Really frustrated and could use some help please.

[CrazyNight]

Didn't read it all, but the burnt rubber taste is almost always caused by a melting rubber insulator on the bottom of those clearo coil heads. This is why a lot of companies have went to silicone insulators.

When I first started vaping with some random Chinese CE4 style clearo, I also experienced this and it was awful. Took me a while but I figured out what it was. Once that flavor is there, it's like a skunk and hard to get rid of.

Honestly, in 2015 there is zero reason to use those cheap ego-style clearos anymore. Some of them are OK like the EVOD, Protank, and a few others, but I must ask "why?" Why bother with them when there are much higher quality tanks out there now? Do yourself a favor and just stop using those cheapo clearos. Go buy yourself a Kanger subtank mini and be happy.

You don't have to rebuild anymore to get a quality vape. If you don't want to sub-ohm, that's fine -- these tanks come with a 1.2 coil. The subtank should be THE tank that every noob walks out of a vape shop with from DAY ONE. There's zero reason for it not to be. A noob can pop the 1.2 coil in and vape it all day and be happy. When he gets ready, he can even rebuild with it with the RBA section.

Thanks BigEgo. To answer your question about "why bother with EVOD and Protank" - mainly because as I explained in my original post, I'm giving one of my iTaste VV's and some of my EVOD / T3S / Protank minis to a friend in need who wants to quit smoking. But also I like to have them around for quick convenient devices to take "on the go" with me in a hurry and/or in situations where it's not convenient to keep stopping to fill my Nautilus minis. I agree with you on point though - I'm much happier with my iStick with Naut mini (and soon to arrive, my Heatvape Defender with Anyvape Peakomizer 2 which I'm sure will be nice) , but it seems a shame to just throw away the other gear when it could come in handy and is also allowing me to give something to my friend to get started with.

 

[CrazyNight]

I work at a vape store and too have had a great deal of frustration overcoming the learning curve to a satisfying, relatively hassle-free vape (I own just about all the sub-ohm tanks and primarily drip now). But that doesn't keep me from empathizing with your plight 100%.

Lots of newer vapers seem to naturally gravitate toward the size and apparent simplicity of the Evod-style tanks and battery kits. It's just good practice not to try to sway new customers away from what appeals to them (again, both for simplicity and form-factor). I always cringe a little inside selling an Evod kit because I remember well the trials I had with Evod tanks and Mini Protanks. However, I also have some customers who started Vaping a ~year or so ago and they still come in to buy more Evod tanks and Protank coils, so those devices must be working well for some.

While I don't have better advice to give you than you've already been given, maybe I could recommend the new Eleaf GS Air tanks. I think the price point both online and in stores is relatively close to that of the Evods, and thus far I haven't heard any complaints about them. The tanks are very sleek, reminiscent of a Protank, in my opinion, and they offer 1.5 OHM coils.

Good luck on your journey. I hope you find a solution soon.

Thanks Astron. Yes this is a situation where I'm helping a beginner by donating one of my Evod-style rigs because it's "more simple" to get him started, but I also don't want to just throw out something like my iTaste VV 4 which I just recently got. I will definitely be checking out more tanks and will check out the Eleaf GS Air tank at your suggestion. And yes you're right - the Evods and Protanks are working for a lot of people, including even myself in the past on many occasions. I'm just bewildered as to why so often the burnt plastic taste has been occurring even with brand new replacement tanks & coils.

 

[williamclarkonet]

I was in the same situation as you with the EVOD's and Mini Protanks unfortunately like you I could never find a solution to that rubbery taste. I think its inherent in the way there are made so I just had to make the decision to move away from all Kanger products That used those coils (It was hard because I LOVED my Protank 3 mini) I got the Nautilus Full and Mini and never went back to Kanger. I understand your frustration but you may want to do the same as I. Missing the form factor sucks though I know. Just my 2 cents. Like others have posted unless you rebuild your coils I would just stick to the Nautilus. Good luck to yeah (Air Hug)

 

[CrazyNight]

The symptoms point to the kanger coil heads; problem would be the grommet at the bottom.
I'm seen some that come with a cream colored more brittle grommet; and newer ones that come with a clear soft silicone type grommet.
The two leads from the coil wires comes into contact with the grommet, one on the inside and one on the outside of the grommet, and when they get too hot they will burn the grommet; once burnt, you might get a burnt taste from that coil for quite some time.

If you dry burn your coils, some degree of burning of the grommet will likely happen;

You won't see the burning from the outside; you will see it if you attempt to recoil the head when you take the grommet out and you see the two black lines, one on the inside and one on the outside of the grommet.


