KangerTech SUBTANK Mini

[RiceBurner95]

Any moderately pigmented juice I've tried thus far but I have pushed the OCC routinely off-and-on to 45W (a real world test, lets face it). In the first photo, that was at the end of a 10-day test of the OCC on the Subtank. That was pushed on three separate occasions to 45W and some moderate chaining throughout. juice was Heather's Shadow, 9mg/ml 50% VG dilution.

Another example with similar results, the OCC on the Mini…

Likewise similarly pushed several times to 45W, no more than 10 mins of use in total. Here used Johnson Creek Red Oak Tenn. Cured, 9mg/ml 50% VG dilution.

In both examples I used VG dilution of between 25-50% periodically (as I detected increased draw) to encourage flow. This helped extend the coil from a nominal 4-day saturation peak to about 6-7 days.)

I think the OCC on the Subtank ended up a bit worse for the wear because I did purposely push it harder at peak wattage (admittedly over limit for this tank) in the 7-10 days beyond severe saturation. No doubt this really created a very dense canker on the coil surface which was very hard to remove without distorting the coil. I was trying to see the potential for reuse of the factory coil. I strongly recommend against it as it's very difficult to remove this substantial wick without really skewering it bad.

Pic above shows the gritty wet remaining sediment and a few pieces of the harder surface scale which developed on top of the gritty mass.

Hey, we can always vape fruit!



Good luck all.

Oh my god, gross! I vaped my 1.2ohm coil for only a day and a half with pretty clean juice, and only at 18-22 watts and it looked almost as bad. Coil was black and crusty, and the cotton was dark brown and clumped up. I've gotten 3 or 4 days with the same juice in my dripper running 30 watts. Maybe it's the small volume of the chamber allowing higher heat to build up?

 

[Mr.Reliant]

Yeah I honestly got it because it was only 13 bucks more than the 30w version, and has pass through functionality unlike the regular mini. The istick does seem like a great little device.

IMHO you can't go wrong with an iStick 30W as your ST Mini / Nano mount. I absolutely LOVE mine. I suppose if I try to get really crazy with the ST RBA I might bump my head on that 30W ceiling but I am loving the OCCs so much I don't see that happening anytime soon. For OCCs you really don't need anything bigger. In fact I never vape at 30. If you do you will just end up crapping up your coil all that much sooner. (and burning your lips) ;-)

So far for me it is 20-25W on the .5 OCC and 15-19W on the 1.2 OCC. When the coil drops off in production I just pull the wick out, rinse off the coil, and re-wick it. I would not recommend dry firing the coil though. OCCs have a rubber grommet in the bottom that will not take the heat of a glowing coil. Once that burning rubber smell/taste gets in your tank you may never get it back out.

Eventually that wire is gonna play out and I will need to spring for a new OCC. Not sure how long that will take yet though since it hasn't happened.

 

[vincom]

ok i was praising the mini but its a pita to unscrew the chimney off the rba base.
idk what u use but we shouldnt need tools, or thumb nails lodged into weeping holes(thanks kanger im gouging a slot into my nails) to unscrew the damn thing apart.
was thinking of buying another one or two but im rethinking this until hopefully kanger redesigns the rba , again.
i know i can use the occ heads but i liked vaping on the rba better.
on my last build i tried to keep the chimney screwed on loose which is pretty hard todo when tightening the rba to the base, after a day or two i will see if its still hard to unscrew

 

[Mr.Reliant]

ok i was praising the mini but its a pita to unscrew the chimney off the rba base.
idk what u use but we shouldnt need tools, or thumb nails lodged into weeping holes(thanks kanger im gouging a slot into my nails) to unscrew the damn thing apart.

I mostly use OCC's so not much experience with RBA yet. However, I have not had any trouble taking the RBA apart on my mini. Maybe they changed the design on the newer ones or maybe since mine hasn't actually been used much it is still loose or something... dunno

I just pinch the bottom post assembly between thumb and forefinger and push up so my fingers contact the juice holes from underneath. It always just twists right off for me. The juice holes are cut sharp enough that they catch on my finger and thumb and give me all the torque I need. The top cap has pretty good knurling so it has been easy peasy as well.

Am I missing something???

Hope that helps someone.

 

[cigatron]

I screw the RBA into the base very tight initially so when I remove the chimney I can just hold the base for grip. As a general rule, the harder you squeeze the chimney the harder it is to get loose. It usually comes loose while I'm cleaning it off to get a better grip on it. I focus as much energy into rotation as possible and try not to squeeze it at all.

