The ProTank II & iTaste VV 3 is Killing Me - Looking for Help

[Jonathan Tittle]

Thanks for the links guys! The one from Tatroe looks to be a pretty solid build, so I may have to give that one a shot.

@xtwosm0kesx

The issue is that the base seems to be throwing the coil head off center, so my theory is that because of that, it's not getting a proper seal. Inhaling seems solid and I don't see a ton of bubbles floating up, so it's just a theory, but the juice isn't just coming from the center pipe, it looks juicy from the pipe and all around the coil head too.

I'm using a 50/50 mix, so I don't know if spinning cotton will help me much unless I stuff it full. I can't see how that mix is so thin that it'd leak so much as it's definitely not thin in the tank or coming out of it (more of a oil-like consistency as there's no alcohol or water in this mix or in any except 1-2 juices that I don't vape much if at all).


That said, I *definitely* appreciate the links and suggestions. If you have an example of how I should do the wick I would be grateful for sure. I'm not into the rba scene just yet - I do know how to take apart the coil head, but as far as 'this thick' and 'that material' - not quite there

 

[JulesXsmokr]

should prolly start another thread, but --
that sight is selling a nice battery cap base and I emailed to see if it would work on my SID.
They say it's for Provari and Evic I believe..
Evic tubes do work on the SID.

 

[stevegmu]

If you really want to go nuts, try their tanks-

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

You have to buy them piece by piece right? So about $50 for a complete minus coils? Or am I missing a completed tank .

 

[stevegmu]

You have to buy them piece by piece right? So about $50 for a complete minus coils? Or am I missing a completed tank .

You can add the Tatroe cap and coil for $13, so $48 for the complete tank, plus a 510 drip tip. Theirs are $10. I believe they come with a cheap-o Kanger cap if you don't get the cap and coil add-on. Their bases/capsdon't come with an o-ring, though, so I got some from Sun Vapers, or just use one from another Kanger ProTank base.

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

@Steve - How do their coils compare to Kanger coils? A lot better or nearly the same? I've heard some say coils will last over a month but I've yet to find any that stand up that long, as least the Kanger brands.

 

[stevegmu]

@Steve - How do their coils compare to Kanger coils? A lot better or nearly the same? I've heard some say coils will last over a month but I've yet to find any that stand up that long, as least the Kanger brands.

They just throw in a coil with the cap when you get the tank, so no different than regular Kanger coils. As far as I can tell, they are Kanger coils. I use e-liquid which is fairly high in PG, so this may be the reason the coils have lasted me. I also don't let the tanks get below half full. I get my coils from another vendor- SunVapers and have had great luck with theirs in my ProTank2s.

Oh, it is the bases/caps which don't have an o-ring, so I got them from Sun Vapers.

 

[xtwosm0kesx]

Thanks for the links guys! The one from Tatroe looks to be a pretty solid build, so I may have to give that one a shot.

@xtwosm0kesx

The issue is that the base seems to be throwing the coil head off center, so my theory is that because of that, it's not getting a proper seal. Inhaling seems solid and I don't see a ton of bubbles floating up, so it's just a theory, but the juice isn't just coming from the center pipe, it looks juicy from the pipe and all around the coil head too.

I'm using a 50/50 mix, so I don't know if spinning cotton will help me much unless I stuff it full. I can't see how that mix is so thin that it'd leak so much as it's definitely not thin in the tank or coming out of it (more of a oil-like consistency as there's no alcohol or water in this mix or in any except 1-2 juices that I don't vape much if at all).


That said, I *definitely* appreciate the links and suggestions. If you have an example of how I should do the wick I would be grateful for sure. I'm not into the RBA scene just yet - I do know how to take apart the coil head, but as far as 'this thick' and 'that material' - not quite there

So are you getting juice in your mouth and gurgling or juice on the battery terminal or where are you finding juice?

Ill be back with some pics in a bit.

