Published on January 7th, 2014 | by TJ

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Clearomizer vs Cartomizer vs Atomizer: The Real Difference

Vaping technology is moving INSANELY fast right, with not just new devices, but brand new technologies. A LOT has happened in the past year, and it really is a lot to wrap your head around when starting out.

Even if you are a seasoned veteran on the vaping scene it can be hard to keep tabs on all the newest products; best box mods, best e juice, best clearomizers, and so on! This all seems like a whirlwind to new vapers, which can definitely make quitting cigarettes a lot more difficult. 

One of the biggest challenges a new vaper encounters is trying to learn what the differences are between an atomizer, clearomizer and cartomizer. Slang and lingo is tossed around so much in the vaping community that it is sometimes hard wrap your head around it all and build a solid understanding. Clearomizer, cartomizer, atomizer, RDA, RBA, RTBA; how do you even begin to start?! 

Unfortunately, all of this may lead to confusion to somebody new to the vaping/e cig scene. That confusion can make it more difficult to take the plunge and quite smoking and start vaping. We want to make sure everyone can get past this first step!

Finally kicking those cigs has all kind of benefits (as I’m sure you know!). Not only will you feel it in your lungs, but in your wallet as well. You can save a stupid amount of money by switching to e cigs. Check out how much you can exactly save with this Savings Calculator!

Whether you are vaping a monster 50 Watt mech mod and sub ohming the hell out some RDA’s, or using disposable e cig models with separate cartridges, you will a long term cost savings compared to traditional cigs. It’s no question, when it comes to electronic cigarettes vs cigarettes, e cigs win!

To help those who are trying to understand these essential components of vaping, we have put together the definitive guide to learning the differences. Let’s discover the the real differences between clearomizers, cartomizers and atomizers!

 Overview

There are two main components that every e cig or Advanced Personal Vaporizer (APV for short) have, the battery and the atomizer. In the simplest terms, the atomizer draws power from the battery which it uses to turn the e liquid into vapor. The differences, and the reason for this article, is that there are multiple different ways to deliver the e liquid to the atomizer.

Direct dripping on the atomizer, clearomizers and cartomizers all achieve the same goal of delivering e liquid to the atomizer, but each have their own set of pros and cons. Let’s dive right in!

What is an Atomizer

There many different kinds of atomizers, but in general they consist of a small heating coil and a wicking material that soaks up the e liquid and funnels it into a coil. The coil is generally a short piece of resistance wire that is coiled or wrapped around the small wick or wicking material. The atomizer is then connected to the negative and positive poles of the APV battery, which the coil uses to create the vapor once the e juice from the wicking material reaches it.

On top of the coil/wick is a mesh bridge, which helps regulate the amount of e liquid that reaches the wick, and subsequently the coil.

Direct Dripping

As I mentioned earlier, every e cig or APV uses an atomizer of some sort to vaporize the e liquid, but they can differ on how they deliver the e liquid to the coil. RBA’s, or rebuildable atomizers, are often used for the first method we will cover, which is dripping.

While cartomizers and clearomizers hold several milliliters of e juice at a time, the direct dripping method workings by dripping just 3-5 drops of e liquid directly onto the atomizer at a time. It is a more traditional method that has been used for years, and many experience vapers will swear by it. But as with anything else, there are a set of pros and cons related to direct dripping, so let’s take a look:

Direct Atomizer Dripping Thoughts

As you can see, there are definitely benefits and drawbacks to dripping. The biggest pro for dripping is that it has some of then cleanest, smoothest vapor production of any vaping method.  

It also has good vapor cloud production as well. Vapers who enjoy great tasting vape, with good vapor production and a strong throat hit should definitely try out dripping. Most of the cons can be avoided with a little bit of practice and patience.

Diagram of an Atomizer Head

Make sure you find out how many drops you should use for your particular atomizer (it can range from 3-12), and only use that many when refilling.

When vaping, keep a mental count of how many hits you have taken so you know when it’s time to refill to avoid any burning taste. If you follow these tips, dripping is a very enjoyable vape.

