Not impressed with mini Protank. Need more intensity

[Nibiru2012]

I myself have had issues with the Protank, and all cartomizers. Cartomizers are leaky, gurgle and burn too easily.

I suggest you spend around $8-9 and get yourself an Aspire ET-S BDC Pryex clearomizer. For a bottom coil unit, you get a warm vape and great throat hit. All metal and Pyrex construction. Very well made and solid. I don't thing you'll regret it.



Excellent threaded connection to the EGO base and such. Now there are some here on this forum and a couple of others that complain about these unit having a dry hit. I have not had those issues. The secret is to fill the tank, let it sit for a few minutes, then attach to your battery mod and do several gentle pulls on it to ensure you've filled the coil head assembly with juice.

I use juices that are at minimum 50/50 PG to VG, some are heavier on the VG and they all perform great on the ET-S unit. Some complain about the 2.1 ohm head vs the 1.8 ohm head (stock with the unit when you buy it). I have not tried the 2.1 ohm heads and don't plan to either.

Here's a good close-up look at the coil head.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Yeah I have a feeling I'll be trying a lot of different units. Fine by me if that's what it takes to get me to where i want to to be.

BTW, I now have an MVP 2. I'll be working with that from this point on.

Edit: I ordered an Aspire ET-S BDC. Might as well give it a test run too.

 

[Ladiekali]

Did you smoke regular or menthol?
Maybe try juice mafia. They need atleast two weeks to steap, better after a month.
But they are too cigarette tasting for me. Good flavors though.
I have pineaple upside down cake, menta tobacco, and two others i cant remember the name of hand.
I just told someone earlier, this brand is great for someone who is looking for that cigarette taste.

Other than that, you might be surprised at what happens when you go to cartos. I find i have a ton more of juices i can vape now. I wasnt hapoy with any before cartos. Thought it was the juices, turns out it was my tanks!

 

[Criticalmass]

Removing the wicks did help with the throat hit and a bit with flavor.....thanks

I also wound up block 2 of the 3 air holes. I seem to like it better that way.

Sounds like you might have the original Pro tank. Reviews for those claim a very airy draw. Fixed with the Pro tank 2. Have you checked out Phil Busardo's reviews on YouTube?

Sent from my Astromech in a galaxy far, far away. The force is with me. so is Mr. chicken.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Did you smoke regular or menthol?
Maybe try juice mafia. They need atleast two weeks to steap, better after a month.
But they are too cigarette tasting for me. Good flavors though.
I have pineaple upside down cake, menta tobacco, and two others i cant remember the name of hand.
I just told someone earlier, this brand is great for someone who is looking for that cigarette taste.

Other than that, you might be surprised at what happens when you go to cartos. I find i have a ton more of juices i can vape now. I wasnt hapoy with any before cartos. Thought it was the juices, turns out it was my tanks!

I'm going to try a couple of their tobacco blends. I used to smoke Marlboro Ultra lights. Any tobacco that is sweet, especially with chocolate, I find repulsive.

The idea of waiting weeks to use a juice is still boggles my mind. I know it improves the flavor but damn, i'd never be able to wait to smoke a pack of cigs. I still have to find something to vape in the meantime until my plethora of e-juices are steeped and ready.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Sounds like you might have the original Pro tank. Reviews for those claim a very airy draw. Fixed with the Pro tank 2. Have you checked out Phil Busardo's reviews on YouTube?

Sent from my Astromech in a galaxy far, far away. The force is with me. so is Mr. chicken.

It's a mini-Protank II. Labeled on the base of the tank.

 

[CloudZ]

