Carto-Tank Disaster - help?

[Bklynzfinest]

I just made the switch to carto tanks after using mostly bottom coil clearomizers and unfortunately I've have had nothing but negative experiences so far.. Hoping someone can help me figure out what I'm doing wrong.

I'm using a 3ohm (3.2ohm) double punched smoketech carto (have boges on the way) in an IBtanked with my provari set at 5.2 volts.

I primed the carto initially using the IBtanks "Thingy" -- it wasn't slushy but you could see the colored juice staining the fibers and the fact that the juice was then leaking from the connector & collecting on the bottom of the 'thingy', I assumed it was more than primed. I popped the whole thing together and took my first vape… the first hour or so was excellent, I was blown away by the power, clouds & throat hit (coming from an evod) however as the night went on I began to experience muted taste, diminished vapor and eventually dry and burnt hits … also every single time I take the tank off I see a nice sized puddle sitting in my provari contacts. So not only am I having dry/burnt/muted hits but flooding and leaking at the same time. I'm at a loss especially because at first things were great, I tried to re-prime the carto several times with limited success… now it's still tasting pretty awful and I went back to the evod

I don't want to give up already but based on everything I did, I don't know where I went wrong… it all seems very finicky, like I don't know what kind of hit I'm going to get from one to the next. Also I noticed quite a few times as I was vaping with the provari, it would stop firing mid draw for a second and then return (?) I don't know whats going on but wondering if anyone can offer any advice. I've heard cartos are the most consistent vape out there but that hasn't been my experience at all.

Also one last thing, is it true I will have to re-fill the tank, not when it's close to empty but once the juice level is level to the punched holes? So basically it only holds 3/4th's the tank because I would always refill at that mark?

Thanks in advance!
Nicole

 

[Topacka]

I use a carto tank almost exclusively and have never had those problems. Do you know the color, sweetness, and pg/vg percentages of your juice?

Sweet and/or dark juices tend to bust cartos much faster than light juices.

And high VG juices (50%+) don't wick very well in my experience.

I've never used a thingy, but I've never understood why people use them. Priming a carto is plenty easy to do the standard way and takes about 2 to 5 minutes.

Make sure after you've primed that there is no juice in the center hole, obviously.

Cartos tend to be much more consistent than clearos and much less hassle free. Also don't know about the placement of your punches, but mine sit just above the very bottom of my tank, utilizing my entire tank.

 

[Ladiekali]

Thats not flooding, its normal for the comtacts to have a drop on it.....
Once it is burned its done...
When u used the thingy did u ever put any juice on top?
No i can vape all my juice out of the tank no problem..

Sounds to me that though u thought u primed it properly you did not.
Try this if you like, how i do it...
Drop juice into the top of the carto until it stops soaking in. Now fill hour tank as high as u can.
Now put ur drip tip on and with out firing anything, suck. Suck untill you can kinda taste your juice, lift off your drip tip, does it look slushy? If not suck some more.

Slush is important!
Before you vape fill your tank back up.

Good luck.

 

[Ladiekali]

I also use smoktexh two hole 3.2 with intanks on my provari at 4.8v

 

[Ladiekali]

Also check or google ohms chart, 5.2 is kinda high

 

[CreepyLady]

Hi Nicole I have switched to cartotanks fairly recently as well. I use the Boge and Ikenvape cartos - I hear lots of frustrating things like your experience with the smok cartos. My hope is that they fix everything up for you. IB is a great tank and from the sounds of it your carto is the only thing leaking.

Other than an occasional carto that doesnt want to maintain the prime every once in a while (just have to drip in some more juice on the carto a few times then it will prime finally) my Boges are not an issue. Prime and fill - no fiddling.

I usually tip my tank when I want to drain it lower than the fill hole - otherwise I top it up when it gets close to the punched hole.

 

[CreepyLady]

Thats not flooding, its normal for the comtacts to have a drop on it.....
Once it is burned its done...
When u used the thingy did u ever put any juice on top?
No i can vape all my juice out of the tank no problem..

Sounds to me that though u thought u primed it properly you did not.
Try this if you like, how i do it...
Drop juice into the top of the carto until it stops soaking in. Now fill hour tank as high as u can.
Now put ur drip tip on and with out firing anything, suck. Suck untill you can kinda taste your juice, lift off your drip tip, does it look slushy? If not suck some more.

Slush is important!
Before you vape fill your tank back up.

Good luck.

This ^^

 

[Ladiekali]

I love my smoktech cartos much better than boge and ikenvape lol.
I think it wasnt primed all the way and the voltage was too high.

Dont worry nicole, once you get it. You get it.

