Protank Cotton Rebuild, the way I do it

[humpstyles]

Did my first rebuild today for an EVOD/PT atty head. I think it went pretty well, it rang in at 2.1 Ohms when hooked up to my eVic. It's sitting right now in a cup of hot water and will be for a few more hours. I had a few questions/comments about the experience since I didn't get a chance to use it yet and was hoping for some answers:

1. How important is it that the silica/cotton stays eye-level with the wick slot? I noticed my coil was a tiny bit lower than the wick slots, possibly due to pulling the legs taut on the other end.

2. As recommended by a well-respected video on Youtube, I did 6 wraps, 3 left and 3 right. I noticed that when I fired the battery, 2 of them were glowing after 2 seconds whereas the other wraps took close to 5 seconds to turn red.

3. After inserting the rubber grommet and then the pin to lock in the coil legs, how important is it that you cut it as close to the rubber grommet as possible? I did not have a wirecutter on me at work, so I used regular scissors and had ~1mm sticking out that I pressed up against the rubber.

4. Why after dry burning was it recommended to put into hot water? I used 32GA kanthal and 2mm ekowool -I thought Ekowool is Ekowool due to it's ecological nature. Or is that maybe only recommended for cotton and regular silica builds?

Thoughts?

 

[MacTechVpr]

Did my first rebuild today for an EVOD/PT atty head. I think it went pretty well, it rang in at 2.1 Ohms when hooked up to my eVic. It's sitting right now in a cup of hot water and will be for a few more hours. I had a few questions/comments about the experience since I didn't get a chance to use it yet and was hoping for some answers:

1. How important is it that the silica/cotton stays eye-level with the wick slot? I noticed my coil was a tiny bit lower than the wick slots, possibly due to pulling the legs taut on the other end.

Congratulations! Your questions are all very good. And they really relate very well to important points regarding heads and their assembly. Sorry about the long answers, lots of information related to your questions.

Short Answer: A must, or you will crimp the flow of juice.

One of the most important reasons this thread is helpful is because it speaks to the point of localizing the coil and the use of a standard winding gauge or guide. This is vital for a number of reasons; and, one is that you don't want to crimp or constrain the wick in any way. It will impede the flow of juice through the coil. When a rigid guide is not used or a generic one like a needle the coil axis can be brought below (or above) the threshold of the head assembly slot arching the coil. Not only can this crimp the wick but may result in the distortion of a loosely wound coil having too tight contact on the bottom and loose or open turns on top. This is one of several causes for the effect you describe in your following point. Lower placement of the wick may impact how effective the top wick is in closing off the top of slot. So you may get seeping there in excess of the top wick's ability to absorb it or block it. Any excess eventually makes its way to the bottom of the assembly and 510 connection potentially resulting in leaking or incidental shorting which may affect resistance and of course performance.

2. As recommended by a well-respected video on Youtube, I did 6 wraps, 3 left and 3 right. I noticed that when I fired the battery, 2 of them were glowing after 2 seconds whereas the other wraps took close to 5 seconds to turn red.

Short Answer: And what exactly did he say that will get you?

What is the wire spec, wick diameter/type, resistance of a stock head/wick you liked? Why not start there? Which is better, a result someone else liked? Or one that you personally enjoyed?

It takes a little time to learn the important essentials to really reap the incredible benefits of this technology. But it doesn't have to be many weeks or months, certainly not years as some experience. When that happens we eventually come to understand that it's about temperature. Vaping is closer to cooking than anything else. The measure of temperature, the stove-top dial here is resistance coupled with the power we apply, voltage. That is what gets us the desired temperature goal. In a variable voltage or wattage device like an eVic we can target the temperature directly. In a mechanical we have to design a coil that will produce that heat range with the power that's typically attainable 3.7-4.1 volts. Once we decide on the temperature range we enjoy, say 6-7 watts, then we can conclude that we can easily match that at about 2.2 ohms. Buy those heads, rebuild them or build new coil elements for those devices that use them.

There are a million combinations of what number of wraps someone said on this forum or youtube. You can waste a lot of time trying them. If they demo, description, video is not correct electrically you will see the result you're seeing...hot spots. The cause is in general termed asymmetry. There needs to be a uniform physical relationship of the coil, to the wick, to the assembly and termination points for electrons to flow freely and avoid such concentrations. Just like our bodies need balanced circulation. In a clearo crooked or crossed positive legs short.