Mountain Oak Vapors has some pretty authentic naturally extracted tobaccos, so I definitely recommend them if you are looking for something which at least approaches real tobacco in flavor. They use a very slow extraction process which gives their tobacco flavors a very deep and kind of smoky taste. They also fully describe their flavors on the site, which is really nice and they are pretty accurate. I've tried Southern Gentleman, Sunday Morning, and Full Virgina Flake RY4, all are unique and good. Also pretty easy on atomizer coils, which a lot of natural extracts aren't. I also really like Heather's Heavenly Vapes NETs, but they don't taste very realistic to me and most of them have several added flavors (but still taste great IMO). They also happen to be pretty easy on equipment. In case you're wondering, I've tried a few other vendor's NETs and they taste great for the first 1/2 mL then tend to gunk up and taste burnt until I clean the coil.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Mountain Oak Vapors has some pretty authentic naturally extracted tobaccos, so I definitely recommend them if you are looking for something which at least approaches real tobacco in flavor. They use a very slow extraction process which gives their tobacco flavors a very deep and kind of smoky taste. They also fully describe their flavors on the site, which is really nice and they are pretty accurate. I've tried Southern Gentleman, Sunday Morning, and Full Virgina Flake RY4, all are unique and good. Also pretty easy on atomizer coils, which a lot of natural extracts aren't. I also really like Heather's Heavenly Vapes NETs, but they don't taste very realistic to me and most of them have several added flavors (but still taste great IMO). They also happen to be pretty easy on equipment. In case you're wondering, I've tried a few other vendor's NETs and they taste great for the first 1/2 mL then tend to gunk up and taste burnt until I clean the coil.

The NET's may be what I'm looking for. If i'm having some drinks, which is usually beer or Rum related, I need some real cigarette tasting stuff to vape, not some chocolate souffle tasting crap.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

I was gonna say something, but I see that what I was going to say was already said by someone else... Pop off the stem of the atty (it just wiggles right off) and remove the flavor wicks (the extra wick(s) that the coil isn't wrapped around) and replace the "lid" snugly, but not all the way down so juice feeds better. I also like to remove the little plastic ring that sits near the base as well. It takes about 2 seconds to do, involves nothing more than a little wiggle of the stem and it improves the vape considerably. After I found out this trick any and all issues I had with the protank were alleviated.

As for the "loose" vape, I actually find it to be a tighter vape than what I regularly vape (Boge LR cartos and a dual coil viva nova tank) so I have no idea how to help you on that. When you say you want a tighter vape, can you give an example?

Now that I've had the wicks removed for a while, the tank leaks e-juice out from under the atty. It flooded the battery post. It was a nice little improvement while it lasted. I'm going to use the iClear30 tomorrow, i'm literally done with this mini-Protank.

 

[elfy]

I had trouble too, with mini protank IIs...till I got some kanthal wire and some sterile cotton balls from CVS

and then did what this guy did in the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrvwOf13U-s

mine is 30 gauge, so i used 10 or 11 wraps. not sure about the ohms (my ohm meter sucks). Kanger stock heads are not that great, I loved them at first because I'm new to vaping.

but now? completely different vape...its very enjoyable for me. I had the same issues: vapes were tasting like total burnt wet sheepdogs. now I get more vapor and flavor.

I had to invest a few bucks in some wire/goodies, but it was well worth it:

30 Gauge Kanthal wire, you might want 32 instead

A box of sterile CVS cotton balls - I didnt even boil these, since they are sterilized already. Just make SURE to hit them with some juice after you put it thru the coil. And it really doesnt take much.

A helping hands magnifying glass w/ LED from harbor freight - so I can see what I'm doing lol.

Crappy ohm meter from HF also - in the end I'll probably replace this with something better, like one of those ohm readers you screw your heads on to..tried to lowball this tool and I got what I paid for

A package of 5/64th drill bits from Home Dept.

All that stuff is maybe $15...lets see, 3 (wire, roughly) and then 3 for the cotton..7 for the Helping Hands 5 for crappy ohm meter...bits, $2

ok thats 20 beans, but still....price for making my protank IIs work a lot better? PRICELESS~

I didnt really use a torch on the heads like he says to in other videos, but I guess I can splurge and get one later for that, too. And some flat tweezers..I have pointy ones.

But check it out, you might be surprised. If you still insist on throwing out your mini IIs...ill take em off your hands

And sure, I am looking for a nicer tank too. I am thinking an RBA would be cool, but then that means something with a bigger battery too. So I am trying to carefully pick what to get, cuz if you notice..you can blow a lot of cash on stuff doing this. I dont need a drawer full of mods and a mountain of tanks. But a couple more tanks would not hurt..only have 2.

Edit: oh yah, this kanthal coil/cotton wick CAN gurgle too, if you dont run it with a flavor wick (I dont) or the little silicon gasket (not using that either at the moment), if you lay your tank on the side or draw too hard. So be aware of that. But I really am having a lot better vapes with a coil I made myself. It will be easy to clean too, open it all up, yank the cotton, burn the heads, get em clean, new cotton..wet it down...put back together.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

I had trouble too, with mini protank IIs...till I got some kanthal wire and some sterile cotton balls from CVS

and then did what this guy did in the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrvwOf13U-s

mine is 30 gauge, so i used 10 or 11 wraps. not sure about the ohms (my ohm meter sucks). Kanger stock heads are not that great, I loved them at first because I'm new to vaping.

but now? completely different vape...its very enjoyable for me. I had the same issues: vapes were tasting like total burnt wet sheepdogs. now I get more vapor and flavor.

