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Vadi

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Feb 5, 2015
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THAT'S crazy. They are 23$ with tax locally here and I regret paying that.

Sorta forcing myself to stop being lazy use the rba more to save money. As it turns out, I enjoy the taste more from the rba anyway. win win

That's an insane markup. They shouldn't be more than $15 a pack. Any more than that is robbery. I found a place that sells them for $12 if you buy 5 or more.

Probably only a few bucks direct from the source.
 

Bammer555

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Dec 13, 2014
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I am not having the issues with the RBA that some seem to have as far a trouble getting the sleeve off the deck. I had read about using a light touch when doing that and it has worked perfect for me. I increased the size of the juice channels slightly with a diamond tip dremel bit. Carefully, very carefully. No dry hits on twisted 28g @ o.43 ohm coil. Japanese cotton wicked similar to Kfun style. I can get great flavor from 22-27 watts on my SXmini depending on how much cloud production I want and the air flow setting. Sometimes I go down to the 22 just cause I can't see to drive with the additional cloud production at higher watts. It's like "Damn! where's the road!?"

When you have time can you post some close up pics of the channels you increased on the RBA? I'm about ready to try the same thing, I've rewicked the stock rba coil probably 8 times and it always works fine for about half a tank then starts dry hitting.
 

Mr.Reliant

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Ceti Alpha V
my juice is really really fast to consumed. before when using the kfl+, my whole tank can last a day but know with the subtank mini, i can only get it through half day. this is crazy! :D

Thats kinda like saying before when driving my ford focus I got like 30 MPG but now that I am driving my new hummer I only get like 10MPG. Grab your ST Mini's RBA section and put a 3.5 ohm build on there and close the one hole down to about half. Then put it on a twist cranked to 3.3 V. You will be stylin and you won't be "blowing through" all that juice.

That was a joke BTW... no offense intended here... :)

Higher performance = higher juice consumption... fact of life.

Actually one thing you could try for real is to use a thicker juice and/or rewick with more cotton to reduce flow and/or lower your wattage. Watch for burnt cotton though. Too low a flow and it will start tasting burnt.

Sorry for the sarcasm! ;-)
 

underwhelmd

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Nov 22, 2014
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That's an insane markup. They shouldn't be more than $15 a pack. Any more than that is robbery. I found a place that sells them for $12 if you buy 5 or more.

Probably only a few bucks direct from the source.

Yes, well, that's at a brick and mortar store in eastern Canada... land of the 75 cent dollar. 23 with 15% taxes in, isn't so crazy considering that.

The canvape online store has realistic prices. :)
 

MacTechVpr

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I am not having the issues with the RBA that some seem to have as far a trouble getting the sleeve off the deck. I had read about using a light touch when doing that and it has worked perfect for me. I increased the size of the juice channels slightly with a diamond tip dremel bit. Carefully, very carefully. No dry hits on twisted 28g @ o.43 ohm coil. Japanese cotton wicked similar to Kfun style. I can get great flavor from 22-27 watts on my SXmini depending on how much cloud production I want and the air flow setting. Sometimes I go down to the 22 just cause I can't see to drive with the additional cloud production at higher watts. It's like "Damn! where's the road!?"

Very intrigued with your solution DP, even if the hands are a bit shaky these days. :D

I might take a jewelers miniature flat file to it. But I always like to have at least one back-up. No word I've seen on the RBA replacements for the Mini. It's going to be interesting to have build variants in the cue for this tank.

Glad to hear of your success with that. Just the opposite of previous Kangers where the atmosphere was Mars.

Good luck.

:)
 

OMRebel67

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Mar 6, 2014
132
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I would lay money that you are vaping a light colored juice (prolly a fruit type flavor). You prolly also vape with airflow wide open using short duration heavy lung hits. This is the style of vaping this thing is designed for. It is where it shines more than ever.The heavy tobacco flavors that use actual extracts from tobacco leaves is where you will see your worst coil gunk problems arise. Tobacco extracts contain rather large organic molecules that do not like to vaporize at the coil. So there they stay and accumulate and cook into what we collectively term as coil gunk. Juice with lots of added sweeteners have the same problem. Sugars and artificial sweeteners have large hard to vaporize molecules as well.
1) Yes, I'm direct lung hitting it with the air flow wide open. You would be correct 2) No, it's a tobacco base juice... Halo Tribeca. It vapes so amazing :)
 

Flapstick

Senior Member
Jan 12, 2015
110
101
Europa
Halo Tribeca. It vapes so amazing :)

For 20 dollars/30 ml it should even cook you a week's worth of romantic dinners. That's an insane price.

