Maintenance of Used Cartomizers

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Vvap

Full Member
Nov 30, 2010
17
0
NY
Hello,

I recently purchased a 5 pack of RN4081 cartomizers from azsmokefree for my Npro 2n1 (they were too expensive on the njoy website itself). And the ones I got from az are refillable with easily removable tops. I've look around and found how to refill cartos, but nothing on maintaining them (how to clean/store them after the original juice runs out and before I refill)? Is rinsing them out with warm water and putting the caps back on enough, or should I do more?

Also, any recommendations for sites/particular juices I should buy? I like menthol but I'm open to any suggestions. I know there is a whole forum for juices, but I find myself getting lost in all the posts, and I don't know where to begin. So if you could just list your fav juices and the best/cheapest sites to get them from, it would be much appreciated (especially those of you who liked menthol analogs).

Thanks!
 

Vvap

Full Member
Nov 30, 2010
17
0
NY
Redrusty,

It was basically just a cost-saver. The cartomizers for Npro are $20 for a 5 pack, and I go through about 1 a day. So $4 a day is more than I was paying for analogs. Even the cheaper ones from AZ were about $12 for a 5 pack with shipping, which still comes out to about $2.50 a day. I figure paying $6-8 for 12ml of juice, will produce 10-12 cartomizers worth, and end up being about $.50-.75 for a cartomizer.
 

Jmitchelliv

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Totally worth refilling. I've taken to just rinsing mine off under cold tap water and letting them sit for a day or two. Pretty painless as long as you have a bunch of cartos to rotate. You'll never even notice the ones on "injured reserve." ;)

As far as juice, I started by getting mine at Viking Vapor E-liquid Supply

Pretty cheap and ok stuff to start off with.

Hope this helps you out!
 

Elvis Veiz

Full Member
Nov 3, 2010
37
0
ny
Um i dont really do anything besides add more juice and its fine. I try to keep a cartomizer for a specific juice. Some really strong flavors wont leave if you try to switch to another completely different flavor.

As for juices gourmet vapor lets you create your own juices from any flavor you want and you can mix them. They have great customer service and ok shipping(aprox 1 week for me). The juices i created taste incredible to me. You can choose how much pg/vg mix you want too. The juice quality is really good and they even label them with whatever name you gave your concoction. Usually they are expensive but they are having a sale right now. If you use the code "gv40" youll get 40% off that makes it as cheap and anywhere else. Its a really good deal.

If you want some premade mixes alien visions has really good flavors/quality/shipping/customer service. As far as menthol i used to smoke all kinds of cigs and they were usually menthol, but havent tried many different juices.
Artic Menthol from johnsons creek is really good to me. And alien visions has awsome massive chocolate mint which is good too. On gourmet vapors you can create your own menthol flavor.
 

pa28

Full Member
Oct 17, 2010
32
0
KY
I'm certainly no expert, those "smart and experienced" will jump in shortly I'm sure. For me, I really like cartomizers (cartos) over cartridges (carts). I have no experience with your particular type of cartos, but here's what I do. First off, I rotate them, using about three for three or four days. When they get a bit tough to drag or just gunky, I use a baby medicine syringe with that weird cone adapter and very hot water. Slip the carto in the cone adapter and "suck / squirt" (technical term) the hot water back and forth thru it about 10-15 times. Once that's done, I blow it out with my mouth to get it as dry as I can. Then, I do the same thing with Isp Alcohol. After blowing out this time, I let them sit for a couple of days and they're good to go. Be aware that they won't last forever, but some will absolutely amaze you.

