New Vaper here!

[BDavid79]

Hey ya'll! I'm so glad I found this site! I'm relatively new to vaping >2 weeks. I use mine a lot throughout the day. I'm a newbie to this entirely. A girl I was seeing had one and it was her that introduced me, I use a Lotus eGo-T 900mAh H2, with a Kanger Protank II.
I'm pretty handy and tend to figure things out pretty quickly, but again being new to this I'm looking to get some tips and advice on things that I should and shouldn't be doing. I tend to take long pulls and let off the button right before I finish inhaling. I was wondering if that might be causing my wick to saturate, or if it's not a problem. Also I'd like to have the ability to build my own coils and replace wicks if I ever was in a pinch. All in all I guess I'm looking for information and tips, and hopefully you can bear with me as I'm still learning.
I noticed that when I switched to the Protank from the stock poly reservoir that after a couple of hours I started getting that harsh "burnt" taste and feel in the back of my mouth. I don't know who the manufacturer of the juice I'm using is or even the ratio (the guy just took 2 bottles and mixed them into a smaller one for me when I bought the Lotus originally) I switched the coil that came with the Protank (1.8 ohm) with the coil that is what is recommended for Lotus (2.4 ohm) I've noticed that I get less vapor but it's smoother and no burnt taste or feel. I'm assuming that the resistance being higher would make the coil heat up more, but if the actual wick material is the same on both coils why am I not getting the burnt stuff?
I'd also appreciate any tips on how to "clean" a wick because I was under the impression that all you can do is replace them. I also was reading another thread where "dry burning" was mentioned, I would appreciate it if someone could explain what exactly that is and how it's performed.
Thanks in advance!

 

[zmbgzus]

On the right track. First, stop using Kanger products. They're trash imo. Check out Riptrippers on YouTube for detailed rebuilding on coils in tanks.

 

[uebermoose]

A higher resistance will actually result in less heat/power when using the same voltage. There are vaping power charts out there that you can use to see which voltage should be used with different resistance coils, so you know which ones to get.
There's other factors though. Sometimes these coils are just bad, it happens. Some juices will also taste burnt at lower temperature than others. Also, if you're on an unregulated device, you will get more power the more charge your battery has left. Consider looking into a variable voltage device if you're having problems with that, then you can just adjust to whatever juice and coil you have and get consistent power.

 

[Lurch]

Welcome! Check out YouTube there are a bunch of videos that show you how to clean tanks, dry burn and build coils. If you are anything like me, it is much easier to learn if you see someone doing it...

 

[67style]

Welcome. Take a look on youtube.

 

[MotorN]

Welcome to ECF

 

[cottoncandy11]

Welcome to the forum! Basically what ubermoose said, but I would assume it was a bad 1.8ohm coil you had on the first one. Also if you have a thicker juice, more VG, that could be the problem. If you feel that the wick is not being saturated properly then its probably burning due to lack of juice. A juice with a higher PG content may solve it, but it will be a harsher and harder hit.

 

[realsis]

Hi and welcome! You might consider a vision spinner 2. It is variable voltage and you will have the ability to increase or decrease the volts according to the juice flavor and this will really bring out the perfect flavors of your juices. Also the battery is 1600mah and can last into two days with heavy vaping and not charging. It has a light system that tells you what percent your battery is at. White for 100 to 60, blue for 60 to30 and orange for 30 to 0 percent. The device looks very nice and the spinner 2 just came out. I got mine from a online store called My vape store. You can be sure they sell only genuine products. You should take a look at the vision spinner 2 and see what you think. They come in many colors and come with a one year manufacturer warranty! Which is really nice. It won't disapoint if you get one of these!! Again I'd like to say welcome and I'm glad your here.

 

[EBates]

Hey ya'll! I'm so glad I found this site! I'm relatively new to vaping >2 weeks. I use mine a lot throughout the day. I'm a newbie to this entirely. A girl I was seeing had one and it was her that introduced me, I use a Lotus eGo-T 900mAh H2, with a Kanger Protank II.
I'm pretty handy and tend to figure things out pretty quickly, but again being new to this I'm looking to get some tips and advice on things that I should and shouldn't be doing. I tend to take long pulls and let off the button right before I finish inhaling. I was wondering if that might be causing my wick to saturate, or if it's not a problem. Also I'd like to have the ability to build my own coils and replace wicks if I ever was in a pinch. All in all I guess I'm looking for information and tips, and hopefully you can bear with me as I'm still learning.
I noticed that when I switched to the Protank from the stock poly reservoir that after a couple of hours I started getting that harsh "burnt" taste and feel in the back of my mouth. I don't know who the manufacturer of the juice I'm using is or even the ratio (the guy just took 2 bottles and mixed them into a smaller one for me when I bought the Lotus originally) I switched the coil that came with the Protank (1.8 ohm) with the coil that is what is recommended for Lotus (2.4 ohm) I've noticed that I get less vapor but it's smoother and no burnt taste or feel. I'm assuming that the resistance being higher would make the coil heat up more, but if the actual wick material is the same on both coils why am I not getting the burnt stuff?
I'd also appreciate any tips on how to "clean" a wick because I was under the impression that all you can do is replace them. I also was reading another thread where "dry burning" was mentioned, I would appreciate it if someone could explain what exactly that is and how it's performed.
Thanks in advance!

Welcome aboard
I'd suggest that you watch a couple of videos available on the net before you begin so the instructions make more sense.

