Still no joy - Boge 1.4ml 510D XXL Soft Cap Empty Cartomizer

[Puffinon]

Sorry to be a pest with this, but I still can't get the above to work well at all, and I'm wondering if someone could take me through the filling and topping up process in "baby steps".

What's happened so far:

HealthCabin have sent me instructions from Boge for filling their 0.9ml cartos (how to fill your boge cartomizers 2.pdf - 660KB).
It contains instructions for both injection filling and dripping. I have tried both methods, having adjusted the quantities to the XXL 1.4ml.

I am using these batteries: 650mAh ECHO Manual Battery for 510/eGo - Voltage: 3.3 (flat) - 4.2V (fully charged)
650mAh ECHO Manual Battery for 510/eGo Black [ECHO] - $12.00 : Healthcabin Electronic Cigarettes - Wholesale and Retail--

When I do get vapor from these, it is of the quality I'd expect. Trouble is, I only get a few puffs, then it "dies" on me. Sometimes, after unscrewing then some flicking of the carto, the vapor is restored but then dies again. I'm convinced that the battery match is OK, since when it works it's perfect.

I just can't figure what I might be doing wrong here. I can use either a 30ml or 10ml bottle to fill/refill. Could someone please suggest how many drops from either to use at a time, and how long to wait between drippings for soaking in. I can also inject, so I'd like to know the quantities and injecting technique stages (how much to bottom, how much half way etc.)

Help with this would be much appreciated, since I now have 75 of these cartos after reading people's reviews of them as being good, so I think it must be me doing something wrong.

Finally, would I be better off with higher voltage batteries with these LR cartomisers?

Thank you.

 

[dormouse]

That is too low ohms for many mass-produced encased batteries. You are torturing the battery trying to drain power too fast from it. Buy a big-battery mod and use high drain AW IMR batteries OR on your Echo use cartos that are 1.7ohm or higher. The most popular would be 2 ohm Boges.

 

[Sikko]

It's not the voltage of the batteries that would be a problem, if anything it would be the size (mah) of the batteries, but from what I understand over 400mah you should be ok to use LR cartos.

 

[elfstone]

Some vapor, then no vapor points to a battery issue, most likely since it's a 650 mAh, the connection is not correct? Maybe you can tweak the center post? The carto could conceivably have a problem too. Dry carto / underfilled would give off burned taste, rather than no vapor.

Anyway, since you asked, with 'injecting' it doesn't really matter "how much bottom how much half in", although you could try that. The point is to soak the whole thing as much as possible so the way I do it:

- I always wear a condom! If you don't put the bottom condom on, juice will pour out
- I make sure the needle is between the filler and the outer wall, not into the filler
- I inject in three different places on the circumference
- Once liquid comes out of the center hole or from the sides I let it soak, then draw back on the plunger; then I push again, let the whole thing get fully flooded, wait, then draw back on the plunger. I do this several times. I wait more for thicker juices.
- With the condom on, I suck on the mouth end. What that does is pulls all the juice from the center hole into the filler. It's counter-intuitive, but you do not get juice in your mouth

 

[Puffinon]

Thanks for the replies. It seems I had a combination of problems, mainly getting the filling right.

elfstone's method seemed to work OK for me. I had figured out retracting any excess back into the plunger, but hadn't been using the condom. In the end, I think my filling method had left excess juice ready to run out the bottom when the battery came on. I found the battery contacts quite wet, which was probably giving a dead short and thus no vapor. Using your methods, plus a few sharp flicks, plus drying everything with a tissue, they seem to be pretty good now.

I guess more "practice makes perfect" is the idea!

Just one "tip" I discovered myself:

I use a 3 ml hypodremic for filling and inevitably suck in some air when priming it. Best way to get rid of this air is to insert it into the carto along the wall, as usual, then hold the syringe (plus carto) upright and the air bubble will rise to the top of the syringe. Push the plunger slowly and this will expel the air first, without statring to prime the carto. Then I'm ready to go with just liquid in the syringe.