You mentioned drippers; after a whole year and all that stuff already, you should go pick yourself up a dripper; no need to worry about subohm or big clouds or high power; it's a lot simpler than a tank, so unlike a tank where you might find yourself scratching your head wondering 'what the heck is wrong with this thing', with a dripper everything is just so inyourface simple.

As for the istick it uses 'mean' instead of 'rms' for it's calculations so the numbers it reports on the screen are wrong for voltage and wattage.

Thanks edyle. RE: the grommets on my Kanger coils are definitely the newer style (soft semi-clear silicone, not hard cream colored). I don't typically dry-burn them. Normally I just use a coil until the hit quality starts to diminish (around a week or so with the Kanger bottom single coils in Evods and such..) and I don't rebuild, just replace with new. Thanks for the details and pointing out where to look for burn lines - I'll check it out tonight when I'm done with work.

Regarding dripping - yeah, I'm sure to be trying it out soon and not purposely avoiding it really. It's just that dripping isn't practical to do in several environments in which I vape, so small rigs with mini clearomizers come in handy for most situations. The ONLY thing that I'm worried about with dripping is that it will be so good that I won't want to use my small tanks and mods anymore LOL! (Just like how I'm no longer as satisfied with an EVOD or T3S on a pen-style now that I've been spoiled by my Nautilus on mini box mods - the flavor difference is huge, so I can just imagine how amazing dripping would taste as the next step up!).

 

[CrazyNight]

You got great advice here and don't have much to add but I just wanted to point out that the istick 20w read in mean instead of rms (which is why it may feel overpowered). The 30w and 50w does use rms as it should. I would suggest when you can that if you like the istick, you pick up and use one of those so you know what you are actually vaping at when using it.

If you already know this, then great, but still posting this for any lurkers who may not be aware.

Thanks MoonSparkle. I don't ever assume to already know something, regardless of fact that I've been vaping for a year - I learn something new from other vapers every day! I appreciate the tip about iStick 20w RMS issue, didn't know that. My iStick 20 does great with my Nautilus mini tanks with BVC so no issues there, but I have definite plans to obtain an iStick 50w and I also have a Heatvape Defender on the way.

 

[CrazyNight]

You will be so glad when you finally decide to make the switch to rebuildable. I started with a kayfun on my 3rd day of vaping and haven't looked back. You're as ready as your going to be lol. Practice makes perfect. I would recommend at least a 30 watt device to fully enjoy it though. Then the sky is the limit. In two months I have graduated to a number of different rda's and rta's as well as made several of my own mech mods and variable mods. My latest variable can push 220 watts. Granted I only run at 60 to 100 on average. Flavor flavor flavor. And clouds galore. And I'm down to 3mg due to the insane amount of vapor production. Live long and vape on

Thanks Daniel Smith1234311356. I'm definitely "evolving" to eventually getting into rebuildables and sub-tanks. But for the moment I have practical uses / needs for some of the "beginner gear" that I already have and I'm trying to make the best of the situation.

 

[CrazyNight]

I was in the same situation as you with the EVOD's and Mini Protanks unfortunately like you I could never find a solution to that rubbery taste. I think its inherent in the way there are made so I just had to make the decision to move away from all Kanger products That used those coils (It was hard because I LOVED my Protank 3 mini) I got the Nautilus Full and Mini and never went back to Kanger. I understand your frustration but you may want to do the same as I. Missing the form factor sucks though I know. Just my 2 cents. Like others have posted unless you rebuild your coils I would just stick to the Nautilus. Good luck to yeah (Air Hug)

Thanks williamclarkonet. It's kind of a comfort to hear from others than I'm not the only one with this experience. I was really starting to think there's something I'm doing wrong with my economy tanks. I'm definitely very happy with my Nautilus and Nautilus mini tanks and I'm now looking at other gear as well.

 

[CrazyNight]

So... wow! I just want to say big THANK YOU to everyone!

The replies here are super helpful and you all have tons of great advice / input.

I'm definitely continuing to move more and more toward higher quality tanks and devices, and will be checking out some sub-tanks and rebuildables in the very near future.

I agree with those of you who advise to just get away from the cheap clearos and pen bats, but I also have to be practical about what I already have too.

