I'm not getting a terribly good life on my mini Protank 2 / Evod atomizers

[Giraut]

They last 5 or 6 tankfuls, and then the vape starts tasting bland and cold, while the outside of the tank heats up terribly - a sure sign that the atty is cooked. Yet I'm always careful never to let them run dry or overheat.

Does anybody experience that too? Can these things be rebuilt?

I love the Mini Protank 2, but that issue disappoints me a little, as I'm stingy and I'm not all that keen on changing atomizers so often. In comparison, my iClear 30 heads keep on going for weeks and weeks of much heavier usage (yes, I know, they're not BCs and they're not the same design. Still, just saying...)

 

[coalyard]

Heh. They only last about 10 seconds for me...about how long it takes for me to take one apart. Yes they can be rebuilt, and I would suggest you do so. Lots of threads here on the subject, as well as YouTube videos to learn from. To get you started, get some 30ga Kanthal wire and a 1/16" drill bit, some organic cotton balls, and a set of tweezers. Nail clippers and scissors are handy too. Search "30ga kanthal" on Amazon, 100' for about 7 bucks shipped.

You will not be sorry for your efforts, and really it's easy to do. Rebuilt coils wicked with cotton in a PT2 turn it from an OK tank into something pretty special.

Edit: Yes, this applies to the mini too...they use the same heads.

 

[Giraut]

Cool, thanks! I have #28 Kanthal wire somewhere. I'll give it a shot - not with cotton though, I hate the stuff

 

[xCJack]

They last 5 or 6 tankfuls, and then the vape starts tasting bland and cold, while the outside of the tank heats up terribly - a sure sign that the atty is cooked. Yet I'm always careful never to let them run dry or overheat.

Does anybody experience that too? Can these things be rebuilt?

I love the Mini Protank 2, but that issue disappoints me a little, as I'm stingy and I'm not all that keen on changing atomizers so often. In comparison, my iClear 30 heads keep on going for weeks and weeks of much heavier usage (yes, I know, they're not BCs and they're not the same design. Still, just saying...)

Your wicks and coil are probably gunked up dude. The coil is almost surely heating up just fine (evenly) but it's just gunked up, which is why it would get hot. Buy some replacement silica wick, take the old silica wick out (carefully), dry burn the coil, and put in a fresh wick (carefully). You could also try to dry burn the existing silica wick, but I didn't have good luck with that. After that you should be gravy again. I doubt your coil is shot after 5 tanks.

Also keep your wattage down if you're on a variable voltage battery.

 

[Giraut]

Your wicks and coil are probably gunked up dude. The coil is almost surely heating up just fine (evenly) but it's just gunked up, which is why it would get hot. Buy some replacement silica wick, take the old silica wick out (carefully), dry burn the coil, and put in a fresh wick (carefully). You could also try to dry burn the existing silica wick, but I didn't have good luck with that. After that you should be gravy again. I doubt your coil is shot after 5 tanks.

Yeah I'll try that. Although to be honest, I've never had much luck replacing the wick like that: usually I destroy the coil in the process. But it's worth a try. Thanks!

 

[Giraut]

I've just tried a quick dry burn at work (that's where I keep most of my Protank 2s - I can't do much more messing about with the atty here ) and it seems to make things better. The coil and wicks looked very clean and white before the dry burn though, but the coil didn't look very tight. I might recoil it with a smaller diameter at home.

EDIT: I removed the two extra pieces of wick on top of the coil - now *that* makes things a LOT better! Makes sense, as I vape thick VG juice. Now it's time to get back to work before my boss pops up unexpectedly

 

[Rickajho]

You have to be watchful regarding removal of those top wicks as that's part of the system that actually maintains the partial vacuum that keeps the liquid in the tank. The trade-off of getting more liquid flow right now may be finding a pool of liquid leaking out of the tank when it's allowed to sit for any length of time. It doesn't happen to everyone who removes top wicks, but it does happen. Personally I use 100 VG in PT's and have never found a need to remove the top wicks.

 

[Giraut]

You have to be watchful regarding removal of those top wicks as that's part of the system that actually maintains the partial vacuum that keeps the liquid in the tank. The trade-off of getting more liquid flow right now may be finding a pool of liquid leaking out of the tank when it's allowed to sit for any length of time. It doesn't happen to everyone who removes top wicks, but it does happen. Personally I use 100 VG in PT's and have never found a need to remove the top wicks.

Yeah, the cleao that has the atomizer with the wicks removed is now sitting on my desk, and I'll leave it there for the day, to see if a puddle forms underneath. But really, it's night and day as far as taste and vapor production is concerned.

How fluid is your VG juice? Mine flows about as fast as honey: if I tilt the tank upside down, it takes a good 10 seconds to flow entirely to the other end.

 

[wheelie]

While waiting on supplies to rebuild, get a adjustable air flow valve for your Kanger Protank2's. The two upgrades are well worth the time and not a whole lot of effort.Makes the Protanks something special that's forsure.

 

[Giraut]

While waiting on supplies to rebuild, get a adjustable air flow valve for your Kanger Protank2's. The two upgrades are well worth the time and not a whole lot of effort.Makes the Protanks something special that's forsure.

They're mini protanks. I'm not aware of any airflow valve for the mini models.

As for the rebuild supplies, I already have everything for my Genesis clearos. I just need to bring the Protanks back home to do it (they're part of the vaping gear I keep at work). Although, since they seem to work good - and leak-free - with the top wicks removed, I may postpone that.

 

[xCJack]

Giraut, you should be able to remove the wick in the coil head without unsettling the coil by using tweezers to remove the wick and to put a new one in. Just go slowly and don't buy to big of a replacement wick. If your wicks are still clean looking though, I really don't know why flavor would be bad unless you're running too high of a voltage/wattage. Are you on a variable voltage setup?

However, if you solved the problem by removing the "flavor wicks" then there ya go broski.

 

[Giraut]

However, if you solved the problem by removing the "flavor wicks" then there ya go broski.

"Flavor wicks" is right: they take away the flavor, or replace it with a burnt taste Funnily enough, when I pulled them out, they were completely charred, as opposed to the main wick which was still nice and white.

I'm so happy to have pull them out of that one troublesome clearo I have that I did it with all 5 PT2s I keep in rotation at work: in all of them, the flavor and vapor thickness improved immediately. The others weren't bad to begin with, but they were better for it afterwards.

We'll see how long the heads last without the extra wicks. It should be interesting...