Possible reason for Cartos superior flavor?

[UncleChuck]

I haven't used cartotanks in a long time, after getting into rebuildables they collected dust on the shelf. I keep a few clearos around for certain situations, due to convenience and ability to rebuild. Stock coil-heads suffer greatly from flavor loss, which I always attributed to the design of cheap clearos. But my rebuilt cotton wicked heads taste terrific compared to the stock silica, as one would expect, but I was surprised how good cotton can taste even in a clearo-like device.

Anyone who has torn apart the standard vertical coil cartos knows there is a small cotton "sock" that's wrapped around the coil. So, in effect, cartos are cotton-wicked devices. The cotton wicks juice from the polyfill and delivers it to the coil, so cotton is the only material actually in contact with the coil.

Pre-rba, Cartos were my standard for flavor and performance, just like with many people, and I would bet the cotton sock has a lot to do with it. Sound right? What say you ECF?

Not everybody feels cotton is superior, but I bet people that prefer the flavor of cartos would also prefer the flavor of cotton-wicked devices over silica ones. And conversely people who prefer silica-wicked clearo heads over cartos (of prefer the silica wicked-horizontal coil cartos) would prefer silica wicked devices over cotton ones.

Just something that popped into my head, as there are always posts in the rba section about people asking "should I try cotton?" etc etc, and it seems a good base for suggestions to say if you liked cartos, you'll like cotton.

 

[Baditude]

I was never certain what material the "sock" was made of. If you say it's made of cotton, I'll take your word for it.

I've always believed cartotanks had better flavor production and were more consistant because of the increased surface area of the polyfill totally surrounding the heating coil. This is much more surface area than what silica string wicks can provide to their heating coil. A string wick can only feed so much e-liquid to the coil, and can easily be inadequate for a heavy vaper resulting in either dry hits or a flooded clearo.

IMHO, cartotanks are a more superior juice attachment than clearomizers.

 

[mobocracy]

IMHO, cartotanks are a more superior juice attachment than clearomizers.

It'd be interesting to try a clearo with a cotton wick, but I think Baditude's explanation makes sense and I agree that cartotanks are superior to clearos. There's something "sharp" about the vapor off a clearo compared even to a full untanked carto, although without the tank a carto drops off pretty quickly.

I'm not a huge mint flavor fan, but I do have one mint flavor ("Snow Mint") I find enjoyable sometimes and strangely it works very well in a clearo. Which makes me wonder if real clear juices like mint just wick better than dark, sweet juices that I prefer which is why they seem OK in a clearo.

The friend who turned me on to Snow Mint is an occasional vaper (a few nights a week). He uses the cheapest eGo clones and clearos. I was explaining to him how well carto tanks were working for me and told me he gets over a month out of this clearos but he only vapes mints and real fruity juices which seem really clear.

With EVOD clearos I was gunking a head to non-usability sometimes in a day with Johnson Creek Red Oak Tennessee Cured which drove me to finally sort out carto tanks and I haven't touched a clearo since except for the random hits I'll take off of the one with Snow Mint. I'm getting several refills off a DCT with Smok 1.5 DC cartos without any sign of deterioration. I'm actually planning on getting some larger tanks so I have to refill less often.

 

[UncleChuck]

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I was never certain what material the "sock" was made of. If you say it's made of cotton, I'll take your word for it.

I've always believed cartotanks had better flavor production and were more consistant because of the increased surface area of the polyfill totally surrounding the heating coil. This is much more surface area than what silica string wicks can provide to their heating coil. A string wick can only feed so much e-liquid to the coil, and can easily be inadequate for a heavy vaper resulting in either dry hits or a flooded clearo.

IMHO, cartotanks are a more superior juice attachment than clearomizers.

Cotton was just an assumption, looks like it, burns like it, and carto-flavor seems very similar to cotton-wicked flavor (to me) I hadn't considered it wasn't cotton, I need to stop assuming things

You could very well be onto something with the idea of the polyfill surrounding the coil giving better flavor because of superior wicking. I could always take cartos up to around 10 watts for 2ohm Boges and a bit higher for the SR ones, but with the silica wicked, horizontal coil cartos, and clearos, anything past 6-8 watts and they would burn like crazy due to lack of wicking capability. That could have been an issue of all the juice in the polyfill acting as a heat sink and stealing power away, requiring higher settings for the same performance, but cartos always gave more vapor/flavor/etc compared to Clearos at any power level (except for very very low ones, probably where the heat-sink issue comes into play.

Although rebuilt with cotton, clearos really impress me. I remember ribbing you in a thread somewhere when you mentioned having some Protanks, now I feel silly that I own a few

I would still be using cartotanks as my "out of the house" devices, but cartos just seem horribly restrictive in the airflow department these days, I have to do a 6-8 second slow draw instead of my preferred 2-3 second drag, and it feels like my face is going to collapse into the carto due to air pressure

 

[Baditude]

Of all the juice delivery devices that I've tried, none can compare to a cartotank. Maybe that's because they are what I became most familiar with and have stuck with them until I've perfected my methods to them.

All the other devices have their cons. RBA's are great if you are willing to put the time and trouble into them. I personally find them to be too finicky. I watch the rebuildable vapers at the vape shop tearing down their builds every 2 - 3 days or less. I'm definitely not into that. I just want to set up a cartotank every 3 - 4 weeks and vape with it maintanance free for that entire time. I get just as good of flavor with the cartotank as I did with my rebuildables.

I was talking to a new vapor at the vape shop who was disappointed in his clearomizers, and was explaining cartotanks to him. The sales person overheard our conversation and told the noobie that cartos suck, are an antequated device that hasn't had any improvements in the last couple of years. He then recommended the noobie try one of the newer clearos on the market instead. I was rather insulted by the salesman completely ignoring my positive experience with cartotanks and trying to influence the customer away from cartos because its an "old technology". What if it is? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[mackman]

IMHO there is something inherent in the cotton wicking material. I went through the whole gambit. Started with clearos and then rebuilt them with cotton instead of silica and noticed a whole new flavor experience. Graduated to the rebuildable gennies and the mesh but they had better flavor with cotton. Drippers and all types of RBA's I believe experience more pronounced flavor with cotton. I sort of have come full circle. Like Baditude I set up multiple quality tanks with quality cartos and for me it doesn't get any easier or more pleasurable; with one exception. The KFL built with cotton is the easiest build with the best and most pronounced flavor I have ever experienced. The KFL's that I am using are the $40 clones. While maybe not machined as finely as the original (but a hella lot less expensive); I believe the design of the device is the key component in being able to obtain the desired result. I can rotate 10+ favorite juices with minimal maintenance and enjoy the vaping experience to its fullest. JMO