Alternative to Nebox, fed-up with leaking

[EL Pistoffo]

It's been quite a while since I visited ECF. I'm in need of some advice.

For years I was using an MVP and Protank mini. I was rebuilding the coils but finally broke my last tank and decided to finally upgrade. I went to a local shop to get something quick and left with a Kanger Nebox.

The Nebox has a huge flaw that I am done with. IT LEAKS, A LOT. It will leak in my pocket, on my desk, in my car, it doesn't matter where it is, it usually leaks. To top that off, I wind up drinking the juice more than inhaling it. It's almost completely useless, driving me back to buying cigs. I did try the o-ring in the tank stem trick but that failed then the leaking got worse. Also experimented with different coils.

What I liked about the Nebox was the built in tank with a large capacity, my mini-protank was tiny by comparison. I also like the relatively cheap coils and longevity of them. When it worked well it hit pretty good but that seldom happens.

So what could I replace the Nebox with. I don't want to spend much on a Mod. I use it to replace smoking cigarettes, not chasing clouds. I don't want to rebuild coils anymore either. I plan on quitting vaping all together pretty soon if all goes well.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

That's a shame about the NEBox. I have a friend who has a white one. He says it's the best vaping mod he's ever owned but he's also plagued with leaks. He's resorted to storing it upside down and puts up with that because it performs so well.

I really like the Eleaf Pico 75, and if the NEBox hasn't turned you completely off on Kanger, the Subtank Mini pairs up well with it. So does the Baby Beast and Vaporesso Estoc.

I'd keep the NEBox as a backup.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

That's a shame about the NEBox. I have a friend who has a white one. He says it's the best vaping mod he's ever owned but he's also plagued with leaks. He's resorted to storing it upside down and puts up with that because it performs so well.

I really like the Eleaf Pico 75, and if the NEBox hasn't turned you completely off on Kanger, the Subtank Mini pairs up well with it. So does the Baby Beast and Vaporesso Estoc.

I'd keep the NEBox as a backup.

Your suggestions are reasonably priced. How is that setup (Pico and Subtank) compare to the Nebox vape wise?

The Nebox is cheap enough that I could give another one a try. Think I should try one more time?

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

The Pico + Subtank is fantastic. I use it between 35 and 45 watts depending on the liquid and the vapor and flavor are as rich as goat's breath. The Baby Beast tank is also a good, if thirsty performer with the Pico.

Only thing about the Pico 75 is that you're limited in tank size to 22mm in diameter.

If I were to give the NEBox another try, it would be after Kanger fixes the leaking issue. The design makes sense and Jason (my bud) likes the cool vape. You can always pull the drip tip and store it upside down while the vendor ships a new mod...

 

[EL Pistoffo]

I think your right. I wont bother with the Nebox again till the fix it.

I'll likely give Pico + Subtank a try. I like hot vapes so I'm good with that.

Thx

 

[90VG]

The Pico + Subtank is fantastic. I use it between 35 and 45 watts depending on the liquid and the vapor and flavor are as rich as goat's breath...

I had a goat for two weeks, and I'm sure I wouldn't want to vape that flavor. What do you mean?

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

Discount Vapers and VapeNW have the Pico in black at~$30 plus shipping.

Mt Baker has the bottom-fill Subtank on clearance for $14 plus shipping.

@90VG I mean thick. Full. Almost overwhelming.

 

[90VG]

@Coastal Cowboy Okay. Goat is usually tasty but gets stuck in your teeth. It's stringy.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

The Pico + Subtank is fantastic. I use it between 35 and 45 watts depending on the liquid and the vapor and flavor are as rich as goat's breath. The Baby Beast tank is also a good, if thirsty performer with the Pico.

Only thing about the Pico 75 is that you're limited in tank size to 22mm in diameter.

If I were to give the NEBox another try, it would be after Kanger fixes the leaking issue. The design makes sense and Jason (my bud) likes the cool vape. You can always pull the drip tip and store it upside down while the vendor ships a new mod...

I got the Pico and subtank. It works well. Now I'm inhaling vape instead of having liquid spit at me. Also the liquid stays in the tank instead of leaking EVERYWHERE.

Only drawback is small tank size. The only issue I have with this setup is the mod intermittently losing connection with the atomizer tank. You can tell because the button wont fire up the atomizer and a quick glance at the display reads 0.00 ohms. It will quickly reconnect but this can occur a few times in a succession. I guess vaping equipment is just not built very well in general.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

I got the Pico and subtank. It works well. Now I'm inhaling vape instead of having liquid spit at me. Also the liquid stays in the tank instead of leaking EVERYWHERE.

