Plastic or PCB vs Glass

Is it just me? Ever since the Protank 2, I've noticed the big difference in flavor with a glass tank. I have a couple RTAs that are PCB, and I do love them, but I find there's a tremendous difference in flavor with glass. I find myself reaching for glass most of the time.

What makes the difference with the flavor? Is it just me?

Most of the plastics used for vaping aren't supposed to leach chemicals into the liquid they contain - and that includes, so far as I understand it, both LDPE/HDPE storage bottles and poly tanks - but I'm no chemist, and truth be told I've used Pyrex glass tanks almost exclusively since the OG Protank was released.

What kind of flavor problems are you having? Muted flavor, or some kind of funky additive?

OBDave said:

Most of the plastics used for vaping aren't supposed to leach chemicals into the liquid they contain - and that includes, so far as I understand it, both LDPE/HDPE storage bottles and poly tanks - but I'm no chemist, and truth be told I've used Pyrex glass tanks almost exclusively since the OG Protank was released.

What kind of flavor problems are you having? Muted flavor, or some kind of funky additive?

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It's always been a muted flavor, which is why I rarely use them. My go to tanks are all pyrex. I just keep these on the back burner. I like them, but the flavor is so much more muted.

Not so much a "today" issue, but I fear parting with them for the darker days to come.

I've never tasted anything in particular from plastic tanks, though some type of plastic make really bad driptips. I'm really not fond of glass at all; it's very heavy, which makes a mod top-heavy and more easily knocked over, which is bad since glass is also very fragile, even pyrex, when compared to metal or plastic.

Rather than glass, I've moved on from plastic to metal -- stainless steel for the Magmas, and that lovely lightweight titanium for my Achilles -- which are by far my favorites for their extreme flavor, light weight, and total absence of leaking unless I overfill. But making the transition from being able to see the tank contents to having to remove the cap to see the contents was slow; now I can tell just by the taste if it needs a refill, without getting a dry hit, but it took quite a while of experience to know that taste and understand its significance.

Andria

Huckleberried said:

It's always been a muted flavor, which is why I rarely use them. My go to tanks are all pyrex. I just keep these on the back burner. I like them, but the flavor is so much more muted.

Not so much a "today" issue, but I fear parting with them for the darker days to come.

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Even when comparing apples to apples, as in wattage settings? I get the same out of the few Evods I hang onto, but I'm normally running them at 8-9 watts while my Boreas is powering through at 50+....I know you're a full-time low-power user, so you'd probably be more perceptive than I am to this one.

I've always avoided plastic tanks like the plague. Some flavoring compounds can actually melt plastic. Triacetin is definitely one of them. Before pyrex tanks were designed. I just stuck with cartomizers, and atomizers.

My old Halo tanks taste like plastic....!

LOL, yes, oh my the evods... I loved those when I first got them. No way would I be able to use one now.

More or less, it's something I've always been curious about. I just don't understand why there'd be so much difference in flavor. When I got my first protank a couple years ago, I just couldn't use anything else. Now... I have all kinds of different tanks, 2 PCB RTAs, the rest are glass, and I still don't understand it.

Jimi D said:

I've always avoided plastic tanks like the plague. Some flavoring compounds can actually melt plastic. Triacetin is definitely one of them. Before pyrex tanks were designed. I just stuck with cartomizers, and atomizers.

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Oh most definitely. That's why I bought a glass tank to begin with. My go to tanks now are Goblin Mini and Merlin, I just wanna satisfy this 3 year old curiosity that no one has ever been able to explain to me, I guess, LOL.

Jimi D said:

I've always avoided plastic tanks like the plague. Some flavoring compounds can actually melt plastic. Triacetin is definitely one of them. Before pyrex tanks were designed. I just stuck with cartomizers, and atomizers.

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This is another strike against polycarbonate for me - most of my preferred flavor profiles don't include plastic-melters, but I'd hate to be caught off guard testing a new flavor...

I'm lucky enough to have started when glass tanks were the norm already

Rabbit Slayer said:

I'm lucky enough to have started when glass tanks were the norm already

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That's so true... I'm so glad for that, too, especially for those just getting into vaping.

I just like the way these 2 tanks vape. They certainly beat NOT vaping though.

I will take glass tanks over plastic. Everything taste better in glass. E-liquid-glass-Soda-glass.