If you are interested in trying direct dripping for yourself, I recommend you check out the VaporFi Bolt RDA from VaporFi. It’s a great rebuildable atomizer that is built like a tank!

Wanna save some money too? We have a VaporFi coupon code page to help with that.

If you want to learn more about dripping, check out this great direct dripping guide. It offers great info and some more atomizer recommendations.

Even with all the great benefits of dripping, it is often difficult to do if you are out of the house. You always have to a bottle of e juice on you, and trying to refill your atty while driving is never a fun time. The solution: tank systems! There are two main types of tank systems, clearomizers and cartomizers.

Both of them use atomizers to vaporizer the e liquid, both have different methods of containing and delivering the juice. We’ll cover the important differences between the two types.

What is a Cartomizer

There are a lot of different aspects to consider when choosing a clearomizer vs cartomizer for your APV. While clearomizers are similar to cartomizers on a fundamental level, these small contrasts can make a big difference in your vaping experience. Let’s start by covering what a cartomizer is.

A portmanteau is a word whose form and meaning are derived from a blending of two other words. Cartomizer is a portmanteau of the words cartridge and atomizer, and for good reason. A cartomizer works by using a tank system that is filled with a polyfill material.

Diagram of a Cartomizer

When somebody refers to a cartomizer, they are likely referring to one of two devices. Either the ‘vaping’ cartomizer such as the VaporFi AIR Cartomizer, or an analog style cartomizer such as those found in the South Beach Smoke Deluxe E Cig Starter Kit. Both styles work fundamentally the same, they are just designed to be used with different types of batteries/devices. There are a couple of different types of coil/wicking setups a cartomizer can have. 

Some cartos use horizontal coils, which internally are the most similar to direct dripping. The horizontal coil runs across a center air path in the middle of the cartomizer. The coil is wrapped around a wick (wicks are made with several different types of material). The wick funnels juices from the filler material, so the coil doesn’t have to touch the filler material in the tank directly like it does inside a vertical coil cartomizer.

This helps reduce the chance you will have a burnt taste when your juice starts running low. The most common type of cartomizer is a vertical coil. Vertical coils uses a coil that runs up and down, instead of side to side like on the horizontal coil cartomizers or atomizer dripping heads.

There isn’t a wick, instead the filler material surrounds the the coil and directly supplies juice without the use of a wick. When you take a hit, the airflow will be drawn through the middle of the coil, instead along the outside of the coil as it does with horizontal cartos. Since the filler material touches the coil directly, you are prone to tasting a burnt flavor when the e juice starts to run out.

They both have their pros and cons. Some people feel they get better flavor from horizontal coil cartomizers, however sometimes horizontal coils do not work as well as vertical coil cartos when using higher voltages since they have thinner wicks. Thinner wicks have a hard time supplying enough juice to the coil, and vaping at higher voltages will burn through e liquid faster.

Some cartomizers come as both refillable and non refillable, although most ‘vaping style’ non refillable cartos can still be refilled with a little bit of effort. You must ensure you clean out your cartomizer and filling occasionally if you want to extend the life of it. If you don’t, you may start to experience flavor ghosting, which is when you taste the previous flavor you vaped after switching e juices. Ghosting makes it difficult to enjoy the pure, clean flavor of your e juice.

Next, let’s take a look at what a clearomizer is and how it is different from a cartomizer.

What is a Clearomizer

As you may have guessed, one of the features of a clearomizer is that it is in fact clear. They have tanks that hold e juice, which feed a wick into the atomizer head on the device. Unlike cartomizers, they do not have any poly-fil material inside the tank. This makes it a little easier to get the clean, natural flavors of your e liquids. It also reduces the chances you will get that burnt flavor when your e liquid runs low, since you won’t start burning the filler material.

Top Coil Clearomizer Diagram

Clearomizers are generally easy to refill, and can have a larger capacity. Some clearos, like the Kanger Aerotank Mega, can hold up to 3.8 mL of e juice! It’s awesome to have the large capacity for the times when you’re busy, but still want to vape a lot with out refilling often. Many clearomizers also come with replaceable atomizer heads, which can greatly extend it’s life.

