VG and tanks?... Not a marriage made in heaven?

[MikeB]

Can VG and VG/PG mixes be successfully vaped in a tank? And I mean getting some real vapor, not dinky little dryish pulls...

I haven't had too much luck with my Cartomator, but Kay1959 seemed certain that it sounded like my juice was too thick, so... I went through my juices and found one that I kinda like but is 100% PG. All the others I have tried have been at least 50/50. Well, it took two evenings because I didn't trust taking it with me to work, but I have now vaped the tank down to the hole in the carto! ...and all this without dryish hits and constantly smacking my lips on the thing dry pulling every two puffs. In fact, I vaped the tank down to the hole without realizing it.

On one hand, I'm really excited my Tank isn't useless (yay!), but on the other hand, most of the juices I like are at least 50/50. The juices I had in it I wouldn't have every called thick, but I will admit that VG, even thinned out, seems to have more surface tension than PG of an equal thickness. So what does this mean for me? Can people vape VG in a tank? Is it my punch (I use a Siam's)? Do I need a punch that will make bigger holes? I don't think more holes will do the trick. I tried 2, 3, 4... even 8 holes (four around the top and four around the bottom) and never had much luck. If I do need bigger holes, how would I make them? A Dremel or a hammer and a nail? Do you vape VG, and if so about how big are your holes? Sorry for so many threads about my tank issues. I'm starting to feel like "that guy" who can't figure out how to use a tank... But, hey, at least I can vape 100% PG in my tank without issues now!

 

[Kay1959]

Did you get the message I sent you about the 3 options?

 

[kabonk]

I vape high 90VG/10PG in my tanks with no issues and I don't thin my DIY (so its kinda thick) I use a dremel and go with 2 slots wicks great

 

[MikeB]

Did you get the message I sent you about the 3 options?

No I didn't. Last one I got from you was Monday...

 

[~Shado~]

I have been vaping Bobas and Gorilla juices in my Cartomators for a bit over a year....no problems.
I punch 2-4 holes, depending on how the filler looks...dense or a bit thin.

I also DIY 95% plus of my juices....and usually go a 50/50 minimum....and use in all my Cartomators (6-10)

I punch with a saddle valve....

Hope this helped some....

 

[MikeB]

I have been vaping Bobas and Gorilla juices in my Cartomators for a bit over a year....no problems.
I punch 2-4 holes, depending on how the filler looks...dense or a bit thin.

I also DIY 95% plus of my juices....and usually go a 50/50 minimum....and use in all my Cartomators (6-10)

I punch with a saddle valve....

Hope this helped some....

Yea, that does help. I've been vaping a lot of Bobas lately too, and it is working better in my Cartomator but still not how I'd like. I have had some minor success today by cutting a nice big hole in a carto with a dremel. It wicks a lot better but not as great as if I just fill it myself. In doing so though, I discovered that the outside of the filler of these Kangers seems to be wrapped in a thin membrane that looks like tissue paper or cheese cloth or something. It may be why Kangers seem so good about not leaking at the batt. Anyway, I'm thinking I need to try some different cartos too. What do you use? I was using Boges but I had so many quality issues with them recently that I switched back to the Kangers. I need to rule out my cartos as the issue just to cover my bases.

 

[Fiamma]

I vape 50/50 mix in carto tanks. Have for over 6 months without problems. I buy the standard smoktech single punched carto and have no wicking problems at all. I vape both DIY 50/50 and some purchased 50/50 juices. None have been thinned out.

 

[~Shado~]

Mike....I have a pretty good stock of Boges that I use in the Cartomators, (perhaps pre-Bogate?)....but...I have also used the 3 hole flanged Smoktek in them as well....sticks up a bit visually, but...does the job.
The Smokteks are mainly for the smaller tanks I have on my eGo, Twists, etc...for out and about.

I use LR cartos for the most part, so I can run them on any gear I have....ProVari's, Kicked -(Bullets, Bolts, VMods), Twist, stock Ego's, box mods, etc....

 

[MikeB]

Well I think I can officially say I've had some success!

I got out my dremel and a small grinding wheel probably about 1/8" wide, not the cutoff wheels a lot of people use to "slot" a carto. My reasoning was that if the thin VG I was using wouldn't feed well through the small punched holes, then the extra thick Boba's was going to need more than a little slot. The first carto I did over the weekend I ground a wide rectangle in (kinda on accident) about 1/8" wide by 3/16-1/4" long around the carto. This vaped great until it flooded and leaked out both ends... twice. The next carto I had better control and cut almost a perfect 1/8" square into it. This vaped pretty good once you got it going, but it had a tendency to stop feeding and need some dry pulls get it going again. No big deal, but I wanted to see if I could do better, so the last carto I did I ground two 1/8" squares on opposite sides and I also picked at the filler with some tweezers to "fluff" it up. It now vapes great and feeds on its own for the most part. I need a dry pull rarely, and if it really gets going it vapes like a train. Gobs and gobs a vapor. I'm thoroughly pleased. I don't know how you guys get by vaping VG (esp 100%) through little punches, but more power to you! I, however, evidently need giant holes in the sides. lol. Maybe I'm just picky about my vapor. I donno. Oh... and no floods or leaks.

