Official Squape R[eloaded] thread!

[fogmust]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! I think I need a little help today, hopefully somebody has an answer for me. I own 3 Squapes - two Reloaded and one R(s).
The two Reloaded ones are my daily, go-to devices and I have them with me all the time. They've been flawless since day one.
The R(s), however, leaks. I keep it at home, mostly for tasting new juices, and it's been leaking more and more lately. Knowing that it does this, last time I left it upside down... Guess what? It leaked A LOT right from the drip tip. That shouldn't happen, no matter what, right?
Anybody having the same issue? Any ideas how to fix?
All 3 are authentic, BTW.
Thanks!

 

[Freedom2Vape]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! I think I need a little help today, hopefully somebody has an answer for me. I own 3 Squapes - two Reloaded and one R(s).
The two Reloaded ones are my daily, go-to devices and I have them with me all the time. They've been flawless since day one.
The R(s), however, leaks. I keep it at home, mostly for tasting new juices, and it's been leaking more and more lately. Knowing that it does this, last time I left it upside down... Guess what? It leaked A LOT right from the drip tip. That shouldn't happen, no matter what, right?
Anybody having the same issue? Any ideas how to fix?
All 3 are authentic, BTW.
Thanks!

I haven't had any issues with the Squape Rs leaking so I'm not sure exactly why you are having this issue. Maybe an o-ring issue?

 

[fogmust]

I haven't had any issues with the Squape Rs leaking so I'm not sure exactly why you are having this issue. Maybe an o-ring issue?

Great, good for you. Mine is about to flood my house.
Which O-ring? How many are in the Rs in total, anyway?

 

[Bhoot]

Leaking. If it's happening from the bottom then check ur wick and also the bottom O-ring. There's not a lot to the squape in terms of parts so there's only so much that can go wrong. Take a pic and post it up. Had the reloaded and recently added 2x extensions to it


Bhoot

 

[Freedom2Vape]

I only mentioned it because I haven't heard of this issue, sorry. As far as I know, there is only the one o-ring around the base - where you unscrew the tank. For the drip tip leak - is the chamber screwed in tightly to the top of the tank? Oh, there is an o-ring around the 510 pin, also.

 

[nj1001]

Only things I can think of, with it leaking when upside down would be:
-make sure the chimney is secure to the top of the tank
-check your wick. Maybe its seated too low into the channels?
-check o-rings

When I first got mine I had leaking issues and I found that if it was flooded to start with, it would leak the whole tank. If it wasn't flooded, it wouldn't leak. I think if its flooded, the excess juice around the deck & channels acts like a juice ladder which disrupts the suction balance which separates the juice in the tank with the more dry deck. The squape works by only introducing juice to the deck from the tank via suction while drawing on it. If this area between the tank and the deck is saturated, juice climbs out the deck and won't stop until the tank is dry.
The easiest way I've found to tend to a flooded deck is to open up the air channel to the widest hole and draw very lightly for awhile to vape off the excess juice. Drawing lightly is key because suction is what feeds juice to the deck. So by drawing lightly, you're not feeding the deck with fresh juice from the tank and are instead vaping off the excess juice around the deck.
Hope any of this helps a smidge.

 

[fogmust]

Thanks for the help, @nj1001 , @Bhoot and @Freedom2Vape . I will most likely replace the o-rings and mess with my setup.
What pisses me off is that I've never had the same issue with either one of my full-size ones, only with the Rs.

 

[Bhoot]

Fog. I have had leaks when the coil was too wide and long and/or poor wicking. Some very very small leaking will always happen but it will on be visible under the base when u take it off. I usually wrap some tissue paper and put it in the air flow hole. If it comes back with juice I simply take the 510 pin out, clean it and use some tissue to take of the rest through the 510 pin hole. Tell tale sign is your ohms reading creeping up. My current coil is 0.4ohms on the dot. Before I cleaned it the reading was 0.57.


Bhoot

 

[fogmust]

Thank you, Bhoot. I am not concerned about the little condensation that you describe, that doesn't cause any trouble and my two full-size R's do it too.
The R(s) is like a sieve when it leaks. Filled up the recessed screen of my Flask once... that's how bad it can be.

 

[drippaboi]

it drains when upside down? Does it do this with the base off too? The only places on the tank that can leak are: the o-rings around the glass, two total (replacing them can be tricky - there are a few youtube videos of people doing it) and where the chimney thread into the tank.

I have ended up with larger than expected puddle when I've left a SQR upside down when using the B deck, but I just assumed it was from all the liquid in the cup draining.

 

[fogmust]

it drains when upside down? Does it do this with the base off too? The only places on the tank that can leak are: the o-rings around the glass, two total (replacing them can be tricky - there are a few youtube videos of people doing it) and where the chimney thread into the tank.

