# Deciding between a Tank and a Dripper



## Alex (17/10/15)

*Deciding between a Tank and a Dripper*

Posted by *Amir Zamani* on *Oct 15, 2015*







I started vaping on and off about 3 1/2 years ago on an ego-style battery, with a ce-4 type clearomizer. Then I moved onto a K101 with an IGO-W top about a year and a half later. I remember dripping to be an inconvenience to myself, with the rebuilding, cleaning, rewicking, etc. That's when Aspire released the sub-ohm tank that would change everything. I picked up an Aspire Atlantis, and threw it on my K101. Simply put, I loved it. I told myself I would never go back to dripping again. Guess what I'm vaping

on right now? A Royal Hunter (Dripper)

.





Lets find out why I went back.















*For some of you visual learners, those two charts will be all you will need to decide between the two. If you are that type of person, then go away, and start vaping now! For the individuals that like to over-analyze products before buying them (me), keep reading. I will be covering every pro and con in greater detail below. *


*TANK - PROS*


*1. Easy to use and Maintain*
Tanks are easier to use and maintain. Period. Most tanks consist of 3 general maintenance items that take less a minute or two each. Refilling the tank is the first, this takes about 20 seconds and it can get messy if you don't have the right type of bottle. I personally hate filling tanks with glass bottles with eyedroppers, I like thin-tipped bottles that can squeeze in the cracks. Second maintenance item is all about Coils, properly replacing a coil and priming it takes about 3-5 minutes, and only has to be done once every 1-3 weeks depending on your vaping habits, type of juice, and brand/type of tank/coil. The last maintenance item is cleaning, I personally recommend cleaning out your tank everytime you replace the coils, sometimes when you refill juice, and when an abnormal amount of dead skin cells are stuck on the drip tip. *Tanks are easier to use simply because they are user friendly, all you technically have to do is refill juice and replace coils when needed. The level of expertise needed for a tank is beginner-intermediate and many regulated mods take away most of the danger of anything bad happening as long as you aren't doing anything ridiculous.*

*2. Throat hit not as strong, sometimes*
The throat hit on a tank is much less than that of a dripper, sometimes. In my experience, I can easily vape a 6MG on a tank without coughing to much, depending on the flavor. When transferring that same flavor to a dripper, it gets much harsher and takes a much longer time to get accustomed to. *This can be a pro or a con depending on who is behind the vape. Some individuals want a stronger throat hit using less nicotine (drippers), and some people want a smoother throat hit for more nicotine (tanks).*

*3. Very convenient for driving, or moving activities because tanks can hold a lot of e-juice. *
Have you ever dripped and drove? If you have, you understand how hard and dangerous it really is. It also is annoying having a dripper when you have multiple items in both hands. *Tanks take away this inconvenience by allowing it to hold a predetermined amount of e-liquid inside a chamber. *

*4. Only recently and on certain models, can produce just as much smoke and flavor as a dripper. *
Atlantis V2, Smok Tfv4, Crown by Uwell, any of these ring a bell? These are a few of the tanks that are dominating the vaping community for good reason. Recently with the introduction of sub-ohm tanks, have allowed for an equal, if not better vaping experience then drippers. *Current sub-ohm tanks paired with the correct coil and mod can easily produce just as much flavor and smoke as a dripper. This is only the beginning since new and improved tanks are coming out daily.*

*5. Relatively safer than drippers, sometimes*
*Tanks are relatively safer than drippers because they are practically dummy proof and require almost no technical skills to use.* Most of the coils sold have a operating wattage range on the side of the box that shows the safe level of use. Stay within the safe operating zone of the ohms of your coil, or use 4.2 volts as a good benchmark, and everything will be just dandy. 



*TANKS - CONS*


*1. Coils have to be replaced every 1-2 weeks depending on model, way to get around this!!!!*
Coils if you think about it, aren't very expensive. Especially if your just transferring over from cigarettes. Compared to RDAs, relatively speaking, they are really expensive. *The average price of a coil can cost anywhere from $2 - $5 each, and usually coming in a pack of 5. An average coil lasting about 2 weeks, means on average, someone will spend about $6 on coils a month, $72 a year.* There is a way to avoid this cost or at least reduce it significantly. With the introduction of rebuildable coil heads, or RTA's, such as on the goblin, and Tfv4, these allow you to transform a tank into a dripper, without dripping! I don't want to go to indepth about these since it is not the nature of this blog post. Just know they exist.





