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Stuck bubbles blocking airflow

Hi there,

i have a problem. When im vaping, it creates bubbles of air inside the tank and these bubbles get stuck in the holes, that lead to the coil. And because these holes are blocked by bubbles, the juice cant get in there and the cotton is not saturating properly. I already asked this question in our local vape community, where i was told to pierce the cotton with a needle. It helped - partially. The first day after i put new coil in, and pierced the cotton as i was told, it worked perfectly - the taste was awesome and bubbles were leaving the holes by themselves. But today, they started getting stuck there again and the problem is back. I can get them out, when i blow inside the vape (instead of drawing from it) and make a few priming puffs here and there, but thats more of a temporary solution. Does anyone know what could i do about this, please? Its getting really frustrating and im running out of ideas. Thanks for all your advice :)

EDIT: I have Eleaf iStick Pico Mega grip + Eleaf Melo 3 tank. Currently im using 0.25 coil and smoking 80/20 VG/PG juice if that will be of any help.
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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Member For 3 Years
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Hi there,

i have a problem. When im vaping, it creates bubbles of air inside the tank and these bubbles get stuck in the holes, that lead to the coil. And because these holes are blocked by bubbles, the juice cant get in there and the cotton is not saturating properly. I already asked this question in our local vape community, where i was told to pierce the cotton with a needle. It helped - partially. The first day after i put new coil in, and pierced the cotton as i was told, it worked perfectly - the taste was awesome and bubbles were leaving the holes by themselves. But today, they started getting stuck there again and the problem is back. I can get them out, when i blow inside the vape (instead of drawing from it) and make a few priming puffs here and there, but thats more of a temporary solution. Does anyone know what could i do about this, please? Its getting really frustrating and im running out of ideas. Thanks for all your advice :)

EDIT: I have Eleaf iStick Pico Mega grip + Eleaf Melo 3 tank. Currently im using 0.25 coil and smoking 80/20 VG/PG juice if that will be of any help.
You are better off with a thinner juice. 80 or higher VG is made for drippers. 60-70% VG is made for subohm tanks. I'd recommend getting a 60-70VG mix juice next. Basically the juice is too thick
 
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MC5

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
If you have a larger stock of 80% VG liquids, you may want to experiment a bit by mixing a drop of water into your next tankful to see if it improves the flow. If so, you could get a bottle of PG and slightly thin your existing liquid (about 5%) to make good use of it.
 
Yea i was thinking about less VG as well. However, as MC5 points out, i have about 2l of 80% VG right now. Im still pretty new in vaping (somewhere about 2 months) and the girl at my vapeshop told me, that its a bad idea to add water into this kind of stuff (dont know if she ment this particular grip/tank or just into juice in general). What would you tell me about that? Do you think adding water into my liquid can be somehow harmful for my vape? And if not, can i use just regular water or do i need destiled one?
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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Member For 3 Years
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Yea i was thinking about less VG as well. However, as MC5 points out, i have about 2l of 80% VG right now. Im still pretty new in vaping (somewhere about 2 months) and the girl at my vapeshop told me, that its a bad idea to add water into this kind of stuff (dont know if she ment this particular grip/tank or just into juice in general). What would you tell me about that? Do you think adding water into my liquid can be somehow harmful for my vape? And if not, can i use just regular water or do i need destiled one?
i haven't done it myself yet and adding water will dilute flavor a little but people have told me to use 5% DI water to thin out juice. I might make a bottle or 2 this weekend and try it out
 

PhantomOp

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In a 20/80 (PG/VG) mix, I would start by adding about .3ml (per 30ml = 1%) of distilled water. Add more in very small amounts until you get it where you want it. This is how I thinned out my store purchased juice once. I now thin based on a % of my own DIY mixes.
 

MC5

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Yea i was thinking about less VG as well. However, as MC5 points out, i have about 2l of 80% VG right now. Im still pretty new in vaping (somewhere about 2 months) and the girl at my vapeshop told me, that its a bad idea to add water into this kind of stuff (dont know if she ment this particular grip/tank or just into juice in general). What would you tell me about that? Do you think adding water into my liquid can be somehow harmful for my vape? And if not, can i use just regular water or do i need destiled one?

Water is used to thin VG by many vendors and vapers and my guess is the clerk just doesn't know that much. Tap water is fine to test out whether it helps. Should you find a percent or two of water does the trick, it would best to buy a gallon of distilled water for thinning bigger quantities as it will contain no minerals or other things that could slightly alter your vape. Personally, I thin with tap water and it's fine. Good luck getting that smooth flow!
 

PhantomOp

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Personally, I thin with tap water and it's fine
I can't suggest tap water, only because I used to live in Kansas ... you didn't want to even drink the tap water where I lived. Chemical run off from the fields and a ton of other crap. I now live if Florida. Water is a bit better, but I still don't trust it for drinking unless it is filtered through a BRITA system.
 
Ill talk with the vapeshop girl about it. Although it seems none of you had any problems with this, that chick vapes for five years, so as a newbie i dont dare to take her opinion lightly. If she tells me, thats its a bad idea anyways, i guess ill try to thin the juice with pure PG if i can get my hands on it, or with a base with more PG in it (like with 50/50 VG/PG or something like that). That should do the trick, right?
 

MC5

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Perhaps it's best for you to expand your research so you can come to your own conclusion. If you google "add water to thin vg" you can see how it's handled across the vaping community. No one person here or elsewhere has all the answers, just our opinions and experiences. A certain amount of troubleshooting and tinkering comes with vaping, and the more you educate yourself the less money you will spend and the more self reliant you will become. Most all of us have had to go through that learning period to be successful vapers, and it will serve you well too. A little trial and error is necessary at times.

The bottom line is that water is thinner than PG, so it will be most effective in thinning your liquid while retaining the flavor. PG will work as well but you will need more of it to get the same viscosity, so you will lose a bit more flavor. If you need PG, Essential Depot and Bulk Apothecary are great sources many vapers use in making our own liquid.
 

JosCiv

Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
ECF Refugee
With all that being said, I might think it has nothing do to with the VG or PG amount. I've had a similar problem with the air bubbles, they came from out of nowhere and they were stuck on the bottom of my tank. The thing is with the Melo 3 that if you pull your glass from your tank a little up you create air that can enter the tank (tiny air bubbles in fact). You may consider taking your tank apart (
) and washing it completely, even changing the bottom O-ring. Besides that air bubbles can't 'block' the juice from entering your coil so as your local shop said you should pierce the cotton with a nail, I did this too and the first time I did it the needle didn't went all the way to the middle. I then unscrewed the whole thing again and pierced it all the way to the middle of my coil. I only did this on 2/4 holes but I'm not sure if that's a thing to keep in mind.

What also helps to get more flavor and to let higher VG juices run inside your coil is to open up the top layer of your tank to let some air in your tank, your tank is vacuum and this prevents juice from sliding easily in your coil.

Hope this helps!

BTW: The tips for the thinner juice are really useful, check them out as well!
 

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