I had to invest a few bucks in some wire/goodies, but it was well worth it:

30 Gauge Kanthal wire, you might want 32 instead

A box of sterile CVS cotton balls - I didnt even boil these, since they are sterilized already. Just make SURE to hit them with some juice after you put it thru the coil. And it really doesnt take much.

A helping hands magnifying glass w/ LED from harbor freight - so I can see what I'm doing lol.

Crappy ohm meter from HF also - in the end I'll probably replace this with something better, like one of those ohm readers you screw your heads on to..tried to lowball this tool and I got what I paid for

A package of 5/64th drill bits from Home Dept.

All that stuff is maybe $15...lets see, 3 (wire, roughly) and then 3 for the cotton..7 for the Helping Hands 5 for crappy ohm meter...bits, $2

ok thats 20 beans, but still....price for making my protank IIs work a lot better? PRICELESS~

I didnt really use a torch on the heads like he says to in other videos, but I guess I can splurge and get one later for that, too. And some flat tweezers..I have pointy ones.

But check it out, you might be surprised. If you still insist on throwing out your mini IIs...ill take em off your hands

And sure, I am looking for a nicer tank too. I am thinking an RBA would be cool, but then that means something with a bigger battery too. So I am trying to carefully pick what to get, cuz if you notice..you can blow a lot of cash on stuff doing this. I dont need a drawer full of mods and a mountain of tanks. But a couple more tanks would not hurt..only have 2.

Edit: oh yah, this kanthal coil/cotton wick CAN gurgle too, if you dont run it with a flavor wick (I dont) or the little silicon gasket (not using that either at the moment), if you lay your tank on the side or draw too hard. So be aware of that. But I really am having a lot better vapes with a coil I made myself. It will be easy to clean too, open it all up, yank the cotton, burn the heads, get em clean, new cotton..wet it down...put back together.

Making coils is something I'll do, probably sooner than later now. Is the Kanthal wire available anywhere besides online?

I was thinking of simply re-wicking one of my stock coil heads with cotton and give that a try as well.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

I've had a change for the better. I grabbed one of my used coil heads and swapped out the OE silica wick for some cotton, poured in some HHV Legend e-juice and WOW. It just put the first smile on my face since I got these dreaded tanks. Good hit and flavor. Don't know if it was the cotton or the juice or both but I'm happy.

 

[CloudZ]

I've had a change for the better. I grabbed one of my used coil heads and swapped out the OE silica wick for some cotton, poured in some HHV Legend e-juice and WOW. It just put the first smile on my face since I got these dreaded tanks. Good hit and flavor. Don't know if it was the cotton or the juice or both but I'm happy.

Congrats on a successful rewick. You probably put in a better sized wick for the coil than the stock silica, so it just works better. Rebuilding can make a leaky/burny clearo into a solid consistent vape device. Also, Legend is a very good NET IMO. HHV makes some good ones, definitely don't hesitate to try a bunch of them. I really like Legend, Dragon's Fire, Heavenly Army, and Dark Horse.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

If NET's result in those flavors then i'm sold. I ordered some more Legend and Dark Horse today. I'm going to try out 18mg this time because the 24mg is kicking my ....

I bought a small bottle of tobacco flavor eJuice from a local vape shop today, CRAP.

 

[Shadowtao]

May depend on the mod a min is used on. When I first received my mini I used in on a MVP 2, and was only mildly pleased. For the hell of it I tried it with an adaptor on my ProVari. Major difference, much, much better.
To double check I made sure the settings on the MVP matched the ProVari, again on the Pro it was better.
Only really odd to me because when I repeated this with the Protank II, the reverse was the result.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

I'm trying a Kanger 510 carto today. Very nice vape. I'll have to see how it does over a day but so far it give a nice smooth vape.

The Mini Protank did better after I made a few changes to it but I found it very inconsistent. With the tank full it was much stronger than once it reached about half empty. The flavor was better as it emptied out.