iBtanked Cards..... a little disatisfied

[syrianrue]

So, i ordered my iBtanked tank+carts a few weeks ago, got about 8 carts total.... and eventhough i primed the carts well and made sure it's fully saturated with e-liquid each time, it seems that 1/3 of the carts are just a little faulty..... dont get me wrong, out of those 8 carts, at least 3 of them worked great, but a lot of them just seems to burn quickly or makes it hard to draw. In addition, some simply just dont last long.

Is this a common problem other users are experiencing?

 

[stevegmu]

I have used lots and lots of smok cartos from IBTanked. Never had an issue with burning, dry hits, air flow or defective cartos. I can get up to 20ml out of a carto.

 

[OCD]

I had one other person tell me they had some troubles but it was like you are stating hit and miss rather than a string of them. This is important in that if all are bad then it is certainly something on the production line, with some it could still be an odd hiccup but at least not a complete failure on the line.

One thing that is very important in getting a cartomizer ready to go along with the proper priming is the initial use. If they start out well then quickly go downhill it is usually because they have not begun wicking and dry up. At first hint of things not performing up to par a little extra priming might be needed.

The startup or initial use though is pretty key to all of this. Lower the voltage if you can and if you are using a straight voltage device then use shorter bursts on the power button. For the first several to 10 or so puffs you can even not apply power at all, I know you dont get any vapor but this will help in getting the eLiquid flowing through the holes in the cartomizer. A fresh cartomizer should really put out well so it shouldnt need as much power anyhow and doing this will give everything a chance to settle in so those shorter applications of power again help in starting everything flowing.

Lastly is power, pushing the limits on power will shorten the life of all equipment. You did not mention the resistance or power you are using so this might not apply but I know a lot of folks like the LR cartomizers pushing up 4.5 to 5V, in a perfect world this will work fine but it is pushing the envelope so any small thing out of place along the line can spell disaster.

Here is a funny one, took a call from a gentleman a couple weeks ago. Trying to troubleshoot over the phone why he was having no luck at all in getting fluid to wick into his cartomizer from the tank. Burning cartomizers like crazy even with topping them up from the top. Well after ten minutes or so I finally asked which cartomizers he was using and he told me the 1.7ohm from us. Hehe, our only 1.7ohm are not punched so I asked him what kind of holes he put in them "Holes?" aha, found the problem

 

[syrianrue]

i did all that though..

primed it perfectly, lower power to 3.. then 3.3, 3.5, 3.8, 4,.... to 4.6 or so. i also drew shorter at first.

but the cartomizers just dont seem consistent enough, some just seem faulty... in addition, many of them have the little coil with the paper not even aligned completely vertical, some of them are positioned kinda in a slant with the paper sticking out to one side.

 

[Miata GT]

I have only ever bought the 3 ohms cartos from IBTanked and I've gone through 20 or so. I can't recall having an issue with them. Maybe a bad batch like OCD suggested?

 

[OCD]

syrianrue, I see you are using the HalfLings. These are cute as all getout and do work well but they do run hotter and are more apt to run lean since there just isnt much to them. They will also not last as long as the Standard of XL lengths as I have stated in the past though I usually get 2/3rds service from them. Power is important here, getting up close to 5V is really going to press these even more so than the other lengths. I do believe though that if you do want to run them that warm you could by getting more liquid into them via an additional hole or thinning the eLiquid which would allow enough liquid to enter to keep the coil saturated even under the higher power.

I certainly wont dismiss that there could be some inconsistencies in the manufacture of any cartomizers especially considering their price. We offer them on to our customers with as low of a markup as we possibly can because this is the ongoing maintenance part and the lower the cost there the better it is for all of our use throughout however many years a tank might be used.

Of course this comes with its own price, as with every other vendor I know of we cannot warranty cartomizers because even if they fail under one circumstance they may well of been fine under another. I am always careful not to point directly at user error on this topic because it isnt necessarily error every time so much as overly optimistic expectations. If we ever had an across the board failure rate then of course it would be something we would have to consider but honestly the mention of cartomizer failure is so rare next to the number we sell that it is almost non existent.

You mentioned the progression of V above, have you had any of these fail before getting to the 4.6V? Was the 4.0/4.2V just not satisfying? Curious as to why you are running up there. What nicotine level do you use? I know The Mrs when she dropped her nicotine she raised her voltage and increased the amount of eLiquid she goes through. Have you tried staying closer to 4.0V? I use my 3.0ohm Standard length at 3.9V and am using 16mg nicotine liquid. Was a pack and quarter a day smoker for almost 4 decades until about three years ago and have been using pretty much this same thing since the switch.

Just asking to see if maybe there is a way to make these work for you. Barring those options I would offer you a Standard length tube if you wanted to try those cartomizers and see if they give you what you are after. You can use the same caps that you are using now but of course the tank will be twice as long as the HalfLing.

 

[Ladiekali]

I have been using these for about a year now I think. A 2ohm CARTO at 4.2 volts is about as high as I think it will go with out burning,mi usually Vape my 2 ohm carto's between 3.5 and 3.9 mostly depending on my juice flavor and vg/pg thickness.