What the hell is up with Kanger's "flavor wicks"?

[7sixtwo]

I'm still fairly new to vaping.

I'm lucky in that I'm quite satisfied with the first mod and toppers I bought, (Tesla, Evod, Protank II), and use em all daily, so I don't feel like I've wasted any money on something that ended up in the drawer, unused.

Anyway, I've always felt like the Evod and Protank II worked well enough, but the flavors seemed a bit muted and if I turned up the wattage over 10 on a ~2.8 ohm head, I'd get the ol "burny taste", despite what I'd read about how variable wattage was supposed to work. I'd also have to wait a few sec between hits, even on lower wattage, to avoid that.

So, I finally decided to take an Evod head apart and take off the "extra" wicks that Kanger stacks on top of the wick that actually has the coil wrapped around it.

I put it back together, filled it up with some Nicoticket, (my favorite brand), juice, (Or3o, to start with), and took a vape. Man, what a difference! The flavor's better, I can dial the wattage up as much as I want, and chain vape away, with no "cool down", without it tasting burnt. I've got the Tesla set on 13 W right now, and am getting the best vaping experience I've had since I started.

So.. what the hell is the point of Kanger's "flavor wicks"? They seem to degrade performance in every way. Just a design flaw.. or perhaps a misunderstanding as to how we {MODERATED} vape?

What do y'all think?

 

[TheDarthJager]

Not sure, haven't heard of that problem before. Just remember a lot of these mods and devices are coming out as fast of the manufacture can make them to stay one step ahead of the competition, there for it stands to reason a few ideas that weren't that great made it into production one way or another.

 

[7sixtwo]

Not sure, haven't heard of that problem before. Just remember a lot of these mods and devices are coming out as fast of the manufacture can make them to stay one step ahead of the competition, there for it stands to reason a few ideas that weren't that great made it into production one way or another.

They seem to just wick up juice and do nothing with it, depriving the coiled wick of available juice to ensure nasty hits if you try to take em without a pause in between. No upside to their presence that I've observed or could imagine.

You're probably right in that their inclusion was an idea that seemed good to someone but was never actually user-tested prior to production and sale.

Anyway, damned glad I removed em!

 

[TheDarthJager]

Well I'm glad you posted it, I was thinking about getting a protank and at least I know to watch for that.

 

[irwink]

It may be a matter of the vg% juice the op is using. I having been using protanks for months without wicking issues. My juices are all 80% pg and 20%vg. VG is more viscuous and doesn't wick as well as pg.

 

[7sixtwo]

It may be a matter of the vg% juice the op is using. I having been using protanks for months without wicking issues. My juices are all 80% pg and 20%vg. VG is more viscuous and doesn't wick as well as pg.

That may have something to do with it. Most of my stuff is 50/50.

 

[Doorknob]

My understanding for the flavor wicks is to prevent flooding and leaking. I may be wrong though.

 

[blklion77]

If got a davide mega a mini(same style) and taking a wick makes it gurgle. It has good flavor with both wicks

 

[K_Tech]

My understanding for the flavor wicks is to prevent flooding and leaking. I may be wrong though.

If got a davide merge a mini(same style) and taking a wick makes it gurgle. It has good flavor with both wicks

I had a regular Davide that had a flooding/leaking issue; it turned out that it was a wick issue. I think the extra wicks are in there as much to hold juice as they are to seal against leaking and flooding.

 

[Jim Diamond]

My understanding for the flavor wicks is to prevent flooding and leaking. I may be wrong though.

This is part of it, as is the rubber cover that slides over the coil post. I frequently remove a flavor wick when first using a coil head, later to put them back in or replace them, as the wicks become more saturated or less able to fill the two entire holes. When I first started vaping with BCC's I thought I was crazy, because most of my heads would start out tasting burnt. As it turned out, the heads were not wicking fast enough to keep up with the coil burn. Anyway, I am always tinkering with my heads now (did that sound right?), recoiling, adding and subtracting flavor wicks, etc. It's nice to know we can make these fixes/adjustments to the coils when we need to. JD

 

[dice57]

Okay, My personal experience an take on Protank flavor wicks. I have found, that yes if you take a flavor wick off, it is going to perform outstanding, at least for a Protank. But, chance are, on your next tank fill, it will start to leak. The main thing I do is allow a minimum of 15 minutes to allow the wicks to get saturated before that first vape. If I do that, then I can vape tank after tank with no problems. I can even vape till there is just a dribble of juice before refilling with no problems at all. I can get at least 50 ml of juice through a tank before needing to tend to the coil.

I really don't use the Protanks anymore, they no longer satisfy me. I actually gave the PT original to a friend, and am using the drip tip of the PT II on my rba.

 

[Cookster]

I find the flavor wicks mute the flavors also. I remove the stock one, and put 1 1mm silica wick in, and the flavor, for me, is outstanding...YMMV

 

[Mad Scientist]

The flavor wicks also puzzle me. My present theory is that Kanger discovered that the larger diameter coil required by a larger diameter wick has a resistance too high for stock ego type batteries and also requires more power than those batteries can be expected to deliver. They reduced wick/coil diameter to 2mm to get it to work and added wicks on top for a bit more juice in contact with the coil. A lot of top coil clearos have a similar design -- as in a coiled wick with another wick either beneath or on top of that coiled wick.

I've tried leaving the flavor wicks out on a 2mm wick build and always end up with gurgles sooner or later. The only juice I have that doesn't wick well with flavor wicks left in is MBV's caramel coffee at max VG. The sweetener in that juice gunks wicks fast. Has nothing to do with flavor wicks or not, just a very sweet juice that gets gummy when heated.

