Kanthal and Wick

[HDVaper]

I've decided to rebuilt my Protank coils, rather decided to try it. I have no idea if they'll work when I'm done but I've watched several YouTube vids and I believe I'll take a crack at it. My question is what size/type of kanthal wire and wick should I get? I'd pretty much like to stick with whatever the Protanks come with...I think. Any help will be appreciated...THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!

 

[razor4432]

I used 3mm silica with 2 1mm flavor wicks (just unraveled the 3mm) and used 30 gauge kanthal A1. 5 or 6 wraps got me 1.6ohms and a great vape, better than standard Protank coils. Took me all of about 5 minutes tops first shot. I plan to get a box of 5 heads for the Protank and use those, once they get grossed out just rebuild once they get funked, should never have to buy heads again for it

Been thinking of giving my Vivi Nova a shot.

 

[Leithan]

I used 32g kanthal and cotton for wicks. I did 5 wraps on a 1/16 drill bit shank for around 2 ohms. I used rolled cotton for the wick, no flavor wicks. The cotton will expand enough in the head slots so you don't need the flavor wicks. I'm not sure if flavor wicks actually impart any flavor. I do know that if the slots aren't filled up, you will get leaks and gurgals. I leave the ends of the wick long enough so that they reach down to the base, that stopped a lot of the near empty dry hits you get sometimes. It's important to keep your coil as tight and compact as possible, you don't have much room to work with and it's easy to get shorts. Remember that the protank coils have longer than normal legs, you will need to take that into account when estimating your resistance. Vivis are worse.

 

[HDVaper]

What would be the formula to make somewhere between 2.2Ω to 2.5Ω coils? (if there is such a formula). Is there an ohm resistance that's better than another, i.e. Kanger offers their coils in 1.8Ω, 2.2Ω, 2.5Ω? I've always bought the 2.5Ω but I don't have a reason for doing except maybe "more is better". Seriously, which resistance IS better or worse or does it matter?

 

[madstabber]

32 gauge kanthal with 3mm wick and half that for the flavor wick. 5 wraps for 2 ohm 6 wraps for 2.4 ohm. I get my silica from vapoligy, 5 feet for 3 bucks and kanthal from tempco. Good luck. I prefer 2 ohms at least because it seems to burn the juice less often. At least 5 wraps with 32 gauge will get you 2 ohms. More wraps = more ohms.

 

[Leithan]

Defiantly in the 2 ohmish range. I got less burning in the 2-2.2 range. In the RBA sub forum is a chart that will give you a general idea of resistance per inch of wire. I don't bother with a multimeter anymore, I just use the chart and I'm usually within .1 ohm or so of my target resistance.
Link to thread
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo.../320042-resistance-wire-kanthal-nichrome.html

 

[HDVaper]

32 gauge kanthal with 3mm wick and half that for the flavor wick. 5 wraps for 2 ohm 6 wraps for 2.4 ohm. I get my silica from vapoligy, 5 feet for 3 bucks and kanthal from tempco. Good luck. I prefer 2 ohms at least because it seems to burn the juice less often. At least 5 wraps with 32 gauge will get you 2 ohms. More wraps = more ohms.

Done and done!! Got my wick ordered from Vapoligy and wire from TEMco. I really appreciate your help!!!!

 

[Butters78]

I used 32g kanthal and cotton for wicks. I did 5 wraps on a 1/16 drill bit shank for around 2 ohms. I used rolled cotton for the wick, no flavor wicks. The cotton will expand enough in the head slots so you don't need the flavor wicks. I'm not sure if flavor wicks actually impart any flavor. I do know that if the slots aren't filled up, you will get leaks and gurgals. I leave the ends of the wick long enough so that they reach down to the base, that stopped a lot of the near empty dry hits you get sometimes. It's important to keep your coil as tight and compact as possible, you don't have much room to work with and it's easy to get shorts. Remember that the protank coils have longer than normal legs, you will need to take that into account when estimating your resistance. Vivis are worse.

with the 1/16th drill bit you can do a microcoil even with 32. I do 10 wraps touching and get about en ohms.

 

[Coulson]

Coulson approves this thread!

I have a side question for those rebuilding Protank coils: Can you buy the rubber caps that hold the wires apart separately somewhere? Or when they go bad just order new protank coils and rebuild those after use?

 

[Butters78]

Coulson approves this thread!

I have a side question for those rebuilding Protank coils: Can you buy the rubber caps that hold the wires apart separately somewhere? Or when they go bad just order new protank coils and rebuild those after use?

If you treat them right they will last. If they get burnt on the top edge you can circumcise them.

 

[Steam Turbine]

I've decided to rebuilt my Protank coils, rather decided to try it. I have no idea if they'll work when I'm done but I've watched several YouTube vids and I believe I'll take a crack at it. My question is what size/type of kanthal wire and wick should I get? I'd pretty much like to stick with whatever the Protanks come with...I think. Any help will be appreciated...THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!