The only way to guarantee consistent coils is to rebuild the heads/coils yourself, but generally the genuine Kangers will do their job if you tweak um/maintain um.

 

[Sambuca]

Hey Everyone,

I've been vaping for a while, but when I find something that works, I normally stick to it instead of upgrading all the time, so when I bought an iTaste and a few ProTank II's I was a little hesitant to drop $80 but I knew I needed something a little more. I liked the glass on the PT's and the iTaste v3 has gotten pretty good reviews, so that eased my mind a bit.


Issue #01 - The ProTank II

Fast-Forward to less than a week later, the ProTank II's leak all the time. I've troubleshooted since I bought them, replaced and tried 4 different ones (all new in box, shrink wrapped), tried 6 different bases, multiple different coils (1.8->2.2 ohm) and it's to the point I hate even showing up at my local dealer shop because. All of the bases seem like they're poorly machined and result in the coil going in crooked (i.e. the coil is slightly to the left or right, never centered), so it seems there's never a "good" seal on them, the center get's flooded and away we go with the leakage.

I use 50/50 mixes, little to no alcohol so they are thicker, but oddly enough the MT3S BCC and TS3 tanks seem to do fine. I just find that the airflow on them is somewhat limited in comparison which is why I "upgraded" to the ProTank.

Issue #02 - The iTaste VV v3

The iTaste v3 has already been swapped out once. The first one wouldn't hold a charge at all (it charged to full in 30 minutes, died in 5) and the new one won't fire the ProTank on any voltage once the battery drops and it's in the yellow, which is immediately followed by the red. It'll still fire a TS3, but the MT3S BCC's don't even want to fit on it. Definitely not what I expected from an 850 mah battery and definitely not what I expected from the mostly good/great reviews circulating.



Any ideas? I hate to keep running back and forth to the dealer as it's becoming time consuming and they can't quite seem to figure out what the issue is either.

hey Tactical,

how are you doing? i own 4 iTaste VV v3s. one thing that i do know, they DO NOT charge in 30 minutes. PERIOD. they take closer to 4 hours. brand new out of the box, you can use them till they go red. HOWEVER, at yellow, be thinking of charging them. [if someone is of the opinion that going past the yellow is not a good thing to do, i'm all ears!] if you bought the express kit, try hooking the usb charger to a wall adapter. (i'm still experiment if pc vrs wall gives a "better" charge, or if it matters.) using various tanks, i get 450-500 puffs per charge, higher with evods.

protank and davide both work well on them. i'm having tiny problems with the mini-davides. when i get the "no firing" issue, i just loosen it a bit and they work fine. might help with ptank IIs.

some folks use these for ptank air issues:

Tank Air Flow Controller

i've heard if you have old ptank bases, you can use those as well:

510 Kanger Protank Base

those should be cheap fixes for you.

what voltage or wattage are you running, OK, trying to run your v3s at?

hope that is of some help!

Sam

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

xtwosm0kesx

I'm seeing liquid around the pin and on the battery (about 1-3 drops worth). It's coming up through the center, into my mouth and seems to settle between the drip tip and receiving hole for the drip tip. Using a Q-Tip, I can see it's not just condensation, it's liquid. So I'm having to remove the drip tip after 5-10 vapes, clean off the base, clean out the receiving hole, replace, turn upside down, blow it out, vape again. When blowing out, it's both the coil unit and the tube that is screwed in, not just the tube leading to the drip tip.


Sambuca

Doing good, so far, you? The first one I had did indeed charge (yellow -> green -> off) in ~30 minutes from a USB -> Laptop connection and die in 5. The laptop is always plugged into direct power and when I charge anything, is never on just the battery. The one I have now is actually holding a charge, thankfully, so I may have just got one that was DOA.


Voltage is varied. With some juices using a 1.8 I get a better vape at 3.3-3.4v, with others 3.6-3.8v. Going at it on 4.0v+ almost always gives a burning taste for me. The 1.8's are what I normally have on-hand as I don't really like the 2.2's and they don't carry the 1.5's (yet).