Thanks again guys. You've been a great help.

 

[elfstone]

Glad to help. I find 18 G to be the best suited needle. I guess a hypodermic needle it takes longer to move the juice (especially 100% VG!!!) and can get clogged - but I never tried, so I may be wrong.

 

[Puffinon]

Glad to help. I find 18 G to be the best suited needle. I guess a hypodermic needle it takes longer to move the juice (especially 100% VG!!!) and can get clogged - but I never tried, so I may be wrong.

I just got mine from the local vet, after the cats had their shots!
I don't know what the needles are - the pharmacist just gave them to me as "old stock". I haven't encountered any clogging though. I might look to buying a proper filling kit down the track. Any recommendations?

I use Dekang Blueberry juice and have both 30ml and 10 ml bottles.

 

[sailorman]

Easier way is just forget the syringes and use the "condom method". Fill a condom about 2/3-3/4 with juice. Place on table. Insert the carto into the condom. (I do it mouth side first, others do it connector side first). Push carto into condom slowly until it is fully inserted into condom. Turn carto condom side up and let liquid soak into filler. This will take about 10-15 seconds. When all liquid is out of condom, remove it from carto, refill it about 1/2 way and repeat. Stop when you see tiny amount of juice coming from the center hole in the connector. Remove condom, Wipe carto and vape.

This method works for all juices. The air pressure in the condom forces the juice into the filler, so you don't need to wait for it to soak in. When you see a little bit coming up from the center hole, it means the entire filler is saturated.

 

[RosieRags]

I do the condom fill as well, but fill the threaded end first, then flip it over and do a top fill and that seems to fill my dual coil cartos perfectly. Sometimes I need to add a drop or three to the top, but I just gauge that on how the filler looks after the second condom fill. I also use the syringe method now when I am at home and it is more convenient.

 

[Puffinon]

Easier way is just forget the syringes and use the "condom method". Fill a condom about 2/3-3/4 with juice. Place on table. Insert the carto into the condom. (I do it mouth side first, others do it connector side first). Push carto into condom slowly until it is fully inserted into condom. Turn carto condom side up and let liquid soak into filler. This will take about 10-15 seconds. When all liquid is out of condom, remove it from carto, refill it about 1/2 way and repeat. Stop when you see tiny amount of juice coming from the center hole in the connector. Remove condom, Wipe carto and vape.

This method works for all juices. The air pressure in the condom forces the juice into the filler, so you don't need to wait for it to soak in. When you see a little bit coming up from the center hole, it means the entire filler is saturated.

Thanks for that alternative info for my PV

I don't quite understand the method though (I'm pretty much a noob). Do I need to have the other end of the carto sealed as well, when I push the open end into the filled condom? If not, it seems all the juice would just run out of the center hole when I invert it ???

 

[Puffinon]

I do the condom fill as well, but fill the threaded end first, then flip it over and do a top fill and that seems to fill my dual coil cartos perfectly. Sometimes I need to add a drop or three to the top, but I just gauge that on how the filler looks after the second condom fill. I also use the syringe method now when I am at home and it is more convenient.

Thanks Rosie. I'll try both methods out eventually. At the moment, I'm just glad to have mastered the syringe fill. But like you say, not so convenient when on the move. I have some other Joye cartos which are easy to fill purely by dripping, and I take one out pre-filled plus a 10ml bottle of juice, as a backup. But they're not as good of the Boges.

 

[n9emz]

I've been playing with all manner of cartos for the past week and a half and figured out it doesn't much matter how you do it. I'd imagine you could pull the caps off the cartos, pitch them in a big bowl of juice for five minutes, let the airpipe drain, cean up the exterior and vape away. I've come to this conclusion after making every kind of "mistake" possible and, once the center tube drained, they all worked fine. The filler material soaks up juice faster and better than a Bounty paper towel.

Glad you figured out it wasn't your batteries. Yesterday I fired a 1.7 XXL a good 4 hours with a VEC 650mAh (Boge version of Joye eGo passthrough) although I usually use a 900, 1000, 1100mAh to get through the day with a 2.0 XL or 2.0 LR Boge standard.

If I'm dripping, I go around the filler slowly 90° at a time dripping three drops in each quadrant until the top of the filler is wet but not soaked, staying clear of the center hole. When it looks like "I think it'll take a couple more drops" it's full. As long as the top isn't wet it'll take more. You get some in the center hole, no worries mate....catch it or blot it.

Condom....just sock it to it from the threaded end until it floods the top, then slowly....slowly, slide the condom back off and it will suck the excess back out, then blot the threaded end until no more comes out and immediately vape. Or, slowly condomize it stopping just short of overflowing the center hole until the top of the filler stays wet, not soaked. You screw it up, now worries as it will drain out.

My XXL didn't come condomized so I dripped it. 64 Drops with my 15ml bottle dropper.....kind of tried even my patience. Standard size Boge 510 cartos, 18 drops in the condom and I drip the rest.

I am not a perfectionist and the closest thing I have to a syringe is a turkey baster (good for cleaning cartos)....I'd rather vape more.

 

[Puffinon]

Thanks for your information n9emz. It all helps! My cartos are called "510D XXL LR Black". I thought these were 1.4ml capacity, but you mentioned 1.7ml? I find that my graduated syringe will inject pretty close to the 1.4. I'm still at sea with this condom method though. When you retract the condom to drag out the excess, surely you need to have the other end sealed off, or there would be no suction effect?

I also seem to be having issues refilling/ topping up. I use the same syringe method, but end up with lower quality vapor and not lasting near as long as the original 1.4ml fill. Maybe I'm just expecting too long a life from the carto? Although it seems to have degraded on even the first refill, after a near full (1.4ml) reinjection.

 

[vimilla]

Glad to help. I find 18 G to be the best suited needle. I guess a hypodermic needle it takes longer to move the juice (especially 100% VG!!!) and can get clogged - but I never tried, so I may be wrong.

Where can I get an 18 gauge needle/syringe?

 

[n9emz]

I got my needles and syringes from Wizard labs....14, 16, 18, & 20-ga., but I still plunge and drip my cartos. I syringe filled a clear XXL and it filled unevenly requiring that I allow it to "rest" for a little over 5 minutes for the juice to be equally distributed throughout the filler.

Now, I just slowly and patiently drip most of them. I fill backup cartos, overfilling them and putting the condoms back on so I make sure I get them completely saturated. When it comes time to use them, the excess juice has collected in the lower condom....I syringe that out of the condom, shoot it back in the bottle, and just clean up the carto before installation and use.

The only problem I had running cartos all the way down to 1.5Ω on a 650mAh eGO batty was the vape was way to harsh and hot for my taste. Perfect at 2.0Ω up to 2.5Ω and weakened hits at 2.8Ω and above. Right now I'm vaping a 1.5Ω XL on 3.0V and it's perfect.

Oh, I top off an XL several times a day....10-15 drops each time....and I've been using the same Boge 2.0 XL LR SS for over two weeks. My wife doesn't vape as much and I top hers off first thing in the morning and evening. She's been using hers for almost two weeks. I had to replace it because I wasn't paying attention and she vaped one dry and was burning filler. That one tasted really nasty even after cleaning and I had to pitch it.

Do NOT let them dry out....period!

 

[Puffinon]

You get 2 weeks? Wow! At the moment I'm happy with 2 days! I notice that they say "Refill at most 3-4 times". I get this sort of lifetime over the 2 days. Do you think this can be extended (to 2 weeks?) by keeping them constantly topped up? Just tried 4x3 drips from my 30ml Dekang bottle, which seemed to wet the top nicely. I will give your "constant top-up" method a try.

Also, when you "overfill" your backups, do you totally cover the top of the filler with liquid, then let it drain etc.?

Cheers