Cleaning Mini Tanks

[doctordun]

I have researched a bit and can't find anything definitive on cleaning mini tanks. Some folks don't clean at all and just toss them when they stop working.
I am trying to make them last as long as possible to keep costs down. Perhaps I am being a bit hopeful.

I have decided to keep 4 tanks on rotation in pairs. Two used for a week and then cleaned and dried. The other two are in service during the drying time.
I am using Tribeca exclusively since my mother can't tell the difference and this smells best to me.

Each tank gets about 5 or 6 full refills per week or about 5ml per week.

I rinse under warm water and then soak for 3 hours in a cup of warm water with a teaspoon of baking soda.

Then a good rinse in R.O. water, shake well and dry for a few days.

How does this sound or am I doing to much work?

 

[430Cruz]

Hi Doc,
Not sure about the baking soda part as I never did that but everything else sounds good.
That is pretty much what I did for a long time with the only difference being the use of vodka soaks vs baking soda. I only vodka soaked the worst tasting mini tanks. It helps extend the useful life of those mini's quite a bit.

 

[wheezal]

I have researched a bit and can't find anything definitive on cleaning mini tanks. Some folks don't clean at all and just toss them when they stop working.
I am trying to make them last as long as possible to keep costs down. Perhaps I am being a bit hopeful.

I have decided to keep 4 tanks on rotation in pairs. Two used for a week and then cleaned and dried. The other two are in service during the drying time.
I am using Tribeca exclusively since my mother can't tell the difference and this smells best to me.

Each tank gets about 5 or 6 full refills per week or about 5ml per week.

I rinse under warm water and then soak for 3 hours in a cup of warm water with a teaspoon of baking soda.

Then a good rinse in R.O. water, shake well and dry for a few days.

How does this sound or am I doing to much work?

if it doesn't feel like too much work for you, then it's fine. i personally just soak tanks (mini or regular) in either some PGA or cheap vodka overnight, or lately i've been using some non-flavoured denture cleaner tablets. rinse, soak overnight, rinse, air dry (a day at most should be all you need), watch pr0n, good to go.

eventually there will come a point where a tank just cant be saved, but they are so inexpensive and if you get plenty of them it's not so difficult to part with them when their time is through. cleaning will add months of life to them tho.

 

[doctordun]

cleaning will add months of life to them tho.

Months?
How long would be the average for a mini tank, cleaned regularly? I thought it was only about 20 refills or so?

 

[jwbnyc]

I don't clean them anymore.

I run light juices (Fusion and Malibu) and get a couple of months out of them and then recycle.

 

[wheezal]

Months?
How long would be the average for a mini tank, cleaned regularly? I thought it was only about 20 refills or so?

there's no hard n fast rule. lighter juices will wear less on wicks n coils compared to heavier ones.

if i have a mini-tank with Belgian Cocoa in it, i'll get maybe 2 or 3 cleanings out of it before it's done. But Malibu or Kringle's i can use a mini-tank for about 4 months if i clean it regularly before it's beyond all repair. Torque and Tribeca should clean up pretty well, and as long as the wicks are in good shape and there's not a lot of gunk -after- cleaning, then it'll still work well.

 

[jwbnyc]

You'll get gurgling and juice blow by at the mouthpiece, the draw will get a little wonky, when they start to go bad.

 

[striderrblu]

I've only cleaned by soaking for a day or two in cheap vodka. I think out of the 6 mini tanks I bought, I've only thrown out 2 of them. Darker liquids (like Voodoo or Tribeca) I've had to clean more regularly. My tanks that I vape Kringle's from hardly ever need cleaned.