JonboyUSMC's Lava Tanks

[m00nshake]

The second link he gave has it all. Steam monkey's new store.

Ok I've looked at them, thank you. Should I get the 400 or 500 mesh or does it matter?

 

[9ball_AJ]

Ok I've looked at them, thank you. Should I get the 400 or 500 mesh or does it matter?

400 Mesh works pretty well with higher PG juices, I have had some wicking issues with higher VG juices. 500 wicks better IMO, and is worth the extra $$.

 

[9ball_AJ]

Moon,

Be sure to check out Dino's how to video's on the Lavagen. There is a ton of great info in them.

Strpr Swpr - YouTube

 

[BIG BLUE]

 

[tybin]

aj, how could 500 wick better than 400 with vg?

400 Mesh works pretty well with higher PG juices, I have had some wicking issues with higher VG juices. 500 wicks better IMO, and is worth the extra $$.

 

[9ball_AJ]

aj, how could 500 wick better than 400 with vg?

I drew my conclusions based on personal experience and reading through this thread: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/330407-500-ss-mesh.html

Basically 500 mesh has smaller holes in between each strand of wire, which improves capillary action. The viscosity of the juice still plays a part, however 500 mesh will wick VG and PG better than 400.

 

[tybin]

odd. they say use 325 for vg (but then again zen says use 325 for vg). btw, i'm running your peice of 500. nice

 

[9ball_AJ]

odd. they say use 325 for vg (but then again zen says use 325 for vg). btw, i'm running your peice of 500. nice

This is a common misconception. Zen himself said that 325 gives a better throat hit. I believe this is why he and many others think 325 is better, not for wicking performance.

If you want your wick to perform great with gravitational flow (tilting your mod to feed the wick with juice), then 325 probably is better, however if you want your juice to rise against gravity with capillary action, then 500 will perform better.

Here is a great summary to the #500 mesh thread by the OP:

This thread has grown so much and has gotten away from its original topic of what wicks best (capillary action) I have seen all kinds of setups but science is science. And denser, no center hole wicks better. I no longer use any wick less than 75mm and most are in the 100mm range.
From the beginning:
If you want juice to flow going down by gravity, a loose wick with with a big hole flows the best but that is not true wicking. That is gravitational flow.
Wicking (capillary action) defined as a fluid rising against gravity is best with a tight dense 400 ss wick with a very small center hole.
I am now using # 500 ss on all my lines and it is twice as efficient at wicking as #400.
In a simple lab test I put 3 inch same dia wicks in 2 inches of VG and 3 more in 2 inches of PG and 3 in 2 inches of kerosine. This new test I used 325, 400, 500 SS mesh. The kerosine only rose 1/16 in on the 325 and not measurable with PG or VG. I put a little dab of cotton on the top tip of each wick to see when it got wet. With kerosine the cotton got wet almost immediately on both 400 and 500, pg took 2 min to wet the cotton on 400 and and less than a minute on the 500, the VG took about 30 seconds longer on each. Using small jars with a hole in the metal cap for the wick I made mini kerosine burners. Even with prewetting the 325 it would not maintain a flame. The flame on the 500 was twice the size of the flame on the 400 and consumed the kerosine in half the time. All were 45mm rolled by 3 inches long, rolled tight on a thin paperclip. All rolled mesh to 2.5 mm dia,
In an earlier lab experiment I did a three #400 wicks 35mm, 45mm, 55mm, rolled to 2.5 mm dia and on the kerosine lamp test each progressively maintained a larger flame.
From my simple tests I concluded.
More density in the wicks provided more wicking and therefore more juice to the coil
comparing oranges to oranges
PG will rise higher in a 400 mesh than on a 325 mesh.
Vg will rise higher in a 400 mesh than on a 325 mesh.
On the same 400 wick PG will rise higher than VG because of cohesion forces, but it will not rise higher on 325 than on 400,
And now all rise higher and faster on 500 mesh, and now even better with 635

 

[9ball_AJ]

Oh, and it looks like I turned vet yesterday... I guess that means I get a cookie?