Over here, with that amount of money I can buy more than two liters (that's >2,000 ml) of e-liquid (low nicotine - .6%) and flavors for it.

This must be one of the most lucrative businesses ever.
 

billybc96

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My Subtank Mini pops just about every time I drag on it too, but the only juice I have to use on it now is 100% VG I had to over thin with distilled water to run okay in a Mini Nautilus. I've got better and lower (6mg) nicotine juice on the way. 12mg juice is too strong in the Subtank, even when running 1.2 ohm coil heads. For mouth-to-lung hits the 2-hole opening seems about right at around 18 watts for me, but that is using the overly thin juice I'm stuck with for now. I hope the thicker viscosity juice helps resolve the popping issue, and then I will readjust.

I've had no hot juice spitting, just the (pretty damn loud) popping noise when I first start taking a drag, every time I take a drag. I only draw for about 2 seconds at a time for now. Vapor is warm. The stock mouthpiece drip tip gets too hot, too fast when taking longer drags. I'll need to get a heat sink style drip tip, but I'm not sure what bore I should get. Even with short, mid-range wattage drags the vapor production is clearly good. Flavor delivery is very good at 18 watts, and gets even better at higher wattage levels with the air intake wide open, but then the TH gets pretty crazy - at least using 12mg juice. It makes my nose run.
 

cigatron

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May 14, 2014
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When you have time can you post some close up pics of the channels you increased on the RBA? I'm about ready to try the same thing, I've rewicked the stock rba coil probably 8 times and it always works fine for about half a tank then starts dry hitting.

Under wicked. Larger diameter coils need a lot of wicking density. I know it seems backwards that more wicking density increases flow rate but it works. Try it, you'll see.

Increasing the size of the juice channels can reduced juice availability to the wick. That probably sounds backwards too but it's not. The juice channels in RTAs are precision designed to take advantage of a principle in physics called the capillary effect. Its a simple phenomenon to conceive but a complicated calculation. Enlarging the juice channel size in your device will lower the normalized level of the juice in the channels making it harder to feed the wick.

Just say'n, it's just not necessary to modify the STMini RBA to vape at 25w with 65% vg and no dryhits.
 
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shreduhsoreus

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Jan 6, 2015
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For 20 dollars/30 ml it should even cook you a week's worth of romantic dinners. That's an insane price.

Over here, with that amount of money I can buy more than two liters (that's >2,000 ml) of e-liquid (low nicotine - .6%) and flavors for it.

This must be one of the most lucrative businesses ever.

That's actually pretty standard pricing for "premium" liquid where I am, $20-24 for 30ml, $12-15 for a 15ml and $8 for 10ml. Profit margin on juice is pretty high because most people don't want to make their own and manufacturers/shops take advantage of that. Though most shops here have a house line that's significantly cheaper, but the flavors are more boring.
 
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DP2Raja

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When you have time can you post some close up pics of the channels you increased on the RBA? I'm about ready to try the same thing, I've rewicked the stock rba coil probably 8 times and it always works fine for about half a tank then starts dry hitting.

I will post some pics this weekend Bammer. Probably tomorrow. Checking in from my office right now so not able to do a breakdown of the unit.
 

DP2Raja

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Very intrigued with your solution DP, even if the hands are a bit shaky these days. :D

I might take a jewelers miniature flat file to it. But I always like to have at least one back-up. No word I've seen on the RBA replacements for the Mini. It's going to be interesting to have build variants in the cue for this tank.

Glad to hear of your success with that. Just the opposite of previous Kangers where the atmosphere was Mars.

Good luck.

:)

MacTech, believe me, I was holding my breath when using the dremel on this...it is so small...I was afraid I would mess up the threading...and as you mentioned, no replacements available! I succeeded, but it was a heart-pumper while I was doing it.

I only enlarged the top quarter of the channels, cutting a larger opening to the deck surface. I may try going down the full length of the channel in the future, but not until I have a second one to replace this unit if I damage it.

Right now it works perfectly. It has allowed more juice flow, more bubbles after an inhale (I was hardly getting any prior to this alteration).

I will post some pics tomorrow on my day off.
 

DP2Raja

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Under wicked. Larger diameter coils need a lot of wicking density. I know it seems backwards that more wicking density increases flow rate but it works. Try it, you'll see.

