I realize that this might sound condescending, but please know that I don't mean it that way. I'm completely genuine here.
I'm just amazed that anyone might actually toss one of these due to the flavor without cleaning it or tinkering. I'm sorry if I misunderstood that. And you might not particularly care for tinkering with cartos, but these require *very little* tinkering aside from when you first get them.
I've been
vaping for over a year and I more or less expect any carto to come with a crappy taste initially due to whatever they do to keep the wicks wet before they get to a customer. Straight pg/vg or a yucky tobacco flavor like some of these had. You really don't even have to vape through it, that was just how I did it. I used a really stout flavor that mostly covered it up. It wasn't pleasant, but I got through it just fine. YMMV, of course.
Anyway, an initial cleaning should definitely take care of it. I cleaned the XLs after I vaped through it in my 3ml tank and knew what I was in for. I stick it on a battery, take out the seal, wiggle the tube until it comes off and take it off of the battery. Then, I rinse the tube out really well along with the metal tube that runs from the base to the seal and the seal itself. After that, I hold the base under hot running water, turning it so the water runs directly onto the wicks. My water pressure sort of sucks, so if you have high pressure, it might not be a good idea to run it full blast. I sort of fluff the wicks with my finger while I do this to separate the strands while I do this, just so the center gets cleaned at least a little.
Sometimes I leave the tube on first and blow water through it like Christ did on the video before I disassemble it, sometimes I don't. It would probably be best to do that with the first clean if you're trying to get the nasty stuff out. Once I've done all of that, I push a paper towel through the plastic tube to get all of the water out. I put the base on the battery after drying it off a bit and give it a little dry burn. Doesn't take much. Stick the post back in and make sure it's straight, then the tube and the seal. Fill it about halfway and presto, the flavor is fine.
After that, you will have to clean it from time to time but you won't really need to disassemble it. I got some of those Dentek brushes, so I do take mine apart every other or every third cleaning just to scrub the coil a bit because some gunk just needs to be loosened up. But after this first cleaning, it's pretty fiddle free.
Even the ones that give frequent dry hits can almost always be fixed, going by what I've read on the Phoenix thread. I've saved both of the ones I had that did this, although I thinned the wicks too much on one of them and it started flooding/leaking. It's a matter of trimming the wicks a bit, slightly thinning them out or lifting the cup a little. If you're getting dry hits and the wicks are pointing straight up after you take the tube off, you probably need to lift the cup.
All you have to do is stick the tip of your syringe (after cleaning any juice off of it) up the threaded end at a slight angle so it hits the edge of the bottom of the cup. Then you nudge it very gently to avoid breaking a wire or otherwise damaging it, until the wicks aren't pointing upward quite so much. Put about half a ml in it and seen how it does.
If that doesn't help, just turn it upside down and suck all the juice you can out of it. Take off the tube and clean off any juice that wouldn't go to the seal with a paper towel or something and try to trim the wicks. For me, having them flush with the widest part of the base worked well. You can just use some nail clippers for this or cuticle scissors like I did. You can find those anywhere you can buy other nail products like clippers, files, etc. I got mine at the dollar store! And, if that doesn't work, use a pair of tweezers to pull some of the wick out. I think I probably took about maybe 1/4 of the wick on one of mine and it's great. The other, I might have taken half of it which was overkill for me as they weren't THAT thick. I'd suggest that you err on the side of caution.
Again, if you don't like fiddling, please know that you'll only have to do this ONE time. If you're able to get it working properly, then that's that. And don't be afraid to try this stuff if you'd otherwise just be tossing it! You have everything to gain and nothing to lose since tinkering with it is better than just throwing it away. Furthermore, I'm sure someone around here would be happy to take it off your hands and pay for shipping if they believe they can fix it themselves.
[Edit] Dang, I wrote a novel again. Sorry!
) this isn't a knock per say on GotVapes, but just my feelings when I read your post.
