Protank 2 Rebuild Troubleshoot

[DoubleDecker]

Hey all!

Just rebuilt (after trial and error!) my first Protank2 coil/wick. Sadly my first attempt only red out at 1.2oms

Regardless, I figured I'd try it out. What could the reason be behind almost no flavor production? Anything over about 3.2volts gives my the standard "burnt" flavor. I set it at the bare minimum 3.0volts and get almost no flavor production.

Any thoughts?

Tips on building the coil for a better ohm?

Thanks!

 

[Btsmokincat]

What gauge wire are you using and what kind of wick? How many wraps? Is it a microcoil or a standard wires-spaced-out wrap?

 

[DoubleDecker]

Got about 4 wraps. Don't remember the gauge wire. Asked the guy at the shop what he recommends. I want to say 3 mm wick, 35wire.

Standard spaced out wrap.

What gauge wire are you using and what kind of wick? How many wraps? Is it a microcoil or a standard wires-spaced-out wrap?

 

[Btsmokincat]

Well it could be that the coil is "choking" the wick and not allowing a good flow of juice. It could be that the coil is not heating up well (getting hot spots, not glowing from center out, etc...)

It could also be that you happen to have vaper's tongue and can't taste any liquid at the moment.

I use a 1.4 mm micro screwdriver to make 7 wraps of 32 gauge and I get about a 2.3 ohm microcoil. I wick it with cotton and it works great. (once I get past the first five or ten toots that taste like cotton).

I guess my only suggestion would be to try again. If you are using 35 gauge Kanathal then I think 4 spaced out wraps should be much higher than 1.2 Ohms. If you can find out for sure what gauge wire you have as that makes all the difference in figuring out how many wraps to us to get the Ohms you want.

Here's a pic of one of my kanger rebuilds...

 

[DoubleDecker]

Thanks for the tips. I've used a sewing needle pushed through the center of the wick to try not to get a super tight wrap.

It looks like your wraps are touching each other. Is that ok? I've been told that that is what causes hot spots.

Well it could be that the coil is "choking" the wick and not allowing a good flow of juice. It could be that the coil is not heating up well (getting hot spots, not glowing from center out, etc...)

It could also be that you happen to have vaper's tongue and can't taste any liquid at the moment.

I use a 1.4 mm micro screwdriver to make 7 wraps of 32 gauge and I get about a 2.3 ohm microcoil. I wick it with cotton and it works great. (once I get past the first five or ten toots that taste like cotton).

I guess my only suggestion would be to try again. If you are using 35 gauge Kanathal then I think 4 spaced out wraps should be much higher than 1.2 Ohms. If you can find out for sure what gauge wire you have as that makes all the difference in figuring out how many wraps to us to get the Ohms you want.

Here's a pic of one of my kanger rebuilds...
View attachment 294453

 

[Btsmokincat]

Thanks for the tips. I've used a sewing needle pushed through the center of the wick to try not to get a super tight wrap.

It looks like your wraps are touching each other. Is that ok? I've been told that that is what causes hot spots.

Using a needle is great to keep your coils from being to tight. The other thing I can think of is you are actually using 28 gauge which takes longer to heat up. Also the 3 mm wick might be to thick for the holes in the sides of the head.

Microcoils are made to be touching and should heat up evenly from the center out. I really like microcoils, IMO they produce more vapor and flavor, especially over the stock coils.

I make mine based on a bunch of different videos and posts here that i've seen and read. here's one to check out: Mini Protank Micro Coil Rebuild - YouTube

The other thing I use is Vaper's Toolbox which is an android app on Google Play. It's free and made by a member here (ScottP). It is awesome! I just enter some basic info like wire, Ohms I want, diameter of coil and lead lengths and it tells me how many wraps to make!

 

[DoubleDecker]

Thanks for the vid link. I think I will try to wrap a micro coil. Is is necessary to torch the wire after wrapping around the coil? Is any type of cotton ball acceptable?

I think the flavor may boil down to "vapor tongue". On my second rebuild try I got 1.6ohms. Still kind of getting a mild flavor with kind of a dirt taste.

 

[Btsmokincat]

I torch the wire before I wrap to take the springiness out, then after making the coil if it's not nice and tight I hold it gently compressed with pliers and torch again (make sure no wires overlap).

I use sterile cotton balls from the first aid section. I don't boil my cotton but some people do. I taste cotton for the first 5 to 10 toots then it goes away and I get nothing but flavor!

Couple other things to note... I take just a little bit of cotton and roll it tight between my fingers, then I insert it through the coil until it's snug but not too tight (basically right to the point just before the cotton will tug the coil). Cut the cotton and fluffy the ends! Oh and don't hit the fire button with dry cotton in the coil or it will burn the cotton and you will have to rewick, saturate the cotton with juice if you want to test fire.

 

[DoubleDecker]

Can I use a standard lighter?

Sorry for all the questions!

 

[Btsmokincat]

Can I use a standard lighter?

Sorry for all the questions!

You can use a standard lighter, heck I've heard of people using a candle. Personally I use a windproof torch lighter. I got it at walmart in a check out aisle for less than $5 (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ronson-JetLite-Butane-Torch-Lighter/31954644). In the hardware or automotive department they sell butane torches too. I think the torch lighters would work better but as long as you heat up the wire to glowing and slowly move along it's entire length you'll be good to go!