I'm not sure about the plastic leeching into the ejuice but I know plastics have a habit of picking up certain 'odors' or flavors. Some of them no matter how much you wash them (even wish dish soap) you just never get the old flavor out of. Sort of like those plastic butter dish containers, try and wash one out after it's had onion dip in it or garlic butter. Good luck. Not talking about something chemically changing from heat like microwaving, just from being in contact. Even older tupperware had that issue to some degree.

Even if it doesn't taste like a previous flavor I've tried mixing flavors thinking it would blend nice and instead the flavors cancel each other out. If there was any left over flavor in the poly/plastic tank I wonder if it's not having a similar muting effect. Plastic as far as I know can't easily be sterilized where glass can. Glass is non porous which is a lot of the reason it's used in medical/scientific stuff. Can be cleaned and not cross contaminate.

I've noticed more flavor but can't tell if it's going from poly tanks to glass or the build going from a vape pen with a 2.2ohm coil to an rta using a .6 ohm coil. Not an apples to apples comparison. I guess metal is an option though metal tends to create a metallic flavor. It does with drinks anyway. Of course glass or metal for the tank surround, the chimney and everything is metal and in contact with the juice so going glass doesn't remove metal from the equation entirely.

If worried about breaking glass many swear by vape bands. Said they've dropped their mod and the tank survived because of the vape band so breakage is less likely. For that matter poly and plastics break and crack and leak too, either from juices, alcohol or rough handling.

Synphul said:

.6 ohm coil

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Hmm... maybe I should build those lower and see what that does, if anything. I just want science to pop in and tell me WHY it tastes better in glass. I like how you mentioned that it's going through a metal chimney, because that makes it make even less sense, LOL.

Plastics leach bisphenol's over time which will affect the flavor of the juice if it sits too long in the tank.

I really don't know, my thought would be either leeching of the plastic to the juice causing a flavor change - or despite washing, some trace amounts of left over flavor/odor from the previous juice interacting with the current juice you're vaping. For instance in plastic, maybe vaping coconut. Wash it all out, soap and water and all is well (hopefully). Now vaping pineapple in the same washed tank yet getting either a muted or off taste.

Going back to the thoughts on storing food in another container like reusing a plastic container that had onion dip in it (or anything strong flavored). The dip tub is empty, washed with soap and water, now putting jello in it to set up. Jello is sensitive to flavor contamination. Go to eat the jello and it tastes a bit off, but why? The container was washed but not all the odor of the previous contents were able to be removed, slight cross contamination of the onion odor with the jello.

In other words the inability to ever get plastic truly clean no matter how much it's washed. Obviously food containers made of plastic like chip dips come in, cottage cheese whatever isn't polycarb so it's not a totally accurate comparison. Glass on the other hand doesn't retain those odors. It can be washed, cleaned with alcohol, sterilized so nothing is left behind. No cross contamination or muddying of multiple flavors/odors.

Some people won't drink beverages that come in cans (soda, beer etc). Some don't like the flavor of soda in plastic either and prefer glass bottles. It may also depend on how the tank is set up, for instance on my poly clearomizers there's a soft rubbery seal that runs on top of the chimney, helps seal the tank when the drip tip is screwed down tight. Whatever material that is it retains flavor like mad. No washing can help it. I vaped a peach flavor juice, washed it for 10min with soapy warm water. Repeatedly. Everything after that had a funky peach aftertaste because of that silicone rubbery seal material that picked up a flavor it'd never let go.

Totally guessing because I'm no scientist so spitballing in the dark.

Well, no, I get where you're coming from, but I'm not experiencing this as a leftover flavor. It's just a muted flavor of the juice. I can taste it, but the flavor is just better, more present, in glass.

It's just something I wondered about when I started vaping, was thinking again about it today and thought I'd just toss it on the forum. I know I'm not the only person that has experienced better flavor with glass, I just find it really weird. Like I said, I like the way these 2 tanks vape, it's just a curiosity as to why they flavor isn't bolder in them in comparison.

My thoughts were more along the lines of some flavors when mixed don't taste like cross contamination. They taste muted. Not all but some flavors I've tried mixing thinking it would be a nice blend took two perfectly normal flavors and turned to vaping shower steam, no flavor. On a much smaller scale I'm wondering if instead of cancelling the flavor entirely it's just muting it. Or if plastic does in fact pick up flavors if it's not acting as a very slight dilution of flavor, sort of sponging away some of the flavor?

I can't compare them evenly though, at least not with mine. One uses a vape pen 650mah battery with a tiny (kanthal?) coil at 2.2ohm. It's like a hair of a wire, the slightest wrong move pulls it apart and 2.5mm silica wick barely fits it even when twisted tight with teflon tape so probably a 2mm id coil. Vs wicking with 4mm id ss coil with cotton using a dual 18650 mod, it's nowhere close to the same clearo vs rta. Then again some people have more sensitive sense of taste, while others don't like the taste of soda from a can it doesn't bother me so much.

