refills just don't seem to last...or satisfy

[srichacha]

hi - here's my first noob question for the forum.

i starting vaping 3 weeks ago (green smoke). threw away my cigarettes the first day - it's going great! my one sticking point is refilling the green smoke cartomizers. i've tried several different brands of e-liquid, have watched all the YouTube how-to videos, and tried several refill techniques: "condom", dripping directly into the batting, letting the refill sit for a few hours, etc.

Initially, refilling works great, but I VERY quickly lose flavor and vapor - in a matter of an hour or two, though I can easily make a new Green Smoke cartomizer last for two days.

Am I doing something wrong? Is this a Green Smoke issue? Thanks for any advice.

 

[dormouse]

You didn't mention one of the most important things - what PG/VG of juice? High VG juice sucks in slim ecig cartomizers - it doesn't wick well enough. Also VG dulls flavor and TH. Some claim some hotter cartos for fat battery models can deal with thicker fluids but in a slim mini's carto I won't use any more than 20% VG. I also avoid any juice that drop a lot of flavoring sediment - that sediment will clog a cartomizer or an atomizer.

And have you tried the juice any other way? Some juices are weak or eh. A juice never gets into one of my cartomizers unless I have tested it and like it. To do that on Greensmoke since it is KR808D-2 you would need to use a D2 to D1 adapter from leCig and a standard resistance DSE901 atomizer and I guess if you were careful you could try a drip tip (not recommended on auto batteries but the 901 atty is more likely to leak out its side than onto the end of your battery). (LiteCigUSA.net has the atty and drip tip)

Also - I do not know if Greensmoke uses good refillable cartos (which usually have a structured interior with a defined center air channel (the kind KR808D-1 usually has) or if they use the kind with a loose wad of stuffing which I consider to be pretty much 1-fill cartos.

----
How I fill and refill Vapor4Life KR8 cartos and Boge 510 cartos

Pop out the soft cap with an unbent paperclip in the mouth hole, very careful not to catch stuffing or the wire loop.
Shake and open the eliquid
Hold a bit of tissue on the threaded end hole, tilt the carto, and add 18 drops per ml of capacity into the stuffing (Boges and most KR8 cartos are about 1ml).
Wait 15 seconds or so then see how many more drops the carto stuffing will soak in easily.
Clean up the threaded end, tilt open end down into tissue, puff into threaded end to clear air channel (Boges and the KR8 cartos I use have a defined center air channel and I want to see light through that)
Sop up any loose juice above the stuffing
Cap and let it settle - I lay it on different sides for 15-20 minutes to make sure every bit of stuffing gets damp so I won't singe the carto. if you use thicker juice than me (I use 20% Vg or less) then you may need to wait much longer.

While vaping, if the vapor gets a bit light or a bit dry or the carto is getting hotter than normal, I take the carto off the battery and add eliquid. I sometimes use a plastic or delrin drip tip as a mouthpiece on Boge and KR8 cartos (not to drip into since the juice would head for the central air channel)

 

[srichacha]

thanks - i have 3 different e-liquids. one is VG, the other two are unmarked. i wasn't aware of the pg/vg difference, but this give me a new avenue to explore. my refill technique is very similar to what you described, so i'm betting i've got the wrong juice.

 

[the_vape_nerd]

I think green smokes cartos aren't designed to be refilled at all. The entire business plan is to have you re-order pre-filled cartos from them. I very nearly got hooked into that brand at first. I'm glad I didn't. Not sure if green smokes is a kr808 battery but if so, order a few cartos from vapor for life or another vendor here that encourages refilling.

 

[BardicDruid]

On the little ones like dormouse summed it up nicely, no more than 20% VG or it's too thick to wick. You may want to check out an E-Power 14650 and the Fluxomizer Deluxe cartos at GotVapes, you'll have more steady power and the Flux's hold a lot more liquid.

 

[Mindfield]

Very probable. Although keep in mind that cartomizers are by nature disposable anyway, and each subsequent cleaning will only bring it back to a (usually high, but still lesser) percentage of its original condition. Eventually, the coils will just become gunked beyond any possibly resurrection and need to be chucked. How quickly that happens does depend on the juice though, and as dormouse mentioned, that happens a lot quicker with thick VG juices.

