HotCig Big German/Tank Clone

[ccwaters]

Ordered from fasttech June, 30, 15, arrived this morning. This atomizer keeps up to its name, it is BIG.
23mm base, 25mm at the tank bulge, over 100mm in height with drip tip.approaching 150 grams with the steel tank, not including the 10ml capacity.

Dual coil/single coil with included hardware to close off one side of juice/air flow. Airflow is provided by 4 2mm holes, you can close off any number of these down to 1 2mm hole, and the last one can be partially closed as well.

Flavor production seems good, not the best, but decent, probably due to the long chimney, which also contributes to a cool vape @20 watts, kick my current build to 30 watts and it starts getting a bit warm, and better flavor. At 30 watts it seems to wick well enough to keep up to the .8 ohm 2.5mm .26 gauge single coil build I have in it. The initial build I just laid the Japanese cotton in the well, this seems to wick well enough, but may not drain the tank completely. Subsequent builds I'll experiment with mesh, or cotton down the juice holes.

Juice flow is controlled by the chimney, which blocks off the 4 rather large holes (probably close two 4mm each) in the closed position. The juice flow adjustment is fairly smooth, a bit on the stiff side.

Airflow is adequate for restricted lung hits, but if your looking for something similar to Goblins, Subtanks, ETC. look somewhere else. Airflow is similar to my SquapeR wide open. I haven't tried dual coil yet, but expect that will open it up substantially.

Overall build quality is quite nice, minimal cleaning, and removal of a few burrs, and it was ready to go. All the threading is smooth, without the sharp edges many of the clones have. The deck screws are very tiny, but seem good quality, and I had no issues using .26 gauge wire.

It arrives with a good selection of spare parts, including o-rings. Also includes a PMMA? tank, as well as a stainless tank. One concern is even with the Stainless tank the top cap has small windows in the top cap, it is difficult to tell what material the windows are made from, but I would guess they are not glass. Known juice crackers should probably not be used in this atomizer.

So far I've not seen spare parts listed for this. My opinion is this is a well made clone. If you don't mind the size of this it is quite nice.

 

[TheotherSteveS]

You should have to have a license to use that thing!! 125g ?!?!? lol!!

 

[ccwaters]

Really isn't that bad for weight
Taifun GT2 98 grams dry
Rose V2 107 grams dry
Kayfun V4 100 grams dry

 

[Cool_Breeze]

Is that an Allen screw closing the 2nd air port?

Is 125 gm with the metal sleeve? ...much savings with the PC(?) tank?

 

[ccwaters]

Is that an Allen screw closing the 2nd air port?

Yes, they include the small grub screws to close off one side of the deck, both juice flow, and airflow for single coil option. I did build it dual coil last night, both airflow, and flavor are quite noticeably better.

 

[TrollDragon]

Excellent thread!

Just waiting for mine to arrive, it will probably be by the middle of next week. I'll try a dual coil build from the start and also mesh straws in the juice holes.

It looks great!

 

[ccwaters]

It wicks quite well with just the cotton in the deck, at least until you get to about this much left in the tank, like I assumed it won't drain the tank dry, at least as I wicked it, kind of surprised it made it this far.

 

[TrollDragon]

Did you push the cotton into the juice holes or just lay it over top of them?
It looks like in your last picture of the full set you just laid the cotton on the deck like a blanket.

 

[TrollDragon]

How does the DT fit? Nice and snug I hope.
Looks like a coil making mandrel in the box as well, what size is that?

 

[ccwaters]

Did you push the cotton into the juice holes or just lay it over top of them?
It looks like in your last picture of the full set you just laid the cotton on the deck like a blanket.

I just laid it in the deck, as pictured it needed a bit more, could barely open the juice flow, or it would flood, left the tails a little longer, and a little more cotton in the coil fixed that.

How does the DT fit? Nice and snug I hope.
Looks like a coil making mandrel in the box as well, what size is that?

Drip tip on mine is nice, and tight, the mandrel is 2.5mm with a step up to 3mm in the middle, it rests in the cutouts on the deck for coil alignment, pretty easy to build.

 

[crazelee]

I got it last week and set it up with dual coil twisted 28 gauge 9 warp 3mm 0.45ohm.also i use 4 mesh straws in the juice holes like FEV. it work really good and i love it so much.

 

[crazelee]

I use 4 mesh straws in the juice holes like FEV and it can drain the tank dry.

It wicks quite well with just the cotton in the deck, at least until you get to about this much left in the tank, like I assumed it won't drain the tank dry, at least as I wicked it, kind of surprised it made it this far.

 

[TrollDragon]

I use 4 mesh straws in the juice holes like FEV and it can drain the tank dry.

What size are your mesh straws?

