Tips for Other Blu Users

[Nix]

Hey, I also bought a Blu without doing proper research on the options out there. (which I conveniently got to do during the atrocious waiting period) Here are my experiences and thoughts.

The Blu cig works great for the first hit, then sucks. I am convinced that this is due to the shoddy cart design. The cart is too small, too far a way from the atty, doesn't have enough stuffing and therefore doesn't wick well at all. From my experience, if you let the cart wick for 3-4 minutes between drags it performs decently. However, for most people 3-4 minutes between drags is an eternity. So I decided to try dripping/dipping.

I bought some juice from Johnson Creek (Tennessee Cured 24mg) and I got great vapor and a good throat hit. I just used 2-3 drops directly on the atty's "wick" and it performs very well and very consistently until the juice is gone (never really measured, but I'm guessing around 8-10 long drags). I also used one of the empty tips that it came with for good airflow. You could also just push the cart out of one of the flavored carts with a paperclip.

Then I was frustrated that I had all those carts that they send you, so I decided to get what I could out of them. I just pulled the stuffing out of the carts and squeezed the juice out with a syringe. For example, take all the stuffing's from the CherryCrush carts and put them all into the syringe. Then just squeeze it all into a bottle and use it for dripping. The taste is actually much better IMO when done this way.

This is what I have done so far, so if anyone else has tips please add them and I can give them a try too. It's better to get some use out of these that just throw them away. Blu's attys actually aren't that bad.

 

[willtiff]

I had the same problem with the first hit being great and every hit after being nonexistent. Aside from removing the piece of foil that gets stuck on the atomizer when you first attach the cartridge, I found an easy way to get the cartridge to wick properly without adding stuffing or additional drops of liquid.

If you assemble the blu cig completely, look at the end of the cartridge. There is a small pinhole where you take a hit. If you push a safety pin in the little hole it pushes the wick firmly against the atomizer. It still takes about 30 seconds for the atomizer to get another great hit, but a huge improvement overall. Good luck and happy vaping!

 

[ACM]

Tried to push the wick against the atomizer and I could barely take a drag. I had to push it back down again. I think I'll look into some cart mods.

 

[tinstar15]

If you push the inner cart towards the atty while its attached you could possibly damage the atty bridge by compressing the mesh on the bridge or, if pushed to hard with a tight fitting cart, you could even strip the mesh from the bridge supports.

Technically the best way to improve the wicking of the fluid is to push out the inner cart, partially remove the wicking material/cart filler, and "fluff" it by separating/decompressing it to allow better seeping, then restuffing it into the inner cart and re-inserting the inner cart into the outer cart.

I've noticed that on some prefilled carts, the size of the filler material varies. Most of my Volcano carts (for all intents and purposes, the same as Blu) have a nicely packed filler. Some however had a sizably larger amount of filler which caused to to be packed tighter, which caused the fluid to become trapped in the bottom. In this case you can trim a little off, restuff and try it again. The objective is to find the sweet spot so that it drains the cart without flooding the atty. Be careful and bear in mind that, unless your chain vape, wicking doesn't stop when stop vaping. If it wicks too well, when you stop vaping without draining the cart or store it battery end down, it will continue wicking down flooding the atty or worse, draining into your battery which is not a good thing.

If this seems complicated or too much of a pain in the a**, you can just ditch the inner cart completely and dip/drip using only the outer cart (mouthpiece). I don't dip/drip myself. I just use cleaned out carts (or buy blank carts from Volcano) and fill em with my own DIY juice. I custom tailor the cart filler to match the viscosity of the juice I use.

You can also try the PTB mod, Foam plug mod, Straw mod, or any other bajillions of different cart mods on this forum.

Bottom line, it ain't worth the chance of accidentally trashing an $4-$5 atty just to get the last .05 cents worth of juice from a .50 cent cart.