Just try different things. Build it and if it works if not try again. Use different size wicks different resistances. All the material for rebuilding is dirt cheap. Experiment and when you have your setup properly working: You'll feel like this

 

[BigLebowski]

I used 3mm silica with 2 1mm flavor wicks (just unraveled the 3mm) and used 30 gauge kanthal A1. 5 or 6 wraps got me 1.6ohms and a great vape, better than standard Protank coils. Took me all of about 5 minutes tops first shot. I plan to get a box of 5 heads for the Protank and use those, once they get grossed out just rebuild once they get funked, should never have to buy heads again for it

Been thinking of giving my Vivi Nova a shot.

I still buy heads every once in a while, the grommets get singed fairly easy. I don't even bother vaping the new heads, just pull them apart and re coil/wick.

 

[Butters78]

I still buy heads every once in a while, the grommets get singed fairly easy. I don't even bother vaping the new heads, just pull them apart and re coil/wick.

Circumcise it I tell ya it works!

 

[TFL!]

Thank you for the info in this thread it will be a great help

 

[Mad Scientist]

I've done a bit of trying to wring the very best performance out of the KangerTech lineup and here's what I've come up with so far for Protank/EVOD heads (so far because i think on it and try different approaches every few although it is getting to the point of diminishing returns because this just works so well):

2mm silica rope wick
1mm flavor wicks
30 AWG Kanthal A-1
Coil wrapped on a number 53 drill bit using 8 wraps total as follows: 4 wraps tightly spaced, a small gap, 4 more wraps tightly spaced. (Number 53 bit is a tiny bit smaller than 1/16" -- just enough to get it snug on the wick but not tight and not loose).

The above will comfortably run at 10 watts with rich plumes of vapor, no burnt juice, no gurgling and no dry hits. I'm still working on experimenting with them but as of now my EVODS and Protank hit better than my Cobra (still working on my genesis skills too lol).

 

[Scottmeier360]

What would be the formula to make somewhere between 2.2Ω to 2.5Ω coils? (if there is such a formula). Is there an ohm resistance that's better than another, i.e. Kanger offers their coils in 1.8Ω, 2.2Ω, 2.5Ω? I've always bought the 2.5Ω but I don't have a reason for doing except maybe "more is better". Seriously, which resistance IS better or worse or does it matter?

32 gauge kanthal and 5 or 6 wraps will be 2.0-2.5 ish depending on how tight you wrap it...plus you can spread them out or scrunch them up for fine tuning...i usually go 2.7-2.9 on a mod for longer battery life, but i rebuild my wife's evod coils around 2.0 using a doubled over piece of 2mm silica and 5 wraps of 32 or 6 wraps of 30

 

[Scottmeier360]

I've done a bit of trying to wring the very best performance out of the KangerTech lineup and here's what I've come up with so far for Protank/EVOD heads (so far because i think on it and try different approaches every few although it is getting to the point of diminishing returns because this just works so well):

2mm silica rope wick
1mm flavor wicks
30 AWG Kanthal A-1
Coil wrapped on a number 53 drill bit using 8 wraps total as follows: 4 wraps tightly spaced, a small gap, 4 more wraps tightly spaced. (Number 53 bit is a tiny bit smaller than 1/16" -- just enough to get it snug on the wick but not tight and not loose).

The above will comfortably run at 10 watts with rich plumes of vapor, no burnt juice, no gurgling and no dry hits. I'm still working on experimenting with them but as of now my EVODS and Protank hit better than my Cobra (still working on my genesis skills too lol).

to each their own! hahaha...what troubles r u having with the genesis...i have a RSST tank (i think) that has a plastic coating inside where the wick goes...(doesnt matter i use silica wick in my RBA's anyway) but anyhoo, carbonizing your mesh wick more than once can prove very valuable....on the tanks where the metal wick touches the metal tank and the coil too, it can and will be finicky until you get the hang of it...i just prefer the silica taste over ss mesh

 

[Mad Scientist]

to each their own! hahaha...what troubles r u having with the genesis...i have a RSST tank (i think) that has a plastic coating inside where the wick goes...(doesnt matter i use silica wick in my RBA's anyway) but anyhoo, carbonizing your mesh wick more than once can prove very valuable....on the tanks where the metal wick touches the metal tank and the coil too, it can and will be finicky until you get the hang of it...i just prefer the silica taste over ss mesh

Well, I don't intend to highjack this thread, but I suppose wicks/coils are all related one way or another lol. A big issues with all wick/coil setups is avoiding too loose (hot spots) but also avoiding too tight (chokes the wick). Related to that is a consistently sized coil that has nice round wraps. If the coil is not the appropriate size for the wick and round just like the wick, you are guaranteed hot spots as the wattage rises. Any tiny little area of coil that is not as tight on the wick as all the rest of the coil will get hotter than the rest of the coil.

It takes a lot of practice to wrap a good coil on a genesis. There's just not a lot of room to work and of course the center post is conveniently right in the way lol. I'm determined to get it as optimal as I can.

 

[DasFriek]

ive been doing it a bit different.
3mm silica wick with 3 full wraps when looked at from the bottom, it looks like 5 from the top with 32g kanthal.
Mine end up at 1.3-1.4ohms and no leaking.
The flavor wick is eliminated and the larger 3mm wick makes for larger wraps on the coils.
I use these rebuilt PT coils in both the PT and Evod also, the Evod hits like a PT once I drilled out the 3 air holes.