You can only appreciate and enjoy your e-cigarette to the degree you understand how it works. Without this understanding, particularly if you’re new to vaping, you’re likely to end up being frustrated by the experience and get the feeling like something is missing. As a device, the e-cig consists of the following main components: a vape tank, vape coil, batteries, vape modes, and the e-liquid/ e-juice. In this guide, we’ll be focusing on the vape tank. We’ll discuss what it is, the different types that exist, and some of the best brands you’ll want to consider for your e-cig. Consequently, this knowledge will assist you in making an informed decision when selecting a vape tank (clearomizer). Okay, let’s dive in.
Defining the Vape Tank and Types
The vape tank, depending on the technology behind it, will alternatively be called an atomizer, cartomizer, glassomizer, or clearomizer. It consists of a heating device and an e-juice holder that transform the battery into a vaporizer.
The vape tank can be called an atomizer and it contains the earliest technology used in e-cigs. Atomizers lack in capacity, have a heating coil at the bottom, and a metal mesh at the top of the coil. Some of them use a silica wick in place of the metal mesh. They are the shortest in size compared to the other kinds of vapor tanks. They are filled using a process conventionally called “dripping” by vapers; it’s essentially dripping the e-liquid directly onto the coil.
Vape tanks can alternatively be called cartomizers if they have polyfill wrapped around the heating coil. The polyfill soaks the e-juice and provides a longer vaping time compared to the atomizer technology. Some cartomizer designs have larger cylindrical tanks with larger capacities for containing the e-juice.
Vape tanks can also be called clearomizers if they are made using the latest vaping technology in the market. Invented in 2009, clearomizers are mostly cylindrical and have a Pyrex glass or clear polycarbonate plastic reservoir. The clear tank enables you to check the level of e-liquid inside. The e-liquid is passed to the heating coil using a silica wick. There are designs with high-end heating coils with longer wicks and others with shorter wicks for easier wick saturation. When a clearomizer has a reservoir that’s made of glass, it’s called a glassomizer. The glass reservoir has an advantage over the plastic one in that it’s resistant to erosion, which is common with the plastic reservoirs.
Breaking Them Further
Vape tanks can further be broken down into just two kinds of tanks: direct-lung (sub ohm) and mouth-to-lung vapor tanks. With the direct-lung tanks, in a single puff, you’ll take in vapor directly into your lungs. They have bigger air holes known as “air flow”, which enable the direct intake of vapor into the lungs. Direct-lung tanks are alternatively called “Sub Ohm Tanks”, referring to the resistance of the heating coil, which is below 1 ohm, meaning more vapor and flavor, and a warmer and denser cloud is produced. Furthermore, direct-lung tanks are ideal for e-liquids with a high viscosity (thicker e-liquids). In fact, you should essentially use them with such liquids because they are essentially meant for creating big smoke clouds, and regardless of the fact that they can also handle thinner liquids, they may not function so well with them since the thinner liquids may leak. An excellent example of a Direct-Lung tank that you may want to try is the IJOY Captain S Sub ohm Tank.
Mouth-to-lung tanks function similar to the conventional tobacco cigarettes, in that you take a puff, and then inhale; a two-step process, while with the direct-lung tanks it’s a one step process. They are not necessarily meant for creating big smoke clouds. A lie that has been going around is that mouth-to-lung tanks are meant for beginner vapers; however, even experienced vapers appreciate and even prefer this kind of tank. They are ideal for liquids with low viscosity (thinner liquids). You can check out the “Aspire Nautilus Mini”; one of the most recognized and recommended vape tanks for mouth-to-lung vaping.
Disposable or Rebuildable
Disposable tanks provide good performance at an affordable price. They are ideal for novice vapers and for stocking up. However, once they burn out, or the wick gets defective, the tank will be useless.
Rebuildable tanks enable you to reuse the tank as much as you need by replacing the coil heads; an easy procedure that entails screwing and unscrewing the heads.
Nature of the Material
Vapor tanks are essentially made of three materials: Pyrex (glass), metal, and polycarbonate (plastic).
Most tanks in the market are made of plastic, which provides an equilibrium of affordability, functionality, and durability. The drawback of plastic tanks is that they often have a challenge handling the e-juice. They will eventually crack if the e-juice is too acidic, or they’ll “cloud” or “etch” with time, which adversely affects the appearance of your tank. Some e-juice flavors that are known to have this effect on plastic tanks are hot cinnamon, passion fruit, or root beer.
Vapor tanks that are made of glass are just elegant. They are heavier compared to the plastic tanks, and usually, have sleek, immaculate, and cool designs. As mentioned earlier, they handle e-juices very well since you’ll not experience the disadvantages of the plastic tanks. Nonetheless, as is the nature of glass, they’re brittle. So care must be taken to prevent them from experiencing a shock that’s strong enough to lead to their demise. Mind you, they won’t necessarily break the first time they fall since they’re made to handle some amount of shock, but there’s only so much shock that they can handle – they’re bound to eventually break after falling enough times.
The number of vapor tanks out there that are made of metal is considerably limited. If you ever find one, it’ll probably be made of anodized aluminum or stainless steel. Furthermore, there is a limited number of tanks that merge the properties of Pyrex or polycarbonate with a metallic sheath to dress up or protect the inner tank.
The Coil Design
The vapor coil is found either at the top or bottom of the tank. The difference in the coil placement offers some advantages that you may prefer. If you like heat in your mouth, you can choose the top coil placement since it’ll be closer to your mouth. If your e-cig uses a high powered battery, you may want to go for the top coil placement because it’ll make the most of the high power output, and it extends the life of the coil. The bottom coil placement is preferable if you are not very keen on checking the level of the e-juice in your tank. When the tank runs dry and you keep using the e-cig, the wick will scorch from the heat since it has nothing to turn into vapor. The bottom coil placement does not suffer from this situation as much as the top coil placement does.
Moreover, there are single coil designs, which produce moderate heat, and dual coil designs, which produce higher degrees of heat and vapor, and are more expensive.
More Recommendations
Some major and popular brands of e-cigs with the various types of vape tanks mentioned, that you may want to experiment with and explore, to discover and create your own unique style are:Sublime Vapor – has all the different kinds of tanks mentioned. You can check out their cartomizers,
- Sublime Vapor – has all the different kinds of tanks mentioned. You can check out their cartomizers, clearomizers, and glassomizers. They have really cool designs and e-juice options.
- VaporFi Rebel Tank – an excellent example of a tank with dual coils, and has the option to adjust the tank’s performance so that it can handle e-juices of various properties.
- Endura Prism T18 by Innokin – one of the latest and highly acclaimed tanks for mouth-to-lung vaping.
- Cubis Tank by Joyetech – a capable sub ohm tank that can also be used for a mouth-to-lung vaping experience.
- Svoemesto Kayfun V5 RTA – an ideal high-end single coil tank for mouth-to-lung vaping.