Refurbing your Cartomizer(s)

[BOREMAN]

I have been known to be pretty frugal at times and try to get the most out of anything I use. Though the VK carts can be refilled (usually 3-4 times), before they start getting nasty tasting (I have refilled most of mine 10-15 times), I have tried to clean the cartomizers, with very positive results. Here is what I did today:

1. Pop off the white cap and take out the rubber o-ring
2. Hold the open end under hot running (low pressure) tap water (I held the cart with kitchen tongs to avoid being scalded)
3. Blow out the water (so water comes out of battery connection end)
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3.
5. Then let soak in vodka (or grain alcohol) for approx 5 mins (go vape while waiting)
6. Repeat steps 2 and 3 (last time)
7. Still using the kitchen tongs, hold under hair dryer (open end) so you can dry out the inside of cart (I also turned upside down and blew dryer through the battery connection hole)
8. Before replacing o-ring and white end cap, I dripped (8 times) into cart, replace o-ring and end cap.
9. Dripped 8 more times in other end (total of 16 drips in cart)
10. Screwed her (no pun intended) onto the batt (usb passthru) and started vaping.

This worked extremely well. I did 5 carts and every one of them worked great without a hitch. Like having brand new carts to refill with Steve's wonderful tasting Nobacco juice. I will use this method until the built in atty stops working (and none have quit yet). Just another example of the great product that Steve at V4L produces.
I would like to credit PANDA04 in this forum for suggesting this as a possible way of cleaning out a cartomizer. Thanks PANDA.
By the way, no vodka (alcohol) taste whatsoever. Been vaping with these 5 carts for past 5 hours with not a problem.

Mike

 

[Panda04]

I would like to credit PANDA04 in this forum for suggesting this as a possible way of cleaning out a cartomizer. Thanks PANDA.
By the way, no vodka (alcohol) taste whatsoever. Been vaping with these 5 carts for past 5 hours with not a problem.

Mike

Thanks for the thumbs up, but I read about it here in an older thread. Nothing beats a fresh cart. Because my wife is as tight with money as she is beautiful. I've been washing them out when they don't taste right. Gotta keep the peace at home.

Thanks for the update using alcohol, I'll have to try it and see how it works for me.

andy

 

[chainy]

Yes I agree Steve's attys are top notch. They can take all kinds of use and abuse and still work even after weeks of use!

 

[GrimmGreen]

i'm a BIG fan of cartomizers , going to have to give this a try... thanks!

 

[DiMeZ]

GrimmGreen it works great will rinse any flavor out for a fresh refill. Just make sure you let the fresh filled cart sit over night before use or the wick might not get wet and can burn up. They need a good amount of soak time and than its as good as new.

 

[BOREMAN]

i'm a BIG fan of cartomizers , going to have to give this a try... thanks!

Maybe one of your GREAT Videos on "How to Refurb a Cartomizer" ?!?!
That would be a great idea GrimmGreen

 

[googled]

Maybe one of your GREAT Videos on "How to Refurb a Cartomizer" ?!?!
That would be a great idea GrimmGreen

Seconded . Be careful with the 'O' rings tho'. Those are the reason you never get juice into your mouth with untouched carts.

 

[SaintCappy]

Humm....ok so I tried this out everything looks good....all nice and clean so dripped my juice in let it wait for good 30 min and take a puff.
Well no vape is being produced I hear a bit of juice rumbling inside the cart but that's about it.
I will let it sit overnight just to see if it needs more time....I hope I did not kill my 2 carts.
Can you guys think of anything I did wrong?

 

[DiMeZ]

If you vaped the carts completely dry before refilling im guessing that you need more time for the juice to soak deep into it. Theres ALOT of filler in there carts I noticed after taking one apart but I only have a NPRO cart to compare it to.

 

[Shelley]

Great info, but I'm still a newbie and have a couple more basic questions I was hoping you guys could help me with.

I find that if I put the stem back into the cart after every 5 refill drops and shake it up very well and then put in 5 more etc until I get 18-20 drops without it dripping out the other end. Is that a waste of juice, or is more juice per refill better?

Also was wondering once refilled, does it matter if I use the cart tomorrow or next month?

And finally, how do you put one of those I quit smoking counter widgets on your posts?

Congrats to all of you on your success! I'm only at 12 days, but am still very happy. Steve and his products are so awesome and so are all of you!

Thanks!
Shelley

 

[BOREMAN]

Great info, but I'm still a newbie and have a couple more basic questions I was hoping you guys could help me with.

I find that if I put the stem back into the cart after every 5 refill drops and shake it up very well and then put in 5 more etc until I get 18-20 drops without it dripping out the other end. Is that a waste of juice, or is more juice per refill better?

Also was wondering once refilled, does it matter if I use the cart tomorrow or next month?

And finally, how do you put one of those I quit smoking counter widgets on your posts?

Congrats to all of you on your success! I'm only at 12 days, but am still very happy. Steve and his products are so awesome and so are all of you!

Thanks!
Shelley

I have found that the carts work much better if you put them to bed and soak over nite. That is the last thing I do bfor i go to bed is fill up the carts I am going to use the next day. I hold the cart, cupped in a tissue (or napkin) and put my 10-20 drips in till it starts to drip out of the other end (where I have my tissue). I also let the carts stay in the tissue (their bed) over nite in case there is more draining. Snce they are so filled up, it may take a few draws on the VK to heat up the juice (sometimes hear some gurgling sounds). Just remember lowwww and slowwwww draws and they tend to start waking up just fine after their lovely soak and slumber from the nite bfor. As for the letting them sit for a day or up to a month. As long as they are full of juice, prob no worries. Glad to hear you are enjoying the Vapor King as much as we are. It definitely does make you SMILE. Steve certainly is DA BEST.

 

[Shelley]

Thanks Boreman, appreciate the help!

 

[Blue Knight Max]

I drip 12-15 drops from the mouth end along the sides of the cart and totally avoid the center. This is where the heating element is located and it is surrounded by a protective layer as well. After popping off the end cap and o-ring, I start with 6-7 drops along the side. Wait about a minute or 2 for the filler to absorb it all then drip another 6-8 drops (again along the side), close it up and let it sit over night.

 

[BOREMAN]

BOREMAN will be submitting a video soon (within the next few days, trying to get video cam back from friend, aaaargh), on the cleaning (bathing) of the cartomizers. This video will also serve as an entry in Steve's contest. So stay tuned everyone

 

[Blooper]

should you wait till it is completely dry after cleaning? Give like 15 minutes or so to dry out? I don't have access to a blow dryer just a fan.

 

[BOREMAN]

should you wait till it is completely dry after cleaning? Give like 15 minutes or so to dry out? I don't have access to a blow dryer just a fan.

It is best that you do let dry, but will definitely take longer than 15 mins. Let dry overnight. It will still work alright if you fill with juice if the cart is still damp from cleaning, but the flavor wont be as good or strong. Remember also, to let the juice soak into the polyfill of cart really well before vaping. Let stand at least a good couple of hours, better to let soak overnite.