Kanger/Crooked Coils/Factory Seconds

[elfmirfkin]

Hello. I've been having a problem with kanger's dual coil units that fit into a mini protank 3. When I buy a box of them, at least one of them is crooked. The last box, three out of the five were crooked.
Let me explain...
The "chimney" part is leaning to the side. So once it is screwed into the base, the base won't screw into the tank because that chimney part rubs against the inside resulting in a major crossthread.
So I emailed kanger and their reply was along the lines of "we're very sorry to hear that. Can you send pictures?" So I did. Six different pictures of six different coils that were visibly crooked. Their reply after that was, verbatim, "this problem never happened. Please contact supplier"
So I have two questions. Has anyone else had this problem? And, does kanger sell factory seconds? I ask about factory seconds or "blems" because I bought these coils at a smoke shop. I have gone through three mini pt 3's because of ruined threads. It took my awhile to figure out why that was happening. I thought maybe I was doing something wrong. Nope. Crooked coils.

 

[Katya]

Strange... Were they authentic Kanger coils? Did they come with a verification scratch code on the box? I know that there are clones out there, but I've never seen a Kanger coil with crooked chimneys.

And what was your supplier's response? Anyway, your supplier should exchange them--and check his stock!

 

[underwhelmd]

Language barrier.... I doubt they would be rude. They are just saying to take them back to the shop you bought them and the faulty goods will work their way back to through the warranty chain to who made them. Kanger or a clone maker. (they may not even be authentic if the quality control is that bad) Get your money back from the shop who sold them. Kanger themselves aren't going to give you anything because you didn't buy from them. I don't blame them.

There is a reputable shop in my hometown selling clone coils, batteries and other stuff as authentic, I assume from Fastech. It happens. They got me too, until I educated myself on the "business".


edit: Yes to what Katya said. Beat me to it! lol.

 

[drunkenbatman]

Not aware of Kanger selling "2nd-shift" stuff, though their quality control can be pretty wonky, especially with stuff like coils. I'd second that you more than likely were sold counterfeit (which are often just fine, until they aren't) and have to go to where you bought them. If they don't sort it, name & shame them to warn others.

 

[Davey59]

That's a new one on me and I have bought lots (literally) of clone coils....... on purpose, because they are so so cheap..

On a bad batch now but they are aligned correctly and fit nice. They either pop one of the coils and double the ohms or are around 1 or so ohms and only one of my mods will fire that low. Even at that only maybe two out of five are bad. On this batch the chimney gasket is a little larger than a real Kanger which is close to flush but other than that you would be hard pressed to tell they are clones. The other supplier I was using were perfect copies........... or were they. Sorry with China who the hell knows.

 

[elfmirfkin]

Thank you for the replies.
Ok, I've heard of clones. I didn't know there existed clone coils as well.
The coils came in 5-strip blister pack with "Kangertech" on the foil backing. The strip of 5 comes in a white box with kanger's logo, ohm choices with my choice check-marked, and a list of tanks the coils will fit. There is no authentication code. There is the code sticker on the tanks which I bought at the same place. I have check kanger's site against those stickers which said they're good. If these coils are clones, I would think the word "counterfeit" would be more appropriate.
I did take them back to that smoke shop and the guy's response, in not so many words was "they are real! Call manufacturer."
In all fairness, they may not be real and he may not be aware of it. I did notice something though. Whenever I buy coils there, he picks up a black kanger box and starts to walk back to the counter before turning around, putting those back, and picking up what I asked for in a white box from a tucked away corner. Happens every time. I'm very observant of people's actions and body language and something has always seemed strange about that. I'm going to ask him to see the black box next time. I wish the reputable vape shops near me weren't so out of the way.

I guess my best bet would be to order a bulk supply straight from kanger. Thanks for responding everyone.

 

[djsvapour]

I used getting on for 100+ Kanger coils over many months, maybe a year.

