Let’s get real - wax cartridges are trending as an increasingly popular way to consume THC, however, learning how to put wax in a cartridge is not as straightforward. Not only is vaping practically scentless for discretion, but customizable to your preferences or taste, and simple to travel with, too.
So, if you’re joining the wax cartridge vaping community, there’s one thing you need to learn - how to put wax in a cartridge. Here, we’ll cover how to do so, step-by-step plus all the top tips and best practices you need to know for ultimate success.
How To Put Wax In A Cartridge; A Step by Step Guide
Vape wax cartridges may be convenient but can become costly if you’re vaping often. That’s why many modern-day consumers are now transforming wax concentrates into vaping liquid to fill empty carts with, for less.
If you have a concentrate like wax, shatter, budder, or live resin, and want to learn how to put that wax in a cartridge - here are two simple methods to do so.
Microwave Method
You can put wax in a cartridge using a microwave, but this method is much more simple but may lack potency due to the lack of temperature control on the microwave. That’s because cannabinoids and terpenes burn off at certain levels of high heat. If you’re short on time and want a quick way to turn your concentrate into a liquid for a wax cartridge - here are the steps to follow.
- First, gather your supplies. You’ll need at least 1 gram of concentrate or wax, a microwave safe glass dish, a dab tool (or paper clip, bobby pin, etc), 1 ml of e-juice liquid, an empty vape or wax cartridge, and a syringe.
- Next, add your concentrate to the shot glass followed by the e-juice liquid. To make your mixture more flavorful, you can also add natural terpenes in this step.
- Microwave the mixture for 10 seconds. Remove from the microwave and stir with your metal dab tool. If the concentrate and e-juice liquid aren’t fully combined, continue microwaving at 10-second intervals until complete. On average, this process will take anywhere from 30-seconds to 1 minute depending on the consistency of your concentrate.
- If you haven’t already, remove the mouthpiece from the empty cartridge so you can fill it. Using a syringe with a blunt tip needle, extract the wax liquid from the shot glass and fill your empty cartridge.
- Place the mouthpiece back onto the cart and allow the liquid to soak the wax cartridge coil for at least 15 minutes. Attach the cartridge to your regular vape pen battery, and enjoy!
Stovetop Method
Putting wax into a cartridge using the stovetop method may take more time, and use a few special tools, but is a surefire way to keep potency intact by more accurately controlling the temperature for heating.
- First, gather your supplies. You’ll need at least 1 gram of concentrate or wax, a small glass bowl for mixing, a pot for double-boiling, a candy thermometer, a metal dab tool, 1 ml of e-juice liquid, an empty vape or wax cartridge, and a syringe.
- Make a double boiler with your pot and a small glass bowl.
- Turn on the stovetop to medium-high heat and place the candy thermometer in the water. Allow the water to heat to 175℉. Without a thermometer, watch for small bubbles to form on the bottom of the pan to know when the water is warm enough.
- With your metal dabber tool, add your concentrate to the glass bowl and allow it to heat up for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, add your e-juice liquid and stir. Let the mixture heat, stirring constantly until fully combined. This process can take anywhere from a couple of minutes to 10-15 minutes, so be patient.
- If you’re adding natural terpenes or additional flavoring, do so now.
- If you haven’t already, remove the mouthpiece from the empty cartridge so you can fill it. With your syringe, begin extracting the liquid from the glass bowl and filling your empty wax cartridges.
- Place the mouthpiece back onto the cart and allow the liquid to soak the wax cartridge coil for at least 15 minutes. Attach the 510 thread cartridge to your regular vape pen battery, and enjoy!
Keep in mind, the ratio of e-liquid to wax concentrate is 1 g to 1 ml if you’re making larger batches of liquid to vape. Beyond learning how to put wax in a cartridge, pre-filled vape carts are another way to discreetly consume highly potent extractions. Let’s learn more about pre-filled versions next.
How Do Pre-Filled Vape Cartridges Work?
You don’t need to put wax into a pre-filled vape cartridge, so this is the preferred go-to for many consumers, for the convenience, and travel-ability. These types of vape cartridges come pre-filled by the manufacturer, saving you the time and effort of making your own wax cartridge. So, how do the carts work once you buy one?
Most pre-filled vape cartridges are compatible with 510 thread vape batteries. After attaching your pre-filled wax cartridge onto the battery, you’ll click the button to power on the heat. However, keep in mind some vape batteries won’t have a button, and will power ‘on’ upon drawing or inhaling from the mouthpiece.
