Wicking Problem? (Kanger)

[SweeneyTodd79]

So, I am running a Kanger Protank 2 with the v1 airflow ring (which was a great upgrade) on an eleaf iStick (also a great upgrade from the vision spinner II).

Having dealt with the problem of snapping batteries in my pocket (working days in the shop instead of at my desk is hazardous to vape hardware) and having improved airflow (the aero ring) I decided to try moving from the 1.8 (always read 1.9 or 2.0 ohm) to the 1.5 (read 1.7 on the two we tried) single coil kanger heads.

Both my girlfriend's and my tanks did nothing but give burnt tasting hits with the lower ohm coils in place, regardless of the wattage we ran at (3.0-3.7) and how open or closed we ran the aero ring. We are using a 50/50 mix juice.

My only thought is that this is a wicking issue/juice issue. That the 50/50 isn't getting fed fast enough to the coil.

Am I way off base? has anyone else had the issue? Solutions?

(In the mean time we went back to the higher resistance coils and are mostly happy- Just frustrated that my little box will push 20 watts but the rest of my setup limits me to 8 watts or less )

 

[leekeylee]

If you go through the main eLeaf iStick thread here

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/variable-voltage-apv-discussion/601111-eleaf-istick.html

A few people have had this with lower ohm coils on the iStick. It is due to the fact that the iStick is putting out more power than the screen actually says. I don't fully understand all the science behind it but "PBusardo" has done a good job on explaining this on hi you tube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W1G7p_fCJw

I had this problem but what I have done is now I re-build my coils to vertical coils at about 1.4ohm and I can turn the power right up without being burnt. I have done a thread here on how to re-build the new enclosed kanger heads but doing building them in the old style is same principle but a but a bit easier

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ed-kanger-dual-coil-single-vertical-coil.html

Hope it helps as I love my iStick

 

[joesquid]

Seems to me the obvious answer is just to go back to the 1.8 ohm coils (especially using an istick).

 

[Susan~S]

You are spot on regarding your wicking issue (below is what I recommend to others as far as what to do if they get "dry hits). As far as having 20 watts and being unable to use them -- you would have to do a setup change. If you ever want to enter the rebuildable world, it doesn't have to be expensive. There also is some education required, but it's not that hard to learn all you would need to learn and still be safe (especially with a regulated devise).

Now for my "burnt hits" post:

If you are getting a burnt taste (we call those "dry hits"), if usually means your wick cannot pull the eliquid fast enough to keep up with your battery. There are a couple of things you can do:

1. Dial down your voltage. This will vaporize the eliquid at a slower rate (if your battery allows you to do this)
2. Decrease the airflow, if your tank has adjustable airflow. The decrease in airflow will increase vacuum inside the tank's atomizer, which should increase the flow of juice to the wick..
3. Take a sharp draw (or two) on your drip tip (without engaging your battery). This will pull more eliquid into the coil so that it will be available when you press the battery button and take a draw.
4. Buy some higher ohm coils.

You will get the feel of this over time and develop a sense of how often you will need to do this to avoid "dry hits". The PG/VG ratio of your eliquid also comes into play, as VG is thicker than PG . If you use high VG try adding a few drops of distilled water to your tank to thin out the eliquid.

 

[leekeylee]

Seems to me the obvious answer is just to go back to the 1.8 ohm coils (especially using an istick).

You can do but if you do want to get to the 20 watts because an iStick will only go as high as the coil allows you will need about a 1.2ohm coil. To prevent burning you do need good airflow which you should get as I use the same sort of set up on one of my tanks but I build my own coils as I said above vertically as I think this gives even better air flow and "draw" because the air is coming up through the middle of the coil so that also keeps the coil a little cooler.

I also always wick with Muji Japanaese cotton and this might also help.

 

[SweeneyTodd79]

Thanks, I'll try to wade through the istick thread for more info.

Joe - the obvious answer is to switch back, yes. but I was interested in why...

Is the juice too thick,
is the istick to blame,
etc, etc.