They were fairly inconsistent, but one day I had a really bad one. I took it apart and honestly (no kidding) I could have wrapped a better coil in the dark after 6 large Vodkas.

Being 'real' doesn't negate getting a badly made one, done by machine or hand. That's the way it is.

I don't use Kanger coils anymore. No surprise.


In regard to ordering direct from Kanger... do you mean China or the 'official' Kanger shop in the US? The Kanger shop is too expensive and the QC will be no better for the reasons I have stated.

 

[Trailz]

Had one coil with a bent chimney, annoying.

 

[djsvapour]

Had one coil with a bent chimney, annoying.

I had more than one. More like 10....

 

[gandymarsh]

I recently bought 8 Protanks, 4 PT2s and 4 PT3s. They came as a full kit with 2 coils that weren't installed. The first one that I opened had crooked threading in the base where the coil threads in. It was obvious when looking at the bottom of the 510 connector. The base would not screw into the tank because it was tilted so much.

These are authentic, had the scratch off that checked out. Luckily, the other 7 were fine.

 

[Trailz]

Symptom was the base would screw in and meet resistance once per turn. This was the bent coil stem rubbing against the chimney. The coil didn't work well either. Next coil was fine.

 

[elfmirfkin]

Symptom was the base would screw in and meet resistance once per turn. This was the bent coil stem rubbing against the chimney. The coil didn't work well either. Next coil was fine.

Yes! This is exactly what is happening to me but explained better. I have researched and there are visual indicators (very subtle ones) of fake versus genuine. All of my coils are genuine. The auth code comes on the box of 50 so each individual 5 pack doesn't have its own.
Thank you to the posters who said they have gotten crooked coils as well. Now I can stop doubting myself haha.
I guess that's just the way it is. They are mass produced in china Afterall. I'm sure for every bad one, there's 10,000 good ones. I guess I've just had bad luck lately. It's not like they're $10 each or something so I'm not going to let it bother me anymore.

Anyone can provide links for some good sites to order them bulk? I live in united states. I think I want to buy a box of 50 so I won't have to worry about it for awhile. I wish I could find a place to sell a box of 50 mixed and matched. So I could get a variety of resistances. My go-to is 1.5. But there are good things to be said about 1.8, 1.2, and 0.8 as well. The 0.8 work fantastic. I turn my voltage all the way down on my battery and get great flavor and vapor. But I save that for special occasion like trying a new juice I made because battery drains pretty quickly. Plus I have read it's not recommended with joytech battery. Some experienced vapers have told me it's ok with voltage down. But on some sites, they say "nooo!! It will explode and kill your whole family!" I've been doing it since they came out with no problems.
Sorry for rambling.

 

[drunkenbatman]

Seconded that being real doesn't always equal good quality with Kanger, depending on the run, but I'd also say I don't believe coming in the correct-seeming box with a code means they're going to be legit either. It isn't unheard of for clones to be in boxes that'd pass inspection, or even original boxes! I bought a protank mini from a... sunny... vape shop in california, and still can't figure out if it's a poorly made clone or just a bad unit (normal units don't turn green and corrode when submerged in water). It isn't the type of place that stands behind what they sell. Sadly with the current state of the industry you sort of just have to deal with the wildly differing quality control between batches & shady sellers, so caveat emptor.

 

[drunkenbatman]

elfmirfkin, you might check out clonecores.com. I had them recommended to me a bit back while looking for insulators for rebuilding, they also do ebay and the guy seems well-regarded at around $0.62 apiece.

Can't speak to the 1.2 coils, not sure I've ever really seen them that low honestly. I thought lowest standardly sold would be 1.6, which might have some variation down to 1.4-ish. The issue people are talking about is a lower Ohms means current being dumped out faster, and not all batteries are rated to dump out current super fast (which is why a lot of VV devices won't fire under 1-1.3) as yeah, bad things can happen if you overstroke the battery that way.