As you vape your clearomizer, the atomizer coil will start to corrode which increases its  resistance. This increased resistance and corrosion will eventually lead to decreased vapor production and flavor. With replaceable heads, you can just pop out the old one and slap in a new atomizer head. Just like that your clearomizer is as good as new!

New atomizer heads are pretty cheap, so it makes clearomizers an efficient way to vape. You can even go one step further and rebuild the actual coil and wick system on the atomizer. This is even cheaper than replacing the whole atomizer heads. It requires a bit of patience and practice to learn, but once mastered you’ll be happy you did.

It is insanely cheap, and you can build your coils and wicks exactly the way you want, optimizing your vaping experience. For example, you can easily have many coils with different resistances, giving you more options when vaping. It also adds a level of convenience in that if you even run out of atty heads, you don’t have to worry about buying new ones online and wait for them to ship. You can just bust out your supply of coil and wick and wrapped yourself one right away.

Want to Rebuild Your Own Atomizer Coils?

Learning how to rebuild coils has tons of benefits (plus it’s pretty fun!), so we have put together a Free Resource Guide:

Of course, many people are completely content just buying the replaceable atomizer heads and don’t bother with making their own coils. It’s still really cheap and a great way to vape.

Another option to consider when buying a clearomizer is whether you want a bottom or top coil setup. A bottom coil has it’s coil placed near the battery end of the clearomizer, while a top coil is mounted near the mouthpiece. There are several pros and cons of each type which we cover below:

Top Coil Clearomizer

Pros

• Produces warmer vapor since the coil is closer the the mouthpiece
• Refillable from the top
• Less likely to leak

Cons

• Can have poor wicking
• Frequently dry hits
• Must be swirled and title occasionally to keep the wicks moist
• Flavor production can suffer

Bottom Coil Clearomizer

Pros

• Consistent wicking
• Great vapor production
• Cooler vapor

Cons

• May sometimes hiss and gurgle
• May develop leaks is it isn’t tightened together well or too little wick is used
• Filling from the bottom requires a little more effort than top refillable clearos.
• Wicks may need adjustments occasionally

Dual and Single Coil Clearomizers

If that wasn’t enough, clearomizers can also come with single or dual coils.

Bottom Coil Clearomizer Diagram

A dual coil clearomizer will produce more vapor than a single coil clearomizer with less of a hit and they tend have a greater throat hit due to the increased vapor production. The vapor will tend to be cooler though, since the two dual coils will heat up less than a single coil clearo.

Dual coils also tend to drain the battery faster than a single coil, and sometimes give off dry hits. Since more e liquid is being vaporize in a dual coil setup, it’s important to give the wicks time to catch up and get juice to the coils occasionally.

On the other hand,  single coils don’t drain batteries as fast and will have less of a throat hit. Both will work perfectly well, and it really comes down to the quality of clearomizer and your personal preferences.

There a lot of different options when it comes to choosing a clearomizer. A great eGo thread clearomizer I would recommend is the Kanger EVOD 2. It’s a great clearo that has made some notable improvements over the original EVOD, including a new dual coil design! We also have Kanger EVOD 2 review if you are interested in more information.

For those looking for a more advanced clearomizer, I would highly suggest you check out the Aspire Nautilus. It has everything you look for put into a well built package; replaceable (and rebuildable) atomizer coils, large capacity, dual coil design and adjustable airflow ring. Our Aspire Nautilus review covers all this and more in great detail.

And don’t forget about our clearomizer chart! It’s a great way to compare some of the top clearomizers on the market and find the one that fits your setup. If you are looking for information on a particular model, our clearomizer reviews has an archive of all of our reviews.

Hopefully this post was helpful and helped clear up some of the confusion between atomizers, clearomizers and cartomizers. If you enjoyed the post, please take a moment and share it with your friends or community. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Thanks for reading. Until next time, vape on!