 

[rowsley]

Wouldn't something like those rubber mat type things people use to open jar lids help? Just a suggestion I haven't gotten my mini yet to know what you mean but I know these things grip fairly well to open jars, and just about anything else you need to open.

 

[Jockamo]

ok i was praising the mini but its a pita to unscrew the chimney off the rba base.
idk what u use but we shouldnt need tools, or thumb nails lodged into weeping holes(thanks kanger im gouging a slot into my nails) to unscrew the damn thing apart.
was thinking of buying another one or two but im rethinking this until hopefully kanger redesigns the rba , again.
i know i can use the occ heads but i liked vaping on the rba better.
on my last build i tried to keep the chimney screwed on loose which is pretty hard todo when tightening the rba to the base, after a day or two i will see if its still hard to unscrew

Someone mentioned recently tapping it on a hard surface. Seems to work for me. In the past I have put it down in frustration only to come back and have it unscrew without effort. I hardly tighten it all now and don't get leaks.
It's a combination of tight threads and thin steel. I'm not sure there is much they can do about it.

 

[txtard]

ok i was praising the mini but its a pita to unscrew the chimney off the rba base.
idk what u use but we shouldnt need tools, or thumb nails lodged into weeping holes(thanks kanger im gouging a slot into my nails) to unscrew the damn thing apart.
was thinking of buying another one or two but im rethinking this until hopefully kanger redesigns the rba , again.
i know i can use the occ heads but i liked vaping on the rba better.
on my last build i tried to keep the chimney screwed on loose which is pretty hard todo when tightening the rba to the base, after a day or two i will see if its still hard to unscrew

The chimney is so thin when you squeeze it it locks the threads. Push down on it a little as you unscrew it and it should come right off. Sounds dumb but it works.

 

[RandyF]

ok i was praising the mini but its a pita to unscrew the chimney off the rba base.
idk what u use but we shouldnt need tools, or thumb nails lodged into weeping holes(thanks kanger im gouging a slot into my nails) to unscrew the damn thing apart.
was thinking of buying another one or two but im rethinking this until hopefully kanger redesigns the rba , again.
i know i can use the occ heads but i liked vaping on the rba better.
on my last build i tried to keep the chimney screwed on loose which is pretty hard todo when tightening the rba to the base, after a day or two i will see if its still hard to unscrew

I feel your pain. I dread rebuilding my mini knowing I am going to have to deal with that chimney sleeve. I have found using a micro screwdriver placed through the air holes in the screw for leverage and leaving the top cap of the chimney section on, so the sleeve doesn't bend as easy, and not applying too much pressure usually gets it off.....eventually. Like Jockamo said, sometimes I will just set it down for a few minutes, come back and it screws right off

 

[Flapstick]

I just got my ST Mini (and also a Cloupor mini - check the picture here).

Bought from FT.

The RBA, which I haven't used yet, came with the ”tan” insulator.

I tried the .5 coil - too much for me. So I settled for the 1.2 - great vape, colossal flavor and taste (DIY liquid: 90% VG; John Smith's Honey Cured Leaf).

It was a pain for me as a ”MTL guy” to adapt, but I got there. Only 12 W with the Cloupor. BUT:

Regardless of the wattage, the liquid kinda ”explodes” like I'm vaping firecrackers. The coil was properly primed, it doesn't ”spit” and never had a burnt/dry hit.
Just the firecracker ”boom” (one-two per hit), which is rather unsettling.
Is this normal or am I missing something?

 

[MacTechVpr]

I went back to my mini after a successful build on my Magma today and still can't seem to get a build rigĥt on my mini. I think I may stick to the OCC coils at the 1.2Ohm for now, but even that is still a little warm for my liking. Maybe I'll have to sit down with someone and figure it out.

Some good observations there P. You get gunk as you know from experience with a loose electrical connection. Nothing will sour your vape faster. So when a wind does that you know that it's come from over-heating. The venting of radiant energy to the liquid at the winds surface, evaporating some, diffusing it all. Not exactly where we want it to go.

It's best when we can build to match the wick to the wire and flow (both air and liquid).

Yes, these new coils are about some of the best factory coils I've seen. They're designed to target sub-Ω and produce a lot of vapor. And with vapor production comes a lot of flavor. But there is a lot of radiant diffusion of that vapor which makes the resulting texture feel dry and taste somewhat muted…and warm, really warm. The downside is, the more you vaporize the more you gunk. Can't avoid that.

