Rebuilding atty heads seemed so simple..

[WelshVapour]

I've read so many threads and posts, I've confused myself.

I'm gonna go through my rebuild process with as much detail as possible in the hope someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong.

So.. 32g kanthal d wire, 2mm silica wick. This current build has 3 wraps, burns evenly when fired, tastes like crap, and stranger to me still reads 2.3ohms, how on a 3 wrap does it read at 2.3!?!

I see no hot spots, the wraps may as far as I can tell be slightly loose. The legs have been cut as close as possible to the post, there's no way they're making contact with anything they shouldn't.
Please for the love of god let there be something in this post that someone sees as so obvious that I must just be stupid

If you can help me, please do, I'll buy you a beer or 10!. Thank you.

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[WelshVapour]

Just to add to the above, I think I've spotted my problem, when replacing the rubber grommet and then the small atty pin, It seems the friction between pushing those in and the coil legs are pushing either end of the wraps up and loosening those. 3 rebuilds since and however I put the grommet and pin in just keeps pushing those legs up. Any tips in this area?

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[Harlen]

Looks like you got it
With all things new there is a learning curve

 

[Gfinch]

I just finished attempting to rebuild a Protank head myself and ran into the same problem as you, it tasted like crap! I think you may have found my problem also with the kanthal pushing back into the tank. I am going to try pulling on it with a pair of pliers, maybe round nose to snug it up if I can't hold it tight enough when inserting the grommet and plug.

Mine was 32 gauge 6 wraps and 2.76 ohms. I forgot to dry burn and check to see how well the coil burned. Oh well live and learn. As I said I just put everything away and I am not doing anymore tonight.


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[WelshVapour]

I just finished attempting to rebuild a Protank head myself and ran into the same problem as you, it tasted like crap! I think you may have found my problem also with the kanthal pushing back into the tank. I am going to try pulling on it with a pair of pliers, maybe round nose to snug it up if I can't hold it tight enough when inserting the grommet and plug.

Mine was 32 gauge 6 wraps and 2.76 ohms. I forgot to dry burn and check to see how well the coil burned. Oh well live and learn. As I said I just put everything away and I am not doing anymore tonight.


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I did the same, put it away and forget about it until you're not so stressed out it isn't going right that you'd like to call kanger and say "hey! Send a damn engineer over here to rebuild my atty".

Although mine would be a bit more colourful in language.

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[JasonH]

I always bend the wire at 90 against the metal and try to hold it when pushing the grommet back in, keeping whatever you wrapped the coil around say a toothpick or drill bit inside the coil when putting coil back can help immensely in keeping the coil as far down as you can cause you can keep tension as you put the grommet back

watch out when pulsing and dry burning if you get the coil too hot without any liquid then it will singe the rubber and once you burn the rubber theres almost no way to get that smell or taste out, youll have to get a new rubber piece because your vape will taste like burnt rubber from there on out.

 

[WelshVapour]

I always bend the wire at 90 against the metal and try to hold it when pushing the grommet back in, keeping whatever you wrapped the coil around say a toothpick or drill bit inside the coil when putting coil back can help immensely in keeping the coil as far down as you can cause you can keep tension as you put the grommet back

watch out when pulsing and dry burning if you get the coil too hot without any liquid then it will singe the rubber and once you burn the rubber theres almost no way to get that smell or taste out, youll have to get a new rubber piece because your vape will taste like burnt rubber from there on out.

Hey Jason,

I've burnt the rubber once, you're right, don't want to be doing that again.
I've since rebuilt an atty making sure that the legs don't get pushed up again, but still, tastes like crap. So there's a problem somewhere else, I'll just have to keep looking for it.

 

[Beerbrah]

How many flavor wicks are you using on the top and what ratio PG/VG are you using?

I also use 32ga Kanthal and 2mm silica and my liquids are 30/70 PG/VG or 20/80 PG/VG and I have to remove about half of a single 2mm flavor wick or it will not wick well and I get dry hits.

Might not be the right answer, but I'm just trying to troubleshoot

 

[WelshVapour]

How many flavor wicks are you using on the top and what ratio PG/VG are you using?

I also use 32ga Kanthal and 2mm silica and my liquids are 30/70 PG/VG or 20/80 PG/VG and I have to remove about half of a single 2mm flavor wick or it will not wick well and I get dry hits.

Might not be the right answer, but I'm just trying to troubleshoot

I do appreciate it really.

I'm at 50/50 ratio at the moment and haven't tried rebuilding for a while but I'll be sure to try your tip.
Thank you.

