Very leaky tank with temperature changes

[culturejamming]

Hello all,

First post here. I am on my third week of vaping and I have accrued a decent amount of knowledge in that time but am far from an advanced user. I have been cigarette free since.

I am having an issue with my OBS TVCT tank which I could use some advice on. Tank is attached to an SxMini M class.

I have been experiencing pretty bad leaking (from the air control area), poor vapor production, and gurgling when vaping in hot weather after being in cool temperatures. I vape inside my office which is about 70F and low humidity. Sometimes I'll vape outside, which is in the 90sF and usually high humidity. As soon as I go outside, vapor production drops significantly and I am getting gurgling and some spitting (flooded coil?) Within a few minutes, fluid will leak from the tank's air control too. Usually it doesn't leak out on its own; I have to blow through the air holes or tilt the vape, in which case it will pour out. About five big drops worth of fluid most times. Just now, the leaking happened outside. As soon as I came in - literally as soon as I got in the cooler air - the problem went away.

Before I walk outside, I close the weep holes on the coil and the air holes. I have tried to keep the tank pretty full of fluid to avoid excess air too. The o-rings on the tank and coil are in good condition. The coil is about two weeks old and the problem has been going on for a week (coil seems okay - no discolored cotton, no burnt taste). Nothing seems to help. I am going to be hanging out with friends tonight outdoors so I'm hoping the tank will acclimate enough to not leak all night.

Is there anything I can do to avoid this temperature change leaking? It's not like the vape is sitting in hot weather for hours. It literally starts as soon as I walk outside. The vape shop double-checked the tank and there does not appear to be any defects or worn parts. I'm pretty bummed because not being able to leave the office or other temperature controlled building is a big limitation. I guess I can live with that. I'm just hoping this doesn't rule out hot weather overall because I spend my summers outside at camp fires and other outdoor social events and not being able to vape in hot weather sucks.

I welcome all suggestions/advice. Thanks.

 

[InTheShade]

I can't offer any specific advice for that tank as I am unfamiliar with it. But all tanks operate in the same way - with air pressure. As the temperature changes, so does the pressure - and sometimes with pretty messy results.

I live in South Texas and we have 100 degree days from May through to mid September and in my experience there is little you can do to prevent some leakage due to temperature differences when using tanks / clearos. The only way to fully eliminate these drips and leaks is to use a non pressure feeding system - like a dripper or a bottom feed squonker like a REO.

Only advice I can offer is I have learned is to turn my tank upside down to store and in my pocket when transitioning from hot to cold or vice versa - this allows air to escape without forcing much liquid out with it. Leaving the air holes open so the pressure can equalize as fast as possible might help too.

 

[DoctorJ]

My Kanger Nano seems to leak a bit when I'm going back and forth from inside to out. Once the pressure changes, the juice has to have somewhere to go and it will eventually find the path of least resistance, kinda like electricity but not, if you know what I mean

 

[suprtrkr]

Hi and welcome to the board. That SX Mini is a nice mod. I just got mine like 3 days ago and my hand is starting to feel uncomfortable when it isn't holding it. I'm not familiar with your tank, but looking it up it appears to be a nice one. Let me first say I like in a hot and humid place myself (Houston), and I have noticed reduced vapor and flavor under those conditions. There have been a few threads where the board has batted around this issue, but I don't think it's fair to say we've settled on a cause, never mind a solution. Either way, it does appear to be a real effect. As to the leaking, flooding the deck is common in the standard "vacuum over pressure" fed tanks, as most of them are, with changes in ambient air pressure or temperature. Eliminating the obvious-- coil not properly seated, missing o-ring, what have you-- I will venture the guess stepping outside increases the temp, and thus the pressure, in the fluid reservoir, forcing it past the wick and on to the deck. FWIW, I haven't noticed a similar problem, so perhaps it is peculiar to that type of tank, or maybe even just yours. My experience may not be relevant as I don't use replaceable head tanks, I rebuild my own. The only fixes I can think of offhand are to switch to a squonk mod like a Reo, or try a Genny type tank, where the fluid is stored below the deck and wicked up to it by capillary action. You might try chain-vaping it some immediately you step outside, see if you can use up some of the juice as the tank temp increases. Just trying a different tank might do it, too. I have never heard that complaint with a Subtank or an iSub. Or maybe someone who knows more than I will have a better idea. If you feel like learning to build, my Lemo 2s and Fogger V6s don't do that, but of course YMMV. Good luck and happy vaping.

 

[IMFire3605]

The cause is the heat. Have dealt with Bottom Coil config tanks a while now.

1) As the ambient heat increases, the air and liquid wish to expand, this is pretty basic in terms of the physics involved, thus builds pressure, pushing liquid to flow out where it can
2) As the ambient heat increases, the viscosity of the your liquid becomes thinner, thinner liquid will flow easier
3) Any increase or decrease in altitude or barometric pressure will reduce or increase the pressure in the tank, more pressure will push to flow out where it can

How to alleviate the problems

1) Moving in or out of a climate controlled area, if you have a juice flow control shut it closed, air flow control keep open to allow venting, or when in transit up or down in altitude, even going up and down several stories of a building, especially when it is hot can be enough to cause pressure flooding see #2 here
2) Store Tank upside down until ready to use or fire, this allows the tank to breathe when pressure builds, without any liquid at the wicking inlets, when pressure builds, only air can escape or breathe into the tank, not liquid

