KangerTech Mini dry hits...

[Married 2 The 7]

So about 2 days ago I received a Subtank Mini from my dad. He bought it for himself but didn't like it and likes his Nautilus much more. He likes the tight draw mouth to lung experience. So I got it but with no coils since he used them both on tobacco flavors so they were no good for me. Awesome I get to try out the RBA section! Have never built anything myself so it was great it came with 2 pre built coils. Used the one installed on the RBA and just wicked it. Have never wicked anything before but seen enough YouTube videos to get a idea. Wicked it, fired it up and all worked, filled up the tank and off to vape world. Now my problem is I keep getting dry hits/burnt hits at low watts. Is it my wicking, coil, juice or is it to be expected. I don't chain vape, I take a few seconds between vaping and I use 60/40 juice so far. Have tried 2 different juices and 2 different coils and wicking (the 2 that came with the tank) and I get the same thing. I don't know if it is burnt or dry hits since I don't know the difference, never had either before having this tank but I get a bad feeling in my throat to the point it makes me gag sometimes. But goes away with the next vape. It usually happens every 3 pulls or so, and makes me take shorter faster vapes in order not to get that nasty taste again. Any suggestions on what to do or builds or something? I feel like my cotton isn't keeping up but could be wrong. Suggestions will be tremendous.

 

[dubya314]

Couple things to try, both have worked for me on different levels with different coils.
1) take a very small needle and poke a hole in the cotton in the juice wells.
2) take a flat toothpick and push the cotton about 1/2 way in the juice wells.
Good luck, hope something works for you, cuz when they are wicking right, they are great tanks imo

 

[Prsurf2k]

He was using the RBA section. Maybe check the depth /width of the juice channels/holes and you may have to file out those because earlier version of the RBA had problems with the juice channels. The new RBAs have an improved juice channel. I would post some pics and links but where I work the network doesn't let us go to or do certain things.

 

[UncleMike]

Definitely sounds like a wicking issue to me, I also have the subtank mini and use only the rba section with my tank. It was a learning curve to find the just right amount of cotton for wicking. I use organic cotton pads and cut a strip following the grain of the cotton just a bit wider than the inside diameter of the coil. Roll up one end so that you can fit it through the coil and start pulling it through, you may have to pull both ends of the cotton strip a little bit to stretch it as you're pulling it through the coil. Once you've got it where you want, you should trim it so that it just fits down on the deck in the juice wells but making sure you don't plug off the juice channels (little groves on the side of the rba. Spread the cotton out so that it fills each side of the deck, give it a few drops of liquid for initial priming then screw on the chimney sleeve and top. Now you're ready to put it all back in the tank which should also have been filled with liquid. For the first few puffs make sure your watts aren't set to high or you'll get burnt hits right away as you'll be burning the cotton. Give the wick a chance to pull the juice into it fully before upping your watts. You can tweak to your preference from there. It's a great little tank and works amazing once you get it setup correctly.

 

[Neunerball]

Definitely sounds like a wicking issue to me, I also have the subtank mini and use only the rba section with my tank. It was a learning curve to find the just right amount of cotton for wicking. I use organic cotton pads and cut a strip following the grain of the cotton just a bit wider than the inside diameter of the coil. Roll up one end so that you can fit it through the coil and start pulling it through, you may have to pull both ends of the cotton strip a little bit to stretch it as you're pulling it through the coil. Once you've got it where you want, you should trim it so that it just fits down on the deck in the juice wells but making sure you don't plug off the juice channels (little groves on the side of the rba. Spread the cotton out so that it fills each side of the deck, give it a few drops of liquid for initial priming then screw on the chimney sleeve and top. Now you're ready to put it all back in the tank which should also have been filled with liquid. For the first few puffs make sure your watts aren't set to high or you'll get burnt hits right away as you'll be burning the cotton. Give the wick a chance to pull the juice into it fully before upping your watts. You can tweak to your preference from there. It's a great little tank and works amazing once you get it setup correctly.

+1
And do a google search "Kanger Subtank Mini build", in order to find video tutorials.

 

[AmandaD]

Good advice above. With this RBA more wicking is better!

 

[Married 2 The 7]

Here's some pictures of my coil and cotton. I noticed it looks like there is more cotton on one side on the pictures so I decided to "fix" it and we'll. It went from bad to worst. Now I get dry burn hits every time. Maybe I need more cotton? I'm using the cotton that came with the tank.

 

[AmandaD]

Hard to see, but I think you can get more cotton in the coil and cut it shorter - so that it only just touches the deck. I really stuff cotton in my subtank coils - enough that you have to work it in so as not to distort the coil. But I also drilled out my juice channels on two of the three.

 

[Married 2 The 7]

Ok so I re wicked my coil. Dry burned it then re wicked it with more cotton than before and did a pancake ends on them and works much better. I was even able to go up some watts with great results. No dry hits the whole time I vaped. Question now, these are the stock coils the tank came with. What build do you guys recommend on the subtank for best flavor or just in general. New to building my own coils and wicking them. Anything helps.

 

[UncleMike]

that's really a personal preference and will vary from person to person. even though my kanger mini is a subtank .. I prefer a bit cooler vape and tend to stay in the 1 - 1.4 range as I can always turn up the watts if I feel the need for more vapor. Most of the time I pick flavor over vapor but that's just me.

Oh, and glad you're getting the wicking figured out.

 

[Neunerball]

Just in case, someone wants to see how to do the pancake wicking:

 

[AZ4running]

I saw his video on how to build the kanger rba last night and it was very helpful on building and wicking the rta, worked great for me. You can also search and find a video on how to rewick the occ coil and that works very well also. I am finding the the occ coils are sometimes wicked too tight and not able to pull enough juice to the coil resulting in bad dry hits. With the rta make sure the inlet holes are clear of any cottton, you should see light through them.

 

[AmandaD]

I wick my three STMs very tight, but you have to be careful not to block the juice channels. And on two of them I used a bead reamer/dremel to make the channels a little bigger.

 

[AZ4running]

Ok i have been using my rba since last night with no issues at all, vaping great. Its all in how you do the wick, make sure when you put on the outer sleeve that you pull up the wick before putting it on, then lightly push the ends of the wick down into the sleevs, dont pack too tight. Then soak the wick with juice. Using a tiny flat head screw driver or tooth pick (I used a bobby pin) move the wick towards the coil just enough to see light from the intake holes. Let the coil soak in the tank of juice for 10 minutes and you are good to go.

 

[Wolfenstark]

Cotton through the coil put the chamber on and cut the cotton about half an inch above the chamber, then fold the ends down and push back and tuck cotton into the chamber so the bottom of the wick is touching the deck. Juice it up then with a thin tool gently push the cotton away from the juice holes.

 

[kiwivaper]

look up on youtube there is a vid on how to mod the rda section.. basiclly you drill a hole in the chamer half way up the tube part, exactly above the juice chanels, it does work.. wicks way better..

 

[AZ4running]

3 days on the same rba coil and wick with no issues, had one half dry hit but the tank was nearly empty. Un modded rba.