Very Irritating Experience (Kanger ProTank II)

[WalterWhite]

Quite frankly, I am in a rather awful mood. In fact, just minutes ago, I nearly broke down and reached for an actual cigarette, but thankfully I snapped out of it and came to my senses.

As some of you already know, I ordered the Innokin iTaste MVP2.0 with three Kanger ProTank IIs. Prior to this, I had never vaped with anything more powerful than a VV Triton. I actually wrote a rather detailed review of my first experiences with the new items, but my internet connection died for about ten minutes last night and my work quickly vanished when trying to post. That was only the tip of the iceberg.

Long story short--I love the MVP2.0, but I am seriously having my doubts about the ProTank II. In fact, I am thinking of returning the third one (because I foolishly opened two of them) and the unopened packs of coils. That is, unless someone can convince me otherwise.

This happened last night. My first experience was horrible. The tank would not stop leaking into the battery's center post, and the draw was overly tight. I did what any sensible man would do--I took it apart, cleaned it well, put it back together, and refilled it. The exact same thing happened again, so it was back to the drawing board.

Moving on, I took it apart for the third time, cleaned it out, watched a video on YouTube, and tried to figure out how to clean the wicks a bit better. Well, when trying to pop the piece off that exposes the wicks, I accidentally broke the coil and destroyed the wicks. The ProTank II box comes with one replacement coil, but I ordered a couple of extra packs. Rather than opening a new pack, I reached for the replacement coil and filled the tank yet again.

Now, this is where I thought I had it all figured out. I was greeted with rich, thick, creamy clouds of vapor and an extraordinary taste and throat hit. It was unlike any other vaping experience that I have ever had. I simply could not put it down.

As you can imagine, I came home this evening, very much looking forward to repeating that great vaping experience. Well, when trying to refill the tank, I overfilled it and e-juice started leaking from the sides. I salvaged most of the e-juice, but I had to take the tank apart and clean it up. I did just that and refilled the tank. This time: no draw, no vapor, no taste, no nothing. At first I thought the battery was dead on the MVP because it would not even ignite. However, after finally getting it to ignite, I could hear the normal vaping sounds, but there was no vapor to be found. It was like sucking through a straw seated in an empty glass.

Again, I tried to clean it up (hoping that I missed something), but I am still being met again and again with the same vaporless experience. I suppose it could be the coil, but why the hell should I have to replace the coil again after such a short period of time?

I'm all ears if you have any tips, tricks, suggestions, or can recommend a better tank for the MVP2.0. I know many of you have had great success with these ProTanks, but I really have no idea what the hell I am doing. I suppose I could just buy an 808-510 adapter and use the Triton tanks with the MVP2.0. Come to think of it, I may just not like bottom coil tanks. To be perfectly honest, I find that filling this thing is a hassle unless you have a very fine point plastic syringe lying around. Thank you all in advance.

 

[fabricator4]

If the protank draw is very much tighter on the battery than it is off it, then there's a problem with the base not working on that device. It's a problem that occurred on the early Protank 2s that was supposedly fixed. Try not tightening it down all the way and see if it's any better.

The leaking could be a combination of factors. Sometimes the head is loose in the base, or is missing the o-ring that is supposed to seal it to the base. A very hard draw can also turn them into a juice staw - the low pressure in the center sucks juice in from the tank as the airspace expands. Protanks work best with a very light draw. It does sound like the flavour wicks were not distributed properly in the head though, and this can make them leak quite profusely.

All devices have their idiosyncrasies and some people have more trouble with these than others. That thick rich vapour is what is normal for a Protank though, and why so many of us love them. Run them at 6 - 6.5 watts once they are warm.

Don't know what the dud firing is all about, but it sounds like the coil is not working. If you tighten the clearo down hard on the battery all the time, it can push the center pin in so it doesn't make contact. In the worst case you can push the center pin on the battery device in, requiring repair. For 510 devices, just do them up tight enough to make contact and not be too wobbly. Any more will cause you these sorts of problems.

 

[Rickajho]

Did you remove the silicone "cap" on top of the vent tube on the coil? If you did that would cause both leaking problems - since no vacuum is being creating in the tank - and lack of vapor output - because you are sucking air into the liquid, rather than through the vent tube and out the drip tip.

Also, if you screw the PT into the 510 connector too tightly you can do one of two things, possibly both. You can block air getting into the center hole on the very bottom of the coil. Or you can compress the silicone insulator, blocking the holes in the side of the PT base at the top of the 510 threads.

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

1. Remove the coil rubber cap and chimney (wiggle back and forth gently)
2. Take a piece of cotton ball or tear the end off a q-tip, fluff it up (so there are no knots in it) then roll it tightly into a long thin wick
3. Remove the glass fiber flavor wick (the loose wick not in the coils), toss em
4. Lay rolled long thin wick across the coils in the channel where the flavor wicks were sitting
5. Replace the chimney and rubber cap
6. Using toenail clippers nip off the excess wick
7. Reassemble..and vape yo face off!

