Smok Baby Beast RTA Leaks - Ready to give up!

[LilyWai]

Soooo frustrated with this RTA! Doesn't seem to matter what I try - checked o-rings, more cotton/less cotton, tightly screw...I've watched ao many YouTube videos I know this RTA inside and out but NOTHING seems to stop the thing from leaking.

I'm relatively new to vaping (7 months in) and I've discovered I love the rebuilding side of it. I think it gives better flavour and satisfies the DIYer in me. I have just bought my coil building kit, wires etc..which is on it's way to me so for now I am using prebuilt coils but eventually I want to be on a self sufficient set up.
After buying three previous smaller mods (last one was Kanger TopBox Mini and the RTA in that was so easy to use and never leaked) I recently got my Smok Alien with Baby Beast tank. I was hooked, love this mod, amazing flavour so the next step was getting the RTA and start building.
Right from the start it leaked. I was sure I was doing something wrong but as I did a bit of searching online I see it's a universal problem with this model. A reoccuring comment that kept coming up in replies to forum questions on this issue was "if it's leaking it's always a problem with wicking", so I kept refining & changing my wicking technique to try and stop it streaming/wasting e-juice.
Now I have tried every style and amount of wicking possible ( including something called "The Bow" & "The Scottish Roll"...) and I'm left with nowhere to go in terms of other things to try.
The closest I've come to thinking I had solved it was when I left the ends of the wicks a little bit longer and tucked the ends down into the big holes at the base of the RTA and that worked for a while...but then began to leak as soon as the cotton got too saturated with juice from the tank.

So before I chuck the RTA away I thought I'd see if anyone had any further suggestions or tips or tricks?
Any ideas would be a help at this point!

 

[Heartsdelight]

If it is wicked as well as can be. Does it leak upon filling or during use? If it is upon filling you can try the burping technique. Close airflow, fill, close top, flip tank upside down & open airflow, flip back to upright position.

 

[Eskie]

Silly question, but you are using the replacement glass that comes with the Baby Beast RBA kit it comes with? The RBA makes things too tall for the regular glass to fit together correctly and therefore no seal on the tank.

 

[LilyWai]

If it is wicked as well as can be. Does it leak upon filling or during use? If it is upon filling you can try the burping technique. Close airflow, fill, close top, flip tank upside down & open airflow, flip back to upright position.

Well this is one I haven't tried...thanks, will give it a go.
As far as when it leaks it is both, sometimes it's as soon as it's filled and other times I can get it going but after a few puffs that familiar glossy apperance in air vents begin and before long it has filled the base of the tank.
My 'start' process is once screwed together I close the airhole and give it a few draws on the mouthpiece (read somewhere that this can help with creating correct pressure inside tank - don't know if this is true tho).
Then start on lowest wattage, again with airholes closed, and graduaally increase wattage. But as soon as I crack open airholes - & I only have them open a tiny amount for general vaping - I start to see the seeping of juice.
Can't be a faulty RTA as I bought two and both do it.
Will try a 'burp' & see how it goes...might be the breakthrough I need. Thanks.

 

[LilyWai]

Silly question, but you are using the replacement glass that comes with the Baby Beast RBA kit it comes with? The RBA makes things too tall for the regular glass to fit together correctly and therefore no seal on the tank.

Not silly question as I'm sure people have made this mistake. But in my case yep, am using the correct replacement RBA glass. The seals are all fine and there's no problem with lekaing around the edges of the glass or the top. Only coming from the airholes in the base.
Driving me crazy as I hate not being able to solve the problem!
I have been using the coils that came with the unit so as soon as my order arrives with one of those 8 in 1 prebuilt coil wheels arrives I'll try using some new coils and see if that makes any difference. The only thing I haven't tried replacing.

 

[Heartsdelight]

Keep us updated

 

[Carl2]

I always run to YouTube, here is a link
Smok Baby Beast RTA Leaks - YouTube
Sometimes you have to look at more than one video to find your problem.

 

[dyanaprajna]

The TFV4 was notorious for leaking as well. I haven't used the RBA deck on the baby beast, but I have two cloud beasts, and the RBA decks on those are known to be finicky about the wicking, that if they're not wicked just perfect, you either get leaking, or dry hits. I'm not sure if the baby beast is the same way though.

 

[Eskie]

I have the RBA that came with the BBB, but haven't gotten around to building it. The other issue you can find on YT is the base presses down a bit hard on the 510, allowing a short as the negative touches the bottom. There are a few solutions from putting the deck back on upside down and not cranking all the way, to filing the edges of the RBA base down so only the center touches the 510 pin.

I know that doesn't help with your leak issue, but just another potential issue on the checkoff list.

 

[sonicbomb]

Assuming that there is not an issue with the o-rings then it has to be the wicking, as this is what is blocking the juice from falling out of the tank.

 

[bsidb]

is your wicking touching the inside of the chamber?

 

[LilyWai]

Keep us updated

Will do, thanks.

 

[LilyWai]

is your wicking touching the inside of the chamber?

When you say "inside of the chamber" which part do you mean? (I'm relatively new to vaping so new to some of the terminology and parts of vape tanks, atomisers and mods).
Do you mean the hole underneath where the coil sits (see pic)

 

[Eskie]

When you say "inside of the chamber" which part do you mean? (I'm relatively new to vaping so new to some of the terminology and parts of vape tanks, atomisers and mods).
Do you mean the hole underneath where the coil sits (see pic)

Not totally sure what touching the inside of the chamber is meant to be, but you're pointing to the airflow holes directly under the coils. Your wicking should not be touching those holes or else it will leak.

 

[bsidb]

not touching those holes or the cap that screws on over them

 

[Eskie]

Huh. It's hard for me to visualize, but how can you fill the juice wells without touching the cap. Do you wet the cotton mount the cap, and then push the cotton back?

 

[bsidb]

I don't break the plane of where the cap will be with rayon, I thought this was how most do it ? I have leaks it the wick touches inside the chamber/under the cap, keep every thing back from outer ring/ threads

 

[bsidb]

wet the rayon and push it back, yes

 

[LilyWai]

Not totally sure what touching the inside of the chamber is meant to be, but you're pointing to the airflow holes directly under the coils. Your wicking should not be touching those holes or else it will leak.

No, wicking is not touching those holes or filling them at all. Only place Ive tried putting it - & the closest Ive had to sucess with this leaky ....... - are the four little holes that sit on either side of the air holes and at the end and to the side of the two square coil posts. Tucking the ends of th cotton into there seemed to help stem the tide...for a while anyway.
(Photo shows RTA when cotton has been tucked in to position)

 

[bsidb]

those holes should be full, not tight or sticking out but stuffed with fluffy cotton with no holes for juice to flow through around the cotton, looks like you got it!!