Refilling the cartomizer: The Movie

[kc0cmp]

Yes, thanks SOOO much for the helpful video! I tried doing one last night right after watching the vid and it worked perfectly!
One question: some have mentioned refilling through the hole in the battery end, how well does that work? The hole seems kinda small... Can you stick maybe an 18 or 20 guage needle with syringe through the hole and refill like that?

First: Glad to hear you liked the Video!

It doesn't work very well because you're refilling *blind*..no visual clues to tell when you'd better quit.

This is critical with auto batteries as you can kill them with overfilled/leaking juice..which is nearly impossible unless you over fill. Manual batteries are sealed and are thus more forgiving..but you still get that annoying gurgle and mouthfulls of juice.

it's always best to do it the way the manufacturer does it, because if it were in any way better to fill them from the battery end, they'd do it that way at the factory..and they don't

 

[kc0cmp]

i just tried refilling i started hitting it and got no vapor but i deffinitly got a throat hit i did everything just like the video any suggestions or is it normal

This is "semi-normal" for some flavors (see above). Menthol in particular will throw you out of the chair even if it makes *no* vapor. it's primarily because the wick is a tad flooded, and every component of the juice (pg/flavor/nic) vaporizes at a slightly different temperature. if the atty is too cool (cant get hot cause its sopping wet) but hot enough to vaporize say..the flavor and the pg but not the nic (or whichever, I don't know the precice vaporization points of the different liquid components) your results will reflect that certain components are vaporizing before others...

Why does this not normally happen? Because the atty usually reaches a temperature at which *all* of the components vaporize at the same time. The only case in which this is not true is with a weak atty (junked up with carbon from prolonged use) or a sopping wet atty that can't achieve proper temperature until some juice is cooked off of it.

Indians (and presumably many other primitive cultures) used to boil water in buffalo stomach and other organic containers...Why did these containers not scorch and burn? Due to the liquid inside which seeped out just enough to keep it from burning! The same is true of the cartomizer. As long as it's wet, it doesn't burn...but too wet and it can't achieve proper vaporizing temperature.

This is why sometimes refills don't create proper vapor initially..and why sometimes even brand new (slightly overfilled) cartomizers do this for the first several drags.

Hope that helps!

 

[radwor]

This is "semi-normal" for some flavors (see above). Menthol in particular will throw you out of the chair even if it makes *no* vapor. it's primarily because the wick is a tad flooded, and every component of the juice (pg/flavor/nic) vaporizes at a slightly different temperature. if the atty is too cool (cant get hot cause its sopping wet) but hot enough to vaporize say..the flavor and the pg but not the nic (or whichever, I don't know the precice vaporization points of the different liquid components) your results will reflect that certain components are vaporizing before others...

Why does this not normally happen? Because the atty usually reaches a temperature at which *all* of the components vaporize at the same time. The only case in which this is not true is with a weak atty (junked up with carbon from prolonged use) or a sopping wet atty that can't achieve proper temperature until some juice is cooked off of it.

Indians (and presumably many other primitive cultures) used to boil water in buffalo stomach and other organic containers...Why did these containers not scorch and burn? Due to the liquid inside which seeped out just enough to keep it from burning! The same is true of the cartomizer. As long as it's wet, it doesn't burn...but too wet and it can't achieve proper vaporizing temperature.

This is why sometimes refills don't create proper vapor initially..and why sometimes even brand new (slightly overfilled) cartomizers do this for the first several drags.

Hope that helps!

This man knows his cartomizers!

 

[kc0cmp]

In addition to the instructions in the video, try this:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/vapor4life/47584-my-refilling-trick.html

It works great!

Yes this is good for those of us who have joint issues and can't really apply the power by just using centrifugal force of the arm/wrist and occasionally elbow..so putting it in a bag and slinging it in a tight circle does the same thing...sometimes gravity just isnt enough to overcome surface tension

 

[kc0cmp]

This man knows his cartomizers!

naaa, i'm one of those dangerous people who knows a little bit about a whole bunch of stuff but only a whole bunch about a very few things :/

This is what you get when your father goes out of his way to prepare you for the nuclear holocaust that never came.

 

[kc0cmp]

Maybe you could, but the whole point of opening up the cart is to re-center the atty, if it needs it, and to have a visual cue so you don't overfill the carts. Prying the cap off the first time takes the longest - after that I can go from topping off a cart to vaping all day in less that 2 minutes... It really doesn't take that much time or effort once you know what you are doing.
On a side note, I keep all of my rubber O-rings and mouthpieces just in case I break or lose one. The carts will die after a while, but the spare parts do come in handy!

Everything in this post quoted above is absolutely correct. It's wise to recenter the atty, even on new cartomizers..but that's up to the individual user's comfort level of course.

It's wise to take off the mouth piece unless you feel confident you could fill a bucket with a garden hose at 30 feet in the bottom of a cave in absolute darkness.

Once you've removed the mouthpiece that first time, the hard part is over, particularly if you plan ahead and dont put it back on with a mallet. If you just mash it in with your thumb, leaving a teenie bit of rim, you can pick it out with that same thumb nail (as seen in the video) with relative ease.

Always save your leftover parts! Those mouthpiece caps and silicone 0 rings are great when you lose or damage one. Clean out an old coffee can or something, you'll thank me later (shameless ripped off of Monk)

And finally, once you get the hang of it and learn how far in to mash your caps so you can again remove them with ease, 2 minutes is about right for a non rushed refill. It's really really easy once you get the hang of it.

Remember if you *really* hose your refilling job and drastically overfill, you *can* blow through the mouth end to remove juice...but use sharp/abrupt/short blows (like when shooting a blowgun) because if you follow through, you'll empty the cart totally in one blow..no kidding. Also remember to follow that puff with a sharp blow through the battery end to send the juice you just sent to the bottom (away from the atty) back toward the mouthpiece end.