I have ended up with larger than expected puddle when I've left a SQR upside down when using the B deck, but I just assumed it was from all the liquid in the cup draining.

It does drain upside down, but never tried it without the base on. If it's the O-rings around the glass, to me this tank is gone... I'm not replacing it.
It's a beautifully engineered piece, with the exception of this component and how it installs.

 

[chrisz]

If its leaking upside down, the problem has to be where the chimney screws into the tank. Oddly enough, there is no oring there. I wonder if placing one there would fix your problem? Assuming its assembled properly, this shouldn't happen, and if its new I wouldn't add an oring where chimney meets tank. I'd contact the vendor, see what they say.

 

[fogmust]

If its leaking upside down, the problem has to be where the chimney screws into the tank. Oddly enough, there is no oring there. I wonder if placing one there would fix your problem? Assuming its assembled properly, this shouldn't happen, and if its new I wouldn't add an oring where chimney meets tank. I'd contact the vendor, see what they say.

Thanks, man. I know the problem with leaking upside down must be because of that, I agree with you. But my R(s) also leaks through the air hole when it's in its normal position and it constantly floods. I think I got a damn lemon. And before anybody jumps in, I know how to wick it. My two Reloaded ones never leak.

 

[drippaboi]

If it drains upside down its definitely going to leak right side up.

Leaking upside down means there is a vacuum break in the tank. Without that vacuum pressure, having the tank right-side-up allows the juice to flow freely into the deck and out the air hole. But no matter where it's leaking once juice starts to flow there's pretty much no stopping it until everything gets cleaned out.

Since it sounds like you're still able to vape it, the leak is probably small - you're right you might have got a lemon (it happens, even to the Swiss). I agree with @chrisz, contact your vendor and see what they say. Another member here (@Junny89) found contacting StattQualm directly helped when all else failed.

ETA: If it is the o-rings around the glass and you really dont want to replace it you could always get one of those bell caps @nj1001 posted a few pages back. You've already got the chimney - so for a few bucks at least the Rs will be up and running

 

[nj1001]

So the deck is definitely flooding which causes leaking either out the air intake or the drip tip depending on whether its right-side up or down. It must feel flooded when vaping (bubbly gurgling when vaping, juice out the air intake, etc). Once the deck's flooded, it'll drain the entire tank of juice unless you fix it right away.

The squape feeds the wick through the suction which occurs when drawing on it with each puff. When not drawing on it, the internal suction ceases to exist and the system is at rest. While at rest, under normal circumstances, there's a slight gap between the juice in the tank and the wick channels. When vaping/drawing on it, the internal suction raises the level of juice in the tank up the wick channel and feeds the wick. When its flooded however, the gap which normally exists is instead filled with liquid. This liquid connects the wick channel with the tank, thereby creating the juice ladder. Since the tank is essentially sealed and the deck section is open to air (via drip tip & air intake), juice (or any liquid for that matter) flows from areas of higher pressure (tank) to areas of lower pressure (deck). Once flooded and collecting on the deck, excess juice will escape through one of its two exits, the air intake or drip tip, depending on its position/gravity.

Which air intake hole do you usually vape at? The smaller the intake hole the greater chance of flooding the deck if you draw too hard on it.

Remember, once the deck's flooded it creates that juice bridge I was talking about between the tank and deck & the entire tank will leak through the deck & out.

Dry the flooded deck by either:
1) holding it up-side down with paper towel over the drip tip and blow through the air intake to drain off excess juice from the deck (this can be messy & takes a bit so I usually only do this if its exceptionally flooded);
2) remove the tank and dry out the deck, deck/tank threads & chimney with paper towel; or
3) vape lightly using the biggest intake setting until you vape off excess juice & you hear it stop gurgling/bubbling.

Then the question is, once the deck's not flooded anymore, how quickly before it re-floods if at all? If it does re-flood, it likely attributed to excessive draw.

There's really no difference between the RS & R other than the size of the tank & maybe a slightly reduced chamber/chimney. The bases are the same. Have you tried swapping the RS tank and base with one of your R's? This would show you whether the issue is with the RS' tank or base since your two R's work fine. i.e. RS base on R tank and R base on RS tank.

 

[drippaboi]

I totally get the juice ladder draining a tank right side up ... But (unless I'm missing something here) when upside down the couldn't the tank only drain into the deck until the juice seal to the wicking channels breaks? I have a hard time imagining the Rs tank draining completely before this happens - though I've never had any tank empty on me while it was upside down (while I was upside down maybe) so I speak only in theory.

In any case, this is why I wondered if the tank empties while the base is off. It would determine if the tank is having an issue or if it's in the build or the base. +1 for swapping the bases to see if the problem continues in the Rs and/or if it migrates to the other tank along with the base.

