Nautilus Mini - throw it out the window...

[mike roberts]

Hello there. Just started vaping with the aspire premium kit (nautilus mini and cf vv battery). Day one - all good: nice vapor, throat hit and flavour. Day two - hiss, gurgle, pop, fizz; but I was still getting decent vapor, throat hit and flavour. Day three - hiss, gurgle, pop, fizz and it was like smoking thin air. I cleaned the device with a q-tip/tissues. It didn't really help. So I cleaned it with water and left to dry overnight. Day four - noises gone, but still like smoking thin air, so I cleaned it with water again and left to dry overnight. Day five - worked okay for an hour or so, then back to thin air. Day six - cleaned very thoroughly and changed coil - nada!!! Please someone help. I really want to quit the cigs (haven't had one yet), but this is a tedious pain in the ...., and the vaping is not pleasurable at all. What am I doing wrong?!
I did some google-ing and tried the following 'tricks' to no avail:
Cleaning with tissue/q-tips - did pick up e-juice, but any improvement was small and short-lived!
Shake trick - same!
Removing mouthpiece and blowing through tank onto tissue - same!
Upside down draws (or just upside down presses) - nada!
Priming/going through the air-holes from small to large - nada!
Ensuring holes are closed when filling the tank - nada!
Changing juice PG/VG ratios - nada!
Changing the voltage - nada!
I'm just about ready to throw this ....ing thing out the window!!!

 

[SomeTexan]

I don't know why people recomend these tanks. I started with a Smok Micro GDC then bought a couple Nautilus because everyone seemed to love them. At least half the times the coils leaked and gurgled. I gave them all away to people that liked them, but I still have the GDC. Although I had to go sub ohm to quit cigs...

You mention priming the air holes? That could be a problem unless I am miss reading. You prime the cotton on the coil itself. The air holes in the base need to be clear of any juice or it will gurgle and spit.

 

[mike roberts]

I think I've got my terminology wrong (sorry). Somewhere on the inter-web (I've lost track of the hours of the research I've done to try to fix this bleeding thing), someone suggested 'primer' draws i.e. draws without pressing the button, and to do this with each air hole in turn, before using in anger. This was a fairly isolated piece of advice and it didn't help.

 

[SomeTexan]

I think I've got my terminology wrong (sorry). Somewhere on the inter-web (I've lost track of the hours of the research I've done to try to fix this bleeding thing), someone suggested 'primer' draws i.e. draws without pressing the button, and to do this with each air hole in turn, before using in anger. This was a fairly isolated piece of advice and it didn't help.

Ok, that makes sense. I had better luck covering the air holes and blowing lightly into the drip tip. A little pressure in the tank would force the juice into the coil, but too much will flood it. Have you tried more than one coil? Once a coil is bad, it's done for.

 

[mike roberts]

Yeah - today is day six (where I replaced the coil for the first time). It's started gurgling again (not as much as before) after a couple of hours, but it's vaping a tiny bit better.

 

[Wolfenstark]

Im also in the camp that the Nautilus tanks were good over a year ago.
Im not using tanks now but looks to be many around that are much better.

 

[SomeTexan]

Yeah - today is day six (where I replaced the coil for the first time). It's started gurgling again (not as much as before) after a couple of hours, but it's vaping a tiny bit better.

If it is gurgling, a lot of times you can clean out the base where the coil screws in. The gurgle is usualy fluid in the air chamber. But, if fluid is getting in there, that won't fix it for long. There is another current thread about this issue, and @zapped mentioned a US company that is making coils for the Nautilus to fix the quality control issue.

 

[mike roberts]

Thanks for the pointers! I'm gonna take a break from trying to fix it for an hour or so, as I'm in danger of nicotine OD with the endless tinkering and puffing. I've kept the first coil to one side (and cleaned the hell out of it). It didn't produce a burnt taste. How can you otherwise tell if the coil's spent?

 

[sofarsogood]

The air flow on N mini tanks is minimized for mouth to lung. If you pull too hard on that it's possible to draw excess liquid into the ari supply. As a beginner my vaping was anything but relaxed. I was lung inhaling on my N mini to get max nic into my system so at 6 weeks I got an Atlantis for the bigger air flow. Over the next couple months I was gradually closing down the Atlantis air supply for MTL until I found my Nautilus minis were the best choice again. They didn't gurgle any more because I wasn't drawing on them so hard. These days I onlly use rda's and restrict the air with tape if necessary for MTL. It seems like beginners need atomizers that can adust for MTL and lung inhales.