You can also back off the end screw about 1/2 a turn to loosen the bind on the rubber gasket/cap, not too much or it will leak like crazy, just back it off a bit

Changing just that part will make it vape MUCH better and taste alot better too...just don't dry burn the coils

 

[Trinoz]

Hi there WalterWhite. Glad someone with some real knowledge got back to you. I was just going to say, stick with it. I've got a couple of Protank 2's and some mini's as well. I reckon they're a class act. I've had a few moments as well. You can get a dodgy coil sometimes or maybe the wind is just blowing in the wrong direction. All in all I've settled in with them now and love them. I've also been guilty of being a bit heavy handed with my first Ego battery. Gently gently catch the monkey - message to self. Hang in there. I found the first few weeks a mix of elation and frustration (sometimes all in a few heartbeats). I'm only a few months in myself now and the filling the tank has gotten easier and easier too. Have fun! Oh yeah - I also lost my first post introducing myself and had to rewrite it. Zen moments

 

[MoralFibre]

I never had a great experience myself with my two Kanger PTII's - quite a few dry hits - but some nice dude posted a link to a great wee youtube vid on ditching the silica wicks for cotton ones. No leaks, vapes awesome, never get dry hits (cotton wicks *much* better).

Yer just gotta wind yer own coils - piece of cake it is too. I use a wee screwdriver which (at a guess) has a 2mm diameter shaft. I also wet the cotton to make threading it in easier.

Give it a go mate, I think you'll be impressed. The RipTrippers vid ...
Mini Protank Micro Coil Rebuild - YouTube

Some other differences from the vid (IIRC):
I use 32 gauge Kanthal
I'm currently using ten wraps - gets me, 4ohms (got some 30 and 28 gauge on the way, and some Kanthal ribbon - wanna drop the ohms down and punch some more power through!

 

[beecherjeeper]

Get an I30S so you can vape while you are fiddling with the others.

 

[meanckz]

I predominently use Kanger Tanks...only now been having some issues on mechanical mods (due to center pin), ProTank 2 works great on my MVP2....from my own experience I also use Kanger coils only ... any other coils seem to not perform well.
I don't know that this helps a lot, but I do hope so

 

[Rickajho]

I predominently use Kanger Tanks...only now been having some issues on mechanical mods (due to center pin), ProTank 2 works great on my MVP2....from my own experience I also use Kanger coils only ... any other coils seem to not perform well.
I don't know that this helps a lot, but I do hope so

It does - because some of the knockoff Kanger coils are known to be crap and have all sorts or problems.

 

[ConradM]

I have a PT2 that I might try rebuilding the coil on some day. But otherwise my experience is the same as yours and many others. Do yourself a favor and try and Aspire BDC. They're trouble free and provide an awesome vaping experience compared to Kanger tanks. You can pick one up from nhaler or discountvapers for around $12 with 2 extra coils.

 

[Vault]

I have a PT2 that I might try rebuilding the coil on some day. But otherwise my experience is the same as yours and many others. Do yourself a favor and try and Aspire BDC. They're trouble free and provide an awesome vaping experience compared to Kanger tanks. You can pick one up from nhaler or discountvapers for around $12 with 2 extra coils.

Seconded.

I have the Aspire ET-S BDC Glassomiser and it`s the best `plug `n` play` device I have come across to date, work equally well on a simple Ego battery or my Vamo.
I`m still waiting for the original head to clog up or fade after 3 weeks of use (not constant I must add) before I work out a way to rebuild the dual coil head.

 

[elfy]

Hit up my first blog entry, its links to the same video Moral posted and some talk about the tools I piled up to rebuild Kanger heads.

Stock Kanger heads can be great - I vaped my head off. Then, it tasted like burnt wet sheepdog.

Luckily by then I had kanthal wire and silica wick - I tired the wick and didnt like the result, so I tried CVS sterile cotton balls next. It kicks ....

I use about 2 dry rice grains worth of cotton, and carefully roll that in my fingers until its as thin as a pin, and about an inch or a little more long...and get one end wet, and pop it thru a coil Ive made. I use a pin to grab the end of the wick, and pull it through. it might not be poking out very far, my coils ride very low in my heads.
Then I clip off the ends, leaving about 1/4 inch poking out from each end of the coil. I then use a pin to just place that along the side of the coil outside the head but inside the beauty ring/ego adapter so they curve along the outside of the head. It looks like an S when you do that, it doesnt have to be that long but ive tried that lately. Seems ok.


