IStick 30w Frustrations

[Vajeff]

I've had an iStick for a couple months now and was impressed with it at first, since it was a large step up from a basic Evod set-up. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to question whether or not it's any better. The vaping is less than ideal, and there is little room for voltage adjustments before coils fry. My beginner set seems superior to it in flavor and vapor production, except when using dual coils. I'm not certain if it's something that I'm doing or if my coils/tanks/juice aren't a good match for the iStick. Whatever it is, it's causing me to want to switch to mech mods.

Here's what I'm using:
iStick 30w
MPT3
Standard Kanger Evod tank
2.5ohm Kanger Evod coils (read as 2.7ohm on the iStick)

At 2.7ohm, the voltage should be in the range of 3.7-4.3, right? Kanger's little chart says that 2.7-3.0ohm is to be vaped at 4.3-4.7 volts. The problem is, on the iStick I can't turn it up past 3.8 volts without producing a burning taste, so I'm left with 3.6 and 3.7 as my only options. However, these seem a little on the cold side - the vapor is cool and nearly flavorless. On the battery that came with the starter Evod kit, the vapor is warmer and has more flavor, although, the amount of vapor is less. So, what's the deal? Don't those Evod batteries run at 3.7 volts? Am I doing something wrong? I'm guessing the iStick wasn't made for these little single coils? Should I switch back to dual coils (for the MPT3)?

How is it that I can burn a coil in the blink of an eye if I raise the voltage beyond 4.0, but I keep reading about people using <1.5ohm coils at >10 watts? Are these charts I've been consulting wrong when it comes to VV/VW devices?

I know I'm due for a tank upgrade. I've been putting it off because I'm not entirely convinced this thing is worth the trouble. So, what works best with the iStick? Sub-ohm tanks? That's a little intimidating. Tanks that can accomodate high ohm coils? I've given rebuilding some thought, so maybe something along that line.

The irony of all this is that I got this thing because friends had it, and their stuff vaped very well. Does mine? Of course not.

 

[Podunk Steam]

IMO you nailed it, generally the power supply doesn't determine the quality of vape as much as the atomizer does. I'd suggest an atomizer upgrade.

 

[ElevenEleven]

Why not try a lower resistance?

 

[Robert Cromwell]

You could try 1.8 ohm evod coils.

Use the watts range, an evod should vape fine at 8-10 watts.

 

[Reckless2015]

i would try different tanks or even move into a lower ohm range (the kanger sub ohm tank i have with my eleaf 30w produces clouds when i want them and great taste) I sub ohm vape with it no issues of safety. Never had a coil burn unless its really think juice or time for a coil change.

Its this one if your wondering Kangertech-Subtank-Hybrid-Tank (found anywhere) look at the different options of tanks and see if you would prefer that. There is a tank for every experience. It also comes with a rebuildable coil and a 1.2 ohm. so 3 options to improve your experience for the price. i hope this info helps.

 

[cllmda]

Hi,

I also use the 30 watt Isticks and find they work GREAT with the Mini Nautilus (I personally use the 1.6 ohm coils but I think the kit comes with two 1.8 ohm ones) AND the Kanger Subtanks(i have the nano but the others work fine too if you need a larger capacity tank).
I would recommend either if you're looking to upgrade.

 

[Evofusion]

You're selling yourself short with those tanks! If you already invested in the 30 watt I would really recommend pairing it with a kanger subtank or the like, you'll enjoy vaping much more!

 

[this is my name]

Your previous battery most likely ran your evods as good as an evod can vape. If you some better flavor but still want the mouth-to-lung, cigarette style of puff I think the general consensus is the aspire nautilus line is king. If you want bigger clouds AND flavor, you could check out many of the sub-ohm clearos. I got a subtank nano and it was worth every penny. Although there are some of these that do require more than 30 watts to get em going (the maganus comes to mind).

You'll find something you enjoy, you came to the right forum for advice. Just don't give up on it. Your health is worth chasing your perfect vape even if you don't get it the first couple tries.

 

[Vajeff]

Why wouldn't 1.8 coils fry at 10w when 2.5 coils fry at >5w? Does the lower resistance produce less heat or am I failing to understand something? I've never been too good with these things.

I've had an eye on the Nautilus for a while, but decided I'd upgrade to a mod before getting it, so that's a possibility. However, I'm a little concerned with the coils used. I'd rather not have to keep track of different brands and such, but I guess that's going to be inevitable unless I use few of the same tanks since I enjoy switching flavors often. So, Nautilus and Kanger's Subtanks... Time to do some browsing.

What about the Atlantis - has anyone tried that?