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

I think xtwo has you on the right track. The wicks in the coils are Protank's defense against leaking. Adding to them adds more protection, and nothing wicks better than cotton. One to two strands of rolled cotton ball or rolled cotton cheesecloth might end the leaking problem and tighten the draw up on the PT2.

Please don't ever remove flavor wicks to address a leaking problem. That's going from bad to worse.

Another thing that popped into my mind was that the coil heads may be the culprit. I had one or two that had bent or poorly made airshafts. Even when carefully and properly screwed into the base, the shaft still stood at an angle and the base/coil assembly would not screw into the tank properly.

I'd post a pic, but I cannabilized one of them for its coil (perfect 2.0 ohm) and tossed the other one.

 

[dice57]

Let your new coil wick saturate with juice before the first vape. I usually let a new coil head soak for 15 minutes to an hour before I vape on it. As long as I do this I have zero issues with the PT II, and can vape it down to the last drop. Before I followed this procedure, the first tank would vape fine, the second one would start to flood. Always make sure the coil is tight when refilling the tank. I've been vaping on my current coil head for 2 weeks and it's as good as the first vape.

 

[IMFire3605]

Hey Everyone,

I've been vaping for a while, but when I find something that works, I normally stick to it instead of upgrading all the time, so when I bought an iTaste and a few ProTank II's I was a little hesitant to drop $80 but I knew I needed something a little more. I liked the glass on the PT's and the iTaste v3 has gotten pretty good reviews, so that eased my mind a bit.


Issue #01 - The ProTank II

Fast-Forward to less than a week later, the ProTank II's leak all the time. I've troubleshooted since I bought them, replaced and tried 4 different ones (all new in box, shrink wrapped), tried 6 different bases, multiple different coils (1.8->2.2 ohm) and it's to the point I hate even showing up at my local dealer shop because. All of the bases seem like they're poorly machined and result in the coil going in crooked (i.e. the coil is slightly to the left or right, never centered), so it seems there's never a "good" seal on them, the center get's flooded and away we go with the leakage.

I use 50/50 mixes, little to no alcohol so they are thicker, but oddly enough the MT3S BCC and TS3 tanks seem to do fine. I just find that the airflow on them is somewhat limited in comparison which is why I "upgraded" to the ProTank.

Issue #02 - The iTaste VV v3

The iTaste v3 has already been swapped out once. The first one wouldn't hold a charge at all (it charged to full in 30 minutes, died in 5) and the new one won't fire the ProTank on any voltage once the battery drops and it's in the yellow, which is immediately followed by the red. It'll still fire a TS3, but the MT3S BCC's don't even want to fit on it. Definitely not what I expected from an 850 mah battery and definitely not what I expected from the mostly good/great reviews circulating.



Any ideas? I hate to keep running back and forth to the dealer as it's becoming time consuming and they can't quite seem to figure out what the issue is either.

Everything you are describing here is pointing me to like another poster above stated, those tanks are not genuine Kangers, or the heads are very badly copied head, so one, or the other, or both are clones. 1) The fact the base and heads don't seat properly, and the fact the T3S heads are working without hitch. 2) Coil related, the moment you have used the heads for a bit, battery reaches about 3.7v (yellow), next fire, button glows red for a while and won't fire anything, this is Innokin's built in short protection, amp limit protection, coil to low limit so is protecting itself. The coil is dropping in ohm rating, wire is with use springing out from somewhere or warping and causing a short. I am suspecting if you bought your T3S tanks/bases from the same vendor, those to are clones, I have no trouble with my iTaste VV/VW V3 with Protank, PT2, Evods, V1 T3's, or my T3S upgrades, I have yet to see a T3S head clone yet, it has a narrower flange on the base of the head compared to the Evod and Protank heads, not to say they are not clones, but the fact they are seating properly and keep firing if you are using them in the PT2, suggests they are Kanger heads and not clones, just guessing, looking at where you are having failures and where you are not. 3) The T3S bases not attaching to the battery unit, they are either clones, or your battery is.

