KangerTech SUBTANK Mini

[DP2Raja]

Good process DP2. I use the same process but use a ceiling hook in the drill. The kind you use for hanging pots. Instead of holding pliers I use my vise to secure the tag ends.

Noticed in your last pic how well the twists line up with your twist/in and coil ID. A real work of art. Looks kinda like a splined shaft coupler...heheee

Thanks Cig. The 16 twist/inch on a 2.5 ID is a perfect line up. I must admit it was a happy accident. I like the little gaps between wraps which allow juice to get in there and vape quickly. I also do tighter twists, but the shape I get from the 16/inch is quite symmetrical.

Edit: Cig, the legs tighten IN to the screw/post...just as you pointed out in earlier posts.

 

[g3n3r1c]

thinning imo is required if going thick through the coil.
in saying that i never thinned out a wick when going loose through the coil, experimentation galore i guess lol

Twisted 28, 16 twists/inch, 2.5 ID, 4-wrap = 0.5 ohm.
Vapes like a champ at 23.5-25.5w on the Mini. Wick is KGD stuffed tight.

Experimentation indeed.
Assimilated it and vaped it, I liked it.
Twisted pair 30, 16 twists/inch, 2.75 ID, 8.5 mm wide KGD fully skinned, tails thinned and trimmed at an angle to meet the deck even, 7-wrap = 1.2 ohm. Vaping at 15w and ramping up, just breaking in after a 1/4 tank. And even if it needs wicking in a few days it's easier this way.

Vertical is a bit a hassle to wick / re-wick.
I tried 3 times in all. Vapor production was great for a day, then throat hit went down hill after 2-3 days, and it needed a re-wicking, flavor was always good though..

Edit: my wicking was too tight with 2 wraps around the coil, backing it off to a single wrap around with 1/4' KGD 1/2 thickness skin side to the coil is working nice, wick fills the chimney, leaves enough gap for the wick holes, and only needs to be fluffed enough to touch the base.

 

[shreduhsoreus]

Thanks for the tips you guys. I tried twisting wire once by hand and thought to myself "Either I just really suck at this, or there's some trick that I'm not thinking of" lol.

 

[AmandaD]

I twisted mine using a dremel and a paperclip with one end cut off - worked like a dream!

 

[cigatron]

I have a challenge for you twisted sisters, try a twisted 32g (30 twists per inch) annealed then 6 spaced wraps tension wound on a 6-32 screw wicked chunky with kgd no tail thinning. Comes out to 1.1 ohms and if you have the power to drive it at 30w it'll blow your taste buds out of their sockets. I dare ya....once you try it I doubt you'll go back to heavier gauge twisted contact coils. Been there...never going back. Double dare ya! Come on experimenters!.........my wife says I could sell refrigerators to Eskimos.......

 

[DavidAmonettNashville]

I am out of kanthal wire.... My coil in the STmini died yesterday. I tore open an old Atlantis head and stole the coil. Got 4 spaced wraps ohming out at .5. I snipped off the NR portions of the wire. Seems to work pretty darn good. Tomorrow I go get wire. What size is best for a single wire , spaced coil on the STM?

 

[RandyF]

I am out of kanthal wire.... My coil in the STmini died yesterday. I tore open an old Atlantis head and stole the coil. Got 4 spaced wraps ohming out at .5. I snipped off the NR portions of the wire. Seems to work pretty darn good. Tomorrow I go get wire. What size is best for a single wire , spaced coil on the STM?

26g kanthal will ohm out at .7 with 5 wraps, 26g nichrome will be about .5Ω with 5 wraps. Personally I would go with nichrome, but it is usually harder to find in the B&M's. Either way you want 26g.

 

[Darryl Licht]

Loving my latest build on my STM RBA. Click the link below to see it in Steam Engine:

28AWG T2, 8/7, 2.25mm ID, TP=1.3mm, LL=9mm, t.m.c.= 0.8Ω
Just re-wicked and vaping like a champ from 15-30W!

BTW... I went back to skinning both sides of my KGD but starting with a wider strip. Gently roll it on a pant leg. It's in there nice and firm with a tug required to slide in and out of the coil. Back to great flow for me with high vg.

 

[BigEgo]

I am out of kanthal wire.... My coil in the STmini died yesterday. I tore open an old Atlantis head and stole the coil. Got 4 spaced wraps ohming out at .5. I snipped off the NR portions of the wire. Seems to work pretty darn good. Tomorrow I go get wire. What size is best for a single wire , spaced coil on the STM?

26 ga. is probably best for a sub ohm coil on the STM. I did a 6 wrap on the little blue screwdriver which came out to .7 ohms. 5 wraps on the little blue screwdriver will give you right at 0.5.

You can use 24 gauge too. 5 wraps on the blue screwdriver gave me about 0.35 ohms. So there's that for those of you who want to go below 0.5. (24 gauge wire is tight but it fits fine).

 

[Barryo]

I have a challenge for you twisted sisters, try a twisted 32g (30 twists per inch) annealed then 6 spaced wraps tension wound on a 6-32 screw wicked chunky with kgd no tail thinning. Comes out to 1.1 ohms and if you have the power to drive it at 30w it'll blow your taste buds out of their sockets. I dare ya....once you try it I doubt you'll go back to heavier gauge twisted contact coils. Been there...never going back. Double dare ya! Come on experimenters!.........my wife says I could sell refrigerators to Eskimos.......

