What causes most leaks?

[LeoRex]

I am on the fence, trying to decide between a few different tank styles, and one thing that keeps popping up is leaking.

Across various tank types... top/bottom coils, Kanger MT3, Vivi Novas, EVODs, DCTs, etc..... The reviews range from "This thing is rock solid, never a leak or dry burn" to "It leaked like an old boat."

What's the big reasons for leaks? Is it user error? Or bad quality control on the tanks? Are some tank types more prone to wearing out and leaking, etc.... I'd love to not have to learn the hard way.

 

[jxc0175]

There is not one answer to this question. It could be different reasons for different tanks. Like a carto tank for instance, could be leaking because the o-ring is damaged. You definitely want to read reviews and if most people say it doesn't leak, chances are it won't.

 

[The Ocelot]

Hi - my take on it is everything that holds liquid has the potential to leak. Adding to that, almost every product we use vaping is mass-produced with little quality control. Even if, for example, you buy a carto tank made by a small US vendor, you're still going to be putting a mass-produced carto in it. Leaking varies from design to design, even from batch to batch with the same design.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason and everyone has different experiences. I've had good luck with clearo styles others have thrown away in frustration; and other people are loving the Protank, but mine seems to have a personality I didn't anticipate. I love carto tanks best, but others can't stand them...

 

[Ryedan]

Totally agree with The Ocelot & jxc ^^^^ . One other thing to consider is that there are a lot of companies out there making knock-offs of things. For example Vision Vivi Nova's are usually pretty good, but a Vivi Nova from another company is an unknown until you try it.

 

[Oktyabr]

And while the original vision stardust clearomizer is somewhat infamous the Smok "redux" clones have been nothing but solid, hard workers for me. Cheap. Easy to work on... you can even wrap your own wicks for them!

Leaks? A combination of QC and something as simple as (re)assembly. If it has an o-ring *always* lube it up a bit with some juice of your choosing. Be careful to never crossthread anything, especially plastic threads. That said, "It leaked like an old boat" is a very relative, subjective thing to say. To make matters worse *any time* you combine a liquid with enough heat you will end up with condensation. I think at least a portion of what people call "leaks" is really condensation and will happen to one degree or another no matter what device you attach to your battery.

 

[The Ocelot]

Totally agree with The Ocelot & jxc ^^^^ . One other thing to consider is that there are a lot of companies out there making knock-offs of things. For example Vision Vivi Nova's are usually pretty good, but a Vivi Nova from another company is an unknown until you try it.

And I've had knock-offs that worked better. There a vendor who sold Stardust clones that performed really well! But he got so much flack for selling clones that he now only sells the name brand, which I've not had the best luck with.

 

[Roxstar]

The only carto tank leak I've ever had was my own fault, I was drawing too hard. I had a Vivi flood once, turned out that when I unscrewed the top, the head stuck to it and unscrewed also, I've just learned to watch for this and re-tighten this if it does happen, haven't had a problem since. I had a T3 leak, not sure why, I had a T3 just stop firing, not sure why that happened either, but I'm not a fan of the cool vapor so I didn't really mess with them. Also on a carto tank, this is pry common sense, but I screwed the little side fill screw in too far and it had pushed the carto over and was causing the seals to leak, totally my fault though. This is the extent of my leak knowledge. Good luck in finding the delivery system that works best for you.

 

[tj99959]

What causes most leaks?

Water runs down hill. Leaks are the result of laws of physics.

One I hear all the time is 'my RBA leaks when I lay it down'. The solution to the problem is 'don't lay it down', there is an air hole in the side that will leak.

 

[BostonVape]

seems to be good and bad days with leaking but like Ocelot said, with juice everything is prone to leaking at some point.

my iclear30 will go 3-4 days without leaking.. and the next day it will leak constantly even with an almost empty tank.

same thing with my carto tanks.. yesterday it was dry the entire day.. now its leaking on me before re-filling it.

always a hit or miss with my setups

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Have used diff brands of cartos, diff brands of carto tanks, clearomizers, Vision Vivi Novas and have only once had a leak and that was because of unequal pressure in my carto tank. Resolved the issue quickly and it never occurred again.
In my experience the # 1 reason is user inexperience/ error. Next comes the PG/ VG ratio of juice. Finally realize that there are good and bad clones out there. I NEVER buy Version 1 issues of anything as they usually have issues which are later resolved by version 2 and then of course we'll have the "new improved" version 3 China QC also has a huge impact on the reliability, success and/ or failure of this stuff.