I prefer to target more dense vaporization at lower temperatures and to combine the effects of draw style, airflow and drip tip selection as the means to diffuse the resulting vapor. You can generate dense full clouds, create expansion and most of all max out the best taste results for you with these techniques. But the main job of the wind, the important part, is converting as much juice flow for the energy punch.

Short of that it's a great effect. But back at the barn we gotta enjoy the vape.

I'm with ya on the stock 1.2Ω at higher wattage, as much as I like the low side. Better density there.

Good luck P.



p.s. brook on the ProtankMicro thread did a straightforward tensioned 29AWG build for the RBA which seemed to work quite well for the center performance range of the Mini (15-20W). Haven't tried it yet but maybe you could and give us a confirmation.

 

[janne303]

What nicotine strength do you guys use on the subtank mini?

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[MacTechVpr]

Wouldn't something like those rubber mat type things people use to open jar lids help? Just a suggestion I haven't gotten my mini yet to know what you mean but I know these things grip fairly well to open jars, and just about anything else you need to open.

Yowsa! Great suggestion. Haven't seen one of these in a store in years. Used to see 'em in every size and shape. Don't find much of that type of material in a fine grade or just textured rubber. Alt…cut what you need from a used dishwashing gloves.

My favorite for unsticking tanks or anything…fat rubber bands.

(Great for taming spooled wire too.)

Good luck.

 

[OMRebel67]

What nicotine strength do you guys use on the subtank mini?

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12 mg for me. I might drop to 6 soon though.

 

[janne303]

12 mg for me. I might drop to 6 soon though.

To strong for you to? I dropped to 6 mg. I have thinking of go up to 9mg due to its feel to "light" for me with 6.

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[OMRebel67]

Day 10 of my new subtank mini; have uped the wattage to 18 on the OCC 1.2 coil. Still on the same coil I started with. Ive never had a OCC coil last this long with any tank and I'm a heavy vaper.

 

[OMRebel67]

To strong for you to? I dropped to 6 mg. I have thinking of go up to 9mg due to its feel to "light" for me with 6.

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A little strong but I need to drop my nic intake anyway. But I'm still loving this tank. It's amazing

 

[Flapstick]

I apologize for quoting myself, but it's an important issue (that slipped).

Regardless of the wattage, the liquid kinda ”explodes” like I'm vaping firecrackers. The coil was properly primed, it doesn't ”spit” and never had a burnt/dry hit.
Just the firecracker ”boom” (one-two per hit), which is rather unsettling.
Is this normal or am I missing something?

Come to think of it, it's rather a ”POW” not a ”boom”, but you get the idea. Normal crackling times ten.
It still does it. I even changed the liquid (70% PG) - after like an hour, the same.

 

[MacTechVpr]

Day 10 of my new subtank mini; have uped the wattage to 18 on the OCC 1.2 coil. Still on the same coil I started with. Ive never had a OCC coil last this long with any tank and I'm a heavy vaper.

Curious whatcha vapin' there reg.

A little strong but I need to drop my nic intake anyway. But I'm still loving this tank. It's amazing

I agree.

G'luck.

 

[Mr.Reliant]

Come to think of it, it's rather a ”POW” not a ”boom”, but you get the idea. Normal crackling times ten.
It still does it. I even changed the liquid (70% PG) - after like an hour, the same.

I am guessing you prolly have the airflow down on the single or double hole setting to get a tight draw. (may be wrong)
The booms (on ANY coil) are the result of excess juice on a hot coil. The way these tanks (any tank) works is a balance of air pressure between the air trapped in the top of the tank and the air on the other side on your juice holes inside the coil chamber. At rest the air trapped in the top of the tank helps to keep the juice from flowing into the chamber and flooding it or even leaking out the air holes. I call it the thumb on soda straw effect. When you draw air through the chamber during a vape you create negative pressure inside the chamber. The air bubble in the top of the tank will seek to balance to this new lower pressure which allows it to expand which causes juice to move into the chamber. After the draw is over and pressure chamber returns to normal the top bubble seeks to shrink back to balance pressure again. This causes bubbles of air to be sucked out of the chamber and the top bubble gets more air to replace the volume of the juice you just vaped.
SO the tighter your draw the more negative the chamber pressure becomes. This forces more juice through the holes into your chamber. If you put too much juice on a hot coil you can get pops & bangs.

IN THEORY you should be able to mitigate the effect by either opening the airflow a notch and/or not pulling quite as hard. If you re-wick your OCC then a thicker wick can help reduce the juice flow (this can also create dry hits so be careful). Also thicker higher VG juice can help this problem as well.

Good Luck