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Luchador95

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Jun 21, 2016
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About a year ago I couldn't resist buying an el-cheapo cigalike starterkit from DealExtreme. That was my first vaping experience. Pretty much no vapor and a pretty awful taste. After about a week of digging trough forums I learned there was a whole world full of different options beside the cigalike, and I bought myself two Evods and later a Mini Protank 3. What a difference! I have enjoyed those tanks for nearly one year. Recently I was looking to step up to a better solution, but got overwhelmed by the enormous choice in tanks. Today I'm still looking for what could be the next step forward. I'm not (yet) into sub-ohm vaping at this moment, and RBA's and RDA's look too time consuming and complicated for now. I have an Eleaf iStick 30W which I bought about three months ago to be able to use more than just the eGo-style tanks if I wanted to. The main reason I decided I want to get into vaping is to save money, but after discovering some nice liquids I am willing to pay a bit more for quality. Same goes for the hardware.

Does someone have a suggestion what to choose as my next tank?
I have considered some tanks like the Joyetech Cubis and the Innokin iClear 30s because these are easy to refill, but the reviews are very mixed. The Aspire Nautilus Mini has proven to be reliable and provides good taste, but it is getting a little old by now. The atomizers for the Nautilus Mini are pretty expensive and may be discontinued before I would stop using the tank. The last one I considered was the Innokin Endura T18/T22 (just the tank), because some people said it was one of the best MTL tanks around. This one is more or less designed to be used with the kit battery, so I'm not sure if it's a good idea to use that one with the iStick.
 

Eskie

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May 6, 2016
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Hi and welcome! Sounds like you've come a long way since you started. As far as MTL tanks without turning to an RTA (although honestly, they're not that hard to work with) yes, the Nautilus mini is well regarded (and I doubt you'll have any problems finding replacements for quite some time, and they can be found for <$10 a 5/pack). The Triton mini is a newer, top fill tank that uses the same Nautilus coils or its own coils. There is also the new Nautilus X, which has its own coils, although the reviews on that have been mixed.

Another inexpensive option is a Cerotank, which uses Aspire BVC (not the Nautilus version) or a Kanger coil which performs amazingly well for its price point. You can certainly look at something like the Cubis as well, keeping in mind that tanks with mixed reviews that didn't work or please some folks might still work for you. Another winner for MTL is a Kabuki, or its clone from say Fasttech. Again, it does use Nautilus coils, but is one of the best tanks for flavor I've ever used that uses a stock premade coil.
 

Luchador95

Full Member
Jun 21, 2016
6
1
Hi and welcome! Sounds like you've come a long way since you started. As far as MTL tanks without turning to an RTA (although honestly, they're not that hard to work with) yes, the Nautilus mini is well regarded (and I doubt you'll have any problems finding replacements for quite some time, and they can be found for <$10 a 5/pack). The Triton mini is a newer, top fill tank that uses the same Nautilus coils or its own coils. There is also the new Nautilus X, which has its own coils, although the reviews on that have been mixed.

Another inexpensive option is a Cerotank, which uses Aspire BVC (not the Nautilus version) or a Kanger coil which performs amazingly well for its price point. You can certainly look at something like the Cubis as well, keeping in mind that tanks with mixed reviews that didn't work or please some folks might still work for you. Another winner for MTL is a Kabuki, or its clone from say Fasttech. Again, it does use Nautilus coils, but is one of the best tanks for flavor I've ever used that uses a stock premade coil.
Thank you, that helped me a lot!
The Cerotank certainly looks great in many aspects, my best bet would be to buy it from Banggood. Too bad they are sold out currently, even the V2 version. I could also use the Kanger dual coils I already have for my Mini Protank 3.
The Cubis doesn't seem too bad, but people complain about flooding after it has been filled and it spits more than usual. My Mini Protank 3 already spits more than I would like it to, so I'll keep the Cubis a bit lower on my list for now.
The Kabuki clone from FastTech also looks very good, it's like a cheaper version of the Nautilus Mini. The coils on FastTech are not that expensive either. Can't really go wrong on the Kabuki, I'm very tempted to order it as soon as I receive my refund from FastTech after canceling my Cubis order.
 
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djsvapour

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Oct 2, 2012
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With respect. You are mixing up some old and new gear quite a bit.

iClear30 or 30S is an old tech silica tank that was good in it's day and is extinct in some sub-sections of the vaping community.