Only drawback is small tank size. The only issue I have with this setup is the mod intermittently losing connection with the atomizer tank. You can tell because the button wont fire up the atomizer and a quick glance at the display reads 0.00 ohms. It will quickly reconnect but this can occur a few times in a succession. I guess vaping equipment is just not built very well in general.

True... quality control is on the low side with Chinese electronics.

I'd be willing to bet that yours is a connection issue caused by previous leaking problems. You may have a dirty 510 connection, in need of a Q-tip dunked in isopropyl alcohol. Swab it around the male and female parts of the connection and let it dry.

When tightening, be gentle! Finger snug is good.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

True... quality control is on the low side with Chinese electronics.

I'd be willing to bet that yours is a connection issue caused by previous leaking problems. You may have a dirty 510 connection, in need of a Q-tip dunked in isopropyl alcohol. Swab it around the male and female parts of the connection and let it dry.

When tightening, be gentle! Finger snug is good.

Normally I would agree with leaks and contact conductivity, my MVP suffered that all the time. In this case, I've only been using this setup for 2-3 days. No leaks yet, contacts dry. I went ahead and cleaned the contacts with alcohol anyways just in case. Still does it.
Still does it regardless of how loose or tight tank is. Simply tapping the mod or sometimes just a slight movement triggers this disconnect. I must be destined to suffer equipment issues for eternity. lol

Using this trick is helping:

 

[EL Pistoffo]

I actually made a more permanent ring out of thin cardstock using the idea in the YouTube video above. Works great. From what I can see, the regular method of attaching the tank to the mod is the issue. Short of cranking it down till it bottoms out, the tank will always have some side play. Every time the tank is even slightly jolted, the contact between coil and iStick breaks, even if for a tiny moment, resulting in the iStick re-measuring the resistance causing a brief interruption in firing. This is evident because the resistance reading keeps going to 0 then finalizing with a slightly different ohm measurement each time. The cardboard shim allows the tank to be tightened down good, eliminating side-play without over compressing the coil.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

I actually made a more permanent ring out of thin cardstock using the idea in the YouTube video above. Works great. From what I can see, the regular method of attaching the tank to the mod is the issue. Short of cranking it down till it bottoms out, the tank will always have some side play. Every time the tank is even slightly jolted, the contact between coil and iStick breaks, even if for a tiny moment, resulting in the iStick re-measuring the resistance causing a brief interruption in firing. This is evident because the resistance reading keeps going to 0 then finalizing with a slightly different ohm measurement each time. The cardboard shim allows the tank to be tightened down good, eliminating side-play without over compressing the coil.

Thanks for that. I'll remember it if any of my Picos show this problem (none yet but again... Chinese QC and all).

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Well I somehow lost my Pico and subtank just before hurricane Irma. I ordered another Nebox from VaporHQ to give it another try. The Pico setup had a couple things which I didn't like. First the tank was small by comparison and required many fillings each day. Second, and more importantly, the coils barely lasted a week. The Nebox coils lasted 3x longer.

Hoping this thing doesn't leak as much as my last one.

 

[olds97_lss]

Guessing you figured something out by now. I've been using a NEBOX for a couple years. I only used the pre-built coils for the first few weeks, they leaked or dry burned. Didn't seem to find a happy medium after going through a pack of 5 coils.

Then started using the RBA deck. Mine had the one with the slots cut in the base. I fussed with it for quite a while with various coil/wick combinations to get one that I could run at ~1.2ohm/15w or so without dryburning on me frequently. I also ground out the slots a bit to allow more flow.

When I started using the RBA, I didn't have a base to burn/clean the coils, so I ordered a subtank mini kit for cheap on ebay so I could have a base/mod to dryburn/clean/build the RBA coil with, since they both use the same coil/deck. It came with one that had holes in the side of the rba chimney.

I stuck with the slotted one until the past 6 months. Then I tried the base with the holes in the sides. It seemed to dry burn less. I drilled the holes out and now I run 18-20W on a 5 or 6 wrap 24AWG .7ohm 3mm ID spaced coil with cotton. It's been working really well. I was using tightly wrapped higher ohm coils always (8-9 wraps, 3mm ID, 1.2-1.4ohm), but decided to try a smaller spaced coil instead. The spaced coil seems to go longer between wick changes before getting a hint of burn flavor.

I go through about 8ml a day and change cotton every couple of days since it's so easy to do so I have a clean tasting vape all the time. I only replace the coil when it gets mangled, which it usually does after a month or so.

I use mechsauce max vg 3mg ape frenzy. Been using only that juice for over a year.

The only time it leaks is if I let the juice get down to the top of the chimney cap. Otherwise it's fine in any orientation, side, bottom, in a pocket... never leaks.