Protank head rebuild

[madstabber]

I have found when rebuilding my protank heads I need 3-4.5mm total of material to keep from leaking or dry hits. I use 3mm silica and take half of it on top for the flavor wicks which equals 4.5mm. Any less and it leaks, any more and I get dry hits. With the xc-116 I use a full diameter for the coil and another full diameter for flavor wick which equals approx. 3mm. I use between 60-80% pg juice for this configuration. I was wondering what you other rebuilders have found that works for you. What total diameter of wick for what % of pg in your juice. I think this could be a helpful thread for people trying to rebuild their heads without having to go the trial and error route.

 

[cerver7]

I double 2mm wick with 5 wraps of 32g kanthal. No leaking or dry hits for me. Been digging it.

 

[DkGanz]

I use two 1.5mm wicks wrapped with a 5/6 of 32g kanthal, with a halved 1.5mm on top for a flavor wick.
First, I wrap the wire around a #4-40 machine screw, remove the screw(obviously), and then compress it from the ends to tighten up the spacing a little. (Makes nice perfect coils and is a great fit for two 1.5mm wicks) Then I pull a doubled wick through with a beading needle. Finally, I lay a halved wick on top. So, in total that's approximately 3.75mm of wick which falls right in the middle of your stated range. No leaks, no dry hits to speak of. Usually checks in at around 2.8-2.9ohms. I mostly vape NLV juice which is a 65/35 blend. This setup works very well for me. Plus, using the screw I get consistent results since every coil i make is the exact same size every time.

 

[Butters78]

I make my wicks 4.5mm, no flavor wicks. I ditched the flavor wicks a couple weeks ago and am very happy.

I use 60/40 pg/vg.

 

[Legend12]

I use SS mesh and a 32awg with 3-4 wrap on mine.. Comes out to 1.3-1.4 ohms.. No leaking and no dry hits.. Loving it so far..

 

[TyrannyUnleashed]

I double 2mm wick with 5 wraps of 32g kanthal. No leaking or dry hits for me. Been digging it.

^^^This, with the exception that I go around six wraps which makes the res. out to be right around 3 ohms (no flavor wicks) which is just about right for me. I vape juices ranging from 80/20 PG/VG to 50/50 and even just tried a 100 percent VG all with no problems.

 

[Butters78]

I'm nervous of about dealing with ss mesh. Is it easier with putting it in a protank vs a genesis?

 

[Legend12]

I think its the same in terms of difficulty.. You just have to use a smaller wick and work on a even smaller space to get hot spots off.. But seeing that you already rebuild yours it would be a peice of cake for you..

 

[Butters78]

I think its the same in terms of difficulty.. You just have to use a smaller wick and work on a even smaller space to get hot spots off.. But seeing that you already rebuild yours it would be a peice of cake for you..

Good times legend I appreciate it.

 

[Leithan]

I use cotton, It took me a while to get it all dialed in, no leaking or gurgling. I use 5 wraps of twisted 34 gauge around a 1/16 inch drill bit and no flavor wicks. what works for me is putting the wick in the coil then installing it and pulling it down as low to the bottom of the cup as possible. I want the cotton to have as much room as possible to expand and fill the slots in the side the cup, no gurgling or leaking. I have been using cotton from square face pads, I pull it off against the direction of the fibers, it really compresses down and you end up getting a really fat wick once it expands. I normally get between 2.2 and 2.5 ohms on the coil. I also leave the wick a little long and stuff the tails into the base.

 

[Crocky]

Glad I saw this. I just did my first rebuild on a protank with 32g kanthal, and doubled over a 1mm silica wick for 2 mm total, no flavor wicks and it leaked like a ..... Then put a new stock head in and it is performing fine so the one I made which was 1.8 ohms needs more wicks or a thicker wick I assume I made one for an EVOD as well which I assume will leak too. I was thinking at first the wire that sits between the insulator and body was causing a slight gap.....I cut it as vclose as I could but it still sits underneath the white tube, I am assuming is some type of insulator. That thing is a tough to get back in too.

Anyway any other thoughts on why it may be leaking. Registered at 1.8 which is great but need to get the leaking figured out

oh and wanted to ask...when I read about not spots, how do you know if you have them? Will it register a resistance if you have hot spots?

thanks, still learning

 

[madstabber]

You need to add more wick to stop the leaks. Like stated before shoot for 3-4mm of total wick diameter. As far as hot spots, after rebuilding you need to fire the coil before adding any flavor wick and with the center post off. You look to make sure all the wires are getting red hot equally. If not you can take a pin and move the coil that isn't getting red hot until it does and all the coils are getting hot together. I hope this helps.

 

[Leithan]

Yup same problem I had, leaking was driving me nuts, I don't think flavor wicks have anything to do with flavor, they just plug the slot to stop leaking.

 

[Crocky]

Thanks! Funny thing is I made the same exact wick for the EVOD head and it is just fine but not the protank one. The dang juice was coming out the bottom! I will try with more wick and see what that does for the protank one.

Thanks for the info on the hot spots, that makes sense. Will it effect the resistance reading? From what I could tell there were no hot spots. If there were and I missed it, are their any consequences or will it have any effect on the vape that I will notice to tell me differently?

 

[FACE MEAT]

Thanks for the info on the hot spots, that makes sense. Will it effect the resistance reading? From what I could tell there were no hot spots. If there were and I missed it, are their any consequences or will it have any effect on the vape that I will notice to tell me differently?

With a silica wick, the resistance will remain constant, assuming the coil isn't shorting out due to contact with the metal body of the atomizer. A hot spot will give you a harsh, burnt flavor, as one portion of the coil is getting hotter than the rest.

 

[Flyer]

Hot spots with a silica wick...never had them. Don't know how it's even possible. IMHO, Protank just has poor wicking, period. Either vape slowly, do dry pulls between hits, or expect dry/burnt hits frequently. Also expect leaking as it is very sensitive to temperature and pressure change. Really too bad as they look great and "appear" to be well built. Obviously, I've moved on from them.

 

[pizza2me]

I use SS mesh and a 32awg with 3-4 wrap on mine.. Comes out to 1.3-1.4 ohms.. No leaking and no dry hits.. Loving it so far..

Use any silica with this or only real tight ss?

 

[Darksyde]

I use just a single strand of 3mm silica. Zero leaks or dry hits. I've got it wrapped at around 2 ohms at 8 watts and its a great vape.