Oops. I did it again

[hrtim]

It was a dark and stormy morn (still is) here in the A town. I truly feel sorry for the thousands of SXSWers here for theirannual gathering of tribes.
I've been deep in my laboratory conducting experiments into the unknown.
I started using the Smok Tech 510 Dual Coil tank a couple of weeks ago. At least I think that's about right. Time is somewhat distorted here in neverevrsometimesman'ana land.
I really dug it for the taste and infrequent stops for fill ups. Sadly it became harder and harder to draw. Aha methinks,
time for a cleaning.
Whilst in the hyper sonic flux cleaner, I decided to punch another carto and try that as an interim vaping device. This, my friends, failed miserably for me.
Now for the steps taken in this little experiment. I drilled a very small hole the same distance from the bottom of the carto albeit a smidgen larger. Since it was an already used carto I only added a few drops to the poly fill and slid it into place. With a syringe I filled the tank 1/4 full and inserted tip. Waiting patiently for a few minutes, I noticed it is leaking around the bottom. I re-positioned it slightly and gave it a try. Not much of anything happens. It draws easily enough, gurgles a little but produces very little vapor. I added more juice to the carto thinking it was still a bit dry. Same result. Then I noticed that it is still leaking. I sucked the juice out of the tank, swithed back to an atty and sat my self down to ask of you kind folks WTH happened.
The carto that came with the tank is flanged on the batt end I know, but is it a slightly larger diameter? Must I use only Smok Tech cartos? I admit to not visiting every vape shop on the internets but does any one sell them? I haven't seen them.
I know, I know I could just purchase more tank systems. At 10 bucks apiece, they are certainly a bargain. But, that hurts deeply the part of my soul that murmurs " I kin fix this damn thing, jest hold my beer and watch" redneck, culturally deprived upraisin.
So, those brave few that have been homesteading the tanking frontiers, please advise.
Thanks mucho in advance.
Humbly,
The Timster

 

[Killjoy1]

No, you don't need to use flanged cartos for those tanks. The diameter of the carto is the same, so you can buy regular cartos of the right length and punch them yourself and they'll work fine. I've actually been using XL Boges in my Smoktech tanks, lately ;-)
If you do want flanged replacement cartos, there are a few vendors that are selling them, now. Madvapes is the one that comes to mind first, but there are others, as well

Chances are, your attempt to drill a hole may have disturbed the carto filler too much. All I can really tell you is to try, try again How to punch/slot/drill your cartos is a very varied topic and everybody has their own methods that work best for them. I'd been doing the simple way with a hammer and nail for quite a while, then recently bought a ready-made carto punch. Easier and more consistent than my previous barbaric method, but still pretty much the same good results

 

[donnah]

If it's leaking juice out the bottom and your carto is flooded it's possible it's got an air leak somewhere. stand in front of a mirror and vape and see if there are any air bubbles coming from anywhere other than the hole in the carto. If not then something could be wrong with your carto. I never clean my cartos anymore. I use the dual coil carto tanks but I add a fill hole and screw to mine, filling is easy and there isn't any excess air inside the tank to cause too much pressure and flood the carto. Whenever I experience the carto flooding and juice leaking out the bottom, there is always an air leak in the tank.

 

[hrtim]

Thanks folks.
I pulled the carto out of the trash and am giving it another shot.
My profession demands some precision work so I'm pretty sure that over drilling or deformation of the cylinder can be counted out.
The trapped air could have been the culprit here. I've re-loaded and am monitoring the results now. So far, so good. It appears that if the bottom of the tank stays above the bottom of the carto that there is no leakage. I think that is the advantage of the flange. Also, the flange gives you a a way to tighten or re-tighten the whole shebang to the battery. I did find a source for them and at 10 bucks for 5 of them, they are cheap enough to have around.
I never learned to type so this is taking me a few minutes to write and the tank/drilled carto combo are still working and I'm happily back to vaping away.
So, thank you very much for the guidance.
I really like the idea of a fill port. If I make this thing work, I'm going to drill and tap the top of the tank and use a machine screw. That's so I can lose the Allen wrench and have something else to b#tch about.
What size hole do you folks normally punch?
I vape mostly Desert Ship and it's relatively thin. With the Smok Tech, I felt like the hole could be a little larger. Not much, but a little. I sometimes had to puff for a bit to get the wick/coils producing enough vapor.
Maybe when the flanged carts come in I'll open one of the holes up a couple of thousandths.

I've been doing some other things while pecking my way through this and I'm noticing some seepage around the bottom of my tank. Not much, but any is too much for me. I think my problem is that the hole is too low. The tiny bit of deformation from the marking punch may be going into the tank seal. With this carto, placement is critical. I think I'll drill another and raise the hole a bit. This time I'm not going to punch a mark. I'm just going to put the bit much deeper in the chuck so that it won't skitter around.

Again,thanks a million for your input.

 

[donnah]

If you're going to drill your own fill hole, here is a thread that tells what to order and from where. It took some trial and error (and several drill bits and screws) to find the right combination.

 

[washvap]

LOL, that intro was pretty darn funny. As for your questions. It can be a combination of two things. When you drilled your carto. You probably punctured the air hole which led to the excessive leaking and the constant flooding. The hole doesn't have to be that large at all. Especially when your using thin PG juice. Which flows into the carto very nicely. If you using VG then you would have to worry about punching two holes to allow more juice into your carto. To deal with wicking issues.

I personally use a 1.4 inch self tapping saddle valve that makes it very easy to punch your cartos. Once you hear the pop then do one full turn and your done.

Anderson Metal 59799-04 Fll 7104SCSD 1/4 Saddle Valve

It's extremely cheap and can be found at your local hardware store. Located in the plumbing section.