 

[TrollDragon]

Well like I posted over in the FeV thread I have some issues with my Big Tank and that is probably just me not wicking it properly.

After it arrived and was washed I built it with a dual 26g coils and wicked it with KGD I am pretty sure. I vaped two full tanks from it at 30W, no dry hits and no flooding, I was quite impressed. Then I took out the dual build to put in a singe and there was no end to the trouble I am having.

I just removed one of the coils to make my single build. Installed the grub screws, wicked it with Rayon and it would leak very quickly down into the bottom chamber. Well I figured it was getting flooded by the ill fitting grub screws, or the Rayon was wicking out of the juice hole and right down the air hole. I had only laid the tails on the deck and might have pushed them back into the corner.

Tore that apart added the second set of grub screws. Then I noticed juice on the table that had leaked from the view port on top. Deburred the top cap and put it back together with a small smidgen of Silicone in the corner of the center hole extending out onto the cross arms. That has stopped the leak.

Wicked the second build with KGD and could not get this tank to wick for the life of me. I even had the juice holes wide open at one point. I made the mistake of giving a Kayfun like primer pull on this beast and must have ended up with 3 ml's of juice in the collection cup. There seems to be a liquid lock happening some place, the first build only required a sliver of juice hole open to work great. The single build not so much.

I took the single out and cleaned everything today at work. Took out the grub screws since I was going back to dual coils and built it with two 2.5mm 27g coils. I wicked it with Rayon, primed the wick from the juice bottle and put it back together.

Opened the juice control just a sliver and bubbles started rising, good sign. I opened the juice control up 3 full turns from closed and vaped 1/3rd of the tank perfectly.

Now it seems that I am getting a dry hit off of one of the coils, I must have too much cotton on the deck, I don't push any down into the holes. I am going to try a set of mesh straws tonight and rewick with KGD just like the KF4, where the ends of the cotton just touch the deck over top of the juice holes and see what happens there.

I really like the tank, massive flavor and great cloud production but I need the juice to flow without issue.

 

[TrollDragon]

I do believe I have figured out what my problem is, way too much wick.

You don't have to drain the tank to get at the deck, just invert it and unscrew the chimney halfway, then unscrew the base from the tank.

While taking the Rayon out, I broke a leg on the 27g coils that were installed. So I made new 26g coils 9 wraps each on 2.5mm and mounted them. Cut a strip of KGD twice as wide as the coils, peeled off one of the outer layers, cut the strip in half and wicked the coils. Trimmed the ends so they would touch the deck with a little extra and fluffed them. I put the little pick I use at the bottom of each end of the coils where the cotton comes out and folded the cotton down onto the deck over the pick. It all looked good, so I juiced up the wicks and put the tank back on.

I opened the juice control 4 full turns and ran it at 25W. I started to see bubbles rising from a juice hole and knew this is going to work nicely. 1/4 tank gone and there are bubbles with every or every second vape.

I find Rayon harder to get even in dual coils than KGD, so I'll be sticking to Japanese cotton in the Big Tank for a while. I will revisit a single coil down the road, but for now I am going to enjoy the great vape off of this beastie.

 

[ccwaters]

I've not used anything but cotton in mine, and won't build it single coil again, when I had the single coil build in it, for whatever reason the juice control could only be barely cracked open, anything more and it would flood, very sensitive in single coil. I've had absolutely no issues with flooding, or leaking, about 30ml or so through it. It vapes quite nicely, but it gives a work out using it! What is really ridiculous is when I put it on the already oversized SVD 2.0

Is that an Allen screw closing the 2nd air port?

Is 125 gm with the metal sleeve? ...much savings with the PC(?) tank?

Apologies for missing your question, no, its close to 150 grams with the steel tank, and yes you have the option to close off half the deck with tiny Allen screws (grub screws) , both airflow, and juice flow.


No idea why, but Fasttech just discontinued it this morning, that leaves Gearbest, or Focale, if they don't do the same.

 

[TrollDragon]

FC has replacement acrylic tanks available that they say fit both the ShenRay and Hotcig.
$2.26-$2.75 Big German Tank Style 3PCS Rebuilable Tank by ShenRay(10ml) - Transparent

 

[ccwaters]

Ordered 6 spares right after they were listed, that was the only weak link I saw in the atomizer!

 

[Deadkaiser]

Hey hows the tank going is it rusting i own 2 Hotcig clone tanks both work well but both have rust spots all over them after 1 month..... (btw is that rust on the Metal tank section middle Big German engraving)

 

[ccwaters]

No rust, I've got quite a few other clones from Hotcig, none of them have rusted either. If you don't want the Hotcig version you could get the one Shenray just released, no idea on the quality, but they did a good job on the TGSII I got from them.