Damn things should come with directions!

[kingcobra]

I've been trying out Smoktech 4 ml DCT tanks lately, got a tank and some replacement cartos. So the first carto blows after 4 days, I'm not too upset but now it's time to change it. So I lose the juice in it, there it goes on the table, I'm getting a little more upset but no real big deal.

So there's a white cap sort of thing on the end, I get the thing in and the drip tip needs to go on the end so I put it on and that pushes the thing down and I think well that's the way it's supposed to go I guess. So with the first tank I had to prime it and it had a burnt taste at first but I thought well that's the price you pay for these things. The flavor is muted with these things, and I can tell you that I found a huge difference between this and the 510-t atties I've been using for a year or so exclusively. However I figured I'd try these and especially since I have 15 replacement cartos I bought I'm not just going to chuck all of this stuff.

However, what happened when I installed the replacement carto is that all I was getting was burnt toxic fumes. I'd vape and vape the thing, with lots of primer puffs and also inhaling the burnt stuff and coughing up a storm. So maybe this one's defective, so I toss it and break out another one. Next one, I can't even get any vapor out of this. ...... duds I thought. So I throw that away and break out another one, this one is the worst of all, I'm thinking the reason why they call these Smoktech is that there's actual smoke here, the burning smoke of the damn things, and my lungs are a lot more messed up from this stuff than when I was smoking.

So now I'm really getting frustrated, and I'm thinking that I must be doing something wrong here. I'm up to 11 watts on my Darwin with this garbage, which is cooking the damn things and still not producing much vapor, but plenty of "smoke." So I go on the internet to see what the hell is going on with these things. I watch a few videos, some guy says you need to make the hole bigger, so I grab a hammer and nail and try that, and it's no better. Some other guy says the hole is big enough and he's loving these. I take a drag off of mine and I think maybe I need to go to the hospital.

I have another tank with a pre-installed carto in it and I decide to look at that to compare. Wow, the plastic end cap is pushed down further in that one. So I take out a new one, and install it, and push the plastic thing on the end down as far as I can with a pen. I also get the idea to do the priming without the thing installed, to get the juice in the carto before I vape, so I don't have to inhale more burnt toxic fumes, and I've had a lifetime worth of those today and my lungs are way too inflamed at this point to be able to handle any more.

Lo and behold, now the thing is vaping like it should. Sure the flavor is muted, but this is real vapor, not the vapor of burning cartos.

So I'm thinking, why don't the .......s give you instructions with this stuff. I couldn't even find any advice from the vaping community and had to figure this out by myself. How is this possible?

I'm not sure I'll be buying any more of these damn things, and this might in fact be the first and last experience with these damn carto tanks, although I'm too cheap to waste the ones I have. Plus I ordered a gooseneck for my Darwin so when that comes I can close the arm, right now that tank and drip tip sticking out of my pocket looks very weird

Anyone have any comments here?

 

[joe98200]

I'd hate to laugh at your misfortune, but you are very humorous, sir.

 

[kingcobra]

Go ahead, it's funny now but sure wasn't at the time

 

[OnnaB]

I watched a video...somewhere...that showed removing the rubber carto plug. But also, everyone described filling the carto by running the juice down the inside wall...so I guess I just figured the plug had to be removed. Lessons we learn...I hope you didn't OD on polyurethane, rubber...whatever that stuff is. I do agree, there should be some sort of training manual for all these things. And remember too...anyone can put a video online, it doesn't mean they know what the hell they are talking about. Sorry for your misadventures...

 

[kingcobra]

Well the ones that come installed when you buy the tank have them pushed down, not removed, that's the first I've heard of removing them but I figure they are there to keep you from sucking up juice. They do work very well in that regard though and you can suck as hard as you want and never get any juice in your mouth. The fact that we are even speculating about this though tells me that smoktech should be ashamed of themselves as this should never be a matter of experimentation or guesswork. We are not talking about degrees of performance here we are talking about total failure of the product if you don't get this right.

You do drip the juice down the inside wall of the tank, but this has nothing to do with the rubber plug on the carto, you just position it so you drip directly into the tank.

I probably did OD on the toxins but it wasn't fatal as I am still kicking 24 hours later

 

[OnnaB]

But....how did you fill the carto?? I got my DCT from Smoktek...didn't have the plug in. Hmmm....another reason consistency is very important.

Did you have pre-filled cartos...maybe I missed that part....

 

[kingcobra]

Sorry, these are empty refills with the plastic plug with the small hole in it flush. It's definitely supposed to be there, or it wouldn't have the hole in it. When you just stick your drip tip in there it only pushes it down in there part of the way, and fails. So when you push it in about twice as far, as the ones that come installed when you buy the tank are, then it vapes fine. The amazing thing with me is that I know there must be a lot of users out there and I've never seen this issue brought up at all. Maybe everyone is buying the pre-filled ones, I don't know. My supplier who is here in Canada only sells empties.

