Noob question, new Kanger topbox mini hits waaay different than Aspire Nautilus mini. HELP!!

[BackwoodsVape]

Been doing a lot of reading on VU, love the site, tons of great advice, so i decided i better sign up and get educated by the pros!

Ive been vaping a Nautilus Mini off and on for about a year, while mainly smoking. I love that thing, great taste, great clouds, great flavor, etc. I recently decided to quit smoking, so being the DIYer that i am, im diving in head first. I went out and ordered a Kanger Topbox Mini starter kit, along with everything i need to start making my own juice ( whole other set of problems ha). Anyways, i am currently vaping MTBaker Forestberry Fusion Juice, max VG, 18 mg nic. Didnt mind the juice in my Nautilus, decent flavor, good throat hit, good vapor, etc. Still learning about juice levels, what brands are better than others, pg/vg ratios i will like the best, etc. But when i vape that juice in my Topbox it sucks! The flavor is completely different, hardly any vapor, very WET tasting, heavy on the chest, honestly it makes me question if i should have stuck with my Nautilus. Ive vaped anywhere from 15w up to 40w, trying to find the sweet spot, with no luck.

So i guess my question is.. What can i change to get the results i should be getting? Different juice? Different pg/vg ratio? Wattage? Coil? I know this Topbox has the potential to rock my world and open my eyes up to the awesomeness that is vaping! Up to this point i have just basically bought juice that sounded good, and vaped it. But now that i want to get into it more since i quit smoking two weeks ago, start to learn what the hell im doing, what i could be doing, and how to get the absolute best vaping experience possible, i realize that i will need some help. Also this sub ohm vaping is a completely different beast as far as im concerned, and reading about it makes my head spin. I dont even fully understand the difference in the coils that came in the Kanger kit. I know ones an RBA, but the other three look virtually the same, with slightly different numbers and ranges on the side. I feel like a moron. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[PuffPuffPass]

What's your pg/VG levels? High PG means throat hit. Just as a high Nic level will do when subohm.

And hopefully you're not subohming 18mg. Some of us have, but it's not recommended. The numbers on the sides of your coils, are ohms.

You should be using the 1.2. Otherwise, you're probably using the .5 which is subohm.

 

[Vapin4Joy]

With the Kanger .5 coil I do Mt Baker French Toast 80/20 6 or3 mg. I think max vg works best in a dripper. I really didn't like max vg in the Kanger coil, did not wick well at all.

 

[PuffPuffPass]

With the Kanger .5 coil I do Mt Baker French Toast 80/20 6 or3 mg. I think max vg works best in a dripper. I really didn't like max vg in the Kanger coil, did not wick well at all.

Try a Pancake wick. I'm max VG all day. I haven't burned a wick in forever. And the juice flows well in all my Kangers, despite chain vaping.

 

[Vapin4Joy]

Try a Pancake wick. I'm max VG all day. I haven't burned a wick in forever. And the juice flows well in all my Kangers, despite chain vaping.

I'm referring to the pre made Kanger coils, max VG don't wick good!

 

[PuffPuffPass]

I'm referring to the pre made Kanger coils, max VG don't wick good!

Try one of the new ones, they have larger holes now. I was forced to buy a couple a few weeks ago. Both made it 7 days without an issue. I only took them out because the flavor was dropping.

 

[Vapin4Joy]

Try one of the new ones, they have larger holes now. I was forced to buy a couple a few weeks ago. Both made it 7 days without an issue. I only took them out because the flavor was dropping.

OK, I'm relying on you, Kanger horizontal and vertical has been off my table, I just gave up on their performance. I have not tried the new SOCC, I'm going to pull the trigger tonight on a box of 5 ni200's

 

[PuffPuffPass]

OK, I'm relying on you, Kanger horizontal and vertical has been off my table, I just gave up on their performance. I have not tried the new SOCC, I'm going to pull the trigger tonight on a box of 5 ni200's

I'm using Kanthal only. I can't give you any info on th Ni other than what I've stated in this forum previously.

They are having issues with Ni.

 

[Vapin4Joy]

I'm using Kanthal only. I can't give you any info on th Ni other than what I've stated in this forum previously.

They are having issues with Ni.

Yea, I was just looking, I am going for a box of the .50 claptons also.
Man, I'm going to dust off my Subtank Mini.

 

[OBDave]

Hi Backwoods, welcome to the Underground!

First off, it's been suggested 18 mg is too high for a sub-ohm coil - this is probably right. I used 18 (and sometimes 24) to quit smoking on old stuff even worse than the Nautilus and eventually dropped to 12 mg, but once I got into sub-ohm vaping (using coils with resistance lower than 1.0 ohm) I quickly cut my nic levels to 6 mg and then 3 - since you're vaping twice as much liquid with these new power-and-liquid-hungry tanks, you only need about half the nicotine to keep your consumption rate constant.

