Subtanks hate my aunt.

[Adrienne]

Hi, guys. So my great aunt bought two mini Subtanks and a bunch of extra coils. Both tanks leak a whole lot. She's blown through all of her coils, but each one has started leaking in no time flat. MVS told her about the "fix", and she added a bit of their organic cotton to a few of the coils (on one side, as she was instructed to do). Somehow, she's still in leak city.

I've searched around the forums, and it seems that other people just are not having such troubles. Her juices tend to be around 20pg/80vg, which shouldn't be an issue for these tanks. No way is she going to build her own coils, so that's a non-starter.

She just told me that she's sure they both just must be defective, and she's gonna throw out both of these $$$ tanks, so I've come here to see if there's some way they can be salvaged.

Anyone heard of anything like this happening with these widely-lauded tanks?

 

[Zamazam]

A tank leaks if the seals aren't sealing, or the coil head isn't seated all the way down, or if the bottom assy with the coil head isn't tightened down enough. Tanks work on a vacuum principal, there has to be lower pressure in the tank, so when you take a draw it brings some juice into the coils, but stops short of dumping it all into the coil due to the partial vacuum in the tank. Does that make sense?

If there's no partial vacuum, then the juice floods the coil head. Your Aunt should be using the tank at 25 to 30 Watts to achieve good vaporization of the eliquid.

 

[Adrienne]

Thanks, Zamazam, for such a fast response. I've asked her to tighten everything, and she says that she has. Most of the coils she's tried have worked for her for a day or so before leaking up a storm. She's running them right in the range you suggest on an iStick 50w.

She's a state away at the moment, but she'll be coming back to live with us in a few months. At the very least, I'll make sure she doesn't throw away these tanks!

 

[Oggy]

I know its an odd question but I have run across this more than once. Is she keeping the coils upright? If the coils are on there side for very long you loose the vacuum and they leak.

 

[UncleRJ]

What Zamazam said.

 

[Zamazam]

Thanks, Zamazam, for such a fast response. I've asked her to tighten everything, and she says that she has. Most of the coils she's tried have worked for her for a day or so before leaking up a storm. She's running them right in the range you suggest on an iStick 50w.

She's a state away at the moment, but she'll be coming back to live with us in a few months. At the very least, I'll make sure she doesn't throw away these tanks!

While the wait is happening, have her get a Joyetech Delta II tank. I have one, and it is "aunt proof". It just works, the coils are pricey, but it just works with no leaking at all. I'm sure she will like it. If not, I'll buy it from her.

 

[Adrienne]

I know its an odd question but I have run across this more than once. Is she keeping the coils upright? If the coils are on there side for very long you loose the vacuum and they leak.

You know, that actually might be it. When she was living with us, she'd constantly leave her PVs (with attached attys or clearomizers) just lying about. It bugged me 'cause the drip tips were touching various surfaces (yuck), but her habit persisted. I'm calling her to pass on this advice.

Thanks, guys! I'll keep the thread posted if she or I (in a few months) does figure out what's going on.

 

[Jgoss]

I have another suggestion. Take the tank apart and give it a good clean. When re-assembling, put the head in and tighten it down BEFORE you screw the base to the mod. I had a bit of a leaking problem because I screwed the base onto the mod first, then installed the coil head. I think this happened because the farther in your mod pushes the contact, the shallower the head seats, and this can cause leaks.

 

[Adrienne]

While the wait is happening, have her get a Joyetech Delta II tank. I have one, and it is "aunt proof". It just works, the coils are pricey, but it just works with no leaking at all. I'm sure she will like it. If not, I'll buy it from her.

Thank you, again, Zamazam! I've maintained for five years that vapers are nicer than the general population.
She worries about the Nautilus coils, so a Delta II it is.
Much obliged!

(Edit - Jgoss, I'll ask her about the order in which she's been installing the coils. Thanks.)

 

[Deeks]

My wife was having a similar problem when I first got her Subtank Mini installed on her iStick. She kept flooding the coils and I didnt know what the hell she was doing until I finally watched her closely. She would fire her istick and draw on it like normal but then she would stop firing but keep drawing on it, so the liquid wasn't atomizing but still being pulled into the coil. Once we worked on her technique she hasn't had any trouble with the OCC coils at all now.

 

[Adrienne]

Thanks, Deeks! I'll call my aunt and read your post later today. She says she's been keeping them upright (hmm...). But she has promised me she's not gonna toss them (though she's still not convinced that they aren't defective), so that's a relief.

 

[Deeks]

My pleasure, hope it works out! I thought for sure we had a batch of bad coils until I figured out what she was doing

 

[CDZVaper]

What I did was swap out the BOTTOM Red O ring IN THE TANK with the Black one. I also changed the glass tube that it came with, since I had to remove it to change the o ring. I havent had any leaks since, fingers crossed. Its been a few days now...

Make sure she uses the same size ring, as the Subtank comes with 3 different sizes.

 

[Adrienne]

Truth be told, she now only refers to them as "the damn things", isn't too keen on even looking at them anymore, and has gone back to her (used to be MY) REO Grand and simple Cisco dripping attys, though I am sending her a Delta. I'll likely be the one to figure out the mystery leaking when she moves back in with us. You guys are great, and I'll keep you posted.

 

[CDZVaper]

Truth be told, she now only refers to them as "the damn things", isn't too keen on even looking at them anymore, and has gone back to her (used to be MY) REO Grand and simple Cisco dripping attys, though I am sending her a Delta. I'll likely be the one to figure out the mystery leaking when she moves back in with us. You guys are great, and I'll keep you posted.

Haha my mom says the same about her Subtank, when she has coil problems or general issues with it. That is, until she gets a new juice and loves it again...