Yes another Pro Tank II head rebuld thread

[Garemlin]

Ok have a new found like for the PTII. So now I think I wanna try rebuilding some coils when the time comes because I am thinking about picking up a few more. I have watched many videos about building a microcoil. Which is what I think I want to do. So the building concept is taken care of. What I need help with is what materials, diameters, length and wraps to use. I want to achieve a 2.0Ω - 2.2Ω basic coil. I have looked at the Steam Engine calculator but there are variable I am not sure of.

So.....

• How much space is there to work with inside the head. As it what is the longest you can make a col before chance shorting it out
• What is the best inside diameter to use and what to use to wrap around to achieve that i.d.
• What gauge kanthal and how many wraps to achieve my desired resistance.
• Yarn or silica and what outside diameter??? I really don't want to mess with the trial and error of shredding cotton balls
• Flavor wick or no flavor wick. And should it be the same wick as you use for the coil wick

I know many people make it even more simple by just wrapping around their wick. But I figure with a microcoil re-threading the wick will be much easier.

Sorry if some of this is redundant but I figure there are many of you that have discovered the perfect combination to make this as easy as possible. That is pretty much what I want. Build a small supply of consistently same coils and be done with it without trial and error.

Also on a side note I would ideally like to build a coil for use in the PTII that I could also try in the nautilus head. Similar to what RipTripper did do rebuild one as a single coil.

 

[coalyard]

Well, I can't address the yarn or silica thing because I use cotton. For the coil itself, I am using 30ga A-1 kanthal, 8 wraps around a 16ga needle, 1.8 ohm very consistently. I squeeze and torch the coil before installing it in the head to avoid having to fire it dry. If you choose to use it in the future, cotton is pretty easy to get the hang of; much less finicky than say a KFL. I use a small flavor wick as well with 50-50 juice. You may not want to. The good thing is, any changes you want to make are really easy since you don't have to empty the tank to make them.

As far as the Nautilus is concerned, coils wired in parallel can be touching one another with no ill effects. Good luck.

 

[AlexanderJ]

I use 30ga kanthal 7-8 wraps on a 5/32 drill bit, and get two ohms perfectly. The bit slides perfectly into most heads, (manufacturing tolerances must not be very accurate) so I leave the coil on the bit, let it drop into the cup, work on the connector end, then slide bit out dry burn and cotton up. I've been doing a thin strand through the coil and two little balls on top of just the ends, but not over the coil...better flavor and still no gurgling...it's like a half flavor wick that actually works.

 

[AlexanderJ]

Also, I've tried lots of cotton now, and have the most success with sterile cotton balls. No flavor at all to mask the juice. And as far as not wanting to mess with cotton balls, it's so easy I change regularly (every other day or so) without thinking about it...much less work than it seems, especially in pro tanks where you can access the coil so quickly.

 

[bover907]

I just actually made my first couple of coils for my evod tanks the last couple of days. (Evod's use the same coil head)

Believe it or not, it's IMO easier to make a micro coil, then to wrap around a wick. I tried both. My 'mirco coils' looked pretty neat, and in fact I just re-wicked the first one I made, so I could change juice. The cotton itself was still very clean, but then again, it was a clear juice. I just re-wicked because I was changing flavors. I must say, I was very satisfied with the vapor and flavor. It produces a thicker vapor, and uses more juice. 12mg juice in my cotton micros is like 18mg in stock heads.

The hand wrap, I made around 2mm ekowool, and it was very cumbersome to me. I'm 42, with a decent amount of arthritis in my hands, but I've seen youtube videos of ladies at least 15 years my senior with stubby fingers do both micros and hand wraps, so I don't know what my problem is. I just couldn't seem to do it. I may try getting some 1.5mm ekowool to try threading thru my coils, because the 2mm is just a smidge too thick to thread thru a 5/64"ID micro.