My suggestions, get online and look at some well established, well respected vendors for your hardware, and don't buy any other hardware from your local vendor, that size of hardware failure rate from a single suggests only 2 things. 2 bad batches from 2 manufacturers at the same time is highly doubtful unless they are clones. Other scenario, their supplier bought up a bunch of nerfed product, and trying to flip a quick buck, or your vendor did.

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

IBCR Media - I may have to try the cotton after all. I'm not opposed to it . I have some cotton balls, but they're not considered sterile, just a basic pack of cotton from Walmart. May have to check a medical shop or pharmacy to see if they have something or if I can find some cotton wick or thicker silica locally (not found it yet).

dive57 - I normally let them sit for about 10-15 minutes. I'm not getting dry hits as often as I am leaking. The only time I get dry hits is when I try to do 3-4 back to back as I'm a more of heavy vaper when it comes to drawing. If I break it down, the wicks are soaked in this amount of time and I can squeeze the juice from them .

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Hard to say with the information provided. Couple of things come to mind:

1. Be careful not to overtighten the topper. This can damage both the battery and the topper and cause leaking.
2. When filling the Protank, it's not that difficult to get juice into the air tube. Run a pipe cleaner through there on every fill. Also, don't let the tank drop below about half full. Pressure and temperature can cause flooding and leaking.
3. All clearos leak. Nature of the beast. But also easily remedied. At first sound of gurgle, clean, clear, fill.
4. Sounds like you got a batch of bad coils. Get some other ones and try them out.
5. You may be frying your coils and caramelizing the coils with too much heat. What wattage do you use. Once the wicks are carbonizes/caramelized, you're going to get flooding and leaking.
6. What type of juice are you using? PG/VG? Flavor?
7. Try rewicking with cotton. That may solve all the problems with the PTII.
8. Battery could be a connection problem. Again, don't overrighten, and once you have, you could have a recessed/depressed center pin. Run a sharp object, like a toothpick, around the pin to see if it will "release."

I have four iTaste 3.0's and only one Protank II. Of the many devices out there, these are two of the better, more reliable performer's, and have been for many months. Not just for me, but for others as well, if you read the forums a lot. I would watch YouTube videos on the use of both devices. I suspect that there many be some degree of user error here, given their performance history, and don't mean this to offend, but offer only as a possible suggestion. Vaping is not a maintenance free hobby. In fact, with clearos, maintenance is a frequent and daily occurrence. Good luck to you !!

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

IMFire3605

I'm almost positive they're not clones as they all have engravings and I even tried scratching them off; you can tell they're laser engraved in to the metal base. The T3S 's work fine on the iTaste v3, it's the MT3S BCC's that don't fit and don't seem to make a proper connection. The iTaste reports NON when checking the ohms. The MT3S work fine on an eGo-T battery and make a perfect connection, it just seems the iTaste has issues with them.

Kanger Protank II: Droplr • Kanger-ProTankII.png

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

Bill's Magic Vapor

No offense taken . I normally tighten enough to where the tank can be unscrewed with one hand. I tighten to the point where it's doesn't move easily, but stop after that. It's not loose, but not so tight that stripping is going to happen.

To answer your questions:

1). I use a syringe in most cases, so I don't think that's the issue, but I can see how it could happen with just a dropper tip.

2). I was thinking the same thing with the coil batch. It seems to be my luck as of late .

3). I'm using 10 watts which shows ~4.1 volts on 1.8 coils. I really don't get a burning taste/flavor unless I'm doing back to back to back vaping.

4). 50/50 mix, no alcohol or water, and it's Cooties Key - which is a locally made "premium" flavor (they don't sell it online as they do their others), multiple flavors from ECBlend Flavors (also 50/50), and a few others from the same local dealer. They don't offer anything other than 50/50 locally.



Thanks again!

