protank rebuild help!

[metamorpheus]

So I've read
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/clearomizers/404174-evod-protank-head-rebuild-2.html
and watched a few youtube videos..and I keep getting sub ohm readings from my Vamo when I check resistance. I have done the coil and wick 8+ times. One time I got a 1.9 ohm reading and it vaped amazingly, but as soon as I took the head off to change juice it crapped out on me and started giving me the low ohm error. All of my other stock heads work just fine. I'm using 32G kanthal and 2mm ecowool from OKC vapes. Iv'e gone through a large portion of my kanthal and am just frustrated now. Is it possible I got sent a diff gauge wire instead? it looks very thin compared to pictures.

 

[RelativeBewt]

it sounds like your coil is shorting out aganst the inside of the "head". try taking the post off and fiddling it away from the sides

 

[metamorpheus]

I figured it out after much frustration, sore ... fingers, and most of the kanthal gone lol. I just had to smooth over the left over wire terminals where I cut flush to the circular the direction of the head. They were sticking out a little and not screwing in smoothly. Made a 2 ohm head finally. At least I can make them really fast now, was good practice and not too expensive of a lesson. Just ordered 100ft.

Saw the post above after I had already made this one successfully. Thank you for the advice though.

 

[RelativeBewt]

haha good, glad you got it lined out.

 

[metamorpheus]

Grr I unscrewed the atomizer head to put a top wick in and now I'm getting low ohms again. I took the top wick out and still low ohms. Should I pull the coils tight against the base by pulling on the terminals before I snip?

 

[ElConquistador]

I'm having good luck by wrapping the coil around the threads of a 4-40 machine screw, then sticking/twisting/coaxing the wick (I'm using cotton butcher's twine) through the coil. 5/6 wraps gives me around 2.5 ohms, and 4/5 about 1.9 or so. The coils done this way are perfect. Then I stick a needle through the coil/wick for stability, drop the coil into the slot on the head, and pull it snug before putting the grommet and metal pin in, trim the tag ends off very close with nail clippers, adjust the coil so it's not touching either side of the head, and I'm done. I've only had one that read too low, must have been shorting somewhere, but I just tossed it and built a perfect one next time.

 

[zacthemac]

I have rebuilt many a protank head and have also experienced the same issue you seem to be experiencing. I have realized that because of the small amount of room to work with you have to be extra careful to make sure no wire is touching metal except for the pos/neg leads. THE MAIN THING I changed that has now solved the ohm issue is:
Do not actually clip the extra wire. Instead of clipping with cutters/scissors, just twist the leads around/back and forth until they break off. This eliminates the tiny amount of wire that sticks out, causing a short... Ever since I started doing this I hardly EVER build an atty on protank that won't work!!

 

[BobC]

I tell ya, after rebuilding this thing for a few weeks (protank mini), the best I've been able to do that's repeatable is to wrap 10 coils of 30 kath around a 1/8 drill bit, then gently squeeze the coils together so all the coils touching each other. I leave about 3/4 inch of wire for tails at each end of the coil.
I then put a thick sewing needle through the coil and place the tails in a swizzle stirrer stick. I thread the stirrer through the coil base and rest the needle between the slots on the coil base. this gives me the perfect height for the coil and provides stability when securing the tails to the base. I use a nail clipper to trim the secured tails.

Once secured to the base, I remove the needle, secure the base to my Vamo and test. If all is OK, I do an initial burn using the needle point to adjust hot spots. The coil works out to be between 1.8 - 2.1 ohms.

Once all is good, I take the base off the Vamo, roll a bit of boiled cotton from a QTip on one end tight as as a piece of thread and long enough to reach through the coil. I thread it through the coil till I can reach it with a pair of tweezers to pull it through, after fluffing the other end of the cotton. I use the needle again here to reposition the coil so neither end touches the base after pulling the cotton through.

I find cotton works much better then silica due to the size of the coils I create, and taste is fantastic with good clouds.

I never have shorting issues using this method.

 

[UsedToBeNew]

I have rebuilt many a protank head and have also experienced the same issue you seem to be experiencing. I have realized that because of the small amount of room to work with you have to be extra careful to make sure no wire is touching metal except for the pos/neg leads. THE MAIN THING I changed that has now solved the ohm issue is:
Do not actually clip the extra wire. Instead of clipping with cutters/scissors, just twist the leads around/back and forth until they break off. This eliminates the tiny amount of wire that sticks out, causing a short... Ever since I started doing this I hardly EVER build an atty on protank that won't work!!

Nail clippers are also great for getting that little bit of kanthal. I use these, and have never had a shorted-out one since