How to get the most out of PT2 coils?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Maybe you could find someone to rebuild and install new coils. ... Maybe someone close to you would be willing to show you.


Sadly all of my local vaping friends are actually LESS knowledgeable than I am. (Shocking right? Lol) but I'm the only one who cares enough to learn anything, my friends just vape when they don't have cigarettes.
 

edyle

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Oct 23, 2013
14,199
7,195
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
See, I knew I could extend their life by rewicking, but I'm afraid to get into that. Up until recently it's always been easier to just buy new coils. But since I'm often forgetting to rinse/dry burn with these things until the tiny wick is already burned...

Can I rewick with cotton ball cotton? Seems really ghetto but at this exact point my budget doesn't exactly afford me the ability to buy "proper wicking material" while I'm still learning, you know? I really never intended to get into the DIY aspect.
(But, then again, I really never intended to completely give up the stinkies, either. Lol.)

Oh yes; cotton balls from the pharmacy.
 

edyle

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Oct 23, 2013
14,199
7,195
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
Wow. Didn't know that. Lol

Yes it's worth dryburning the silica wick the first time and see for yourself that the white clothlike wick does not burn and instead turns from blackened to white; it's a sight to see.
If you're happy with silica wick you can buy it by the roll; the better type is the braided one which does not unravel like common rope type.
 
Yes it's worth dryburning the silica wick the first time and see for yourself that the white clothlike wick does not burn and instead turns from blackened to white; it's a sight to see.
If you're happy with silica wick you can buy it by the roll; the better type is the braided one which does not unravel like common rope type.


Thanks a lot. I think I'll try tinkering with an old one I've yet to throw away... Play around with cotton balls and see what I can learn before checking out the silica yk?
 

Maiar

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Oct 29, 2014
1,402
1,128
41
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
I don't rewick the coil part of it. I just use cotton off a cotton ball to replace the flavor wicks in there. I boil them in distilled water for 20 minutes and only dry burn if something somehow survived the boiling. Usually everything is as white as the day you bought it after. I usually get at least two weeks out of every coil.
 

Racehorse

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Jul 12, 2012
11,230
28,254
USA midwest
Rebuilding is the best option, but if you aren't the fix-it type, you can just soak them is some vodka or everclear overnight and then rinse with water and let them dry. Pop the chimney off, remove the flavor wick on top and dry burn them. Replace the flavor wick with a bit of cotton and replace the chimney. Check out youtube for videos, there's a ton of them.

I was using Everclear for years, then I switched over to denture cleaner fizzies......what a huge difference IMHO. Even the wicks were very nice and white afterwards. :)
 

Racehorse

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Jul 12, 2012
11,230
28,254
USA midwest
How are you going through 5 coils per week? I rotate between a mini protank2 and a mini protank3 and I replace wicks maybe twice a month. I rinse the wick thoroughly when I change flavors and dry burn them if the vapor is getting weak or funky tasting. That's about all I do. I'm using 1.5ohm coils on my mini protank3 and 2.5ohm coils on my mini protank 2.

Those 2.5ohm single coils ARE gonna last longer than a lower resistance.

And perhaps you are using higher PG juice (I don't) and not a dark flavor.

So many variables come into play.....
 

DaveP

PV Master & Musician
ECF Veteran
May 22, 2010
16,733
42,646
Central GA
I like organic cotton balls. The difference is supposed to be that the cotton is grown without use of pesticides.

I haven't done it yet, but some have said that Sally's Beauty supply sells Ko Gen Do Japanese cotton in packages of flat pads that can be pulled apart for strips that make better wicks. Something about Japanese cotton makes it wick better, last longer, and taste better.
 
6f6d4a6cefc84e7e6a1458ddb9944ed7.jpg

First attempt at rewicking. I used a small piece of an organic cotton ball, after dry burn, rinsed before and after the burn.
I was shocked at how white the bottom wick became. Lol. Can't believe I never tried with these heads.
Too nervous to even try messing with the lower wick, don't want to mess with the coils at all without having proper equipment and training.
Gonna let it dry out for the next couple days and test it out when it's time to change again.
 

