Can we test plastic-friendliness like this?

[HeadInClouds]

When you're mixing a flavor you're not sure is safe to use in plastic, can you test it without putting it in a tank? I know there's a thread listing some known problem flavors, but I'd like a way to verify safety myself for ANY flavoring or mix.

I figure if a liquid will react with a plastic tank, it should react with a thinner piece of the same kind of plastic. Anyone know if #5 polypropylene would be the one to use? That is, are ALL "polypropylene" plastics the same formulation?

Recyclable PP plastic products have a #5 in the recycle triangle mark and are commonly used for food containers. Could I just cut samples (like from a ketchup bottle) and drop some of my e-liquid or flavoring on there to observe the reaction, if any?

Perhaps I should just try it with a strong cinnamon and see what happens. Anyone else tried this?

 

[MissAmerican]

I don't know of a way to test it but maybe its just when known plastic tank cracking flavors are heated is what causes the problems? I have several cinnamon flavorings that I've had for over a year in the plastic bottles they come in and haven't noticed anything happen to the bottles. It seems I've been right on your heels this morning HeadInClouds ha

 

[HeadInClouds]

The bottles we get liquids and flavorings in are not #5 plastic, so they don't disintegrate. (Actually some flavor/bottle combinations still do leech and impart a plastic taste, but if it were #5 polypropylene, they'd melt!)

 

[Wingsfan0310]

Here's a blog you might find interesting written by The Ocelot on the subject and as you already stated the bottles are made of a different type of plastic than the tanks that crack/melt:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/the-ocelot/3786-eeekkk-its-melting.html

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Hoosier]

Polypro is one of the most non-reactive plastics out there. Used it quite a bit in wastewater design because it's darn near immune to the corrosive environment. With that said, yes there are different formulations. (Which are specified depending on the enviroment the material will be exposed to.) They are slight differences, very slight, so they are all considered polypro as far as recycling goes.

LDPE is what most plastic dropper bottles are made of and it is another non-reactive plastic also available in different formulations.

It's prestressed plastics that tend to be reactive. Polycarb is prestressed and is reactive to quite a range of chemicals. Except for its toughness, it is probably the single worst choice to use for a tank for many things, especially for vaping. And that's exactly what many plastic tanks are made of, polycarb. There are some different formulations of polycarb, but none will make it as inert as LDPE or polypro, but there are some formulations which make it great for ballistic resistance and small optical variances so it is good for making bullet resistant windows.

I don't and wouldn't use polycarb with any of my vaping hardware, except maybe a lens over an LED display. Polypro is a much better choice for a plastic.

 

[HeadInClouds]

Steve - thanks. So apparently different tank manufacturers, perhaps even different tank models, all use different plastic formulations. And none of them reveal their formulation.

So if a flavoring doesn't damage my CE4, it might still melt your mini ViVi Nova. Well that sucks; it leaves no way to test other than putting it in your tank and watching.

The list of known tank crackers then...may or may not destroy your particular tank, and there's no way of predicting without trying.

Guess I'll stick with metal cartomizers! Most glass tanks are too big/long for my preferences. I have a mini Pro-Tank, but I find it fiddly to replace coils and refill, plus it's fragile and heavy. Dang.

 

[Wingsfan0310]

Your Welcome, wish it was better news though.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Trenton J. Elkin]

Just don't use PolyCarbonate plastic.
Or invest in a Pyrex tank for questionable juices. Plus I don't think they make juice bottles out of the same plastic they make tanks with.




#VapingSince-July5th2013

 

[tonyorion]

Hoosier is absolutely correct in his assessment of PE and PP, but a lot of people do not like them because they are not transparent but translucent and do not look as pretty.

Polycarbonate's poorer chemical resistance is due to the fact that it is amorphous vs. crystalline in structure. Almost universally, amorphous plastics have terrible chemical resistance. The original clearos were made of styrene which is even worse than PC, not to mention acrylic (plexiglass) which is worse still.

The amorphous plastics have a big advantage when molding or extruding: they shrink the same amount in all directions which eliminates distortions in the final product-again, a big advantage where appearance is important. Pre-stressed design is far more important in the other engineering plastics like Polyoxymethylene (acetal) and polyamids (nylon). It's a bit more complicated than that, but this is already too much information.

The problem gets compounded by the fact that you cannot simply test a particular plastic's resistance by tossing into some juice. The thing that gets most plastics is called ESCR (environmental stress cracking).

Heat can be really hard on some plastics. Heat + a chemical environment gets worse. Heat+ chemicals+ mechanical stress is the worst possible scenario.

Where does that mechanical stress come from? Plastics and metals have vastly different rates of thermal expansion. Your devices do get hot.

Now that I have thoroughly confused you with useless information, let me confuse you even more. Did you know that glass is considered a liquid and not a solid?