When I go back to the clearomizers the flavors do seem muted but the entire setup is different so can't really tell the strict differences between poly and glass with the limited range of stuff I have. It could be the tank material, the wire, the wattage, one's top coil the other is bottom coil. Nothing is similar lol (worst comparison scenario ever). I've heard many prefer glass, I prefer it due to it not cracking from juices or retaining any previous flavors. After going through a bout of poly tanks cracking (had like 4 at once) at $7 each suddenly a $30 glass rta was pretty economical.

Oh yeah, no... couldn't go back to a clearo unless it was the absolute only/last thing available.

These are both RTA tanks, Aqua V2 and an Erlkonigan (god I hope I spelled that right). I like the way they vape, they're the last ones I load up, though because of the diminished flavor. I'm a flavor snob, lol.

It's just so odd, when I read about the excellent flavor people get from both these tanks, yet I get so much more from others.

I think it's dark magic actually. lol. Different stuff works for different people and may be the build I guess. No one really agrees on what's the best for flavor, ask for best flavor rta from 3 diff people you'll get 4 diff answers usually from what I can tell. Just like my quest to find out why my wicks were looking to dark/burnt so fast (couple days) and many people suggested going with looser wicking or smaller id coil for less cotton.

Not faulting them for their suggestions but I tried it and my tank leaked like mad. The way my build deck is designed if there's too little cotton resting in the slots it leaks. Went back to a bigger id coil so I could shove more cotton in there and the leaking disappeared. Whatever works best is the best far as I can tell, just like with the flavors.

Is the erlkonigan a mtl tank? Many swear by the kayfun's, haven't had a chance to try one yet. The typical boreas, merlin, aromamizer etc often get good reviews but not sure they're mtl or not or fit your vape style. Not sure what else I'd like to consider, just recently (past month or so) upgraded to an rta/reg mod from a vape pen so not much experience with a variety of stuff. I went with the bachelor tank on a whim since it got decent reviews for flavor and looked simple enough to build on.

Well that and some said it was restrictive enough for mtl. Ha, no it's not. Not for someone used to smoking cigs. Ended up learning how to dl because it was far too airy for mtl. That's a fun venture when most of your juice was 18mg nic because that's what you used in the clearomizers. 18mg dl hits, definitely leaves an impression lmao. I'm more about the flavor too.

Synphul said:

18mg dl hits, definitely leaves an impression lmao

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OMG wow, I bet! Noooo way, LOL.

Since you mentioned it, I have a juice that does that to my wicks. My experience is that any of the sweeter, darker flavors that I vape tend to do that quicker than, say a clearer, or fruity mix. I deal with wicking 2-3 times a week on that flavor, because I enjoy it. Sure, it can be a hassle, but that's the price I pay for enjoying that mix. I run that one in a Goblin Mini v1.

I do have a Merlin. Phenomenal flavor. I do MTL, and while I really love the tank, I'm one of the rare ones that has to completely adjust the way I wick for that tank. Mine was on the leaky side. People that got the first run of that tank fell into 2 categories... not a moments trouble, and/or leaks no matter what I do. I have the latest run on that one, but haven't built it yet, I have many tanks that suit my needs for MTL. Some are pre-made coils, some I build myself. The 2 tanks I mention as the topic are both MTL, yes. So, I'm not struggling for a tank or good vapes, so much as struggling for an answer that may not exist, as to why stuff is better in glass than in plastic. It's really just a curiosity, I'm not hurting for a good vape.

OBDave said:

Most of the plastics used for vaping aren't supposed to leach chemicals into the liquid they contain - and that includes, so far as I understand it, both LDPE/HDPE storage bottles and poly tanks - but I'm no chemist, and truth be told I've used Pyrex glass tanks almost exclusively since the OG Protank was released.

What kind of flavor problems are you having? Muted flavor, or some kind of funky additive?

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LDPE does leach. LDPE is what milk jugs and water jugs are made of. Not suitable for chemicals or long term storage.

I think there might be a few things at play. Though, I certainly haven't put any actual research into this specifically (effect of plastics on e-liquid flavor).

There is no question that some compounds will migrate from the plastic to the liquid, and applied heat will exacerbate this process. While this will sometimes add flavor of its own, it is also possible that some of the released chemicals may neutralize the yummy compounds in the liquid as well. At least as far as our taste buds are concerned.

