Protank 2 funky taste after rebuild

[Matrix387k]

Hey guys I rebuilt my protank 2 with 32 awg kanthal and 2mm sillica wick with 1mm flavor wick on top. I've tried many methods oxidizing with a torch and all that and i still get a funk smell. vapor is actually really good but I read somewhere on here that i should boil the kanthal? is it normal to get that nasty taste? ive tried the 3/4 wrap and 5/6 wrap making sure there are no hot spots but the smell is still terrible. I haven't had the chance to boil the kanthal yet but maybe there is another reason why my rebuild tastes funky? sorry i cant post anywhere else yet so i'm posting it here. any help would be appreciated! thanksss

 

[wbart]

I have no idea since I have not rebuilt one myself yet. I have seen a couple people complaining of a burnt rubber taste when they tried to rebuild thiers

 

[Matrix387k]

I've been looking around for a solution but havent really been able to find exactly what i was looking for. I watched a few youtube videos and everyone made it look so easy. all they did was rebuild oxidize and popped it back in and they said the flavor was nice. I tried the exact same thing and got good vapor production but the taste is crap i cant even inhale.... =/

 

[K_Tech]

Do you know what the resistance of your rebuilt coil is, and what are you running your tank on?

I'm wondering if your funky taste may just be the coil burning?

 

[Topdogie01]

yes, make sure to check your resistance, never just build (or rebuild) a coil and hook it up to your device and fire it. always check the resistance. some APV's have a built in ohm reader that can help you remember what resistance you are using but i would not use it as my only test to see the resistance, only to see if its fluctuating after using the coil and to remember what i need to build for next replacement.

adjust your voltage as needed (if your using VV/VW) and the taste may be something left of the wire/wick from manufacturing. if i torch my wicks i seem to get a funny taste that lasts for ~20 puffs, but if i dont torch my wire i taste what i think may be a slight oil residue.

 

[OlDogNewTricks]

Check your rubber insulator at the bottom of the coil head. If that's OK, saturate the coil and 'dry burn' it repeatedly. If the taste is really bad after that, make sure that you are throughly torching your coil and wick before dry burning it. My coils taste pretty bad for the first dozen or so vapes, till they break in. I have also tried cotton instead of silica, but please, please, please never let them burn dry, they will literally burn up if you do. Lots of great Youtube videos on cotton wicking. Those seem to taste a whole lot better, out of the gate. You can also try a different coil head assembly to build. You might also want to have a look at your Protank's o-rings, I hear that they sometimes break down, causing a bad rubber-like flavor. Hope this helps.

 

[Mad Scientist]

It might be overheating the rubber grommet in the head. Two things can cause that: if you get the coil too low in the head (i.e. too close to the grommet) or if the coil is too loose on the wick.

Overheated rubber tastes really bad (don't ask how I know that lol).

 

[crxess]

Check your rubber insulator at the bottom of the coil head. If that's OK, saturate the coil and 'dry burn' it repeatedly. If the taste is really bad after that, make sure that you are throughly torching your coil and wick before dry burning it. My coils taste pretty bad for the first dozen or so vapes, till they break in. I have also tried cotton instead of silica, but please, please, please never let them burn dry, they will literally burn up if you do. Lots of great Youtube videos on cotton wicking. Those seem to taste a whole lot better, out of the gate. You can also try a different coil head assembly to build. You might also want to have a look at your Protank's o-rings, I hear that they sometimes break down, causing a bad rubber-like flavor. Hope this helps.

This response makes no sense and gets people even more confused.

1) A saturated wick does not dry burn
2) Torching and dry burning are basically the SAME thing

Preparing for a rebuild:
Tape ends of new wicking and Boil in distilled water if desired
Before cutting a piece of Wick, pass wicking through Blue Flame several times to burn off impurities
Pass Kanthal wire trough Flame Blue flame slowly to reach orange glow - This cleans and makes wire more manageable
Using a straight pin as a guide/tool, wrap coil around wick. Do NOT over tighten coil of it will pinch wick and reduce absorption.
Make sure it is not Loose or hot burning metal will be your flavor.

Once coil/wick is built and ohms verified - Pulse fire coil several times to verify equal heat dispersion and final clean wick.

Building tip - WASH HANDS BEFORE STARTING to Remove any lotions or Greasy fried chicken flavoring, etc

 

[Chas F.]

1) A saturated wick does not dry burn
2) Torching and dry burning are basically the SAME thing

Preparing for a rebuild:
Tape ends of new wicking and Boil in distilled water if desired
Before cutting a piece of Wick, pass wicking through Blue Flame several times to burn off impurities
Pass Kanthal wire trough Flame Blue flame slowly to reach orange glow - This cleans and makes wire more manageable
Using a straight pin as a guide/tool, wrap coil around wick. Do NOT over tighten coil of it will pinch wick and reduce absorption.
Make sure it is not Loose or hot burning metal will be your flavor.

Once coil/wick is built and ohms verified - Pulse fire coil several times to verify equal heat dispersion and final clean wick.

Building tip - WASH HANDS BEFORE STARTING to Remove any lotions or Greasy fried chicken flavoring, etc

Good stuff right here. Even made the suggestion to wash your hands prior to handling stuff!

