Theorycrafting: Tailoring Recipes For Tank Systems (Flavor Chasers)

E-liquids General
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Okay folks! Time for some brainstorming funtimes! Gonna lay this out and see if you guys have run into similar situations in attempt to bridge the gap between the two types of atomizers. Let me preface by saying that I am a DIE HARD dripper. IMO nothing comes close to the vape you get when dripping. However, many people are DIE HARD tankers. I know because I used to be one of them and here lies the conundrum.

Lets say I take any one of my creations with a 20pg 80vg or higher solution. Pop that puppy in the dripper and wowwee full on flavor. I dont care so much on how much vapor is produced, but visually, its respectable. Now I take that same solution and pop it into a Lemo 2, Aromamizer RTDA etc. something with a reduced chamber compared to a dripper deck. Obviously, the reduced size of the chamber and the length of the chimney going to the tip reduces/mutes the flavor. All tank systems suffer from this design.

So in theory, would it be prudent to tailor your mixes by doing one or more of the following to boost flavor to counteract the reduction of flavor in tank systems?

  1. Reduce the amount of VG and add more PG to your blend. We all know too well the power of PG and its flavor carrying properties. The cons here are people with reactions to PG and those wanting to avoid “throat hit”.
  2. Adjusting and increasing each flavor in said 80/20 solution by a certain percent to boost more flavor.
  3. Create a flavor base for all flavors in that mix and boosting this base by 2%. I am using the 2% rule here for companies that like Mount Baker Vapor that off extra flavor shots for their juice lines.

Now I know that theres a bunch of tank systems out there like the Uwell Crown and the Smok TFV4 that come very very close to dripper quality. But for many people out there using Atlantis, Kayfun etc. they could benefit from this.

I am open to your thoughts and appreciate any feedback given.

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Hi there!

Interesting topic! I have to admit, I was a bit surprised that you pointed out that a smaller chamber would be detrimental to flavour production, and that you mentioned Atlantis and Kayfun in the same sentence. :sweat_smile:
In fact, I’ve been thinking about this for a while, too. In my experience, given the same juice, same voltage, same coil build and same (or very similar) air flow, a smaller chamber will in fact give you a denser vape. There is, of course, an optimal size for some given amount of air flow - if the chamber’s too small for your given vapour production and air flow, you risk getting that syrup flavour problem (I prefer a more natural, less than maximum intensity flavour). On a side note, I once owned an Atlantis when it first showed up, but quickly gave it away as it gave me the coughing (early coil head issues, if you remember) and - more importantly - the flavour was flat and muted. The Kayfun is a whole different world, you get more depth, a few more notes and, being the Kayfun’s specialty, a violent throat hit. Personally, I live for the TH :grinning:
Back on topic, out of the equipment I own, the flavour benchmark are Derringer and Raptor with mesh. Second in line is my NextGen and my trusty Kayfun 4. I found the flavour from my newly acquired Zephyrus to be somewhat artificial, reminds me of plastic (rest assured, I have cleaned it well before use). The Aromamizer was a big, big disappointment. Can somebody enlighten me how to use top airflow drippers? That might be the problem…

As I’m using pipe stems a lot with my tanks (and sometimes with drippers), I’d assume a longer “drip tip” would act similar to a longer chimney, so in conclusion the longer chimney shouldn’t be of concern, as a longer stem actually helped to open up the profile.
The main culprit that causes less good flavour in RTAs compared to RDAs, I think, might be exposure to heat. While the juice sits in the tank, there will be heat from the chamber working on the juice, which should change it’s flavour properties.
A second thought might be saturation. I’m not sure how you drip - whether you drip every few hits or once per “session” -, but the way I drip the wick is oversaturated for most of the session, so the wick actually lies in a bath of liquid. On the other hand, the wick in a tank might be less saturated - of course we can’t see that, as it’s inside…

When I mix my juice, I stay around 50/50, as this gives me the best flavour. I tried using more flavouring with more VG, but the results were still not up to speed. That said, I’m not all too experienced or skilled in mixing, so that might be the problem here. So I’d fully agree to use more PG in tank mixes.
Adding more flavouring sounds promising to me as well. Does the flavour experience change if you do so? The juice might lose some depth maybe?

These are my 2 cents, thanks for bringing this question up! :smiley: