Hello Everyone.
So, on my quest to find the best atty or cart for my pv that will last the longest, remain durable and not burn over time has lead me to the CE2 R4 XL cartomizer.
I picked these up from Jack at HappyVapor. They come from Royal Smoke with 5 in a pack. They are marked with MICROCIG on the black rubber cap.
You can find the ones I am using here: Blank (empty) cartomizers (cartridge + atomizer combined into a single unit) for the 510 model of e-cigarette.
First Impressions: I LOVE that there is no filler or other "burnable" materials inside, just your wick, which runs through the coil and down both sides of the cartomizer. This looks well built and as if it would last more then 6 months of heavy use (though it won't as it's a cart). Right off the top I notice the two whitish/clear rubber seals inside, one that covers the bottom on that keeps the cup holding the coil in the center of the cart. This second seal also prevents your juice from coming out.
Filling The CE2
First, I recommend "Priming" the CE2 for it's first use. Dry burn it using 2 5-7 second bursts allowing the coil to glow a small bit. Ok, you can use the syringe that is supplied with the CE2, or you can use a sharp tipped normal syringe to fill it by inserting it into one of the two holes in the second seal. I also find removing the second seal and then filling it with any syringe easy as well. To pop the second seal back on, I found the syringe's cap works perfectly to push the seal back on, and it fits like a glove inside the cart. I fill it till I can see some juice flow into the cup and the coil looks soaked, then draw back a small bit on the syringe. Once you have both seals, or at least the bottom one back on, you can simply blow out the excess juice out of the cup, down and out of the battery end without disturbing your juice in the reservoir. The XL cart I use hold roughly 1.8 - 1.9ml of liquid and last about a day and a half, maybe slightly longer or shorter depending on usage.
Using the CE2
Right off the bat, I notice an excellent response as I begin inhaling from the CE2. I can easily taste the sweetness of the juice as I take my pull. Inhaling I notice a slight bit more TH then I got using the Ego tanks or Dual Coil Cartomizers. The vapor I exhale is also more pronounced then I got with the dual coil carts. When I notice there is a dry spell beginning (which is very easy to notice) I simply tip the cart upside down for 5 seconds which gets me back to vaping.
To fix the need to tip the cart on dry spells I found gently lifting the second seal ever so slightly off of the cup allows the juice to easily flow up the wick with no issues. By slightly, I mean slightly, too much and you will allow juice to easily leak into the cup, which will then eventually flow down the shaft and out of the battery end... meaning drying off your battery post every 4 hours or so.
Another quick fix I found is to gently push on the coil/wick downwards further towards the base of the ceramic cup. When doing this, don't forget to push the wick itself where it enters the ceramic cup. If you are new to the CE2, I recommend the first way to fix dry spells, it is much easier to lift the seal a small bit and reseat it if you lifted it too much then mess with the coil.
Long Term Usage
So I have been using 5 for about 3 and half weeks with no signs of 4 of them slowing down at all. The 5th one, I decided to clean as it seen heavier usage then the others with my favorite juice. A recommended way to clean them I seen was to soak them, dry them off and then dry burn till the coils glowed red and no black gunk was left on the wick. Well, I found out what that black gunk on the wick REALLY was. It was partly your gunked juice, but MAINLY the wick itself. After dry burning till the wick turned mostly white again, I noticed when examining the wick there, that it was more brittle then extremely fine fiberglass. the slightest touch you could hear crunching. Knowing this cart was at then end of it's life, I tried pulling on one the wick a bit and sure enough it ripped just inside the coil with no resistance, examining the ends I found they were originally burnt a bit, but were now white caked and so brittle you couldn't touch them without breaking more particles of the wick off.
Result of this exam: Clean the CE2 carefully with as little dry burning as possible. I notice NO difference in performance no matter if the wick is clean or full of gunk.
Over all Thoughts
I will be picking up more CE2 carts this weekend from Jack, except for the wick exam I describe above, these things work much better then the dual coil carts I was using and produce more flavor, TH and vapor without the stress the dual coils posed on my battery. If there is a R5 version soon, all I would suggest is that they find a better wick that holds up more and won't burn at all, then you will have one of the best fillerless carts on the market. Will that wick deter me from the CE2? Absolutely not, especially when you see the video I will soon be posting of the inside of the Dual Coil cartomizers after moderate usage. I will take the CE2 any day.
If you have ANY questions about the CE2-R4 cartomizers I have reviewed here, please ask them by replying to this thread.
