Noob's first cartomizer refill -- problems

[rshields]

I recently purchased a SmokeTip branded KR808. It has been great and I have been about 2 weeks now without having an analog.

Then I ordered some e-juice from Rocky Mtn. Vapor. Yesterday I tried for the first time to refill some used cartomizers. To experiment I filled some using the condom method and some others by dripping and tunrning the cart until full.

Every single one of the carts I filled are not working well. I get plenty of vapor, but no throat hit at all. I would appreciate opinions on what might be the cause of getting good vapor but no throat hit.

Thanks in advance.

 

[heXy]

Do you get liquids with nicotine or no? From what I've gathered so far, non nicotine liquids don't produce much TH. I've read that upping the VG can help a little, but ultimately if they're nicotine free, there isn't much TH.

 

[Katatonik]

Do you get liquids with nicotine or no? From what I've gathered so far, non nicotine liquids don't produce much TH. I've read that upping the VG can help a little, but ultimately if they're nicotine free, there isn't much TH.

PG helps with throat hit. VG helps with producing more vapor.

I found that the condom method is a waste of time and juice. Too much goes through the air channel and not enough goes into the filler. I end up with a flooded carto.

The drop and turn method works the best.

 

[heXy]

My apologies, I read a different thread wrong. Thanks Katatonik!

 

[rshields]

Yea, the juice I bought is 12mg nicoitne, exactly the same as the pre-filled cartos I started with (and the prefilled ones gave good throat hit). Also, I don't think the issue here is one of condom filling vs. drip and turn, since I did a batch of both and all of them are performing badly with regards to throat hit. Maybe Rocky Mtn. Vapor is all VG and that means little throat hit?

 

[Rosa]

What flavor did you get?
And it's the exact same flavor as what came in your carts?
Maybe it's just the rocky mt vapor brand? Some brands have more flavor and TH than others (don't know why, just an observation). And some flavors give more TH than others too....

I'm a big fan of TH

 

[Duderino]

I just started vaping yesterday, filled my first blank carto last night... and, umm, what's the problem? I pulled the rubber part by the mouthpiece out, dropped the juice in until I couldn't fit anymore, then let them sit overnight. They're workin fine! I'm using CoolCarts from V4L...

 

[dormouse]

1. I recommend manual batteries always, but especially if you refilling cartos. Too easy to kill an auto with a juice leak

2. That happened after I fill too - it's like a flooded atomizer on a 3-piece. Some say leave them sit for 1/2 hour after filling. One person lets it sit upright with threaded end on a tissue to catch any leaks. That would work and also clear the air channel.

but I am impatient so...
After filling... Since I am holding a tissue on the threaded end, I check for leaking and wait for that to slow down. Then I make sure the threaded end is dry and clean. I tilt the open end of the carto down toward a tissue and puff through the threaded end to make sure the air channel is clear - I look through the carto towards light so I can see it is clear. I use a pointed tissue and clean up any juice that is pooled above the stuffing on the inner walls where I dripped.

Then I try the carto - still may not be good at making vapor or may be sputtering a bit of hot juice out the mouth hole. I repeat - check for leaking, blow through the threaded end. etc. Then it will just start working, maybe a bit less vapor at first until the juice spreads better throughout the stuffing.

I am pretty sure just standing it upright, threaded end down, on a tissue and waiting would work as well... hahaha. Perhaps if I vaped another carto while waiting then I could have the patience to do that.

 

[trouble2k]

VG is pretty a fairly thick liquid. You should be able to tell if it is all VG or a large percentage. PG is a thinner liquid, almost the consistency of water.

Did you possibly overheat/dry-up your original cartos? I never had much luck refilling the ones that I got from SmokeTip and ended up getting some from V4L. It's like they didn't perform as well after refilling them.

 

[MrByte]

I fill my cartomizers with a syringe and a needle. I put the bottom cover in place first, with the rubber thing that goes up inside the cart, then fill and cap. Let it sit a bit and it's good to go. Just fill until you see the liquid, then back it off a tiny bit until the fiber is wet but not swimming.

 

[dormouse]

PG lets through the most TH and is thin. VG dulls the TH and is thick but makes more visible vapor. Also some VG juices are so thick that they don't spread well through carto stuffing but some VG juice makers add grain alcohol or water to thin the VG a bit.

I like to stay around 70pg/30vg or 80pg/20vg for more THl though a few of my juices are 50/50. V4L doesn't list its PG/VG but some think their WOW jucies have more VG than their other juices (because they make more visible vapor).

Backwoods Brew is 70/30. FreedomSmokeUSA offers a variety of PG/VG ratios on their Flavor Range juices and almost all of their tobaccos.

 

[Voodoo]

I have the same model, hexy — I'll share a few things from my personal experience.

- I really like the smoketip ecig. If the cartos weren't a pain in the ..., I would never have switched away from the model. It is a VERY good ecig to 'make the switch' with.

- the 'condom' method is pretty wasteful. I used a lot less ejuice popping the cap on the top, holding the carto at a 45-ish degree angle, and dripping onto the batting inside. You have to go a bit slow; drop on 4 or 5 drops, wait for it to soak in, drop in 4 or 5 more. In this fashion, 20 drops fully restored the carto. With the dripping method, patience is really important. It's like dripping water on a rolled up napkin. It takes time for the water to distribute downward, so it's best to drip-wait-drip-wait-drip-wait-drip-wait. I wait about 30 seconds between drips, turning it each time. After the last set of 4-5 drops, I wait about a minute - just to make sure it's hit bottom, down where the atomizer is.

- the carto lasts longer if you DON'T clean it between refills. This requires that you put compatible flavors on - like, I refilled my coffee cartos with cappuccino ejuice, for example. I also filled my chocolate ones with cappuccino. In other words, the old flavor WILL linger, so I wouldn't (for example) drip bubblegum ejuice onto cartos that came with clove flavor.

- you CAN clean the cartos between uses, but the atomizer inside will take more wear and tear (and so die more quickly), and you will still never fully be rid of the original flavor. Other people have said differently, but this is my experience. I will also say that every atomizer I washed just doesn't quite taste right after cleaning it. I far prefer the flavor-matching method described above.

- learning to refill the cartos takes a little bit of practice. Not a lot, but a little. There's a trick to almost everything with e-cigs. Embrace the idea of learning.

- if you DON'T clean your cartos, you can probably refill them 4-5 times before the atomizer burns out and it's time to throw the carto away. If you DO clean your carto, you can probably refill it 2-3 times — provided you don't destroy it in the cleaning process. I destroyed a few.

- you have an automatic battery, not a manual one. You didn't ask, but you will find reason to wonder at some point. Manual batteries have little buttons on the side.

- the amount of vapor and throat hit are very dependent on the ejuice you're using, and not all ejuice is created equal. I have recently ordered a PG/VG reduction ejuice from juicyvapor.com, in the hopes there will be some 'best of both worlds' aspect to it. I will say that only a few juices I have tried so far produce both as much flavor and as much vapor as the fresh cartos ordered from smoketip. Maybe this is why they offer so few flavors? I don't know. I'm still finding out which suppliers and flavors I like best.

- your carto refilling skillz may have a little to do with the lack of throat hit and vapor - because if you don't have enough in there or it isn't at the bottom, it isn't going to produce much vapor or much throat hit (or taste very good). But mostly, it will be the kind of ejuice you're using. Some are just stronger than others.

Hope that helps.