At my wits end....any advice?

[VamoVixen]

I have a Kanger protank 3 authentic, it is a few months old. My husband has been rebuilding the coils for my protank for a few weeks now, closer to a month. In the last 2 1/2 weeks I have had some severe flooding issues at higher wattages (I have a V5) the highest wattage I use is 9.0 with one particular juice. I am at my wits end with the flooding. We use 28 ga Kanthal to rebuild the protank coils. I went ahead and bought a clone Protank 3(didn't know it was a clone until it came in lol) The protank clone does not leak, granted I am still using original coils and have only had it for 24 hours.

What is going on with the flooding on the protank? I did notice my coils are way different between the 2 tanks, which I will post pictures below. The clone uses an o ring at the base(where the coils screws into) and the authentic didn't have one at all. I decided to put an o ring on it to see if it helps. I also make sure to prime the cotton well.

So any advice would be amazing!



The purple one on the left is the one that is flooding. And when I say flooding, I mean almost 1/4 of my juice is down in the 510 connector of my V5.

I also wanted to mention that I had absolutely NO flooding issues until we started building the coils instead of buying replacements.

 

[tp4tissue]

when Your husband rebuilt the coils... he may have used too much wicking.. so you have too much juice in the chamber.. when it heats, the juice just below the coil becomes extra runny due to heat..

was the original coil 28? i thought they were 30/32

 

[UncleChimney]

Your o-ring should help as my authentic ones have one where the coil screws to the base. That is a good start. I've also removed the rubber grommet on the chimney and I don't get much leaking, but I think there will always be a bit. I think what you did with the o-ring is a god start though and you should wait and see where that takes you. Make sure that you are not using to little cotton wither because that can cause flooding.

It will takes some finagling, but in the end it is certainly worth it to build your own coils. In a few days or weeks your husband will have it down-pat and these worries will be in the rear-view!

 

[VamoVixen]

when Your husband rebuilt the coils... he may have used too much wicking.. so you have too much juice in the chamber.. when it heats, the juice just below the coil becomes extra runny due to heat..

was the original coil 28? i thought they were 30/32

He could have used too much wicking, but I'm not sure, I am clueless when it comes to rebuilding coils. He could have added a bit too much since he is used to his drippers? As far as coil goes, I have NO idea what the original gauge was, he ordered 26 for his drippers, and got 28 from a friend and just used that.

Also, is it normal to get like a dirty feet/weird taste from the cotton? We have tried boiling it before using it, and it's f-ing nasty LOL. My husband isn't bothered by the taste but I definitely have a weird aftertaste with the cotton. Any other wicking options out there aside from silica?

 

[VamoVixen]

Your o-ring should help as my authentic ones have one where the coil screws to the base. That is a good start. I've also removed the rubber grommet on the chimney and I don't get much leaking, but I think there will always be a bit. I think what you did with the o-ring is a god start though and you should wait and see where that takes you. Make sure that you are not using to little cotton wither because that can cause flooding.

It will takes some finagling, but in the end it is certainly worth it to build your own coils. In a few days or weeks your husband will have it down-pat and these worries will be in the rear-view!

UncleChimney

It still floods like a garden hose on full blast with the added o ring. I placed the o ring on and tried it before typing up this post, it flooded again, so I decided to ask ECF before throwing it across the living room lol. I really hope I don't have these issues with the Russian 91 and my Kayfun lite, I am supposed to be getting those in the mail today, I am pretty fed up with the flooding.

 

[volume control]

Sounds like there is a leak in the Protank seals around the glass or other. The juice stays in the tank based on negative pressure, as it would have to draw in air or get an outside force for it to pull juice into the inlets where the wick comes out. Not enough wick there can also cause leaks like this.

I had a protank leaking like crazy on me, pull the base off, put a finger over the bottom to seal it up, blew into the mouthpiece and air was coming out from around the glass, pretty clear the issue was that!

 

[locomikey5150]

It sounds to me like it may be a case of needing a "flavor wick" on top, like they have on the Protank 2's. I'd recommend using just enough cotton as the wick (less is more; I trim away more than I actually end up using as the wick), and then placing a little more (very little) on top of the coil. The Protank 3's are dual coil when you buy them, so I'm thinking having a single coil built isn't taking up as much room as the double setup (didn't see you mention dual coils in the rebuild). I remember reading somewhere on here that this was the fix for the Aerotank, which is basically a protank3 with with adjustable airflow.

Other than that, I know the replacement heads have a longer chimney than the ones that come with the atty. Perhaps it could be as simple as re-using the shorter chimney as well.

 

[VamoVixen]

The longer chimney coils are the original coils that came with my authentic protank 3. The shorter chimney coils is what came with my protank 3 clone. I will try adding some more cotton to the top of the coil, and you are correct, my husband is not building a dual coil, he is only building a single coil.

 

[Despraci]

Rebuilding a Protank coil is definitely a balance of cotton. Too much and it gurgles, too little and you get flooding or leaking. Make sure he is using the silicone cap. With a little bit of experimentation he should be able to get it correct.

 

[VamoVixen]

Rebuilding a Protank coil is definitely a balance of cotton. Too much and it gurgles, too little and you get flooding or leaking. Make sure he is using the silicone cap. With a little bit of experimentation he should be able to get it correct.