I have two iTaste VV 3's and one iTaste VV4 sitting here with a bunch of EVODs / T3S / Protank minis along with a bunch of Kanger coils for them. So despite the fact that I'm having great luck with mini box mods (like iStick) and better tanks/coils (like Nautilus / BVC) I don't want to just throw my other gear away. My old pen bats and cheap tanks have served a practical purpose for a long time and I had planned to donate some of that gear to my friend who wants to try switching from cigarettes to vaping this week so... all that stuff was supposed to come in really handy. But as I started prepping some of those cheap clearos along with an iTaste VV for my friend I started encountering this burning plastic taste issue with everything I tried and it was driving me crazy.

At this point, based on everything I've learned through reading around and also the responses I got in this thread, my plan is to set my friend up with the budget set of gear I already planned to give him BUT I'm going to show him the difference with my iStick and Nautilus and strongly recommend that he start saving his would-be cigarette money for a nice quality rig. He says the stuff I use looks "complicated" and worried about maintenance, but I'll show him that it's not really any harder than a budget pen setup.

Also based on the replies so far I know I'm headed in the right direction by moving forward with only quality tanks / box mods, and soon looking into some sub-tanks and the one or two new tanks out there that allow for both styles of vaping (regular coil style and option of rebuildable style built right in to the device).

Again many thank yous for the replies from you all!! Really helpful place / people!!

 

[klynnn]

I haven't read the whole thread but I had issues with the bottom coil type heads for the protanks/evods. They gurgled like crazy leaked etc. Once I started rebuilding using 3mm silica/or cotton they work just fine. The last part of this video shows rebuild info. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRtqakeg3z4

 

[CrazyNight]

Thanks for the handy link klynnn! I am subscribed to pbusardo on YouTube but just recently and I never saw that clip. He really makes rebuilding look very very simple. Up until now I didn't really see myself as someone who would get into rebuilding but seeing it done so easily in that video has me re-thinking it.

 

[beckdg]

These insulators should all be peek instead of rubber/silicone.

Put garbage in, get garbage out.

These companies....

They have "upgrade" built into the game plan...

Tapatyped

 

[Icer]

Just for the heck of it , see if your local B&M have a bulletin board for people to post their older stuff on , if they do , you might find a deal that would work also. Just an idea .

 

[Nada Nix]

CrazyNight, you're experiencing what's called the "sunk cost fallacy". Don't worry, everyone does. It's when you're in a situation that's clearly not working out, but you've already invested something into it, and it seems a shame to just throw it away. It's one of the reasons people stay in dead end jobs and bad relationships.

Throw or give away your Protanks and EVODs, and don't look back. You gave it your best shot, but by now it should be clear that they're just giving you stress. Just accept that it didn't work out between you, and move on. You seem to be having a great time with Nautilus - and yet there you are fooling around with an EVOD glass. And what did you find? Disappointment again! Stop trying to fix it.

If you're running dry all the time and can't stop to refill, just buy another Nautilus. It's only twenty five bucks, and you know you'll be happy. You deserve that. And anyway, how often does that really happen? Sounds more like the sunk cost fallacy making you rationalize going back. Or try something new - you don't have to be monogamous. Step out with an inexpensive dripper like an Igo-s or A6, to see what the fuss is about. Your Nautilus will still be there for you. But don't put any more energy into the Protanks, they're just not right for you.

Don't worry so much about your friend either. I don't think anybody's first vape was "delicious and amazing". It's a process. I'll bet your first kiss was awkward and embarassing. I've had three Protank minis and an EVOD, and dozens of coils. I never noticed a burnt rubber taste. Maybe your friend will be perfectly happy with them, everyone has (literally) their own taste. If not, you can help find something better. I got very frustrated with those tanks for other reasons. I tried different coils and batteries, rebuilding, cotton wicks... but I never found the magic, and they always seemed to let me down when I needed them. Then one day I gambled ten bucks on a mini dripper, and wow!

But it ain't all sunshine and rainbows, it still takes a lot of work. Finding a comfortable resistance, coil placement, and airflow. And I still think, you know, it could be better. The dripper is more dynamic and exciting, but kind of "high maintenance". Once in a while, I forget to top it up every five minutes and it belches out disgusting burnt cotton smoke, and I have to look for a bathroom to clean and re-wick it. So I do still keep an old Protank mini filled up, and even my first 510 automatic battery with a Boge cartomizer on it. For me, they're tolerable as an emergency backup in extreme situations, but that's all. You're lucky to have found some happiness with Nautilus - don't spend any more time wishing the old tanks were anything more than they are.

[takes off relationship counsellor hat...]