Find a central starting point, like Kanger's 1.8Ω or 2.2Ω popular heads. Work from there. Try rebuilding. The improvements over a factory coil can be remarkable in terms of bringing out improved flavor and vapor. However, if you lack the understanding why circuits underperform you won't see the best of it. Perhaps an improvement which will be satisfactory to some, but inconsistent. What you want is predictable and repeatable, as much as possible — because you cooked it yourself. Lots of info on this thread and external links that discuss what an electrically correct coil and placement is. That address the specific issues of inefficient vaporization.

3. After inserting the rubber grommet and then the pin to lock in the coil legs, how important is it that you cut it as close to the rubber grommet as possible? I did not have a wirecutter on me at work, so I used regular scissors and had ~1mm sticking out that I pressed up against the rubber.

Short Answer: You must, or you may experience shorts or variations in resistance.

You don't want to leave a leg hanger. It may come in contact with the housing of the assembly (ground) and produce an intermittent short just through slight movement of the device as you vape. Use small instrument flat-head screw or similar to tuck in (under the grommet) any protrusion you can feel or see for the positive. A negative hanger too can cause dragging or rough threading and deter proper seating of the head. Don't want those either. If you don't seat the head fully you may see incomplete conductivity affecting both resistance and efficiency. While you're at it, check that the grommet is not unduly compressed. If it bulges it could push out a hanger. Worse, it will bulge out into the channel between the assembly and base reducing air flow. A common problem people often misattribute to their atomizer's design or failure when in fact it's the assumption that tighter is necessarily better. It's simply supposed to be just right. What the design called for. And the factory build is a good starting point. One that can be improved, but basic electrical and physical principles can't be.

4. Why after dry burning was it recommended to put into hot water? I used 32GA kanthal and 2mm ekowool -I thought Ekowool is Ekowool due to it's ecological nature. Or is that maybe only recommended for cotton and regular silica builds?

Short Answer: Taste!

When you dry burn you cook off caramelized juice residue from the coil, and the wick as well. It varies with the media. Some cleans more efficiently (ceramic, Eko); but cotton, you can't dry burn at all. Silica, clean(?), is oxymoron in my experience except for very light use and juices. After a dry burn some soiling remains on any wick. This can affect flavor and sometimes rinsing washing, soaking in water, distilled water, denatured alcohol, vodka, etc. may help. If you're flavor sensitive, it all affects flavor. I use a very efficient high-temperature wicking material and coil designs I've talked about on this thread and related others. Presently I'm soaking the tank and head after about six tank fills (a dozen half-fills, as I seldom vape below that level to maintain optimal vacuum). Perhaps doing brief dry burns once or twice in between during a tank refill to max out the flow, for both flavor and vapor. No rinsing necessary.

Thoughts?

Well yeah, I'd really like to recommend to everyone that they try rebuilding. And particularly a tension wind onto a small screwdriver bit that fits their clearo to produce tight symmetrical coils. The following may be self-explanatory…

Kids do hoop rings every day that are better fashioned electrically than the common hand winds we normally do. A tension wind with an initial proper geometry and metal memory, like a screen door spring, will perform more efficiently and durably than the freehand winds we're all familiar with. Using the methods described here and on the more advanced...http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/clearomizers/486794-protank-microcoil-discussion.html...you can find what you need to build for the temperature target that best brings out what you love most about your favorite vape.

Good luck all.

 

[D113]

Thanks for this!

 

[humpstyles]

MacTechVpr,

One would think that you invented the atomizer.

Thank you for all of that highly detailed and eye-opening information. As for my first coil, it sucked. Bad. I will try again.

I am a huge believer in not 'practice makes perfect', but 'perfect practice makes perfect', so thank you for the perfect advice and knowledge. I might be PMing you in the near future.

 

[MacTechVpr]

MacTechVpr,

One would think that you invented the atomizer.

Thank you for all of that highly detailed and eye-opening information. As for my first coil, it sucked. Bad. I will try again.

I am a huge believer in not 'practice makes perfect', but 'perfect practice makes perfect', so thank you for the perfect advice and knowledge. I might be PMing you in the near future.

No guarantees, you have to make it right.

And I will always benefit from your observations, if you have them to offer. Please do.

Good luck.

 

[Ryan Bennett]

Imagine being in the laundry and the smell of freshly dried linen permeating the room. It's good, but it's powerful. I'm acutely taste and smell sensitive, and that's what it tastes like to me. It's overwhelming until it starts to saturate fully which could take some hours but always powerful. I've somehow found the way to neutralize that in my mind, like I did with silica, to enjoy the wonderful flavors that actually do come through cotton. I use it extensively and I have a lot of gear. But Ryan I never got the density right in a Protank. Couldn't reproduce a good result from one rebuild/rewick to the next. Do it easily in a dripper.