 

[MasteroftheVape]

The higher resistance the higher the ramp time, the longer the cooling time. The atty you are using is not known for great wicking. A 2.5 coil probably takes at least 2 seconds of firing to get to temp and then will continue heating past that temp while you take your drag, killing coils.

Easy way to look at it is consider ohms as the ability to store energy. Sub ohm builds store little energy in the coil, they rapidly heat and cool. High ohms stores a lot of heat in the coil. The problem is when the energy is stored in the coil, your istick has no control over what happens to it. High resistance coils come from a day of using AA battery mods that required the coil to store energy because the batteries could not supply it on demand like we can do now with our lipo batteries and apvs. This is why they still work with the cheaper low power battery mods.

By the time it get that high resistance coil to vape temp, a majority of your wicked juice has evaporated, as you get done with that inhale the coil is still hot, charing your now nearly dry wick.

 

[Edward Aiz]

I agree with the other members, Evod tank is best suited for the Twister batteries. eleaf istick 30 is a minature device really serving the sub ohm community. 30 watt sits between the 20 watt (no sub ohm) and the 50 watt (sub ohm). So absolutely, it's time to upgrade your tank, my best advice is to get the KangerTeck Subtank Mini, that way, you can vape above 1.0 and at 0.5 sub ohm (two coils of those gauges come in the package) plus when you feel secure or as you get more experience you have the option to build a single build coil, with a 0.4 sub ohm coil build that the 30 watt device can handle.

KangerTech Subtank Mini runs around $35, it's well worth the price. You can build or use the coils plus the tank holds about 2ml or so of e juice. It's absolutely perfect for the 30 watt eleaf istick. I promise you, you won't be let down.

 

[Maiar]

The iSticks aren't ideal for anything in the single coil kanger line. I've mentioned this before, I had the 20w one for like day, but I love my protanks and it was just frying coils. The isticks read mean power and not RMS like the MVP lineup does for instance. Basically, the isticks aren't accurate at lower settings. That's not an issue for most of the tanks people use on them though, so it's very popular. The MVP3.0 goes up to 30w and has RMS on it, so if you set it to a low setting it will actually produce that amount and give you room to experiment on them. I have the 2.0 and it's perfect for both single and dual coil kanger stuff which is all I use. I'm going to get the 3.0 eventually and everything should work the same on that one, but give me room to move up to more advanced tanks like the subtank.

 

[smkfree]

It may also be the PG/VG juice you are using. Is It thick and not wicking?? I have an Istick 50w and use Kanger T3s tanks with 2.2ohm single coils. Juice I use is 80/20vg or 70/30vg. 50w runs 3.7v-4.0v, 5.9w-6.9w with no burning. Sweet spot is 3.9v.

I would try 2.2ohm or 1.8ohm coils if you like the tanks.

 

[leekeylee]

The iSticks aren't ideal for anything in the single coil kanger line. I've mentioned this before, I had the 20w one for like day, but I love my protanks and it was just frying coils. The isticks read mean power and not RMS like the MVP lineup does for instance. Basically, the isticks aren't accurate at lower settings. That's not an issue for most of the tanks people use on them though, so it's very popular. The MVP3.0 goes up to 30w and has RMS on it, so if you set it to a low setting it will actually produce that amount and give you room to experiment on them. I have the 2.0 and it's perfect for both single and dual coil kanger stuff which is all I use. I'm going to get the 3.0 eventually and everything should work the same on that one, but give me room to move up to more advanced tanks like the subtank.

Just a little correction on what you have posted, only the 20w IStick was using MEAN not RMS so this would mean you were actually vaping at a higher volts than it said on screen.

The 30w and 50w Isticks have this resolved and use RMS.

I have both 30w and 50w iStick and they are both excellent devices in my opinion, the 20w I had when it first came out and was OK is you are not a high wattage vapour but the threads on the 20w iStick were a bit weak as well (again resolved in 30w and 50w versions)

I mainly use a subtank mini on the 50w but I use the kanger emow mega with the enclosed coils that I have re-built vertical on the 30w and it vapes great at 16watts

 

[Vajeff]

Thank you for the help, everyone. Very useful information.

I think I had it in my head that my MPT3's dual coils would perform well on this, since the Evod battery didn't seem to get along with them. Somehow, I managed to toast it on its first day, so I switched to the single coils and swore off dual coils because they've been a fuss in the past - very loud popping and flooding. I wondered why a friend's Emow was doing so well on it but the MPT3 wasn't. Now, I see where I went wrong.