Joyetech Cubis is almost the latest tank, and not a bad effort given almost everything Joyetech made prior to about 2015 was suspect. (They kept selling old-tech atomizers, even bad ones, for years after every other make was doing all the development of new and better clearomisers).
The Endura tank is not as reliable (leaking) as the mini Nautilus and more akin to the iClear30S, in fact it's probably the same (95%) only with cotton wicking filler.
The BVC replacements are not going to disappear, not when the tank is still one of the best/popular. Replacements for Aspire are expensive because Aspire are arrogant. It's not so noticeable in the USA but it is elsewhere.
The Endura is NOT better than the Nautilus in regard to airflow. That is just not right. The Nautilus has 4 airflow options and the Endura has, more or less, the same ultra tight draw of the iClear30S.

The Cubis is great, but the 0.5ohm is not ideal because as a DL tank it's severely restricted.
The 1.0ohm coils are wheezy and not recommended.
The 1.5ohm Claptons are only average for taste....
... but unless you want the 'top' tank for taste everything about that tank works pretty well. Worst of all, it has a wide-bore drip tip which is less than ideal for classic MTL.

Some reviewers are not to be trusted. ($$$)
Some reviews are based on very short memories... true 'game changing' products are very rare.
Too many of the latest tanks are DL tanks, regardless of what they say. Nothing out there covers both bases as well as individual tanks that cover just one base.
 
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Luchador95

Full Member
Jun 21, 2016
6
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With respect. You are mixing up some old and new gear quite a bit.

iClear30 or 30S is an old tech silica tank that was good in it's day and is extinct in some sub-sections of the vaping community.

Joyetech Cubis is almost the latest tank, and not a bad effort given almost everything Joyetech made prior to about 2015 was suspect. (They kept selling old-tech atomizers, even bad ones, for years after every other make was doing all the development of new and better clearomisers).
The Endura tank is not as reliable (leaking) as the mini Nautilus and more akin to the iClear30S, in fact it's probably the same (95%) only with cotton wicking filler.
The BVC replacements are not going to disappear, not when the tank is still one of the best/popular. Replacements for Aspire are expensive because Aspire are arrogant. It's not so noticeable in the USA but it is elsewhere.
The Endura is NOT better than the Nautilus in regard to airflow. That is just not right. The Nautilus has 4 airflow options and the Endura has, more or less, the same ultra tight draw of the iClear30S.

The Cubis is great, but the 0.5ohm is not ideal because as a DL tank it's severely restricted.
The 1.0ohm coils are wheezy and not recommended.
The 1.5ohm Claptons are only average for taste....
... but unless you want the 'top' tank for taste everything about that tank works pretty well. Worst of all, it has a wide-bore drip tip which is less than ideal for classic MTL.

Some reviewers are not to be trusted. ($$$)
Some reviews are based on very short memories... true 'game changing' products are very rare.
Too many of the latest tanks are DL tanks, regardless of what they say. Nothing out there covers both bases as well as individual tanks that cover just one base.
It has been quite a while since I have been looking around what's on the market, but after all it seems the Nautilus Mini (or even the Kabuki) would definitely suit my needs. I will keep in mind that everyone has a different taste or preference, and I may as well choose the Cubis.
 

Luchador95

Full Member
Jun 21, 2016
6
1
You might want to try the kanger Aerotank. 2.7 ml capacity has an afc base and uses the kanger coils your familiar with. The coils can easily be rebuilt, if this is the route you go I'd suggest a visit to Lightning Vapes and by the rebuild able protank3 kits.
That also sounds interesting. Shipping from Lightning Vapes starts at $30 to Europe, that's a bit high for me. I'll check FastTech for parts.
 

TheMike21

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Oct 29, 2015
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Thanks for pointing that out. Just did a search, I'm doing the same thing (more or less) to prevent my current tanks from gurgling. Never knew it had a name!
I call it that because that's what it looks like, I think Pbusardo has called it that way as well.
For those in the dark, it works like this, you remove the drip tip, cover the hole with a paper towel, put your finger over the covered hole, grab with the rest of the hand the atty (hold on tight), then draw a circle with your hand doing a fast motion as if you where "blessing someone". Remove the paper towel, clean any excess, place the drip tip back on and enjoy an unflooded vape
 

BrotherBob

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Dec 24, 2014
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