There has to be a better way to fill carto tanks....

[Judge Dredd]

So I have two J-tanks, one 3.3mL and the other, 5.5mL, and I have been filling them by either taking the cap off (a total pain) or pushing the carto down far enough to get the juice in there, but even then, it's a pain to push the carto back through the top-cap.

Anyone know of any better ways to fill carto tanks that don't have a fill screw or something similar?

 

[Baditude]

Are you punching your own cartos? You shouldn't be having that difficult time of pushing the carto through the endcaps unless the cartos have been deformed from your punches. I've stopped punching my own, as the punching causes the carto to bend oval instead of being round. The deformity in the carto can make it difficult to push through the endcap. This also causes wear on the o-rings, which can lead to flooding or leaking.

Therefore, I use laser-drilled cartos for my tanks.


The tool-punched cartos can be deformed into an oval shape, making passage into the end cap difficult. Laser-drilled holes eliminate this problem, and are perfectly adequate to wick liquid into the carto just as well.

I recommend a tank tool such as a Slap-Yo-Momma by Big Daddy Vapor to help guide the carto through the endcaps and protect the o-rings from the sharp edges of the carto end. Review of this tool here:

A PBusardo Review - Slap Yo Mama Multi-Purpose Adapter - Big Daddy Vapor - YouTube


Another tip is to lubricate the outer carto generously with some e-liquid, and use a back and forth twisting motion with your fingers as you push the carto up throught the top cap.

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I highly don't recommend the first method you described. Cartotanks operate with a vacumn created in the enclosed tank space when you take a "puff" or draw. Each time you draw on the carto, more negative pressure is created inside the tank, causing more liquid to enter the cartomizer.

Trying to fill a tank by the first method you described, the sudden high pressure of placing the top cap on after filling it will cause way too much liquid to be forced into the cartomizer, causing it to flood.
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The best way is to pre-fill the carto before putting it into a fully assembled tank. I use a wood tooth pick to plug the center air hole to keep juice from entering it. Fill until the polyfill looks like a slushy drink, all the while slowly turning the carto between your fingers to allow the juice to hit all parts of the polyfill. Wait a couple of minutes to allow the filling to absorb, then top off some more.

Now insert the carto about half way into the tank from the bottom. Tilt the tank slightly, and fill the tank through the space between the top cap and cartomizer. Fill about 80% full; no more. Then push the carto the rest of the way up into the tank and add the drip tip.

I don't normally find I need to do a primer puff without power to start the juice flowing, but some people like to. Watch the video that I have included to see a demo of what I just explained.
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I hope this helps your problem.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Thanks so much for the help! I appreciate it very much!

 

[fourthrok]

The Slap Yo Mama tool is very nice...a bit on the expensive side (relatively speaking) but it works well, and it helps protect your O rings. Another possibility that I've found very effective is to use a tool like the "Tank Refilling Tool" Dual Coil Tank Filler (there are at many other vendors, too). You simply take off your drip tip, put this thing on, slide up your tank until it hits the bottom of the funnel on the tool, tip your unit slightly and drip into the well. You can refill with the tank still on the PV. I like it a lot, and it's easy and clean. Another thing you could look at is the tank refiller that doubles as a drip tip. It's the same idea as the SYM tool, only you can leave it on your tank and use it as a drip tip. It's long..very long..and it will slightly "cool" your vape (which I like) and it just works. http://www.smokerevolt.com/510-Long-Refilling-Drip-Tips_p_412.html Several vendors, including HECS and MV sells them too. Filling and topping off tanks is so easy for me now...it's nearly mindless. I've even done it lying in bed in the almost-dark!

 

[oplholik]

I use plastic tanks, and drill and tap all of them for a small nylon threaded bolt cut to length for a fill port. Makes it very easy to fill a tank.