The second is that plastic is more porous than glass. This can mean it holds remnants of odors and flavors from previous tanks. Those remnants come from somewhere, and that is directly from the liquid. It certainly wouldn't suck all of it out, but perhaps enough to notice.

@Huckleberried yea I figured you were set on hardware. Mine was only speculation and theory definitely nothing scientific and probably prone to errors. I don't know the ins and outs of all the different types of plastics.

I know some juices are often categorized as known 'tank crackers' for various reasons. Pineapple I think is one of those. Funny thing though, out of the tanks that cracked they weren't the ones running 'tank cracker' juices. Those tanks were fine, it was more mild flavors like vanilla and things that the tanks cracked on. Go figure lol. Well and alcohol but that was my bad.

First time I got my plastic tanks I thought I'd be diligent in washing them out and used 90% isopropyl alcohol. Drip tip and tank both cracked shortly after and when I contacted the company they said those were no no's. Learned better after that. I don't really have anything against plastic tanks but the glass does seem nicer. Figure so long as I'm going to get a long term tank I'd rather glass or metal vs the poly's. They just don't seem to hold up even with my limited experience. Plus I kinda dig the look of the tanks with the frosty glass so may look at some of those for my next one.

Huckleberried said:

Is it just me? Ever since the Protank 2, I've noticed the big difference in flavor with a glass tank. I have a couple RTAs that are PCB, and I do love them, but I find there's a tremendous difference in flavor with glass. I find myself reaching for glass most of the time.

What makes the difference with the flavor? Is it just me?

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Well my iSub Apex is glass and it had a glass driptip (came with both glass and plastic(?) ) and I notice a big change in flavor since I broke my glass one. Also I used to use plastic disposable tanks and then I got the Aspire ET-S and WOWZER what a difference!

If your e-liquid breaks down your plastic tank then the bad taste is the least of your problems.
The only problem with glass is that it's more likely to break if you drop it, but other then that it's better then plastic in every way.
So use glass and don't drop you mod.

Modern tanks use glass and old tanks use plastic and that's probably the reason you think glass tanks tastes better, but it's because of the tank itself not the glass or the plastic.

nightshard said:

If your e-liquid breaks down your plastic tank then the bad taste is the least of your problems.
The only problem with glass is that it's more likely to break if you drop it, but other then that it's better then plastic in every way.
So use glass and don't drop you mod.

Modern tanks use glass and old tanks use plastic and that's probably the reason you think glass tanks tastes better, but it's because of the tank itself not the glass or the plastic.

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Telling me not to drop my mod is like telling the wind not to blow or the rain not to fall. It's gonna happen.... it's just a question of when. Now you may understand why I prefer titanium. Or even stainless steel... but never glass. It would be akin to driving a car made of glass.

Andria

Ok drop your mod as much as you want, just don't forget to take an extra glass tube

nightshard said:

Ok drop your mod as much as you want, just don't forget to take an extra glass tube

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I'll just stick with metal! I really prefer acrylic Ming drip tips, but I've broken so many of those damn things, I'm trying to get used to metal. And it's not a problem in warm weather... but once it gets cold, I know I'll be back to my acrylics!

Andria

That's interesting.
Been vaping for almost 5 years and have never dropped any tank or mod, but I guess that's just me.

Drip tips? Thought we were talking about tank tube material.

How about ceramic drip tips? Will do fine in cold weather and are very hard to break.

nightshard said:

Drip tips? Thought we were talking about tank tube material.

How about ceramic drip tips? Will do fine in cold weather and are very hard to break.

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I've had a ceramic, and a jade. Broke both of them. Yep, when I dropped my mod.

We *were* discussing tank material -- but anything that's at all breakable is just not safe around me. "Accident prone" is a serious understatement! Last night, I chipped my favorite tea mug, by banging it against the handle of my heavy glass tea pitcher. I have shitty depth perception.

Andria

Maybe instead of trying to make your mod/tank/drip tip tougher you should instead make your floor softer by placing rugs on them

nightshard said:

Maybe instead of trying to make your mod/tank/drip tip tougher you should instead make your floor softer by placing rugs on them

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Doesn't help much. I dropped my mod very softly on a rug at my mom's house, and still broke the driptip. Back in January, my purse fell very softly onto the floor, with 2 mods in it -- it just kinda oozed off the edge of the table it was on, so it went slowly and softly, but broke both driptips, and the kanger subox mod too. Good thing I didn't really like that subox.

Andria