Cartomizers & Clearomizers
How to fill and maintain cartomizers and clearomizers
Cartomizers
Method 1
On the first fill it is always good to use this method to ensure your cartomizer is full soaked with your eliquid. When you un-wrap your cartomizer you will notice you have 2 rubber cups either side, you need the bigger one to fill the cartomizer. So follow these steps to use what they call the condom method. Very unglamorous but this is what it is called!
1.Remove the white cap from the cartridge / cartomizer
2.Grab the bigger of the 2 rubber cups it came in and fill this ¾ (3 quarters) to the top
3.Then very slowly push the cartridge / cartomizer thead end down into the rubber cup very slowly – if you see the eliquid run straight through the middle you are doing this too quickly.
4.Push down slowly ensuring the sponge material is fully soaked from the bottom end upwards
5.Remove from rubber cup and wipe down and blow through each end to ensure you have cleared the middle where the steam / vapour comes through
6.Screw onto the battery and vape away
Method 2
Obviously you can always use the condom method if this works for you but on the move this becomes cumbersome and looks rather strange, so as long as your cartridges / cartomizers have been filled using the condom method on the initial fill you can just drip into these moving forwards.
1.Remove the white cap or drip tip
2.Unscrew the cartridge / cartomizer from the battery
3.Hold the cartomizer at a 45 degree angle and drip straight onto the sponge allowing this to sink into the cartomizer until this looks full – normally 10 to 15 drops
4.Clear the hole in the centre and you are ready to go again.
You will know when to refill as the cartomizer will have a slight dry or burnt taste and you will see the sponge looks dry.
By Rule of thumb if the sponge is wet through regardless of how you do this the cartomizer is good to go!
Important to ensure satisfaction
Low Resistance or LR cartomizers are much more effective on smaller output batteries. These will produce high levels of vapour, flavour and throat hit on all small batteries. If you have an Ego or similar these mostly work out at 3.2 Volt output so LR will be okay but if you have a variable voltage battery of any kind you will ideally need a Standard Resistance or SR cartomizer
Standard Resistance or SR cartomizers are used on the bigger higher output batteries like variable voltage units. This allows you to be able to crank these up to really high output for a huge vapour, great flavour and throat hit.
How long do filled cartomizers last?
A filled cartomizer should last from 2 to 4 hours depending on individual usage. So 2 hours for a heavy vaper, 4 for medium and so on.
What is the life on each cartomizer?
This all depends on several things as people use different battery sizes with different outputs which obviously burns the cartomizer out faster but a good cartomizer should last 3 days to 1 week sometimes more.
What are the benefits of cartomizers?
Many people swear by cartomizers as they are generally filled the same way, you get great volumes of vapour, superb flavour and they are cost effective. Another great advantage is that there is so little to go wrong which makes them very reliable.
Fill and maintain my clearomizer!
Clearomizers come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. These not only come in difference sizes but also in 2 resistances too. Some unscrew at the top to be filled, some unscrew at the bottom and it seems quite daunting.
Disposable clearomizers - M3 Mini clearomizers SR (top coil)
(Suited to big batteries or high output batteries)
Great vapour productions on these little clearomizers, as well as a full flavour. We found these to be one of the best clearomizers we have ever tried, cost effective as they last 2-4 weeks each in some cases and a very satisfying vape. All round 5* result! These disposable clearomizers are all refillable until the wick / coil dies. You normally know this is dead when you get a slightly burnt taste as well as minimal amounts of vapour. The M3 Mini clearomizers we have at Vapetime offer huge vapour and a great flavour but these all need a slight bit of maintenance to expand their life span.
To fill these you just pop off the air / condensation compartment and fill down the side of the pin with 1ml of eliquid. Then you must ensure the air compartment is re-secured properly once filled and leave standing for 3-5 minutes before vaping. Please note the units come in at a 2.2 ohm standard resistance so these work on big battery output batteries only unless your ego has great connectivity – for smaller bog standard batteries you will need to purchase a 1.8ohm coil / wick devise.