To answer your question, I settled on the organic cotton balls from CVS. I don't wash them. To me they pick up flavor artifacts from the drying process and I've never tried heat drying. That might help as it seems you're encountering the same. I suspect some type of organic decomposition from air drying too long. So maybe washing some and blow drying, I've heard say. I'd try a small oven, if the warm temperature is not too high. But for me, I'd detect whatever was off-gasing in the oven from prior use. You might give it a go though at very low heat, within some sheets of tin foil.

Just some suggestions short of someone posting with better first hand experience.

Good luck Ryan.

I followed your advice if you will and ended up getting some organic cotton balls from rite aid I didn't wash and have been very satisfied with it in my pt heads. Thanks again.

Sent from my N9510 using Tapatalk 2

 

[MacTechVpr]

I clean my clearos by taking them apart and running them under hot water. Then, while still disassembled, I let it soak in denture cleaner for a few hours. Then I rinse again under hot water and place the parts on a paper towel until it's needed (usually a few days...more than enough for it to dry). Walgreen's generic DC costs under 5 bucks for 90 tabs, so it's economical.

Nice! I've been contemplating that as an alt to ultrasonic cleaning (although the latter might be cheaper in the long run depending on energy cost). I test a lot of devices!

BTW thanks for the like on the http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-cotton-rebuild-way-i-do-17.html#post11788139 thread.

I've found a good way to max the life of coil heads on clearo's with exposed bottom wicks, like Kanger's, is to purge the wick often. At every tank fill or top-off, or whenever draw or flavor seems muted, first check the 510 connection on the batt for seepage from the atomizer. Dry the battery connection as necessary along with the exterior of wick assembly and atomizer base threading using a paper towel. Then blow out the assembled head from the 510 side to clear any juice or condensation from the chimney end into the towel.

Now comes the finger magic part...placing an index finger firmly on the 510 connecter side (covering the hole in the pin with the paper)...and likewise both ends of the extruding wick with thumb and middle finger...blow out from the chimney side. This purges sediments built up at the wick ends and you may see these pigments deposited on the paper towel, particularly with darker juices.

After completing this step your atomizer will seem to perform like you just installed a new coil assembly (YMMV with dense juices, believe me, this VG lover knows!).

The wick acts as a filter accumulating large particulates from flavoring at the cut frayed tips of the wick. This accumulation begins to affect flow over time. If not cleared it gradually feeds this minute debris further into the wicking media. This diminishes the efficiency of vaporization causing aggregation of gunk on the coil element itself. As this progresses gurgling, leaking, dry hits, etc. ensue. Finally more and more moisture gathers from the incomplete vaporization at the 510 connection in the bottom of the head assembly, often with resistance changes, and ultimately…no good vapor. Reinstall such a wick and the process repeats more readily each time.

You simply can't do this on clearo's with replaceable cartridge-type wick assemblies, nor rebuild them really, any more than a carto, so I consider them a non-option in practical terms…unless you have unlimited flow and desire to endlessly forever pay for 'em.

This simple maintenance step can prolong the life of a coil extending the period between installation and the need for washing and/or replacement.

Hope this really helps. It has for me and would have saved a lot of hassle had I known from the beginning.

So keep it dry and blow it out!

Good luck.

 

[BrenMN]

MacTec are you a teacher??

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[MacTechVpr]

MacTec are you a teacher??

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

I've been indirectly involved in engineering across multiple disciplines throughout my professional life. As the transition from analog to computerized management transpired, I was the lucky sucker that got tagged to help the firms I worked with/for through their migrations. It led to the opportunity to do consulting in A/V, I/T, I/S which I did for many years. Yes, I have taught. Groups large and small, corporate execs, to media production, boardroom to the reception chair. Businesses national and local. But I love to work with the individual.

Lucky guy really, to have lived in such interesting times! I am now, in the middle of this fascinating social and technical phenomenon. So may you, Bren.

Enjoy, and good luck.

 

[MacTechVpr]

I appreciate the advice!

I did save the coils and plan to examine them so I know what not to do.

As I mentioned above, I cannot use cotton. As much as I read it wicks better and produces the best flavor, I can't handle it. Maybe at some point I will get over this.

If 3mm silica is too big, what would you suggest 1mm? I do not want to continue to battle flooding and gurgling. I did plan on using a sewing needle to stabilize the wrap.

