers, with filler wrapped around a sock that was wrapped around a coil, came along.
Then CE2's, with a simple wick, and no filler, and a silicone cap to retain the juice, was developed.
The CE2 was built with the same metal tube as a carto. The clearomiser was exactly the same as
a CE2 but with a clear plastic tube.

As I stated earlier, the biggest problem with cartos was the sock was easily burnt if the carto
became too dry. The CE2 was designed with the idea there would be no sock or filler to burn,
but the silicone cap that was to hold in the juice, usually pinched the wick to a degree that it
restricted the flow of juice and caused a burnt flavor because the coil did not stay wet enough.

This led to people having to mod the CE2 for better performance. It usually meant pulling off the
silicone cap so the wick could be fluffed around the coil and enlarging the notches in the cap so
the wick would not be pinched when it was replaced.

Then a modder named "Most Angry Pirate" came out with a MAP tank. The MAP tank was basically
just a larger tube that was mounted onto a CE2 that had the metal tube cut away so it could be
slid up into the tank. It didn't take long before someone figured out how to make a tank for the
cartomiser, and all the latest clearomiser "tanks" are based on the same idea.

The punched CE2's ( with the metal tubes ), is probably just the mnf's way of keeping the CE2's in
production. They still have the production line for CE2's after all, and carto tanks have proved very
popular.

This back-history should give you an idea why this new carto is such a bad idea. You've got a CE2
style wick, which has proved not to work all that well ( at least not consistently, or without fiddling or
further modification ), wrapped in a sock and filler, that is susceptible to burning, and probably
hinders how well the wick works.

I don't know how much experience you have with carto tanks. Some people love them ( myself included ),
others insist they don't work, and they sing the praises of clearomisers. But, I will give you the same advice
that I, and others, have given anyone trying carto tanks. There are so many factors in how well a carto works
in a tank ( even the weather were you live ), you will have to do a lot of experimenting to find a set up that
works for you. This means trying several different cartos with different numbers and sizes of holes.

You originally mentioned the ohms of this carto because you wanted to play with VV. I would recommend trying
tank replacement cartos sold by Hoosiers, Madvapes, or Discount Vapers.
They have different ohms available with different numbers of holes.
I use mechanical mods so my voltage ranges from 4.2 volts to 3.8 volts depending on how fresh the batt is,
and I use a 70/30 PG/VG juice. I prefer the 3.0 ohm single coil with 2 holes, and I enlarge the holes slightly with an awl.

Good luck.

 

[The Ocelot]

Thank you for all of the background! I'm fascinated by how the devices and culture have evolved. I appreciate you taking the time to go into detail.

Carto tanks are my preferred set-up, I have several. My favorite combo is a glass IBTanked with a SmokTech single coil 2.0Ω carto. I would love to try IKenVape, but it always seems he's out of stock. Depending on the juice, I'm usually under 4v on a Twist; I like it cool. I too vape 70pg/30vg for the most part, but I got some higher vg to try out; I don't think it's for me.

I got the little SCT/Smoktech-clone because I was looking for a small polypro I could use on the go. My favorite vapes are cinnamon based, so clearos/novas/whatever polycarbonates are out and sometimes I don't want to take a large tank with me. Another reason I was attracted to it was because the cartomizer that came pre-installed, and the replacements, were listed as 2.6Ω to 2.8Ω and I wanted to play with my new ProVari at higher voltage. I usually buy my cartos from Smoktek, but I got the tank for $6.00 and bought replacement cartos to justify shipping.

I had one of the cartos in an IBTanked with my daily vape, so I knew when it started tasting weird and burning the only thing it could be was the carto. Despite reading at 2.6Ω it was burning at 4v. I cut it open out of curiosity. I have seen single coil cartos, how they are soldered to the +/-, the wire running up through the center tube, etc., but I had never seen anything like what was inside this one. I didn't know if it was a style I was unfamiliar with or what. I didn't like it and didn't want to accidentally buy any again, so I searched for info, but was unsuccessful - mostly because I didn't know what to call it. That's why I started the thread.

At this point, I'm just curious, I won't be buy unbranded cartos again, so there is no problem.

 

[The Ocelot]

I received a message from the vendor:

...they are designed differently than most cartos. They are manufactured by Microcig and have the same type of coil placement as a CE2 cartomizer, which also has a horizontal coil. I also noticed you are running them at 4 volts, which can be a little high for them, despite what the math may say. These SCTs work great on a standard Ego battery at around 3.6-3.8volts, and may solve your problem of overfiring and slight burning. Thank you and VAPE ON!!


I will be Vaping On, just not with these cartos.