 

[Pawpaw]

Indians (and presumably many other primitive cultures) used to boil water in buffalo stomach and other organic containers...Why did these containers not scorch and burn? Due to the liquid inside which seeped out just enough to keep it from burning! The same is true of the cartomizer. As long as it's wet, it doesn't burn...but too wet and it can't achieve proper vaporizing temperature.

Very good description, which reminded me of something.

While out camping, I have made coffee in a brown paper bag, sitting on a grate over the campfire. It has to be a new bag and the paper above the water line will burn away, but it works.

 

[Spiritsoar]

Hey, very informative video. I just got my vapor king today, and ordered a bunch of cartomizers and some juice. I have a few questions though.

1. Can you refill a cart of one flavor with juice from another?

2. If I do the above, how do I know when a cardomizer is expended enough to refill with the next juice?

3. Can you buy empty cartomizers anywhere? I bought my stuff from Vapor4Life, and haven't seen any there. If not, is there a way to completely clean out a cartomizer?

Thanks a lot, this community has been a great help with me starting into vaping.

 

[Pawpaw]

Welcome!

1. If it's a complementary flavor, go ahead. The old flavor will remain, to a degree. If you don't want that, just rinse thoroughly under HOT running water for a minute and blow hard through the mouth end. Do that a couple of times and you should be good to go.

2. If you're going to refill period, stop using it when the vapor falls off or the taste changes (tastes burned).

3. V4L sells empties. They are called "blank cartomizers". Forget what this link says... this is them: http://store.vapor4life.com/Vapor_King_USB_Passthru_p/vk-blanks.htm

Hope this helps!

Again, welcome!

 

[Thyestean]

Hey, very informative video. I just got my vapor king today, and ordered a bunch of cartomizers and some juice. I have a few questions though.

1. Can you refill a cart of one flavor with juice from another?

2. If I do the above, how do I know when a cardomizer is expended enough to refill with the next juice?

3. Can you buy empty cartomizers anywhere? I bought my stuff from Vapor4Life, and haven't seen any there. If not, is there a way to completely clean out a cartomizer?

Thanks a lot, this community has been a great help with me starting into vaping.

1. A lot of people rinse them out first before switching flavors but you can refill with any flavor you want. Basically one of 4 things will occur: (1) the new flavor overpowers the old (2) the old flavor overpowers the new (3) you come up with a horrible tasting mix (4) you come up with an interesting possibly even enjoyable mix

2. If you vape a cart until you get what some describe as a marshmallowy taste (usually an easily noticeable change from the flavor you were vaping) then you are ready to refill

3. I'm pretty sure you can buy them from anywhere and still have them work. However V4L does actually have them Vapor4Life- Electronic Cigarette: USB Passthru


(also another option is to just read the post that Pawpaw must have hit enter on right about the time I started typing )

 

[Pawpaw]

LOL. Happens to me all the time. I'm usually the slow one.

 

[Serenna]

I give this movie 5 stars! Made it so easy to refill my carts!

THANKS!

Serenna

 

[Adrenalynn]

I just have to add my thanks and kudos.

I admit I didn't watch it all the way through - I'm the impatient type. I started making a custom tool about ten seconds into the video. By the time you had your first couple drops in - I was just finishing filling my first.

Your tutorial gave me exactly the information I needed without having to make any "oopsies" on my own. I've since filled five cartomizers (on my first day of vaping).

Thanks hugely for the awesomely informative tutorial!

 

[Taryn]

Welcome to family, refilling is easy isn't it!

 

[Adrenalynn]

Thanks, Taryn!

This is the first day in twelve years I haven't had a cigarette. Been a couple of twinges pushing me to that fresh pack I bought before I realized the Vapor King would be arriving that day. Overall, though, pretty painless. I'm going to need to invest in more Menthol STAT though, speaking of filling cartridges and getting this back on topic.

Thanks again!

 

[mlady]

in the video that you posted, you mentioned that a crochet hook might work better. is there anything else that would also work?

 

[Adrenalynn]

I used a piece of spring-steel, heated, bent 60 deg, the tip bent up a smidge, then hardened. But that's just 'cause I'm excessive.

Any piece of metal that can either be bent or is already bent into at least an "L" shape with a good 1/8" bottom to the L will work fine. It needs to be able to stand up to some pressure - maybe 20PSI-ish? [Just estimating, I probably put a few pounds on it, all my measurement and electronics gear is packed and in the new lab, where I'm not...]

 

[mlady]

I used a piece of spring-steel, heated, bent 60 deg, the tip bent up a smidge, then hardened. But that's just 'cause I'm excessive.

Any piece of metal that can either be bent or is already bent into at least an "L" shape with a good 1/8" bottom to the L will work fine. It needs to be able to stand up to some pressure - maybe 20PSI-ish? [Just estimating, I probably put a few pounds on it, all my measurement and electronics gear is packed and in the new lab, where I'm not...]

guess what i used? a salad fork...

necessity is the mother of invention? also, i have some black blank carts that i filled with RY4 36 ... it tastes burnt.


all the other carts i re filled don't have that taste. any ideas?

 

[Flowersoul]

Have used a nut picker from the beginning and still using it......takes both the cap and o ring off simultaneously.

The cap and o ring rest on the edge of the nut picker until I'm done filling, then I gently place it back. Takes about 2 seconds.

Gracie

 

[Adrenalynn]

Yeah, a nut picker is a good idea. The flat-edged dental picks would be great too.

As far as the burned flavor goes - did you try use Taryn's spin-trick? Might be that the juice just hadn't soaked far enough into the batting.