The Vocal Vaper:Vapor4Life Cartos

HOW LONG DO CARTOMIZERS LAST?
I am probably asked this question more than any other...and it is the question that the answer frustrates both the person questioning, and the person answering...because there is NO straight answer!!

CARTOMIZERS
I use three types of cartomizers...The regular Cool Cart and Wow cartomizers, which I use on my King Diamond and Titan batteries as well as my eGo; the tanks and tank cartomizers on both styles of batteries; and the eGo Mega cartomizer which work on my eGo batts.  I prefer using the "low resistance" cartomizers, usually 1.5, in the tanks; and the eGo Mega carts are 1.5 as well.
Each and every carto has a "life span", this can be days, weeks or months, depending on how they are used, how often they are used, and the battery they are used on...
An automatic battery is much "easier" on a carto...a manual tends to shorten the life by a little, depending on how long the user holds down the button and how hot the carto gets.  I tend to swap out cartos when they get too hot...I don't really know if this lengethens the life span, but common sense tells me that if I let them get too hot, not only am I putting stress on the coils, but HEAT will "kill" nicotine (one of the reasons we store our liquids in a cool dry place, and not in the car, or in the hot garage!). The heat generated by a LR cart will shorten the life of the atty/carto too, in addition to reducing the amount of time your battery stays charged! But, I am willing to live with shorter battery times and shorter cart life in exchange for the nice, lush, juicy vapor I get when I use a LR cart!!  As you progress in your own Vaping adVenture, you will learn how your equipment reacts to your own special vaping style.  The beauty of vaping is that no two people have the same experience!

SYMPTOMS OF A DEAD CARTO
All of a sudden, perhaps...or over several minutes. You might notice that the vapor is no longer as lush and thick as it was...this is the first symptom that SOMETHING is wrong!
First, does your battery need to be charged? This is always my "first fix"; I swap out my battery!  I have a handful of batteries, and several chargers, so I always have a few waiting to be charged, several charging, and several in my "vape bag" that are ready to use.  So, when vapor production seems a little weak, I change to a fresh batt!

If you put a carto, tank or mega onto a fresh batt, and you still get "nothing"...next fix is to "adjust the post"! It's very easy and simple to do! See this YouTube video produced by Team KR808 and Mr SnowDragon:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HRx8eRZlXVg

If I'm STILL not getting a sizzle, you know that the cart is really DEAD!! If I still get a bit of sizzle...I pop off the top of the cart and look at the filling to see how dry the cart is...sometimes all it needs is a little juice added!  If it still looks pretty juicy, it needs to be cleaned...sometimes its just clogged with half burnt juice and the wick is covered with junk! So, you can either clean or toss it...I always choose to clean it!!

Mr Rick07 over at ECF suggested that you get a "DenTck easy brush" (Miss Lisa 66 recommended the "GUM Soft Picks", which is what I use) and clean out the hole in the middle of the carto.  She says "Rather than bristles, they have little rubber nubs; the brush part is wider at the bottom, come to a point and are very flexible. They have white handles and the rubberized part is green. They come with many in a package for under $4 with a little snap-shut case to hold them. Just one will last a long, long time....when a regular carto starts to taste a little funny or seem a little clogged, I take the tip of the brush, push it into the carto from both ends and work it up and down in there. It will clear the hole and pull out darkened juice that has built up. Then you can just wipe off the tip and reuse. Makes the cartos last longer and taste better."
This should help if you've been using a cartomizer for some time....

CLEANING
The last thing you can try is giving the carto a good cleaning!  Miss Gator and I both use a jewelry steam cleaner, which works very well, but if you don't have a steam cleaner handy...Watch THIS video producedby Team KR808 on YouTube!    http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aeBwmVejNkk

THE NEXT STEP 
If cleaning the cart doesn't work, you will need to replace the regular cool cart or WOW cart, Mega cart or cartomizer for the tank!  For assistance in choosing the right cartomizer, read THIS blog post written by Mr Morandir!      http://www.vapor4life.com/blog/replacement-cartos/

And, as always, you can ask questions on the Vapor4Life forum!  http://www.vapor4life.com/forum  There is always someone there who can help with whatever issue you have...we are all there to help YOU!!

Feel free to make a comment below, or click one of the Subscribe buttons to get my updates as they are posted!! You can always ask questions by sending an email to: VocalVaper@gmail.com   Happy Vaping!!