I also vape all the juice out of my tanks and never have to tilt or anything, you would think u have to, but you dont.

 

[Topacka]

Also check or google ohms chart, 5.2 is kinda high

3.2 ohms at 5.2 volts is only 8.5 watts, not high at all for cartos. They don't tend to burn until around 12 or 12.5 watts generally.

 

[Bklynzfinest]

Ok -- thanks for all the helpful quick responses guys!

I really want this to work, especially because I was spoiled by that first amazing hour or so while it was working perfectly, so now I actually know what I'm missing hah. I don't think I want to prime with the thingy again, don't laugh but it really ripped up my hands twisting that cap back & forth so many times I don't have any syringes but I do have a needle tip juice bottle, the tip isn't very long or particularly slim though... would that be sufficient to prime with? I used it to top off the carto but as I've read, once you start getting that taste there's no coming back. Vaping 50/50 vg pg juice by the way.

So the goal is *slushy* then? I've read lots of conflicting advice about that, that if it's slushy it would flood & as I said mine wasn't slushy, but saturated, and because it was great at first I thought I primed it ok... I guess not?

Also maybe I missed this but am I supposed to continue to reprime or top off the cartos with every refill? I only primed it the initial setup, and as I said tried to just top it off when it started sucking to no avail.

 

[Topacka]

I don't even use a syringe. I just drip into the top, on the sides, and rotate my carto until juice comes out the punches and it's completely saturated. Super slushy. Never miss primed a carto that way.

Edit: no need to re-prime or top off in between tanks, once a carto in a tank is primed, it's good.

 

[DetraMental]

When I used smoketech I found I had to do alot of primer hits before actually hitting the button. I only had to do this the first couple of times I used the cartomizer after that it was perfect. Yes I primed it well, even did it twice, and still had to do the primer hits once it gave dry hits. Take a hit, 2-3 without pushing the button and then vape. This worked for me until it was perfect and I no longer had to do it. Good Luck!

Ps. I was/am using a 50/50 mix so it's a bit thicker and this coulda been my reason for having to do the above.

 

[Baditude]

Sorry to hear you've had mixed results with your first cartotank experience.

I'm not entirely clear why you are having the issues that you're having. Although many have had great success using the Thingy method to prime their cartos, I personally have had better success with my method. BADITUDE'S CARTOTANK SETUP GUIDE

As the glass master technician of IBTanked, OCD is the one who invented the Thingy technique. As he can't respond in this part of the forum due to him being a registered supplier and forum rules, I suggest posting your question to him directly in the IBTanked supplier forum where he can respond directly to your problem. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ibtanked/339809-do-you-fiddle-your-thingy.html

One question that I have for the OP, are you using single or dual coil cartomizers? I have found in my experience that dual coils will often develop the symptoms that you're having. I theorize that the top coil often does not get enough e-liquid fed from the tank being that that coil lies higher in the carto than the holes in the cartomizer. This can cause a burnt taste because the dry filler material becomes scorched or burnt over time. Once the filler becomes burnt, you'll never get that taste out of a cartomizer and can be considered ruined.

Since I switched from dual coils to single coils, I've not had the burnt taste that I've often experienced with dual coil cartomizers.

There is a learning curve with cartomizers and cartotanks. I'd advise not giving up quickly, but investigate what could be causing your problems first. You will be richly rewarded by what many consider to be the best juice delivery method available.

 

[Baditude]

Also maybe I missed this, but am I supposed to continue to reprime or top off the cartos with every refill? I only primed it the initial setup, and as I said tried to just top it off when it started sucking to no avail.

Generally, I've not found that I need to top off the carto with refills, although no harm is done if you do.

Make certain that you don't get any juice in the center air hole of the carto. This could cause flooding of the air hole. Use a toothpick in the air hole, or even better use a tank tool while refilling the tank, like this one.

 

[Bklynzfinest]

Sorry to hear you've had mixed results with your first cartotank experience.

I'm not entirely clear why you are having the issues that you're having. Although many have had great success using the Thingy method to prime their cartos, I personally have had better success with my method. BADITUDE'S CARTOTANK SETUP GUIDE

As the glass master technician of IBTanked, OCD is the one who invented the Thingy technique. As he can't respond in this part of the forum due to him being a registered supplier and forum rules, I suggest posting your question to him directly in the IBTanked supplier forum where he can respond directly to your problem. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ibtanked/339809-do-you-fiddle-your-thingy.html

One question that I have for the OP, are you using single or dual coil cartomizers? I have found in my experience that dual coils will often develop the symptoms that you're having. I theorize that the top coil often does not get enough e-liquid fed from the tank being that that coil lies higher in the carto than the holes in the cartomizer. This can cause a burnt taste because the dry filler material becomes scorched or burnt over time. Once the filler becomes burnt, you'll never get that taste out of a cartomizer and can be considered ruined.