Thanks, he is still using the little silicone cap that goes over the chimney. I am getting my Russian and Kayfun today so he should have plenty of time to experiment rebuilding coils on the protank without me complaining to have something to vape on.

 

[Ianovic]

When i started rebuilding Protanks i used hours trying without resuilt. Then one morning it "clicked". I had a working coil. Used drippers and KFL with cotton, but now i'm still using plain old silica 3mm for my protanks. Mostly for ease and fastness. Don't let him to be too fast with cotton if it doesn't work, just try something else.

And there is a difference with PT and T3 coils, and with clones inbetween. So there can be a difference with them all.

Good luck finding the good one.

 

[Weizenheimer]

Yeah try some wick on top.

Whenever I put new cotton in a coil, it get a meh taste for awhile, then it goes away.

 

[Timactionfigures]

I think the issue you're having is from rebuilding a single coil in a dual coil device. Simple as that!

On the PT3 the slots where the wick sticks out are bigger than a PT2, that's because there are supposed to be TWO coils and TWO wicks in there. Hence, more juice is getting in than is vaporized and causing it to leak out the bottom.

 

[graybuck]

Try two simple things first.

one: Wrap a piece of clear tape around the glass top and bottom where it connects to the stainless. The tank requires pressure to maintain volume control. If it leaks air in here fluid will leak out the 510 connector.

Two: Place a piece of paper towel over the drip tip. Shake the tank like you would an old style mercury thermometer to push the flooded juice out of the chamber. This will temporaily fix the flooded chamber.

 

[flybykite]

I've rebuilt protanks hundreds of times with lots of success. I normally used 30 or 32g kanthal wrapped on a 2mm (5/64) screwdriver. 28g sounds a bit large for a variable wattage device. You will just be sucking and sucking trying to heat that thing up and it just wont get hot enough for a good vape. There is a vacuum that happens inside the tank and when you draw lots without vaping the juice it will just build up and then flood. Try it on a mechanical or something that can give it more wattage.
Also, yes the wicking is a fine tuning art. I always get just enough cotton wick in there that if I lightly pull it, it will move. Then add another wick about 2/3 the size to the top of the coil. Or if you use fiberglass wick, a 2 mm wick plus 2 2 1mm flavor wicks on top. Cotton is better though as it expands a bit and does the job better. If you get a cotton flavor from the wick, it usually means there is too much cotton in there.
I think the main problem is that your coil cant heat up enough at 9 watts to vape the juice. Original cartos are built with 32 or 34 g kanthal.
Try going with a kayfun from fasttech. the 3.1 kayfun is a nice unit that was meant to be rebuilt, has way more flavor, and you can adjust the airflow to whatever you like. Best of all it wont gurgle or flood and needs to be rebuilt less.
Ahh, and its nearly the same price.

 

[Tbev]

Protanks are junk imo, lots of people use them, they all have problems, get a kf Clone or even better a fogger v4, I run Fv4 on my dad's vamo and it's a killer, way better than r91's and anything else, plus it's got a glass tank and holds way more juice.
That's the best advice your gonna get.... Promise.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

 

[TFL!]

I use pro tanks and don't have problems!! Sounds like the problems you are having are not filling up the slots on the sides of the pt3.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

If you use a Kanger airflow control valve it will give you a sealed connection.

That means no leaks through the 510 at all. This is the absolute best thing you can get to upgrade a protank. It will not be able to leak into the battery. Not a drop. That won't stop the head from flooding due to wicking issues, large gauge wire or a failed insulator. Also, some heads just die. Always try a brand new head if all else fails. You can sometimes save a head by changing the rubber grommet/insulator at the bottom. You can get them here. I use silicone ones. They work much better than the standard rubber ones. Best of luck.

 

[realsis]

I've also rebuilt protank hundreds of times very successfully and I also use a 5/6 wrap over a 3/4 inch screw driver. I make certain the coil is perfectly centered, wicking material is in the provided slots and through the coil, then I place another bit of wicking material over the first keeping that in the slots as well, then cap it. After that I trim the material to fit. I've had zero issues with leaking and it produces some hefty vapor. The wicking material I choose for rebuilding protank is 100% organic non bleached cotton. This almost looks like a yarn. I purchase it from cloud chasers. It's perfect for the protank. If your getting the leaking it is most definitely because of something a miss with the build. Many tanks are particular and are build dependant, like protank. In my household I make both mine and my husband's builds as he hasn't quite grasped the concept yet. So I'm the designated builder for us both. What might help your husband is watching a video on YouTube on rebuilding protank, If hes willing. They have some great build videos that have proved very helpful for me in the past and watching might help him out as well. I hope this post is helpful and I wish you the very best. I'm sure he will get it down. It just takes some practice . These builds can be picky sometimes.

 

[MJ12]

<snip>Make sure he is using the silicone cap.<snip>

Since I started rebuilding my PTII coils, using cotton, I've been putting that silicon seal back on the chimney upside down, so the "cup" part is facing away from the coil. In my case, it seems to help with the wicking, but still provides the necessary seal. YMMV