nautilus mini gurgling - tried everything I can think of

[ChrisH48]

Starting from a clean - authentic nautilus mini - with a brand new 1.6 (or 1.8 it makes no difference) coil (coils also verified as authentic).

1. Turn tank upside down - with tip removed and fill with juice.
2. Take base unit and set so no air holes are open.
3. Put a tiny bit of juice around the o ring of the base unit (i get the issues if I do this or not)
4. Put 2 small drops of juice into the coil (I get the issues if do this or not)
5. Screw the coil into the base unit (as tight as you can comfortably get it without going past the obvious stop point and damaging something)
6. Screw the coil/base unit into the tank.
7. Turn nautilus mini correct way up.
8. Move air hole to a middle setting.
9. Take some primer puffs with no power.
10. Leave standing for 5-10 mins.
11. Begin vaping gently at 6 watts - moving up slowly to 10.

Ive tried all types of juice - both high VG and high PG and in-between. Invariably at some point i start to get the gurgle. Ive tried the following fixes:

1. Using a paper towel blow gently out of the air hole to get rid of juice - doesn't work - if i kept on blowing id blow the whole tank of juice out.
2. Take the unit apart - most times there will be juice in the base unit underneath where the coil sits - dry this out - dry the coil off and repeat from step 2 above missing out steps 3 and 4. - this sometimes works but its a temporary fix.

There seems to be no pattern to the problem. Sometimes the gurgle starts as soon as ive changed the coil - sometimes its ok for a week. I have 2 units and 2 spare tanks and have rotated them all using the above method - still get the issues.

I have actually never experienced the burnt taste or reduced draw because Ive always got sick and binned the coil before that point.

I am vaping generally at 9.2 watts - but have tried as low as 7 and as high as 13 - it makes no difference.

I don't draw hard - I cannot understand why I keep getting juice in the air chamber - its not a problem with a "dud coil" unless they are all intermittently dud coils - they are all authentic aspire and I've bought them from different places - so its not a dodgy batch issue - the rings are all the correct way up - I have spent hours and hours researching to try to fix these issues - and cannot for the life of me maintain a stable nautilus mini.

Can anyone save me from madness and tell me what Im doing wrong - Im tending towards a conclusion of all nautilus mini components are junk at the moment.

Many thanks in advance

 

[fishj]

I have no problems with mine. Have you tried omitting steps 2,3,and 4?

 

[Sir2fyablyNutz]

From my experience the Nautilus will gurgle at times. Usually it is because the coil is flooded. It seems to be worse now that Aspire made the holes in the coils larger. (I suspect to be more VG friendly) What I do is turn the mini upside down and take a hit on it where no fluid can resupply the coil. You don't want to over hit or you'll get the dry hit or risk burning out the coil. Good luck.

 

[Topwater Elvis]

Liquid gets into the air chamber beneath the head several ways.
Through the head to base seating area - oring damaged, old oring stuck in base, threads fubar, head not tight enough, damaged base - crack or machining mistake in base.
Tank to base o ring & top cap to tank o ring & head to base o ring all must be in place no nicks or damage to hold the negative pressure inside tank or head will flood & juice will leak out through air hole.
Tank to base must be tight enough to prevent leaking & flooding but loose enough to prevent slow / reduced wicking.

Condensation from air tube drains down flooding the head, continuing to inhale for a few seconds after letting off the fire button will reduce not stop or prevent.

Too restrictive air flow or too hard of inhale will pull more juice into head than can be vaporized causing flooding.

Under powering causes flooding, spit back, juice in mouth, weak flavor, rapid coil gunk build up, decreased head life, odd off funky tastes.

Changes in altitude and or ambient temperature.

I tighten my heads fully tight with a good deal of force, until it stops moving, I have never lubricated a head to base o ring.
I use as many drops as it takes to fully saturate a new head never really counted, a lot more than 2 probably closer to 6 -10.
I don't block air hole when installing tank to base, seems that would slightly pressurize tank which would force liquid into head.

IMO, the easiest way to clear a flood is to turn it upside down so the wicking holes are above the liquid level and press the fire button a few times, short bursts.

I know you said all was authentic, verified via scratch off security code# entered into verification area of Aspires site?
Did it say this number has been checked x times?