To maintain this you should blow through the top on every fill to clear the air holes at the bottom are clear so this has a smooth draw. When the air compartment gets full of condensation this should be wiped down every now and again so you don’t get any through the mouth piece. Due to this condensation sometimes you can lose the little rubber cap on the end. If you get annoyed with this, we would recommend a tiny dot of superglue and twist the rubber cap back on to keep if place. (In this instance, blow the condensation through the air compartment instead of wiping)
Top coil clearomizers - T2’s Standard Resistance
(LR Lower resistance wicks available separately for smaller batteries)
The T2 top coil clearomizers have been around for some time and still have their place. This is a very easy to fill delivery system and very easy to maintain to include changing the wick / coil.
Offering a substantial vapour production and good flavour these are a good choice without the hassle of refilling so often with a large clear tank so you always know where you are with your smoke juice. These are awesome first clearomizers to get into the swing with them.
To fill the T2 clearomizer all you have to do is unscrew the black mouth piece and fill down the side until you have filled up to the 2.4ml mark. Ensure you don’t get any eliquid down the central wick hole as this will result in getting eliquid in your mouth as this is where the steam comes through.
Please note the units come in at a 2.5 ohm standard resistance so these work on big battery output batteries only.
To Maintain the T2 all you really have to do is blow through the mouth piece to clear the air holes on the bottom of the unit. If you experience leakage just ensure the coil is screwed on properly. This screws on half way down the metal cylinder inside the unit and is just unscrewed via the part of this with the rubber on sticking out of the unit. If you still have leakage or a burnt flavour it is more than likely you will need a new wick.
Important to ensure satisfaction: If you use a smaller ego battery without a variable function, you will need a low resistance coil / wick to get a full vapour and flavour from this.
How long do the wicks last?
This is tough to answer as this can be dependent on what output setting your battery is on as well as how much your usage is, but as a rule of thumb each wick should last in the region of 1 week, some more some slightly less.
I have some leakage on the battery how can I fix this?
Firstly blow through the mouth piece with a tissue on the bottom of the clearomizer to clear the air holes, then secondly ensure the wick / coil is screwed on firmly. If this fails to stop this issue it is time to change your wick.
Bottom coil clearomizers – MT3 3ml Bottom coil clearomizer
(LR Lower resistance wicks available separately for smaller batteries)
The MT3 is a fairly recent type of clearomizer. This unit has a bottom coil so there is no need to vape this holding up to ensure your wick is fully soaked as this wick is at the bottom. The first thing we noticed about this unit is that it offers nearly an equal flavour to a cartomizer and a huge vapour. Like all of these clearomizer units this has a fairly steep learning curve on the maintenance to ensure you minimalise the change of leakage onto the battery.
To fill this unit you must firstly turn it upside-down and unscrew the coil / wick unit from the bottom, then ideally you need a dripper or the eliquid canister to fill it up in-between the outer ring and the vapour tube. (This is a slight pitfall!) You can see the eliquid then rising around the central tube, then stop when you are close to the top of the window. Hold the clearomizer straight upside down and screw the wick / coil on firmly and leave standing for 5 minutes. Please note these MT3’s also come with 2.5 ohm SR resistance so these work on big battery output batteries only.
To Maintain these beauties is a bit more of a learning curve yet. Sometimes you fill find the clearomizer gurgles slightly, especially on the 2.5 ohm resistance but this is mostly down to condensation within the tubes. This happens on most clearomizers from time to time but is pretty easy to solve. Just carefully turn the unit upside down, unscrew or remove the wick and blow through the fat end of the wick and clear this tube, ideally with something to catch the residue. Then also blow through the bottom of the clearomizer to do the same. Check the wick hasn’t moved and screw back together, giving it all a wipe down. If this doesn’t work and you have had the unit for some time you may just need a new wick as these are short on the MT3 which is what offers this fantastic flavour. We would recommend you follow all the maintenance tips and do this every time you refill the clearomizer for the most satisfying vaping experience.
What is the lifespan of an MT3 wick?
This is very much based on size of output on the battery, how much it is used and several variables, but we would say 1 to 2 weeks is a fairly good lifespan.
Does this work on smaller batteries?
On anything smaller than an ego battery this looks pretty ridiculous, but if you have a standard Ego of any kind as long as you chose LR low resistance this should still perform really well
Important to ensure satisfaction: If you use a smaller ego battery without a variable function, you will need a low resistance coil / wick to get a full vapour and flavour from this.