 

[Judge Dredd]

The Slap Yo Mama tool is very nice...a bit on the expensive side (relatively speaking) but it works well, and it helps protect your O rings. Another possibility that I've found very effective is to use a tool like the "Tank Refilling Tool" Dual Coil Tank Filler (there are at many other vendors, too). You simply take off your drip tip, put this thing on, slide up your tank until it hits the bottom of the funnel on the tool, tip your unit slightly and drip into the well. You can refill with the tank still on the PV. I like it a lot, and it's easy and clean. Another thing you could look at is the tank refiller that doubles as a drip tip. It's the same idea as the SYM tool, only you can leave it on your tank and use it as a drip tip. It's long..very long..and it will slightly "cool" your vape (which I like) and it just works. http://www.smokerevolt.com/510-Long-Refilling-Drip-Tips_p_412.html Several vendors, including HECS and MV sells them too. Filling and topping off tanks is so easy for me now...it's nearly mindless. I've even done it lying in bed in the almost-dark!

Thanks! I'll look into those devices!

 

[Judge Dredd]

I use plastic tanks, and drill and tap all of them for a small nylon threaded bolt cut to length for a fill port. Makes it very easy to fill a tank.

I might have to try that! I just don't want to crack the polycarbonate by drilling.

 

[Baditude]

So, Judge? You didn't answer my question whether you were using tool-punched cartos or laser-drilled cartos?

If you have been using tool-punched cartos, if you have any un-punched cartomizers, try putting one through the end caps of the empty tanks after lubricating it. Does that pass through easy?

If it does, then the issue must be trying to use tool-punched cartos which are distorted out-of-round. Some tanks caps just fit tighter around a cartomizer. This could be the result of the way their end caps are manufactured or the type of o-rings they use. So if using tool-punched cartos which are oval shaped in these tanks, it makes it more difficult if not impossible for them to fit into those tanks.

J-Tanks are one of the few tanks that I don't own. However, they have the reputation of being one of those tanks which have a tighter fit than other manufactured tanks.

 

[Rocketpunk]

I was so confounded and irritated by my carto tank at first. It sucked!

But then I learned.

For me, this method works best, and works almost 90% of the time.

Simply take the flanged replacement carto, drop up to 20-25 drops of juice into the carto filler (hold the carto at an angle, not straight up and down), going North East South West while rotating the carto, and carefully avoiding the hole in the middle. Do not get juice in that hole!

Once you count 20 to 25 drops, look at the top of the polyfill. Does it look like crushed ice? If yes, slide the carto into the tank, and fill the tank while avoiding getting any liquid into the carto.

Pop the drip tip back on, let it sit for a couple of minutes, screw it in, vape, and enjoy. Sometimes it takes two to three harsh hits to get the coil sufficiently wet. Sometimes I recommend taking "dry hits" (taking a hit while NOT pressing the fire button) to draw more liquid into the carto through the bottom hole.

I agree with Batitude, laser-hole punched cartos rock. Like he said, self-punched cartos can become deformed and not fit snugly into the tank.

These things sound so confusing, but in reality, it really is simple.

 

[Rocketpunk]

After re-reading these threads, oh but how these answers are rife with puns.

 

[Rocketpunk]

I think Forthrock and Badittude have it pretty much nailed down.

I finally understood the aspects of a Slap Yo Mama, and that re-filling tool seems really cool, but I've found these to be the easiest for me.

Blunt Needle Tip for dropper bottles - Mt Baker Vapor - Electronic Cigarettes

These are perfect for my juice blends. And they fit the bottles from my favorite vendor perfectly if you pop off the drip nozzle and screw this on.

Of course, another poster mentioned that this probably wouldn't work very well with 100% VG because it's thick, and that makes total sense. But seeing as how that's not an issue with me, these work perfectly well, and you can get a dozen for like 6 bucks.

But I do agree, the Slap Yo Mama is something we should all have in our aresenal.

 

[Judge Dredd]

So, Judge? You didn't answer my question whether you were using tool-punched cartos or laser-drilled cartos?

Sorry about that! I used both laser-punched and I punch my own. Issues are the same with both. Just as hard to get either or in the tanks.

If you have been using tool-punched cartos, if you have any un-punched cartomizers, try putting one through the end caps of the empty tanks after lubricating it. Does that pass through easy?

Both of them are equally difficult to get in - lubricated and un-lubricated.

J-Tanks are one of the few tanks that I don't own. However, they have the reputation of being one of those tanks which have a tighter fit than other manufactured tanks.

