Possible questions answered and opinions needed

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taki1203

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There are some clones that have been reviewed to be better made than the originals! I do the you tube thing to review orginals and clones and then make the decision. No shame in clones to be sure.

I can believe anyone can get three weeks out of a carto...wait. that sounds terrible. I CAN believe it, I just can't do it. I am lucky to get a week out of one carto. I like cartos but have too many problems with them.

I love the Aero tank and the PT2. I think they resolved a lot of the problems I experienced with the PT1. I also have a Nautilus on the way and I am very pleased with my Aspire ETS tanks.

I have an IgoW that I enjoy for a dripper and a Kayfun 3.1 clone that has yet to be built. *hangs head in shame for letting a new shiny sit and not using it*. It will be in use this week. I am excited! Dripping taste with the convenience of a tank.

It does make a difference. I vaped CB on a really good dripper and mech once. It was amazing. As if I had never really tasted the juice before. It was a Castle dripper and I can't remember the mech....both were out of my price range.

I believe, before you spend money on the lesser things, a REO is a great solution. Sounds like a lot of money up front, but it is supposedly one of the best delivery systems. A kayfun and your Provari should also be fabulous. Just my :2c:

In the "Grand" scheme of things the Reo isn't that expensive if you think about it. My Reo/RM2 plus some extras was ~$210 shipped. In contrast my Stingray was $224 just to get the mod to me. Add in the Stillare and you're looking at $350+.

And yeah no shame in regards to clones, like Glow said some are improvements others not so much but they offer a more cost effective alternative to those who cannot afford/justify authentics.
 

Amberina

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Agree - cartos are still a viable solution for people who vape predominantly 1 flavor (or, don't mind having several tanks for several flavors).

Amber, where are you getting cartos for around a buck - curious?

I get them from the IBTanked website. I buy a lot at a time so the price goes down a bit (if you buy 10+ they give you a lower price). I also use Ikenvape, and they run a little more (1.50-1.70) but they haven't had the ones I like in stock for a long time. The IBTanked site sells Smok brand and they work pretty good.
And yes, I do keep about 5 tanks in rotation at a time!
 
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DaBucs

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just want to add that you can transform pro tanks and protank 2's into aero tanks, giving you air flow control :)

also, once you start rebuilding those protank coils, you will get some good use out of them, just remove old wick, dry burn, rewick and go
currently I am using peaches and cream yarn from wally world...working great :)

so far I have about 1/2 a dozen coil rebuild experience lol
 

kinggirl

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I just ordered everything online last night to start building my own coils in the protank. Then if I'm successful I will look into something like the kayfun or Russian. But, I did quite a bit of research and from what I can tell it's like night and day difference by building your own on the protank. Thanks for the suggestion! Better late than never I suppose but in the past 6 months I've probably thrown away at least 100 bad coils lol.
 

Kent Brooks

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I just ordered everything online last night to start building my own coils in the protank. Then if I'm successful I will look into something like the kayfun or Russian. But, I did quite a bit of research and from what I can tell it's like night and day difference by building your own on the protank. Thanks for the suggestion! Better late than never I suppose but in the past 6 months I've probably thrown away at least 100 bad coils lol.

Too late for you, but for people who wander on this thread later... SAVE YOUR HEADS! Just toss them in a mason jar or something so, later, when you get the ambition to rebuild, you have materials to work with! Good way to recycle!
 

lsufan

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I just ordered everything online last night to start building my own coils in the protank. Then if I'm successful I will look into something like the kayfun or Russian. But, I did quite a bit of research and from what I can tell it's like night and day difference by building your own on the protank. Thanks for the suggestion! Better late than never I suppose but in the past 6 months I've probably thrown away at least 100 bad coils lol.

Do you have a short list of what you ordered for building your own coils in the protank? I would really appreciate you sharing if so! I just ordered a Sophia with some premade coils but I should probably try my hand at a few coils while I'm waiting for it to come in. I get so overwhelmed with all of the information when I look into it. I think I'm finally brave enough to try it!
 

DaBucs

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Do you have a short list of what you ordered for building your own coils in the protank? I would really appreciate you sharing if so! I just ordered a Sophia with some premade coils but I should probably try my hand at a few coils while I'm waiting for it to come in. I get so overwhelmed with all of the information when I look into it. I think I'm finally brave enough to try it!