 

[philoshop]

Sounds like you're not getting the coil in tight enough. Maybe....
If the coil is staying in the tank section rather than the atty base when you go to refill, it's not tight enough, and that can cause the flooding/gurgling and the juice leaking into the power supply. It's the only part of a Nautilus that needs to be pretty seriously 'hand' tightened. Don't put pliers on it or anything, but get a good grip with a dry paper towel so that the the coil assembly stays in the base when you take it apart for a refill.

ETA: Topwater Elvis beat me to it with the above.....

Coil change: install new coil and put 5 to 7 drops right into the barrel of the coil. Set that aside while you fill the tank, then reassemble and reinstall the atty, and turn upright for about five minutes while you open a beer or something.
Hope this helps.

 

[RipCigs]

Never owned a nautilus so I can't tell you for sure, but if it has these heads
http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/n-biq04...C_Coils_0__00653.1409863631.1280.1280.jpg?c=2
and if the heads are free in the tank (read, you can get to them once the atomizer is installed), i suggest cutting a line of cotton to cover the top holes from where the wicks get the juice. I do that when i don't wick my kanger head properly and am too lazy to do it again, stops the flooding every time and works fine.
Basically cut a strip of cotton and wrap it around the top part of the head to cover the holes.
Once again, this worked every time for ME, can't say it will for you.

 

[BlueCanary]

I had this problem with two nautiluses, both a mini and a full sized. I was never able to resolve it completely. One thing I did figure out was that it seemed to be a failure of the vacuum in the tank caused by the fact that the threads to the top part of the tank were part of the glass instead of being metal screwed into metal. I purchased the hollowed out sleeve with the metal cage, which was all one piece that just the drip tip attached to instead of two pieces that had to be screwed together. That made the gurgling and fiddling less, but didn't fix it completely. The nautilus was the one thing that almost made me give up vaping and go back to smoking…it was that annoying. I bought a different tank (A SMOK VCT tank, similar to the nautilus as far as air flow, but with an adjustable juice port on the coil as well) and had absolutely no problems at all from that tank or my Aerotank, which were the two tanks I used consistently until my vaping style changed.

 

[Wolfenstark]

I used to use the large nautilus, had to follow a specific routine to get it to function properly.
You've done that by your list.
When it would gurgle I turn it upside down over the sink , fire it and blow through the air hole.
It would clear it up and off i would go. Looks like you'll just have to do that when it gurgles.
Though mine would be ok after one clear out.
Its been the most finicky tank I've had , other tanks well rebuildables for me have been great once you get the wicking good. yet the nautilus with prebuilt coils was tiresome.

 

[LeftofCenter]

I had similar problems with my full size Nautilus, it would get so bad that juice would occasionally pour out of the air holes! Changing to the metal sleeve stopped that issue, but never fully cleared up the problems.

The Nautilus was the catalyst to get me on to RTAs and I am happily a rebuilder now. So in that regard, the Nautilus was great even if it did get passed on to my spouse.

 

[drysprocket]

I had this problem for a long time, so I feel your pain. Mine was even spitting on me- here is my thread on it: Nautilus Mini - Money Shot Problem | E-Cigarette Forum

In short, it turns out "how" I was vaping was part of it. It seems like you need to keep a vacuum of sorts, and make sure that you're not just letting it run when your mouth is not around it. Also, even though the coils are scratch off- they could still be crap. So many variables, who knows. But I've had great luck with the ones from Sweet Vapes for a good while now, and they have the new organic ones. Or Sun-Vapers is where I used to get them (not sure if they have the new ones yet.)

And actually, I found that not drawing hard enough actually caused some of the gurgle. You want to just vape it how you would any other device; going easy on it seemed to backfire.

Also, and I can't stress this enough- the metal sleeves are far better than the glass ones that it comes with. I found that many of my problems just went away when I just started using those. Easier to open too which I like. I'm not sure if you like the look, but at least you have 2 authentic ones to choose from. Totally worth it based on my testing.

Feel free to PM me, and I'd be glad to walk through all of my other steps with you that I may be forgetting.

 

[Inka]

I have 2 Nautilus Mini's and have had no problems. I do find that juices with creams or vanilla in them don't burn as clear as fruity flavors. Could it be the juice?

