Trouble with thick juice in cartomizers?

[uzzaperez]

Hello folks. I recently cracked open a bottle of vg that was thicker than normal. It took me a bit longer to fill my blanks because of a slower absorption time, but then, even after a 24 hour wait, it still seems like it hasn't soaked through to the atty.

It seems to go dry and harsh pretty quickly. Any tips? Do you just thin out the thick juice or does thick juice normally work okay in the cartos for the rest of you?

Thinning it out makes sense, and I don't mind doing it, but I thought I'd see if there were any other tips out there on making thick juice work with the cartos. I only tried two cartos, didn't want to use up another on testing...I suppose it is possible I just randomly got two in a row of the very occasionally occuring underperforming carto. Dunno, do you?

 

[Adrenalynn]

What temperature are you refilling at/is the juice at?

VG is very susceptible to thickening in cold temps.

 

[henrid84]

two words... Taryn Spin. works like a charm.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/vapor4life/47584-my-refilling-trick.html

 

[jtoddaz]

I'll add some advice, as I just went through this. I had some VG juice that was very thick, and it was very difficult getting it to absorb in the V4L cartos.

One word. Syringe!!

Get one, and draw up 1cc, and then using a blunt tip needle, insert into carto working your way to the top from the bottom. The entire carto gets coverage, and you don't flood the cartomizer. Worked beautifully for me. It does take some time to draw the liquid into the syringe since it is so thick, so be aware that is normal. I was using a 19g, so I would suggest using anything from 16-19g.

Good luck.

 

[Adrenalynn]

I suspect at 70deg F, it's going to be a ton thinner than it would be at 55deg F, say.

 

[jtoddaz]

Well, I'm in Phoenix, so I'd hate to have to load a carto in some of the northern parts of the country!

 

[calla2]

One word. Syringe!!

That's what I was going to say. Works like a charm on thick (or thin) juices. You could look in the DIY forum for info on using a little vodka to thin it out also. Don't know what to tell you about it being harsher since folks seem to think VG is milder than PG. Maybe your carts are going drier faster because you using less juice when refilling since it's not soaking in.

 

[uzzaperez]

Thanks guys. Juice about 75 degrees. Harshness not because of juice but because carto was still dry on the inside around the coil - the juice just wouldn't soak through even after waiting a day. I tried a new carto with the Taryn Spin method, and it seemed to work out well. Dunno if it was just a cart that wouldn't soak through for some strange reason or if I burned the first cart trying to vape it before it soaked through, but nothing would save the carto that was giving me trouble.

 

[Taryn]

When I fill a totally empty cart with some of the thicker juices I admit I just count out the drops and let it puddle, .... plug and condom on the bottom. Usually I'll hit it with 27 drops, give it a spin then top it with three to re-wet the top. I used to stop and spin but this works great too. At worst I have to give it a tiny little blow to get out extra in the tube the atty rests in.

 

[Mary Kay]

A couple of drops of distilled water helps if you don't want to add alcohol (vodka or the like..clear only). Please use distilled because of the minerals in tap water. We want to baby our cartos!

 

[Adrenalynn]

Can you thin it with water? The boiling point is so high on water.

 

[henrid84]

When I fill a totally empty cart with some of the thicker juices I admit I just count out the drops and let it puddle, .... plug and condom on the bottom. Usually I'll hit it with 27 drops, give it a spin then top it with three to re-wet the top. I used to stop and spin but this works great too. At worst I have to give it a tiny little blow to get out extra in the tube the atty rests in.

27!? are we using the same cartos? lmao. i can get maybe 20 on a fresh blank before its dripping out the bottom once i pull the plug.

 

[Taryn]

I refill my freshly washed cartos with thirty drops from the 5ml bottles no problem. I've gotten 40 in but it was pretty flooded, thirty is my happy place.

 

[GrannyM]

Hello folks. I recently cracked open a bottle of vg that was thicker than normal. It took me a bit longer to fill my blanks because of a slower absorption time, but then, even after a 24 hour wait, it still seems like it hasn't soaked through to the atty.

It seems to go dry and harsh pretty quickly. Any tips? Do you just thin out the thick juice or does thick juice normally work okay in the cartos for the rest of you?