This is what I got:
30ga kanthal wire
peaches an cream yarn from walmart
fingernail clipper or toenail clipper to cut the yarn and wire
I got this wire wrap thingy from one of the fam...but I think people use 1/16th drill bit? for wrapping the coil?
lighter or small torch to heat the kanthal wire to clear any manufacturing junk and also to make the wire easier to work with
tweezers
this vid as a guide to build my first coil
Protank Wick Rebuild with Cotton - YouTube
 

lsufan

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This is what I got:
30ga kanthal wire
peaches an cream yarn from walmart
fingernail clipper or toenail clipper to cut the yarn and wire
I got this wire wrap thingy from one of the fam...but I think people use 1/16th drill bit? for wrapping the coil?
lighter or small torch to heat the kanthal wire to clear any manufacturing junk and also to make the wire easier to work with
tweezers
this vid as a guide to build my first coil
Protank Wick Rebuild with Cotton - YouTube

Thanks so much! I'm going to give it a try!
 

kinggirl

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Do you have a short list of what you ordered for building your own coils in the protank? I would really appreciate you sharing if so! I just ordered a Sophia with some premade coils but I should probably try my hand at a few coils while I'm waiting for it to come in. I get so overwhelmed with all of the information when I look into it. I think I'm finally brave enough to try it!

I used 32ga kanthal wire but probably should have used 30. I bought organic cotton balls that were already boiled in distilled water directly from kidneypuncher.com and just ordered on amazon 100ft of kanthal for like $5. I ordered initially everything from kidney puncher but am reading now that might not be necessary to buy cotton balls already boiled that I think I could have just used straight cotton boils. Go on youtube and search rip trippers protank coil rebuild. He's very helpful and I just followed his instructions. I think he used 28 ga wire though. I honestly don't know how the difference is but I didn't wrap mine 10 times like he does with 28ga I wrapped about 6 times with 32. My coil (3rd times a charm) came out to be 2.0 ohms so I'm still trying to figure out if I wrap less if it lowers the ohms or wrap more. Either way, I loaded it with hummingbird and it was AMAHHHHH-ZINGGGGGGG.
 

taki1203

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I used 32ga kanthal wire but probably should have used 30. I bought organic cotton balls that were already boiled in distilled water directly from kidneypuncher.com and just ordered on amazon 100ft of kanthal for like $5. I ordered initially everything from kidney puncher but am reading now that might not be necessary to buy cotton balls already boiled that I think I could have just used straight cotton boils. Go on youtube and search rip trippers protank coil rebuild. He's very helpful and I just followed his instructions. I think he used 28 ga wire though. I honestly don't know how the difference is but I didn't wrap mine 10 times like he does with 28ga I wrapped about 6 times with 32. My coil (3rd times a charm) came out to be 2.0 ohms so I'm still trying to figure out if I wrap less if it lowers the ohms or wrap more. Either way, I loaded it with hummingbird and it was AMAHHHHH-ZINGGGGGGG.

Adding wraps increases total coil resistance. The lower the gauge wire (# that is) the lower the resistance per inch but you gain surface area due to the increase in size.

Edit: Also CVS sterile rolled cotton is great for wicks and one roll should last you basically forever.
 

lsufan

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I used 32ga kanthal wire but probably should have used 30. I bought organic cotton balls that were already boiled in distilled water directly from kidneypuncher.com and just ordered on amazon 100ft of kanthal for like $5. I ordered initially everything from kidney puncher but am reading now that might not be necessary to buy cotton balls already boiled that I think I could have just used straight cotton boils. Go on youtube and search rip trippers protank coil rebuild. He's very helpful and I just followed his instructions. I think he used 28 ga wire though. I honestly don't know how the difference is but I didn't wrap mine 10 times like he does with 28ga I wrapped about 6 times with 32. My coil (3rd times a charm) came out to be 2.0 ohms so I'm still trying to figure out if I wrap less if it lowers the ohms or wrap more. Either way, I loaded it with hummingbird and it was AMAHHHHH-ZINGGGGGGG.

Thanks! I'm going to place an order or two for supplies this weekend. I love nicoticket flavors so much just using stock coils, I can't wait to see the difference when I venture out into rebuilding my own.

Have some radioactive and another bottle of hummingbird on the way. I will be stalking the site for the razcup and frenilla. I should be set with enough delicious flavors to experiment with. If only I had been smart enough to order a bigger bottle of grape ape!
 

revco

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I used 32ga kanthal wire but probably should have used 30. I bought organic cotton balls that were already boiled in distilled water directly from kidneypuncher.com and just ordered on amazon 100ft of kanthal for like $5. I ordered initially everything from kidney puncher but am reading now that might not be necessary to buy cotton balls already boiled that I think I could have just used straight cotton boils. Go on youtube and search rip trippers protank coil rebuild. He's very helpful and I just followed his instructions. I think he used 28 ga wire though. I honestly don't know how the difference is but I didn't wrap mine 10 times like he does with 28ga I wrapped about 6 times with 32. My coil (3rd times a charm) came out to be 2.0 ohms so I'm still trying to figure out if I wrap less if it lowers the ohms or wrap more. Either way, I loaded it with hummingbird and it was AMAHHHHH-ZINGGGGGGG.