I do get gurgles too, but for one - bottom coil tanks can do this, its one basic design aspect they all share. Second, in the few coils Ive rebuilt, if the wire itself is pointing down from where its sticking out from the grommet/pin below, it can let juice out. So you get gurgles.

I draw pretty hard on my Kangers, so thats probably helping get a gurgle or two also. I know one head I rebuilt lately gurgled so much I just pulled the damn thing apart and started over. It helped, I'd done it wrong.

Also, rebuilt coil wires need to kinda go straight down from the coil and then make a 90 degree bend and go right into the grommet/pin, mine were all over the place - that wont help w/ gurgles.

So, my suggestion is to start to learn about how to rebuild coils/do the wicks, because its a much better experience than with stock Kanger heads, which can seriously suck.

You also have to be careful when screwing in the heads to the base, because its got an O-ring on the underside, it can be screwed in too tight and that will cause leaks/gurgles too.

I use mini protank II V2 and they are not really that finicky, just need some attention in how they are set and then they arent bad. I dont know if any tank is perfect.

 

[Mark Anthony]

1. Remove the coil rubber cap and chimney (wiggle back and forth gently)
2. Take a piece of cotton ball or tear the end off a q-tip, fluff it up (so there are no knots in it) then roll it tightly into a long thin wick
3. Remove the glass fiber wick, toss em
4. Lay rolled long thin wick across the coils in the channel where the flavor wicks were sitting
5. Replace the chimney and rubber cap
6. Using toenail clippers nip off the excess wick
7. Reassemble..and vape yo face off!

You can also back off the end screw about 1/2 a turn to loosen the bind on the rubber gasket/cap, not too much or it will leak like crazy, just back it off a bit

Changing just that part will make it vape MUCH better and taste alot better too...just don't dry burn the coils

This!!! ^^^^^^ I agree 100% Stock coils simply cannot give you the vape experience that you can get by rebuilding with cotton......

 

[Katalyst81]

I'm going to side with everyone else here, I had the same issues with my PT2's and now that I rebuild my own coils, all those problems are completely gone, well worth getting into watch this video for a simple way to do it Vapor Lady Lounge Rebuild a Protank Atomizer, eVod Atomizer A New Way - YouTube

 

[MoralFibre]

Looks pretty good Katalyst81. The only comment I'd like to add to that vid is that she's correct on the Protank to just push the rubber sealing grommet on and not fully down. However it will be pushed down, probably pretty much fully, when the base is screwed on to the tank (by the inner tank tube) - *anyway* However that is, I think, the correct way, as that's the best way to ensure a good seal between the inner tube and the sealing grommet.

For me, I modded my sealing grommets by cutting off about 1.5mm of the flange, as I found them a bit long and they pushed down too far on the wick. No problems leaking at all. But I guess if you're gonna try that, have a spare!

 

[JQside]

Quite frankly, I am in a rather awful mood. In fact, just minutes ago, I nearly broke down and reached for an actual cigarette, but thankfully I snapped out of it and came to my senses.

I keep hearing these kinds of situations. If you guys just keep a bunch of old-fashioned Boge cartomizers available you don't have to reach for an actual cigarette. I've been free of cigarettes for two years now and stuck with cartos. When I was just starting out, I tried all kinds of vaping combinations, many of which were considered low-tech compared to what is now available. After spending a fortune I ended up with cartomizers. It's only recently that I've experimented on clearomizers and pro tanks. They've got issues. Meanwhile, I probably won't stop buying cartos and have to inch my way into these modern devices. I won't rush as long as cartos are still available.

 

[devauto]

Hi WalterWhite!

I am afraid I don't have much to add here, there is already a lot of good information in this thread. I will say that I have been using my PT 2 tanks almost exclusively for a couple of months now and have not had any of these types of problems. I have noticed that tightening the tank to the battery too much will cause the airflow to be blocked and the draw to be almost impossible. These tanks are not meant to be screwed on as tight as possible, rather they are only meant to be tightened until snug and secure. Try backing off the tank by a 1/4 turn or so and see if it helps. Also, try adjusting the center pin of the battery up just a little bit, if it got pushed down it may not make a good connection with the tank until it is readjusted.

If they don't work out for you, then perhaps trying a different tank as others have recommended, or even switching to a Carto like JQside suggests, would be the best thing for you.

HTH, Good luck!

 

[Razorback]

WalterWhite = #1 awesome username!

I have no input, just wanted to have this feed show up in my home screen so I can try some of this stuff later on my PTII's. Good info, and thanks all!

 

[Glenn_K]

Greetings WW; Sorry to hear about your negative experience, I had something similar going on with my first device, and I can remember how frustrating it was.

