First cotton-wicked Protank II coil rebuild

[MJ12]

I just re-built my first cotton-wicked Protank II coil. I used 4 wraps of 32-ga Kanthal wrapped around a 1/16" drill bit. I dry fired the coil and it's glowing nice and evenly, no hot spots, and it heats up fast! With everything reassembled, and the wick primed, the resistance is reading around 1.4 to 1.5 Ω on my Vamo V5. That's a bit lower than I wanted, prefer something around 1.8 Ω. There's a noticeable increase in vapor production and I'm picking up a bit of the taste of the cotton, probably because of the low resistance and resulting increase in heat. The cotton I used is organic cotton, in the green bag, from CVS. The next rebuild I'll go for 5 wraps of wire. That should get me in the ball park.

I followed this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkB5LRGNcn4

UPDATE: I noticed the slight cotton taste dissipates after a few toots. I'm vaping Hawk Sauce from Mt. Baker Vapor at 9.0 to 9.5 watts.

 

[Dissonance]

If you're noticing a cotton taste, there's a good chance you used too much cotton. Also, to get that ~1.8Ω coil... I would recommend 8 wraps of 30g kanthal on whatever is the largest bit you can fit into those little slots. Take the coil off the bit, squeeze it together with pliers/tweezers, and torch it (This just helps get all those coils touching without having to dry fire). This is what I rebuild coils to for my friends, and comes out consistently to 1.7-1.8Ω every time.

Also, you NEVER wanna dry fire a protank coil. When those coils heat up, the leads heat up, and you risk burning that rubber insulator at the bottom... So unless you like the taste of burning rubber, I strongly advise against it.

Other than that, congratulations You're on the road to viewing vaping as a hobby instead of a smoking replacement

 

[soulcatcher]

I've always been sensitive to certain flavors, cotton being one of them. Even w/ sterile cotton I would have to boil it, and still I woulld get cotton flavor for the first 10 or so puffs. As long as it is wicking enough and not burning then you should be good to go, the flavor will fade as it breaks in. I've used cotton down to .5 ohms so too much power should not be an issue.

I would try out cellucotton/rayon from Sally's Beauty Supply. All the fibers are uniform to it is easier to work with, it wicks better, tastes better, and gives a bit more flavor than cotton. Def worth a try, though be warned the smallest box I have come across is a big 500ft role.

-Best of Luck-

 

[MJ12]

If you're noticing a cotton taste, there's a good chance you used too much cotton. Also, to get that ~1.8Ω coil... I would recommend 8 wraps of 30g kanthal on whatever is the largest bit you can fit into those little slots. Take the coil off the bit, squeeze it together with pliers/tweezers, and torch it (This just helps get all those coils touching without having to dry fire). This is what I rebuild coils to for my friends, and comes out consistently to 1.7-1.8Ω every time.

I'll give that a go and let you know how it turns out, thanks!

UPDATE:
Well, that didn't work out so well. I was a getting a reading of 2.5Ω prior to wicking. I started mucking about with the coil and at one point it dropped to .3Ω. I gave up on that and when pulled the coil off I counted the wraps... 11! Guess I lost count, will try again later.

LATER: I used 6 wraps of 30 ga Kanthal around a toothpick, vs. the 1/16" drill bit, and got a reading of 2.0Ω. Dry fire looks good, wicked and primed and still showing 2.0Ω. I used a bit less cotton and it's vaping great. Cranked up the wattage to 10.0 and no cotton taste. Still searching for that sweet spot of 1.8Ω, but I'm getting there.

 

[MJ12]

Thanks for the advice

 

[Chew Magna]

I run my ProTank 2 at around .8 ohms and never really have a problem with dry hits (well, anymore, I had to learn a bit myself). One thing you can try is to take that silicone bowl seal on the chimney and flip it upside down. IME it wicks a bit faster that way. Still functions properly as well. One little trick I do is when I cut my wicks (I use a "flavor wick" too) with the nail clippers, I kinda fluff them up so they almost look like wings. Gives a little more surface area to catch liquid.


I also 2nd the too much cotton advice. Wicking is a learned skill and it'll take some trial and error before you really figure it out. Also remember to pre-saturate the wick before putting it all back together.

Now don't take this as advice exactly **DISCLAIMER LOL**, but you can dry burn a ProTank head, I do all mine. You just have to make sure you do really short pulses. Just enough to light them up, no more. Even doing this on my first build I've never burned or even over heated a seal.

 

[edyle]

I'll give that a go and let you know how it turns out, thanks!

UPDATE:
Well, that didn't work out so well. I was a getting a reading of 2.5Ω prior to wicking. I started mucking about with the coil and at one point it dropped to .3Ω. I gave up on that and when pulled the coil off I counted the wraps... 11! Guess I lost count, will try again later.

LATER: I used 6 wraps of 30 ga Kanthal around a toothpick, vs. the 1/16" drill bit, and got a reading of 2.0Ω. Dry fire looks good, wicked and primed and still showing 2.0Ω. I used a bit less cotton and it's vaping great. Cranked up the wattage to 10.0 and no cotton taste. Still searching for that sweet spot of 1.8Ω, but I'm getting there.

2.0, 1.8, same thing; 10% difference.
Aim for 2.0 and your numbercrunching gets easier.

 

[MJ12]

I run my ProTank 2 at around .8 ohms and never really have a problem with dry hits (well, anymore, I had to learn a bit myself). One thing you can try is to take that silicone bowl seal on the chimney and flip it upside down. IME it wicks a bit faster that way. Still functions properly as well. One little trick I do is when I cut my wicks (I use a "flavor wick" too) with the nail clippers, I kinda fluff them up so they almost look like wings. Gives a little more surface area to catch liquid. I also 2nd the too much cotton advice. Wicking is a learned skill and it'll take some trial and error before you really figure it out. Also remember to pre-saturate the wick before putting it all back together. Now don't take this as advice exactly **DISCLAIMER LOL**, but you can dry burn a ProTank head, I do all mine. You just have to make sure you do really short pulses. Just enough to light them up, no more. Even doing this on my first build I've never burned or even over heated a seal.

My Vamo won't fire anything less than 1.2 Ω, so I'm somewhat limited in that regard. Since I started rebuilding using the organic cotton, I've not needed any flavour wicks. And I flipped that silicon seal upside down as well. I'd heard about that on a YT video. I know not to dry-burn a coil that's been wicked with cotton, unless I want to see it go up in a puff of smoke.

Thanks!

 

[MJ12]

2.0, 1.8, same thing; 10% difference.
Aim for 2.0 and your numbercrunching gets easier.

I guess I'm a bit ....-retentive about that number, not sure why. As you've stated, there's not much difference.

 

[Chew Magna]

My Vamo won't fire anything less than 1.2 Ω, so I'm somewhat limited in that regard. Since I started rebuilding using the organic cotton, I've not needed any flavour wicks. And I flipped that silicon seal upside down as well. I'd heard about that on a YT video. I know not to dry-burn a coil that's been wicked with cotton, unless I want to see it go up in a puff of smoke.

Thanks!

Ah I gotcha. When I first started rebuilding those I was using an iTaste VV V3 and it won't fire anything under .8, so that's where I built them.