Kanger T3S with SS Wick

Ricksterrr;13505190 said:

Ok so here it is. I am not going to get into the specifics of SS wick and coil building but I will provide you with a how-to on the procedure I used to get (in my opinion, and others) the best Kanger T3S coil I've both made and purchased thus far. This tutorial will be geared towards vapers who have experience with rebuilding. I just don't currently have the time to expand further, apologies.

For this project you will need a few things;

Stainless Steel Mesh (500#)
Cotton Ball (Boiled for purity, preferably)
30G Kanthal wire
A spare Kanger T3S atomizer
.042/1.05mm Drill bit
Butane/Propane Torch
Nail clippers
Needle nose pliers (2 pairs, or similar)
Small cup of water


1. The first order of business is to remove the old wick and coil from your spare Kanger atomizer. There are plenty of tutorials on how to rebuild a standard T3S atomizer within the forum. Use the search function. You will be left with 5 pieces; The top post & top post grommet, the bottom 'cup', the bottom pin, and a rubber grommet.


2. The next step is to roll the SS wick. Cutting the right size piece from your mesh sheet will require a bit of trial and error on your part but I found that a 2" long by 4" wide piece works well for me. I suggest going with the 4" width so you can have something to grab onto while torching. This also allows you to get a few wicks out of one SS mesh roll. The trick here is to make the roll as tight as possible. You wan't to see a minimal/non existent gap between the mesh if you were to look at the tip of it on either side. There are tutorials for this procedure on the forum as well.


3. Now that you have a tightly rolled SS mesh wick, you will need to oxidize it to avoid shorts/hot spots. Take your torch, and holding one end with your pliers, flame the wick (about 1" in from the opposite side) until it glows orange. Quench the hot wick in the water cup. Repeat this step 3 or 4 times until the 1" tip of the wick is completely coated in carbon.


4. Take your Kanthal and cut off approximately a 6" piece. This may be more Kanthal than you are used to but I find it easier to work with being a bit longer. Anneal the wire by torching it until it glows orange like the wick in the previous step but do not quench it. Also, do not get the wire too hot (It heats up faster than the SS mesh) or it will become brittle, break, and you will have to start all over. Be sure to torch the entire length of wire.


5. Holding the SS wick with either your pliers or by your hand, wrap your Kanthal firmly around the SS mesh you created. You will need to remove the coil from the wick after it is wrapped so do not make it too tight, but not too loose either. For my purposes, I used a 6/5 wrap of 30G Kanthal to attain a 1.4 ohm coil. Make any adjustments you deem necessary for your particular vaping preferences. Make your wraps as close as possible, as this is a micro coil build.


6. After you have your semi-tight coil wrapped around the oxidized SS mesh, slide it off completely by twisting the wick either clockwise or counter clockwise whilst pulling the coil off with your free hand. Take care not to crush the coil or remove too much carbon from the wick.


7. Now that you have your coil removed from the wick, take the pliers, and holding one leg of the coil, torch it until it glows orange. Quickly take your other pair of pliers and gently but firmly compress the coils together. Hold this for a few seconds to let it completely cool. You should now have a near perfect micro coil with no gaps for use in your new atomizer!


8. Carefully slide the coil back onto the wick and oxidize both the wick and coil together a final time to ensure whatever carbon you removed during the previous steps is replaced. I usually go with 2 torch/quench cycles at this point for the entire assembly.


9. Take the wick/coil and place it into the grooves in your empty Kanger atomizer. Depending on how you rolled your wick, it will either be loose in the
cup or a bit snug. You want it to fit firmly into the cup, even if you have to use a tool to cram it down a bit. If it is too loose, your wick diameter is not great enough. Try again. If you don't, you will have a major leak at some point. Make sure your coil is sitting in the center of the atomizer cup. At this point, reassemble the bottom half of the Kanger atomizer as you would with any other Kanger rebuild. You can now take your clippers and trim the excess wick off of the atomizer. Don't cut too close, and don't cut too far. If you cut too far, the wick will make contact with the T3S tank collar and be extremely difficult to open and close.


So you have a half assembled coil. Almost there.

View attachment 349679


10. Take a small piece of cotton (again, trial and error on your part) and create your flavor wick by rolling the piece between your fingers gently. Place this cotton wick over the SS wick/coil and replace the top post and top post grommet. Trim the excess wick off the atomizer.

View attachment 349680
View attachment 349681
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When I was experimenting with this method the first few times everything seemed well enough UNTIL I was at about 1ml on the tank. I would get a massive leak at this point OR would not get a leak until I refilled the tank for a second time. This was not acceptable and I gave up for a bit.


So the magic begins...


I don't know why this remedied my build, but it did. I found that boring out the air holes on the atomizer collar (the part you screw your atomizer into) stopped the leaking indefinitely. I have tested this by using a stock collar and the leaking continued once again.


11. So the final step is to take your 1.05mm drill bit and drill at least 2 of the 3 Kanger air holes on the collar. I bored all 3 out and have stopped the leaking entirely, increased vapor, flavor, and throat hit all at the same time. I am unsure if a 1.05mm bit is needed or not - you may be able to substitute a larger or smaller bit but the fact remains that the holes need to be bigger for this to work properly.


(Air hole size comparison)
View attachment 349683


You may find that even after boring the air holes larger, your draw is a bit tight. This means you put too much cotton. Just pull the post off and replace it with a smaller piece, but not too small as to encourage flooding. Trial and error once again.



So there you have it folks - give it a shot and let me know what you think. direct any questions you may have towards me and I will assist you as best I can.

I have noticed with the SS wick that the flavor never tastes burnt out and you don't get any residual flavor from your last tank (save for the first hit or two). Not to mention they last forever. I completely clean the coil/wick with boiling water and/or isopropyl/ethanol weekly as well as a dry burn cycle to keep it in tip top shape. Another notable mention is that I have used this coil with juices ranging from 50/50 VG/PG all the way up to nearly 100% VG but have not gone any more viscous than that. Optimal voltage for my 1.4 ohm is between 3.3v-3.8 with these juices. YMMV.

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