Are the rest of my 1.5 ohm coils a total waste?

 

[joesquid]

I think it's probably more to do with the istick not regulating the voltage low enough. You may be able to get away with primer hits and switching to a thinner juice. Did you switch because you were unhappy with the 1.8 or were you just curious?

If you decide to switch back, I'd hold on to the coils. Never know, you may end up with something like an MVP that can regulate down to where they're usable.

 

[joesquid]

By the way.......I have an MVP and recoil my own Kanger heads but never go below 1.7 ohms. I try for 1.8 normally. That's where I get the best vape.

 

[Bored2Tears]

I recently bought the istick. I was fully aware going into the purchase that the device pushed more volts than advertised on the display. Lowest voltage I believe when they scoped this out was 4.1V. You're probably pushing 11 watts on the 1.5 ohm coils. I assume you've got stock Kanger prebuilt coils, with the silica wicks. It's been my experience that the silica wicks aren't working well for me.

I am running 2.2ohm Kanger coils now with my istick and still need to keep the device set to lowest setting (displays 3.0 volts but in reality is 4.1 from my understanding). That puts me at a comfortable vape of approx 7.64 watts, and the wicking keeps up pretty well... (not great, but OK).

I bought the istick with the intention of starting to rebuild my Kanger coils and use cotton or rayon as a wicking material , which I believe most people report wicks better and gives better flavor. I haven't done any rebuilding yet, so the folks who do will chime in and tell us if that's true. I plan to rebuild at least 2.0 or higher so that I have more range of use on my istick.

 

[FallenRawToast]

The iStick is more the blame than anything else here, because of the way it DC to DC chip regulates.

 

[SweeneyTodd79]

My goal was experimental... to try out a lower ohm coil would allow me to use more of the mod's wattage, and hopefully get more flavor production...

It seems that I'll just stay with the 1.8s, and stay in the bottom half/third of it's capabilities wattage wise to get a good vape.

Friend has one of these, runs an orchid v2, and several other RBAs on it, and it rocks and rolls at 20w without this issue (yes she is wrapped to about 1.1-1.2 and I figured if it worked there, why shouldn't 1.5 work for a tank?

 

[joesquid]

Certainly worth a try. I'm sure there's a lot of others out there that owe you thanks for giving it a try and posting the results on here. It'll save them from but less than optimum coils.

I run 1.5ohm on my Kayfuns but they have much different wicking and airflow.

 

[Bigbob2322]

So, I am running a Kanger Protank 2 with the v1 airflow ring (which was a great upgrade) on an eleaf iStick (also a great upgrade from the vision spinner II).

Having dealt with the problem of snapping batteries in my pocket (working days in the shop instead of at my desk is hazardous to vape hardware) and having improved airflow (the aero ring) I decided to try moving from the 1.8 (always read 1.9 or 2.0 ohm) to the 1.5 (read 1.7 on the two we tried) single coil kanger heads.

Both my girlfriend's and my tanks did nothing but give burnt tasting hits with the lower ohm coils in place, regardless of the wattage we ran at (3.0-3.7) and how open or closed we ran the aero ring. We are using a 50/50 mix juice.

My only thought is that this is a wicking issue/juice issue. That the 50/50 isn't getting fed fast enough to the coil.

Am I way off base? has anyone else had the issue? Solutions?

(In the mean time we went back to the higher resistance coils and are mostly happy- Just frustrated that my little box will push 20 watts but the rest of my setup limits me to 8 watts or less )

My Istick worked great for the first week using a Nautilus mini and full size with 1.6 coils at 9 to 11 watts then started getting VERY BURNT HITS. Both tanks work fine on other devices (Mvp2 and Vision Spinner 2). Even at the lowest setting I still get burnt hits always, then yesterday I thought I would try the Istick again and no change. I then started running the watts on the auto scroll and took the tank off while it was scrolling up. I put the tank on again and it was like week 1 FANTASTIC VAPE at 11 watts. It lasted about 4 hours then back to all burnt hits at any setting. I must of received a lemon.