im also having problems getting my phiniac going, but getting closer...

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anavidfan

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[h=2]I moved this post from general discussion,[/h]
Well, what a ride this has been. Ordered some goodies for myself, and they finally got here. I thought I had done enough research and read a lot on the tank forum so I would be prepared for how to get it going. Got a beautiful naked Phiniac clear "naked" tank. Got some ss boge cartos. I even punched them myself. It was an adventure in itself. I really thought the holes were big enough. Wrong, I wasted 2/3 of my new highbrow juice. I had so much juice on my hands, tshirt, lips and unintentionally drank a lot im sure. I did what my suggested, to put some juice on a q-tip around o-ring etc. I also filled the carto so It would not be dry, What a mess. I must have taken that carto out over 3 times. Spilled it all over when carto flew out. The tank kept sliding around spilling more. I was going nuts. I went on youtube to see if there were some how tos. I found a vid by PBusardos about slotting your cartos and loading them on a tank. Well his method was clear and easy. Got out my dremmel saw. I slotted them as he instructed. He was using boge cartos on a 3.7 vmax( think, similar to an ego or kgo like mine). He didnt prefill his carto, after slotting them, he slipped it in dryish ( think he put a bit of juice on the tank openings. Then he filled the carto with juice. He said to fill it and let it sit for about 30-40 minutes. It was so much easier to load it like that. I put the contact end in first. THis time the carto slipped in with no mess. I got my first good hit, followed by a few more. I noticed that after a long while the carto seemed like it was drying. I spin the tank and take a few dry hits without pressing the batt button and it seems to draw the juice in. And it tastes great, good vape etc. Im thinking I might go and make the slots a bit bigger to see if it flows better. PBusardos loaded his tank with Bobas bounty, a notoriously thick and hot juice. So we will see. I will update you all about the bigger slots. I slotted my boges horizontally right about the edge of the caps and o-rings as he instructed. Someone commented on the video and said he slots them vertically so there is more surface along the carto for flow. Maybe I will add a vertical one as well as the horizontal ones. Im tired and I have blisters on me fingers from the attempts to punch them with a hammer and nail. Those little threads on the nails hurt when trying to steady those rolly slippery cartos. I think im in need of a cup of joe and a good long vape.:blink::evil:

Think Im gonna add a slot on the upper end. I was wondering though, when the juice goes down past the top holes/slots wont it be drawing in air as well ? I saw someone advise the other phiniac poster. I might try giving the phiniac maniacs an email. Maybe there is a trick they know. Seems that these tanks generate a high amount of inner compression. Pbusardos did a review on them and he always tests out tanks by rating the amount of pressure it takes to yank the tank off the carto, and these phiniacs are the higest. They need a tad over 6lbs to yank it off. Most of the other tanks could only handle half. I dont know if this might be a reason. Some said that sometimes you need to get air in there to release the suction/pressure?​

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBagCO_Jit8
 
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Kay1959

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anavidfan

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I just ordered the punch from phiniac , i got the tank kit, with the punch, orings , and tank filler/ carto pull. I ve been having a heck of a time with this tank venture. I just cant get more than a couple good draws and then it dries. When I do a dry vape it take some time to see the air bubbles. I wipe the end off and blow excess juice, attach, add a couple drops in, I will do the pre-draw and inhale. Ive been doing this all day, and wasted about 3 ml of juice, changing out cartos. Tried horizontal slots,2, 3 , 4 slots, I tried punching with hammer and nail, bad idea. Did some with a combo of vert slots and horizontal slots, flooded the hell out of it. Than I tried one vert and one horitzontal . Either floods or doesnt draw for more than 4-5 times. I looked at some of the cartos I slotted, and I think I over did it. On some of the cartos I can see the metal wick, so Im thinking the juice is getting the wick wet. I have gone thru about 3 boxes of cartos. Dang what a mess. Im hoping the carto punch helps. By the way, I ordered the smoke tech DCT shorty tank. Got it in yesterday, It came with a pre-punched 1.7 ohm dual coil carto with one tiny little hole. I dripped some drops on the top to make sure it was well soaked. I notice that the smoke tech filler wicks so much faster and better.Filled the tank and wow! Perfect vapeing, Its been going strong all day for my son. Im jealous, I felt bad getting myself the expensive Phiniac and him a less than 20 tank. Oh, the juice he is using is a 80pc/30vg juice. My juice was 20pg/80 vg, I say was because Ive gone thru almost 40 ml of juice and I took them and combined what was left of my Highbrow 20pg/80vg with a little sample kalamazzoo sent and some of my sons juice, Its lighter now, but still wont flow. Thinking it might be I murdered my cartos with the slots that were too deep or I got a bad batch of cartos. I burned some out with the light juice on the battery without the tank, soaked it, waited , and on the second draw, and they kept getting dry. Noticed some of the cartos were off center, some even had the wire wick sticking thru the center and into the filling. I am so frustated , Im think of getting one of the old butts of cigs and smoking it. Sorry this went on so long, just wanted to cover all bases.
Oh btw, I PM Moorea yesterday, she still hasnt replied, I did call Christopher at Phiniac, I described what had been happening, didnt seem to know what could be happening, but he was so nice, He said I could return the tank and he would exchange the tank for me in case there was a flaw, which he said rarely ever happens. I dont want to send it back right away because I think it is either the bad cartos , or bad slotting , punching or the juice. I told him that I would like to wait, and if nothing helps, then I would send it back and exchange it. I feel bad sending it back, I messed up one of the small inner orings with one of the many slotted cartos, I thing I even scratched the caps, very lightly, but if I send it back Im afraid that he would look at it and what the heck did she do to this? Its is such a beautiful and well made tank, I dont want to give up on it, or damage it.

