over my head...please help...

[MamaBird]

So I am brand new to the vaping world, and currently enjoying my current set up which is ego twists with smoktek dcts. However, I think I found a flaw but I'm not entirely sure, and input would be greatly appreciated. You see, I generally really like the tank/cartomizer, but recently, I fell in love with a juice that seems to immediately gunk them up...like within 10 minutes of changing the cartomizer in the tank. At first I thought maybe I just had a faulty cart, then further research suggested that maybe the vg ratio is too high and it cannot properly wick. But would that explain why it's clogging? I have to pull soo hard to barely get any vape, and i've already thrown out two cartomizers. I amwondering if a clearomizer would be better choice for high vg liquids? I actually already oredered a few long wick stardusts, and some kangers to compare but havent received them yet, and not sure if the solution is correct anyway. Please let me know your thoughts on this matter

 

[Kopfstimmen]

Wish I could help, Robin, but I have no experience with your setup. Still, I can pave the way with a question: What is the VG ratio? I use clearomizers all the time, but I generally only use 70/30 PG/VG... I'm sure someone will be along soon that can help you though...

 

[recidivus]

High VG liquids are generally pretty thick and sometimes need a little thinning.

A trick for high VG liquids: Distilled water. Add 1 drop/5ml and shake vigorously. No not you! The bottle! If it's still too thick after that add one drop and shake. Rinse/repeat until it looks right. You can separate the liquid into smaller bottles (5ml) and do it in small batches if you're worried about overdoing it. Some folks use PGA, but I've just used distilled water. A little goes a long way so just do it drop by drop. After shaking it you should see the little bubbles going up slowly, not just sitting mid-liquid. (compare to a juice that you know works to see how it should look)

Clearos also have trouble wicking high VG.

Another trick is to put the bottle in a ziplock, fill the sink with hot water (tap water hot, not microwaved/boiled). Put bag n bottle in the water, shake it every 30 minutes until the water is room temp. This helps thin it a little more. It will be pretty thin while warm and thicken up as it cools down but it does stay a little thinner than before.

 

[Cyrene]

I don't have much experience with the cartos, but my Stardusts and my Vivi's handle the darker
higher concentrates of VG (thicker of course) with ease - and they are easy to clean out. I don't
think you have to pitch the cartomizers, if I'm not mistaken, there is some cleaning methods for them
to save them.

 

[MamaBird]

Im not entirely sure what the ratio is on this juice...i think it's at least mostly vg if not all vg.

So wow...didn't realize that o could thin it with distilled water... Did I just waste a bunch of money on clearos now? Lol. I thought maybe the little hole on the side of my carto in my tank was maybe just too small to wick the liquid and it seemed like a clearo might be a solution. I5thats NOT so, what are some advantages of clearos vs tanks? I already spent the money, so what should I expect?

And does this water trick effect the flavor?

 

[MorpheusPA]

So far, my cleartos have no issues with 30% VG but did seem to dry hit more often with 100% VG liquids. Thinning them with distilled water would work, I mixed with pure PG liquids where I thought the taste would combine well (sometimes yes, sometimes no).

 

[440BB]

It sounds like you're on the right track and ordered the right next step to me. I find the thicker, 40% and higher vg, liquids flow better on Stardust/Ego Vision type of cartos. I hope you find a good fit for the juices you like!

 

[MamaBird]

I don't have much experience with the cartos, but my Stardusts and my Vivi's handle the darker
higher concentrates of VG (thicker of course) with ease - and they are easy to clean out. I don't
think you have to pitch the cartomizers, if I'm not mistaken, there is some cleaning methods for them
to save them.

I threw them away because I thought they were faulty at first. They were acting how they do.when you know they are finished, but they were brand new. I admit, I didnt know exactly what was going on. It had never happened before I got this one juice in oarticular. And I looove this juice, so I want something that will make it work like my others...

 

[recidivus]

The water trick will dilute the flavour slightly, but it shouldn't be a huge difference.

The holes in the carto may be too small, or there may not be enough, to keep the carto saturated. I vape high VG liquids and tend to require at least 2 holes, around...1-1.5mm diameter? Even then I'll need to primer puff on occasion (puff on it without firing the battery, if you see little bubbles leave the holes then it's getting in there). Single hole cartos were just burning up, a most horrid tasting vape.

As far as clearos/cartos and such, I like clearos mainly because I find cartos impart a slight undertone of flavour. Some people say the same about clearos though. Honestly, Im not terribly picky and vape on just about everything...if it makes vapour and doesn't taste funky I use it.

With clearos you may have to tilt n twirl every once in a while to make sure the top of the wicks are saturated enough. At first it's a bit odd but you get used to it.

