I do not clean cartos. They are disposable. Some spend time cleaning and drying them and most get mixed results. No
juice goes in one of my cartos unless I know I like the juice and it is a thickness I will put in a carto. I also avoid any juice that is dark and not transparent (will probably drop a bunch of carto-clogging flavoring sediment). I put a juice I like in a carto and keep the carto damp with that juice or a compatible one until the performance gets too degraded, then I put it in a bag in case h*ll ever freezes over and I need to clean them, and I start a new carto. I can usually get a week of use out of one.
On a KR808D-1 (Volt etc) manual battery you can use a DSE901 standard resistance (not LR) atomizer and drip tip to test juices. On an auto, I guess use DSE901 cartridges on the atty since drip tips are not recommended on auto batteries. You can get those things at LiteCigUSA.net and if you get a plastic or delrin drip tip them you can also use it as a comfortable mouthpiece on a carto.
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I fill cartos as intended, no tricks, no forcing more juice in
How I fill a cartomizer (Vapor4Life for KR8 or Boge 510 for 510 which are all soft-cap w/ no inner seals and defined central air channel)
I use thin (20% or less VG) liquid or Vapor4Life WOW liquids, preferably clear liquids w/ no sediment
Filling a blank carto - I pop off the soft cap (unbent paperclip carefully in the mouth hole, not catching any wires or stuffing!). I hold some tissue against the threaded end hole. I tilt the carto and slowly drip 18 drops (per ml of carto capacity and these are 1ml cartos) onto the inner wall of the carto so it slides down into the stuffing while I rotate the carto (the first drops may take more time to wet the stuffing and be absorbed). Then I wait 15 seconds or so then I drip however many more drops the stuffing wants to soak up. Then I do clean-up. If it is leaking, I clean that up. Then I tilt the open end down into the tissue and puff hard a few times into the threaded end to clear any juice out of the central air channel (I want to see light through there). If it looks too wet above the stuffing, I gently touch a bit of tissue to the stuffing (otherwise that liquid will be gurgling or spitting in my mouth). Then since this was a fresh fill of a blank, I now let it settle. I lay the carto on different sides for 15-20 minutes. Then it should be ready to vape. If you use thicker juices than me, then you may need to let it settle longer.
As I am
vaping - if the vapor gets a bit light or a bit dry or tastes bit off or the carto is getting unusually warm, I will take the carto off the battery, open it, add 6-8 drops or whatever it seems to want (I will either hold a bit of tissue against the threaded end hole just in case, or skimp on how many drops I add to make sure I avoid drips if I have no tissue). I check to make sure the threaded end is dry, give it a couple of puffs into the threaded end to make sure the air channel is clear, and continue to vape.
Note - it is easy for me to "open" my main cartos for adding juice because I replace the white end cap with a plastic or delrin drip tip (I get them at LiteCigUSA.net). So I can easily pull that out with my fingers when I add juice and it keeps my lips cool if the carto is hot.