Increasing the size of the juice channels can reduced juice availability to the wick. That probably sounds backwards too but it's not. The juice channels in RTAs are precision designed to take advantage of a principle in physics called the capillary effect. Its a simple phenomenon to conceive but a complicated calculation. Enlarging the juice channel size in your device will lower the normalized level of the juice in the channels making it harder to feed the wick.

Just say'n, it's just not necessary to modify the STMini RBA to vape at 25w with 65% vg and no dryhits.

Cigatron, ya might be right in theory, I don't know any more about it than that it worked. I would also imagine (based on the photos I have seen) that not every Kanger RBA has the exact same size juice channels. There seems to be some variance in what they let pass in QC. I know mine barely broke the surface of the deck...therefore the enlargement of the top quarter of the channel in order to allow a slightly better flow and contact with the wick. It could be all in my head for sure, but believe me the increase in bubbles indicating a transfer of juice into the chamber is real. But, by the way, it is not a bubble party...just 1 or 2 after each draw. I do not have any flooding or gurgling.

Pics tomorrow.

Thanks a bunch for your insights too.
 

cigatron

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Cigatron, ya might be right in theory, I don't know any more about it than that it worked. I would also imagine (based on the photos I have seen) that not every Kanger RBA has the exact same size juice channels. There seems to be some variance in what they let pass in QC. I know mine barely broke the surface of the deck...therefore the enlargement of the top quarter of the channel in order to allow a slightly better flow and contact with the wick. It could be all in my head for sure, but believe me the increase in bubbles indicating a transfer of juice into the chamber is real. But, by the way, it is not a bubble party...just 1 or 2 after each draw. I do not have any flooding or gurgling.

Pics tomorrow.

Thanks a bunch for your insights too.


Heck DP, I'm glad it seems to have worked for you. There def could be variation in juice channel size. I checked an entire case of STminis at a local b&m last week; all measured within .002 in juice channel size but they could have all been from the same manufacturing lot number.

Initially I had dryhits at 15w if I didn't primer puff the heck out of it every few puffs. Rarely saw bubbles after every puff. I just wicked heavier until I achieved consistant vaping at 20-25w. With the denser wicking I see a bubble after every pull now and never dryhit at 25w. I'm using so much wicking now that I have to roll down the cotton between my fingers to get it through the coil. I'm running a twisted 30awg spaced coil which likes heavier wicking anyway so it's kinda of a win, win situation there.

Some have suggested that kanger engineered this device for lower wattage applications but I don't see the merit in that; the airflow is tremendous and set up for high wattage vaping albeit they could have missed the mark slightly on fluid dynamics with the rba eg. juice channel size vs. deck height based on common juice viscosities. Dunno.

Interesting, could you elaborate on what you meant above about the channel barely breaking through the surface of the deck? Was it not machined all the way up the side of the deck or had a burr at the top or.....?

Thanks
 
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DP2Raja

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I checked an entire case of STminis at a local b&m last week; all measured within .002 in juice channel size but they could have all been from the same manufacturing lot number.

Thanks

Seriously? You opened a case of STminis, broke the wrapping/seal on each of the boxes, and measured each RBA juice channel? Wow. (I truly am impressed...not being sarcastic here...it just seems unusual to go to that effort in any normal circumstance.) Did you have doubts about the size of the channels beforehand? I mean, what would make you go to that effort? Just curious.

That attention to detail is pretty intense. As a buyer, I would prefer to break the wrapping/seal myself, but then again, having it checked over before hand by an expert sounds okay too I guess.

What I am referring to on the channel at the deck...with the sleeve/chamber screwed on...I could not even put a needle point into the opening where the sleeve/channel/deck converge. So I "drilled" that top quarter of the channel larger, opening up, what seemed to be a choke point.
 
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OMRebel67

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Mar 6, 2014
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Oxford, MS, USA
For 20 dollars/30 ml it should even cook you a week's worth of romantic dinners. That's an insane price.

Over here, with that amount of money I can buy more than two liters (that's >2,000 ml) of e-liquid (low nicotine - .6%) and flavors for it.

This must be one of the most lucrative businesses ever.

Well sir, I can afford it. It still costs me half as much as cigarettes. Not even close to insanity.
 

rowsley

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Jan 26, 2015
1,260
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Celina, Ohio
I placed my order for my mini Saturday. Can anyone enlighten me on what the last update means in this tracking. To me it is still sitting in the same post office but below says in transit. Don't they usually say departed?
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