Who cleans cartos?

[Cyrus Vap]

Clean cartos regularly, even before they get hella stiff

Never wrecked a carto unless I was being an idiot and tinkering too much, otherwise always good as new after a cleaning

Nothing hard about it!

These things are going on MONTHS lol

 

[jeffree]

OT... I hate refilling so much that I'll be the first in line when someone delivers a tank-style carto that's 99% leakproof and easy to refill, with the looks of a standard XL (or mega) carto. Black would be fine. Seems that the tech still falls a bit short, in general, and I'm hoping V4L leads the way.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

Same here; I'll take it a step further (maybe this is what you meant Jeffree) but I'm starting to hate topping off

Of course part of the problem is I vape far too much lol

But to me topping off to extend carto life is way more energy consuming than the weekly wash!

 

[Cyrus Vap]

I still clean mine all the time and with the right technique and equipment it is easy. When your Cartos lose their absorbent abilities, just rinse them under the sink, give the a thermometer shake and toss them in a container of water. As the week rolls on keep rinsing and tossing the used Cartos into the container. I just use on old glass and leave it by sink, once or twice a day I pour out the old water, let the water run in the glass for 30 seconds, then fill the glass and walk away.

Once I get 6 or so, I remove them from the glass and run those under hot tap water then screw those Cartos on a thing. I press a button and 10 seconds later the cartos are dry and ready to be refilled.

If I have been experimented with strong new flavors and don't like them. I will soak those Cartos in Vodka or vinegar, then rinse them out, let them soak a little longer hot water before drying them.

There are other techniques, but they are all so time consuming, and sometimes result in a lot of dead cartos.

Snow, do you find the vinegar to be just as good as the booze for getting rid of flavor?

I'm starting to think I'm putting way too much PGA into my cartos and not enough into my stomach lol

If I can get away with a vinegar soak instead, why not! Its like 200% cheaper

 

[keyzygirl]

Im using 5v so I top off every few minutes it seems like,LOL! Im up to almost 10ml a day!!

 

[5vz]

I must have tried cleaning all wrong. They always taste like crap when I tried, worse than before I cleaned. I tried washing with water, boiling, vinegar, I even tried an alcohol soak with many water rinses. All dried for a week or so after, even tried the oven drying. Didn't work for me. Once they are done, they are done. If there was an easy way to replace the polyfill stuff without damage, it might work for me. I just toss 'em now.

 

[ShankUO]

I just did my first ever cleaning of the cartos. I boiled mine then let them sit on the counter for a week. About one and 3 are dead or taste crappy. Hopefully it gets better as I learn more. Thanks to Snow for the extraction method to get all the juice out.

 

[chimchim]

Do you guys clean the tank cartos? I am really going through them. It seems like they go way fast!

 

[TheScootness]

I always mean to soak mine in vodka, but end up drinking it before I can get any cleaned!

 

[dedi]

Do you guys clean the tank cartos? I am really going through them. It seems like they go way fast!

I have cleaned one (1.5 that came with tank) per SD directions. It works fine but the draw is verrrrrrrry stiff..........not sure why.

 

[SnowDragon]

Snow, do you find the vinegar to be just as good as the booze for getting rid of flavor?

I'm starting to think I'm putting way too much PGA into my cartos and not enough into my stomach lol

If I can get away with a vinegar soak instead, why not! Its like 200% cheaper

Yep...Vinegar or Vodka will work, I generally take them after rinsing and soaking them, dry them, inject them with vinegar of vodka and let the sit for a day.

I've never really had any issues with cleaning cartos outside of my first newb attempts.

@Chim... I have noticed the same thing with Single Vertical Coil replacements, they don't seem to have the longevity of their Dual Coil counterparts. Yes you can clean them just like any other carto, the Duals hold up pretty well to cleaning, I haven't tried a Single yet.

 

[cricque]

I have mixed results with boiling. What I am doing now is like a minute or 2 boiling and then use this, with a couple of drags from "Cartomizer/Atomizer Cleaning Kit - With 10ml Control Syringe, Luer-lock compatible w/cleaning tubes and instructions" and they end up clean.

I recently got the filler out of a boge and a smok dual coil just to see how they would look after cleaning. And they looked fine and clean. It doesn't take too long. But I only do this in batch and not just for 1 carto

 

[SnowDragon]

Ah yes the Cartomizer/Atomizer Cleaning Kit.....I got one of these about a year ago...of course the "Kit" wasn't on the market then. What this really is a Pill Gun with a piece of 1.5 inch clear PVC 1/4 I.D. tubing. It works well for about 2 months and then plunger started seizing up due to esterfication. That was when I decided to give the Turkey Baster a try and it seemed like it did the same jobe without any plunger issues. One thing is certain, in order to get Cartos clean you have to soak them, and push a lot of water through them.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

Have you ever tried the baby syringe with adaptor Snow?

 

[SnowDragon]

I haven't tried one of those, is that the snot sucker ball thingy? Personally I like the baster because it pushes a good volume of water and I can pick one up for under $2.00.

 

[EleanorR]

Ah yes the Cartomizer/Atomizer Cleaning Kit.....I got one of these about a year ago...of course the "Kit" wasn't on the market then. What this really is a Pill Gun with a piece of 1.5 inch clear PVC 1/4 I.D. tubing. It works well for about 2 months and then plunger started seizing up due to esterfication. That was when I decided to give the Turkey Baster a try and it seemed like it did the same jobe without any plunger issues. One thing is certain, in order to get Cartos clean you have to soak them, and push a lot of water through them.

Esterfication????

Sir, there are ladies present!!

 

[SnowDragon]

Esterification.....mo bettah!

esterification - alcohols and carboxylic acids

 

[Cyrus Vap]

I haven't tried one of those, is that the snot sucker ball thingy? Personally I like the baster because it pushes a good volume of water and I can pick one up for under $2.00.

I like the turkey baster as well, and your great video(s) on its use

here it is:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/img/files/Canon_IP3000_001.jpg

I've used both to what I think are equivalent results. The only difference is you can get higher pressures with the baby syringe, but the adaptor fits really tight and tends to mess up the carto sticker a bit

 

[tonyorion]

For forced flushing, regardless of the liquid used, get a 60 ml luer lock syringe from Tractor Supply ($2.99). Then take a carto condom, cut off the closed end, slip it on the carto and syringe, and you have a cheapo carto cleaning device.

You can also use the same device to fill your cartos. While you are at TS, pick up some long 18 g needles. They are perfect for reaming out the center of a carto that is beginning to draw hard. You stand a chance of wrecking the carto, but if you are gentle and rotate the needle slowly, you might be able to save a few cartos that have stopped performing. The reaming technique only works with the vertical, single coil cartos.

I use Liquinator tanks which are real juice hogs, but they keep the carto moist without flooding. The three I purchased are over a year old, and they still work well.

These are not my ideas, but they were posted in ECF a while ago. There are a lot of helpful hints here, but at times, it is a bit of a bear trying to dig out information.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

When you ream a carto tonyorion, what exactly are you scraping? The coils and diaper? or just gross chunks that are in the center tube?