If would be beneficial if you could post links for the silica and kanthal that I should get for this build if you would be so kind.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Stiz, the hardest part of the problem rebuilding Protanks is that you need to use a coil/wick combination that's not going to result in flooding but wick effectively enough to provide good vaporization. The design of the Protank limits those options but also points the way to what works best.

I just mic'd the width of one more Protank head confirming yet again a width of 1.8mm. That's the widest bit or mandrel you're going to be able to bring down to the bottom. And that is the ideal spot to have your coil. The furthest away from the top cap (so you don't short against it). Also providing the shortest distance to the 510 grommet and pin reducing your total wire length and resistance. The place to be. But the widest bit you can likely find that's going to fit is about 1.7-1.77mm. The smallest could be 1.4mm but it's hard to thread into that size. That's the situation.

Alternatives for wick are obviously first cotton. The easiest to experiment with different coil diameters. I've been publishing coil wind specs on the http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/clearomizers/486794-protank-microcoil-discussion.html thread for an idea of what resistance you'll get. And you could experiment with various diameters easily with cotton.

Short of this you're going to have to select a wick material and size. In theory 2mm silica should go into the common bit/screwdriver size 5/64" (about 1.98mm). But nominally 2mm silica can vary greatly in cross-section. Often you can only see or determine this when you get it as retail sources seldom provide the information and may not offer it up if asked for it. I've gotten quite a variety. The answer there is to have an assortment of bits or drivers. Like 1.5mm, 1/16", 1.7 as well as a variety sometimes referred to as 3/43 which is about 1.77 mm.

Likewise you may encounter difficulties with Ekowool. But both Ekowool and Nextel which are mentioned on this thread and the above may be easier to thread (aided my a narrow pin) because they are hollow and braided. Any splaying can be tucked in ahead of the braid and usually rotated through (as you pull out the pin or you'll expand the coil).

The advantage of threading in place is that you match the coil diameter as closely to the wick as possible. This reduces the incidence of hot spots (shorts) that will result in bad vaporization and early demise of the coil. Also you can set the coil, compress into a contact (micro) coil both improving its efficiency and reducing the incidence of shorts. Two HUGE advantages over conventional hand winds!

Sources to contact regarding wick material are Kidney Puncher (for silica and braided Nextel silica), SnG Vapor for nextel 1/32" braided and most any web source or many B&M's for 1.5mm silica. The 2mm you will need to drop down on a needle or narrow bit into this position as you mentioned. However, the downside is you may disfigure the coil in the process of setting it which kind of defeats the purpose of a stable coil. So experimenting with what you can thread is an important part of this process.

So the wick's the thing here and you'll have to look for the right material to match what bit/s you may find. Search this thread and the link above for the terms bit and screwdriver for remarks.

Good luck Stiz. Let us know how you make out, or with your questions as you move this along.

 

[STiZzle2010]

I eill definitely read through everything and I appreciate your extra efforts to help me out!

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[STiZzle2010]

I just read through ever post in this thread and I have to say I have a much better grasp on this. I am excited to get my materials so that I can take a stab at this! Thanks for pointing me in this direction Mac!!!

 

[tehvato]

thanks for this! now to go find a 5/64 bit!

 

[MacTechVpr]

thanks for this! now to go find a 5/64 bit!

From my understanding, having the wraps close together does make it a micro coil. Having a very small diameter makes it a nano coil. I could be way off, but that's what I've gathered from this forum so far.
After doing a bunch of reading, it seems as though I was just using too much cotton to get good wicking. I tried ekowool with a mesh "jacket" pictured above. Worked well, but I pulled it out mostly because I didnt like the coil. Last night I installed a similar 2mm with mesh "jacket" but stuffed cotton between them to get the mesh tighter to the coil. Didn't work so hot. Right now I have the same thing without the mesh, just ekowool and stuffed in cotton, and it's ok.
I think my issue is contact between my coil and my wick. I need to do some MORE homework.
I want my entire coil touching my wick, regardless of the wick correct? Gaps in contact create hotspots?

Sorry nobody picked this up tehvato. And sorry responding to you on this thread buce. But I wanted to corral some answers in one place.

Tehvato unfortunately the 5/64" diameter (which I love for tanks) won't drop all the way down into the Protank slot. Nor many other clearomizer BC (bottom-coil) heads. It will nest in the "V" but you have to spline it with something like a needle to relocalize it at the bottom of the slot where it needs to live. The needs and advantages are discussed throughout this thread.

