# of refills? And when do you toss a carto?

[Madame Psychosis]

Just started using cartomizers recently with the 510 adapter, so I have a question... How many refills do you find you get with each cartomizer? And how do you usually tell when a cartomizer is just not worth using anymore -- what starts to go wrong?

(I've also heard mention that the prefilled ones seem to last longer -- or at least, you get an equal number of DIY refills with the blanks as with the prefilled cartos, meaning you get one extra use out of the prefilled ones. Or something like that?)

I tend to refill (syringe into the wick, spin trick) when it's convenient for me rather than when the cartos are totally empty, so I often refill from the halfway point, and I don't have a good sense of how many refills I've gotten.
Two cartos have gotten, I think, 5 half-refills each.

I'm starting to get a funny taste from one of them (not burnt, but vaguely chemical), which is odd. ... [edited to add] oh. uh. that may be a bit of residual isopropyl alcohol when I was cleaning a flooded juice mess out of the thread, if any got into the atomizer by accident.

Input, as always, is appreciated!

 

[Lightgeoduck]

Just started using cartomizers recently with the 510 adapter, so I have a question... How many refills do you find you get with each cartomizer? And how do you usually tell when a cartomizer is just not worth using anymore -- what starts to go wrong?

(I've also heard mention that the prefilled ones seem to last longer -- or at least, you get an equal number of DIY refills with the blanks as with the prefilled cartos, meaning you get one extra use out of the prefilled ones. Or something like that?)

I tend to refill (syringe into the wick, spin trick) when it's convenient for me rather than when the cartos are totally empty, so I often refill from the halfway point, and I don't have a good sense of how many refills I've gotten.
Two cartos have gotten, I think, 5 half-refills each. I'm starting to get a funny taste from one of them (not burnt, but vaguely chemical), which is odd.

Input, as always, is appreciated!

Well topping off is always better than refilling like you do... instead of the syringe try popping the white cap off(there are many tips here on how to do it) and take out the rubber ring inside to top off.... once you do that you can put it back together just enough where you can pop it off with a finger nail

by doing it this way you will be sure to keep it filled....

also if you are using a syringe white cap off or not... you shouldn't need to spin if you stick the syringe inside the fill.

with that being said... amount of refills or top offs can vary.. I have had carts last a month... but that's being extremely cautions and had a lucky cart hehe I also had carts last a couple of days ....

so in short you will hear different answers and different experiences but you should at least get three full refills no problem

 

[Taryn]

I also find it varies a great deal from carto to carto how often you can refill and still get great taste and vape. I have refilled one about twenty times but that one is a bit unusual! I'd say on average I get eight to ten refills before I toss it. Saving the end cap, o ring, condoms (plastic covers) and plug of course!

 

[emberl]

My experience is that the pre-filled cartos taste nasty after refilling them after 3 or 4 times.
They taste musty, yak.

Now the blank cartos is a whole different story.
I can refill and refill them over and over again.
I have 3 going at the time.
I fill one, put it aside for the night, in the morning I refill the one I was using the night before and start using the one I filled the night before.

It's awesome, I have been using the same blank carts for the last 2 weeks.
No nasty musty taste.
Just the same all the time.

Blank cartos is the way to go.

 

[arkangel]

I've had a mixed bag, refilling only pre-filled. I never let them get down to the burnt taste, usually topping them off after a day's use and, like emberl, moving onto another, then back to the first.

I've had one carto I've topped probably 25 times and it's still vaping clouds. But I've had a couple that didn't even take 2 refills before they only taste bad--even after topping off, they'd last maybe 8-10 puffs and the flavor would change (which is my normal indicator to either refill or toss). I haven't been scientific enough to try to determine the underlying cause...some cartos just won't take a refill, even after a rinse/dry/refill/spin cycle...

Gotta get some of those empties...maybe after the Christmas spend-a-thon...

 

[DonDaBoomVape]

My experience is that the pre-filled cartos taste nasty after refilling them after 3 or 4 times.
They taste musty, yak.

Now the blank cartos is a whole different story.
I can refill and refill them over and over again.
I have 3 going at the time.
I fill one, put it aside for the night, in the morning I refill the one I was using the night before and start using the one I filled the night before.

It's awesome, I have been using the same blank carts for the last 2 weeks.
No nasty musty taste.
Just the same all the time.

Blank cartos is the way to go.

I've never tried the blank cartomizers. The prefilled ones have an undertaste that I've never particularly liked (the KR808D-1 was my first e-cig 6 months ago and I still use it occassionally).