Do you anneal before or after twisting the wires?

 

[DavidAmonettNashville]

good morning

 

[cigatron]

Do you anneal before or after twisting the wires?

I anneal after twisting, before winding the coil. I heat the twisted wire to red hot 4-5 times over it's entire length so when I need to wind another coil I can just grab and go. I twist up and anneal 10ft. at a time. Annealing the twisted wire takes out most of the springiness of the wire so the coil remains more uniform when wound. It also causes the formation of alumina which electrically isolates the wire strands so the coil fires "center out" on the first pulse. No hot legs.

 

[oplholik]

Ok, I haven't read thru all 57 pages to see if my problem has been addressed yet, but I'm getting leaks thru the air holes. I have had my tank for about three weeks now, and I'm using the RBA head, and I've run a few tanks of juice thru it. Is this common? Today I'm gonna tear it down to make sure something hasn't loosened up inside that would allow juice to leak out thru the air hole, then make sure things are tight when I put it back together. This will be the first time to take apart to re-wick. I really like this tank, but want to get this leakage under control before buying another. Thanks.

 

[DP2Raja]

Ok, I haven't read thru all 57 pages to see if my problem has been addressed yet, but I'm getting leaks thru the air holes. I have had my tank for about three weeks now, and I'm using the RBA head, and I've run a few tanks of juice thru it. Is this common? Today I'm gonna tear it down to make sure something hasn't loosened up inside that would allow juice to leak out thru the air hole, then make sure things are tight when I put it back together. This will be the first time to take apart to re-wick. I really like this tank, but want to get this leakage under control before buying another. Thanks.

I haven't had a single leak using this daily for over a month. I have not really taken it apart except for a general cleaning, but it sounds like it might be flooding down the center air hole under the coil. Or the RBA is not screwed in tight enough. Or the seals on the RBA stem are broken or not seated properly...or....or....

I'm not much help am I?

Come on guys and gals...the answer is...?

 

[DP2Raja]

I have a challenge for you twisted sisters, try a twisted 32g (30 twists per inch) annealed then 6 spaced wraps tension wound on a 6-32 screw wicked chunky with kgd no tail thinning. Comes out to 1.1 ohms and if you have the power to drive it at 30w it'll blow your taste buds out of their sockets. I dare ya....once you try it I doubt you'll go back to heavier gauge twisted contact coils. Been there...never going back. Double dare ya! Come on experimenters!.........my wife says I could sell refrigerators to Eskimos.......

Cig, if I had 32g I would try this right now...30 is the lightest I have. Just ordered wire and never even thought of 32. Oh well, I'll find some in one of the sample/"come with" packages that I have from my tank purchases over the last 2 years. I have yet to even open those little extra goody bags, surely one of them is 30g.

 

[cigatron]

Ok, I haven't read thru all 57 pages to see if my problem has been addressed yet, but I'm getting leaks thru the air holes. I have had my tank for about three weeks now, and I'm using the RBA head, and I've run a few tanks of juice thru it. Is this common? Today I'm gonna tear it down to make sure something hasn't loosened up inside that would allow juice to leak out thru the air hole, then make sure things are tight when I put it back together. This will be the first time to take apart to re-wick. I really like this tank, but want to get this leakage under control before buying another. Thanks.

Yep, make sure everything is tightened up. Especially the center pos pin of the rba. No reports of leaking on this thread as far as I can remember.

 

[oplholik]

Thanks, I'll be sure to check everything. As I said, I'm really liking this tank, and want to get another. I believe they have a winner here.

 

[DP2Raja]

Definitely a winner. Lots of great options on this as far as how to configure your coils, your airflow, etc and get a great variety from sub ohm and above with no sacrifice in flavor or production.

 

[cigatron]

Cig, if I had 32g I would try this right now...30 is the lightest I have. Just ordered wire and never even thought of 32. Oh well, I'll find some in one of the sample/"come with" packages that I have from my tank purchases over the last 2 years. I have yet to even open those little extra goody bags, surely one of them is 30g.

DP2, I ran subohm builds with 28,29 & 30 twisted. Seemed like the smaller the wire the better the flavor. Can't explain it. I thought well, what the heck, I've got this spool of 32 laying around that I haven't used forever, might as well give it a try. Just as before, thinner wire = better flavor. Faster firing and cool down too. It was just a matter then of testing contact vs. spaced for flavor but I wanted more wick life than contact coils were providing. Landed on 6-32 screw winds. 32g twisted wound on 6-32 (2.77mm ID) 6 wraps, 1.1 ohm fits the STm design parameters quite well. Flavor bomb. 70ml @ 27-30w on this wick so far with only the first signs of slowing down. Flavor is beginning to get watery and vapor production is tailing off. Almost time to rewick.

My brother and a friend have been copying my builds as they have progressed. Every step of the way they have concurred; thinner twisted is better and sub ohming is not required or even desirable. The thinner the wire and tighter the twists; the cooler and more flavorful the vapor. My brother reported back yesterday that he just changed out his wick after 90ml of 65vg clean-ish juice.

Give it a go peeps. Cant hurt. A spool of 32 wire is about 5 bucks from temco w/ free shipping. My local vape shop has it for .35¢ a foot.

Vape onward!

 

[DP2Raja]

Will do Cig. Just wound a 30 twisted. Gonna compare that to my 28 twisted...see if there is a difference. I will report back.

Not IF there is a difference, WHAT the difference will be.