A suggestion; if you like the PT design generally, you might want to try an Anyvape Davide, which has a very similar design, but seems to have more consistent quality control -- or maybe it's just that far fewer Davides are in use, hence far fewer complaints on ECF. Davides can use PT replacement heads, so the ones you have wouldn't go to waste.

I use a Davide (the full-sized one and the mini) for my ADV, and i'm very happy with them. But it's definitely worth first trying the PT fixes suggested above.

Regards
Glenn

Quite frankly, I am in a rather awful mood. In fact, just minutes ago, I nearly broke down and reached for an actual cigarette, but thankfully I snapped out of it and came to my senses.

As some of you already know, I ordered the Innokin iTaste MVP2.0 with three Kanger ProTank IIs. Prior to this, I had never vaped with anything more powerful than a VV Triton. I actually wrote a rather detailed review of my first experiences with the new items, but my internet connection died for about ten minutes last night and my work quickly vanished when trying to post. That was only the tip of the iceberg.

Long story short--I love the MVP2.0, but I am seriously having my doubts about the ProTank II. In fact, I am thinking of returning the third one (because I foolishly opened two of them) and the unopened packs of coils. That is, unless someone can convince me otherwise.

This happened last night. My first experience was horrible. The tank would not stop leaking into the battery's center post, and the draw was overly tight. I did what any sensible man would do--I took it apart, cleaned it well, put it back together, and refilled it. The exact same thing happened again, so it was back to the drawing board.

Moving on, I took it apart for the third time, cleaned it out, watched a video on YouTube, and tried to figure out how to clean the wicks a bit better. Well, when trying to pop the piece off that exposes the wicks, I accidentally broke the coil and destroyed the wicks. The ProTank II box comes with one replacement coil, but I ordered a couple of extra packs. Rather than opening a new pack, I reached for the replacement coil and filled the tank yet again.

Now, this is where I thought I had it all figured out. I was greeted with rich, thick, creamy clouds of vapor and an extraordinary taste and throat hit. It was unlike any other vaping experience that I have ever had. I simply could not put it down.

As you can imagine, I came home this evening, very much looking forward to repeating that great vaping experience. Well, when trying to refill the tank, I overfilled it and e-juice started leaking from the sides. I salvaged most of the e-juice, but I had to take the tank apart and clean it up. I did just that and refilled the tank. This time: no draw, no vapor, no taste, no nothing. At first I thought the battery was dead on the MVP because it would not even ignite. However, after finally getting it to ignite, I could hear the normal vaping sounds, but there was no vapor to be found. It was like sucking through a straw seated in an empty glass.

Again, I tried to clean it up (hoping that I missed something), but I am still being met again and again with the same vaporless experience. I suppose it could be the coil, but why the hell should I have to replace the coil again after such a short period of time?

I'm all ears if you have any tips, tricks, suggestions, or can recommend a better tank for the MVP2.0. I know many of you have had great success with these ProTanks, but I really have no idea what the hell I am doing. I suppose I could just buy an 808-510 adapter and use the Triton tanks with the MVP2.0. Come to think of it, I may just not like bottom coil tanks. To be perfectly honest, I find that filling this thing is a hassle unless you have a very fine point plastic syringe lying around. Thank you all in advance.

 

[MacTechVpr]

Walter, I had the same revelation you and virtually every vaper on this forum has experienced. Atomizer tank technology is not perfect! And often the expectations formed at retail and by the industry itself about expected performance are ultimately overstated.

Having a background in the technologies industries I understood that there had to be an optimal standard of performance. People on this forum and elsewhere were describing the experience. I looked for this standard or metric and found tremendous amounts of helpful information. Also a great deal of misinformation, a misconstructed cacophony of what works and doesn't. The Kanker Protank can be exceptional among mass-produced atomizer tanks. I found it to be so and you will see others experiencing the success of "it just works" you're seeking in a matter of days or weeks, not months or years, deploying these methods. So before you go off urged to experiment with hand winding experiments from the infancy of electronics understand these basic methods also have pitfalls. And you may wind up with results, not often explained, as bad or worse than the irregular factory builds you have found so disappointing.

I recommend two starting points that will provide you with the simple methods to stabilize your rebuilding, if you undertake it…

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/tips-tricks/463771-protank-cotton-rebuild-way-i-do.html
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/clearomizers/486794-protank-microcoil-discussion.html

There you will find a compilation by myself and others of some of the most productive straightforward techniques for rebuilding Protanks (and other clearomizers). Once you have a few easily refurbished atomizer assemblies using the methods you select in reserve your life may return to some sense of sanity. You will find many pointers there to the advice of some of the most successful and influential builders on ECF. It is all based on their groundwork.

If you are successful as I'm sure you may be, post your results here (as well) to point the way. Once you do, as remarkable as the Protank can be, there is a world of incredibly rewarding discovery ahead of you.

Good luck Walter!