I love the tanks! They're just extremely difficult to fill. They don't use metal anything on the tanks, and so there's no, don't mind the pun, smooth sliding action, to be had.

 

[Baditude]

I love increasing my knowledge base on cartotanks, so out of curiosity I visited YouTube. I remembered that PBusardo, a popular e-cig review, had done a review of the J-Tank so I watched it. This review happened to be his very first experience with a cartotank. He also remarked about some difficulty with installing the cartos, but nowhere as difficult as what you are experiencing. If interested, the meaty part about assembling and filling the tank starts around the 8:30 mark in the video and goes on for a few minutes.

A PBusardo Review - The J-Tank Goes Fishing - ElectronicStix.com - YouTube

If I were you I'd contact the vendor you purchased your tank from. I'd explain the difficulty that you have had, and add that you have used both tool-punched and laser-drilled cartos that you lubricated with e-liquid. I'd be interested to know what advice they give you.

 

[eHuman]

When dealing with these guys:
http://www.madvapes.com/media/catal...f78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/3/3/3368-1.jpg
Best to refill them while on your PV so they are held down.
While sitting at a desk or table:
Remove the drip tip.
Twist the tank back and forth (clockwise and counter-clockwise) while gently pulling up, until the top of the carto is about 1/8" below the seal.
Using my lfet hand. I push on the left side of the tank with my index finger so that it touches the carto. This opens a gap on the right side.
I tilt the PV to the right and place juice bottle standard tip between gap and pointing towards the tank and away from the carto.
Fill to just below top of carto, set juice bottle aside.
Place PV/tank/carto in front of you so you can "look down the barrel".
Make sure you hold the PV in one hand and the top of the cartotank and seal with the other (failure to do so can cause a freshly filled tank to dump it's contents.
Line up the carto with the seal, using the same back and forth twisting motion, push tank down onto carto.
Make sure that the flange at the base of the carto inserts into the tank bottom.
Replace drip tip, cap juice bottle, go vape.
Literally, I can do this whole process in 10 seconds including uncapping and recapping my juice.

 

[Judge Dredd]

I love increasing my knowledge base on cartotanks, so out of curiosity I visited YouTube. I remembered that PBusardo, a popular e-cig review, had done a review of the J-Tank so I watched it. This review happened to be his very first experience with a cartotank. He also remarked about some difficulty with installing the cartos, but nowhere as difficult as what you are experiencing. If interested, the meaty part about assembling and filling the tank starts around the 8:30 mark in the video and goes on for a few minutes.

A PBusardo Review - The J-Tank Goes Fishing - ElectronicStix.com - YouTube

If I were you I'd contact the vendor you purchased your tank from. I'd explain the difficulty that you have had, and add that you have used both tool-punched and laser-drilled cartos that you lubricated with e-liquid. I'd be interested to know what advice they give you.

I have seen almost all of his videos, the two J-Tank videos I have watched more than once. He seems more muscular than me, and since we both bought from ElectronicStix.com, I believe it's either my ignorance or weakness.

When dealing with these guys:
http://www.madvapes.com/media/catal...f78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/3/3/3368-1.jpg
Best to refill them while on your PV so they are held down.
While sitting at a desk or table:
Remove the drip tip.
Twist the tank back and forth (clockwise and counter-clockwise) while gently pulling up, until the top of the carto is about 1/8" below the seal.
Using my lfet hand. I push on the left side of the tank with my index finger so that it touches the carto. This opens a gap on the right side.
I tilt the PV to the right and place juice bottle standard tip between gap and pointing towards the tank and away from the carto.
Fill to just below top of carto, set juice bottle aside.
Place PV/tank/carto in front of you so you can "look down the barrel".
Make sure you hold the PV in one hand and the top of the cartotank and seal with the other (failure to do so can cause a freshly filled tank to dump it's contents.
Line up the carto with the seal, using the same back and forth twisting motion, push tank down onto carto.
Make sure that the flange at the base of the carto inserts into the tank bottom.
Replace drip tip, cap juice bottle, go vape.
Literally, I can do this whole process in 10 seconds including uncapping and recapping my juice.

Thanks for the advice!