I have to confess that I have never been a fan of any BDC tanks. This is based on my experience using a Kanger EVOD BDC clearomizer and an Aspire BDC glassomizer. They almost always leak, they severely mute flavors (imho), and I almost always end up with a handful of juice when unscrewing them from the battery when changing tanks. So I didn’t have very high expectations going into this beta test from the very beginning. Having confessed my dislikes of BDC tanks… here are my test findings:
I received my tank Saturday night. Right off the bat I was extremely impressed with the fast shipping, so in that respect, I heartily give my kudos to Smoke Stik! I have had this test tank in use for three days now.
Upon opening my package I noticed that this tank looked very similar to the EVOD BDC tank. It is just a hair slimmer, and also just a slight bit shorter. The weight is pretty much the same as the EVOD tank. There are two air holes, as opposed to the three on the EVOD tank. The test tank has a non-removable, clear drip tip… just like the EVOD tank. This non-removable tip is not a favorite of mine because it makes it harder to clean. I also do not care for the clear tip as it shows all the condensation from the vapor. These are minor cosmetic things… but still something I do not care for personally. The inner tubing running from the drip tip is slightly longer and slightly thinner than the EVOD tank. Due to this, both tanks hold roughly the same amount of liquid; however, the longer tubing of the test tank does tend to get in the way a little when trying to fill the tank with the fat dropper tip on some of my e-juice bottles. This is not a deal breaker for me… just an observation.
The bottom of the test tank has a very nice, deeply etched gripper pattern. Easy to find, easy to feel. The comparison of the EVOD tank is night and day, as the EVOD tank has a smooth ring. The Aspire BDC tank has a similar etched pattern with major differences… the Aspires’ etched pattern does not go all the way to the bottom and is not etched as deeply, making it harder to feel when grasping it to unscrew. All in all, I prefer the etched grip on the test tank over the other two. Another kudo to Smoke Stik! I never once accidently opened the tank when removing it from the battery. No wet hands, no lost juice. My hands and my wallet thank you for that!
Next, I unscrewed the bottom to take out the coil head (atty). The head is just a little longer than the EVOD head… and a lot skinnier and longer than the Aspire head. Both the EVOD and Aspire heads are smooth which makes them hard to grasp to remove… both wet and dry. The test tanks head has recessed slits (or depressions… not sure how to describe this) which makes it extremely easy to grasp and turn both wet and dry. For that alone I sincerely thank you Smoke Stik. Kuddos again!
I went to blow out the factory lubricant from the coil/wick and to my surprise… nothing came out. I decided to not wash the coil head and just fill the tank instead. Classic rookie move, I know. But I wanted to see how it would taste… and I did this on purpose. Normally this would ruin the entire experience of vaping for the life of that atty… but I took a chance anyway.
Knowing that this tank is made out of that poly plastic, I decided against using any tank cracking juices. Instead, I chose to use the lightest flavored juice I have. I filled the tank with 18mg, 50/50 pg/vg, Caramel Cappuccino. This is one juice I can barely even taste in a carto or on a drip tip.
I decided to test this tank on my cheapest and lowest performing battery. My reason for this is two-fold: I wanted to simulate the experience on equipment that a complete vaping newbie might be starting out with; and, I also knew that the other experienced vaperors (?) would be putting this tank to the test with all their equipment (vv, vw, high mAh batteries, etc). The battery I used was my cheap $10, blister-pack, 650 mAh, EVOD-V battery. It is vv with the settings of 3.5V, 3.7V, 3.9V, and 4.1V.
Now I know that I have seriously set this tank up to be a complete fail for me. But hey, this is a test right? I figured I might as well put it to the ultimate test and make as many known mistakes I could to see how it would perform. I also went so far as to only let it sit and wick for 10 minutes and then attach it to a nearly dead battery (you know… the point at which the battery starts to not put out much taste, throat hit, or smoke cloud).
I attached the tank, set the battery on the lowest setting of 3.5V and took a vape. Hmmm, got some smoke cloud and a tiny bit of throat hit. No flavor…. Not even that horrible factory taste. Ok this is not anything special. Took my second vape. What’s this? Did I really detect a little flavor of my caramel cappuccino? Can’t be! Took my third vape. OMG! I actually tasted the flavor! It wasn’t a powerful flavor, but it was actually there. I turned the setting up to the 3.7V and vaped again. Yes, yes… there is more flavor. Upped the settings again to 3.9V and vaped again. WooHoo! Full flavor. Wonderful flavor. I think I like this!!! Okay, I know that if I up the settings to 4.1V this is gonna burn the juice… but I have to try it for the sake of the test. Up the volts go and… no burnt taste. Really? Tried again. Still no burnt taste. This is great… except my battery is about to completely die so I have to go and charge it. So far I have nothing but thumbs up for this tank.
I put the battery on charge and decided to empty the tank, wash it, and change the flavors. I rinsed the tank and head under warm running water. Shook out the water, blew out the head, took a paper towel and dried the wick. I had a pretty hard time getting the paper towel into the tank to dry it out. I couldn’t get a Q-tip in either. So I shook it out and blew into it until I didn’t see any more water droplets. I put another juice in. This time it was an 18mg, 50/50 pg/vg, Toasted Almond. I let it sit and wick until my battery was charged.
In the course of my testing I also used an 18mg, 60/40, Peanut Butter Cup… and an 18mg, 70/30, Orange Creamsicle.
Here is the rest of what I learned over the three days I have used this tank exclusively (not including what I already mentioned above):
Pros:
• Nice smooth brushed stainless steel tank.
• Easy to see through windows.
• Excellent flavor (even at the lowest settings). Nothing was ever muted.
• I did not experience any dry hits (even when pushed to the limits of vaping quickly one after another).
• The bottom of the tank did not ever get very hot. A little warm, but nothing that ever got hot to the touch.
• No matter how much I tried, I never got one burnt taste.
• Never once heard a gurgling or popping sound. Actually, this tank is pretty quiet.
• Never experienced any juice in my mouth (even while lying down on the couch watching Game of Thrones).
• Never once did I ever accidently open the tank during the many, many removals from the battery. A total first for me!
• E-juice change was extremely quick and easy.
• One tank lasted me 24 hours. I did not have to refill for the whole day… yea!
• Great vape cloud.
Cons:
• Not glass, so I can’t use any tank cracking juices.
• I did notice a little leaking on the battery from the tank when the juice level was down to 1/3 full.
• Light and airy draw. Not as bad as most… but still not my preference. I did get used to it and adapt to it.
All in all, this is a great little tank. The complete newbie is gonna have a hard time ruining it with classic rookie mistakes in their excitement to try it. The experienced person it gonna love the flavor, clouds, and throat hits it delivers. As for me personally… I am completely impressed with it. This tank has changed my opinion of BDC tanks and will now be my go to vape equipment preference. I can’t wait until they are available and the replacement heads too. Thank you for letting me test this and kudos Smoke Stik! You have made a believer out of me. Now if only you would make a glass one…
