Cartridges vs. Cartomizers

There’s more than just one way to e-smoke, which should make it no surprise to you when you realize that there’s different types of refill cartridges for your e-cigarette.

The problem with having so many different ways to refill your e-cigarette is that you can end up running into problems that can hinder your e-smoking experience.

For example, we think that the most important thing for new e-smokers to know is that they should purchase cartomizers rather than disposable e-cigarette cartridges. Cartomizers are the latest in e-cigarette technology and they’re more reliable. That makes them a better investment.

Let’s take a quick run through the different types of e-cigarette cartridges so you can decide which is the best option for you to use.

E-Cigarette Cartridges

E-cigarette cartridges were the most popular option for e-cigarettes on the market between about 2008-2011. While we’ve used our share of cartridges and know how to make them work, we recommend that you steer clear of them simply because you can opt for e-cigarette cartomizers instead.

How to Recognize Them

You can recognize this type of cartridge by the simple fact that it has an opening on the bottom rather than screw threading. In this opening, you’ll find a tiny wet sponge that is vital to the vaporization process.

E-cigarettes that use this type of cartridge will most commonly be referred to by manufacturers as “three-part e-cigarettes.” They consist of a battery, atomizer and cartridge.

The atomizer is the part that heats up the e-liquid to vaporize it and it’s screwed into the battery. The cartridge attaches to the top of the atomizer.

The Drawbacks of E-Cigarette Cartridges

You’ll find that e-cigarette cartridges are incredibly cheap to buy, but their main drawback is that they tend to have operational problems. For example, they leak because they lack the screw-on threading that cartomizers have. This problem becomes worse when they expand in warm environments such as during shipping — it’s not uncommon to open a new pack of cartridges and find that several of them have leaked in transit.

Another problem with cartridges is the fact that you’ll never get the “half a pack of cigarettes” amount out of them that manufacturers say they hold. We’ve found that it’s hard to even get the equivalent of 4-5 cigarettes out of one cartridge.

E-Cigarette Cartomizers

While cartridges were once the most popular solution for e-cigarettes, most modern e-cigarettes have opted for designs that incorporate cartomizers.

If you’re curious about why they’re called “cartomizers”, the name is the result of an amalgamation of the words “cartridge” and “atomizer.”

How Does a Cartomizer Work?

Cartomizers represent a more reliable way to hold on to your e-liquid. You run into less problems with cartomizers due to the fact that a new atomizer is integrated into each cartomizer. In addition, cartomizers tend to be larger than e-cigarette cartridges. All of these features put together mean that cartomizers hold more liquid than cartridges while operating more reliably and preventing leaks.

Do Cartomizers Have Drawbacks?

The only clear drawback of cartomizers is the fact that they cost slightly more than your average e-cigarette cartridge. The cost is usually a small deal due to the fact that cartomizers outperform cartridges in every way imaginable. In addition, cartomizers eliminate the cost of replacing atomizers because a new atomizer is included with each cartomizer.

We’ve found that the only thing that holds people back from switching to cartomizers is the fact that the term seems foreign to them. Some manufacturers recognize this and have begun to refer to them as “cartridges” instead of cartomizers. In time, this will probably lead to the old disposable plastic e-cigarette cartridge fading away permanently.

If you’re unsure if your e-cigarette uses a cartomizer, then the easiest way to identify is by the screw threading on the bottom. You may have to look inside, as some manufacturers like to recess the screw threading for the sake of aesthetics.