What Am I Doing Wrong? Poor Taste, Bad Cartos

[provari]

I am not quite happy with vaping. I bought a lava tube 5 months ago and had been smoking that for 3 months with cheap juice. I hated the taste but kept going cause it did keep me from smoking analogs. After 3 months I broke my lava tube from dropping it, so I bought a pro vari and started buying better quality juice (tasty vapor). I also bought a 8ml tank and been using smok tech pre drilled cartos 1.5 ohms vaping at 4.6 volts.

Here is what I noticed, After I replace the carto and add 15 drops of juice to the carto and fill the 8ml tank. I am quite happy with the taste with a fresh carto (vaping Granny Smith Apple Pie) but it is always very short lived. after 10 puffs it just starts to taste like crap.

I have also found that the smok tech cartos are very hit and miss. What I mean is sometimes I replace the carto with a fresh smok tech carto and put 15 drops of juice in and then try to vape and find I have to suck extremly hard. So then I have to replace and throw it away, without getting any use out of it and use another smok tech carto.

I have read of forums that 1 carto is = 6 cigs. I have gotten nowhere near these results. I feel like it is just such a hassle and I am wasting my time. Also what is the point of having a 8ml tank if a carto is only = to 6 cigs?

I have used 13 cartos in 2 weeks and for the most part they taste like crap. I am happy with them when they are fresh but after that they quickly begin to taste bad,

[kgoallthewaygo]

i beg to differ on the 1 carto = 6 cigs. i use my carto tank for about a week to a week and a half before changing the carto out. normally anything with a filler like cartos will dull the flavor. but what i do to ensure the filler stays wet is take a couple of unpowered hits. short and strong to help the juice refill. also if your using vg juice id recommend getting a 1/4" saddle valve to make the hole bigger.

if your still not happy with the cartos id look into the clearomizers. either the vision stardust v3 or the vivi nova... no filler so better taste.

[Brian]

What PG/VG mix are you using? If you're only getting about 10 puffs before you get a bad taste, then you're probably tasting burning filler (the juice isn't getting into the carto). If you're using a thick juice (more than 20-30% VG), you're going to have a problem. Is the carto punched with one, two or 3 holes? For some heavy vapers, making the hole a little bigger help with he wicking issue.

[mcquinn]

You may not be getting them full.A carto by itself holds 22 drops and then the the tank holds some more.If you are vaping a dry carto it will taste very bad.I would suggest dumping the tank and just using Boge standard resistance carto's.You also might try dialing back the voltage.That particular brand of liquid is awesome at 3.7 to 4 volts.

[provari]

i beg to differ on the 1 carto = 6 cigs. i use my carto tank for about a week to a week and a half before changing the carto out. normally anything with a filler like cartos will dull the flavor. but what i do to ensure the filler stays wet is take a couple of unpowered hits. short and strong to help the juice refill. also if your using vg juice id recommend getting a 1/4" saddle valve to make the hole bigger.

if your still not happy with the cartos id look into the clearomizers. either the vision stardust v3 or the vivi nova... no filler so better taste.

Ok I have just used a fresh smok tech 1.5 ohm carto and took a few unpowered hits. I seen some bubbles from the pre drilled hole in the carto, so it does seem to work with sucking in some juice. I will try this a bit more in the future as well. The taste still seems dull though. I think the juice is getting to the carto because the juice I am using is only 20% VG,it is not very thick juice.And also I think the carto is full because sometimes the juice will leak from the carto into screw hole were the carto screws into the provari.

What PG/VG mix are you using? If you're only getting about 10 puffs before you get a bad taste, then you're probably tasting burning filler (the juice isn't getting into the carto). If you're using a thick juice (more than 20-30% VG), you're going to have a problem. Is the carto punched with one, two or 3 holes? For some heavy vapers, making the hole a little bigger help with he wicking issue.

I am using 80%PG 20% VG and 24mg nic. The carto is punched one time only, just the factory predrilled hole. I guess I should say its not so much a bad taste, more like a very very dull taste as kgoallthewaygo has said. I can hardly taste any flavor at all.

You may not be getting them full.A carto by itself holds 22 drops and then the the tank holds some more.If you are vaping a dry carto it will taste very bad.I would suggest dumping the tank and just using Boge standard resistance carto's.You also might try dialing back the voltage.That particular brand of liquid is awesome at 3.7 to 4 volts.

I have just replaced with a brand new smok tech carto and filled with 22 drops and filled the tank as per your advice and reduced the voltage to 4 volts. I am using tasty vapor strawberries and cream 80%PG 20%VG with 24mg nic with smok tech carto 1.5 ohm at 4 volts, and I have done a few unpowered hits to suck in juice into the carto through the pre drilled hole. I do think the carto is getting juice.

After doing all this I still feel the flavor is really dull, not bad tasting as i have previously said. I think more accurate would be to say the flavor is just very very dull flavor.

[kgoallthewaygo]

and with cartos the flavor wont be as pronounced as direct dripping or clearomizers.

[Jdog]

you may want to try the V2 replacement cartos for tank. they have 3 pre-punched holes. I find that they allow better liquid flow (i have to use this kind because i use high VG blends)

Also, i wouldn't be afraid to overfill your carto the first time you use it so it doesn't burn out.

[Uma]

I don't have much luck with the cartos holding up in tanks either, so I switched over to the DID RBA (rebuildable atty). It has a stainless steel mesh wick and tank. (can also get the clear poly tank for non cinnamon flavors). Total flavor, lots of vapor. But until you're ready for an RBA, the tips provided by the experienced posters really do help. (poke your needle into the carto hole and fill the bottom half of that carto, insert carto into tank, fill tank ALMOST to the top (leave air flow), vape slow and vape thin juices. (no higher than 20% vg). Sometimes it's just a bad batch of cartos from the factory. It happens, unfortunately. Hang in there!!!!

Best of luck to you!!

[owutaqt]

Sometimes if you vape the same flavor for too long of a period it starts to taste dull and not so full of flavor, try to switch up your flavors a bit and see if that helps.