 

[Wow1420]

Number one cause of leaks for me is overfilling or dripping into the center tube (user error). I have little trouble with this now, but I have to laugh when I think back to how much liquid I got on my hands with my first fumbling filling efforts.

I've had 3 defective devices that just plain leaked. One CE4 had a defective O-ring, I could see it through the plastic, but no way to open it up and fix it. I did fix a leaking Vivi Nova clone by adding an extra piece of wick, probably more of a design flaw than a manufacturing defect. I had another leaky clearo that was resolved by replacing the head. Is three defects in 2 months a lot? I suspect it is par for the course with mass-produced items meant to be cheap and disposable. (coils/heads are disposable even if the tanks aren't meant to be).



One other major leak I had was due to citrus type liquid cracking the tube. Partly my fault as I knew of the risk, I just didn't think about the possibility of that liquid and that cartridge being vulnerable to the problem. My favorite flavors fall in the "plastic tank cracker" category unfortunately.

 

[Wow1420]

seems to be good and bad days with leaking but like Ocelot said, with juice everything is prone to leaking at some point.

my iclear30 will go 3-4 days without leaking.. and the next day it will leak constantly even with an almost empty tank.

same thing with my carto tanks.. yesterday it was dry the entire day.. now its leaking on me before re-filling it.

always a hit or miss with my setups

Actually, it seems better to keep clearos topped up as much as possible. Once below 1/4 full they're not always reliable. I read something about too much air in the tank being the issue. Without air, vacuum pressure apparently keeps the liquid in. My theory is that air heated from the coil expands and pushes liquid out.

 

[SteamDaddy]

if it leaks, toss it.
if it don't leak, then
top tha tank an toke on.

 

[Ryedan]

And I've had knock-offs that worked better. There a vendor who sold Stardust clones that performed really well! But he got so much flack for selling clones that he now only sells the name brand, which I've not had the best luck with.

Yes, I've heard this from other people too Ocelot. Plus, how do we know for sure who really manufactured what is in that 'Brand Name X' box? But I've heard it the other way around often enough that I am careful with knock-offs.

 

[Chimney34]

I agree with everyone else! It's a variety of things & sometimes who knows! I started with CE4 type clearos & they always leaked. During a visit at my closest B&M the guys there told me that those leaked if they were layer on their side. My problem was that I had no choice. My sweet lil kitty Chloe has a fascination with knocking things down so during the night she always knocked all of my clearos over while I was asleep. They said it was because it allowed the juice to steep down the center. So I stopped using them & moved to novas & rarely got any leaking. Now I use cartotanks & no leaking now unless they flood.

 

[Myrany]

Hi Everyone I am a pretty new vaper. I got my ego-c starter kit 2 weeks ago and haven't touched a real cigarette since. I have had some real problems with the "tanks" the ego-c comes with leaking. They seem to be ok for 1-3 refills then just start making a mess. Not so happy with that situation since I am burning through alot of tanks.

Someone suggested getting the silicone bottom caps for the tanks to fix the problem. Have any of you tried that?

 

[steved5600]

Cracks, poor seals, lose threads, not tight, to many holes in the carto and improper filling. Oh and bad designs.

 

[Spike64]

I was using C4 and C5 clearos and haven't had any leakage issues with them...I started using DCT's to gain more juice capacity and the tank would always find a way to slide up the cart a little and leak. Made it impossible to take them out of the house as they would end up making a mess during travel. I picked up the Smok Tech UDCT that locks into place and that issue is now a thing of the past.

 

[Berylanna]

For those who are using something that is better if not laid down: I went to Goodwill and got 2 heavy-bottommed containers about the size of a cup, one was a heavy-bottomed cup probably made from a wine bottle, the other is a beautiful Cranberry glass vase. Since the vase will only hold 1 big or 2 small PV's it is on the front porch for outdoor vaping. The nice cup is where I keep them next to my computer/TV chair since it holds many.

For me, the ViVi Novas usually don't leak if they still have their nearly-invisible white O-rings on the cylinders, and if I use DRY fingers when I finger-tighten the head when replacing, and if I don't overfill. AND if they have never been cross-threaded!!!! I bought some used ones and quickly figured out why they had come up for sale

The few times it has leaked was probably from the head coming slightly unscrewed by sticking top when I unscrewed it to fill the juice. On those days I can't lay it down. I got a tiny jewelry "chain-nose" set of pliers that hardly weigh anything and I keep it in my carry case.

Everything else I got leaked if the barometric pressure was low, or went down, or I blinked too much. But I haven't tried anything newer than the 2-nd generation Vision Vivi Nova.

I have still not heard of a guaranteed no-tissues-needed-ever clearo-type anything.