Ego-T - Very thick juice -- wick adjustment -- anyone had consistent success?

[whatmonkey]

I'll try to keep the backstory as short as I can.

I know thick juices aren't recommended for the Ego-T due to wicking issues. However, these things have all occurred:

I just converted from 808 cartos in the past coupla weeks.
I had a bit of BWB Malty (70%VG) left when I got my Ego-T. (My 1st choice in juice.)
That last bit vaped fine in the LR Type-A's that came with my kit. (Dumb luck?)
He finally got it back in stock -- so I stocked up. 2x30ml.
I found myself at home all weekend with only Malty and a brand new Type B LR.

I have spent the weekend wrestling on and off with the wick. I thought I'd NEVER be one to remove the plate and try wick adjustment, but I didn't really have a choice.

Tip: In the wick adustment thread, someone mentioned just using a precision screwdriver to push the piercing needle sideways, and the plate pops right out. Lacking any of the other recommended tools this is what I did -- works like a charm! Super easy!

During this time, I've had the plate out 4 or 5 times. I've tried a bunch of different wick positions, opening the vent channels inside the piercing needle, and finally side piercing the mesh "hat".

Along the way I've had hits so burned tasting that I thought I was going to vomit, I've had juice coming up the channels, I've had spots where it worked well at first but where after awhile it gets horribly flooded or gets unavoidably dry and burned tasting. I've also had it in a condition where it was safe from burning, but had little flavor and muted vapor.

By what I think is sheer dumb luck I've gotten to a place where it works pretty well. But, I don't imagine I can expect this vaporizer to last through 2x30ml of juice -- and I'm not at all sure I can recreate exactly what I've done here. And I'd really prefer not to sell my Malty.

At this point if i had to do it again, I'd have a pierced hat and a wick that's *almost* all the way down in the tube.

But I wanted to see if there's someone out there who has what they consider to be a "tried and true" thick liquid wick adjustment method.

Any tips?

Thanks!

 

[Flaklaflubillibu]

Sounds like my experience with eGo-T atties, A and B, Std and LR with every variety of juice and PG and/or water thinned-out juice I could throw at it. It's a damn shame and not much I could do about it. I've seen dry burning suggested as a means of reviving these atties. I've tried it several times and that is by far the kiss of death, as the nasty burnt chemical taste/smell and the urge to vomit after taking a toot becomes 1000-fold and irreparably worse. Oddly, my only nirvana with the Joye tank systems came at a compromise with the limited capacity 510-T, which has a considerably higher long term and consistent success rate in my hands. Only problem with it other than limited capacity, it that it overheats very easily and cooks the juice in the tank by the end of the tank. After only a top-off or two, the burnt juice in the tank needs to be washed out completely and the atty blown out to revitalize the taste.

 

[Tom10]

There's a lot of PVs in many configurations that don't do well or clog up with thick juices, so it isn't just the Ego-T. Personally, the thickest I will use is 70%PG / 30% VG. I also mix my own juices and thin VG with distilled water before using it. It's amazing how much good that 1 to 2% distilled water will do in using thick juices. At the best, thick juices wear things out much more quickly, and you will have problems much sooner than later.

 

[whatmonkey]

Sounds like my experience with eGo-T atties, A and B, Std and LR with every variety of juice and PG and/or water thinned-out juice I could throw at it. It's a damn shame and not much I could do about it. I've seen dry burning suggested as a means of reviving these atties. I've tried it several times and that is by far the kiss of death, as the nasty burnt chemical taste/smell and the urge to vomit after taking a toot becomes 1000-fold and irreparably worse.

I've had really the exact opposite experience -- I've put most of 15ml of 70%PG Waffle (dark no less), a fair bit of 100%PG Green Tea, a tank or two of various 80% PG liquids, and most of 12ml of 50/50 Lemonade through either my A's or B's (all LR) with no problems at all.