 

[JDSupreme]

I ordered my blu late last Friday evening and it was in my mailbox on Thursday....not bad compared to some of the horror stories i've read. The first atty died within hours. I tried cleaning it but it still produces virtually no vapor. However the spare atty had been vaping strong since then. Im working my way quickly through my initial supply of carts and I have already ordered 2 30ml jugs of juice from revolver (cant beat the price) which should be here in a couple days along with 2 spare atty's from Blu. I plan on drip/dipping at home and just refilling the carts I got to take with me on the go. So today I started pulling out the inside of the carts to get them ready for when my juice comes and the insides are different sizes. This makes no sense to me. Some are shorter than others. Anyone notice this? Oh well I guess ill just refill the taller ones because I guess the atty will wick the liquid better? Otherwise I dont seem to have a problem with vapor or hit quality. I got the 12mg carts from Blu which i attribute to semi-weak throat hit so I got the 24mg liquid on the way. Drip/dipping the 24mg should do it. Probably gonna invest in a 510 pass thru system (whats the best pass thru?) for home and use the refilled Blu's on the go. Ideas? Help? New to vaping and never looking back....................JDSupreme

 

[tinstar15]

There are two types of carts for the L88b/Blu/Volcano.

The older style (orange one in pic) came in various colors. They have thicker outer carts (mouthpiece) and small inner carts (translucent part) with a section of filler material.

The newer style (black one in pic) have thinner outer carts, larger inner carts, and filler.

Both came foil/plastic sealed.

Some vendors still have the older style in circulation.

Now here is the important part: Do not mix and match parts!!!!

If you put a old style inner cart in a new style outer cart, the wick material will not contact the atty and it wont work for squat. Eventually the fluid will leak out and contact the bridge which will make it feel like its working but you will start sucking in loose juice after a while.

If you put a new style inner cart into an old style outer, the inner cart won't sit down far enough. When you push it down on the atty, it will feel harder than usual. This is because you have just forced your atty bridge deep into the narrow inner cart and stripped the mesh off it. You atty is now screwed. Don't mix and match cart parts by accident.

Now as to the 510 PT. Yes, you can screw a L88b/Blu/Volcano atty and cart onto a 510 PT and it will work. I tested this a few weeks ago and found that it will work for the most part. YMMV but after a weeks use with a new atty, I found that the atty wasn't vaping as well as before. After a while, the atty stopped completely. I think that the power level is maybe just a tad higher than the atty was designed for. I have heard others trying this without problems. Didn't work so well for me, but thats not to say it won't work well for you.

Volcano is in the process of obtaining L88b PTs designed specifically for use with Blu/Volcano parts. If you go to their forum there is a pic of one in one of the threads. They were originally going to be out for sale by now, but some flaws were discovered in testing by Volcano staff and they are waiting for the updated versions sometime in the next week or so. They should be up for sale soon after.

Here's a pic:

Hope this helps, Happy vaping.
Tinstar

 

[JDSupreme]

Thanks!!! Grrrrrreat info! I cant tell from your pic if the black or orange one is longer. Looks like the larger insert fits in the larger (length) empty cart. Just double checking before i reassemble these. Im gonna keep an eye out for the PT. I might as well just wait till that comes out since it is made for the blu. I really think anyone who hates on the blu, really is just not using it properly. I thought the same thing right out of the box but after a little research I can clearly see what I was doing wrong at first (hitting it like an analog etc...) The long, slow drag and the covering of 2 or 3 of the little air holes and it was like night and day. I cant wait for my juice to get here so i can start dipping and refilling. Is there a certain liquid that works best on the blu? And is the JC worth the extra money compared to revolver or another inexpensive one? The extra couple bucks doesnt matter to me because it still beats analog prices any day. Just looking for the best overall experience. Just picking your brain!

 

[tinstar15]

No prob. The black and orange outer carts in the photo are the same length and width. The difference lies in the thickness of the plastic itself. The older ones are just slightly thicker.

Technically there were three variations. There was a limited run of transitional carts which were like the newer style. They had the bigger inner cart and thinner plastic outer, but had a shorter overall length. Most were only used for L88b dummy carts but I have seen a few in prefilled boxes. Aside from the shorter length, they also tended to come in the old-style smooth shiny finish as opposed to the new style matte finish.