Do you know what I'm talking about when I say "undertaste"? If so (whatever word you would use), is that absent from the blank carts that you fill yourself?

 

[Lightgeoduck]

Do you know what I'm talking about when I say "undertaste"? If so (whatever word you would use), is that absent from the blank carts that you fill yourself?

well none of my blanks tasted like cheeze but anyway...

for me it was always hit and miss with prefilled... I mean am I suppose to just trust a bunch of chinawomen to do what I can do myself (no disrespect intended) I prefer to fill them myself with my juice of choice...but of course I am not saying pre-filled is a sin... just blanks are a bit more heavenly IMM

So I put the vote in for stricktly blanks.... because I haven't had an undertaste with an excellent combo of a blank and 'great juice'

Aboo I know you questioned the member you quoted,, but I thought to .... in on this.... please pardon me

 

[doots]

I've never tried the blank cartomizers. The prefilled ones have an undertaste that I've never particularly liked (the KR808D-1 was my first e-cig 6 months ago and I still use it occassionally).

Do you know what I'm talking about when I say "undertaste"? If so (whatever word you would use), is that absent from the blank carts that you fill yourself?

I know wxactly what you mean. To me it's almost slighty acidic.
All the prefilled carts seem to have it. The way I get rid of it in prefilled carts is to wash them out and refill.. Then its gone.

 

[Jules22871]

Do you all clean the cartos? Is the filler replaceable or do you just keep using the same filler?

 

[emberl]

I've never tried the blank cartomizers. The prefilled ones have an undertaste that I've never particularly liked (the KR808D-1 was my first e-cig 6 months ago and I still use it occassionally).

Do you know what I'm talking about when I say "undertaste"? If so (whatever word you would use), is that absent from the blank carts that you fill yourself?

Yes, I think "undertaste" is a good word.
After refilling the pre-filled they taste "musty", in my opinion.

And yes that is absent with the blank cartos.

For some reason the fill in the blanks holds up longer than the prefilled also, it does not get porous, it holds the liquid better.

..

 

[emberl]

Do you all clean the cartos? Is the filler replaceable or do you just keep using the same filler?

The atomizer is built in the fill, it can not be removed.
So yes, you have to use the same filler.

 

[mwahle1]

I have done experiments over the last few weeks. Overall, the empty (blank) cartomizers will consistently outperform the pre-filled carts. Sometimes I can get as many refills from a pre-filled cart as I can with a blank cart; but this is an exception. Generally, I can refill the blank carts twice as many times compared to the pre-filled carts. There have been occasions where I could not even re-fill the pre-filled carts once.

I stop using the carts when the draw gets too difficult. I assume the atomizer is getting “gummed” up.

I know that a pre-filled cart and a blank cart are the same; however, my hypothesis is that the juice in the pre-filled carts may begin to “gum up” the atomizer or maybe something in the e-juice begins to precipitate onto the atomizer. I really do not know why, but I can say for certainty that the empty carts seem superior compared to the pre-filled carts in terms of re-filling amounts and productivity.

 

[Madame Psychosis]

Interesting thoughts. The difference with pre-filled carts may be that you don't know how long it's been sitting around with that liquid in it...and so "gumming up" or otherwise settling/drying might have happened.

I've been enjoying my blanks so far, and now I'm hoping to stock up on them soon. (Yes, preparing for the e-pocalypse. )

I've had to toss only two cartos this first week of use: one I abused the wick badly with incompetent filling, and the other I first filled with a liquid I ended up hating, and couldn't get the taste out.

No burnt ones yet, even though most of the time I've switched to my Xhaler instead of the 510. These babies shine for short (i.e. cautious) drags at HV.

Well topping off is always better than refilling like you do... instead of the syringe try popping the white cap off(there are many tips here on how to do it) and take out the rubber ring inside to top off.... once you do that you can put it back together just enough where you can pop it off with a finger nail

by doing it this way you will be sure to keep it filled....

also if you are using a syringe white cap off or not... you shouldn't need to spin if you stick the syringe inside the fill.

Actually, call it KR OCD, but I don't jut the syringe down into the wick. It's 18 gauge and it would push around/distort/bore little holes in the polyfill. That's how I killed one carto.

I pop off the mouthpiece and rubber o-ring, then use the syringe to get a small amount of liquid on top of the wick or just under the surface.
The syringe allows more precision to avoid the atomizer tube thingy (technical term).