 

[Bronze]

I threw them away because I thought they were faulty at first. They were acting how they do.when you know they are finished, but they were brand new. I admit, I didnt know exactly what was going on. It had never happened before I got this one juice in oarticular. And I looove this juice, so I want something that will make it work like my others...

Robin...thinning with distilled water is hit or miss (been there, done that). It mutes flavors some and is hard to determine how much to add. 100% VGs are definitley thicker but the vast majority of those will wick fine in a Vivi Nova (Mini or Standard). I think that is a better route to go than cartos or carto tanks. Going forward, try a PG/VG blend if you have no objections to blends. A 70/30 or even a 50/50 (PG/VG) blend will work in just about any clearo. HHV allows you to choose whichever blend ratio you prefer (other than samples).

 

[Baditude]

The secret of successful cartotanking is in the juice delivery from the tank to the heating coils.

Multiple factors affect this. The thickness or viscosity of the juice is one. Heavy vg ratios can be a bane to carto as well as clearo tanks. Vg can be extremely difficult to wick. With some juice vendors that actually mix each individual order, you can ask for a thinner base for easier wicking. But that doesn't help your current cause.

You may try diluting the juice with some distilled water, possibly as much as a couple of drops per ml of juice. Experiment, I don't believe you'll hurt anything by adding more. Other people recommend diluting with vodka.

Are you punching your own cartomizers, or buying pre-punched? How many holes are you using with this juice? I've personally gone away from punching my own carto's for the most part. I found that with the punch tool that I have (Siam Mods model sold by Phiniac) causes the carto to get out-of-round, or distorted, and can be extremely difficult to get through the endcaps of the tank. That can't be a good thing for tank's 0-rings.

I buy prepunched cartos for my tanks. I get consistancy that way and don't worry about distorted cartos anymore. I order a variety of holes, generally one and two holes are adequate for my juices. I use a one hole for typical 50pg/50vg mixes, and the two hole for anything with more than 60% vg. I've not used the three hole cartos when available, but heard that they can flood easily. For extremely thick juices, tho, it may be what you need. You might consider slotting your cartos if you have a dremmel tool already, if not, its not worth the expense of buying one just for slotting cartos.

I've also switched from dual coil cartomizers to the single coil. I was often tasting some burnt taste with the DCT's, and after doing some reading up on this, decided to switch over. Since switching all of my cartotanks to single coil, I've not had any burnt taste, I get the same vapor and flavor, but I also have noted longer battery life on my mods, which is an added plus. I get mine here, should you be interested:
Single Coil XL Tank Cartomizer for the SmokTank XL

I do have a tank full of Boba's Bounty. It is notorious for being an extremely thick juice. I have triple punched my own cartos and slotted them with a dremmel tool, and diluted the juice with distilled water, and it still has a stiff draw after the first tankfull. Thankfully, its not one of my favorite juices, and is only vaped on once in a great while.

Since you admit that your are new, I always recommend cartotank users get a Slap Yo Momma tank tool. What's this you ask? PBusardo exlains it best:



Buy one. It will be the best investment you make in vaping. Good luck and happy vaping.

Edit to add more comments: I have a few of the Vivi Nova tanks that some of the people have recommended. They are easy to fill and clean, but with some of my juices I noticed some muting of the flavor, confirmed by using the same flavor side-by-side with a cartotank. Your results may vary. They use a wick of silica not unlike the polyfill of a cartomizer, so they are prone to the same wicking issues that a cartomizer has with extremely thick juices. The same is with clearomizers. You will note that they will vaporize the lighter, thinner parts of the juice and leave behind a progressively darker concentrate in the bottom of the clearo tank

--Baditude

 

[MorpheusPA]

Im not entirely sure what the ratio is on this juice...i think it's at least mostly vg if not all vg.

So wow...didn't realize that o could thin it with distilled water... Did I just waste a bunch of money on clearos now? Lol. I thought maybe the little hole on the side of my carto in my tank was maybe just too small to wick the liquid and it seemed like a clearo might be a solution. I5thats NOT so, what are some advantages of clearos vs tanks? I already spent the money, so what should I expect?

And does this water trick effect the flavor?

Pure VG can even be a problem in a carto, it's so thick it takes a while to wick to the atty.

Dilution will impact the flavor, but you use so little water to the volume of the liquid I don't think you'll notice. Certainly it's going to be a LOT nicer than the flavor of burning atty!

 

[rik701]

There are also cartos out there for the dct's that have bigger holes or more holes in them. There is also one out there that uses wicks instead of filler. I found that it tends to leak with thinner juices but does fine with all vg. The carto with the wicks in it i got from Nashville Vapor. Might be something to try tho i love my Vivi Novas(all 4 of them) and my Stardust. Best part about them is you can replace or rebuild the coils on them. Hope that is helpful to you.