Protank: when should the coil be changed?

[Herby]

Hi,

I have a Protank and a recently bought Protank 2. I'm still using the same coil since the beginning (around 6 weeks ago) and I vape a bit more than 1 tank per day. Up to now, I did 4 or 5 dry burn sessions to clean it up and so far, it works like a charm and I'm very happy with it. But I'm wondering what is the average life expectency of the coil? I know that, at some point, the coil may break and simply wont work anymore but is there some cases where it could be usefull to replace it before it is completely dead? If yes, how to know when it is the time to change it?

 

[bacc.vap]

There's no set method, just use it until it breaks or just does'nt perform well enough anymore. Coil life expectancy is all over the charts, I get anywhere from 3 weeks to over 2 months.

 

[Herby]

OK, got it.
Thanks for this answer

 

[beaver tagger]

If I throw on a fresh battery and I'm still getting poor drags.. I usually change em then..

 

[Susan W.]

Wow, that's great that you two are getting long life out of your heads. I have three devices that I use daily and I probably get about 2 days to 1 week out of them. Even with dry burning. Most of the juices I like are pretty gunky though.

 

[djsvapour]

I use a weird system for my protank heads. I use them until they taste less good (could be 3 days, could be weeks, juice-dependent).
Then, I dismantle the tank, rinse out and wash the head (part), and remove the flavour wicks.
I dry burn the coil (which also dries the wick) reassemble and vape. (I tend to soak the wick, whilst it's accessible).

So, when I take one apart, I know if it's been dry-burned already. If so, I put in a new one.

Clearly, you could go on repeating the dry-burn more times, but once is enough for me. I have discovered (over the last 6 months) that I prefer the taste on as new a coil as possible. It may be marginal, and a little wasteful, but it's good enough value for me.

I can rebuild them, but mostly I don't.

 

[DaMann]

Just a word to the wise about this. I have a protank II and a Unitank and I had 5 coils that I was rotating between the tanks as I cleaned them. After a while you may not notice that they are "going off" It was gradual. I put fresh new coils in both tanks and holy cow what a difference! The old coils were "working" but I hadn't noticed the performance fell way off until popping in new ones. I'm going through coils pretty quick but I also run pretty high wattage ( some times 10-11). Depending on the juice I probably will get a week out of them with two tanks a day. Then I pop them into vodka and give them a clean and that might get you a bit more out of them. Just my experience anyways.

 

[Susan W.]

I'm the same way, I get the best taste from a new coil, even the ones I rebuild aren't as good but I think that might be an issue with me stuffing a 3mm flavor wick on top of the coil. Going to try some with a cotton flavor wick. I will usually only dry burn once, if I do it more times, it has a smokey taste.

I use a weird system for my protank heads. I use them until they taste less good (could be 3 days, could be weeks, juice-dependent).
Then, I dismantle the tank, rinse out and wash the head (part), and remove the flavour wicks.
I dry burn the coil (which also dries the wick) reassemble and vape. (I tend to soak the wick, whilst it's accessible).

So, when I take one apart, I know if it's been dry-burned already. If so, I put in a new one.

Clearly, you could go on repeating the dry-burn more times, but once is enough for me. I have discovered (over the last 6 months) that I prefer the taste on as new a coil as possible. It may be marginal, and a little wasteful, but it's good enough value for me.

I can rebuild them, but mostly I don't.

 

[Tiktik]

What is the proper correct effectively clean protank?


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[e-pipeman]

Just a word to the wise about this. I have a protank II and a Unitank and I had 5 coils that I was rotating between the tanks as I cleaned them. After a while you may not notice that they are "going off" It was gradual. I put fresh new coils in both tanks and holy cow what a difference! The old coils were "working" but I hadn't noticed the performance fell way off until popping in new ones. I'm going through coils pretty quick but I also run pretty high wattage ( some times 10-11). Depending on the juice I probably will get a week out of them with two tanks a day. Then I pop them into vodka and give them a clean and that might get you a bit more out of them. Just my experience anyways.

That makes sense - but if you stop noticing that the coil isn't vaping as well as it could be yet you are happily vaping on it why change it? Sometimes ignorance is bliss imho.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

In my experience, a new or rebuilt coil will outperform a used one almost every time. A used one slowly degrades in performance over time, especially if you're changing flavors often, vape heavily and prefer the thicker, more complex flavors (like me). Thorough washing and dry burning can extend the life of the coil, but sooner or later it's just past the point of no return.

Like DaMann, I get an instant "POW!" in performance with the installation of a new coil head.

I go through probably one coil a week, but that's in a multi-setup rotation that involves three devices that are used all day and several others that are used occasionally.

And it seems I always have a five pack of new heads on the way or in a cart on a site somewhere.

 

[Harlen]

Hello
Mine last from 1 week to two months

 

[computertech83]

You know its funny that i read this post. Last night my PT2 was just not hitting right, so i throw another head in there and as i figured, it was hitting great again. The head had been in the tank for about 5 days and that's vaping 2 tanks a day. So what i have started doing is when a head aint up to par but still working, i will soak it in 91% alcohol over night, dry it off, blow through it and use it again. Works pretty good. I havent heard the dry burning process though, i think that would be another good thing to do.

 

[Susan W.]

I just wash mine out with water and liquid soap, like I do dishes. Really, the heads are disposable so when they go bad, they are supposed to be tossed and replaced with a new one. It's still more cost effective than buying a pack of cigarettes every day.

That being said, dry burning helps to clean the gunk off the coils. There are some You Tube videos on how to do that or someone can find them and post them here. And there are more You Tube videos on how to rebuild the coils, just google and you'll find several.

What is the proper correct effectively clean protank?


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[bacc.vap]

What is the proper correct effectively clean protank?


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Something llike this.-> How to Clean & Dry Burn... Kanger ProTank - YouTube

 

[Herby]

Well, I didn't expect to have such a big number of answers ! Thanks !

I didn't talk about this before but, since I use a different flavor every day, I usually dismantle the clearo every evening and rinse it with hot water than let it dry during the night. Add to this a dry burn once every 10 days and that's probably the reason why this coil seems to last forever.
After buying the protank 2, I've never used the Protank (1) again. But after reading all this, I will probably put a brand new coil in it and test how it tastes. I'll give you my feedback down here.

 

[Glenn_K]

There's no set method, just use it until it breaks or just doesn't perform well enough anymore.

I'm going to ask my question as pretty much a total newcomer, when people talk about reduced 'performance,' what exactly does that mean?

I got a new clearomizer last Friday, a Vivi Nova Mini, and following a week of daily use, I noticed yesterday that I was starting to get vapes with an unpleasant chemical taste. I found that I could avoid this problem by refilling the tank whenever it got below about the halfway point (it's a top coil), by swishing the e-liquid around to make sure the wicks are saturated, and by taking occasional dry drags (i.e. not pushing the battery button) to draw e-liquid onto the coil.

But after reading this thread, i'm wondering whether what i'm experiencing is a coil starting to go, rather than a vaping technique issue. I don't have any spares on hand to test this out.

Regards
Glenn

 

[DaMann]

I'm going to ask my question as pretty much a total newcomer, when people talk about reduced 'performance,' what exactly does that mean?

I got a new clearomizer last Friday, a Vivi Nova Mini, and following a week of daily use, I noticed yesterday that I was starting to get vapes with an unpleasant chemical taste. I found that I could avoid this problem by refilling the tank whenever it got below about the halfway point (it's a top coil), by swishing the e-liquid around to make sure the wicks are saturated, and by taking occasional dry drags (i.e. not pushing the battery button) to draw e-liquid onto the coil.

But after reading this thread, i'm wondering whether what i'm experiencing is a coil starting to go, rather than a vaping technique issue. I don't have any spares on hand to test this out.

Regards
Glenn

I don't know about top coil but for me with BCC's it's like I feel the need to pull harder, not as much vapour or throat hit, flavour seems to be lacking, and the real kicker is when the hits are feeling dry and scratchy too often. And of course if you start to get a burned taste as well

 

[bertfelin]

protank coil is very easy to rebuild. i basically rebuild it with xc-116 with 30 kanthal a-1. it tastes better than original.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

"Performance" (to me) is the ability of the device's wicking system to deliver fluid to the heating element and the coil's ability to produce a satisfying amount of flavor and vapor, without leaking and without burning.

Top coil systems do require more tilting and twirling than others, but once those wicks are saturated, the warmth and flavor is quite good. The IClear 30 is a great TCC system. If you like those kinds of devices, they're about as good as it gets.