*2. Throat hit not as strong, need more nicotine or higher PG to achieve it.*
_See TANKS - PROS #2, they are the same._

*3. Need basic knowledge of different types of e-juice ratio combinations to the type of tank/coils you are running*
With basic knowledge means that you understand different types of juices and PG/VG combinations. Common juice ratios are 60% VG-40% PG, 70%-30%, 80%-20%. What do these combinations mean to you? It means that different ratios will equal different viscosity of liquid, PG is inherently thinner than VG. Another important factor is the flavor of the juice, dessert flavors are typically sweeter and gunk up coils faster, while fruity flavors are thin and light. *The reason this matters is that tanks are wicked from the outside to inside. If you have a very thick e-liquid, depending on the tank/coil, it might not wick fast enough and you could get a dry hit or burn out your coil prematurely. You need to know if your coil can support thicker juices like 90%-10%, tanks like the TFv4 can do this.*

*4. Some tanks have a large amount of e-juice spitback, Arctic, Cyclone, Etc.*
If you have ever hit a tank or a dripper, you might notice that unburned juice comes into your mouth. If you have a high nicotine rating, over time this can make you sick, and also have possibly drastic health consequences (not enough research done). *Some tanks have huge spitback like the Arctic (in my experience), and what I've read, the Sense Cyclone also. While drippers are not excluded from this, it is good to point it out. *

*5. Juice changes are not welcomed on tanks unless with a new coil.*
Lets say you just vaped a whole tank of a delicious dessert flavor. Oh no, you just ran out of it! But yesterday you also bought a fruity flavor. Now the decision has to be made whether you can just pour in that new e-juice without changing the coil. *Overtime the new juice will overpower the old juice, but will never achieve 100% of the full flavor. Some vapers will not want to waste a coil simply because of a juice change and will just pour that new flavor right on in, just depends on what you want.*



*DRIPPERS - PROS*


*1. Coils & Wicking material are extremely cheap if bought in correct quantities and locations.*
Compared to having to buy coils constantly, drippers don't need premade coils. Drippers instead use custom made coils that are handbuilt and then cotton is put through the coils for the wicking material. *Wire is cheap, 5M-10M of Kanthal is around 5-10$. This can last you years as long as you aren't wasteful or make crazy builds like Clapton or fused Claptons (more on this in another post). Cotton is also very cheap. I personally like Japanese cotton shaped in squares. You can buy about 100 pieces online for around 8-9$. One piece can re-wick a dual coil build about 2-3 times. If you re-wick your coils EVERYDAY, this amount of cotton can almost last all year!*

*2. Nicotine and flavor go much further, throat hit is enhanced, and flavors can taste better.*
Drippers used to be, hands-down, the best way to obtain the strongest flavor profiles. Tanks are now on similar levels of flavor production as well. *I personally still believe that RDAs produce more flavor, others will argue differently. Something we can all agree on though, is that RDAs definitely produce stronger throat hit from nicotine. A 3MG on a dripper, will feel like 6MG on a tank.*

*3. Larger vapor production if built correctly.*
*Being able to use different types of wires, cotton, etc. These all allow for extreme customization of the type of builds you can make. These types of customization allow for larger clouds.* Drippers usually also have larger airflow. Recently, tanks have been able to keep up with vapor production of an RDA, just depends on which one your using.

*4. Easy to change juices*
*Changing juice types is easier on a dripper because all you have to do is burn off the old flavor and then drip on the new flavor.* While this doesn't allow for a complete flavor change, it is a lot better and easier then tanks.

*5. More customizable then tanks. *
*What I mean by customization is the way RDAs have unlimited capabilities of the way you can build them.* Once again though, Tanks have been able to compete on this as well with the introduction of rebuildable deck coils.



*DRIPPERS - CONS*


*1. Need medium-strong knowledge of vaping to operate a dripper properly.*
*Drippers (and tanks as well) require knowledge of Ohms, Voltage, Watts, Batteries, amps, and different knowledge of all the types of wires and cotton out there.* This learning curve is what turns off many potential drippers. Others have taken the easy way by allowing vape shops to maintain and build their RDAs. Don't put anything in your mouth that you don't understand. Especially something that can blow up.

*2. Constantly have to drip juice onto cotton *
*Dripping requires two hands. This means it will be an inconvenience whenever you have something in your other hand, driving, texting, etc. *

*3. Occasionally dry hits happen*
If you have dripped as long as I have, then you have definitely experienced a dry hit. Let me tell you this. They are terrible. It is as if you are in a room full of burning paper and you just took a nice big inhale. *A dry hit happens when you run out of juice on your cotton, and you essentially are smoking burning cotton*. This happens much more frequently then on tanks. After some experience of running a dripper you'll almost never have a dry hit again, I haven't had one in a few months at least.

*4. Have to constantly upkeep, clean, rebuild, re-cotton. *
Over time your coils and cotton will get gunked up and look like burnt tar. Coils can be cleaned by just simply taking off the cotton, and burning it off (be careful!). *Drippers also get messy because your dripping juice everywhere. It will get on your hands, clothes, and mod. This constant upkeep can get annoying and time intrusive versus just replacing a coil and juicing up in a tank.* For tinkerers like me, I enjoy the time that I sit down and rebuild coils from scratch, or rewicking my cotton. To each their own.