 

[Matrix387k]

Haha thanks for all the replies. I think it is burning the rubber insulator. I read somewhere that doubling the legs and twisting them will help. Also when you suggest that I boil the wick should I boil the kanthal as well and skip the torching part? Also does it matter what kind of tape?

I also saw a guy on YouTube make a micro-coil with like 12 wraps and cotton as the wick and it worked very well.

 

[Matrix387k]

It might be overheating the rubber grommet in the head. Two things can cause that: if you get the coil too low in the head (i.e. too close to the grommet) or if the coil is too loose on the wick.

Overheated rubber tastes really bad (don't ask how I know that lol).

Lol ill look into that too. I might have been pulling down on the legs too hard.

 

[Spazmelda]

Having a hot spot, or a place where the kanthal doesn't touch the wick can produce a really funky smell/taste. I futzed around with mine for a while, thinking it was burnt rubber, and finally figured out I'd sometimes have a coil that wasn't quite touching the wick and producing and acrid smell. This was the cause in at least some of the cases.

 

[K_Tech]

Haha thanks for all the replies. I think it is burning the rubber insulator. I read somewhere that doubling the legs and twisting them will help. Also when you suggest that I boil the wick should I boil the kanthal as well and skip the torching part? Also does it matter what kind of tape?

I also saw a guy on YouTube make a micro-coil with like 12 wraps and cotton as the wick and it worked very well.

The tape is only to keep the ends of the wick from fraying and coming apart when you insert the needle. The needle's just to stabilize the wick when you wrap it. So, the type of tape is sort of irrelevant. I just use cheap dollar store Scotch tape.

I wouldn't boil the Kanthal; it won't hurt anything if you do, but torching it seems to take out some of the springiness and will remove any machining residue from the wire.

Cotton's something I will probably experiment with at some point, but cotton WILL burn up if you can't keep it wet. Since I'm still not that practiced at rebuilding coils, I'm not going to jump into cotton (or other natural fiber) wicks for some time yet.

I'm not sure what you mean by twisting/doubling the legs, but there are a TON of good videos on YouTube that go through the rebuild process. Check out some of them, most of those folks are a LOT better than me at explaining a rebuild, and if a picture's worth a thousand words, a video's worth 1,000 pictures, and a million words.

 

[Matrix387k]

Having a hot spot, or a place where the kanthal doesn't touch the wick can produce a really funky smell/taste. I futzed around with mine for a while, thinking it was burnt rubber, and finally figured out I'd sometimes have a coil that wasn't quite touching the wick and producing and acrid smell. This was the cause in at least some of the cases.

Hmm I'm going to have to check for hot spots again. It shouldnt be too tight but snugged all the way through correct?

The tape is only to keep the ends of the wick from fraying and coming apart when you insert the needle. The needle's just to stabilize the wick when you wrap it. So, the type of tape is sort of irrelevant. I just use cheap dollar store Scotch tape.

I wouldn't boil the Kanthal; it won't hurt anything if you do, but torching it seems to take out some of the springiness and will remove any machining residue from the wire.

Cotton's something I will probably experiment with at some point, but cotton WILL burn up if you can't keep it wet. Since I'm still not that practiced at rebuilding coils, I'm not going to jump into cotton (or other natural fiber) wicks for some time yet.

I'm not sure what you mean by twisting/doubling the legs, but there are a TON of good videos on YouTube that go through the rebuild process. Check out some of them, most of those folks are a LOT better than me at explaining a rebuild, and if a picture's worth a thousand words, a video's worth 1,000 pictures, and a million words.

I was actually wondering if I needed to tape the ends of the wick before boiling them, but then I'd think the tape would melt. And what i meant by twisting/doubling the legs up is when you put the legs through the base before putting the positive leg through the rubber insulator you fold it up to the wick and twist them together making them thicker. I heard that you get lower ohms but by making the legs thicker you wont have a lot of heat burning the rubber.

 

[Matrix387k]

I'm kinda getting tired of the small parts in this protank and looking to upgrade to a genesis rba. Was looking at the aga-t2, cobra, DID. Would you guys recommend any of those?

 

[crxess]

Tanks are small = all have small parts.
You might look at an Ithaka or Ithaka Clone to move up..............but honestly, If you cannot master this one what makes you think anything else will be easier? All use some form of Wick/Coil

 

[Matrix387k]

well i actually have the wrapping and everything down vapor is great the only off thing was the nasty smell from the rubber insulator. the genesis doesnt have that and I feel like it would be so much better. I'm going to rebuild it again tonight and let you guys know if doubling up the legs stops the burnt rubber smell. I'm leaning towards the aga t2 right now. I'll look up the ithaka models as well. Do you prefer the ithaka over the aga t2?

 

[capnblast58]

I haven't tried a pro tank II, heard of a few people who have had rubber taste issue. I love the Original Pro Tank, thinking of trying the Pro Tank II next

 

[Matrix387k]

ok so i tried doubling the leg using 3/4 wrap and the rubber insulator is still burning. Everything glows bright evenly but when i look down the legs that are touching the rubber is also glowing.. should i try doing more wraps?

 

[Matrix387k]

Ok tried 7/8 wraps glow is nice still smells like crap! I compared the stock coils with mine and they look identical almost. is it possible that the rubber turns to crap after you scorch it once?



heres a pic of the wrap does anything look wrong with it?