On the subject of vapor production comparison from outside to inside conditions

1) Low humidity, low temperature (Very High Vapor) and it dissipates slowly
2) Low humidity, high temperature (High Vapor) and it dissipates very quickly (evaporates)
3) High humidity, low temperature (Low Vapor) and it dissipates very slowly
4) High humidity, high temperature (Very Low Vapor) and it dissipates quickly

basic natures of air, as the ratios of moist air (humid air) to dry air (arid air) to ambient air temperature all relate to visual effect of what you see as a vapor cloud

Examples, very, very cold, moist weather, step outside, your warm humid breath "frosts" as the humidity of your breath cools and condenses, where very, very hot, dry weather, step outside your cooler humid breath "evaporates" as the humidity of your breath heats, expands, and dissipates faster, still the same relative humidity being exhaled, just the physics of the air around you are changed the air properties change in your awareness.

Hope that was good enough as an average Joe explanation

 

[culturejamming]

Hey guys,

First, thanks for your help. It took me a while to get back here and read everything but it was the most informative stuff I've read so far. Even though this issue has come up numerous times (if you Google it, there are numerous forum posts), I felt like mine was a bit different than the common themes of leaky o-rings and bad coils.

I have mostly fixed this problem and here is what I've done. I'm posting this because while the issue has been raised before, I find that multiple threads about the same problem are useful. It confirms to people who are searching that this is a relatively common issue. Also, there are always nuances to each person's situation. You really have to examine the variables when reading someone else's thread. On to my solution. I actually implemented advice I read in prior threads but the posts here reiterated them so I can recommend them to anyone who is struggling with a leaky tank who has eliminated the most obvious stuff (o-rings, tank not screwed down well, etc.)

First, I make sure my tank is as full as possible. This is a huge one which I did not take seriously. I am often guilty of letting my tank go down to about 1/3rd of its capacity. I now make sure to not go below 1/2 (at least) and this has improved the leaking due to temperature changes significantly. Secondly, and probably most important, is closing the fluid holes and air control and then carrying the device upside down right before going outside and for a couple of minutes while it acclimates to the new temperature. One time I got a freak leaking situation from the top (the TVCT has a screw on top as it fills from the top, not the bottom) which I assume was just me not tightening it down enough. Who knows, there is no o-ring up there so that doesn't help things.

With these two changes - which are nothing too burdensome - I have significantly cut down on the temperature-related leaking. I'm very happy because this was beginning to ruin my vaping experience. The ideal situation would be that the tank does not leak at all but oh well.

Thanks again for all of the help.

 

[JaymeiCorpsey]

I have the same issue you were having and I've tried everything. The only thing I know left to do is take or back to where I got it and ask them to build it for and see if that works. I've bought other tanks but I dealt like this obs when its working.

Hey guys,

First, thanks for your help. It took me a while to get back here and read everything but it was the most informative stuff I've read so far. Even though this issue has come up numerous times (if you Google it, there are numerous forum posts), I felt like mine was a bit different than the common themes of leaky o-rings and bad coils.

I have mostly fixed this problem and here is what I've done. I'm posting this because while the issue has been raised before, I find that multiple threads about the same problem are useful. It confirms to people who are searching that this is a relatively common issue. Also, there are always nuances to each person's situation. You really have to examine the variables when reading someone else's thread. On to my solution. I actually implemented advice I read in prior threads but the posts here reiterated them so I can recommend them to anyone who is struggling with a leaky tank who has eliminated the most obvious stuff (o-rings, tank not screwed down well, etc.)

First, I make sure my tank is as full as possible. This is a huge one which I did not take seriously. I am often guilty of letting my tank go down to about 1/3rd of its capacity. I now make sure to not go below 1/2 (at least) and this has improved the leaking due to temperature changes significantly. Secondly, and probably most important, is closing the fluid holes and air control and then carrying the device upside down right before going outside and for a couple of minutes while it acclimates to the new temperature. One time I got a freak leaking situation from the top (the TVCT has a screw on top as it fills from the top, not the bottom) which I assume was just me not tightening it down enough. Who knows, there is no o-ring up there so that doesn't help things.

With these two changes - which are nothing too burdensome - I have significantly cut down on the temperature-related leaking. I'm very happy because this was beginning to ruin my vaping experience. The ideal situation would be that the tank does not leak at all but oh well.

Thanks again for all of the help.

 

[culturejamming]

The techniques I described above help but do not totally eliminate the issue. I've still experienced some leaking but not nearly as much as before. Now that the temperatures have dropped (I live in PA and it's fall now) the leaking has resolved as far as I can tell. This is a frustrating and hard to diagnose problem because there are so many causes and sometimes there are multiple causes that are interconnected. Have you tried what I mentioned about keeping the tank full, carrying upside down, keeping juice control closed (if your tank has that option), etc.?

 

[JaymeiCorpsey]

The techniques I described above help but do not totally eliminate the issue. I've still experienced some leaking but not nearly as much as before. Now that the temperatures have dropped (I live in PA and it's fall now) the leaking has resolved as far as I can tell. This is a frustrating and hard to diagnose problem because there are so many causes and sometimes there are multiple causes that are interconnected. Have you tried what I mentioned about keeping the tank full, carrying upside down, keeping juice control closed (if your tank has that option), etc.?

Yes, I've tried those things to no avail :/ I've watched so many videos on it too, I just can't figure out if it's something I'm doing or if it's something else lol.