As for the menthol, can't help....I'll let others chime in. As for flavors, I'm a "dark" type. I like the darker tobaccos, coffees, etc. Heck, I'd vape burnt toast if they'd make it

Peace and good luck!! - Terry
 

deback

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Sep 25, 2010
2,054
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Michigan
You don't have to rinse out or clean cartos. Just refill them when they need to be refilled. If you want to flush out bad juice, you can do that using a Children's Medicine kit (syringe and rubber cone) that's available at Walmart in the pharmacy area for less than $2. But, normally, just refill each carto about 15 to 20 times and then discard it when it doesn't produce flavor and/or vapor as well. I refill 15 cartos for about three weeks and then discard them (refill about 12 cartos each day).

Cleaning them with water can degrade future performance. If you do flush them out, you can dry them quickly by placing them on a metal flat pan in the oven at about 210 degrees for a few minutes. This works well and dries them out completely and quickly, with no harm done. After a lot of experimenting, this is what I've found works the best when I do flush them out using the syringe and rubber cone (which isn't very often anymore) -- this method works the best, because you can pump air through the filler to push out all the extra water. I only do this now when I want to quickly flush out bad juice. I have a blog about cleaning cartos, accessible over at the left under my user name.
 

pizza2me

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Verified Member
Aug 1, 2010
2,504
2,972
Maryland
I agree with what some said above. I only use cartos and just keep refilling them. You'll get 4-5 days out of each at least. That brings the cost per day way down.

I was a menthol full flavor 1.5-2 pad smoker.

I've found a lot of good menthols, but the ones that I can vape all day are from freedomsmokeusa.com

Try these:

Pall Mall (ask them to add menthol)
AmericanSpirit Menthol
New/Port

Allso, Pure Cig is a good non-menthol analog taste (not as good as pall mall to me, but good in a different way). I'm going to try it with menthol added one of the days.

Good luck!
 

texasgranny

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Dec 8, 2010
812
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Texas
I have 4-5 cartos that I rotate thru out the day ( I prefill the night before) I may top off one if needed with a few drops of juice.
These 4-5 cartos last about 2 weeks (one may go sooner) and they just don't perform any more.
I then....throw then in the trash can.
I tried washing, cleaning and the performance was not as good as I thought they should be. So cleaning is not for me.
I pay about 9.00 for LR cartos and I think if I average it right, I probably spend about $5.00 a week on cartos.
and $100 in juice....LOL(not really on the juice)

I was also a menthol smoker for 30 something years.

No 2 menthols are created equally....I have a vast number of them to prove it.
What I like, you might not...believe me

You are going to have to buy some small bottles, from DIFFERENT vendors and find what YOU like.
You might even try mixing a couple together.

Some other members posted on the juice forum that XYZ menthol was the greatest ever! (I won't give the name as I don't want to hurt the vendor)
I bought it and I CANNOT stand it!

Its all about YOUR taste buds.

I now take a average menthol juice add a couple drops of cinnamon flavoring and it works for me.
I now and then add a little chocolate flavoring and that works as well...for me.

And then...if I really need a pick me upper....I drop a few drops of Pure Smokers "Fire & Ice"

After I get down off the roof...I gently replace that with another cartomizer with a gentle juice....(love that stuff)

Good Luck on your journey and glad to have you here!
 
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IOU

Resting In Peace
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Dec 18, 2010
6,446
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Laguna Beach, California
I don't know if this is an acceptable practice, but when I started refilling, I would get a lot of aftertaste from the original flavor the cartos came with. I started soaking in a little fine vodka for a few hours to overnight. I would then shake and blow out the remaining vodka a let dry for a day, or so, then refill with whatever juice I wanted.
This has worked very well for me so far.
 

IOU

Resting In Peace
ECF Veteran
Dec 18, 2010
6,446
2,508
Laguna Beach, California
I don't know if this is an accepted practice, but when I started refilling cartos, I found there would be too much aftertaste left from the previous flavors. I started soaking the finished cartos in a little fine vodka for a few hours, or overnight.
Then I would shake out the excess vodka, blow out the cartos and let them dry for a day or so.
After refilling I found this has worked excellent so far, with no residul aftertaste.
Sorry, repost.
 
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