Mold in washed (Echo) cartomizers?

[Fernand]

I was wondering what that odd washday taste was in the first Echo-E carto I had rinsed in hot tap water and left to dry for 3 days. The carto was weak at first, I would say some moisture remained, and there was a taste that reminded me of wet laundry, like with a trace of detergent. I puffed and I puffed and the juice taste returned, but with that aftertaste. And THEN it hit me. It's mold. Bad deal. CAUTION!

What can be done to prevent it, other than using alcohol instead of just water? I guess these specific cartos are headed for hades. Or is there a simple recipe for obliterating mold without obliterating the user? Some mold is resistant to VERY drastic measures.

It makes me wonder if there were spores in the filler to begin with? Anybody with ideas?

 

[KTaylor]

If you are gonna do the hot water rinse I would follow it with some vodka or PGA to sterilize, just to be safe.

 

[Natalia]

I use a high proof vodka for the last rinse in my cartos, using a turkey baster or cleaning kit. They are bone dry overnight.
Hope this helps.

 

[Cigarman]

Definitely followup with vodka and don't use tap water, only distilled.

 

[KeysBum]

I throw them in the trash and fill a new one.

 

[salemgold]

I had some 808 cartos mold after washing too. I stopped washing and just replace now. I started vaping one before I knew the mold was in it and just don't want to take any more chances with it.

 

[Elphaba13]

They're cheap. Just chuck 'em. Not worth the fiddling and the risk just to save $1.50.

 

[iuseaspork]

Maybe next time try dying them on the lowest setting in your oven, say 170f for a few hours. It's what I do with my ce2's, although mine are metal. I think the plastic should withstand under 200f though.

Edit: I would chuck the ones already affected though. Maybe try them in the oven to see if they melt first (on aluminum foil)

 

[lynleestar]

that cleaning kit sounds like a winner~!

 

[emus]

If you don't like alcohol I would suck H2O out w/ shop vac first.
If you have a gallon of PG you can drip PG in carto then suck out w/ vac.
Many other ways to dry such as hair dryer, oven at 160F (protect from heating elements), etc.

Agree w/ iuse; chuck the ones that have already molded.

 

[Pheisty]

They're cheap. Just chuck 'em. Not worth the fiddling and the risk just to save $1.50.

OMG, yes!!! Throw them out! Not worth the risk. You can get very, very ill (as I'm sure you know) from inhaling that crap.

 

[Fernand]

Now that I found a bottle of 96% alcohol (in california!) I'm no longer using water for anything ;-)

 

[hairball]

Buy yourself a food dehydrator at wal-mart. Make sure it has a temperature setting and top fan that circulates the air. Wash cartos then sling as much water out as possible. Put them in the food dehydrator and set on the highest temp. In 8 hours, dry cartos ready for reloading. I have not had any mold in mine as of yet and it's been over a year for me. As for Echo and Echo-E cartos, you can remove the filler and wash it. If they are the dual coils, it's a little trickier but can be done.