If the stock Kanger heads aren't delivering enough flavor, rebuild the heads with 3mm silica and 30 AWG Kanthal, no flavor wicks. You will need a minimum of 10 watts into it, more like 12 to get it really rocking, but the flavor is not muted.

 

[JessicaS]

The flavor wick thing is an ongoing debate. It does depend on the juice viscosity and how long you let gravity do its thing after filling the tank. My advice to anyone is always to try it with out taking the wick out, since thinner juice will cause leaking if you do. If it is not performing well, and you juice is thicker, then remove one flavor wick. The BCCs can be fiddly, so I have just stuck with a DCT. Clearos frustrate me more often than not when all I want is to have a good vape, so I dual coil carto tanks, and atty tanks are the way the way go IMHO.


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[crxess]

What do y'all think?

I think many have no actual clue as to function of equipment and/or adjustment.

Pour Mud through a strainer and watch how slow it passes
Pour a cup of water through a 6" diameter pipe and watch hoe fast it exits.

Flavors wicks(poor naming) have a purpose:
Fill the void left in the opening by the coiled wick
Carry additional liquid to be delivered to coil

VG has a purpose:
Thicken e-liquids
Smooth out Flavors
Add volume to visible Vapor

VG does not absorb well to start with. Add in a restricted, small wick and you can have issues.
Increase heat and add chain vaping and you Do have issues.

Flavor wicks do not mute flavor any more than any silica wick. They control Fluid flow. Thick Fluid does not flow well to start with.

FACT LESS (Vaporized) FLUID = LESS FLAVOR

This issue is already a hundred threads old and inclusive of almost all Clearomizers. All because people do not understand what is happening and assume bad design.
Considering the average of purchased e-liquids sole is 70/30 to 50/50 mix, manufacturers are NOT going to tune tanks for 80-100% VG. This task is up to you.
A few things you can do:
Remove Flavor wicks - not the best idea - get the liquid hot and it thins and you have leaking.
Add a few drops of grain alcohol - Thins mix
Add a few drops of Distilled water - Thins mix
Reduce final VG blend - Thins mix

Getting the picture?
Thinner flows better.
Thinner absorbs better.
Thinner wicks more flavor
Thinner vaporizes easier
Thinner Gunks up less

Make it thinner, be a winner.......j/k
Just learn what is happening and make the needed adjustments.

 

[Chas F.]

crxess, sounds like a convincing statement to me. I hadn't read about thinning out the juice for increased wicking performance. Good stuff!

 

[volume control]

Right on CRX. If i pulled the flavor wicks in my evods or protanks id be drinking juice. Its all a matter of how thick your juice is and how well if vaporizes. PG/VG mixture, quality of liquid, flavors, can all contribute to how your juice vaporizes, and if its thick you likely will find the need to use better wicking devices, or thin out the wicks in devices.

 

[Snickerfritz]

I used to remove the flavor wicks, or rather, I'd rebuild my coils without flavor wicks. They worked great...at first. Then, I started noticing that everything was almost instantly flooding. Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle. I tried just about everything I could think of, convinced the problem was not the absence of flavor any flavor wick. Finally, desperate, I rebuilt a coil with a substantial flavor wick, just to eliminate the possibility, I thought. Worked perfectly, no flooding for at least two days. I've used a flavor wick ever since.

 

[Rickajho]

What crxess said.

Somehow, some way, there is a point to providing liquid to a coil and doing it at an appropriate rate. That is the point of all wicking - be it in the coil, or in this design - on top of it as well. Simple geometry - you have a round coil, being sealed on top by the flat surface of the bottom of the vent tube. Oh - that doesn't exactly seal does it? If the top wick isn't there you get a flooded coil where vapor production actually goes down, not up.

Well at least somebody doesn't understand how to vape maybe. The biggest problem I see new users having with these Kanger bottom coils is running them as hot as possible, just because they can. The technology neither works well or needs high voltage to "blow your clouds, man." I have a PT coil metering 2.5 ohms and I'm running the thing at a ginormous... 3.7 volts. With 100 VG liquid with the top wicks in place. Guess what? It works. Run these coils at what the "know it all's" think the voltage should be - because they know everything about how every piece of hardware works - they read something about watts and stuff - and then we have the 137 threads complaining about a PT, Evod etc. tasting harsh and burnt, and flooding because a "know it all" said the only way they work is with the top wicks removed.

Start the Kanger Bcc's at your lowest voltage possible, especially if you made the mistake - oops, "informed decision" - and headed straight for the 1.8 ohm coils. Don't be surprised if you can get your cloud thing working at an embarrassing 3.2 volts with a 1.8 ohm coil. I won't tell the "experts" on you. However, if you want to be an "expert" at vaping, rip the thing apart and modify the design before you even try it.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

I'm of the firm, immovable opinion that removing the flavor wicks is a bad idea and leads to flooding, leaking and gurgling issues that people seem to complain about more than anything else when it comes to Kanger bottom coil systems.

Those things are there for a reason. They are the system's best and only defense against having the liquid leak through the airflow shaft in the coil and pooling on your battery terminal. Rebuilding the coil with 3mm wick and wrapping a thick coil can let you get away with no flavor wicks, especially if your liquid has a high VG content.

cxress is right. Thinner is better because the wicking action is more efficient with thinner liquids.

A better option to removing them is replacing them with cotton from a cotton ball or cotton cheesecloth. This is what I do with every new coil.

I haven't rebuilt a coil in several weeks, but every time I did it with cotton the performance was outstanding, regardless of whether I was using a high PG liquid or high VG flavor.