Attachments

  • WP_20141118_004.jpg
    WP_20141118_004.jpg
    22.1 KB · Views: 8

edyle

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Oct 23, 2013
14,199
7,195
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
6f6d4a6cefc84e7e6a1458ddb9944ed7.jpg

First attempt at rewicking. I used a small piece of an organic cotton ball, after dry burn, rinsed before and after the burn.
I was shocked at how white the bottom wick became. Lol. Can't believe I never tried with these heads.
Too nervous to even try messing with the lower wick, don't want to mess with the coils at all without having proper equipment and training.
Gonna let it dry out for the next couple days and test it out when it's time to change again.

After a few times dryburning, eventually the silica wick will fall apart; at that point you can use one of your tweezers that you use for your eyebrows to nitpick at the wick and shred it off bit by bit, then you can thread your own cotton through.

All those little tools girls use for makeup come in handy; I sometimes pass in the cosmetics aisle at a pharmacy nearly checkout out all those little tools, like recently I got a solid metal pliers/cutters thing which I presume is maybe for picking at pokeout eyebrow hair or maybe nose hair, but it's usefull when I can changing out a wick on my dripper; I gotta go back and see when small scissors they have; those would be very usefull too.
 

molimelight

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Nov 11, 2013
260
427
Columbia, MO
I was using Everclear for years, then I switched over to denture cleaner fizzies......what a huge difference IMHO. Even the wicks were very nice and white afterwards. :)

I keep on meaning to pick some up but keep forgetting when I get to Wally World. (All I can seem to concentrate on when I get there is getting out of there!) I'll put that on my One Note list right now! :D
 

DingerCPA

Vaping Mistress
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Apr 9, 2014
9,020
61,413
Corn 'n' Cows
RainbowBabz, I was skittish at first with my PT coils. Then I got brave and read through these:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ictorial-evod-rewicking-cotton-recoiling.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/brookj1986/6066-simple-protank-coil-replacement.html

I have some really simple tools - tweezers, nail clippers, a 1/16" drill bit and some beard trimming shears. Some 30g kanthal and a bag of cotton balls, and I'll never buy another coil again. I could build a new coil a day for a year before I have to get more supplies :)

ETA: forgot the MOST important tool - ohmmeter. :facepalm: I originally started building and tested on my MVP or my VV3. I build to about 1.8 ohms, and I find the coils WAAAAAAY better than purchased ones. When I get a new tank, I rip apart the coil and rebuild it.... If I can do this, I'm quite sure you can!
 
Last edited:

edyle

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Oct 23, 2013
14,199
7,195
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
How much would you estimate an ohmmeter? It's my downseason at work, so I'm in super budget mode at the moment.

Then don't waste money on a separate ohmmeter; just get an itaste vv v3, or an ego-mega, or some such battery with a screen and built in ohm checker; ohm measurements is a standard feature of most popular regulated mods.

Of course, you could also get a simple cheap allpurpose multimeter
 

leekeylee

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Aug 22, 2014
491
583
Hull, UK
Well I tried the coil I rewicked... The flavor is good, and it works, but I'm getting super tight draws. Any advice on how to fix this, or is it just something to get used to?

If you are using cotton you probably have too much in the coil. Don't forget the cotton will swell when saturated with juice so this could be "chocking" the coil so not enough airflow.

Try less cotton. When you pull it through the coil you only want it to just be touching the inside of the coil. When you pull it through if the head moves along the desk it is too tight.
 

leekeylee

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Aug 22, 2014
491
583
Hull, UK
I didn't replace the wicks inside the coil... They came completely clean with a dry burn, so I left them alone. I only replaced the wick that was laying on top of the coil. Could this be a factor?

Possibly try without any flavour wick (that's what they call the wick on top of the coil) see if it makes any difference to the draw but you may get some juice spitting up the tube.

What did you use to replace the flavour wick with? Cotton? Or silica? If you get some juice spitting up the tube just add a small amount on top and try again.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread