Okay - Tell Me About Carto-Tanks

[Fizzpop]

Hi all, my wife and I have been vaping for about 6 months now. Currently, my favorite vape is my Zen-Atty-Pro plugged into my Provari, wife tends to an eGo with a clearomizer (currently the Davide mini, which she loves). I use the same setup when out and about, and have the big Davide 3ml which I will occasionally stick on the Provari.

We have tried a variety of clearomizers and have gravitated toward the Kanger-style bottom coils for several reasons: Vapor production is good, the coils can be rebuilt, and a rinse/dry-burn can keep a coil in rotation for a long time. (Obviously the Genesis style tank is also rebuildable.) We also both have rebuildable drippers we use when either sampling juices or when we just want that great vape a dripper can give. Which leads me to my question:

I've read a lot about carto-tanks and the great vape they are supposed to provide. Tell me about them!

The reasons we haven't tried a carto-tank yet:

• I like rebuilding things to not only save money, but to keep things reasonably "green" - The Kanger T3s coils are easy to rebuild and wick and wire are cheap. Rinsing/dry burning really extends the life of a coil between rebuilds. I hate just tossing obviously usable metal bits away.
• The Genesis tank gives me a great vape at home. I'm only interested in a carto-tank for when I am out and about.
• I'm hesitant to rely on needing to buy the cartomizers. I like knowing that with wicking material for my Genny, and a good amount of silica wick and Kanthal, I am good to go.

All that said, I realize that the cartomizers only run about a buck a pop, which is pretty reasonable.

My questions are as follows:

• How long does a cartomizer last? The wicks on the clearomizers need fairly regular maintenance. If I am needing to replace a cart every couple of days, I'm not interested. If, on the other hand, they last for a month, we're talking! My wife and I vape about 40ml/week each.
• How are these regarding leakage? I know a lot of folks complain about the clearomizers, but honestly, this hasn't been a problem for us.
• Quality of the vape. The vape I get out of my Genny is obviously superior, but honestly, the bottom coils (to me) seem to come very close to that experience. Tell me about the cartos.

I am asking this question because from the posts I have read, it seems the carto-tank crowd is consistently pleased and happy and they have few problems. Enlighten me!

Many thanks!

 

[r77r7r]

Mine I change out about every 2-3 wks. @$1 a carto. I fill for 5sec. every morning and I'm done. Better hits than cartos alone. No gurgling or dry hits. Same good vape all day, every day.

 

[SissySpike]

you get 4 days to a couple of weeks from a cart tank set up this depends on your juice Voltage desired resistance of cart ect....... They are more consistent ,and less fiddle, and more relabel than clearos.

If green is priority for you you might give something like a Kayfun or a Ithaka a look pretty much no waste involved in those a little wick and wire every few weeks.

 

[wv2win]

I get 7 - 14 days on a carto. Mine cost $2 each, less if I buy in bulk. Prime it with 20 - 30 drops when new, put it in my 5ml glass tank and then top off the tank at night and that's it. Easy as can be and I have never had a leak in a year. And the vape quality is definitely more consistent than any clearo I have used and just as good in quality if not a little better. Not as good in the quality area as dripping on a fresh atty, but then, what is.

Bottom line, a good carto-tank is 10 time more consistent and 10 times less hassle than a clero.

 

[sawlight]

Baditude has a nice blog write up about them, I'm not sure how to look it up so I'm not much help there!
I love my carto tanks! It's my daily vape without a doubt! I use Ikenvape carto's, around $2 each and can be hard to get ahold of! But they last 3-5 weeks for most users. There is little to no maintenance required for them, prime them at first, fill the tank and keep it filled up, that's it!
I've never had one leak on me, unless I did something stupid! Slide the tank up too high or flooded the carto when refilling.
I've yet to get the gennies to work properly for me, and I get a bit of a metallic taste from mine sometimes, so I'm not a good judge there. Caro's will be a tighter draw, Ikenvape sets his up to mimic a cigarette as close as he could, so it's not airy at all!

Now, as you said you are heavy into rebuildables for your reasons, might I suggest you look into the Killer 705, Killer 705 | Thirsty Vapors it's an RBA built into a cartomizer that you can put into a tank, many here like it, many here don't!
Madvapes sells a clone, The 5mL Terminator RDA Tank, Chrome, this might be a decent way to see if the Killer is for you?

 

[Fizzpop]

Madvapes sells a clone, The 5mL Terminator RDA Tank, Chrome, this might be a decent way to see if the Killer is for you?

For $11.99 the clone looks worth a go. I'll find Bad's post, thank you!

 

[Scoper50]

I almost exclusively use carto tanks. Your carto tank experience will all depend on the cartomizer you use inside of it. You have three major brands to choose from. Boges, Smoktech, and Ikenvape. I have used all three, with mixed results. I have had cartomizers from all three brands that worked beautifully, but I found the boges and smoktech to be very inconsistent. One carto would work nice, and the next one would taste burn't after half an hour of use. I also had serious problems with flooding of these cartos. But keep in mind, this is just my experience. Other people have no complaints with these cartos.

I almost gave up on carto tanks until I discovered ikenvape cartos. They are amazingly consistent. I can punch, prime, and install one in a tank, and I have confidence that it will work for 5-7 days without issues. I actually have around 100 of them in my stockpile. If you are the type that likes to change tanks and flavors throughout the day, it will last longer. But my vaping style is to use one flavor all the time, so I might wear out cartomizers faster than somebody that is only using one particular cartomizer for part of the day. I hope that makes sense.

As far as leakage goes, that will all depend on the o-rings in your tank. Some of the most popular tanks come from IBtanked or Phiniac. They are glass tanks, and are built with quality materials. I have never had one leak, but if it does, they come with an extra set of orings. If you decide to punch your own cartos, it is possible that you can deform the carto in the punching process which can cause a leak also. But I use a very sharp punching tool, so I haven't had issues with crushing them during the punching process.

The quality of vape is outstanding and consistent. You don't have to worry about keeping any wicks wet. So there is no tipping of fiddling around. I can lay my provari down on it's side for hours, and I've never had a problem with dry hits.

Once you get the hang of carto tanks, you'll most likely find that it'll become your preferred delivery device. There is a little bit of a learning curve, and it's not as simple as a "fill and go" clearomizer, but the quality and consistency of the vape is well worth the extra effort. And after you get the hang of it, it's really not much effort at all. I can have a new carto punched, primed and in a tank ready to go in about 7 minutes. I've built coils in a genny that took 10 times that to get working correctly.

So anyway, I feel like I'm rambling. So I'll shut up now. I hope this info helps.