Rewicked my Protank heads with a cotton ball

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OK, I read every post in this thread with fear and trepidation that if I ever try this, I will most likely ruin at least one protank head. Last night, I took a head that produced little to no vapor and pulled the wick. I used cotton from a cotton ball, and re wicked. After a few hits I got a burnt taste....went to bed feeling defeated. This morning, well rested, I took out the cotton wick and did it again, using a little bigger piece. I also used a small bit for a flavor wick. Hey! Nice! I did it! Have been vaping all day with the best taste and vapor I've had to date! I am so impressed that I am learning so much from ECF members and that I have a bit of confidence to try more than the standard purchased product! Thank you to all. I also bought some wick (2.5) and wire (32 kanthal) with an ohm tester - one day soon, very soon I am going to rebuild a protank or evod head successfully knowing I have some fantastic teachers here! I will maybe post pics of my second rebuild - my hands will be shaking too much on the first rebuild to take any pictures, yet it will get done and work! Great tips + great advice = success for a 60 year old new vape queen with bifocals! :toast:
 

toadyfatz

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May 23, 2010
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Quick question...I have some 100% organic make up pads I have used with good results. It states on the bag that the cotton is bleached with hydrogen peroxide. Should I be boiling this type of organic cotton? Also, isn't all the 100% cotton you buy at drug stores etc...bleached? So, any opinions on to boil or not to boil? Thanks!!
 

bingo6104

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This has been a interesting read. How long do the cotton wicks last? I was thinking about changing one of my wicks out and trying this. How do you know the wick is to big or to small. If it slides in real easy is it OK? Or if you have a hard time is it to much?
Also is the best flavor just regular cotton balls ?

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tdtyler

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Feb 20, 2013
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I decided to try this. It gurgles a little. Is that normal or is it leaking some?

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I've had a coil and wick combo last 6 weeks. I double the yarn and pull it gently through the coil. There is tail on the yarn that kind of wraps around the bottom of the center tube.

As long as I don't vape high acid (read cinnamon) or let the tank get empty, the whole DIY coil and wick really improved my ProTank experience. No gurgling here.
 

Kev84

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Jun 8, 2011
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Awesome idea with the cotton!!! This finally made me like my mini protank that would never wick properly. I would get like 3 good drags then a burnt drag unscrew the base a little let it bubble get a few more. Way too fiddly for me. I also figured out the perfect way to to thread the cotton through a stock coil. I took a strand of cotton rolled it between my fingers. then stretched one end out, twisted the end to almost make the end threadlike. then put it in the back of 16 gauge piercing needle (its the perfect size) and slid it through the coil pulled the cotton the rest of the way through snipped off the extra and voila! a good vape on a tank i had given up on.
 

cowboy6591

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I just bought a Pro-Tank-II for the heck of it, real low price for the quality in my honest opinion. The cotton thing is going to get a whirl after I run through the stock element witch is a tad bit to high on Omage but still gives a smooth and flavorful vape. I prefer my resistances down to 1.5 ohms in both my GG-clone mechanical MOD and VV Lavatube. The ProTank sits real well on the GG clone [see pic]. I will wind a homespun coil with cotton.

Pro-Tank-II.jpg
 

Chago

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Sep 5, 2013
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Wow.. Nice! Tonight at work I tossed in a replacement head in my PT2 mini, primed it, let it sit a bit. From the 1st pull it tasted burnt, no idea why. So i went to my backup clearo for a bit. Ran across this thread, had a q-tip in my kit and thought what the heck, couldn't mess it up anymore that it was already, right? After yanking the silica out I decapitated a q-tip and tried to thread that into the tiny coil. Success!! Just like all 14 pages of this thread, great taste, vapor increase. Glad I tried it!!
 

calvinguy

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Sep 6, 2013
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Canada
Let me start off by saying that I know nothing about rebuilding. So my mini Davide clearomizer has been having issues with burnt and dry hits and I thought I'd give this a go. I opened up the head and took out the wick with a tweezer, leaving the stock coil intact. I then striped a Q-tip of its cotton and rolled the cotton piece into a long thin piece. Then I stuck it through the coil and sniped off the ends. Primed the cotton up with some juice and fired up the battery to give it a test burn. Wow does this thing HISS. I then filled up my tank with liquid and put everything together. I took a hit and it was amazing. So much vapor and not a hint of burnt taste. I didn't even add a flavor wick and there is no leaking. The cotton really picks up the juice well. Even the rubbery taste that others have been having with the Davide was not there when I took a hit. My only question is if its safe to use cotton from a Q-tip.
 

MJMcMahon

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I rewicked my troublesome ProTank with a cotton wick this morning and have not had great success so far. I get a cottony flavor from my juice (Timeless Vapor Alien DNA) at my regular 7W setting...lower settings aren't giving me much in the way of flavor at all. I may rebuild the coil from scratch tonight and see where that gets me.
 

Slackitude

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Oct 4, 2013
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Atlanta, GA, USA
Just did my first rewick using a cotton ball. T3S replacement coil, new. I didn't make a new coil, just pulled out the original wicking and replaced with cotton. Pretty easy. I gotta say, it hits soooo much better than whatever comes stock. Silica?

It's so much better, why doesn't anyone just make replacement coils with cotton wicks?? I'm going to rewick a bunch of my replacement coils.


yada yada yada Tapatalk
 

RayBans

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First try!!! I used an old pro-tank 1 atomizer, wrestled out the old wick that was burnt under the coils and top coil "flavor wick" burnt on the top wick using tweezers. I did a Dry burn on the old coil with no wicks inside. Tested the Ohm's, no problem with the coil. I "threaded the needle" with a piece of cotton ball threading it through with the same directional twists like the pro-tank coils are (like a screw). I had a few problems getting the cotton twist through the hole until I wiped my fingers on a paper towel with a drip of juice on it. TA DA!!! You are gonna be kicking yourself for throwing out "dud" pro-tank atomizers. As long as the coils heat up and the Ohm's are good these things have a new life with cotton wicks.


I do RBA's I just like the pro-tank for on the go.
 

PariahNine

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Jan 13, 2014
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Welcome to the fun world of rebuilding. Lol. :rickroll:

Thanks. Pretty geeked. Really dig the tinkering aspect, and the monetary savings are a nice bonus, especially with the fourth kid on the way. My 32g Kanthal is the mail too, so I'll be doing my first full rebuild in a couple days.

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