New to cartos, need advice

[jhelliwell]

Hi,

I just got myself a couple of cartotanks (UD AGR+) and am using Boge XL cartomizers, and I am having issues which I'm sure I will eventually get my head around, but I'm currently a bit frustrated.

Reviews of my tank revealed that when you punch the cartomizers, when you hear the carto "pop", you immediately stop turning. If you carry on turning you will have a flooding nightmare.

I vape 100%VG juices (ok its not 100% I know, but I mean there is no PG in them), and my first try with the cartotank was with a fairly thin cherry eliquid (the vendor thins with distilled water), and was quite successful. I punched 2 shallow holes, and got a great vaping experience. It flooded a couple of times, but I managed to clear it easily. That cartomizer lasted 5 days before I started getting a tight draw and a burnt taste, at which point I binned that cartomizer.

My second try was with a dark, thick, sweet vanilla ejuice, and that cartomizer started to taste a bit off at the end of day 1, and died early into day 2, giving a burnt taste and tight draw. I tried again with a fresh cartomizer, and this time I looked at the saturation levels of the top of the polyfill, and it was dry and completely white at the top, so I realised it was probably not wicking properly, so I kept repriming it with a few drops. It lasted slightly longer, dying slowly through day 2 until I couldn't stand the burnt taste any longer at the end of day 2. Not a great vaping experience to say the least. What do I do here, punch 3 holes? Or make the original 2 deeper? Alternatively I am prepared to accept that I should just use the vanilla in my RBA instead

I am sure I'm priming the carttomizers properly in the first place, the polyfill is nice and moist but not flooded, and I leave it a good hour before using it. I've found by trial and error how much is too much. I try to line up the punched holes with the holes in the bottom of the centre post of the tank.

My problem is, the burnt taste is so nasty I catch myself bracing myself for it every time I vape now, and the rate at which I'm going through cartomizers is pissing me off. It also bums me out that when it happens I have to syringe my eliquid out, take half an hour to prime a new carto and let it soak, put my tank back together, refill etc. I wonder :

a) if the way the carto dies (sudden tight draw, burnt taste) is the natural end-of-life of my carto or if it is an indication of user error
b) I got 5 days off a thin juice, is that normal?
c) Do I really have to spend my vaping life bracing myself for the inevitable dry hit? Aaargh

I realise I'm still on a learning curve with the punched hole size, and have to take into account the characteristics of each particular eliquid, and I'm sure I will get there by trial and error, but if anyone's got any pointers of how to get there faster I sure would appreciate it.

[edit] I should say that I'm running it at 5.5watts. Anything higher starts to taste not good, and the carto's are 2.9ohms

 

[yzer]

I use 95% VG juice. Different carto punches work differently. When I use the Siam Mods V2 carto punch I hear the screw break through the metal at about 2 3/4 turns. I punch four smallish holes at about 3 1/3 turns each. The maximum turns and the widest holes from the Siam Mods V2 are at 4 full turns. Any more than that risks damaging the carto internals.

All carto brands have their own way of building cartos. I find that Smok cartos work better for high percentage VG juice than Boges and that Boges are less likely to flood with mostly PG juices than Smok.

What is the correct amount of open surface area to punch for high percentage VG? It depends. I use three larger punched holes or four smaller holes.

On fact is certain. If the carto isn't saturated with juice it will burn every time.

Cartos are usually tossed out when the flavor begins to suffer. Flavoring gunks up cartos. I get about 18ml of unflavored juice through my Smok cartos before swapping them out.

 

[jwag1973]

I'd strongly recommend reading "Baditudes" blog on Carto's/Tanks. Very informative, a must read IMO for those of us still finding our way with Carto's and Tanks. Good luck!

 

[jhelliwell]

Thanks for the replies. I'll give Baditude's blog a read. I've come across postings that claim that the condom fill method is more likely to cause problems, an that the dripping method gives the best results, so I'll give that a try. I'll try punching more holes as an experiment with the thicker juices. Thanks afain


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[EL Pistoffo]

Thanks for the replies. I'll give Baditude's blog a read. I've come across postings that claim that the condom fill method is more likely to cause problems, an that the dripping method gives the best results, so I'll give that a try. I'll try punching more holes as an experiment with the thicker juices. Thanks afain


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Well that's comforting. I heard good things about the condom method but I do get mixed results. I'm going to give the dripping method a try next time. It's no big deal when one of my crappy kanger cartos gets ruined but I don't want to trash my Ikenvapes.

 

[Baditude]

Baditude's Cartotank Setup Guide

Vendor List for Pre-Punched Cartomizers/Safe Vaping Power Chart

 

[jhelliwell]

Just to give some feedback, after reading Baditude's blog, my current tank has been going amazingly well on the same cartomiser for 6 days with no loss of flavour. The airflow is becoming a little tight but it looks like I've got through my problems.

I wanted a go-to tank setup where I could get consistency and low maintenance. This setup would just need to work, since I work long hours and haven't got the time to fool around. Well I've found it, and thanks to Baditude, have ironed out the last remaining problems. The initial priming of the cartomiser is the most important thing.


Thanks again


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[EL Pistoffo]

Just to give some feedback, after reading Baditude's blog, my current tank has been going amazingly well on the same cartomiser for 6 days with no loss of flavour. The airflow is becoming a little tight but it looks like I've got through my problems.

I wanted a go-to tank setup where I could get consistency and low maintenance. This setup would just need to work, since I work long hours and haven't got the time to fool around. Well I've found it, and thanks to Baditude, have ironed out the last remaining problems. The initial priming of the cartomiser is the most important thing.


Thanks again


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So how are you priming yours? Maybe that will help with my problems.

 

[jhelliwell]

I now punch 2 very small holes, stopping as soon as I hear the pop. Then I drip into the top of the polyfill until it looks like the consistency of an ice slushy drink. I then hold the cartomiser at the top and flick it away from me like you would a thermometer to force the excess liquid down into the body of the cartomiser. I repeat this until the polyfill looks dry. I then drip again and repeat the process until the polyfill remains wet at the top. At this point the cartomiser is full and I install it into the tank and fill the tank.

I'm finding such success with this method I'll never go back to the condom fill method


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[EL Pistoffo]

I now punch 2 very small holes, stopping as soon as I hear the pop. Then I drip into the top of the polyfill until it looks like the consistency of an ice slushy drink. I then hold the cartomiser at the top and flick it away from me like you would a thermometer to force the excess liquid down into the body of the cartomiser. I repeat this until the polyfill looks dry. I then drip again and repeat the process until the polyfill remains wet at the top. At this point the cartomiser is full and I install it into the tank and fill the tank.

I'm finding such success with this method I'll never go back to the condom fill method


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Same method I've been using. I'll also stop filling when the juice starts oozing out of the little holes, whichever comes first.

 

[jhelliwell]

That's right. I also inserted a toothpick down the centre hole to keep that airway clear when filling. I stopped when juice started to appear out of the punched holes. My current carto is now 7 days old, has vaped 10ml of juice and still has no flavour loss. It has never flooded and never given me a dry hit. I'm absolutely stoked. Whereas other tanks burn eliquid for fun, my current setup hardly uses much liquid so it lasts ages. I'm loving these cartotanks


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