In short, to remedy my problems I need to upgrade the tank and coils asap. That's a bit of a boon to know, really. I've been wanting to get a larger tank and now I know a subtank is needed. That'll save me the trouble of getting the wrong type. I'm thinking either Melo, Subtank, or Nautilus. The Subtank mini with the RBA deck looks interesting, since the coils and cotton are sold prepackaged and prewound and at a much more reasonable price than premade coils.

I'm still a little concerned over the risk in sub-ohming, but if everyone is doing it now, and these devices are being built for it, I guess the risk is negligible.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Netop]

One more vote for the Kanger SubTank Mini and the Nautilus Mini.
I like the Naut Mini for flavor and the fact that the coils last quite a while (as long as you don't draw on them as hard as you would on a cig or use juice that is prone to gunning coils). They are almost zero maintenance, easy to fill and I have not had one leak on me. Being small enough to put in the change pocket of jeans is a bonus.
I prefer the sub tank for bigger, deeper draws with more throat hit. Also great flavor. The prebuilt coils last a good while, and, in my experience they slowly start tasting less than great as they end their life, which means I can still vape it with no real issues until the end of the day (or even the end of the next day if I'm lazy). Another pretty low maintenance device. And, as others said, you can use it to start exploring rebuilding. If you flub a build and don't have time to fix, toss a prebuilt on there and head out the door.

The Aspire Atlantis that was asked about is good. But, I am more of a mouth to lung hitter and .5 Ohm doesn't work for me for that. I enjoy it, but it's not the one that make sure is ready to go out with me everyday. The Kanger SubTank is more versatile in that allows youth go low resistance, but also has more range into higher resistances, either with their the 1.2 Ohm coil or with your own builds, if you decide to there.

 

[Edward Aiz]

Thank you for the help, everyone. Very useful information.

I think I had it in my head that my MPT3's dual coils would perform well on this, since the Evod battery didn't seem to get along with them. Somehow, I managed to toast it on its first day, so I switched to the single coils and swore off dual coils because they've been a fuss in the past - very loud popping and flooding. I wondered why a friend's Emow was doing so well on it but the MPT3 wasn't. Now, I see where I went wrong.

In short, to remedy my problems I need to upgrade the tank and coils asap. That's a bit of a boon to know, really. I've been wanting to get a larger tank and now I know a subtank is needed. That'll save me the trouble of getting the wrong type. I'm thinking either Melo, Subtank, or Nautilus. The Subtank mini with the RBA deck looks interesting, since the coils and cotton are sold prepackaged and prewound and at a much more reasonable price than premade coils.

I'm still a little concerned over the risk in sub-ohming, but if everyone is doing it now, and these devices are being built for it, I guess the risk is negligible.

Thanks for the help!

My advice on the KangerTech Subtank Mini for the 30 watt istick, please trash the pre-coil build and any silica wick you get with the tank. Absolutely no good. Buy some Kanthal A1 28 gauge (I have the 26 gauge in mine but it may be hard for a newbie to work with on such a tiny deck) also get some good Samurai or Muji Japanese cotton, an ohm tester, wire clippers, you should have a torch but this is not an absolute requirement at first, a pair of scissors, (the tiny screw driver comes with the package), a coil jig of various sizes and a good e juice of 70vg/30pg..............of course you can always just use the sub-ohm 0.5ohm and 1.2ohm coil Included. Start with the 1.2 ohm coil and move to the 0.5 sub ohm coil and then when you get your nerve go for your own build.

KangerTech Subtank Mini and the eleaf istick 30 watt will work fine (I speak from experience), I promise you you will not be let down. Fine the sweet spot to vape at...my sweet spot on the 30 watt is 18 watt, 0.8 ohm build at 3.7 volts, Kanthal A1 and Muji Japanese cotton. You will dig it!

Great flavor and pretty decent clouds. Even though I mostly a RDA guy I too like new and different set ups, and the KangerTech Subtank Mini on a Eleaf iStick 30 watt with a decent little build is a nice device to switch to for something new during the day.

So go buy this set up, I promise you, you will not be disappointed.

 

[Puff2K]

Why wouldn't 1.8 coils fry at 10w when 2.5 coils fry at >5w? Does the lower resistance produce less heat or am I failing to understand something? I've never been too good with these things.

I've had an eye on the Nautilus for a while, but decided I'd upgrade to a mod before getting it, so that's a possibility. However, I'm a little concerned with the coils used. I'd rather not have to keep track of different brands and such, but I guess that's going to be inevitable unless I use few of the same tanks since I enjoy switching flavors often. So, Nautilus and Kanger's Subtanks... Time to do some browsing.

What about the Atlantis - has anyone tried that?

You could also try the eleaf GS Air tanks. They're relatively cheap and I've heard good things about them - I just received mine yesterday and I just have to clean them and then I'll give them a try myself.