Next, look at your PG/VG levels - while anything in the 50/50 range is good for an older-generation clearomizer, newer ones like the Subtank series (what came with your Topbox kit) like something more VG-heavy - say from 30/70 to 20/80. My wife vaped Kanger tanks exclusively for almost a year and got away with running liquids as heavy as 10/90 around 20 watts, but this isn't the general consensus as far as the best way to approach your device.

Next up is the liquid flavor and quality - I was a big Mt. Baker honk when I was using 1.5-2.0 ohm coils at 8-10 watts, but once I turned up the power I realized the flavors just weren't all that good at all, turning first to expensive shop liquid at $12/15 ml before starting to DIY once I realized I was spending more on my vaping habit than I was when I smoked. You're in good hands here by starting DIY juice early - I'm not alone in boasting that we've got what's possibly the best DIY community on the web here at the Underground. Spend some time in the DIY subs and I think you'll come to a similar conclusion.

Max-VG is pretty subjective - I have recipes that use 6% flavor (considering my 50/50 nicotine base they end up around 8/92) and some that use as much as 20% (with a Max-VG ratio of 22/78). Unless you know how much flavor your vendor is using, it's hard to judge what "Max-VG" means. That said, some people experience a sensitivity to VG - it's much more rare than PG sensitivity, but it's out there. Heavy lungs and too-wet vapes are a sign of this. I'm going to tag in @Huckleberried, another first-rate mixer who has dealt with VG sensitivity herself, to hopefully weigh in on what ratios work for her.

Finally, I'm not sure this addresses any of your questions directly, but I'm going to plug my "complete idiot's guide to vaping" thread here:

http://www.vapingunderground.com/th...-sick-clouds-bro-thread-sticky-edition.78126/

Perhaps that will answer some of the questions you may not have thought to ask yet. Let us know if there's anything else we can do to help, and again, welcome!

 

[Huckleberried]

Morning.

I see there might be a possibility of VG sensitivity here. What works for me in gear similar to Nautilus tanks is about 80p/20v or 70pg/30v. When I've used subtanks, and the like, I've tried mixes at 30p/70v. For a while, all was well, but within days the heavy chest, coughing, harder to catch my breath feeling started creeping back in. I can use that sparingly, but more than a day and it really kicks my butt. You can try 40pg/60v and even 50/50, but the thinner your VG ratio, the more chance there is for leaking with some tanks.

I've decided MTL vaping is more my style and the max VG I can tolerate at that level is 30% You just kind of have to decide for yourself by trying different levels. Trial and error can be a pain, or not, but finding your sweet spot is worth it.

 

[BackwoodsVape]

Wow, first thread and i learned a ton! Thank you guys for all the help and input. And yes, the heavy lung affect hit me hard right out of the box with the Topbox, which never happened with the Aspire. I realized after paying a little attention to what was included that all of the coils included were sub ohm, except the RBA coil (and im just assuming that is not sub ohm). But i did prep the RBA coil that was included in the starter kit and put that in, and right away it was like vaping the Aspire again, great! I thought i had a decent handle on what i liked and what was good... but the more i read on here, the more i realize i have absolutely no clue whats what. Also ive mixed up about 8 different batches of DIY juice, using both MTBaker max vg pre mixed base with 18 mg and their flavoring, and some Vices Ecig base at 70vg/30pg with 18mg and some TFA flavoring. So far, they all taste like plain base, havent gotten any flavor out of them yet. Letting them sit for a while, but not what i expected. I figured "hell, just mix some flavor with the base and vape on!!" HA, yea right. Luckily im a fast learner, so im going to be putting some time in to these forums and get this nailed down. I really do enjoy vaping more than smoking, and being able to make my own juice makes it even that much better (once i can get a vape-able batch that is). Again, thank you for all of the help, ill take all i can get!

 

[OBDave]

The DIY takes some practice, but 18 mg is going to be murderous in a sub-ohm setup..most folks are at 3 or 6, some hardcore nic users are at 12 but I don't know I've even seen anyone claiming to sub-ohm higher. Still, good luck and give your mixes a few days to steep, they may develop a fuller flavor after a bit of a wait...

 

[mikew]

im using the topbox also, did you use the coil that was pre-installed? Thats a nickle coil for temp control mode. i would leave that alone at first. when i quit i started with the kbox(same but different). Try a 0.5 coil at about 15-20 watts. work up from there. took me a while just find what i liked with aieflow, nic levels and wattage. check out ty for videos one the topbox, once you figure out the temp control you will like it. i havnt got into diy juice yet but i would start with store bought till you understand how differnt coils and watts change flavor. otherwise you may not be able to accurately mix flavor. and taste test will be all over the place.