So, on my quest to find the best atty or cart for my pv that will last the longest, remain durable and not burn over time has lead me to the CE2 R4 XL cartomizer.
I picked these up from Jack at HappyVapor. They come from Royal Smoke with 5 in a pack. They are marked with MICROCIG on the black rubber cap.
You can find the ones I am using here: Blank (empty) cartomizers (cartridge + atomizer combined into a single unit) for the 510 model of e-cigarette.
First Impressions: I LOVE that there is no filler or other "burnable" materials inside, just your wick, which runs through the coil and down both sides of the cartomizer. This looks well built and as if it would last more then 6 months of heavy use (though it won't as it's a cart). Right off the top I notice the two whitish/clear rubber seals inside, one that covers the bottom on that keeps the cup holding the coil in the center of the cart. This second seal also prevents your juice from coming out.
Filling The CE2
First, I recommend "Priming" the CE2 for it's first use. Dry burn it using 2 5-7 second bursts allowing the coil to glow a small bit. Ok, you can use the syringe that is supplied with the CE2, or you can use a sharp tipped normal syringe to fill it by inserting it into one of the two holes in the second seal. I also find removing the second seal and then filling it with any syringe easy as well. To pop the second seal back on, I found the syringe's cap works perfectly to push the seal back on, and it fits like a glove inside the cart. I fill it till I can see some juice flow into the cup and the coil looks soaked, then draw back a small bit on the syringe. Once you have both seals, or at least the bottom one back on, you can simply blow out the excess juice out of the cup, down and out of the battery end without disturbing your juice in the reservoir. The XL cart I use hold roughly 1.8 - 1.9ml of liquid and last about a day and a half, maybe slightly longer or shorter depending on usage.
Using the CE2
Right off the bat, I notice an excellent response as I begin inhaling from the CE2. I can easily taste the sweetness of the juice as I take my pull. Inhaling I notice a slight bit more TH then I got using the Ego tanks or Dual Coil Cartomizers. The vapor I exhale is also more pronounced then I got with the dual coil carts. When I notice there is a dry spell beginning (which is very easy to notice) I simply tip the cart upside down for 5 seconds which gets me back to vaping.
To fix the need to tip the cart on dry spells I found gently lifting the second seal ever so slightly off of the cup allows the juice to easily flow up the wick with no issues. By slightly, I mean slightly, too much and you will allow juice to easily leak into the cup, which will then eventually flow down the shaft and out of the battery end... meaning drying off your battery post every 4 hours or so.
Another quick fix I found is to gently push on the coil/wick downwards further towards the base of the ceramic cup. When doing this, don't forget to push the wick itself where it enters the ceramic cup. If you are new to the CE2, I recommend the first way to fix dry spells, it is much easier to lift the seal a small bit and reseat it if you lifted it too much then mess with the coil.
Long Term Usage
So I have been using 5 for about 3 and half weeks with no signs of 4 of them slowing down at all. The 5th one, I decided to clean as it seen heavier usage then the others with my favorite juice. A recommended way to clean them I seen was to soak them, dry them off and then dry burn till the coils glowed red and no black gunk was left on the wick. Well, I found out what that black gunk on the wick REALLY was. It was partly your gunked juice, but MAINLY the wick itself. After dry burning till the wick turned mostly white again, I noticed when examining the wick there, that it was more brittle then extremely fine fiberglass. the slightest touch you could hear crunching. Knowing this cart was at then end of it's life, I tried pulling on one the wick a bit and sure enough it ripped just inside the coil with no resistance, examining the ends I found they were originally burnt a bit, but were now white caked and so brittle you couldn't touch them without breaking more particles of the wick off.
Result of this exam: Clean the CE2 carefully with as little dry burning as possible. I notice NO difference in performance no matter if the wick is clean or full of gunk.
Over all Thoughts
I will be picking up more CE2 carts this weekend from Jack, except for the wick exam I describe above, these things work much better then the dual coil carts I was using and produce more flavor, TH and vapor without the stress the dual coils posed on my battery. If there is a R5 version soon, all I would suggest is that they find a better wick that holds up more and won't burn at all, then you will have one of the best fillerless carts on the market. Will that wick deter me from the CE2? Absolutely not, especially when you see the video I will soon be posting of the inside of the Dual Coil cartomizers after moderate usage. I will take the CE2 any day.
If you have ANY questions about the CE2-R4 cartomizers I have reviewed here, please ask them by replying to this thread.
I'll try shooting down those holes next time. Hopefully easier then what I just did.
