C8 VG Mod

[MarVp]

If you have tried the C8 from Apoloe with VG liquid you know that it pretty well plainly does not work and will provide many frustrating dry hits. There is a vid from davsolomon C8 (Cryptonite) Review - YouTube which makes some inroads towards modding it for VG use, however I found it only partially improved things for VG and would especially not work if the whole tank was filled. Reasons that VG does not work very well in this device is that it is a much thicker liquid which compounds the following issues. It seems the pressure in the tank does not getting equalized very well as you vape and the juice has to make its way along the wick through a small opening over a slightly longer travel distance than other cartomizers, which overall is a harder task for a VG juice (just guessing).

Anyway, this mod has completely fixed the dry vapes. Effectively you will be drilling two 2mm holes perpendicular to the existing wick holes and running a second wick through these, so that the new wick will sit across the coil at right angles, bringing extra liquid to the centre of the coil. See the photos below. Davsolomon does a good job at explaining how to disassemble the unit, so watching the vid first should get you on your way.

I got the second wick out of a C2 cartomizer and other than that you need a 2mm drill bit and a drill. Easy!

Ready to start. The tool bottom right (black skewer) is to help pop the tin can thingy off by carefully inserting it into the existing wick holes and levering up. Be very careful to not go in too far or you will damage the coil.

 

[MarVp]

So you can see from the thumbnails in the previous post that you next drill the holes. I started with 1.2mm then used the 2mm drill. Wetting the wick at one end helps thread it though.

Tin can is carefully pushed back on and then the tank pushed back on. Be careful not to jam the wicks next to the seal as you do this, so use a small screwdriver to push them up into the tank as you are pushing it on.




Modified C8 ready to go!

 

[jonny2hottie]

That's awesome!


Sent from my iPhone4 using Tapatalk.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

I was thinking of doing this exact thing to the new CE3 bottom coils/Pheonix, same issue with wicking for me.

I initially tried overlaying a second wick parallel to the existing wick, that just led to flooding.

Then I tried widening the wick slots (in a vertical plane) so they're entirely open. Didn't help at all, but no leaks. (Haven't added a second wick parallel to this one yet)

Do you think there would be a significant difference in 1) what you did above 2) two stacked wicks through the two (widened) native wick slots?

I've had the same issue regardless of PG and VG ratios. I spent all day yesterday testing each scenario with 100% PG vs. 100% VG, no real differences. Slightly faster wicking with the PG, but would still get dry hits.

Great post!

 

[MarVp]

Hi Cyrus,

Thanks for your reply. Sorry I didn't get back straight away. I'll have to work out how to get this forum to email me when the thread gets responded to!

Much that I began to like the abundance of flavour from this mod, I've sort of given up on the C8 now. The extra wick method made it a bit too "fruity" and I found I was getting very moist vapour, almost to the point of sucking up liquid. I guess that might be similar to what you mean by flooding. I could control that to some extent by getting a "slim" filter from a rolly pack, cutting it in two, poking a small hole through it (with a skewer) and putting it in the mouthpiece and that would catch most of the moistness, but it started to become a hastle doing that all the time and i'd still sometimes get some liquid in my mouth. I've retired the C8 and now primarily use the Vision Stardust, as they really are hassle free.

I did afterwards try widening the native wick holes and found it may have improved things a little, but still would get dry hits. I did not try a second wick in the native holes though (or with the native holes widened). I've got one C8 left, so might give that parallel style of second wick a try.

Still not sure the main reason why this style of carto doesn't like the VG, be it not equalizing the pressure correctly or the slightly longer travel distance through the coil (which VG may not be able to traverse). If you are getting dry hits on the C3 Pheonix, maybe the pressure is the culprit. It seems those have about the same wick travel distance through the coil as my trusty Stardusts, which don't seem to have the same problems.

Cheers,

MarVp

 

[MarVp]

Found the email settings The're in the "Advanced Reply" tab!

 

[Cyrus Vap]

Not a problem MarVp You can also just go to "quick links" and click "subscribed threads" to see if there are any new posts (assuming your settings subscribe you to threads you start of course )

I'm still playing with the C3s, but am not happy with the consistency, or lack thereof. My conclusion is, the holes are just not big enough to wick thick juice properly. So all the fixes hinge around some combination of

1) thin the wicks, effectively making the hole bigger

2) make the hole bigger, literally

3) pull up on the post, to make the hole bigger

4) make the hole bigger, and add even more wick in parallel

Problem is, the line between too much and too little is really tight; juggling floods and dry hits on either extreme. FWIW I seem to have a much higher success rate using cotton wicks vs. silica, but that's another story

 

[MarVp]

Yes, it all sounds like a bit of a balancing act as far as hole sizes go, especially because you would want to be able to throw a variety of different thickness liquids at it. It's got me thinking a little on what makes something like the stardust wick better with thick liquids than others. I am wondering if it might be that the stardust wick spends a lot more of its time out of the liquid (in air) and the wick only becomes moist each time you go for a drag and tilt the eCig horizontal. It might be that air can escape back in to the tank easier with this design, equalizing pressure easier and as such letting more liquid wick (as the air is not trying to force itself into a liquid). If you can imagine having a straw and putting it in a drink (perhaps a thick-shake) and blowing bubbles. It can be quite hard to blow bubbles into the liquid compared to just blowing air through the straw. This might be an issue with all bottom wicking tanks then.

You might be able to try an experiment then to see if there is anything in this theory and make an effort to hold the eCig completely upside down whilst not drawing on it, so the wick is spending most of its time out of the liquid and see if that makes any improvement to its functioning. I'll try and do the same experiment with my remaining C8 when I get a chance. Let me know what you find