My first IBT

[Rossum]

Some people like big silver shiny things. I like smaller stuff in basic black. Here's my first IBT (19mm standard tank) mounted on a Vaporshark dna. Next to it (for scale) is a standard-sized Victorinox Swiss Army knife:

So what about the IBT? Well I've only had it for a half a day, but so far, it definitely gets a thumbs up. It's the perfect size and "match" for the Vaporshark it's mounted to. It's easy enough to fill. But the real question is, how does it vape? I've never vaped cartos before, so I didn't really know what to expect. The one I'm using today came with my tank. It's a standard Smok 2.0 pre-punched on 2 sides. It's actually 1.8 ohms, and I'm running it at Vaporshark's minimum setting of 7 watts. I've tried 7.5 and 8.0 as well, and I don't feel they make it perform any better. Obviously much depends on the carto itself. Anyway, the vapor isn't quite as thick and luxurious as the best of my clearos (an iClear 30S) but interestingly enough, I don't tire of the flavor like I do with the clearos. The carto also seems to be more consistent regardless of how I draw from it. So overall, it's very good. However, there is one thing I really don't like, and that's how noisy it is! I've tried it on several devices and it's the same on all of them, so this isn't an artifact of the device it's mounted on. The noise is hard to describe; it's not a 'whistle' like some clearos are prone to, instead it's more like an aerosol spray can. I hate to say it, but I find it annoying. Are all cartos this noisy?

The bottom line is, this tank is staying on there for a while, and will me my main vape despite the racket it makes. Now I just have to find more cartos. I'm also rather tempted to order up and try a Sophia RBA in it...

 

[OCD]

Hey Rossum, looks good there.

I have seen some folks post that the Smok cartos seemed noisy to them. Some more so than others. For me thats a happy sound if it is the sizzle and crackle because they are really vaping good when they are like that. One thing I notice is that the noise level will change a lot based on how hard the draw is. I also believe that cartomizers require a tighter draw than some other delivery devices since the vacuum put on the tank with each draw is the mechanism that keep the cartomizer wet. Other devices can run more airy if they dont use that vacuum to transport the eLiquid.

 

[Rossum]

OCD, thanks for the response!

The noise definitely has two components, one is the sizzle produced by firing it, but the primary and most objectionable component is due to the airflow; I can produce that noise just by drawing on it, without even firing it. In any case, it isn't the tank's fault, I'm certain it's the carto itself, and I'll surely be trying some different ones.

 

[OCD]

Yes, the sizzle is good. The other noise... well, hehe... had to retype that *blush* might try a softer draw

I know everyone is different. I just know for certain what works for me and that is a nice long soft draw. Then I was a deep lung smoker for many decades, from fire to .... I could kill a Marlboro in about half the time of most. Long slow deep draws is how I smoked because of you took deep hard draws you would have an inch of cherry threatening to light up your shirt pocket when it fell off.

I think if you like the vape which it sounds like you do you will find a carto and vape style that works. Heh, its so easy a cav... wait that will probably get me in trouble.

 

[Rossum]

I was always a mouth-to-lung smoker. There have obviously been some adjustments with vaping. Protank 2 was the back-up topper yesterday; I liked the IBT better (despite the racket). iC30S will be the backup topper today; we'll see how it goes.

 

[Rossum]

So I went back and forth between my previous favorite topper (the iC30S) and my IBT today. I had the same juice in both of them and used both on the same device (the DNA-20 based Vaporshark). They are very different, but there's no clear winner. In fact, they're so different that it's almost like having two different juices. The vapor produced by the iC30S is much thicker and denser; I tend not to inhale it as deeply. The vapor produced by the standard Smok carto in the IBT has a lighter, airier quality to it, which I tend to pull in more deeply; more like I used to smoke a cigarette. What puzzles me is that I can't express a strong preference for one over the other.

I obviously have to try some other cartos -- on day 2 of using this tank, I'm still on my first carto.

This brings me to an actual tank-related question. Since the ends of the tanks are the same (there's no top and no bottom per se, right?) it seems it should be possible to push out a flanged carto with another flanged carto from the other direction, no matter how full the tank is. However, I fear flooding the cartos while doing this. Is there a tool to temporarily join them while they're being pushed through? Or is there some other way of swapping flanged cartos in a semi-full tank that I'm not aware of?

 

[OCD]

Thats the way to do it Rossum, I havent had any issue of flooding the new carto. As long as you have them somewhat lined up and make a clean motion along with a flip so the new top is up you should never have any problem.