Atomizer Cleaning

Soak in 91% Isopropyl alcohol or everclear over night or until I get 5-6 to clean.
Rinse throughly with warm tap water forcing water into the wick area.
Towel dry and blow out any water.
Mount the head on a tank base.
Remove the gasket and stem.
Remove the flavor wick(s).
Mount the tank base with the atomizer head on your PV.
Dry burn 6 watts, 5 seconds on/off. Repeat until coils are all turning red and wick is clean.
Blow the burned off crud away.

Hold the flavor wick with tweezer while burning them with a lighter or torch until wick is clean.
-Place the flavor wick back on top of the coil.
Or
-Replace the flavor wick with the material of your choice.

Reinstall the stem and gasket.

Always Prime a new/cleaned atomizer.
Install the atomizer head into a tank and fill the tank
4-5 dry puffs (no power), 1 second puffs until vape production begins.

Burnt taste (dry vapes)
This is caused by having the voltage output set too high or taking 'hard' vapes that cause the wick(s) to loose saturation.
The fix for these issues is: turn your voltage down, or take long slow draws and give your wick(s) a couple of seconds to re-saturate between draws.

Flooding (gurgling)
Remove the tank from your mod. Wrap the tank in a paper towel. Blow through the driptip. Excess juice will be forced out through the base of the tank. mop up the excess juice from the tank base. Draw in the tank while listening for gurgling. No gurgle = Good to Go

 

[chriscoot]

Welcome to ECF, I'm also using the Vision Spinner 2 and loving it along with the Kanger AeroTank with airflow, I find this a nice set up at the moment but I've only been using this for a couple of days!

 

[BDavid79]

Thanks for the great advice! I have watched a few vids on youtube and things are making sense. I don't think I'm going to have the need to make coils or anything like that any time soon, however I would like to be able to replace the flavor wicks if I need to rebuild a chamber. I have seen that some recommend using cotton or bamboo yarn, which makes sense however my question is where can I find it. I also have read up on how to prepare them before actually putting them into the chamber. I think I will eventually upgrade to the vision spinner battery but for right now the stock Lotus battery is working fine for me. I have found that I prefer using the 2.4Ohm coil versus the 1.8 as I don't seem to dry out the wicks so I think I'm going to continue using them.
Again I am glad that I found this site and appreciate everyones input!

 

[Susan~S]

Below are some blog posts by ECF member Baditude that I highly recommend for someone new to vaping.

1. A Good Starter's Setup for a Beginning Vapor
2. Advancing Up the Vaping Ladder with Egos and Mods
3. Proper terminology - Is it a carto, a tank, or what? A Guide to Juice Attachments.
4. Something Safe for Cinnamon and Citrus Flavors

 

[Andrew LB]

If you happen to own an Ultrasonic Cleaner, it's by far the best way to get things clean. I fill mine with water since filling the whole thing with Iso Alcohol is a waste, then take a small container that all the parts that need cleaning can fit into, and fill that container with 90% iso Alcohol or a high octane grain alcohol like everclear. I turn on the Ultrasonic cleaners heat function, put the container with parts/alcohol into the tank of water, and run 2 full 480 second cycles... waiting 10 minutes or so between runs. If the coil isn't clean, give it a third cycle.

I then remove the parts, clean the container that contained the alcohol and refill it with distilled water and put the parts back in for two more 480 second cycles. This will remove all traces of alcohol from the parts, including the wick and coil, and the heat from the ultrasonic cleaning + the tank heater itself will make the alcohol evaporate out of the water, leaving your parts squeaky clean. So clean in fact that I can't smell even the slightest bit of e-liquid anywhere, which is essential if you want to change e-liquids without replacing the wick/coil.


If you don't own an Ultrasonic Cleaner, you can get one CHEAP at Harbor Freight Tools. This mini (1-Pint Capacity) Ultrasonic cleaner is on sale for $32.99 right now and a quick search will get you an additional 20% off with a coupon like this which can be used in-store or online.

I personally own that Ultrasonic cleaner's big brother, also from Harbor Freight which I bought about two years ago for like $45 after using a coupon cleaning everything from gun parts to my Kanger ProTank 2. I only put water goes in the tank and sometimes a detergent which is why anything that requires alcohol or a solvent OR is used for Vaping/eating/etc MUST be put in a separate container and set into the water. If you plan to use the Ultrasonic cleaner for ONLY cleaning vaporizer parts, then I guess you can put them in the main tank. But you'll quickly find out how amazing the thing is at cleaning that you'll want to use it for jewelry, sunglasses, silverware, and anything else you can cram into the tank.

Harbor Freight has a reputation for selling crap, but I've ran hundreds of full heat cycles over the past two years and it's still going strong.

 

[BDavid79]

Harbor Freight has a reputation for selling crap

I echo that sentiment generally. However I make candles as a hobby and a small source of extra income, and a HF heat gun is one of my most used tools, it has performed flawlessly for over 4 years now so I can't knock that but yeah, I have lost count of how many busted knuckles have come at the cost of HF hand tools ( I worked as a mechanic for a bowling center for several years and the owner was a cheap stingy SOB and would only allow us to purchase tools from there.)
Back to the topic though, I have found it pretty easy to clean both wicks and haven't had to deal with a dry wick issue for almost a week now.

Ok, I have noticed that my flavor wick seems to unravel very easily after the second time I remove them to perform a dry burn. I found several sites that offer replacement wick, however I'm not exactly sure which gauge the stock chambers use. I would imagine that the gauge really only affects how much flavor you will get, so I guess my question is: Does the smaller gauge make for more or less flavor? I would assume that larger gauge makes for less flavor, but I could be mistaken. I was thinking about going with 2mm since it's in the middle of the sizes and then going from there. Any ideas?