In fact, the 50/50 Lemonade was the most consistently fantastic experience I've had yet with vaping, as far as not thinking at ALL about the technique I was using to hit it -- I blazed through it really quickly because of this.

I think because of that (and my lucky success with the dregs of my previous 70/30 Malty), I was caught off guard here despite the warnings I've seen regarding thick juice.

I also mix my own juices and thin VG with distilled water before using it. It's amazing how much good that 1 to 2% distilled water will do in using thick juices.

Hmm, now of course you have the ability to add more flavor since you DIY, and Malty is pretty subtle to begin with -- how much distilled water would you add to a 30ml bottle, and how big an impact on flavor would you expect?

Side note - I've put another tank through it since posting, and it really is working well in its current Frankenstein form. Oddly, the only time I get a dry hit is after it's been sitting awhile (hours) - not sure what to make of that.

 

[Tom10]

Hmm, now of course you have the ability to add more flavor since you DIY, and Malty is pretty subtle to begin with -- how much distilled water would you add to a 30ml bottle, and how big an impact on flavor would you expect?

That would be about 6 drops at 1% and 12 drops for 2%. I wouldn't expect any loss of flavor. This would be just another way to dilute. The percentage of flavor I would use remains the same. I pre-thin the VG I use in all of my mixes with distilled water to avoid problems. Here's a link for a great calculator that I use in mixing various ingredients. It's free and works extremely well:

eJuice Me Up - e-Juice e-Liquid Recipe Calculator

 

[Switched]

From the original mfr specs: 70% PG and 30% VG max. Your mix is backwards.

 

[whatmonkey]

That would be about 6 drops at 1% and 12 drops for 2%. I wouldn't expect any loss of flavor. This would be just another way to dilute. The percentage of flavor I would use remains the same. I pre-thin the VG I use in all of my mixes with distilled water to avoid problems. Here's a link for a great calculator that I use in mixing various ingredients. It's free and works extremely well:

eJuice Me Up - e-Juice e-Liquid Recipe Calculator

Thanks very much. I know you initially said 1-2%, but was really expecting you to tell me an amount of water that was much higher than that, so this is a pleasant surprise. With only a few drops I can't imagine I'll notice a flavor difference, and if it works, it's a great way to save nearly 60ml of my favorite flavor that I'd otherwise have to get rid of.

Of course the atomizer that I've mangled the wick on is now pretty much a goner -- I'm sure it will leak like a sieve with anything thinner than what I'm currently running in it. I'll put it in a drawer and transplant the wick out of some other atomizer when it dies, I suppose.

From the original mfr specs: 70% PG and 30% VG max. Your mix is backwards.

Yes, I have seen that -- but know first hand that 50% VG is fine -- and had good reason to think that the Malty would be based on my initial experiences with it. Besides, I'm a geek, I never trust the mfr limitations without testing them. My mistake was picking *this* shipment to be the one where I ordered a crazy amount of Malty.

 

[Switched]

Cool with that I use 100% VG (allergic to PG, except for flavouring) I cut my VG 4/1 with distilled H2O, no problems.

 

[whatmonkey]

Well, this seems to have done the trick! I wish I had thought of this before jumping right into atomizer surgery (though that was pretty educational).

I've got my partially used bottle to where it is wicking and vaping fine on an LR Type A which had already been pretty well abused due to only having some leftover dark liquid for a few days when I first got my Ego-T -- no complaints with flavor or vapor at all.

I used more water than described though -- I have discovered that my syringe doesn't offer the control I thought it would. Facepalm moment when I realized I should have used an eyedropper.

However, it took a bit to make a dent in the thickness anyway -- I would guess that there was around 23ml left in the 30ml bottle, and I probably added just over a ml. When I first accidentally gave it a good squirt on drop 4 I panicked, but loading a tank up with that I could tell it was still a bit too thick -- so throwing caution to the wind I intentionally added about another .5ml and it seems perfect now.

Thanks for the counseling guys.