Stardust problem

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washvap

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Apr 2, 2011
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The only problems that I can see happening. Is when you pulled the rubber cap or when the center pin was pulled. It's either that the cap was incorrectly put on. Which could partially block the airway.

Or that the center pin was pulled with too much force and somehow the rubber grommet or something else was moved was moved. To the point to where it effected the draw. Another possibility is that by you pushing the wick and coil down. That could've been an issue as well.
 

Tarkvemada

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Thank you for moving the post - I still a bit confused with the forum sections.

No, I checked every piece I took off and put back on. Everything was right.. Seems like air got better few hrs later , but I don't have that vapor I had before cleaning.. I assume it takes time. I def had to let it dry overnight..
 

Sa Da Tay

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Nov 4, 2011
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Can someone please elaborate on how to dry burn? These stardusts are my first experience with tank-like cartos so this is all new to me. I followed the video posted above but it isn't clear exactly how long/many times you are supposed to dry burn. Are you supposed to get the electrical burn smell at all? Because I started getting that pretty soon after I started dry burning.

I'm pretty frustrated with these. They look great and vape great when they work but I've experienced all the issues reported on here not long after using a new one, and I probably won't get into more involved maintenance past what is illustrated in the video posted above (e.g. complete deconstruction, drillling holes). I got so frustrated with these the other day that I attached one of my old Smoketech filler-cartos that I hadn't used in like two months and -boom- instant, nice consistent hits. :glare:
 

Jackiej5407

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Sa Da ... let me try explaining dry burn with the Stardust ... after you have run warm water in it enough times to get out the old juice, shake it out vigorously ... and then put it back on your battery, leaving the tip of the Stardust off. Depress the battery button while you count to 5; blow hard in the top down the hole; depress button to count of 5 again ... and keep repeating the process until you see smoke coming out of the top of the Stardust. Keep up the depress/blow thing until the smoke begins to clear enough for you to see down into the center from looking down the top of the Stardust. Keep depress/blow until you see a little red dot inside ... that's the coil ... once you see the red, you've completed the dry burn!

Hope that made sense!
 

Andante51

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Nov 20, 2011
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Sa Da ... let me try explaining dry burn with the Stardust ... after you have run warm water in it enough times to get out the old juice, shake it out vigorously ... and then put it back on your battery, leaving the tip of the Stardust off. Depress the battery button while you count to 5; blow hard in the top down the hole; depress button to count of 5 again ... and keep repeating the process until you see smoke coming out of the top of the Stardust. !

Great description of how to dry burn; I had a heck of a time figuring it out at first from many posts and videos. I just thought I would draw more attention to not blowing in the top while the battery button is still depressed. It does take quite a few of those 5 second burns (I have been cheating and going up to about 7 seconds lately) before the smoke starts to come out; and then it can take quite a few burns for the smoke to stop. As for that video where they removed the silicone cap, I had too much trouble getting them out and back in properly, it was annoying. I finally sided with some folks who said as long as you didn't go bonkers on the dry burning, the silicone could easily handle the heat, and now I don't lift out the silicone cap at all. When the smoking starts to taper off, I can still easily peer down the tube and see the bright red glow of the coil. Don't know if it matters or not, (we are using 2 or 3 cartos and fipping between them) but I don't clean them more than once a week, and we get repeated weeks of good use from them.

As for the cleaning out of the tanks, I too just get the tap water as hot as I can and then put the water in a small bowl. I sit the cartos in there without the mouthpieces for only five minutes. Then I repeatedly fill them halfway with water, with a finger on each end, and shake them like crazy for about 20 seconds, then flick the juice out, doing that 4-5 times. This usually gets either the short or long wicks in the Stardusts very white and clean. Then I dry burn, fill 'em up, and put them back in use. I love not having to bother with overnight drying.

One undesirable thing happened when I thought I would improve on the process, and heated the small bowl of water in the micro to very hot (but not to boiling), then sat the Stardusts in the water for about 10 minutes before doing the repeated shakings. Well the top metal piece on one of my new multi-wick Stardusts came right off the tube. I think I simply melted or loosened the glue by using water that was just too hot. So now I'm back to good old hot water from the tap.

I am too chicken to try the dremel thing, but found some recommendations here to screw the battery on, then loosen it again a little. I only loosen it about 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn on my KGO batteries, only if the draw is getting tighter on some of my older Stardusts, and I do get a little more airflow. However I am a fan of a tighter draw, as I am not into long draws - with the stiffer draw, 5 seconds is fine for plenty of throat hit and vapor.
 

plasticscones

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Sa Da ... let me try explaining dry burn with the Stardust ... after you have run warm water in it enough times to get out the old juice, shake it out vigorously ... and then put it back on your battery, leaving the tip of the Stardust off. Depress the battery button while you count to 5; blow hard in the top down the hole; depress button to count of 5 again ... and keep repeating the process until you see smoke coming out of the top of the Stardust. Keep up the depress/blow thing until the smoke begins to clear enough for you to see down into the center from looking down the top of the Stardust. Keep depress/blow until you see a little red dot inside ... that's the coil ... once you see the red, you've completed the dry burn!

Hope that made sense!
so i dry burned and there is lingering chemical smoke smell. is that normal? if so how do i get rid of it
 

pms5

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May 11, 2012
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so i dry burned and there is lingering chemical smoke smell. is that normal? if so how do i get rid of it

I give it a final good rinse after the dry burn, then dry the wicks with a hairdryer before I reassemble. Only needs about 5 mins.
The only reason you'll have a smell after that is if you've dry-burned too long, and you probably won't get rid of that.
 
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