I've just been talking with one of my viewers regarding something I've never seen before, and it could potentially be a problem -- I just don't know whose problem it is. He complained that when he put a certain juice in his Vivi Nova, it discoloured and disfigured the silicone seal over the coil. And by disfigured, I mean this thing looks like it contracted elephantitis. Have a gander:
On the left is a normal Vivi Nova top seal. On the right is the damaged one.
Below is a profile view, again with a normal seal on the left, and the damaged one on the right.
It's very nearly doubled in size. Now I've experienced discolouration of the seals, that's nothing new, but this growth is new to me.
Silicone is largely inert and is non-reactive with most chemicals, and that includes sulfuric and hydrochloric acids individually (though I don't know about aqua regia -- a mix of sulfuric and hydrochloric acid, which is just about the only substance that can dissolve gold, as neither acid on its own will). High temperature silicone -- which is what is (or should be) used in our clearos -- should be able to withstand high temperatures. The juice he used was Key Lime Pie from Gourmet Vapor. (I've never tried it so I don't know what it could be made with.) This reaction occurred over a period of about a day or so if that (he noticed the seal was discoloured and loose by the time he'd vaped just 3/4 of a tank and was going to refill) so that's a really fast reaction.
Any ideas what could cause this? I'm no chemist, but there shouldn't be anything in e-liquid that could cause this reaction with ordinarily non-reactive silicone. Neither citric nor malic acid should do this, at least not in vapable concentrations (mine certainly doesn't and my KLP does contain a very small amount of malic acid -- about 0.04% b/v). So there are a couple of possibilities I can think of that may cause this:
1) The juice contains one of the few chemicals that is reactive with high temp silicone. (I don't know which chemicals are though.)
2) The type of silicone rubber used is not proper high temp silicone.
Neither of these scenarios is good, as it means one or the other is a problem, and if it's the seal then that means it may not be using a food grade silicone rubber. If it's the juice, I don't what to know what's in there that's causing that reaction with silicone.
But again, I'm no expert so there may be something else I don't know of that's causing the reaction. anyone with a better understanding of the chemistry of silicone that can hazard a guess?
On the left is a normal Vivi Nova top seal. On the right is the damaged one.
Below is a profile view, again with a normal seal on the left, and the damaged one on the right.
It's very nearly doubled in size. Now I've experienced discolouration of the seals, that's nothing new, but this growth is new to me.
Silicone is largely inert and is non-reactive with most chemicals, and that includes sulfuric and hydrochloric acids individually (though I don't know about aqua regia -- a mix of sulfuric and hydrochloric acid, which is just about the only substance that can dissolve gold, as neither acid on its own will). High temperature silicone -- which is what is (or should be) used in our clearos -- should be able to withstand high temperatures. The juice he used was Key Lime Pie from Gourmet Vapor. (I've never tried it so I don't know what it could be made with.) This reaction occurred over a period of about a day or so if that (he noticed the seal was discoloured and loose by the time he'd vaped just 3/4 of a tank and was going to refill) so that's a really fast reaction.
Any ideas what could cause this? I'm no chemist, but there shouldn't be anything in e-liquid that could cause this reaction with ordinarily non-reactive silicone. Neither citric nor malic acid should do this, at least not in vapable concentrations (mine certainly doesn't and my KLP does contain a very small amount of malic acid -- about 0.04% b/v). So there are a couple of possibilities I can think of that may cause this:
1) The juice contains one of the few chemicals that is reactive with high temp silicone. (I don't know which chemicals are though.)
2) The type of silicone rubber used is not proper high temp silicone.
Neither of these scenarios is good, as it means one or the other is a problem, and if it's the seal then that means it may not be using a food grade silicone rubber. If it's the juice, I don't what to know what's in there that's causing that reaction with silicone.
But again, I'm no expert so there may be something else I don't know of that's causing the reaction. anyone with a better understanding of the chemistry of silicone that can hazard a guess?
