Need advice on rebuilding ProTank wicks...

[Dean Pachano]

Made several attempts and the results range from OK to dismal. I want to get a nice draw like a get on the replacement atomizers that I can buy.

Using 3mm silica wick and 32 guage A1 Kanthal. Also tried with cotton yarn.

Looking for tips to get best results like:

Should the coil be wound tight or semi loose?

Should I double up the wick in the coil?

Should include flavor wick? Should I strip down the wick before using as flavor wick?

Any tips/tricks will be appreciated.

 

[jiveman]

What kind of juice are you using?

3mm wick should be fine without a flavor wick. Usually the wicks used are about 2mm with two 1mm/smaller flavor wicks side by side on the default heads. Shouldn't get any leaking with just the 3mm but if you want a flavor wick i'd use two small pieces of the cotton yarn since you don't have smaller silica, but just be careful not to dry burn em.

Draw is dependent on air flow mostly, so it should be about the same regardless. Protank IIs have a harder draw and reg protanks an airier.

The coiling itself you may want to try a microcoil if you can and string cotton through.
Otherwise yea you don't want to wrap them super tight cause it can pinch out the wick, but tight enough so they're at least constantly touching the wick is fine. If i'm not using a microcoil and just wrapping over the wick alone i'll wrap them a little looser.
Wicks should be clipped to be short enough within the unit or even with the outside body of the head.


What ohm are you using/how many wraps, and what voltage/watage are you vaping at?

 

[Dean Pachano]

What kind of juice are you using?

3mm wick should be fine without a flavor wick. Usually the wicks used are about 2mm with two 1mm/smaller flavor wicks side by side on the default heads. Shouldn't get any leaking with just the 3mm but if you want a flavor wick i'd use two small pieces of the cotton yarn since you don't have smaller silica, but just be careful not to dry burn em.

Draw is dependent on air flow mostly, so it should be about the same regardless. Protank IIs have a harder draw and reg protanks an airier.

The coiling itself you may want to try a microcoil if you can and string cotton through.
Otherwise yea you don't want to wrap them super tight cause it can pinch out the wick, but tight enough so they're at least constantly touching the wick is fine. If i'm not using a microcoil and just wrapping over the wick alone i'll wrap them a little looser.
Wicks should be clipped to be short enough within the unit or even with the outside body of the head.


What ohm are you using/how many wraps, and what voltage/watage are you vaping at?

Thanks for the tips - just what I needed and I will put them into practice.

I been vaping a variety of liquids that I blend myself. Mostly around 80%PG/20%VG.

I tried 4 to 6 wraps (getting 2 - 3 ohms) and tried a range of voltages.

The major things that stand out in your tips that made me realize what specifically I was doing that may have prevented me getting the results that I wanted are using too much wick/flavor-wick and wrapping the coil to tight.

I am going to try again soon using your tips and will report back.

Thanks!!!

 

[jiveman]

cool, be careful with the head post piece too, if you're putting it back on make sure it's not real close to your coil under it. try to get that coil down enough so when the head pin gets on it's not all on top of it.

 

[ScottP]

Made several attempts and the results range from OK to dismal. I want to get a nice draw like a get on the replacement atomizers that I can buy.

Using 3mm silica wick and 32 guage A1 Kanthal. Also tried with cotton yarn.

Looking for tips to get best results like:

Should the coil be wound tight or semi loose?

Should I double up the wick in the coil?

Should include flavor wick? Should I strip down the wick before using as flavor wick?

Any tips/tricks will be appreciated.

I put together a pictorial on rebuilding EVOD/ProTank heads with a micro coil and cotton yarn wick here: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/clearomizers/469445-wick-preferences-3.html#post10726739

If you really want to use the 3mm Silica I would suggest using my method but wrapping around a 3mm drill bit to get the exact diameter coil. Although wrapping around 3mm with 32 AWG Kanthal you are only going to get 3-4 wraps putting you in the 2.4ohm range. Also the 3mm bit will not fit properly into the wick holes of the head, so you will have to remove the bit and thread the silica through before placing the coil in the head. Pull the silica tight around the head to hold the coil in place while reinserting the bottom pieces.

For a slightly tighter coil you can try wrapping 4 to 5 wraps around a 3/32 bit (2.38mm) or even a 7/64 ( 2.78mm) but it might be difficult threading the silica through then...not sure.