Kanger Protank - flooding possible fix.

[Kataphraktos]

I've been using two Protanks with the Tatroe Stainless Steel tops for the last few weeks. I've found, as have many, that they eventually begin to flood, and once this happens, even topping off the tanks doesn't seem to address the issue - only replacing the head and completely drying the unit.

Today, I took one of the bottoms off, and slowly added a small strip of Ekowool 1mm wick into the well around the coil base, essentially wrapping it around the place where the ends of the original wicks protrude.

I then took the head from the second Protank, and rebuilt it with 3mm Ekowool (single strand) and 0.5mm Kanthal ribbon (to increase the burn area), but with this one, instead of adding Ekowool, I kept the wick uncut, and wrapped the ends around the base.

I have been using these the last couple of hours, with the voltage turned a bit higher than normal (I usually go ohms +2.0-2.2, here I am at ohms +2.4). I got a tiny bit of gurgling in the first couple of drags, but since then, no gurgling, flooding or spitting.

I didn't rebuild both because I want to see if adding a bit of extra, stand-alone wick around the base is just as good as rebuilding with the wick itself wrapping around the base. Why? Because most people get Protanks and other such devices for the convenience of not having to build coils. I love tinkering, I have multiple RBAs and will be receiving a kayfun 3 ES in a few days, but to me, the Protanks should be my plug-and-play solution. Adding a bit of wick around the base of a pre-purchased coil&wick assembly is not, in my eyes, rebuilding, and can be done by anybody in a few seconds for about a penny's worth of wick.

FYI, I use 100% VG, the rebuilt coil is with Boba's Bounty, and the original coil with 1mm Ekowool added is with Mewlew's Magic Blend.

I'll post pics of a rebuilt coil example with one of my spare bases in a bit.

 

[Kataphraktos]

First, the full rebuild.

The coil inserted.


Then screwed into the base, and the excess wick wrapped around the base in the well formed between the base and the coil insert.


Finally, the silicon grommet attached, which should keep the excess wick in place inside the well.


I believe 3mm Ekowool, or a similar gauge silica wick, is the minimum - 4mm should work as well, there is enough room in the well so it won't be a tight fit that might reduce wicking. Anything less will not fill the well adequately in my opinion, but I might play around with that in the future.

 

[Kataphraktos]

Next, the EZ-Mode fix. This is a fresh, out-of-the box Protank 2.2 ohm head, and a small bit of 1mm Ekowool. I used 1mm Ekowool here because the strip must wrap around the existing protruding wick, and a larger gauge Ekowool piece might be too tight a fit where it passes over the existing wick, inhibiting wicking. I might try 2mm in the future, but anything greater will almost certainly place too much pressure on the existing wick and not allow liquid into the coil chamber.

The stock Protank head and 1mm Ekowool strip:


The Protank head screwed into the base, and the Ekowool strip gently pushed into well. I made sure the ends of the Ekowool did not fall on the original wick. I want the Ekowool to wrap over the two ends of the protruding wick, to act as a bit fo a cork on the holes out of which the wick protrudes.


Finally, the silicon grommet inserted, keeping the 1mm Ekowool in the well.


I am still testing these out, and for all I know, they may eventually fail to fix the issue. Even if this doesn't work, I'm hoping this might spark the imagination of others to toy around with other solutions as well as testing these.

 

[DavidOck]

Interesting concept! Please keep us posted on how it goes

 

[crxess]

So basically you have done like an atomizer. Places a wicking circle around the coil/wick? Similar to a 510 atomizer construction.
Not actually correcting the issue, but fixing the leak. Kind of like putting a wrap of duct tape around a hole in a garden hose. As long as there is no/low pressure it works.

Would be nice to have one simple fix for everyones issues. Unfortunately there seem to be to many variations.
I Vape mostly 50/50 and my Proank(first of 3) is just the opposite. Does not wick well at all - No leaking either.
After a few rinses and head swaps I decided to pull a flavor wick.
Still no leaking and still a bit slow on wicking.

I hope people don't just give up on these as there is potential for an excellent performing device if we can reach a final fix that works for everyone.

 

[Kataphraktos]

Interesting, I get flooding and spitting with 100% VG, and you can't wick liquid that, with a PG/VG mix, should be thinner and therefore wick faster.

Please note this is not with the original Pyrex hands, but with the Tatroe SS heads.

I've vaped about half a tank so far out of the full rebuild today, and so far, no spitting or liquid coming up into the drip tip. No dry hits, very consistent draw as well. I mention this, because my possible fix could just as easily impede wicking too much, and create problems I didn't have before.

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[Jjshbetz11]

Seems to me that the thicker vg luquid is not burning off quick enough, try higher voltage, wattage?

 

[DavidOck]

There may not be a single "one for all" fix, since we all vape different juice blends, ratios, flavors etc.

Having a variety of fixes is likely necessary - and a good thing

 

[Kataphraktos]

Yup, before implementing this, I brought a 2.2 ohm coil up to around 4.8 volts, and it would still end up flooding - and tasted like crap.

 

[carldamnit]

For what it's worth I just got a Pro tank delivered Saturday. Loved it, Saturday. I cleaned it before first use, put a drop of e-liquid on the wicks, filled the tank and let her rip. It wasn't wicking well so I pulled one of the wicks and it was wonderful. Second fill on Sunday (still had a about a quarter tank), flood, flood, flood. I put the wick back, it didn't help. So I left it to sit on its mouthpiece till I got home today, and its fine, no gurgle, battery connection dry as a bone. Just a guess at this point, but there may be a pressure issue, like with cartos, when you have a saturated wick.
I'm using 70pg 30vg liquid.