Thinning it out makes sense, and I don't mind doing it, but I thought I'd see if there were any other tips out there on making thick juice work with the cartos. I only tried two cartos, didn't want to use up another on testing...I suppose it is possible I just randomly got two in a row of the very occasionally occuring underperforming carto. Dunno, do you?

From my experiences with 100% VG in the last month and a half, thinning is the ultimate answer.

To me getting the VG in the cartomizer wasn't a problem especially using Taryn's spin method. The problem was getting that carto to perform properly.

Without thinning, I was getting cartos that were extremely hard to draw on and also burning really hot after just 1 drag - pretty much like using an empty carto except I knew that this one was full. I don't know if it's because the b.p. of VG is higher than PG & thus the atty has to get hotter in order to vaporize or because the VG is so thick that it just won't flow through the wicking material - probably a combination.

I now use vodka to thin out my VG juices. I use vodka rather than distilled water because the vodka adds a little kick to the throat hit.

Also, it's important to keep these cartos topped off more often. You will see in other threads where people have said that their V4L VG carts don't last as long as their PG carts. I'm sure this is due to the nature of VG - because I've found this to be true regardless of where I get my VG juice from. Maybe someone with more scientific knowledge than me can explain this better.

Hope this helps you.

 

[calla2]

uzzaperez, could you please share which flavor, size/ml, and strength/mg you are having this thickness problem with?

 

[uzzaperez]

uzzaperez, could you please share which flavor, size/ml, and strength/mg you are having this thickness problem with?

25mg ecopure - which is pretty pure vg. The stuff I had was thick enough that it would hold little bubbles suspended in it without letting them float to the surface of the drop and pop out. The juice was thick at first, then I shook it up in case maybe thick stuff had collected at the top of the bottle. Then it was all full of bubbles that made it effectively even thicker. woops. I really like the juice though.

 

[uzzaperez]

From my experiences with 100% VG in the last month and a half, thinning is the ultimate answer.

To me getting the VG in the cartomizer wasn't a problem especially using Taryn's spin method. The problem was getting that carto to perform properly.

Without thinning, I was getting cartos that were extremely hard to draw on and also burning really hot after just 1 drag - pretty much like using an empty carto except I knew that this one was full. I don't know if it's because the b.p. of VG is higher than PG & thus the atty has to get hotter in order to vaporize or because the VG is so thick that it just won't flow through the wicking material - probably a combination.

I now use vodka to thin out my VG juices. I use vodka rather than distilled water because the vodka adds a little kick to the throat hit.

Also, it's important to keep these cartos topped off more often. You will see in other threads where people have said that their V4L VG carts don't last as long as their PG carts. I'm sure this is due to the nature of VG - because I've found this to be true regardless of where I get my VG juice from. Maybe someone with more scientific knowledge than me can explain this better.

Hope this helps you.

Good info, lets me know I'm not crazy anyway.

 

[GrannyM]

Uzzaperez,
I thin ecopure at about 10%. It's not as thick as some other VG I've encountered.

Just thin till it looks the same consistency as your PG juice

 

[calla2]

25mg ecopure - which is pretty pure vg. The stuff I had was thick enough that it would hold little bubbles suspended in it without letting them float to the surface of the drop and pop out. The juice was thick at first, then I shook it up in case maybe thick stuff had collected at the top of the bottle. Then it was all full of bubbles that made it effectively even thicker. woops. I really like the juice though.

Oh, I see. I thought it was a V4L flavor. What flavor is it btw? The less flavor additives and nicotine it has, the thicker it will be (although 25mg is pretty high, maybe your flavor is a lighter one). Have you tried thinning with distilled water or clear vodka yet? I'd suggest trying small batches then, once you get the test proportions right/to your liking, you can thin out the entire bottle.

 

[JohnnyVapor]

I now use vodka to thin out my VG juices. I use vodka rather than distilled water because the vodka adds a little kick to the throat hit.

I also use vodka. I'm not very concerned about the alcohol, since vodka is only 40%, and you only need just a little. I mix about 4-5 drops of vodka into about 2ml of some really thick juices(Cigtech Rath juice and Tasty Vapor, which I do NOT recommend, btw).