I used 31ga Kanthal, about 8 wraps gave me 2.5Ω, and one gave me like 2.87. I wanted to get closer to 2.2 or 2.0, but they keep coming out with a higher resistance then I expected. Don't know why.

One thing I did realize is my vision is probably a lot worse than I thought, lol. I may need one of those desktop magnifier lamps like jewelers use. Thought rebuilding was supposed to save money, lol.

Just sharing my first experience.

 

[Garemlin]

So if I use a 1/16" bit to wrap my coil I would want to use 1.5mm wick??? 1/16" = 1.587mm. Or might that be a little snug???

@bover: I just did some calculations on the Steam Engine calculator. I entered your values.

2.5Ω
31ga Kanthal
5/64" i.d

According to the calculator to achieve that 2.5Ω it would require 13 wraps. That doesn't make any sense who you are getting that with 8 wraps. 8 wraps should give you 1.6Ω with those variables. Now I'm confused.

 

[Joe13]

Steam engine says I'd need 12/11 wraps of 30 AWG kanthal around a 1/16" bit to get 1.8 ohms.

I consistently get 1.8 ohms from 8/7 wraps of 30 gauge around 1/16". I have a dedicated meter, as well as mods that also check resistance. Same readings on both.

I think calculators are a great guideline, but you really won't know what you'll get until you do it yourself.

 

[Garemlin]

Steam engine says I'd need 12/11 wraps of 30 AWG kanthal around a 1/16" bit to get 1.8 ohms.

I consistently get 1.8 ohms from 8/7 wraps of 30 gauge around 1/16". I have a dedicated meter, as well as mods that also check resistance. Same readings on both.

I think calculators are a great guideline, but you really won't know what you'll get until you do it yourself.

Yeah I am really starting to see that. I have scoured posts and taken peoples builds and entered their variables into the Steam Engine calculator. They rarely match up. And are usually off by several wraps.

My biggest thing is wick size. I see many people using say a 2mm jig but using 2mm wicking material. I thought there was supposed to be some give in the wick when fed through the coil. Feeding an o.d. 2mm into an i.d. 2mm doesn't sound like there would be any give at all

 

[Dampmaskin]

Hmm. Maybe it's time to add a fudge factor somewhere.

Does the coil calculator consistently overshoot the number of wraps?

I suspect that kanthal stretches a bit while you wind it. That would make it thinner, and increase the resistance per length, which in turn would lead to fewer wraps being needed in order to reach a certain target resistance.

Maybe some sort of tension parameter could be used to adjust for that.

Edit to add: I found a bug in the user interface. When using the fractional inches selector, the value from the input field was not read into the calculator unless you "manually" updated the value in the input field afterwards. So the calculator was still seeing the 1.30 mm default internal diameter, despite you having set it to 1/16" (1.59 mm).

Once I fixed this, the outputted numbers matched up much better. Then I added a tension parameter anyway.

 

[keonee]

I tried the cotton balls and could not get the hang of of it....either to much or not enough cotton. Almost gave up trying until I bought the Peaches and Cream Yarn ( white ) from Walmart. It works perfect every time for my recoiling on Prontank 2's and Aspire Nautilus'. There's no guesswork on how much cotton to use. Just build the coil and thread the cotton yarn thru.

Good Luck to You.

 

[GeorgeWachsmuth]

Steam engine says I'd need 12/11 wraps of 30 AWG kanthal around a 1/16" bit to get 1.8 ohms.

I consistently get 1.8 ohms from 8/7 wraps of 30 gauge around 1/16". I have a dedicated meter, as well as mods that also check resistance. Same readings on both.

I think calculators are a great guideline, but you really won't know what you'll get until you do it yourself.

The android app I am using, Coil Builder, says 30ga....1/16 dia.......8/7 wraps...for 1.8 ohms. Love this app...

Edited : The App is named, Vapors Toolbox.

