How to Clean Your 510 E-Cigarette

Cleaning and caring for your Genecigs 510 electronic cigarette is simple, straightforward, and will not take up much of your time at all.

Cartomiser Care

There are only 3 things to remember when it comes to taking care of your cartomisers and maximising their lifespan.

• Keep the cartomiser wet

To keep your cartomiser in good shape for as long as possible, it’s important to not let it dry out, so you should always keep it topped up with e-liquid. If the filler material inside the cartomiser gets too dry, then the wire which heats up to evaporate the juice will start to burn it. Once this happens your vapour will take on an unpleasant burned taste which can’t be cleaned away.

There is no set guide about how frequently you should top up your cartomiser. Everyone has a different vaping style so for instance, someone who takes 5-6 second draws might need to top up more often than someone who prefers 3-4 second draws. The type of e-juice (PG or VG) is also a factor. You will quickly figure out when is best to do your refilling after a little practice.

Basically, the time to start experimenting with topping up is when you notice that the vapour production is getting thinner and/or less flavourful, because that means the e-juice is starting to run out. For some that might be after a single vaping session, for others after 2 or 3. It really depends on the individual.

• Clean by the boiling method

While you can clean the eGo-T atomisers in a number of ways, for 510 cartomisers the only applicable method is to boil them. To save time, it’s good to boil your cartomisers in batches – but leave at least one spare because they take at least 12 hours to dry out properly before they can be used again.

To boil-clean, simply put your cartomisers in a pot on the stove and boil them for 5 minutes. Afterward, empty the boiling water and cool your cartomisers under running cold water before handling them. Blow out as much excess water as you can by blowing through the mouthpiece. Then place the cartomisers mouthpiece-side down on a stack of paper towels or a tea cloth and leave them to dry out for 12-18 hours before you fill and use them again.

TIP: Don’t try to vape before your cartomiser is fully dry – the heating coil won’t work properly if it’s damp, so you’ll just end up wasting e-juice.

• Remember that cartomisers are disposable products

While the steps above can definitely get more life and wear out of your cartomisers, bear in mind that they are designed to be disposable products. Since the average retail price for cartomisers is usually around $2 per individual piece (or $10 for a pack of 5), many people don’t bother with cleaning them at all. Even without cleaning, each can last up to and longer than a week, depending on the intensity of their usage. After all, $2 for a week’s worth of “smoking” (plus the small additional cost of e-liquid to fill the cartomiser), is still pretty good when you consider the much higher price of tobacco cigarettes.

Taking care to keep the filling material wet, and boiling the cartomiser clean each week, may extend its lifespan to 2, 3 or even 4 weeks. Eventually however the filament that coats the heating wire will be burned away through regular use, and the cartomiser will cease to be effective. As this begins to happen, you may notice a black dust darkening the filler material – this is the filament on the wire breaking down. Once it’s completely burned off, the wire won’t be able to produce enough heat to properly vapourise e-juice, even if it is boiled clean.

Battery Care

Taking care of your 510 batteries is extremely easy. All you need to do is clean/polish the end that connects to the cartomiser with a piece tissue. You’ll only need to do this when you notice that the metal connector that screws into the cartomiser has become darkened with e-liquid that has seeped out of the cartomiser. Keeping this connector clean means that your batteries will recharge more effectively and have a longer lifespan.