Juice (High Caliber 50/50) + Carto-Tank

[afuhnk]

Hello good people of ecf.

My question may fall into a few categories but I'm posting it in what seems to be most appropriate one...

My mods:
Smok VMax (around 3.9v) + Vivi Nova v2.5 (4 Ohm)
Ego-C passthrough (3.7V I believe) + Vision Clearomizer (1.8 Ohm-2.4 Ohm)

My juices:
High Caliber 50/50 (loving the Hickory Tobacco)
Crystal 50/50

A few months back (before I found the Vivi Nova tank) I tried a Carto-Tank.
I bought a few pre-punched cartos and quickly realized that I had to make the holes bigger.
Even then, the carto was not 'drinking' the juice...
I was told that my 50/50 juices were probably too 'thick'.

The experience was a pain. Punching cartos, getting juice all over my hands, not being able to disassemble the tank (too sticky or too tight)... I felt that this was too big a chore.
Then I found the vivi nova... I'm happy.

BUT...
I'm looking at a few other mods (Bullet Box and Jazz CartoPipe), both using a carto-tank.

What did I miss the first time? Are my juices too thick? Can I 'thin' them?
I DON'T want to have to punch cartos, not even to make them bigger.
Are there different types of carto's that work well with 50/50 juices?
Has anyone experienced with High Caliber 50/50 juices with a carto-tank?

Thank you.

 

[Baditude]

Did you properly prime (pre-fill) your pre-punched carto's? A 50/50 pg/vg mix should not have been a problem of wicking the juice adequately if the carto was properly filled before being put into the tank. Juice can be thinned out with small amounts of water, but I've only found that necessary with one particularly thick 100% vg flavor, Boba's Blend.


Success with a cartotank requires some methodology. Key points being properly pre-filling the carto before installing it into an empty tank, and then properly filling an already assembled tank. I'll include a demo video that goes over all the proper steps below.

I prefer using laser-drilled cartos for my tanks. I used to try to punch my own holes, but doing this runs a risk of deforming the carto shape making it difficult to insert or remove from the tank. Laser drilled cartos have no such deformity, so are easy to insert/remove. In addition, they provide consistancy, carto to carto, without the human error of self-punched carto's.

In my experience, one laser-drilled hole is adequate for a 50/50 pg/vg ratio juice.

Purchasing a tank accessory tool such as the Slap-Yo-Momma tool from Big Daddy Vapor really aids in adding the carto to the tank, makes adding juice easier, and also protects your tank's o-rings. Observe the following PBusardo review of this tool to see its effectiveness: pbusardo slap yo moma - YouTube

You didn't say what type of cartotank or cartomizer that you used. Tanks require one of two different carto lengths, 35mm and 45mm.

For a 45mm laser-drilled carto I recommend the Smoktek single coil, ohm resistance of your choice: Single Coil XL Tank Cartomizer for the SmokTank XL

For a 35mm laser-drilled carto I recommend these Boges: ElectronicStix.Com · Single Boge 510 Blank Laser Punched Cartomizer For Tank Systems
______________________




Inserting a wooden tooth pick into the air hole of the carto before dripping in juice blocks any juice from getting into the hole, which could cause flooding of the carto. The tank accessory tool (see the first video link) will perform the same function if it is on the carto when you are filling the tank with juice.

 

[afuhnk]

Thank you for your reply.
Again, this was months ago.
The tank I bought is a 'vanilla' one (as in.. noname) from, I believe, altsmoke, with 2.4 single hole carto.
I dug up the tank and one new laser-punched carto and filled it as instructed in the video.
I didn't know how removing the top 'ring' would mess with the setup, that may have been one of the mistakes I made back then.
I've filled the tank, filled the carto (until it was super moist) and the first couple 'puffs/toots' were coming up as liquid, not vapor, but now it's vaping good. BUT, after only 10 puffs, the carto (the top I can see) seems all dried up.

Should it remain wet/moist all the time? Maybe I'm puffing too much and not giving it enough time to re-moist? Have I not filled the carto enough? Again, the first few puffs we're spitting liquid down my throat, not vapor. Because of that I assumed it had enough juice...

I'll add more juice in the carto and wait longer between each drops..

 

[afuhnk]

Yeah ok this doesn't work at all.
Carto remains dry.
It's a single hole pre-punched. Single hole. That may be the issue, although I doubt it.

 

[Baditude]

Even after properly pre-filling the carto and putting it into a tank with good juice flow to the wicking material, the wicking material on top will appear dry after vaping on it awhile. This is normal. When you pull air from the carto, it pulls juice from both the top and bottom of the carto to the heating coil located more in the center of the cartomizer. I have known of people who put a hole both in the bottom and also near the top of the carto to keep the top moistened, but I've never had to resort to that myself.

How hard are you "pulling" when you vape? With cartomizers, what generally works best is a slower, steady, longer pull of vapor. Some people also like to do "primer puffs" - pulling or puffing on the drip tip without the battery power on to encourage slower wicking carto's.


When I need to refill the tank, I sometimes will "top off" the top of the carto to make it moist again, although this isn't always necessary.

 

[afuhnk]

I'm going slowly.
The 'experience' is quite different from using a Vivi Nova tank. It's 'lighter', 'dryer' and not that warm with this carto-tank then it is with the VN.

Another issue I have.. It takes about 3 seconds for the device to produce any vapor. The first 2-3 seconds I can hear a 'weird' noise, like a buzz humm (does that makes sense?!?).

 

[afuhnk]

I was visiting family and it just so happens that a vape store opened up yesterday in that city. I went by and the owner explained a few basics.
Turns out it's a DCT v2 tank I have, dual coil. It vapes very well at 5.5V on the VMax.
They had a bunch of awesome mods there and I tried the Transformer. I left the shop thinking I may exchange my Vmax for a Transformer from where I bought it from but.. I think I'm just gonna order a Transformer anyway. Really enjoyed the airflow controller and the clicky button is 10x better tehn smok's buttons..