 

[Garemlin]

I tried the cotton balls and could not get the hang of of it....either to much or not enough cotton. Almost gave up trying until I bought the Peaches and Cream Yarn ( white ) from Walmart. It works perfect every time for my recoiling on Prontank 2's and Aspire Nautilus'. There's no guesswork on how much cotton to use. Just build the coil and thread the cotton yarn thru.

Good Luck to You.

What inside diameter do you use on your coil when using the p&c yarn????

And are you using RipTrippers guide for the Nautilus rebuild??? The one that he makes it a single coil???

 

[Garemlin]

The android app I am using, Coil Builder, says 30ga....1/16 dia.......8/7 wraps...for 1.8 ohms. Love this app....

Which one are you using. I just had several come up searching the market.

 

[GeorgeWachsmuth]

Which one are you using. I just had several come up searching the market.

Jeez..sorry..the App's name is Vapors Toolbox....the tab inside is Coil Builder..also has a neat current, wattage, resistance and voltage calculator...

 

[Garemlin]

Jeez..sorry..the App's name is Vapors Toolbox....the tab inside is Coil Builder..also has a neat current, wattage, resistance and voltage calculator...

Ahhh yeah. I already have that one. Actually forgot I installed it.

 

[Garemlin]

The android app I am using, Coil Builder, says 30ga....1/16 dia.......8/7 wraps...for 1.8 ohms. Love this app...

Edited : The App is named, Vapors Toolbox.

Amazing. I just ran the same variable thru Steam Engine and 30ga, 1/16" diameter to achieve 1.8Ω states 12/11 wraps.

Done in reverse the Vapor's Toolbox says that will give you a 2.6Ω.

Ugh!!!!

 

[Dampmaskin]

Amazing. I just ran the same variable thru Steam Engine and 30ga, 1/16" diameter to achieve 1.8Ω states 12/11 wraps.

Done in reverse the Vapor's Toolbox says that will give you a 2.6Ω.

Ugh!!!!

I am awfully sorry about that, there was a bug in the user interface. :/ I updated my previous post in this thread with some details.

It has been fixed now, by the way.

 

[Joe13]

My biggest thing is wick size. I see many people using say a 2mm jig but using 2mm wicking material. I thought there was supposed to be some give in the wick when fed through the coil. Feeding an o.d. 2mm into an i.d. 2mm doesn't sound like there would be any give at all

Eh, wick size doesn't matter.

Wicking is almost like an art. 2mm silica from one vendor won't necessarily be the exact same OD as from another vendor. Too fat a wick will choke off the juice flow, resulting in dry or burnt hits. Too thin a wick and you get gurling/leaking. Strands can be removed from twisted silica to make threading easier and improve flow. Coil size can be reduced to accomodate a thinner wick.

I use cotton exclusively, and it's dang near impossible to give anyone a general guideline on how much to use.

You're doing great, asking good questions, attempting to learn as much as possible before starting. I did the same thing. But my first few coils still sucked.

Full disclosure: I've only been doing this for a couple of months myself, and I've only been enthusiastic about my results for a few weeks.

 

[Garemlin]

Eh, wick size doesn't matter.

Wicking is almost like an art. 2mm silica from one vendor won't necessarily be the exact same OD as from another vendor. Too fat a wick will choke off the juice flow, resulting in dry or burnt hits. Too thin a wick and you get gurling/leaking. Strands can be removed from twisted silica to make threading easier and improve flow. Coil size can be reduced to accomodate a thinner wick.

I use cotton exclusively, and it's dang near impossible to give anyone a general guideline on how much to use.

You're doing great, asking good questions, attempting to learn as much as possible before starting. I did the same thing. But my first few coils still sucked.

Full disclosure: I've only been doing this for a couple of months myself, and I've only been enthusiastic about my results for a few weeks.

Well I was in Wally World today and on a whim I picked up a small spool of Peaches & Creme yarn. Figured why not for less than $1.50. Now I just need to get some Kanthal ordered and give this a go and hope for the best.

 

[Joe13]

Keep at it bro! It's worth it.