Since I switched from dual coils to single coils, I've not had the burnt taste that I've often experienced with dual coil cartomizers.

There is a learning curve with cartomizers and cartotanks. I'd advise not giving up quickly, but investigate what could be causing your problems first. You will be richly rewarded by what many consider to be the best juice delivery method available.

Thanks so much for your insight... your guides were actually one of the first resources I came across when learning about carto tanks and they have been invaluable to me, as I'm sure many others, thanks for doing what you do man!

Good idea about going to that forum, I'll definitely check it out.. although I'll probably try priming the good old fashioned way at least once just to see if it's easier for me. & Sorry I didn't clarify, using a single coil, and I have the slap your mama tool ! it makes it really easy to slide the carto around and refill, love it !

 

[TheJakeBailey]

Almost no point in commenting after bad comes in with all of his info and guides and such. ;-) Just wanted to add that I have had cartos that just DID exactly what you described. My very first one, in fact. It worked great for about a day, and the next day my flavor just dropped to nothing. I was dripping on top, and fooling with it, and on and on. I figured it was something i was doing wrong. In fact, I was pretty sure of it. Eventually I just primed another carto, exactly like the first, and it worked perfectly. Point being, sometimes something is just wrong with the carto. But that being said, over the last few months I have been using them almost exclusively, and this has been a VERY rare occurrence! My suggestion, try another! Not much to lose, and everything to gain.

And for the record, I use the thingy most of the time. I've noticed that it seems to work better for the standard sized catos, than for the XL. For the XL, I use the thingy, and then add some to the top for good measure!

 

[Baditude]

Almost no point in commenting after bad comes in with all of his info and guides and such. ;-) Just wanted to add that I have had cartos that just DID exactly what you described...And for the record, I use the thingy most of the time. I've noticed that it seems to work better for the standard sized catos, than for the XL. For the XL, I use the thingy, and then add some to the top for good measure!

Jake, you just proved everyone has something valuable to add to a post. Nearly all of my tanks are XL length, so I don't use standard size cartos much at all. All my carts are XL. Maybe that is why I hadn't been overwhelmed with the Thingy method of priming and continue to use my usual method.

That is an excellent suggestion to "top off" an XL (45mm) carto after priming it if using the Thingy method.

 

[TheJakeBailey]

Jake, you just proved everyone has something valuable to add to a post.

I try to bring something to the party every now and again. Usually it's just the crappy vegetable tray.

 

[yzer]

The carto brand makes a difference, so does viscosity of the juice. For example, Smok and Boge cartos are made differently. The filler material and the wicks are different. Carto differences include amount and density of the filler. For example, I have great results with Smok using 95% VG juice. Boges tend to work better for me with thinner juice while Smoks can flood with them.

VG is thick and PG is thin. A thin juice wicks easier with less filler surface area exposed to the juice. Holes or slots in the carto expose the filler to the juice.

How many holes to punch or buy pre-punched? Depends on the carto and the viscosity of the juice. The amount of filler surface exposed to the juice makes a world of difference. Ideally, there should be enough holes to keep the filler saturated and just short of flooding the carto. If you haven't flooded a carto by using too many holes then you don't know how many is too much.

The OP asks if the position of the holes or slots on a carto makes a difference? Indeed, it does. It makes no sense to place holes high on the carto tube if the coil is located at the lower end of the carto. Doing so means the carto will perform erratically as fluid level in the carto tank drops lower than the highest holes.

Pre-punched or slotted cartos cause as many problems for vapers as they solve. Buying a batch of cartos with one set of holes or slots is a gamble at best. It might be right for one juice you use or it may not. Or it may work with some juices and not with others. I use non-punched, solid cartos and punch them myself. If all of your juices have the same PG/VG mix you will have an easier time using cartos: carto tank or not.

I use three medium-sized holes or four smaller holes punched into Smok XL single coil cartos for 95% VG juice. It vapes like a champ and can be chain vaped. Notice that all holes are punched low on the carto body allowing consistent performance until the fluid level drops to just above the holes. I use a quality carto punch: Siam Mods V2 and prime the cartos with a syringe. I use IBtanked carto tanks with the IBtanked long drip tip used as a carto insertion tool.

 

[yzer]

If you dare to enter the world of unpunched cartos here is the Siam Mods V2 punch. Don't buy a cheap carto punch, it isn't worth it.