Should I get a carto puncher?

[riho]

Hello all! I been vaping from a tank as of late and have noticed, often times I would have "dry" hits where I would taste the cotton or something of that sort. So being curious, I removed the mouth piece only to see the cotton completely white with the tank still filled half way. Will punching the cartomizer, essentially making the hole bigger allow for the cotton to be wet at all times?

Thanks!

 

[Flyer]

Most pre-punched cartos come with very small holes. manual punching typically makes bigger hole. But, might I suggest slotting with a Dremel. It's very fast and easy and works extremely well.

 

[dDubs]

A larger hole will allow more liquid into the carto, but too large a hole will flood the thing and it will gurgle and spit and that sucks. I have seen people who prefer to slash their cartos- like a small slit instead of hole, using like a small cutoff wheel on a dremel. Have you tried taking dry, sharp pulls on it and watching the hole in the carto to look for bubbles? The bubbles indicate that liquid is entering the carto. I give my punched tank cartos a few dry pulls once in a while to make sure they're pulling juice. Also, if your using thick juice, like VG, I don't know how well it will work with just a small hole in the carto. Maybe try slowly increasing the size of the hole in the carto?

 

[riho]

KK, I'll try some slash/slotted cartos, thanks. Surprisingly, my carto remains pretty clear as in the air path is smooth and no bubble sounds heard. My theory was that either the hole was not big enough or I need to use a syringe and fill from bottom up so that the cotton is saturated from the start? lol

 

[Flyer]

Slotting, punching...it's all about giving the filler in the carto sufficient access to the juice to maintain adequate saturation. Both, done properly accomplish the same thing. the holes in pre-punched carto's typically don't provide enough filler access to juice and cause dry hits if you vape to quickly.

 

[sailorman]

KK, I'll try some slash/slotted cartos, thanks. Surprisingly, my carto remains pretty clear as in the air path is smooth and no bubble sounds heard. My theory was that either the hole was not big enough or I need to use a syringe and fill from bottom up so that the cotton is saturated from the start? lol

No matter what you do, slot or punch, you still have to make sure the carto is saturated from the start. If you're not fully saturating the carto and you're having issues, that's probably the main reason. Make sure you're filling your cartos all the way before you decide if they need a bigger hole/slot. The hole is only to replace the juice you vape, not to fill the carto in the first place. If it's big enough to finish filling an insufficiently saturated carto, it'll be so big it will flood all the time.

 

[riho]

Ahh, thanks so much for the feed back, lol I had no idea vaping had this much tweaking to it. Just incase I decide to get a puncher, what do you guys recommend? I had a friend told me to use a nail and a hammer, but I would like have something safer than either impaling my fingers or smashing it lol.

 

[Flyer]

Hammers and nails run the risk of distorting the carto and causing tank leaks. A punch tool or a Dremel will prevent this.

 

[Boognish]

A Dremel is your best bet for the money. I hear carto punches get dull quickly and you end up having to buy more anyway. Plus a Dremel has so many other applications outside of slotting cartos. It's a pretty handy device around the house!

 

[damonazizi]

I have found the triple hole pre-punched cartos from madvapes work great as long as you make sure to prime it first

 

[riho]

I bite the bullet and bought a dremel lol now it's time to slowly mess around with the diameter of the hole. One thing though, is that when I was looking for pictures on how much to widen it, there are so many different sizes . Trying to look for a syringe though, has gotten me a lot of strange responses, people thing I'm trying to do drugs when I describe it as a "plastic syringe with a long thin tube end kind of the medical ones except, with a blunt end"

 

[b0redagain]

Here is a great video tutorial for slotting cartos from pbusardo.

 

[riho]

lol, that was just what I needed. Now I know why I get burnt flavors often, my carto been bad lol. Time to get some new cartos to try out. Thanks b0redagain!

 

[teddy_rox]

I'm pretty lazy so for me, pre-punched is the way to go..

 

[Stlphilo]

Riho try a feed/farm store for you syringe. They sell them for the farmers for their cattle and dogs.

None of the regular stores will sell you one without a prescription.

 

[wmjmr03]

i now have a tank i also found that you could vape it dry i then found out a few good sucks without batt would dam near empty tank as the sucking forcing liquid into the carto all of the above posts will work i supect but if you dont want to start fiddling use lung power cheaper than cutting slits with a dreml you have to buy. The carto im using has one hole (small) with thick liquids can be a prob it came with tank. the boge i also got at same time has 3 holes and is single coil(2 ohm) this just seems to be better than the one that came with it.....one up for single coil and also multi hole

you can use the dremil around house lol might use that as excuse to get one myself hehe

 

[riho]

Yeah I'm most likely just gonna order them online, waiting sucks I just want it right away lol. The main problem that I have when I buy punched cartos are that they show up with super tiny holes. I've tried using lung power, ended up drinking the juice a little bit haha. That dremel tool is beast though!

 

[sailorman]

lol, that was just what I needed. Now I know why I get burnt flavors often, my carto been bad lol. Time to get some new cartos to try out. Thanks b0redagain!

While you''re getting cartos, get some blunt tips. Most vaping sites have them. They also have syringes so you don't have to hunt down a feed store. Most drugstores don't have the blunt tips anyway. That's one more thing you can do with your dremel tool, but blunt tips are easier and you can use them on bottles as well and dispense with the syringes entirely.

If you have any decent hobby shops in your area, you can find syringes and blunt tips there too sometimes. Model makers often use them for applying glue.

 

[WillyB]

You gotta be careful with slots (I quit using them), the rough edges will play hell on your internal o-rings, especially the skinny ones found on Smok tanks. Remember each time you do a proper re-fill you will scraping that jagged slot twice against the o-ring.

It's very easy to make a great puncher if you have a drill and a chunk of wood.

 

[hmlessalky]

If you are going to buy a Dremel (or Dremel style) tool, I would recommend springing for one with multiple speed settings. Slotting hs easier at a low speed, and safer too!

Good point Wille. To help with that I bevel my slots on both sides, then place the carto into a drill and use emory cloth to smooth down any rough edges.

Also, I really like the triple punched cartos also. I will need to pick some more of those up. They works great with juices up to a 40/60 blend, and did OK with very high vg liquids as well.

Salky