*5. Throat hit is very strong, and nicotine is amplified, 3MG on drippers, feels like 6MG on tank. *
*See Dripping-PROS #2.*

* 6. Can be very dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. *
*If you choose to build your own coils then you better know what you are doing. For starters you need an Ohm meter or at least a mod that can read Ohms. If you don't know what Ohms are, then put down that wick and wire, and go read up on it. If you build your coils at to low an ohm, and attempt to fire it with a battery whos amp rating isn't high enough, or incorrectly set the wattage, you are putting yourself and those around you at risk. Battery venting and explosions are all possible, the dangers are magnified even further with a mechanical mod for reasons that will not be explained here. *

source: http://www.vapingcentral.com/blogs/...2386628-deciding-between-a-tank-and-a-dripper

Reactions: Like 2 | Informative 2


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## stevie g (17/10/15)

I recently hard shorted two samsung 25Rs... One entered thermal runaway and might have popped or vented Gas but I chucked it in a glass of water and nothing happened.

Second one hard short again in mech box, box got hot I thought how weird. Took battery out it was very warm not hot and read 0v on my DMM. 

Just wondering if the whole battery safety thing is over played it isn't the battery that explodes it is the enclosure that can't release pressure. 

My 2c.


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## Andre (17/10/15)

Sprint said:


> I recently hard shorted two samsung 25Rs... One entered thermal runaway and might have popped or vented Gas but I chucked it in a glass of water and nothing happened.
> 
> Second one hard short again in mech box, box got hot I thought how weird. Took battery out it was very warm not hot and read 0v on my DMM.
> 
> ...


I certainly do not want to test that theory. And experience like yours would have made me doubly cautious.


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## stevie g (17/10/15)

Lol it actually made me trust the high end batteries more. I wouldn't have been laughing if it happened in a tube mech though.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Gazzacpt (19/10/15)

Sprint said:


> I recently hard shorted two samsung 25Rs... One entered thermal runaway and might have popped or vented Gas but I chucked it in a glass of water and nothing happened.
> 
> Second one hard short again in mech box, box got hot I thought how weird. Took battery out it was very warm not hot and read 0v on my DMM.
> 
> ...


A bit of both. A venting battery has the potential to turn into a "flare" plenty YouTube vids of controlled environment vents to demonstrate how bad it can get. 

So now you have rapidly expanding gas in an enclosure that may not be able to let the gas bleed out quicly enough and you essentially have a pipe bomb.

It's the same as a grenade. The explosive charge isn't big if it goes off uncontained it might be an annoyance but put it in a container and the shrapnel is what does the damage.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## stevie g (19/10/15)

Gazzacpt said:


> A bit of both. A venting battery has the potential to turn into a "flare" plenty YouTube vids of controlled environment vents to demonstrate how bad it can get.
> 
> So now you have rapidly expanding gas in an enclosure that may not be able to let the gas bleed out quicly enough and you essentially have a pipe bomb.
> 
> It's the same as a grenade. The explosive charge isn't big if it goes off uncontained it might be an annoyance but put it in a container and the shrapnel is what does the damage.



I totally agree with you that's why I no longer own tube mechs. Magnetic battery doors are awesome in that regard as they will pop off before much pressure builds.


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## Average vapor Joe (19/10/15)

Sprint said:


> I recently hard shorted two samsung 25Rs... One entered thermal runaway and might have popped or vented Gas but I chucked it in a glass of water and nothing happened.
> 
> Second one hard short again in mech box, box got hot I thought how weird. Took battery out it was very warm not hot and read 0v on my DMM.
> 
> ...


yes the battery itself does not explode. It releases large amounts of hot gasses that are obviously expanding. If the mod does not have venting holes of adequate size. The pressure will build and the mod WILL explode. In terms of a tube mod think of it like a pipe bomb if the battery does short. 
Happy coiling


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## SHiBBY (19/10/15)

When I got into vaping, I progressed from an Aspire Nautilus on a 15W iTaste SVD to Velocity RDA on a 18650 mech in the first month and was amazed at the difference between the two. The experience on the dripper was what I was after. Unrestricted hits, rebuildable coils and CLOUDSS! At that point mechs were the ultimate solution to vaping in my opinion: Powerful, sleek, and robust. But they were chowing batteries and I didn't want to carry around spare batteries all the time, plus with me getting into some low-ohm builds the safety of a regulated box mod appealed to me, so I got a Smok M80 and later a Smok X Cube II as well.

When I learned about RTA's and tried a few out, I thought that it would be the obvious middle ground. The performance of a dripper with the convenience of a tank! But it's not that simple. Although my Goblins perform LOADS better than the Nauty I originally owned, the experience still cannot be compared to that of an RDA. The tiny build decks simply can't host anything that produces as much vapor as my RDA's, and the airflow, also way better than the Nauty, is still pretty restricted even when opened to the max.

So currently I take my X Cube with the Goblin Mini to work while the wife takes the M80 with the Goblin. When we get home as night, we give the Goblins a rest and she grabs the Derringer while I grab the CLT V3, and then we merrily cloud up the living room while watching series

Reactions: Like 2


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