The Incredible Condom

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maxx

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ECF Veteran
Jan 23, 2010
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www.omnimaxx.com
I keep find uses for the carto condoms. Is there anything they can't do? :D

In addition to using it as a small mixing vessel for those occasional flavor experiments. We have found you can cut a ring off and it becomes an adjustable air valve for the batteries that are sucking too much air. Now I have found that if you cut the end off and get just a tube....it will fit on a medical-grade syringe (for standard screw-in IV tubing). You put all the parts together and put the whole contraption in a sink of water. Push and pull slowly and repeatedly....and your carto gets a good cleaning. Don't push too hard....or you shoot the carto off the end. ;)

Apologies if this has been posted before. And feel free to post other unique uses for those carto condoms you may have discovered. :)

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Madame X

Full Member
Mar 10, 2010
24
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So Cal
I am brand new to all this and haven't done any refills or washing yet, but my condoms seem to *immediately* attract any bit of cat hair or lint that happens to be floating by, no matter how careful I am (and the ones that I first threw in my coat pocket on my first day were so lint covered I just tossed them, I didn't want them back on the end of my carts!). I think they're made of the same rubbery material that certain kinds of rubberized pet-hair rollers are made out of :) Is this just me? (It has certainly occurred to me that perhaps I am just living in a place that has a little too much lint and cat hair...)
 

jamvector

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Feb 3, 2010
951
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Wisconsin
Thanks Maxx, I used the cut condom on my syringe last night, worked great.

This is my latest and greatest cleaning and refilling process, this example had 20 older / regular carts (I have yet to boil any of my new prems).

In a normal kitchen saucepan, heat about 2 or 3 quarts of water to a full boil.

Disassemble carts, place plastic caps and o-rings in a small tupperware container full of hot water and allow to soak until later in the process.

Place cartos without mouthpieces into the bottom of a 5 qt ice cream pail. Pour the boiling water into the pail covering all the carts with at least 3 inches of water (this way you don't get your good kitchen saucepans dirty with juice = preventing wife from beating you). Let sit for 1/2 to 1 hr., stirring occasionally.

During the carto soak time, I run medium hot water in my utility sink, and rinse and clean all the little mouthpiece parts and set aside over some paper towels on a paper plate.

By this time, the carto soup is cooled enough to start the rinsing process. I use a 10 ml syringe, and place a small tupperware bowl under the running stream of water to form a pool to draw clean water into the syringe.

I remove one cart, draw the syringe full, place flush against the open (mouth) end of the cart, and firmly squeeze the fresh water through the cart out the battery hole into the sink. (Using Maxx's cut condom technique at this part of the process is an improvement to what I was used to doing.)

I syringe-flush each condom with fresh water 3 times, shake and set aside. (If you are wondering why flush from the mouth end vs the batt end, it is because you will force more water through the batting this way, vs forcing water through the batt end only forces water through the hole.)

When all the carts are flushed clean, I take them out to my garage where my best friend, the air compressor lives. I then hold them up and blow out each carto with the "cleaning wand", which dries them almost immediately. Caution should be used here as you can damage the cart if you direct 120 psi at contact into the cart; I have the wand about 4 - 6 inches away which works very well.

I realize not everyone has an air compressor, and I'm sure some will say this is unnecessary, but the added benefit of this is that the batting is significantly loosened and fluffed vs letting them just sit and dry on their own for a few days (if you do let them air dry, you should fluff the batting with a needle or sharp object prior to refilling IF you wish maximize refill volume).

I let all the parts dry for at least one day. Now since the mouthpieces are still removed, I use a smaller syringe to refill as follows: Draw 1ml of juice into the syringe, insert syringe into batting down close to the bottom of the cart. Squeeze 1/4 ml into the batting, remove and repeat 3 more times around the cart to cover 4 polar locations maximizing juice distribution.

Replace mouthpiece parts and condom caps and store vertically with the batt side down for future use. After using the carts, I refill with the carto cap method with a short spin 3 or 4 more times before needing to boil them again.

The entire cleaning process took about 1.5 hrs, and refilling with the syringe takes about 1 min per cart. They are literally factory fresh this way, as I believe this is equivalent to the method and quantity of the prefilled versions.

Sorry if this was too long and detailed, but I hope it will help some of the newbs as they approach this part of their V4L journey. It's not as hard as it sounds, and you will really begin to save money on this happy habit if you take the time to take care of your carts.
 
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jamvector

Super Member
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Feb 3, 2010
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Wisconsin
Wow! Thanks. How about using a hair dryer instead of an air compressor? Would that worK?

Yeah, it will help but is unlikely to loosen the batting up very much due to the lower unthrottled pressure / air stream. Also, your hand might get really hot; could wear a glove I suppose or use low heat setting, but then it's really not much different than an accelerated version of air drying :)
 

jamvector

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Feb 3, 2010
951
81
Wisconsin
jamvector, please edit that post and break it up every 4 - 5 lines :p

All the tiny words close to eachother is like trying to get my eyes to navigate a maze and i wants to read it :D .

thanks!

Is that better? I tried to keep it condensed, but when you leave a little detail out, people ask later.
 
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