Protank 2 white silicone o-ring seals

[Trayce]

I'd like to get extra silicone o-ring seals since I know I am going to wash one of mine down the sink sooner or later. I saw some on a vendor's site, but they looked like round black rubber o-rings, not the clear/white flat silicone seals that come on the tank. Has anyone seen these "exact" seals anywhere?

 

[Trayce]

bump

No one, really? Of all the Protank 2 fans out there, no one has ever had to get replacement silicone o-rings for the base or top?

Closest I could find from an e-cig vendor was a rubber, black, donut-shaped o-ring vs the flat white silicone ones it comes with. Also found FDA food grade silicone which are color-coded red/orange and are number -014 in the o-ring industry. Have to buy $5 worth and $5 shipping to get 167. That's just a few more than I need.

But I think even the latter are donut-shaped, vs flat. Kanger must buy these in bulk from somewhere... I guess like the silicone cup search in the other thread I'll have to email Kanger and see what they say. Imho they should include 2 extra o-rings with every tank. Like the IGO-L came with 2 extra o-rings.

 

[Bkag]

I use red/orange o-rings for my replacements, I haven't seen clear/white ones available anywhere. The Protank Mini 2s now have 2 extras included though if you really really want some!

 

[Katya]

Sun Vapers sells them:

O-Rings for RDAs and Protank Bases (5 Pieces) - Sun-Vapers.com

 

[Bkag]

Sun Vapers sells them:

O-Rings for RDAs and Protank Bases (5 Pieces) - Sun-Vapers.com

She is looking for the white/clear ones specifically I believe:

I saw some on a vendor's site, but they looked like round black rubber o-rings, not the clear/white flat silicone seals that come on the tank

 

[Trayce]

She is looking for the white/clear ones specifically I believe:

Right. If I was going to get donut-shaped o-rings I'd get the red/orange ones which are FDA approved, (and you can get 100 of them for a few bucks from an o-ring vendor) but the ones that come with the tank are actually flat-bottomed. Do the red/orange donut shaped ones seal it like the flat-bottomed ones do?

I sent a pic of the actual o-ring to an o-ring vendor to see if they have anything like it. In the meantime I emailed kanger and got a reply this morning:

Dear [Trayce],

rubber o-ring will be ready in 20 days around, pls keep eyes on our website, thanks
KangerTech
Rgds
Lulu
Kangertech
KangerTech
The most advanced Ecig manufacturer.

So there you have it. No idea how much they will be or if they will even be the same exact ones. After a 20 day wait they could turn out to be the donut shaped ones you can get anywhere. Or they might charge an arm and a leg.

But if the red/orange ones work....

 

[Bkag]

They are cheap, however, as far I know, Kanger only ships via DHL so shipping will be around $30. Kanger seems to be in very short supply of the o-rings, they always seem to be out of stock unfortunately!

 

[Trayce]

Bkag, you forgot to answer if the red/orange ones work well enough to seat the tank properly and don't leak. If so, no need to spend a boatload on shipping getting the originals from Kanger. (I was hoping they might make them available to their US vendors, however.) But I can get the red/orange ones right away, so... do they work?

 

[Bkag]

Bkag, you forgot to answer if the red/orange ones work well enough to seat the tank properly and don't leak. If so, no need to spend a boatload on shipping getting the originals from Kanger. (I was hoping they might make them available to their US vendors, however.) But I can get the red/orange ones right away, so... do they work?

I haven't extensively tested them but so far so good, I'm actually using a rebuilt head with an orange o-ring on it as I write this. I have only tried them on protank heads in a protank 2 but I don't see why they wouldn't work in eVods, mini protanks etc.

 

[Trayce]

I haven't extensively tested them but so far so good, I'm actually using a rebuilt head with an orange o-ring on it as I write this. I have only tried them on protank heads in a protank 2 but I don't see why they wouldn't work in eVods, mini protanks etc.

Hm. I am talking about the o-ring seals that sit inside the TOP and BASE of the PT2 to keep the GLASS TANK from leaking.... not any of the seals on the head itself. This o-ring has an ID of 1/2-inch. Sounds like you are referring to one of the o-rings on the head itself.

 

[stevegmu]

I lost one down the drain. Went to ACE and picked one up made for faucets. It is a donut, not flat, but works great. Made for a faucet, I am sure it won't break down in my tank, or give off any residue. I used it for the top, so it wouldn't be exposed to any heat- just in case. It is significantly thicker than the original, so the gap between the bottom of the top metal piece and the rounded top of the glass is slightly larger. No leaks, though.

 

[Bkag]

Hm. I am talking about the o-ring seals that sit inside the TOP and BASE of the PT2 to keep the GLASS TANK from leaking.... not any of the seals on the head itself. This o-ring has an ID of 1/2-inch. Sounds like you are referring to one of the o-rings on the head itself.

Ohhhh, total oversight on my part, as you said I was referring to the o-ring which sit on the bottom of the coil/head. I have not tried any aftermarket seals for the base. Sorry for the wasted time/posts! All I can say is that if you are going to give it a try make sure that they are FDA approved food grade materials and hope for the best!

 

[elvenhippie]

i have had good luck cutting a strip off the condom from a carto for the base of my protanks. i had to, in order to make a pt1 base work with the china special replacement glass for it. you have to stretch the little bugger some, but i haven't had any leaking.