I'll post some pics of my great-vaping butchered cartos later...

 

[MikeB]

Pic, as promised.



It doesn't look very "square" in the pic, but that's the light playing off the beveled edges. On the first carto I found the rough edges hung a bit on the o-rings. I don't want to destroy my o-rings so I make a couple quick passes over the edges with the grinding wheel to round them off. The carto slides in smoothly now, but doesn't look quite as pretty. It is in fact a fairly square hole though.

 

[Kay1959]

Aaahhh the sweet flavor of success!
Congratulations on finding a way that works for you Mike!

 

[MikeB]

Aaahhh the sweet flavor of success!
Congratulations on finding a way that works for you Mike!

Thanks! ...I had to work for it. haha

Thanks again for all your help along this journey!

 

[MikeB]

Another update... just in case a newbie looking for answers ever comes across this thread...

I got a COV Carto Punch V4 in today, and I have had success with it as well. I can twist the point down farther than I could with the saddle punch, which makes a bigger hole. It's not dramatic, but looking at them side by side I can see that the holes are almost twice as big. ... not quite, but almost. Also, I punched four holes as someone in this thread suggested (I think it was this thread). Anyway, it vapes nicely. I doesn't perform quite as good as my dremel ground large slots, but its close. Close enough that I might start punching a lot of them this way, because it is way easy to punch holes with this thing, and not so easy to hold a dremel steady in the right spot. I'll still be dremeling but probably not exclusively.

Anyway, thanks again to all who helped and gave advice and encouragement!

 

[Kay1959]

I didn't realize you were punching with a saddle valve! No wonder you were frustrated! I tried a saddle valve once. Once was enough for me. lol! Yes, the carto punch will punch a bigger hole. Hows that vodka working for you?

 

[MikeB]

I didn't realize you were punching with a saddle valve! No wonder you were frustrated! I tried a saddle valve once. Once was enough for me. lol! Yes, the carto punch will punch a bigger hole. Hows that vodka working for you?

Haha... yea that saddle valve "works" (sorta) but its no COV Carto punch.

I've been approaching this a bit scientifically lately. I was changing too many things at once, and if something worked any better, then I had to go figure out which of the new things I tried was the one working. lol. Now I'm trying to only change one thing at a time, so I haven't tried the vodka yet. I'm planning to this weekend though after I go pick up a fresh bottle. I'll let you know the results.

 

[Kay1959]

Yeah, some people seem to like using a saddle valve. I didn't like the fact that I couldn't tell EXACTLY where it was going to punch the hole, and I personally felt like I needed to grow an extra hand for it to work for me. I guess there must be 3 armed people walking around that I haven't met yet!

 

[MikeB]

Yeah, some people seem to like using a saddle valve. I didn't like the fact that I couldn't tell EXACTLY where it was going to punch the hole, and I personally felt like I needed to grow an extra hand for it to work for me. I guess there must be 3 armed people walking around that I haven't met yet!

I know that exact feeling. lol! (and I'd really like to meet one of those people)

By the way, I found another use for my COV Carto Punch today. I got some different cutting wheels for the dremel I was going to try out, and I was thinking I wish I had a way to know exactly where the hole was going to be like I do with the new punch. Then it hit me. I put the carto in the punch, and tightened it down just to where it was starting to bite the metal but not dent it yet. Then I gave the carto a full turn within the punch, which marked a line all the way around. I now had an exact (and repeatable) line showing me where to cut. Further, the thickness of these new cutting wheels seems just about perfect to feed the juice. No dry pulls needed, and no floods (except when I dry pulled to see what it would do. lol). Basically, vaping bliss.

Also, got some Everclear (I figured the purer the better) to try thinning my juices with for the regular punched holes to see if I can avoid needing any dry pulls with that method too. Plan to try that tomorrow.

 

[Vampirecat019]

Hmm... My pretty much brand new 510-T hates any sort of VG mix I add to it. Haven't tried PG alone yet... I guess I'll hang onto it and try that out. It draws much harder than I expected, and gives crap vapor. (Genuine Joye, stock T attys)

 

[MikeB]

Hmm... My pretty much brand new 510-T hates any sort of VG mix I add to it. Haven't tried PG alone yet... I guess I'll hang onto it and try that out. It draws much harder than I expected, and gives crap vapor. (Genuine Joye, stock T attys)

I'd definitely try some PG just to see if that is it. A stiff draw can be caused by a lot of things. I've never used a 510-T though, so I can't be of much help there.

 

[Tolver]

How about adding pure water/de-ionized water to the juice to thin it out some? I have heard of people using Everclear, but I do not drink alcohol so I an not gonna do that.