FYI - when I torch a coil that's made it doesn't heat up to glowing, but it still helps it retain it's shape. If you make it nice and tight no need to torch and if it's not perfect like there is a tiny gap in it, it will still work fine as long as after installed it glows from the inside out. You can fire a coil in a kanger head before wicking to make sure it fires correctly, just do it in short bursts, just long enough to make it glow then let off. Firing a dry coil with no wick in a kanger head for too long could burn the little rubber insulator in the bottom.

 

[Btsmokincat]

I keep thinking of things after I hit the Post button...

Once you install the micro coil (after checking to Ohms to make sure there's no short and good connection), test fire and if it doesn't glow from the inside out (like it starts glowing on one side or in spots), take a pair of tweezers and gently compress the coil, let go and fire again (don't touch the coil while firing!!), sometimes a coil need to be squeezed, nudged and played with to make it act right. Just by doing that a few times it should start to light up correctly.

 

[DoubleDecker]

Ok my friend. More troubles abound. I tried the micro wrap with cotton with a 30gauge kanthol. I was able to get 2.6ohms with about 7 or eight wraps. Here is where the problems arise!

I test fired a dry coil to make sure it was burning from the center out. It was. I added cotton, juiced the cotton (50/50 blend) and coil, added the post, test fired & it was smoking and popping like a champ (I was testing at 12v).

I screwed the tank on, pressed the button and nothing. Barely got a popping soud & I could barely get a pull from the tank, minimal vapor production and it was spitting juice in my mouth.

So I unscrewed the coil/wick and blew out the post to clear the juice out. Re attached everything and still was unable to get a good pull.

I tried to start from the beginning about 3 times and kept getting this result. Maybe the cotton wick was not thick enough? Perhaps I damaged the rubber grommet?

I followed the link above for the tutorial to a tee. Not sure what could be going wrong. And to add insult to injury, the stock backup coil/wick was giving me the same issue, that is when I screw the tank on all the way I can't get a pull. HELP!!!

 

[Comeoniwanalay]

Ok my friend. More troubles abound. I tried the micro wrap with cotton with a 30gauge kanthol. I was able to get 2.6ohms with about 7 or eight wraps. Here is where the problems arise!

I test fired a dry coil to make sure it was burning from the center out. It was. I added cotton, juiced the cotton (50/50 blend) and coil, added the post, test fired & it was smoking and popping like a champ (I was testing at 12v).

I screwed the tank on, pressed the button and nothing. Barely got a popping soud & I could barely get a pull from the tank, minimal vapor production and it was spitting juice in my mouth.

So I unscrewed the coil/wick and blew out the post to clear the juice out. Re attached everything and still was unable to get a good pull.

I tried to start from the beginning about 3 times and kept getting this result. Maybe the cotton wick was not thick enough? Perhaps I damaged the rubber grommet?

I followed the link above for the tutorial to a tee. Not sure what could be going wrong. And to add insult to injury, the stock backup coil/wick was giving me the same issue, that is when I screw the tank on all the way I can't get a pull. HELP!!!

Your not using any ego batteries are you? Possibly the ego twist?

 

[DoubleDecker]

I am using a iTaste SVD.

 

[Comeoniwanalay]

Well hot damn, haha that is one sexy mod. Maybe just check and make sure theres airflow, thats the main issue with my twist. Also make sure your using kangar addy's because their gasket is wider than the traditional ones, helps out alot with the pull/leaking and stuff.

 

[SleeperAwake]

Could be where your coil is placed in the cup. Make sure that it is placed so that the open ends of the coil can be seen at the bottom of the cuts where the wick sits in the cup and so the coil is centered in the cup. I had a coil I received from Kanger that had a piece of wick that had fallen under the coil and was causing me to get no airflow, could barely get a pull, so might check that. And back to the microcoil, the only issue that can be bad is if they're touching and overlaping, but as was said they should touch. I use a big paperclip and straighten most of it out. Take 30 gauge kanthal and 11 wraps is 2 ohms on the money for me.

 

[DoubleDecker]

Yeah it's weird. The bottom of my coil lined up with the bottom of the cuts in the cup. So I could see through the coil all the way, but it most def was not up too high, or it would have shorted from touching the post. Maybe it wasn't low enough? I tried to compare it to the stock wick/coil build from kanger.

 

[Nataani]

Your almost certainly having an issue with your wicks. Less is more when it comes to cotton.

Rather than using cotton balls, a great way for a new builder to start is with yarn (peaches and cream ekru from walmart is awesome). It is very easy to over or under wick with cotton balls.

These days I am wrapping my protank coils on a 3/64" bit, 6 wrap contact coil (aka micro coil) with 30 gauge will get you a resistance of about 1.8 ohms. A single strand of peaches n cream yarn is perfect for this.

 

[DoubleDecker]

There is airflow for sure when it isn't screwed in all the way. I've had the issue before, and changing out the stock wick/coil usually works. A lot of the ones I get seem to be bad. One of the reasons I wanted to build my own coil/wick! But seems like I am getting the same issue! I just want a massive vape cloud!

 

[DoubleDecker]

Yarn huh? I've never though of trying that. I would assume it's a cotton yarn? I tried to use a minimal amount of cotton as to not pull on the coil, but enough to fill the coil up. Perhaps its just flooding???