You can overcome that by dripping, or by buying a hybrid cartomizer that handles VG juice well like CE2s (particularly the new CE2/Fluxomizer deluxe from gotvapes) but straight up cartomizers with polyfill just won't handle really thick juices well.

 

[swedishfish]

Sadly, no carto is going to be like the very first fill.

 

[swedishfish]

Very probable. Although keep in mind that cartomizers are by nature disposable anyway, and each subsequent cleaning will only bring it back to a (usually high, but still lesser) percentage of its original condition. Eventually, the coils will just become gunked beyond any possibly resurrection and need to be chucked. How quickly that happens does depend on the juice though, and as dormouse mentioned, that happens a lot quicker with thick VG juices.

You can overcome that by dripping, or by buying a hybrid cartomizer that handles VG juice well like CE2s (particularly the new CE2/Fluxomizer deluxe from gotvapes) but straight up cartomizers with polyfill just won't handle really thick juices well.

BTW, Mindfield, I'm not stalking you. It's just a coincidence that I always post right after you do. I promise!

 

[Mindfield]

BTW, Mindfield, I'm not stalking you. It's just a coincidence that I always post right after you do. I promise!

Oh, go on, just admit it. You can't resist these pearly whites and my shiny coat.

 

[swedishfish]

True, true.

 

[GIMike]

Nobody else mentioned this, so I may be wrong. But I would think an hour or two may be pretty decent if you're vaping heavily. Some pieces hold more juice than others. If I vape heavily, I can drain an ego-t tank in about 20 minutes. If I vape more lightly, maybe I'll get 2 hours out of it. The boge cartos seem to last a litlte longer, might get an hour more when vaping lighter. So how much you vape, the composition of your liquid and what system you're using can drastically affect how long you'll be able to vape before refilling.

 

[swedishfish]

When I was using the tank, I was going through about double the amount of juice I normally use. Don't know why but it was a pretty significant amount.

That's why when people ask how much juice they use it really depends a lot on the pv.

 

[pdavey]

Do yourself a favor and ditch the Green Smoke, I did. I sent mine back within the 30 day trial perid and got my money back, they are a pure ripoff as far as I am concerned. After reading this forum it opened my eyes as to what I really needed. If you like the look and feel of the slim device (As I Do) go with a KR808d-1 model (Halo G6, Bloog, Volt, V4L) it is night and day. You won't believe the difference. So much more vapor and so many more choices, not to mention the prices are insanely inexpensive compared to the Green Smoke. Don't get me wrong, it had me off analogs the second day in but it did not satisfy for long.

 

[dormouse]

True the performance, taste, hit of cartos degrades - they are meant to be disposable.

However, I can usually get a decent week out of a good KR808D-1 carto if I use juices that are thin, light and clear and leave almost no flavoring sediment. I alternate vaping 2 cartos so that is 2 weeks for the pair. I do what I can to choose juices that will kept them working good longer - juices that leave the stuffing looking light and porous.

I use Vapor4Life WOW juices (WOWbacco and WOW Vanilla) which flow like 80PG/20VG or 90PG/20VG so if they have any more VG they are at least thinned and work well in their cartos (KR808D-1 cartos - you would need a DS to D1 adapter to try their sample packs). And I use an 80PG juice from elsewhere. For occasional use cartos I have a variety of thin juices including a 100% PG ones.

There have been a couple of juices I loved that just left way to much sediment in the carto and would clog it up, so I do not use them - I found substitutes.

Re the amount of use you get out of one carto - depends on the quality of the carto, the juice you use, how well you keep it damp, and how much you vape. I am a moderate vaper. A heavy or constant vaper might get fewer days use out of a carto.

 

[srichacha]

lots of food for thought - thanks, guys, for the helpful responses.

 

[Afzal44]

I have a kr808d battery and i got tired of the blank cartos with the polyfill. Never knew how much juice was left and flavor was not top notch. Recently ordered fluxomizers and vortex from gotvapes.com Noticed big difference. The flavor came out more and got a good throat hit. Some people don't like it because it's basically a CE 2 carto and it can leak or crack. I've had neither of those issues. I've refilled several times already on one carto. And even cleaned it out very easily and refilled with another juice. Also i'm a fan of throat hit. So most of my juices are more PG based