The approx. width of the slot below the "V" is 1.8mm. I've seen and heard credible reads as high as 1.85mm. But I'd say that's rare and oversized is more likely to be .02 mm or less. It matters as above in deciding what diameter to wind on and this affects what wick material you use or purchase.

Somewhere between the preceding and the lowest you can possible thread is the optimal range. Perhaps not less than 3/64" which is about 1.2mm as that is very difficult to thread for most of us. That is unless you use cotton. If you want to maximize the amount of wick try to find a instrument screwdriver kit including 1.8mm diameter Often 1.8mm is a better fit for the wick and the slot with Eko or silica which can at times be quite stout beyond their spec, say 1.5mm. Also the opposite, that 2mm media can be a lot thinner than you expected. I love when that happens as I can then thread into the larger diameter in the middle of 1/6" and 2mm. It's a good place to be. Trade or discard those smaller slotted heads if you come to love the larger diameter as I do. Or, smaller if you prefer smaller.

Here's a great very inexpensive set I found in the past few weeks and got my first one in a few days back. It fills in some great sizes. Small enough to work into tight spots (3" long) but sturdy enough in the hand to allow some leverage for tension winding...

7pc Micro Precision Screwdriver Set 0.9 - 2.0mm with Replacement Tips

If you use a synthetic fiber wick like Nextel, Ekowool or silica, I like to plump up sizes just below the max of 1.8mm by inserting a very thin needle when I first install the head and thread it. Careful not to squeeze something too large or with too much force as you may distort both wick media and the coil. This is to encourage a uniform contact of the wick surface the the symmetrical wind of the coil. As you do thank refills, and blow out the wicks to clean them you may wish to repeat the needle insertion.

Oh, and buce, I agree. There is no universal definition for microcoil and we can't make exceptions because one or the other is wound somehow differently. The apt name is contact coil describing a good proper electrical coil both in its function and mechanically. It also makes it simpler to understand and appreciate for newcomers (I hate the word beginners, we're all beginning something).

Hope this information is helpful.

Good luck.

 

[downInTn]

Awesome thread! Many thanks to those who have done the legwork.

I haven't rebuilt any coils yet (wire ordered). I had a couple attys that were tasting burnt I tore them down, cleaned and replaced the wicks with cotton.

My initial results; great amounts of vapor, a lot of popping, juice accumulating in the mouth piece and battery, and a strong laundry taste.

The laundry taste... It seems that this is the reason for boiling the cotton??? I had read that some boiled their cotton but never understood why. I have big roll of medical bandage cotton... so I cut a large piece off and boiled rinsed boiled again.

The popping and leaking I think* was because my wicks were too thin. I rolled the cotton a little tighter and re-wicked the attys.

Everything seems to be working great now, a lot more vapor/flavor than the stock atty, a lot less popping, no leaking so far(time will tell), and the laundry taste is undetectable to me.

I guess it's expected, juice consumption has gone up

/subscribed

 

[MacTechVpr]

Awesome thread! Many thanks to those who have done the legwork.

I haven't rebuilt any coils yet (wire ordered). I had a couple attys that were tasting burnt I tore them down, cleaned and replaced the wicks with cotton.

My initial results; great amounts of vapor, a lot of popping, juice accumulating in the mouth piece and battery, and a strong laundry taste.

The laundry taste... It seems that this is the reason for boiling the cotton??? I had read that some boiled their cotton but never understood why. I have big roll of medical bandage cotton... so I cut a large piece off and boiled rinsed boiled again.

The popping and leaking I think* was because my wicks were too thin. I rolled the cotton a little tighter and re-wicked the attys.

Everything seems to be working great now, a lot more vapor/flavor than the stock atty, a lot less popping, no leaking so far(time will tell), and the laundry taste is undetectable to me.

I guess it's expected, juice consumption has gone up

/subscribed

Congratulations! As soon as you can try and do a simple tension wind (I use scotch tape, it's handier) and couple that with the stabilization and termination advice on this thread. These should get you to fast hot firing contact (micro) coil efficiency within days. Visit my blog for this easy cleaning technique. That should keep you dry enough and enjoying your vape enough to give you the time to sort it out.

Learn the resistance tables so you can find your favorite temperature for your fav juices.

Look up the resistance results tables I've posted in the link below to find the wire wind parameters for your target temperatures.

Cotton is great for learning and flavor. You may not have to boil it, and the flavor's fine. I use CVS organic cotton balls. It's performance varies a lot over days. Some like me can't handle the changes, taste sensitive. Other wick media has more longevity of performance. Find the temperature that you like (watts) build around that. Learn to thread wick. I never get past that fresh dried linen taste. I've had to try other media.

