Soaking in Everclear

[impostor71]

Hi all,

I have several cartomizers that are not performing like they used to. They're giving out less vapors, harder to draw, less flavor, etc.... I bought a bottle of Everclear this weekend with the intention of soaking it in there. My questions are:

do I soak it before rinsing with hot water or after?
how long do I soak the cartomizers? A few minutes, an hour, over nite?

Anyone use this method? any help would be appreicated!

Tom

 

[emberl]

Tom why do you think that Everclear will fix a disposable cartomizers?
They are ~disposible~.
They are different than regular atomizers.

 

[Davo]

I've tried soaking my aging cartos in cheap vodka overnite and then rinsing with warm water and refilling however it didn't buy me anything. Rinsing with water, blowing out good and refilling seems to be good enough as long as the carto is still good. There are some other current threads on cartos and their life span you may want to read. I'm no expert by no means but other than rinse and refil I've not found a trick to get any further life out of a carto. some will only take 3-4 refils and they're pooped, while others may go as many as 10 times. Maybe a "carto veteran expert can add more info.

 

[Tasselhoff]

The information in the other post are right on track.If you are refilling with the same flavor just rinse with hot water (not always needed).If you are putting in a different flavor use the vodka or everclear trick. Some flavors just won't clean out (mint).The other trick I have found to work is to use a small screwdriver or paperclip to move the wire around to make contact with the wick material. Test it and keep adjusting until it vapes again. This might get you few more refills before you have to throw them away. Hope this helps.Good luck

 

[impostor71]

I thought soaking in Ever Clear will clean out some of the gunk on the atomizer or in the batting or something. Plus I'm always refilling with different flavors.

 

[~Gazoo~]

I thought soaking in Ever Clear will clean out some of the gunk on the atomizer or in the batting or something. Plus I'm always refilling with different flavors.

Everyone will have an opinion on what to do..lol. Best thing is to try it and see if you get any improvement from the cartomizer. I have rinsed out a couple with hot water but they draw harder after doing that.

 

[AZAndy]

I'm a fan of the Everclear soak. I think it was GhettoCowgirl who introduced me to the practice. I leave the carts to soak for just a couple of hours, fill with warm water, and blow the water out. I only use it on difficult-to-kill flavors and carts that have developed gacky flavors from refilling too many times without cleaning. Seems to work pretty well for me.

Everclear does better than just water at removing the brownish stuff in the batting.

 

[digitalepiphany]

Anyone tried refilling cartos with alcohol? The potable kind, I mean; not the cleaning kind.

I was thinking about what would happen if you used vanilla vodka, say, instead of water. I'm under the assumption that the proylene glycol increases the boiling point of water above 212F, but am unsure with alcohol.

Like I said, just running this through my head. Hell, I haven't even gotten my kit yet. Hopefully it gets here tomorrow. **keeping fingers crossed**

 

[digitalepiphany]

OK, I just spoke with a buddy of mine who's a chemist. He said that, with alcohol, the freezing point is lower and the boiling point is higher. But, I'm unsure what temperature the liquid in the carto reaches in order to vaporize the liquid.

Anyway, anyone tried this?

 

[digitalepiphany]

No one's tried this?

 

[NoMorButts4Me]

Why would you want to try this? Vape just flavored alcohol?

You won't get any nicotine, or any visible vapor. Just etoh fumes....

 

[DaShiVa]

Actually, drinking alcohol boils at around 78 celcius, and I believe atomizers get over 86 degrees celcius, so you'll be defiantly boiling the alcohol. Not sure what affect this would have. There's no spark, so will be no combustion, but not sure if it will work as you want.

 

[keyzygirl]

Well Im not trying it!!Sounds like a bad idea!!

 

[JohnnyVapor]

OK, I just spoke with a buddy of mine who's a chemist. He said that, with alcohol, the freezing point is lower and the boiling point is higher. But, I'm unsure what temperature the liquid in the carto reaches in order to vaporize the liquid.

Anyway, anyone tried this?

I've never vaped straight liquor. I have cut some mixes with a little vodka or everclear. I probably wouldn't suggest vaping just liquor, it would likely burn like heck. I know just a little bit adds some throat hit. You'd likely get a buzz.

 

[digitalepiphany]

I should have specified that I'd sill have nicotine in the carto.

I was drinking with my buddy the other night, daydreaming about the order I placed, and thought that since alcohol and cigarettes go so well together, why not try them both at once.

I'm wondering if maybe you fill the cart halfway with juice and halfway with alcohol, if that would work. Or even if the alcohol will have any effect. With as little alcohol as would be in the carto, any effect woul dbe negligible. But, I was thinking that it's going straight to your lungs and into your blood vessels, so maybe it will have an effect.

I might try it out after i get my order and I grow a big enough pair to chance it.

 

[keyzygirl]

alot of people,myself included,use 100 proof vodka to thin out the vg.but thats about it.

 

[Adrenalynn]

The flash-point for pure grain alcohol, open cup, is around 13deg C, right? (Didn't look it up, so I could be off a few degrees). In the right concentration, the vapor could become flammable at room temps. Depending upon the concentration (again), you could potentially have a spark from the switch itself ignite the vapor and burn its way right back into the lungs. Of course, Everclear maxes out 95%, near the azeotrope, so the flashpoint is going to be a little higher.

Anyway, point being, I don't think I'd want to be inhaling large volumes of vapor above its flash point in an uncontrolled environment through non-insulated electrical devices just for kicks and grins. Seems like a rather stupid idea to me - but what do I know? Smoking wasn't all that smart either. Having had to clean-up the sticky icky mess the deposits from the fog machines (PG-based) left after producing movies - I'm not entirely sure this is a long term answer either, but...