 

[tybin]

congrats AJ

 

[Grammie]

Congrats AJ on turning vet!!!

 

[ksmith]

Here is mine.

I have it set up with a 55mm piece of 500 SS mesh rolled solid and a 5 wrap 32awg kanthal coil metering out at 1.7ohm's and set at 4.0 volts. This thing is working wonderfully. Great vapor and flavor

 

[Skyway]

Got a friend that picked up one of the Reactor tanks and he said it melted the poly tank and ended up closing the breather hole. He was able to re-open the hole and get it working again. I will see if he can contact you. It looked as though the hole was a little low on the tank in comparison to where the coil is located.

 

[cuseguy]

Not a problem, we'll send him a new tube free of charge. Just have him pm me or email us at support@vaperfexion. Justy to clarify though... Polycarbonate tubes have a melting point of 311 degrees. Unless the coil is literally rubbing on the tube, or being run completely dry for long lengths of times, this is not typical. Also, we do have Lavagen Pyrex tubes coming very shortly. Dino and I are pretty sure the tube will be adaptable to both the Reactor and the Lava Tank.

 

[Skyway]

Awesome. I will let him know. Both him and I could not believe it happened. I asked him all kinds of questions pertaining to what had happened but he couldn't figure it out also. It was a complete mystery.

 

[jinxt]

Got all artsy fartsy with my phone.

4 wrap 30ga kanthal a-1 around #400 mesh sitting about 1.4 ohm. Nice vapor, waiting for the flavor to kick in, it's kind of lacking in that department. My fingers were sweaty while rolling my wick and most of what I taste is best described as boiling sweat. Yum...

Sent from my phone.

 

[Skyway]

What would be a good size hole that would be in between what the lavagen has compared to a ZAP? I want to enlarge my hole but I do not want to go as big as the Zap. The smallest drill bit I have is the same size as the Zap. I don't have my bits with me as of this writing but I think it is a 1/16th.
The way it is atm is just a tad bit restrictive for me.

 

[jinxt]

What would be a good size hole that would be in between what the lavagen has compared to a ZAP? I want to enlarge my hole but I do not want to go as big as the Zap. The smallest drill bit I have is the same size as the Zap. I don't have my bits with me as of this writing but I think it is a 1/16th.
The way it is atm is just a tad bit restrictive for me.

3/64ths would be in-between. You can order some jewellers bits to get that small or run to a hardware store and get the Dreml bits (they go down to 1/32)

Sent from my phone.

 

[Skyway]

Thanks for the input. I will go out and check this week.
I have another question. After messing with the Lavagen, I decided to try out the Lavatank since I have never owned one before. Is there a good sized O-ring that anyone knows of to put inside the top cap where the carto meets the cap? Not sure if it is suppose to do this but when using a carto in it last night, I am getting some juice coming up through the tip when I vape. I never get this on a normal tank and figured it was because there is not an air tight seal where the carto meets the top of the inside of the Lava Tip. Is it designed this way? I am guessing I am getting some small amounts of juice coming through the cap section and it condensates to the mouth hole.

 

[ksmith]

Thanks for the input. I will go out and check this week.
I have another question. After messing with the Lavagen, I decided to try out the Lavatank since I have never owned one before. Is there a good sized O-ring that anyone knows of to put inside the top cap where the carto meets the cap? Not sure if it is suppose to do this but when using a carto in it last night, I am getting some juice coming up through the tip when I vape. I never get this on a normal tank and figured it was because there is not an air tight seal where the carto meets the top of the inside of the Lava Tip. Is it designed this way? I am guessing I am getting some small amounts of juice coming through the cap section and it condensates to the mouth hole.

There is no o-ring inside the top cap. They are not needed. I have owned several Lavatanks and at one point was the only thing I used. Never had a leak with one of them no matter what position in was in.

The juice you are getting thru the tip is caused by over-wicking most usually caused by either the holes being a tad too big or puncturing the center tube while punching the carto. Puncturing the tube will also cause a leak thru the carto end.