syringe tank giving an oily taste

[donnah]

As the title says, I'm getting an odd oily taste. I washed the tube and plungers with hot soapy water before assembling. It starts out good but now that the juice is gone down by half.. I'm getting an odd taste, like coming from the syringe and plungers. A "machine" or a "plastic" taste (not the burnt plastic from a burnt carto)

I've read so many good things about these tanks and couldn't wait to try one. The only thing I've read about it giving a bad taste is from someone who didn't wash the parts before using. I'm really down about this. This thing works wonderfully! No leaks and it's so easy and cheap to make. Drilling and tapping a hole is so much easier than the polycarb tubes and my nylon screws fit nice and snug with no air leaks. I know the syringes come packaged with some sort of lubricant but I figured washing would take care of that. I also washed the screw.

When I first assembled it this morning, after using it for awhile I started noticing the taste. So I took it apart, washed it, and put in a fresh carto and now it's giving off the same taste again. It's not my juice.. it's the same mix I've been using in my polycarb tanks (with vinyl grommets) and I never got even a hint of this taste with that.

Also, I'm using the "ideal industries" brand everyone else uses. Am I the only one? Any suggestions?

 

[donnah]

After looking through the threads, I've seen where a couple other people were able to taste this also. After letting the carto sit in the tank all night, I tried it this morning and the rubber, oily taste was overpowering, unvapable. There's no way anyone could have not tasted what was in my tank this morning. I should have let my husband take a vape to see if it was just me.

I again took it apart, dumped the juice and washed the parts again.. letting them soak in hot soapy water for awhile. I took the two cartos that had been in them, flushed them with water and they're drying in the oven. I don't know if they'll be usable again or not. They were new cartos, hate to toss them if I don't have to. I really want these to work. But if not, I have lots of poly tubing cut, my diy juices don't seem to have any effect on them as far as cracking, which if good. and I have the tanks from my4jewels co-op coming to play with.

I just want someone who had this problem to spot this thread and post "yea! I had this problem.. here's how I fixed it...."

 

[Stinson]

I would suggest you to rub some VG on them and leave them overnight and see if it helps,that what i did to my freshly made syring tank although i didn't encounter your situation before.

 

[donnah]

Im thinking these plungers must be made of rubber. I don't know how that is.. these were sent to me by another member and he hasn't had any problems like this. I did buy some from TS but somehow I've lost the plungers that were in them! I've looked everywhere, even emptying 2 trash cans just in case I threw them away by mistake somehow. In the mean time, I took a couple of syringes I already have, medical syringes with the thin plungers they say not to use. I washed them, punched them and assembled them. I don't know if they are rubber or not but they don't smell like rubber. Anyway, I assembed them in a cut syringe tube (with a drilled fill hole) and filled it with juice. So far it's working nicely, no air leaks and the 1.7ohm smoktech is wicking good and no air leaks around the screw in the hole I drilled. I'll use it for awhile and see if I get any of the taste that the other gave me. Since they're not as thick as the ideal brand, they don't seem quite as sturdy. We'll see.

Thanks Shengjie for the reply. I also saw where someone recommended washing with dawn dish soap, soaking in alcohol and washing again. I did that too.. the plungers are sitting on my window sill but they still reek of rubber. Maybe I just somehow got some "off" ones.

6 hours later:

I just wanted to say that my new syringe tank I made today is working great! No air leaks and no rubber taste! And the best part is I can get these syringes free at work! I am a surgical tech and 2 of these 20cc syringes come in my surgical packs. I don't usually use but one and throw the other away. Now I'll start saving them. They're not the ones with the real thick plungers but the one I just used was super easy to punch and it seals
With no leaks.

Peace has now been restored to my world

 

[Frick]

I noticed that the Ideal syringes a lot of people are using are usually marked "For Veterinary Use Only". Were yours marked as such?

I wonder if they're meant for the quick delivery of medicine to farm animals and then to be tossed. Rubber may be suitable for that application, as the medicine isn't in contact with the syringe very long. Leaving glycerine-based juice in them may be causing the rubber to break down.

Glad you got it worked out, at least for now.

 

[donnah]

I noticed that the Ideal syringes a lot of people are using are usually marked "For Veterinary Use Only". Were yours marked as such?

I wonder if they're meant for the quick delivery of medicine to farm animals and then to be tossed. Rubber may be suitable for that application, as the medicine isn't in contact with the syringe very long. Leaving glycerine-based juice in them may be causing the rubber to break down.


Glad you got it worked out, at least for now.

My syringes I now use are from the hospital, for human use. they come packed sterile. I don't know what the plungers are made of but I can't image they're rubber. They don't have a rubber smell. The one I've been using the last week has worked perfectly and no rubber or machine taste at all. No air leaks either. The ideal brand syringe plungers reeked of rubber and make me sick to my stomach. These (from the hospital) are the ones with the flimsy plunger that all the how-to videos say not to use but they are working great for me. They're kinda "slidey" though. Not like my grommet tanks. Today I was in a hurry and reached in my purse for my PV.. I made the mistake of grabbing it by the tank.. the tank slide right off the carto and dumped 3ml of juice into my purse! No problem.. now my purse smells like vanilla cookies LOL. I would imagine a snug 0-ring around the top would help this problem if I cared to try it. Being that I can get these syringes for free and they are super easy to make and use.. a little caution while handling is well worth it.

It's just funny that so many people are able to use the "ideal" brand syringes with no problems and it's just me and a couple others who have experienced the rubber taste. I know that those of us that make the poly-grommet tanks go to a lot of trouble to get vinyl grommets instead of rubber because of this. And the few that have purchased rubber grommets at Lowes and such have not been able to use them.

 

[WillyB]

They're kinda "slidey" though. Not like my grommet tanks. Today I was in a hurry and reached in my purse for my PV.. I made the mistake of grabbing it by the tank.. the tank slide right off the carto and dumped 3ml of juice into my purse!

Sounds like you need to make your carto holes a bit smaller, so as to expand the plunger slightly.

 

[donnah]

Sounds like you need to make your carto holes a bit smaller, so as to expand the plunger slightly.

That would be a good idea if I could find something besides the open end of an old carto to punch them. Now I'm going to be eyeing everything to see if there is something round, sharp and slighly smaller than the carto.

 

[r77r7r]

There was a fella that made a tank awhile back, and he did this- used another carto he had laying around- 808 or 901??

 

[donnah]

I used an old 510 carto. I would imagine it's the same diameter as the808 or 901