But, I've started just dripping down the wall of the carto to get the same result, with no syringes to clean. (I do wipe the walls of the cart with a q-tip before replacing the rubber o-ring and mouthpiece.)

I use the spin trick to get the liquid to settle in there quickly -- seems to improve capacity. I'm up to seven or eight half-refills and most of my cartos are going strong.

(I'm glad to see this isn't going the way of atomizer-life threads, like "Well, my atomizers last a month" "Mine last six months" "Mine have lasted since 1981 and I never clean them!" )

 

[IBossJekler]

I toss the carto out when I'm just mot getting clouds of smoke out anymore. I make sure to refill well before they're dry too. If there's a slight burn taste it's to the trash for me, that flavor never seems to go away after it. Some go in two refills but I guard the ones that seem to last forever, I've gotten 20 or so out of a few.

 

[Snarkyone]

Well depending on the cart model whether it's a KR808D-1 or a GreenCig cart in my experience. I don't really care for the cardboard taste that the KR808 gives and once you vape it just a little bit too dry you get that scorched taste and you might as well throw the thing out since it will never go away.

The GreenCig carts have NEVER given that scorched/cardboard taste for me. I presume due to it's design superiority and the material used. I don't really care for the western tobacco taste but I top the new ones off with some Flue Cured Tobacco juice to enhance the flavor to something a bit more to my taste.

As for the number of refill or the life of the cart that varies between those two models as well. When I bought my GC kit back in October it came with 4 carts and those 4 lasted me well into November and on, I still have a couple of those IN USE today! I had also bought a 10 pack knowing that sooner or later I would need more. I rotate from cart to cart so I started using them back in October as well. Of those 10 that I bought one of them I destroyed just to see what they were about. One finally died and one is finally getting that clogged draw and the taste is just starting to turn which I believe is MY FAULT for not keeping the different flavors from mixing, I just filled with whatever flavor I was in the mood for instead of dedicated flavors to dedicated carts.

I have refilled each of those 7 or so carts many, many times without them failing. It's going on 3 months now. The KR808D-1 carts are still around as well in case of emergency, and that scorched taste is avoidable if you keep it topped off, it's just that it's a fine line when you get to it. One additional drag can screw it up for you, when the flavor starts to fade or the vapor starts to thin, ADD JUICE IMMEDIATELY, and you should be OK.

Try to learn something from my mistakes with the KR808D-1 carts and keep them wet they will last a long time without scorching. Try not to mix different flavors in the same cart, it will eventually ending up tasting like crap and you will throw the thing away with the atomizer still functioning but with horrible mixed up flavors. That goes for either the 808 or the GreenCig carts. It's not brain surgery, I knew that it wasn't a great idea to mix the flavors knowing that eventually it would end up tasting like a awful goulash!

 

[MHR7331]

Ive been using the same two Ry4 cartos for the past two weeks. Ones starting to suck, so I'm breaking open a new one today. The other one's still vaping good as new. At $1 each, I'd say they're a good deal.

 

[DonDaBoomVape]

Ive been using the same two Ry4 cartos for the past two weeks. Ones starting to suck, so I'm breaking open a new one today. The other one's still vaping good as new. At $1 each, I'd say they're a good deal.

Where are you getting your $1 cartomizers? I've never seen any for less than $1.50 (at best).

BTW, you all realize that these are now called Kr8omizers, right?

EDIT: Nevermind (my question; the Kr8 still stands). I just saw your post in another thread: Eastmall (25 blanks for $25 + $15 shipping). And might as well get an Indulgence while you're at it. I understand that it includes the nude model of your choice.

 

[JustMeAgain]

And might as well get an Indulgence while you're at it. I understand that it includes the nude model of your choice.

I just checked out the Indulgence video - wonder if they's throw in a CD of that cheesy porn music too?

 

[MHR7331]

Where are you getting your $1 cartomizers? I've never seen any for less than $1.50 (at best).

BTW, you all realize that these are now called Kr8omizers, right?

EDIT: Nevermind (my question; the Kr8 still stands). I just saw your post in another thread: Eastmall (25 blanks for $25 + $15 shipping). And might as well get an Indulgence while you're at it. I understand that it includes the nude model of your choice.

Yeah, I just bought over $200 worth of blanks from eastmall, so with free shipping it's a true $1 healthcabin also has them for a bulk price; last I checked it was a 50 unit minimum for $3.90 each (pack of 5) but no free shipping.

 

[critterbug]

ROFLMAO at the Indulgence video. phew