PS. that cig .... is starting to look good to me....
 
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Kay1959

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You poor thing! You really have been through the mill haven't you!
Why don't you start off with some cartos that are already prepunched? That way you can enjoy tanks to start with, and worry about learning how to punch them alittle later on. If you buy some prepunched, then you can SEE what exactly you are after when you punch your own. Fill the carto using the condom method. Put it in the tank. Fill the tank. Push the carto the rest of the way in the tank. Add your drip tip. Blow through the drip tip into a papertowel to get any excess juice out of the carto's center hole, and VAPE that puppy! lol!
 

Kay1959

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I started off using the prepunched cartos. 3.0 ohm Boges to be exact, and I've never had any problems with them. I use a 70/30 ratio on my juice. The one hole works well for me. When I decided to save some money by punching my own, I had a few prepunched ones, and used those to figure out where to punch my holes and what they should look like. I started off trying the nail and hammer, don't work. Went to the saddle valve, didn't work. Went to something like what Phiniac has for sale, and it's very easy and works like a charm! The only learning curve with that punch is learning how many turns to give it to get the right size hole. You just want it to puncher the carto, not go deep down inside it. With my punch device, I put the carto in, tighten the screw until the screw is snug against the carto, then give it exactly two complete turns.(that's two 360 degree turns) So somewhere in that 'neighborhood' should get the job done for you. But in the meantime, you'll have some prepunched, while you learn. You'll get there! Don't give up! Once you learn how to do it it'll seem so easy...but until then, it's a pain in the A**! lol!
 

anavidfan

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Hello Kay, I contacted Moorea and i still have not heard back, maybe because I contacted Christopher at phiniac, she figured it was taken care of. I believe the problem is me and the self slotting, punching etc. Im still waiting for my order to come in from them of the tank kit and then I can properly punch cartos and get thinner ejuice to try it out again.
 

anavidfan

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I think I got it, finally. 2 holes on bottom and one at top. Seems with the combination of the phiniac tank having such a tight seal, the 3rd hole on top helps. I also got phiniacs tank tools set with the carto punch and orings etc. Got the little tool for slipping in cartos and filling tank, works great too. The tank and carto are working flawlessy, its been so long since Ive had a good vape experience since embarking on the tank thing. I inhaled and ingested so much burned juice. I also got one of phiniacs drip tips, big difference. I think another factor in not getting a good vaping experience was that the drip tip I had before as too loose it caused some escape of vape and let air in the tank. Oh well, I hope all this is now over and I can just relax and vape to my hearts desire, big emphasis on relax.
 

yankeebobo

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You can also try only two holes on the bottom. I don't know what the draw will be on the top. BUT, when you punch the bottom and hear it punch through, go another FULL TURN to "widen" the hole. Some punches may distort the carto, but phiniac's doesn't seem to. I always "over punch" my cartos by doing a full turn past the punch x 2. I vape 100% VG (Boba's Bounty). Good luck.
I've got phiniac tanks coming. I'm still using smoktech tanks and praying they hold out. caps don't seem to handle carto changes and slippage well here.
 

anavidfan

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I had the same problem with the smoke tech, kept slipping when I tried to put in a new carto the endcaps would pop off spilling all my juice. I must have wasted about 20ml.Its actually easier to just carefully remove the top endcap and refill. Im sure you will love the phiniac, I love it. You might also want to try out the Triple V pyrex tanks from Valley Vapes, they are a bit less refined looking as the phiniac, but if you are like some of us, we want to be able to switch from juice to juice easely and since the phins are expensive , the TRiple Vs are only about 13.00 each so you can have various tanks ready to go. Im still going to order another phiniac, I have my eye set on a tallboy in black glass for next month. Enjoy, its not an addiction, Im just obsessive.:)
 

anavidfan

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Im have such a wonderful time with the phiniac tank, I love it and so far I have the same boge carto going for 2 days now. I wanted another phin, but money was a bit low,so I ordered a couple of the valley vapes triple v pyrex tanks. Now they are not as elegant as the phins, but well made and simple.They were easy to set and no leaks etc. They are also tight, but not as mega tight as the phiniacs. These are a great alternative so you can have a few tanks ready with your favorite juice. I am definately going to get another phiniac. I want one of their black naked tanks. I dont know why, except that its black and I love black even if you cant see through it.
 
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