 

[nj1001]

Yeah, maybe in zero gravity, haha. Up-side down it would only leak excess juice off the deck unless there's an issue with the chimney to tank threaded connection by the drip tip. When I first got mine, I was used to plugging the air intake to draw juice to the deck which I did from time to time on my kayfun when it was tasting dry. I learned the hard way not to do that with the squape. I fell asleep in bed with it laying next to me and woke up to the entire tank drained out. Another night, after I learned not to fall asleep with it on its side, I sat it upright on my bedside table and it happened again- entire 5ml tank drained out. Then I figured out the physics of how it works and haven't had any more issues whether laying on its side in bed, upright, whatever, no more leaks.

 

[fogmust]

So the deck is definitely flooding which causes leaking either out the air intake or the drip tip depending on whether its right-side up or down. It must feel flooded when vaping (bubbly gurgling when vaping, juice out the air intake, etc). Once the deck's flooded, it'll drain the entire tank of juice unless you fix it right away.

The squape feeds the wick through the suction which occurs when drawing on it with each puff. When not drawing on it, the internal suction ceases to exist and the system is at rest. While at rest, under normal circumstances, there's a slight gap between the juice in the tank and the wick channels. When vaping/drawing on it, the internal suction raises the level of juice in the tank up the wick channel and feeds the wick. When its flooded however, the gap which normally exists is instead filled with liquid. This liquid connects the wick channel with the tank, thereby creating the juice ladder. Since the tank is essentially sealed and the deck section is open to air (via drip tip & air intake), juice (or any liquid for that matter) flows from areas of higher pressure (tank) to areas of lower pressure (deck). Once flooded and collecting on the deck, excess juice will escape through one of its two exits, the air intake or drip tip, depending on its position/gravity.

Which air intake hole do you usually vape at? The smaller the intake hole the greater chance of flooding the deck if you draw too hard on it.

Remember, once the deck's flooded it creates that juice bridge I was talking about between the tank and deck & the entire tank will leak through the deck & out.

Dry the flooded deck by either:
1) holding it up-side down with paper towel over the drip tip and blow through the air intake to drain off excess juice from the deck (this can be messy & takes a bit so I usually only do this if its exceptionally flooded);
2) remove the tank and dry out the deck, deck/tank threads & chimney with paper towel; or
3) vape lightly using the biggest intake setting until you vape off excess juice & you hear it stop gurgling/bubbling.

Then the question is, once the deck's not flooded anymore, how quickly before it re-floods if at all? If it does re-flood, it likely attributed to excessive draw.

There's really no difference between the RS & R other than the size of the tank & maybe a slightly reduced chamber/chimney. The bases are the same. Have you tried swapping the RS tank and base with one of your R's? This would show you whether the issue is with the RS' tank or base since your two R's work fine. i.e. RS base on R tank and R base on RS tank.

I hear you and I agree with everything you say. I usually vape from the second biggest hole. Not usually, always. You are also right, it does feel flooded when I leave it without vaping on it for a few hours.
I haven't tried swapping bases and tanks, because my R's are so perfect, that I don't want to futz with them... The most I am willing to do is change o-rings and try the R(s) again. If it doesn't work, it will be treated like a dripper and will make me just a tad disappointed with SQ. It's a shame, because I actually set my alarm to 2:00 AM EST and bought the thing when it debuted on Intaste... I was afraid it would sell out like the big guy.

 

[fogmust]

Yeah, maybe in zero gravity, haha. Up-side down it would only leak excess juice off the deck unless there's an issue with the chimney to tank threaded connection by the drip tip. When I first got mine, I was used to plugging the air intake to draw juice to the deck which I did from time to time on my kayfun when it was tasting dry. I learned the hard way not to do that with the squape. I fell asleep in bed with it laying next to me and woke up to the entire tank drained out. Another night, after I learned not to fall asleep with it on its side, I sat it upright on my bedside table and it happened again- entire 5ml tank drained out. Then I figured out the physics of how it works and haven't had any more issues whether laying on its side in bed, upright, whatever, no more leaks.

The thing is though, I carry my 2 Rs in my pants' pockets all the time. Left, right, upside, downside, you name it. I know how to wick them and they never, ever leak. This guy, OTOH, is a primadonna. Even right side up, it chokes and leaks.

 

[nj1001]

Yeah, sounds like a bunk one. If it starts out fine (not flooded) then floods when left alone for a bit with juice leaking up onto the deck, definitely re-check the o-ring at the base to make sure its on point.

Swapping the base from one to the tank off another is fine and won't harm anything- they're 100% compatible.
Doing so will show you whether the problem is with the RS's base or tank/chimney. If the RS is bunk, trying it on a working R won't mess the R up. The R is your control and the RS is the variable. Once you figure out which part is messed up its easier and cheaper to replace the bunk component rather than the entire thing.
Good luck! I hope you can fix it Foggy!