Either way, once the vape pen battery heats up the vape cartridge, the liquid turns into vapor, for inhaling. With a vape pen battery, you can interchange cartridges as they run out and re-charge the device, too.
However, some pre-filled vape and wax cartridges are now considered ‘disposable’ and can be tossed once used completely. Think of this like Juul’s vs Breeze e-cigarettes, where one can be charged and replaced while the other is completely disposable.
As a head’s up, do know that sometimes you may come across a vape pen cartridge with no airflow. This can occur for a number of reasons that you can troubleshoot easily with our helpful guides.
Now, if you’re more into dabbing concentrates in their purest form - you’ve probably heard of sugar wax. Sugar wax is an up-and-coming type of extraction that’s trending from coast-to-coast. But, can you vaporize it on the go? Let’s find out.
Sugar Wax in a Dab Pen? Here’s What You Need to Know
Sugar wax is the outcome of a specialized extraction process that produces a unique sugar-like consistency. Similar to wax, budder, or shatter, raw cannabis flower is processed to isolate the resinous oil from the plant material.
Through crystallization and unique timing of agitation during the process, extractors are able to manipulate the oil into a crystal wax that’s similar in texture to sugar. This consistency makes sugar wax ideal for placing into a dab pen for vaporizing on the go, or dabbing at home with a dab rig, too.
So to answer the question - can you put sugar wax in a dab pen? Yes, you absolutely can. Similar to sugar wax - wax crumble is another popular concentrate. So, does it have the same versatility as sugar wax? We’ll answer that next.
Wax Crumble In A Cartridge? Here’s How
If you have wax crumble, but no dab or wax pen - what can you do to vaporize it? Simply follow the instructions we provided above to heat, and melt the wax crumble into an e-juice liquid. By doing so, you can use a syringe to add the wax crumble to your empty vape cart cartridge.
Once you’ve infused the wax into the e-juice liquid you can heat up, vaporize, and inhale the wax crumble just like you would a pre-filled vape cartridge. Now, if you have difficulty filling up cartridges with wax - our next question will help.
How To Get Wax To The Bottom Of The Cart?
Once you liquefy the wax into an e-juice liquid, it should be viscous enough to move from the top to the bottom. If you’re having difficulty, simply turn the cart upside down and keep it there until the liquid has gone to the bottom.
If that doesn’t work, take a lighter and apply heat to the glass cartridge with the wax inside. This should heat the liquid wax up enough for it to move more freely to the bottom. To finish, our complete guide on how to put wax in a cartridge - let’s discuss what you can do with broken carts, or how to smoke the wax out of carts without vaporization.
Can I Smoke Wax Out Of A Cart Without Vaporizing?
Let’s say you don’t have a working vape pen battery, or charger, or a way to vaporize your wax or vape cart. Or, maybe your vape cart is broken and you don’t want to waste the precious wax or oil inside. Is there a way you can still smoke it?
Yes, but you’ll need some type of flower to do so successfully. You can heat up the remaining wax with a lighter to make it more liquid, and pour it over any bowl, joint, or blunt. Light the flower material as you would normally, and inhale for a more potent experience with the wax addition.
How To Dab Wax From A Pen?
Finally, you may be wondering - is there a way to dab wax from a pen? Last, but not least, we’ll cover how to dab wax on the go with a wax or dab pen. Sometimes, there’s just nothing that beats a nice dab. But, you may not always have your torch or dab rig around. With a dab or wax pen, you can easily add wax to the chamber, heat it up, and rip dabs wherever you may be.
To add wax to a dab pen, open up the mouthpiece and scoop up your wax with a metal dabber tool. Place the wax into the chamber and onto the heating coil carefully. Put the mouthpiece back onto the pen, and press the button to heat up and inhale.
You can do the same with a vape pen, as long as the wax is liquid enough to place into the empty cart.
The Final Word on Wax Cartridge Use
From sugar wax to wax crumble, learning how to put wax in a cartridge, to buying a pre-filled wax cartridge - there’s a variety of ways to consume highly potent concentrates on the go. That’s just one reason why vaping is trending amongst consumers, with a 2018 study showing 1 in 4 users prefer THC vape cartridges vs flower.
So if you’re into discreet, versatile, and convenient ways to consume cannabis, look no further than O.pen to level up your vaping game. Especially now that you have all the answers to the top wax cartridge questions to do so successfully. Shop our premium collection of vape batteries and cartridges to replenish your stash, or to start a new routine from scratch.