 

[iGoob]

A suggestion in a different thread that helped me I think. When filling the tank thread the coil into the chimney of the tank tightly first, fill with juice and then screw on the bottom.

 

[Maiar]

I solved the problem of both my full size nautilus' doing that by throwing the ....ing things in the garbage.

 

[AndrewH]

I got a regular sized Nautilus with my Provari Classic and it's had its issues, same as yours. Not once or twice but three times yesterday it pop and shot juice into my eyes. If it's not gurgling, it's shooting juice everywhere. I'm sick of messing with it and ordered two authentic Kayfun v4's, so when they arrive I'll be benching the Nautilus to be used in a 'vape emergency', I want to inhale the vaporized ejuice, not drink it or wipe it out of my eyes.

Just my .02, look for a higher quality tank, not necessarily a Kayfun v4 but something better. I enjoy vaping and I certainly enjoy it a whole lot less if I have to constantly mess with the tank just to get a decent vape.

Good luck!

 

[nvadasz]

Starting from a clean - authentic nautilus mini - with a brand new 1.6 (or 1.8 it makes no difference) coil (coils also verified as authentic).

1. Turn tank upside down - with tip removed and fill with juice.
2. Take base unit and set so no air holes are open.
3. Put a tiny bit of juice around the o ring of the base unit (i get the issues if I do this or not)
4. Put 2 small drops of juice into the coil (I get the issues if do this or not)
5. Screw the coil into the base unit (as tight as you can comfortably get it without going past the obvious stop point and damaging something)
6. Screw the coil/base unit into the tank.
7. Turn nautilus mini correct way up.
8. Move air hole to a middle setting.
9. Take some primer puffs with no power.
10. Leave standing for 5-10 mins.
11. Begin vaping gently at 6 watts - moving up slowly to 10.

Ive tried all types of juice - both high VG and high PG and in-between. Invariably at some point i start to get the gurgle. Ive tried the following fixes:

1. Using a paper towel blow gently out of the air hole to get rid of juice - doesn't work - if i kept on blowing id blow the whole tank of juice out.
2. Take the unit apart - most times there will be juice in the base unit underneath where the coil sits - dry this out - dry the coil off and repeat from step 2 above missing out steps 3 and 4. - this sometimes works but its a temporary fix.

There seems to be no pattern to the problem. Sometimes the gurgle starts as soon as ive changed the coil - sometimes its ok for a week. I have 2 units and 2 spare tanks and have rotated them all using the above method - still get the issues.

I have actually never experienced the burnt taste or reduced draw because Ive always got sick and binned the coil before that point.

I am vaping generally at 9.2 watts - but have tried as low as 7 and as high as 13 - it makes no difference.

I don't draw hard - I cannot understand why I keep getting juice in the air chamber - its not a problem with a "dud coil" unless they are all intermittently dud coils - they are all authentic aspire and I've bought them from different places - so its not a dodgy batch issue - the rings are all the correct way up - I have spent hours and hours researching to try to fix these issues - and cannot for the life of me maintain a stable nautilus mini.

Can anyone save me from madness and tell me what Im doing wrong - Im tending towards a conclusion of all nautilus mini components are junk at the moment.

Many thanks in advance

I have noticed with my mini, with the "New" coils, with the bigger holes, I've had to jack my watts from 6.8 all the way up to 11. I too had a flooding issue and the change in the watts made the difference. IMO, nuts to babying a new coil. When you first install a new coil on your mini: drop 2 drops of juice in the coil (or not), install it, wait 3-4 minutes, and vape at your normal wattage. (Don't mean to insult you, but make sure when you install a new coil, you stand the atty up so that it wicks properly). Also, you have to have airflow, so never close off the vent holes. After a close look, I see on the side of the 1.6ohm coil, that they are good for 3V-6V. According to my iStick, that translates into 5.5 to 21 watts. Jack it up...can't hurt...IMO

 

[SuperTaz]

I agree with Inka....I've had my mini a few months now and noticed it would start to gurgle and spit after using creamy or vanilla juices. And yes some coils are duds right out of the box. It's a great little tank even with the quirks!

 

[Bigbob2322]

Another fix is to make sure the base your coil screws into is dry. You would be surprised how much juice gets in there. Use a tissue rolled to a sharp point making sure to get to the 510 pin.