 

[SomeTexan]

Thanks for the pointers! I'm gonna take a break from trying to fix it for an hour or so, as I'm in danger of nicotine OD with the endless tinkering and puffing. I've kept the first coil to one side (and cleaned the hell out of it). It didn't produce a burnt taste. How can you otherwise tell if the coil's spent?

Usually they taste burnt, leak or the resistance changes. Or the coil could break and not do anything. They can get gunked up and not produce much vapor as well. You should be able to look down into the top of the coil and see if it is gunked up. But yea, take a break and clear your head. When you are frustrated it's a lot easier to screw something up or overlook something simple.

 

[SomeTexan]

Here is the link zapped posted to a better Nautilus coil. Apparently it isn't US made, but it is an improved design...
https://www.vaporwerxusa.com/product/ap201/

 

[Frederick Hew]

i.e. draws without pressing the button, and to do this with each air hole in turn, before using in anger. This was a fairly isolated piece of advice and it didn't help.

It did works if you only draw 1 or 2 puff without firing the device. If you draw too much, the cotton is unable to hold the juice and drip into the air hole.

 

[mike roberts]

Thanks for the link. I'll try my other 4 replacement coils in the meantime. I've been shopping and didn't buy fags; so my resolve has not been exhausted. I'm worried that when I'm back at work next week I'll get too frustrated and go buy some Golden Virginia (I'm from the UK). I've only been to the US once (2 months working in New York), I was really surprised that you couldn't buy GV. I eventually found a cigar shop that sold a loose leaf tobacco that was comparable.
To 'sofarsogood' - I've only been taking MTL hits and I don't think I've been drawing that hard. My expectations were pretty low. I wanted a bit of flavour and vapor and a throat hit comparable, if not equivalent, to smoking a filtered roll-up. On day one, I was getting a better throat hit/vapor/flavour than I expected. I had it set to the 3rd largest air-hole and on 3.8 volts. Since halfway through day two, it's been largely useless regardless of settings/draw- like an overpriced burdensome nicotine patch.

 

[gandymarsh]

I run my Nautilus mini at 12-13 watts on an iStick 20w which comes to 4.8-5v. If I run it lower than that, I get gurgling and flooding. Turning the volts up may help.

 

[mike roberts]

Thanks again to each for their suggestions. I've just been out in the cold for an extended period - the tank is now working absolutely perfectly! The ambient temperature in my flat is always high (too much technology), could it be a simple matter of the tank being too hot at rest?! Would it be folly to try popping it in the fridge for half an hour if it plays up again?

 

[Pushbutton]

Tanks that use a negative pressure system like this require a certain balance between the airhole setting, strength of your draw, the amount of power you put into the coil and the viscosity of your juice.

If you get a lot of flooding, try opening up the airflow a bit more and possibly slightly increasing your wattage. After a while you will find out what works and what doesn't. Cooling down the tank will make your ejuice flow less easily, but I don't think the fridge would be my first course of action and it's not a practice that is commonly heard of

 

[mike roberts]

Thanks again. The flooding completely stopped. When I pulled it apart to clean it for 4th or 5th time (I've lost track), there wasn't any erroneous juice in the workings at all. Unfortunately, it was pretty much impossible to get anything but the feeblest draw from it (tiny bit of flavour/vapor and no throat hit whatever) regardless of airhole/voltage/juice viscosity/strength of draw etc. I'd lost the will to live by this point, so all day yesterday, I just used it as pleasure-free NRT. I went for a walk in the evening with the device in my pocket (but didn't use it). It was rather cold out. When I got back, the stainless steel was cold to the touch and the device worked exquisitely. Could just be a coincidence I suppose ...

 

[mike roberts]

Worked for about 24 hours. Smoking thin air again. Pulled it apart again - no juice where it shouldn't be. I've tried absolutely everything, I think I'm beat. Gonna try the fridge just for the giggles...it can't get any worse.

 

[Just Me]

Being from Texas, I can tell you that when the tank gets hot (like when I leave it in the car when shopping), it will gurgle and be almost impossible to get a vape. That's really the only time I have a problem with my Nautilus mini; otherwise, I love mine. I hope you get your problem figured out.

 

[djsvapour]

Send it to me.

I started using them about 2 weeks after they came out and never had any bother. I have 3 tanks and must have used 6 or 7 packs of coils.

One thing I will say. I bet some money the battery you are using isn't good enough to keep it dry though. It floods (almost guaranteed) at too low power. Aspire won't say this, of course.

If it's not on 4.8v or more, it'll treat you like a dog you could never love.