 

[Rossum]

After 3 days of pretty heavy use, my first carto seemed like it was tasting a bit burnt. The juice I use the most of seems to do that to coils; I suspect it has a fair amount of sweetener in it. So last night, I decided to swap it out. I had gotten 10 Boge 510 Laser Punched cartos from another vendor and figured I'd try one of those. First problem: I didn't realize when I ordered them that they didn't have flanges. OK, flanges aren't really necessary (but I found that they sure do make life easier). So I tried drip-priming that carto. It basically refused to soak up any juice at all that way. OK.. I put it in the Thingie and fiddled with it. Maybe I don't have the right touch, but the unflanged carto pushed up into the tank to the point where a bit of juice was leaking past the bottom o-ring. So I fixed that, and I started to get bubbles from the hole in the carto as I was fiddling. That's good, right? Eventually, I got to the point where it seemed like there were no more bubbles to be had, so I took it out of the Thingie and put it on my Vaporshark. Did some unfired test draws which seemed OK, and then fired it. Well, it didn't produce vapor, it produced something more like carto-filler smoke; it tasted like a burning cigarette filter -- YUK! Needless to say, I pulled that carto out and threw it in the trash. Since I wasn't in the mood to fart around anymore, I popped a new coil in an iC30S and called it a night.

Today, I really wasn't enjoying the iC30S much, as evidenced by my constant reaching for other devices with other juices in them. So this afternoon I opened another of the Smok cartos that I got with with my first order from IBT. I went for a 3.2 ohm one instead of the 2.0 I started with. What a difference! Unlike the Boge, it readily soaked up a substantial amount of juice by drip-priming. In fact, after priming this one, I think my priming of the first one might have been less than perfect. Anyway, I put it in the tank did a couple of unfired pulls, noticed it seemed a bit gurgly, but figured that would probably clear up. It did just that in short order, and this one has been working great! I haven't had the slightest temptation to put the iC30S back on there since and I've reached for my other devices with other juices in them a whole lot less. Is it perfect? No. I do still hit my other setups for a change of pace and flavor on occasion. But if I had to go somewhere and could only take one, right now, it would be my IBT.

So I ordered a couple of 22mm tanks and spare parts. I'll be using them on the Protovapor that I have coming next week. One is a standard size and the other is an XL, along with more 3.2 ohm cartos in both sizes. Did I mention that I like basic black?

 

[OCD]

Rossum, this is one of the things I was talking with my SmokTech rep at CES, he and you both say it quite well in that no one thing is now or really ever going to be perfect across the board for everyone all the time. There are just so many factors involved from possible setups to personal tastes. I think we all can agree that a happy medium is what the majority of folks look for and that is what we believe we found with the combination we use.

Thanks for taking the time to detail this out, it is nice to read that confirmation from folks who are paying attention.

 

[Rossum]

Well, there's still lots of other stuff I wanna try. I'm not yet convinced that cartos are necessarily the perfect solution for me. So far, they seem to be the best solution for that particular juice (which is my "primary" and I go through a fair amount of it). I have some other juices in a couple of Mini Protank IIs and an iClear 16, and I'm OK with those toppers for those juices, at least for now, but I don't go through nearly as much of those juices.

I stopped at my local B&M yesterday and they had some flanged, dual-coil, slotted cartos. I'm not sure who makes 'em, but I bought 5 to try in the 22mm XL tank I have coming.

I'm also seriously tempted to try the Sophia carto form-factor RBA.

And when I get some PG and VG, I'll try priming another of those Boges that I got -- after all, I have 9 more of them "in stock" -- but I refuse to waste any more real juice on 'em.

In the meanwhile with the standard 19mm tank, the 3.2 ohm Smok carto, and a somewhat sweet 35/65 (PG/VG) juice, I find the following gives me the best vape: 1) Keep the tank more than half full. 2) When vaping it heavily, give it some percentage of good strong unfired pulls; this helps keep the carto saturated.

I don't mind the latter at all, but the former means having to fill the tank pretty dang often. Thankfully, it's trivially easy to fill the tank using a needle bottle. I don't don't se any tools at all; I actually find it easier without the special filler tool. Just pull the drip-tip off and pull the tank up enough to get the needle in there. I'm sure some people will protest that this is hard on the top o-ring. OK, it might be, but I haven't killed one yet, I've got plenty of 'em, they're cheap, and I know where to get more.

 

[OCD]

We are all about what works best for each person and have no qualms if that happens to be something other than what we do.

On the filling without the the refilling tool, I do this myself using a regular dropper tip bottle, its a little trickier since you can vapor lock the small gap without good technique. Pushing the cartomizer back up it is just important to make sure it is lined up/centered and I will usually give it a little twist as it is going through. I dont have problems with cutting orings.