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[Spazmelda]

Yes, a loos wrap will give that burning metal taste. Bleh.

Someone on here a while back gave me a great tip that really helps keep those end coils snug, and speeds up the whole process.

Cut your wire a little longer than normal and leave your coil wrapped around whatever straight thing you wound it on (for me, I lay silica wick on top of a long pin, and wrap the coils around that). Lay the whole coil and pin/paperclip/drill bit (whatever stabilizer you used) into the slots of the head while sticking the wires throught the hole. Make sure the wires aren't crossing, and take one end of the wire, pull it snug, and bring it up and around the pin or stabilizer that's sticking out past the head. Give it a few loops around the pin to make it stay. Put the white grommet in as usual. The wire wrapped around the pin will stay. Now, do the same thing with the other wire sticking out, by wrapping it around the other side of the stabilizing pin. Adjust the wire where it crosses the grommet, so that it's opposite the first wire. Stick the metal pin in. Use nail clippers to clip each wire flush with the grommet, and now you can remove the extra wire that you used to hold the coil in place, and then slide the stabilizing pin out of the coil and wick.

Hope that made sense. It really helps to keep those end coils from becoming loose. I've not yet had coffee this morning, so if it doesn't make sense ask and I'll try to come back after caffiene.

 

[WelshVapour]

Yes, a loos wrap will give that burning metal taste. Bleh.

Someone on here a while back gave me a great tip that really helps keep those end coils snug, and speeds up the whole process.

Cut your wire a little longer than normal and leave your coil wrapped around whatever straight thing you wound it on (for me, I lay silica wick on top of a long pin, and wrap the coils around that). Lay the whole coil and pin/paperclip/drill bit (whatever stabilizer you used) into the slots of the head while sticking the wires throught the hole. Make sure the wires aren't crossing, and take one end of the wire, pull it snug, and bring it up and around the pin or stabilizer that's sticking out past the head. Give it a few loops around the pin to make it stay. Put the white grommet in as usual. The wire wrapped around the pin will stay. Now, do the same thing with the other wire sticking out, by wrapping it around the other side of the stabilizing pin. Adjust the wire where it crosses the grommet, so that it's opposite the first wire. Stick the metal pin in. Use nail clippers to clip each wire flush with the grommet, and now you can remove the extra wire that you used to hold the coil in place, and then slide the stabilizing pin out of the coil and wick.

Hope that made sense. It really helps to keep those end coils from becoming loose. I've not yet had coffee this morning, so if it doesn't make sense ask and I'll try to come back after caffiene.

That's a brilliant tip! So simple.
Thank you Spazmelda, I'll try that.

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[Spazmelda]

That's a brilliant tip! So simple.
Thank you Spazmelda, I'll try that.

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I know right? They guy explained it to me (I need to go look up his name to give him credit) and I think I literally smacked my forehead and said, "duh!" It does use a bit more kanthal than what I had been doing, but I've got tons of kanthal and it's so cheap that it's worth a little waste for how much it speeds up recoiling and eliminates those stinky loops.

Okay, I finally found the thread. It was a member named Trayce who gave the tip.

 

[WelshVapour]

I know right? They guy explained it to me (I need to go look up his name to give him credit) and I think I literally smacked my forehead and said, "duh!" It does use a bit more kanthal than what I had been doing, but I've got tons of kanthal and it's so cheap that it's worth a little waste for how much it speeds up recoiling and eliminates those stinky loops.

I did the same thing reading the tip, it does seem so obvious when you're told. I can't wait to try it and hopefully, finally be able to stop buying replacement heads. If this does solve my problem Spazmelda, I owe you and the original poster something huge!

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[beckdg]

my hands (fingers especially) don't quite work the way i prefer at times... most times. lol

with the diameter coils i prefer, what i'm winding on doesn't fit in the slots down the side of the head base.

i find it very cumbersome trying to keep the coil in place at the right height while trying to put the grommet on. don't get me wrong, i enjoy success...

i've gone to home depot and picked up a 1/4" dowel rod. i plan on putting it in my drill press and using the press as a make shift lathe. i plan on shaving the end to seat into the head as a depth gauge/setting tool while installing the coil. i'll bend a paper clip to keep the coil centered and straight through the heads slots during installation.

made myself a couple jigs in different diameters and been winding coils like this...



using those jigs to get this build on the protank...

Mini Protank Micro Coil Rebuild - YouTube

vaping nirvana. oh, yeah. just want to make the process that much easier now.

hope that's given some ideas. good luck fellas.