Some cartomizers are difficult to get any vapor through

[synic]

Hi, I'm using the v4l setups, and filling my own blank cartomizers.

Sometimes some of the carts I try are really hard to suck any air through, I feel like I'm going to have an aneurysm or make myself pass out. I've heard that this is a sign that the cart is dead, but some of these are brand new. I'd ask in the v4l forum, but I don't have permission there yet.

Is there a way to fix this on the occasional weird cart?

 

[tmcase]

It sounds like the airway hole is plugged or has collapsed. Try inserting a needle or awl or any sharp pointed object through the battery thread end of the carto very gently so as not to touch the coil. Once you are past the coil wiggle the needle around to open the airway. You should be able to see daylight when you look through the end of the carto. Another problem could be that the juice you are using is too thick, as in high in VG. High VG juice doesn't wick well in cartos. If this is the case then you can thin your juice with a little water or Vodka.

 

[synic]

Hrm, I thought the airway was pretty clear, but I stuck a needle in there anyway just to straighten it out (it seemed a little off center), and it's working much better now. Thanks!

 

[synic]

How do the cartos work anyway? Where is the atomizer? What's the long wire down the middle? How does the juice get out of the polyfill and into the area where the atomizer can vaporize it?

 

[john999000]

I found if you take a paper clip or a pin and "fluff" up the wicking material they hit better, especially when they start to get low on juice.

 

[john999000]

How do the cartos work anyway? Where is the atomizer? What's the long wire down the middle? How does the juice get out of the polyfill and into the area where the atomizer can vaporize it?

I think the wire is the atomizer. It's surrounded by the wicking material and when it heats up it vaporizes it.

 

[VegasVaporz]

You can also try cleaning the cartomizer. Even if it is brand new out of the package, they come packaged with a liquid that keeps the atomizer wet. I am drawing a blank on the word for the liquid at this moment. lol. What I do is get a glass mug and fill it with water. Put a plastic spoon in the mug and place it in the microwave until its hot. Then drop your cartomizer in the mug, NOT IN THE MICROWAVE, and stir it around for a couple of minutes. Take the cartomizer out and place them on a paper towel. Let them dry overnight and fill them with your favorite eliquid the next morning. Drop a couple of drops of eliquid into the carto and let it set for a minute, giving the cartomizer time to soak up the liquid. Then draw on your ecig and enjoy! There are also methods of cleaning that utilizes liquor and all that. Hot water method works fine for me! =] Enjoy

 

[Pokeygizmo]

How do the cartos work anyway? Where is the atomizer? What's the long wire down the middle? How does the juice get out of the polyfill and into the area where the atomizer can vaporize it?

The long wire and it's coils is the heating element that vaporizes the e-juice. There is a sleeve around this that is surrounded by filler material. The juice in the filler soaks the sleeve and that "heating element", tucked within, evaporates the liquid from there. There is not an atomizer, in the true vaping sense of the word, inside.

Hope this helps!

 

[VegasVaporz]

AHHHHAHAAA! The liquid I couldnt think of is called primer...Got to love when it just comes to you after the fact =]

 

[Pokeygizmo]

No! There should not be primer in traditional filler cartomizers - they are made ready to use from the git-go, no prepping other than filling with juice if it is a blank!

You can wash and reuse cartomizers if you so choose using hot water and any number of methods you can find by using the search on this forum, but you should not "clean" them prior to first use.

 

[dormouse]

What is the PG/VG of the juice you are putting in them? And where did you get cartos, and are they all the same kind?

I get the best performance out of stuffing-type cartos with juices with 20% VG and less. Any more VG and I can feel the drag get a bit sluggish. I also look for juices that leave little or no flavoring sediment and those are most likely to be light colored see-through juices. More VG or sediment can make a carto sluggish.

I don't push juice in, use a syringe, spin them, clean them, or do anything unusual.

How I fill 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)

 

[VegasVaporz]

I might have recieved some bad cartomizers then. I have recieved cartos from Volcano and they are literally dripping with primer as soon as I rip open the little baggie >.<

 

[synic]

What is the PG/VG of the juice you are putting in them? And where did you get cartos, and are they all the same kind?

I get the best performance out of stuffing-type cartos with juices with 20% VG and less. Any more VG and I can feel the drag get a bit sluggish. I also look for juices that leave little or no flavoring sediment and those are most likely to be light colored see-through juices. More VG or sediment can make a carto sluggish.

I don't push juice in, use a syringe, spin them, clean them, or do anything unusual.

How I fill 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)

This juice is all PG, I'm pretty sure (it's all the juice from v4l). I haven't been shaking them before filling, so I should probably start doing that. I'll give your fill method a try.

I still haven't figured out the right time to fill... I've burned a few juices thinking there was still plenty left. Glad to know that burnt taste isn't part of the experience

 

[Pokeygizmo]

I might have recieved some bad cartomizers then. I have recieved cartos from Volcano and they are literally dripping with primer as soon as I rip open the little baggie >.<

Are they filler cartomizers? Or another variant? I am not personally familiar with Volcano cartos...

ETA: Are you using the Magma? I see that they are ceramic cartos - not polyfill (filler) -and some ceramics (Ce2s, and bunches of other names nowadays) DO have primer!

 

[dormouse]

synic - I singed a carto yesterday - A Boge 510 I had been vaping a V4L juice in all week. It was vaping so nice I actually vaped it dry eekk and singed it a bit - I mean so dry that it needed 24 drops of liquid. That rarely happens to me but the carto just did not give me any signal like lighter or drier vapor or off-taste or vaping too warm. Sometimes it happens.

BTW Vapor4Life has 2 kinds of cartos WOW carts (2.5ohms) and Coolcarts (3.4ohms) so those will definitely vape differently. I preferred the Coolcarts when my nic was higher and before I learned to use a plastic drip tip as a mouthpiece (when my nic was higher the WOW cartos had too much hit for me and sometimes were too hot for my lips). Now that my nic is lower, I prefer the WOW cartos. I generally use their WOW juices (there are 2 I like that I found by trying samplers).

My faves are WOWbacco (cocoa tobacco - and WOWBoy is the same but with mint added) and WOW Vanilla (a sharp-edged sweet marshmallowy or cottoncandy vanilla). I actually mix the vanilla in the carto with vanillarum from Gourmet Vapor (I get 20% VG of that or less VG).

Also note - a carto that is VERY wet will not vape its best. It will act like a flooded atty with the coil unable to get a hot as usual with too much liquid around. A too-wet carto may start vaping better after it is vaped a bit to clear out the excess wetness around the coil.

 

[synic]

dormouse: Ah, yeah, I have both types of cartos. I think I do like the WOW ones more, I like that they are warmer and there seems to be more vapor (or maybe I'm just imagining it).

I have all kinds of juice, I bought a bunch. There isn't one I really hate yet, they all seem pretty good to me. The cowboy isn't my favorite, but I don't think it's horrible by any means.

 

[dormouse]

BTW - This is the Vapor4Life ECF forum
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/vapor4life/

And in there is a Quick Fixes video in the sticky threads. It may help to pull up the pole of the bad-dragging carto - watch the video. The fixes in there can also fix many dud cartos that don't connect electrically either because their center post is low or the battery's is low (but I think with the new batteries, the battery's post cannot get low)