 

[OnnaB]

Buying my tank was my first use of cartos (they came empty as well). I'm not sure what purpose the plug serves....it DOES have a hole in it. I can't imagine it's safe to vape with it in the cart at all....they don't seem heat resistant. Maybe a more experienced carto user or supplier will come along and school us both! I'm glad you are okay...that whole experience just HAD to suck...lol!

 

[kingcobra]

So you vape with it out? Maybe that's worth a try

 

[kingcobra]

I broke out a new one and took the cap out and man that's much better. I even forgot to prime this one and it's still better. Thanks man!!!

 

[Jixchel]

Definately take out the white cap, it isn't needed as long as you are using a drip tip, here is a nice video on how to empty the tank without a syringe Emptying a DCT tank - YouTube I had a DCT tank for about a day before I just sold the thing to my neighbor. I loved it for a while, but then that filler taste of the carto kicked in. I agree they should come with instructions, everything I found about them came from youtube lol

 

[kritikal]

When I first started using tanks I had a bit of misfortune myself. I had used up all my prepunched carto so I decided I would rig up my own carto punch which was basically a jig, a nail and a hammer. Needless to say, it didn't work so well and I had all sorts of leaking when filling or putting in new cartos due to either going in to far for leaving too great an indentation. In about one hour I went through 15mL of juice and about 6 cartos. My hands were dripping wet with peach tea juice, as was my table and carpet. The worst thing is that you're using both hands to try and force the carto in while juice trickles down your hands and if you remove a hand, even more juice spews out.
Nevertheless, I got there in the end, I just had to learn the hard way too.

 

[kritikal]

You need to remove all rubber and silicon from your cartos prior to use. The white plug/cap basically serves as a drip tip/mouthpiece for those that do not own a drip tip. If you're using a drip tip, it comes out. Don't push it down any further. Just remove the carto condoms, remove the plug and the silicon pin shaped piece that sits on top of that and you're good to go.

 

[OnnaB]

LOL...sorry, I should've said that! Yes, I take the rubber plug out and toss it...prime the carto, insert it part way into the tank, fill the tank, slide carto up the rest of the way, insert mouthpiece/driptip....vape!

 

[Flyer]

Not sure why the little plug is put into them to begin with, but, definitely take it out an toss it. Prime Smoketech cartos with 10-20 drops of juice by dripping into the top of the carto along the sidewall. Go slowly and try to keep juice out of the center air hole. with both end caps on the tank, push the carto about 2/3 of the way into the tank, Move the carto a bit to the side and drip into the tank from the top without getting it into the top of the cart. When the juice level gets close to the top of the carto, dealing the carto in the tank and carefully push it throughout the top cap. Wipe the exterior of the tank clean, including the bottom of the carto's battery connection then screw it onto the battery. Now place the drip tip into the carto and take a few gentle dry pulls to get the juice flowing into the cart. Then start vaping slowly at first. When you are getting some vapor and no dry hits, you are good to go. Good luck!

 

[kingcobra]

What threw me off is seeing that white rubber thing in the carto that came with the tank and thinking that this end cap was the same thing only pushed down. So I figured well once I put the drip tip in that will push it down like that. As it turns out, that one that's in there isn't the same white rubber cap, it's the internal one I guess, and this is another one. Well as you have read, two of those is not twice the fun

So I feel like an idiot in a way here but only partly one, the real idiots are Smoktech who don't tell you to take that off, and to be honest, I watched a few videos and didn't ever see anyone mention that. So thanks to you guys I know what to do now

I honestly don't think these holes are big enough though as I'm not really getting anywhere near the flavor I get with my 510-t tanks. I really want to like these new tanks especially since I spent over $80 on the crap but on the other hand I'm not wondering anymore whether these fancy ... tank cartomizers are better than what I've been using

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with the advice, I definitely know what to do now whenever I get myself in trouble again

 

[Iffy]

As it turns out, that one that's in there isn't the same white rubber cap, it's the internal one I guess

What you're seeing down within the carto is the top of the filler material!

 

[kingcobra]

Thanks, it does seem that you need some prior knowledge here

 

[Jixchel]

I have seen some of the DCT tanks that have an clear silicon inner seal for the carto, the one from totally wicked comes with one, but in most of the videos I watched about it they tossed that silicon seal as well as the white cap.

 

[LeAnn]

My problem was I got a tank that came uninstalled, I had to put the rubber grommets on each end of the plastic and that came with no instructions, could get it to fit onto end, no instructions, WTF is wrong with these people. The ones I got, smoketech include tht were put together I didn't have a problem with filling and using. Just take the drip tip off and act like u are unscrewing the bottom, pul out carto halfway and tip it and fill running juice down the sides. As it fills I push the carto back up towards the top, usually you get juice inside the carto as you are filling, I only fill 3/4 full and then push the carto back into the top, put drip trip back on and it's good to go