The difference in the different types of Kanthal gauges is the amount of final resistance you will get in a given coil. I started with 32GA and 30GA, but eventually moved to 28GA. I was getting a little bit lower than I wanted on the Kangers with a full spread microcoil of about 12 wraps which got me to 1.5ohm, so I moved to an odd 29GA and that got me exactly where I wanted to be with an identical number of wraps. (1.8ohm) The larger the number, the higher the resistance...the smaller the number, the lower the resistance. The other relationship is the larger the wire (smaller gauge), the more heated surface area and thus more vapor/flavor you can achieve. It all comes down to personal preference once you figure it out, but the good thing is Kanthal is cheap as dirt and makes it easy to experiment if you want to.

IMO, a good starting point is going to be 30GA...it's a good balance between strength of the wire, the amount of resistance you get and a bit of flexibility to get lower or higher based on the number of wraps. 32GA is too flimsy and prone to break, IMO, and for a beginner..the 28GA is a bit too large to get enough resistance for your common builds.

I would definitely recommend using cotton yarn. Non-mercerized #4 unscented cotton yarn, commonly available in your fabric stores under Peaches & Cream or Sugar and Cream brands is an excellent way to go. Using regular cotton is a pain and will discourage you...it's difficult, at best, to get the "perfect" amount of cotton from a cotton ball that doesn't flood or prevent wicking entirely. The above yarn is perfect, just boil a good size handful of it a few times and you're good to go. Don't boil the entire skein or you'll have a serious problem on your hands. (I'd consider myself a semi-advanced coiler and my preference is still yarn.)

There's probably about a hundred ways to rebuild a Kanger coil, so it all comes down to preferences. I would probably recommend starting with a basic "close to stock" build, get familiar with it and then from there, you'll find yourself wanting to experiment a bit to get better. It's as easy as wrapping some kanthal around a cotton wick and dropping it in. Or you can do microcoils, which is my personal preference. You can get super crazy and do nano coils, diamond coils and probably even a Clapton coil in the thing. There's a ton of helpful videos on YouTube that will get you in the know.

Bottom line, just dive in with some Kanthal, something to wrap around that fits the bill and a bit of cotton yarn. You can figure out how to tweak things into precision once you start figuring out what you like. It seems far more intimidating than it is...once you do it a few times, you'll wonder why you were even concerned in the first place.
 

fibberwibber

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I used 32ga kanthal wire but probably should have used 30. I bought organic cotton balls that were already boiled in distilled water directly from kidneypuncher.com and just ordered on amazon 100ft of kanthal for like $5. I ordered initially everything from kidney puncher but am reading now that might not be necessary to buy cotton balls already boiled that I think I could have just used straight cotton boils. Go on youtube and search rip trippers protank coil rebuild. He's very helpful and I just followed his instructions. I think he used 28 ga wire though. I honestly don't know how the difference is but I didn't wrap mine 10 times like he does with 28ga I wrapped about 6 times with 32. My coil (3rd times a charm) came out to be 2.0 ohms so I'm still trying to figure out if I wrap less if it lowers the ohms or wrap more. Either way, I loaded it with hummingbird and it was AMAHHHHH-ZINGGGGGGG.

Less wraps = lower resistance.

I usually go for a 5 wrap and get around a 1.7 ohms coil with the 32ga wire for my cotton coil rebuilds.

Vaper's toolbox is a nifty app on android phones that will help you get the resistance you desire. Try using a 1/16 drill bit for the wraps if you haven't already that will make the build a tad bit easier on you.
 

kinggirl

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So additional questions. I feel like after 3 tries I mastered the protank but I'll be honest. I just got glasses 3 months ago and it was somewhat difficult to see what I was doing even with them ON. I've talked to a few people that said I if I like doing that, then I should just bump up to something like the kayfun. I am on the fence. The end reward with the protank by building my own I could taste more flavor but man it took me forever to build that teeny tiny coil. My first 2 I built failed I think because I honestly couldn't see the tiny space I was working with to get the coil in there perfectly. Would it make more sense to get something else to build on?
 

DaBucs

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So additional questions. I feel like after 3 tries I mastered the protank but I'll be honest. I just got glasses 3 months ago and it was somewhat difficult to see what I was doing even with them ON. I've talked to a few people that said I if I like doing that, then I should just bump up to something like the kayfun. I am on the fence. The end reward with the protank by building my own I could taste more flavor but man it took me forever to build that teeny tiny coil. My first 2 I built failed I think because I honestly couldn't see the tiny space I was working with to get the coil in there perfectly. Would it make more sense to get something else to build on?

once you get some good coils built, you will only need to rewick the head. the coils will last some time before they will have to replaced...or should hehe

and when you rewick, you remove old wick, dry durn the coil, then rewick put it back in tank and use :)
 
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