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Bill's Magic Vapor

No offense taken . I normally tighten enough to where the tank can be unscrewed with one hand. I tighten to the point where it's doesn't move easily, but stop after that. It's not loose, but not so tight that stripping is going to happen.

To answer your questions:

1). I use a syringe in most cases, so I don't think that's the issue, but I can see how it could happen with just a dropper tip.

2). I was thinking the same thing with the coil batch. It seems to be my luck as of late .

3). I'm using 10 watts which shows ~4.1 volts on 1.8 coils. I really don't get a burning taste/flavor unless I'm doing back to back to back vaping.

4). 50/50 mix, no alcohol or water, and it's Cooties Key - which is a locally made "premium" flavor (they don't sell it online as they do their others), multiple flavors from ECBlend Flavors (also 50/50), and a few others from the same local dealer. They don't offer anything other than 50/50 locally.



Thanks again!

I think your main problem is your wattage. 10 Watts at the coil is very high on a Protank. I vape around 6.8 to 7.4 Watts on most juices. Most juices start to burn at 8 watts and get quite toasty at 9 watts. 10 is beyond what most vapers ever use on a clearo. That heat at the coil is going to really burn the wick, which is going to cause leaking and flooding, and I say this with absolute certainty. Maybe take it down a notch or two and see if that helps. Also, if your flavors have any sweetener, what happens when you heat sugar? Crème Brulee, or glass made of sugar. Won't atomize or wick correctly, the juice has to go somewhere, how could it not leak? That's at least a partial answer to your leaking question. Good luck!!

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

Bill's Magic Vapor

1). I dropped the iTaste down to 8 watts, seems to do just as good as 10 watts with no really noticeable differences in vapor or flavor, so I may keep it there to test it and see how well it performs just in case I am burning but can't taste it.

2). Only the ECBlend Flavors juice has sweet / sour. I had ordered their Waffle flavoring before (5 ml) to test out as they suggest and it was nearly flawless. I vaped the 5 ml bottle in a day and no leaking (one gurgling issue, but it cleared easy). Since then, it seems almost everything leaks at some point, though as of late, more often than not. I've not changed my mix, I stick to 50/50, and do my absolute best to stick with pure blends that don't use water or alcohol - so unfortunately, I don't vape vanilla in most all cases.


To be honest, the sweet / sour additives don't really make a tone of difference in taste or flavor, so I'll probably not order the additives again, so I'll definitely keep that in mind as well. I've not tested them just yet because the MT3S's don't work on the iTaste for me.

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Remember that you can't always "taste" when you're frying your coils. They can turn hard as rock/glass and will not wick or atomize properly even though you may not taste burning. When this happens, you will get leaking and flooding, and have to replace the coils really too frequently. There is a temperature on every juice where the juice atomizes at a "sweet spot" and you get the best flavor and vapor. Generally, this is a bit cooler than warmer. Most juices start to burn at 8 Watts. I used to vape when I started around 8.5 and 9.0 Watts. When I lowered it to 7 Watts, I was surprised that it tasted better, with a more saturated flavor and vapor and that the coils worked better. I think you are doing the same thing and that is what is causing your problems. More heat rarely equates to more flavor, in fact, the opposite is generally true. Play around with it and don't be afraid to go even lower than 8 Watts, particularly if you're still getting leaking.

Remember, it takes time for the heat to ruin the coil/wick, so you can start off vaping fine, then, after a while, the leaking starts. That's because you are carbonizing and caramelizing your coil. From that point, you will have nothing but problems. Remember, most juice burns at 8 Watts, whether you taste it or not. Some juices cannot be vaped higher than 6.5 Watts, others require 9.5 Watts. Be sensitive to the 7.0 to 8.0 range, often called the sweet spot. You may think you are low at 8.0 Watts, when, in fact, you're still on the high end for most juices. Just experiment until you find what works for you and where the Protank stops leaking. If it doesn't stop leaking, replace the coil and lower the Watts. Trust me, I've seen this hundreds of times on this Forum. Good luck!