JonboyUSMC's Lava Tanks
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I got the lavagen and trying to set it up, but I'm confused, do I have to oxidize kanthal wire and the silica wick, or just the silica wick? Also, I don't have a torch, just a lighter. Will this still work?
Silica can't be oxidized, if you torch it it will burn and all you will taste is burnt plastic. You can lightly flame it if it's got a lot of hairs sticking up all over it. If you heat up the kanthal it will make it easier to work with as it will be less springy. There are videos on YouTube on how to properly set it up with silica.
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I torch every piece of silica I've used, none have burned nor melted and it doesn't taste like plastic. (If your silica tasted like plastic, I'd toss it and buy from somewhere else). I recommend torching silica, any kind, from any place. When torching the silica may darken but will turn back white when it's "cooked". It's not oxidixing the silica, just getting rid of any chemicals that may have been used in it's making. It's not necessary to torch the kanthal, only the mesh. The kanthal will get a coating/break in when in use.
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If you have a syringe with a blunt needle that will work. Do you have any bottles with the 18g blunt needle attached? That's what I use or I use the Zenjector from Zenesis.
Excellent video on setting up your LavaGen!
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-jonboyusmcs-lava-tanks-1520.html#post7660233
Video shows setting it up with mesh and silica (both vertical and horizontal).
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Ok well I'll work with it and thanks everyone for the useful information. I think I might have a syringe at home in my ecig supply kit. I managed to get the silica set up I think but I can't test it without any liquid in the tank. I used up more than half of my silica wick getting this working right. I've got mesh at home, too, but I don't have a blow torch or anything like it. Hopefully I'll get this working right. Thanks again everyone.
You don't torch silica to oxidize it, but torching it will burn off any unwanted chemicals like sizing used on silica sleeving. Most, if not all silica wick is perfectly clean and doesn't need any torchiing. If your silica wick burns when torched, it's not silica! Since it's basically glass, the melting point is 1600C.
Silicon dioxide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ok I tried it and it hardly works. It doesn't produce a lot of vapor at all and it seems like too much liquid pulls up in the top chamber as its almost as if it's wicking too much and pulling a layer of liquid into the top chamber. I'm nearly about to give up on this. It's too complicated. The whole point of a tank was to be easy. This is overly complicated and the only benefit I'm seeing is that it can be cheaper than buying cartos, if you don't mind giving yourself a major headache in the process. Blow torches and syringes to save a few dollars? Seems counterintuitive to me
Moon, I haven't put mine together yet, but the flavor is supposed to be better with a LavaGen/Genesis. Other advantages will be more apparent if cartos were to be unavailable (for whatever reason). The silica or mesh and the kanthal wire are available domestically for other uses. Most, if not all cartos, come from China. I hope you have better success and achieve the clouds of vapor I keep hearing about.
Moon don't give up it really is not that hard. Just some steps you have to do to get it right. Watch Dino's video or better yet PM him and he can Skype with you and get you up and running in 20 mins. I just started the Gen thing just last month and it is real easy now. And YES the vaper and flavor is way better then any carto out there.
Look at LavaGen Wick and then LavaGen for SS mesh set up. This is a link to Dino's videos. Strpr Swpr - YouTube
And for Silica Wick Effie has a nice video for that.
Anyone have a lavatank they want to sell. I have looked everywhere seeing if anyone would give one up lol. Pm me
I was just venting after a very frustrating first go with the silica wick set up, and I did follow Dinos video. Like I said, it works, it just doesn't work right, and I have no idea why it doesn't. I'm running out of silica wick already as i used up half of the wick trying to get it right. The silica wick unthreads itself and its very hard to get through the wick hole, even after wetting the end of it. I don't have a proper syringe and it took me a good while to get the tank filed. It does produce vapor, but not much at all, and it appears as if too much liquid is pulling up into the top chamber anti don't know if this is normal or not. Anyway, I'll probably give it another shot this weekend.
m00nshake, if what I sent to Wolf works for her, I'll gladly send the same thing to you. Let's wait and see if Wolf has no problems with it. I'll say this much, since switching to Genesis style set up, I could not go back to carto's, and I loved carto tanks for over a year! Much more vapor and much more flavor.
That'd be great. Thank you so much.
So I redid the silica wick setup and it vapes better but it has a strange, burnt plastic taste. What could possibly cause this? I filled the tank and started vaping, could it be that the coils scorched the silica wick before it really started wicking the liquid. I didn't think silica could have a burnt taste.
Moon, did you drop a few drops of juice right on the upper wick and coils after you filled the tank and before you started vaping? That will give you a little head start on the wicking process.
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