 

[Trayce]

I lost one down the drain. Went to ACE and picked one up made for faucets. It is a donut, not flat, but works great. Made for a faucet, I am sure it won't break down in my tank, or give off any residue. I used it for the top, so it wouldn't be exposed to any heat- just in case. It is significantly thicker than the original, so the gap between the bottom of the top metal piece and the rounded top of the glass is slightly larger. No leaks, though.

Good to know, great info. FTR Black o-rings made for a water faucet are made of water potable EPDM rubber. (Some types of EDPM are not water potable.) Water potable and food safe are two different standards. Water potable means it's safe for water, but unless it is food grade there is no guarantee that the chemicals in the flavors used in e-juice won't interact with the chemicals in the rubber. Food safe is a higher standard in that any material deemed food safe is also water potable, but the reverse is not true.

To make it easy to glance at a silicone o-ring and know if it meets the FDA food-grade standard, the FDA deemed silicone that meets this standard be colored red/orange. So FDA food-safe silicone o-rings will be red/orange. Black o-rings are always EDPM.

But the white silicone o-rings used in the PT2 are made in China. I assume they are food-safe since they put them in a pyrex tank made specifically to handle all juices, including caustic ones, but that's just an assumption.

All to say, although water potable, black EDPM o-rings are probably fine, I'd personally prefer the red/orange food-safe ones, or the original ones which I'd bet are also food grade.

EDIT: Just received an answer from OringsUSA.com and they said they do not carry flat-bottomed o-rings but can make them if a drawing is supplied. So that's out. I am now hoping that if Kanger starts carrying them we can get FastTech to stock them. That would be ideal with their free shipping.

 

[Trayce]

i have had good luck cutting a strip off the condom from a carto for the base of my protanks. i had to, in order to make a pt1 base work with the china special replacement glass for it. you have to stretch the little bugger some, but i haven't had any leaking.

Wow. That was inventive. I might try that until I can find some proper o-rings for this thing. Edit: You are much more talented than I am... try as I could I could not get it to lay flat in the gutter. I finally resorted to cutting the ring open so that it was a strip and still could not get it to do anything but stand on its edge rather than lay flat. Then I just put two strips in there to cover the whole circumference, standing on end as they wanted to do, and figured it might make a good enough seal anyway. It did!! A great way to tie one over if need be. 5 stars for you, elvenhippie.

 

[elvenhippie]

He he, vaping is supposed to save money, right? Jury-rigging is vital for it to do that while still being a hobby. I'm glad that it's working for you, at least as a stopgap measure. I fixed my coffee maker this way, too. I figure that this kind of silicone is about as non-reactive as you can get, for a plastic.

 

[Trayce]

He he, vaping is supposed to save money, right? Jury-rigging is vital for it to do that while still being a hobby. I'm glad that it's working for you, at least as a stopgap measure. I fixed my coffee maker this way, too. I figure that this kind of silicone is about as non-reactive as you can get, for a plastic.

Yes, it's soft and cloudy and probably the same stuff the silicone o-rings are made from. It's working like a charm too. And I have a boatload of those condoms from my 808 cigalike days. If anything else breaks in the house (like the coffeemaker) I'll keep them in mind! LOL!

 

[stevegmu]

Good to know, great info. FTR Black o-rings made for a water faucet are made of water potable EPDM rubber. (Some types of EDPM are not water potable.) Water potable and food safe are two different standards. Water potable means it's safe for water, but unless it is food grade there is no guarantee that the chemicals in the flavors used in e-juice won't interact with the chemicals in the rubber. Food safe is a higher standard in that any material deemed food safe is also water potable, but the reverse is not true.

To make it easy to glance at a silicone o-ring and know if it meets the FDA food-grade standard, the FDA deemed silicone that meets this standard be colored red/orange. So FDA food-safe silicone o-rings will be red/orange. Black o-rings are always EDPM.

But the white silicone o-rings used in the PT2 are made in China. I assume they are food-safe since they put them in a pyrex tank made specifically to handle all juices, including caustic ones, but that's just an assumption.

All to say, although water potable, black EDPM o-rings are probably fine, I'd personally prefer the red/orange food-safe ones, or the original ones which I'd bet are also food grade.

EDIT: Just received an answer from OringsUSA.com and they said they do not carry flat-bottomed o-rings but can make them if a drawing is supplied. So that's out. I am now hoping that if Kanger starts carrying them we can get FastTech to stock them. That would be ideal with their free shipping.

I figure the black o-ring made in the USA is probably safer than whatever the one made in China is made of- whether they call it food-safe, or not. I can always get some from the Fastenall guy when he stops by work- they would have every conceivable one in existence, but I'd probably have to get a gross of them.

 

[Trayce]

I figure the black o-ring made in the USA is probably safer than whatever the one made in China is made of- whether they call it food-safe, or not.

Normally I'd agree totally, (and EDPM is certainly not a bad choice) but I do believe the soft, cloudy silicone o-rings in the PT2 are food grade, though I don't know of any statement Kanger has made on their o-rings one way or another. However I read a site on plastics (I can't find now) that said soft, cloudy plastic is usually food grade and it does seem in keeping with a pyrex tank to use food grade seals to avoid problems with caustic juices often used in pyrex tanks. (Anecdotally, all Tupperware-style food containers are cloudy plastic too, which seems to support this statement.) It just makes sense on a pyrex tank.

I can always get some from the Fastenall guy when he stops by work- they would have every conceivable one in existence, but I'd probably have to get a gross of them.

Yeah, that's the thing. Ideally after Kanger makes them available FastTech might stock them.