Rewicked my Protank heads with a cotton ball

Status
Not open for further replies.

Beerbrah

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
May 22, 2013
117
62
San Antonio, TX
I don't use a flavor wick, I use the cotton from the heads of Q tips, I emailed Johnson&Johnson. No size or any other chemical in the cotton, there is a water soluble adhesive used to hold the cotton to the stick but I don't get down to that layer. I pull the cotton off, wet my fingers slightly with water and roll the cotton back and forth between my fingers till its small enough to slide into my coil. I don’t twist the cotton, just compact it down. Once it's whetted with juice the cotton expands, I leave about an 8th of an inch stick out each side of the cup, once screwed into the base I poke the wick down into the juice well of the base. Because the wick is just compressed not rolled it fans out and pretty much fills the well all the way around. I have one wick that’s got a weeks worth of hard vaping on it and its still going strong. If I do get leaks its because of the little silicone cup seal thing isn't properly seated on the shaft oh the head.
I think I used the words "shaft" and "head" enough times in that to make a 10 year old giggel for a week:blink:


Nice, and thanks that helps me a ton.
 

Leithan

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
May 19, 2013
694
750
47
Fort Irwin
No problem, I have absolutely no luck when it comes to rebuilding gennys, I just can't get them right, but protanks are really forgiving, it encourages you to experiment and tinker. Other than the wick my only other tip would be to wrap your coil on the shank of 1/16 drill bit. Wrap it good and tight and heat it up cherry red before you pull it off. It will hold its shape. So long as I wrap it tight with the coils as close together as possible I have always got a good coil with little to no poking and prodding.
I would like to say that I started using Qtip cotton tips after long and lengthy experimentation and trials of all available materials..........really I just got a wild hair up me and decided to rebuild a protank head late one night and didn't have any cotton balls, I did have a big box of Qtips. I didn't even bother to find out if Qtips had any harmful chemicals until I thought about recommending them to others. I still use Qtips mostly because I'm lazy and I still have a big box of them. Plus when you pull the head off the cotton it is pretty dense and the act of pulling them off kind of shapes them for ya.
 

MetalRaven

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Oct 23, 2009
99
61
Roanoke, Va
lol, you're not the only one ;) Anything over a #6 will end up producing a coil that is way too big imo. 6 is good for a loose double or triple peaches and cream wick. #4 for a tighter double. I just need to double check my stainless diameters including obsolete stock at work and get a chance to jump on the lathe! bwahahaha!
 
Last edited:

Crocky

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Mar 14, 2013
1,752
2,280
North Carolina
I have a ton of different screws but have no idea what # they are. Going to give this a shot this weekend with the cotton balls or peaches and cream. Will be my first rebuild :). Been taking and asking questions for a couple of months now and I still don't feel anymore comfortable than when I started asking. Best to just do it and get my hands dirty....LOL
 

MetalRaven

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Oct 23, 2009
99
61
Roanoke, Va
It really is a lot easier than what most seem to think. The only thing with cotton wicks is don't go crazy with voltage/wattage right away but slowly work up to ideal range. Trust me, you'll know when you exceed it lol. I actually documented and sent it to a old buddy in another state and he still wants to send me his spare atomizers to do it for him. Some computer/gaming geek he is. Knows electronics like the back of his hand so I blame laziness on his part :p
 

MetalRaven

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Oct 23, 2009
99
61
Roanoke, Va
Screws.jpg

Wick material as a better reference to the sizes from a visual standpoint.
 

bnrkwest

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Sep 6, 2011
10,873
36,891
Somewhere out there
I was going to mention the same thing but glad you did. Some cotton balls are made out of polyester! I have 35 lbs of sterile cotton coil, I use it for spinning :) I should sell some for wicks! LOL bnrk

:thumbs:

Just be sure your cotton balls are 100% cotton - you can get USP/sterile cotton balls too.

I picked this up at CVS pharmacy last year and still have 90% of it left :D
CVS Rolled Cotton - CVS pharmacy
 

Alter

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Apr 2, 2013
2,711
6,942
BC Canada
OMFG..started reading this thread and may as well give the Q-tip method a try. I have what I thought was a bummed out 1.8 protank head sitting on my desk, I cleaned out all the old wick out and left the coils inplace, seperated them all nicely. Carefully removed the cotton off a wet q-tip and worked it into a cylinder then slid it through the coils in the head, centered it, didn't replace the flavor wick, got 1.8 ohm reading, primed the cotton, put her all back together. Set the provari to 3.5 to start and OMFG it worked and I'm getting more vape than I did with the stock wick.
Cudos to all you people for making my first rebuild a success and now I have a box of 400 wicks under the bathroom vanity.
How long should I get out of this q-tip wick in a protank?

EDIT..just put it onto a regular ego battery and the q tip wick just vaped cloud after cloud.
 
Last edited:

Leithan

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
May 19, 2013
694
750
47
Fort Irwin
Iv got one the lasted a week before I replaced it and it probebly didn't need it, I only replace when I change flavors, I have yet to have one tottaly die on me. I am also careful to make sure I always have plenty of juice in the tank and I never dry burn with a wick in. And now your hooked AlterUrEgo.........
 

Crocky

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Mar 14, 2013
1,752
2,280
North Carolina
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread