Subtank Mini Issues

[fmjnax]

Hi all. I'm fairly new to all of this, but I'm having an issue with my subtank mini that I just can't figure out.

A quick backstory:
Quick smokeless tobacco AND smoking (yes, I did both) 2 months ago after purchasing an innokin iClear kit. The wife broke it a few weeks later trying to snatch it from me (because she decided she liked it, too), so off I went for my first upgrade. I picked up an Aspire Atlantis v1 and an eLeaf iStick 100W. She picked up a Forza VT60 kit. Another couple of weeks and I decided to give dripping a try with a Mutation Xs RDA. Last week my wife decided that her tank (Sub VT, I think) wasn't cutting it. I had been looking at the Subtank Mini for the RBA aspect and read great review on it, so I agreed to give her my Atlantis and I would get the Subtank Mini. That is where the problem begins.

My problem is that no matter what I do, all I get is either a hot vape or a chemical tasting vape. I've used both stock OCC's as well as numerous RBA builds from .3 up to 2.0 ohm. I've confirmed that my product is authentic. I've tried different drip tips. I've tried everything from 10W up to 50+W. I've tried cheap juices and I've tried premium juices (including my current fave Slurp; which is excellent in the Atlantis and Mutation Xs). In order to get rid of the chemical taste, I have to push the wattage, which gives me the hot vape (never burnt, mind you, but still too hot for my comfort). I've washed and washed and washed the tank thinking there was machine oil. I've used steeped and I've used unsteeped juice. I've used high nic and zero nic juice. I just can't shake it. I bought the product based on general reviews that it was on-par or better than the Atlantis, but I'm not seeing it. Heck, the crappy Sub VT tank is giving a better vape than this is.

Has anyone else experienced this and/or have suggestions on what it could be?

 

[BigEgo]

Does the "chemical" taste happen only with OCC coils or on the RBA too? If it happens with the RBA, then it could mean you have a melting insulator. However, the newer batches of Subtanks should not have that problem (the early batches were using cheap insulators that lots of people said melted, but that problem was fixed ages ago). Unless you have a subtank that has been sitting on a vendor's shelf for over 6 months, yours should have the good insulator. If it is not an insulator (or rubber gasket on the OCC coil) melting, then I can think of no other explanation except perhaps something you're doing wrong in building (you using organic cotton in your builds)?

Another thing you could try is to switch out all the O-rings with a new set. I've had tanks (mostly cheap fasttech tanks) that gave me a weird chemical taste even if I puffed on it with no coil inside (even after a wash). It's weird. I can only assume that the plastic pieces in the tank (O-rings and insulator) were just low quality.

I own 3 subtanks and never experienced this, however. I use them daily and have for 6 months.

 

[Tol]

+1 to checking the insulator for signs of melting/damage and checking/changing o-rings. I have never had this problem with my SubTank Mini. It works fine with OCC coils and my crappy building on the RBA either works or dry hits (I am spoiled by my Velocity deck), but nothing like you are describing.

 

[USACelt]

I have both the STM versions, I think there must be a bit of machine oil some where causing the issue. The last STM v2 I got gave some problems, completely disassembled(nothing but pieces laying around) more than once gave the soak and nothing. Finally ran a Q-tip through the chimney tube and got a tinny sliver of metal and what I think was a coating of machine oil. No problems since.

 

[fmjnax]

Thanks for the replies. It looks like I've got the problem solved.

The chemical taste happened across the board; with both stock OCC's and with the RBA. Even though I washed it when I bought it, I decided to do a more thorough washing. Boiling hot water and dawn washed/rinsed 3 or 4 times. I used a pipe cleaner to get in all the nooks and crannies. I loaded it up and put in the .5ohm OCC, but still had a funky taste (though it was better). I put in the 1.2ohm and the flavor was nearly normal, but still a bit off. I checked the insulator on the RBA and it was fine (though it looks like it's not the PEEK one, so I need to contact Kanger on that). I didn't hit on the RBA because I had an experimental coil on it (a 3-wire parallel - WAY too hot).

I was now suspecting burnt coils at this point, so I ripped apart the OCC's and sure enough, both were burnt; the .5 ohm OCC more so than the 1.2. Apparently in my attempt at trying all sorts of settings to get rid of the chemical taste, I torched the coils. I went to the shop and picked up a new coil and popped it in... and everything was golden! I then built a .6 ohm 26awg 5-wrap vertical coil on the RBA and BAM, there it was! I'm still not a fan of the airflow (I think the chimney is too small), but at least it is vapeable now.

So long story short, I'm pretty sure the chemical taste was machine oil, and I made the situation worse by burning up the OCC's

 

[Tol]

Glad you worked it out! It's a great little tank for what it is, if you start getting crazy with builds and coils, there are a lot of other choices for higher power tanks.

sent using Tapatalk

 

[USACelt]

I didn't go back thru the thread, but you are priming those OCC coils, Right?

 

[fmjnax]

I didn't go back thru the thread, but you are priming those OCC coils, Right?

Yes, I always prime new coils; whether they are scratch-built or store-bought. I probably over-prime (read: flood), in fact.

 

[classwife]

Moved to Clearomizers from Tanks


Tanks
A forum for general discussion of carto tanks.