 

[juggler86]

Do yourself a favor and just stop using those cheapo clearos. Go buy yourself a Kanger subtank mini and be happy

Thats ....ty advice. Just because you like it doesnt mean its for everybody. There is tons of people here who like higher ohm clearos. Also some people dont feel like dropping $30 for the subtank and atleast $30 for a mod mod.


Back on topic, Ive noticed getting a plastic flavor with some juices if I leave them in plastic bottles to long. I havent noticed this with the plastic bottles that are clear though.

 

[edyle]

Thanks edyle. RE: the grommets on my Kanger coils are definitely the newer style (soft semi-clear silicone, not hard cream colored). I don't typically dry-burn them. Normally I just use a coil until the hit quality starts to diminish (around a week or so with the Kanger bottom single coils in Evods and such..) and I don't rebuild, just replace with new. Thanks for the details and pointing out where to look for burn lines - I'll check it out tonight when I'm done with work.

Regarding dripping - yeah, I'm sure to be trying it out soon and not purposely avoiding it really. It's just that dripping isn't practical to do in several environments in which I vape, so small rigs with mini clearomizers come in handy for most situations. The ONLY thing that I'm worried about with dripping is that it will be so good that I won't want to use my small tanks and mods anymore LOL! (Just like how I'm no longer as satisfied with an EVOD or T3S on a pen-style now that I've been spoiled by my Nautilus on mini box mods - the flavor difference is huge, so I can just imagine how amazing dripping would taste as the next step up!).

You don't need to rebuild the kanger coils, you can just dryburn and rewick them with cotton; effectively they'll last ten times longer.

As for dripping- is you use an rda, you wouldn't be having a problem like burnt taste; if you get a burnt taste you just add more liquid yourself!

 

[edyle]

Thanks for the handy link klynnn! I am subscribed to pbusardo on YouTube but just recently and I never saw that clip. He really makes rebuilding look very very simple. Up until now I didn't really see myself as someone who would get into rebuilding but seeing it done so easily in that video has me re-thinking it.

I survived rebuilding protank heads for a year, but that's mainly because getting rebuildables isn't something I could just walk into a store and get or order locally where I am; if you're interested in rebuilding it is worthwhile to get an actual rebuildable and especially this year with the 'subtank' out, it makes more sense to by a subtank which is just a protank that comes with a rebuildable head, and buy a 5pack of rebuildable heads.
The rebuildable heads on the subtank (and other tanks like the deltaII, and the heavytaste) have metal post and screws where you secure your coil instead of depending on the silicone grommet contact.

 

[BigEgo]

You don't need to rebuild the kanger coils, you can just dryburn and rewick them with cotton; effectively they'll last ten times longer.

As for dripping- is you use an rda, you wouldn't be having a problem like burnt taste; if you get a burnt taste you just add more liquid yourself!

Dryburning is what probably caused his issue in the first place. If those kanger coils have rubber insulators, then dry-burning the coil will often burn the insulator resulting in the rubber taste. Most of the newer Kanger coils I have seen use silicone, so it shouldn't be an issue. He just needs to find a place to buy those.

 

[CrazyNight]

Dryburning is what probably caused his issue in the first place. If those kanger coils have rubber insulators, then dry-burning the coil will often burn the insulator resulting in the rubber taste. Most of the newer Kanger coils I have seen use silicone, so it shouldn't be an issue. He just needs to find a place to buy those.

I never dry-burn coils. I use them until they don't taste right (about 7 days if regularly used) and then throw them out / replace them.

I'm not a materials expert so I don't know if the Kanger 2.2ohm EVOD coils that I own have silicone insulators.

They were purchased recently from a reputable vendor who doesn't have old stock laying around because they do a lot of sales volume. (and passed genuine verification on Kanger site)

Just in case someone can tell visually I've attached a couple photos of one of the coils as close-up as I could get it with my phone camera.

 

[CrazyNight]

[takes off relationship counsellor hat...]

I enjoyed the "session" Nada Nix

And thank you everyone for all of the advice / replies / opinions. The diverse feedback is really helpful and I appreciate it!

I'm of course trying to move on and just enjoy the gear that does work well for me, but I can't help the fact that it still drives me crazy wanting to know what the heck the root cause of the issue is. I'm troubleshooter by nature (in a different industry) and so just "walking away from the problem and forgetting about it" is really hard for me to do. It's something that will eat at me until I get to the bottom of the issue.

I'll have to take one of the previous suggestions in this thread and take apart a used one soon and look for burn lines on the insulator. I can't quite tell if the inner part is rubber or silicone - it is fairly soft and flexible, but not as transparent or soft as the grommet that sits over the coil itself.