Desktop Heater - Winter Vaping

[CAAB]

I keep my vaping storage area pretty cool during the winter, like low 60's F. I find getting the PG ratio and wicking just right is a big headache. I've started using a desktop heater to warm up my mod and tank.

I am curious if anyone else has tried this? I find it's been a tremendous help, especially if you don't want to use high PG.

One thing I notice though is with RTAs with the tank above the build deck, if you get it too close to the heater, juice pours out the airflow, so you have to be careful with that. I think it has to do with air pressure increasing in the tank as it heats up.

 

[r77r7r]

Low 60's does not seem too cool.

 

[CAAB]

Low 60's does not seem too cool.

I vape a lot of NET and they are pretty fussy, especially with a high VG ratio. I find I gunk up my coils more frequently the colder it gets. Also, tanks like the Brunhilde MTL RTA with those steel wicks seem not to work as well in the cold.

I vape outside mostly, so basically I am going from cold to colder. Which isn't that great on battery life either.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

One thing I notice though is with RTAs with the tank above the build deck, if you get it too close to the heater, juice pours out the airflow, so you have to be careful with that. I think it has to do with air pressure increasing in the tank as it heats up.

I’ve been using Kayfun’s and many other RTA’s all with tanks above the build deck since 2013.

I never experience any leaking whatsoever.

My juices are 50vg/50pg, 70/30 and 80/20. I live in a cold climate where it is winter now. Don’t keep any of my RBA’s cool. In summer I never experience issues.

Generally speaking when you experience leaking via the AF it’s because you’re not using enough wicking. That’s true with cotton or rayon. I use both equally.

Try more (thickness) wick in your coil.

General rule of thumb...
too much wick = dry hits
too little wick = flooding/leaking

Good luck.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

Doesn’t matter, cool to colder or cool to hot outside. My RTA’s never leak.

 

[CAAB]

General rule of thumb...
too much wick = dry hits
too little wick = flooding/leaking

After trial and error I've been able to resolve any leaking/flooding issues for the aforementioned RTAs and have been able to build them pretty solidly from that standpoint. Like months without leaking. It's just if I put these tanks close to a convection heater, like getting to summer in Arizona warm, that's when they leak. Something about the transition from extreme temperatures. However, if I keep them a good distance from the heater, I find that I don't experience this problem and I have a wider range of tolerance in terms of avoiding dry hits with high VG eliquids. Like 80% - 100% VG. Everything becomes more forgiveable.

 

[Ryedan]

I think it has to do with air pressure increasing in the tank as it heats up.

I think the air pressure increase is the main problem you're seeing @CAAB. Warm a tank up too much and as you know you've got more air pressure in the tank (specially if the juice level is lower, so more air above the juice) plus you've got thinner VG, and both will make the tank more prone to leak.

I used to vape high VG juices and I live in southern Ontario so I see reasonably cold winters. I found that when I was outside for a while and had a cold tank I could take shorter drags to warm up the tank and after a few of those I could vape more normally. I would imagine that if you vape big tanks that would take longer, but mine were on the smaller side, 3 - 4 ml juice capacity. Then again, I was outside sometimes for quite a while and the temps I was sometimes vaping in were around 15 F. Your 60 deg F doesn't seem too harsh to me, but sometimes the devil is in the details. I always set up my tanks so their coils do not run too hot, which gives me a lot of room for them to get hotter with no juice degradation.

Yes, if you reduce the temperature increase and do it slower my bet is you'll have better luck with warming up your tanks. That makes total sense

 

[evan le'garde]

I’ve been using Kayfun’s and many other RTA’s all with tanks above the build deck since 2013.

I never experience any leaking whatsoever.

My juices are 50vg/50pg, 70/30 and 80/20. I live in a cold climate where it is winter now. Don’t keep any of my RBA’s cool. In summer I never experience issues.

Generally speaking when you experience leaking via the AF it’s because you’re not using enough wicking. That’s true with cotton or rayon. I use both equally.

Try more (thickness) wick in your coil.

General rule of thumb...
too much wick = dry hits
too little wick = flooding/leaking

Good luck.

Totally !.
The wick absolutely has to be "SNUG" inside the coil. What i've found with a wick that isn't snug is there are areas of the coil (the top part of the wraps at each end of the coil) that are left bare where there is no contact between coil and wick. These parts can constantly produce a slight dry hit. Not realizing nor understanding why these dry hits are happening can cause confusion. 1) Thinking it's the temperature which is thickening the juice and preventing the flow. 2) Opening up the deck to take a look and not seeing a dry wick. 3) Maybe the coil is old and cruddy so it gets replaced.

My juice is always around 75% VG / 25% PG so it is reasonably thick. I use a Kayfun Prime with a simple 2mm 5 wrap coil. And i always ensure my wick is fitted nice and snug. It makes a world of difference to vapour production and throat hit. So it works perfectly all of the time. And re-wicking is somethink i do when i've vaped a tankful, so maybe every day and a half.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

 

[CAAB]

I could take shorter drags to warm up the tank and after a few of those I could vape more normally.

I think that's part of it in my case. I don't adequately warm up my tanks for the level of use. That's why I like the heater, it gives me a jump start on things.

 

[CAAB]

LOL, that's the solution. Just got to get my granny to knit some sweaters for the wee mods. Only the best cashmere for my Dicodes and Kayfuns.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

I found one solution that seems to work most of the time (with 50/50 juice) is to close the airflow and take a couple drags without the fire button (primer drags), to get the juice to enter the chamber a bit. That's the actual problem, the juice gets too thick and does not allow for proper wicking. Basically what you're doing is getting the juice to flood the chamber, but not so much that it cause an issue.

How hard your drags need to be depends on the tank. Some tanks cannot take hard drags with a closed AFC without major flooding occurring. For instance, my Uwell D2 RTA can't take much at all, so the primer drags need to be very light or else I get major flooding.

I know it sounds nuts to those that use higher VG liquids, but 50/50 juice isn't as thin as some people think it is and when it gets cold it gets quite thick.

 

[believe88]

During my time in Boston in 19', i found it useful to use a Usb heater, plenty of these in amazon. Just make sure to get those ones with a grill

 

[CAAB]

I found one solution that seems to work most of the time (with 50/50 juice) is to close the airflow and take a couple drags without the fire button (primer drags), to get the juice to enter the chamber a bit. That's the actual problem, the juice gets too thick and does not allow for proper wicking. Basically what you're doing is getting the juice to flood the chamber, but not so much that it cause an issue.

How hard your drags need to be depends on the tank. Some tanks cannot take hard drags with a closed AFC without major flooding occurring. For instance, my Uwell D2 RTA can't take much at all, so the primer drags need to be very light or else I get major flooding.

I know it sounds nuts to those that use higher VG liquids, but 50/50 juice isn't as thin as some people think it is and when it gets cold it gets quite thick.

I forgot about that, primer puffs. I used to have to do that on an atomizer for a VG eliquid. I think I might try that now and again to see if that technique works without using a heater. I wonder if that idea would work with an RDTA like the Brunhilde...

That said, I do suspect that the desktop heater helps with battery life and it does sort of make everything less fussy. It's amazing what a few minutes can do. At first the eliquid is the consistency of honey, but after a couple of minutes by the heater (not too close) it's as thin as water.