For more advanced building techniques and my continuing remarks…

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/clearomizers/486794-protank-microcoil-discussion.html

Good luck.

 

[RattlerX]

Built 5 coils using 28 & 30 kanthal, wicked with cotton and vapid them all day using some of the info on this tread. BUT in the end the cotton below 2.1 had a taste I did not care for and I lost some of my flavor. No leaking, gurgling, or hot spots. Microcoils varried from 1.5 to 2.2 ohm's depending on the number of wraps (7-11). This was time consuming...

I switched back to 2mm ekowool wrapped on a .080 drill bit. I inserted the drill bit into the ekowool and wrapped 6 tight even spaced wraps. 1.7ohm. With 2mm ekowool you do not need a flavor layer. It fills the hole completely. My citrus is citrus again…

 

[MacTechVpr]

Built 5 coils using 28 & 30 kanthal, wicked with cotton and vapid them all day using some of the info on this tread. BUT in the end the cotton below 2.1 had a taste I did not care for and I lost some of my flavor. No leaking, gurgling, or hot spots. Microcoils varried from 1.5 to 2.2 ohm's depending on the number of wraps (7-11). This was time consuming...

I switched back to 2mm ekowool wrapped on a .080 drill bit. I inserted the drill bit into the ekowool and wrapped 6 tight even spaced wraps. 1.7ohm. With 2mm ekowool you do not need a flavor layer. It fills the hole completely. My citrus is citrus again…

Sounds like too much cotton. It's hard to get the density right in a KPT to wick enough yet not flood. Too often dry means not enough flow. Never encountered a flavor problem with cotton otherwise, except trying to use it to stop flow. It often accomplishes just that too well.

So I don't think it had much to do with your wind or that it was a micro. It is much harder though to keep Protank's running when you can't firmly localize the build at the design location (at the bottom of the slot). And hand winds will give you hot spots and shorts even when you can't see them (below the visual spectrum). It does affect your vape quality both flavor and vapor if you're running hot and not vaporizing well. Wasted voltage. Inefficient output. Hotter vape. Less flavor than possible, or nuances of flavor lost. All the things that something less than a correct electrical coil accomplishes, like a hand wind. There's a reason why I'm trying to share this. It's not frivolous or a matter of personal preference. I'd like to see all of us get the best vape possible.

I run 1.77mm at the moment in the KPT for personal use (and testing) with heavy juicing Nextel 1.7mm cross-section vs. your 2mm which you hand wind. I wick easily by hand, saturate intensely. The flavor is every bit as good as cotton, vapor at 12 watts nothing that Rip himself would complain about and bone absolutely dry. It's the build you make. I love vapor but won't sacrifice flavor. Thing is I use the same coils, burned in place sometimes weeks, clean them in seconds without messing up the coils and when they go back in it's like I dropped in a new one.

If you're enjoying what you got rattler hey more power to ya. Don't disrupt a workin' installation is my motto. Just tap me on the shoulder if you decide you'd like to sort out the other.

Good luck.

 

[MacTechVpr]

I've just concluded a week-long study of several of the following…

KangerTech AeroTank Base

which I've passed along the suite of PT1, 1.5 + 2 I use personally and for wick/coil testing.

Although I was exceptionally skeptical that something that could constrain the already miserly and minuscule air feeds of the KPT's might enhance them I am utterly flabbergasted that it does.

Perhaps it is some kind of venturi effect of air being forced from a ported chamber into smaller orifices but whatever the underlying physics and engineering, it absolutely works. In fact the optimal airflows are achieved by limiting the airflow from full open to one that more adequately approximates the flow of juice being supplied by the wick. This of course varies depending on temperature of juice, coil, resistance, power, differential internal tank pressure (frequency of draw), etc. And therein lies the beauty of this simple and elegant solution.

Why Kanger didn't do this long ago to address their long-standing flooding issues I don't know. The Protank's never were too airy as so many of the reviewers have insisted. Well, yeah, compared to sucking on a carto tank (unless you have a Provari at 4V+). But let's face it not everybody has that kind of wallet travel.

I strongly urge you consider this accessory and don't use a Protank without one!

Good luck.

 

[Cheflance]

Thanks so much! Can't wait for my kanthal wire to get here and start rebuilding! First, I want to save more money, of course. And second, there is so much waste with all the packaging on the new packs of atty's.