Considering building my own coils...

Status
Not open for further replies.
I am using an itaste MVP with Kanger Protanks. I have started taking out the stock wicks of the Protank coils and replacing it with cotton, since it tastes better and I get more vapor, but these coils don't last long. I am constantly burning the wicks in a short time, even on the lowest settings on the MVP. So I am considering making my own coils and using a rebuildable, but don't know where to start. I would like to know what a good rebuildable tank that uses cotton wicks. Don't really care about the price, I want something that has a good reputation and popular. Can anyone recommend one? I not that technical, so something easy would be nice, not sure if they are all the same with the process.
 

TRIPDUBZ

Full Member
Feb 10, 2014
41
53
Michigan
I've been having really good performance from my protank rebuilds. I have an Igo w and enjoy dripping, but really only prefer to do that at home. I was turned on to the kanger tanks bc I was tired of buying heads for my iclear 30s - lamo to rebuild and a waste of juice/wick imo (and a lot of work to switch flavors). At first, I was really unhappy with all the maintainance and gurgling BS. Now I'm very satisfied with the minis. I get about a week out of the coils before they start to dip in performance, which is fine by me bc I just rebuild a fleet of em and it lasts me quite a while. The best success I've had is with the following:

10 tight wraps of 29ga temco kanthal (light torching) around a 1/16 drill bit (fits all the way into the head unlike a 5/64 - way easier). Comes out to about 1.9 ohms, which provides an honest firing voltage under load on my itaste vv v3. Unboiled organic cotton wick - one through the coil, and another 'flavor' twist of the same size on top - both snipped right to the edge of the head (nothing extra long). If I dont use a flavor wick i get mad flooding with 50/50 juice. I also flip the rubber grommet on the chimney - I've tried both ways and it's just more consistent flipped.

This took me about 3-4 weeks to figure out and I'm stoked to have something reliable to carry around and not worry about it pissing all over my battery at the bar. Also, I can vape a tank all the way down without refilling and gurgling (I like this)

Sorry if this was too technical, let me know if yoi have any questions bc protank problems are really frustrating. You should watch the rip trippers vid on it too, hes pretty specific about the process - this is what works for me, and pretty flawlessly. Biggest thing with cotton is pre-soaking the wick bc its lame when you burn it.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk
 

dice57

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Sep 1, 2013
4,960
3,734
68
Mount Vernon, Wa
The Kayfun, Russian or Flash-e-Vapor V2 are all good rba's to start with. You can use cotton, hemp fiber, Ramie or even silica with them. The Russian was my first rba, great atty, the flashi is my favorite, take a look and see what makes sense to you, and go with that. You can find decent clones, but the Authentic is well worth the price.

Recommend getting small samples of 28, 30, and 32 awg Kanthal till you find the wire that best suits your needs, then go from there. 30 awg would probably be best with the MVP, given it's limited power range.
 

jcop87

Full Member
Jul 6, 2013
42
12
Grand Rapids, MI
you can use cotton in pretty much any rba's. the kayfun lite clone is pretty cheap if you get it from the right vendor and if you want to drip I would recommend the trident v2 clone which is inexpensive too. If you are gonna build for your mvp, make sure your resistance is 1.3 ohms or higher otherwise it will not fire, with that said you should use 32g kanthal to give you a higher resistance. If you're considering a mechanical mod, you NEED to know your batteries, especially if you start to experiment with sub-ohm building. I would suggest the sony 18650vtc4 to stay on the safe side. battery prices are pretty much the same everywhere. usually 10 bucks or so. All this is IMO so if I stated anything wrong just correct me. dont bash. Good luck with building and be safe.
 

TangentOmen

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Jan 19, 2014
83
40
Durham Region, Ontario, Canada
Before you spend some dough on a new atty; watch reviews, and see what suits your vape style.
One thing to remember with the kayfun is; if you get the wick wrong, and it floods, you have to drain the tank to work on the setup. Wicking is pretty much the same in any atty, it takes practice to get it right- but once you get it, it's generally satisfying. There is nothing wrong with a PT2, I really like mine, once I got it set up right.

Now in saying that, I did just get my Squape clone from FT- though it was a dud, I did get to use it for a bit, and it actually gave me a buzz- which was awesome! Now it's intermittent, and I've got a ticket for it, but pretty stoked to see it working right, consistently.
 

BigCatDaddy

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Sep 29, 2013
1,046
1,076
Near Austin, Texas
Dammit, after reading thread like this and watching Rip Trippers' vids now I want to start building my own coils.

This will not end well....for my wallet.

In the long run, your wallet will thank you!! And so will your taste buds!! I thought the coil rebuilding thing was a bunch of hype, but it's great for improved flavor and vapor production. I even had to cut down my nic strength cuz my 12 mg was buzzing my socks off. I'm now at 3mg and getting some great vape.
 

Mark Anthony

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Oct 4, 2013
3,044
1,849
Scranton, Pa USA
Dammit, after reading thread like this and watching Rip Trippers' vids now I want to start building my own coils.

This will not end well....for my wallet.

It's much cheaper to build your own..... 100 ft kanthal at Temco... $5.46 shipped..... Bag or organic cotton balls $4.99.... That will get you about 250 - 300 PT2 coils.
 

GeorgeWachsmuth

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Mar 19, 2014
1,263
1,868
Riverhead, NY, USA
Frankly I have had great success with rebuilding my own coils on Kanger or ARO heads and using cotton wick. Used Ruby Roo's tutorial ( also saw Rip and Phil's videos). Attention to detail and patience and they work like a charm. I actually just use 32 gauge...5 or 6 wraps around a 1/16 drill bit (1.6mm) and organic cotton. No worries!
 

drummerskey

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Aug 7, 2012
2,133
4,330
little birdhouse in your soul
I would +1 the IGO-W to try first. I don't rebuild the PT coils personally because there isn't a lot of room there and you have to have the height of the coil, the amount of cotton and the right flavor wick to make it work right and when I can buy one that is stock for $1.20 something, it isn't worth it to me.

I have the Kayfun 3.1 and bought the IGO second. The Kayfun is awesome when it works but just as it was said, you have to have the right amount of cotton or it can be inconsistent and frustrating.............and to fix it, you have to drain it all out, fix it and try again. I bought the IGO from a B&M store and only paid like $20 or something and you do have more room and less of an issue to fix something you did wrong.

I also found that for a beginner, the thinner wire was harder to work with and getting the ohms just right with to regulated devices was a PITA. Then, if you get into a Mech Mod, you have to have the right batteries, then it becomes a preference thing and then.......add your own issue.

I would highly suggest getting different gauges of wire, an ohm meter and doing a lot of reading and watching videos before committing to one thing over the other. Everything is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay smaller in real life than any video I saw but once you get the hang of it, it gets easier. I think as a vaper, you should know how to do these things but whether you want to on the reg is your call.

I use my Kayfun and IGO at home but I still take out a PTII with Aerotank base and stock coils when I am anywhere else.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread