No vapor from new Kanger Protank 3 Mini!!!

[jj6404]

I just started vaping last week and quit smoking after 3 days. After a little research, I ordered the Kanger Evod blister pack and have been somewhat satisfied with it so far. Wanting to it to the next level, I got lower resistance heads to use with my evod and liked it even better. Next, I ordered a Protank 3 Mini after more research anticipating much more vapor and flavor than what I was getting with the Evod.

To my surprise, I was getting half the hit and vapor production with my new PT3 Mini as my original Evod! Please help me figure out what the issue is. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong because all the reviews I've read say the PT3 Mini produces good vapor and certainly more than the Evod 1 should.

Now, the only thing I can thing I can think that I'm doing wrong is using the PT3 Mini with the 650 mah static battery that came with my Evod blister pack. I've searched and read that you really should use a VV batt with any Protank but I thought that that was just so you wouldn't kill the battery to easily. I know that the Kanger Evod battery outputs a fixed 3.7 volts which I thought would be enough to allow me to at least mimic the performance of my Evod clearomizer. So far, my new PT3 Mini is seriously only producing about half the hit, flavor, and vapor as my Evod tank and so for now I have just switched back. Please comment with suggestions or tell me that a VV battery is really the solution.

 

[Arnie H]

Hello and congrats on quitting smoking. I don't know much about the new protank minis. Power can affect vapor production (dialing up the power on a regulated mod/spinner/VV/VW or else lowering the resistance). Other things affect vapor product type of coil, surface area of wire, airflow, PG/VG content of juice, dirty coils/heads.

I am sure someone will come along shortly with some better answers.

 

[Maiar]

My emow's, which use the pt3 coil as well, perform decently on the little 650 stick batteries that came with my evod kits. The problem is that they don't perform like that for very long. They say those little guys are 3.7V no matter how much charge they have, but I don't buy it as performance goes down the drain fairly rapidly. The only advice I can give besides getting a VV or VW battery is to hold the button down for a couple seconds before taking a draw off it. Sometimes those coils take a little bit to get hot. If it hasn't been fired in awhile I usually take a few small puffs off it while firing for a couple seconds before I try taking a big one.
I also recommend getting an airflow control base for it. My protank2's are now pumping out more vapor than ever and both my emow's have them as well. And the emow's perform amazingly.
My first dual coil tank was the evod 2 which uses the protank3 coils as well and I was never overly impressed with them. Which is why I was hesitant to buy the emow's. But the airflow control makes so much difference it's insane. And they're like $5 online so they're pretty easy to get.

Kanger Airflow Control 2.0 - Mini

 

[Susan~S]

Sun-Vapers also carries the Airflow Control Base for $3.00

 

[drunkenbatman]

Now, the only thing I can thing I can think that I'm doing wrong is using the PT3 Mini with the 650 mah static battery that came with my Evod blister pack. I've searched and read that you really should use a VV batt with any Protank but I thought that that was just so you wouldn't kill the battery to easily. I know that the Kanger Evod battery outputs a fixed 3.7 volts which I thought would be enough to allow me to at least mimic the performance of my Evod clearomizer.

It's often important to understand why people are telling you something -- in this case that a VV battery is a good idea -- so you don't make the wrong assumption and then base a decision off of it, so we can get that out of the way.

The issue is that the Protank III is dual-coil, and your battery is only putting out 3.7V as a fixed voltage. While you get more surface area dual coils to produce vapor, each coil is now only getting 1.8V. Heating a coil with 1.8V before the battery cutoff kicks in is really, really hard. If you had a VV battery, you could crank it up to 4.8V, so each coil was getting 2.4V.

Unfortunately, you're stuck at the moment. You'll either need a battery that can output more voltage, or you'll need to rebuild the coils as single coils.

 

[raitizz]

Hello there, JJ, and welcome.

You could try the upgraded Kanger coil with 1.5 Ohms. Hooked someone up with a fixed 650mah eGo battery and the Mini Protank 3 with that coil recently, performs well.

R

 

[underwhelmd]

Congrats on quittng smoking! Don't get discouraged. try the airflow base as suggested.

ps. make sure that there is no juice under the coil itself where it mates to the base.... clean it if so.

 

[Rickajho]

Hello there, JJ, and welcome.

You could try the upgraded Kanger coil with 1.5 Ohms. Hooked someone up with a fixed 650mah eGo battery and the Mini Protank 3 with that coil recently, performs well.

R

1.5 ohm coils on an eGo class battery are a really bad idea - unless you don't mind killing the battery within a month or less.

 

[raitizz]

1.5 ohm coils on an eGo class battery are a really bad idea - unless you don't mind killing the battery within a month or less.

Please, elaborate.
In addition, this would be the unadvertised (for newbies) learning curve, then. The Mini Protank 3 is an eGo tank, takes the upgraded coils, and people use them. In my case, these were the ones I had left, and gave 'em away, all setup, what I could gather. The person's off cigs, so a small victory there.

R

 

[drunkenbatman]

Please, elaborate.
In addition, this would be the unadvertised (for newbies) learning curve, then. The Mini Protank 3 is an eGo tank, takes the upgraded coils, and people use them. In my case, these were the ones I had left, and gave 'em away, all setup, what I could gather. The person's off cigs, so a small victory there.

R

Hey mate! I'm not authorized to speak for -- nor sign documents for -- Rickajho, but since that's never stopped me: the issue is that though the ego will fire it, you're operating it at it's max current draw and seriously stressing the battery, which will greatly shorten it's life.

As a rough example, imagine two MVPs (3amp max) and run one at 1ohm and one at 2.2ohm for the same amount, and 7 months in the 1ohm vaper will be limping along due to the voltage stress/load inflicted on their battery, while the 2.2ohm will be going strong.

 

[raitizz]

Hey mate! I'm not authorized to speak for -- nor sign documents for -- Rickajho, but since that's never stopped me: the issue is that though the ego will fire it, you're operating it at it's max current draw and seriously stressing the battery, which will greatly shorten it's life.

As a rough example, imagine two MVPs (3amp max) and run one at 1ohm and one at 2.2ohm for the same amount, and 7 months in the 1ohm vaper will be limping along due to the voltage stress/load inflicted on their battery, while the 2.2ohm will be going strong.

Thanks, man. Googled in the meantime and got it.
So, these:

in 1.8 or 2.0 Ohm would be more appropriate for that setup? Single coils..
I passed this phase so quickly, didn't do my homework really..

R

 

[drunkenbatman]

in 1.8 or 2.0 Ohm would be more appropriate for that setup? Single coils..
I passed this phase so quickly, didn't do my homework really.

1.8 ohm is probably the sweet spot for an ego/etc that isn't variable voltage. As for why they often come with a 1.5ohm -- these things often come in $16 blister packs with 80/20 eliquid where people haven't even tried an ecig before, and initially try to vape it like a normal cig instead of longer/smoother draws.

2ohm may be pushing it for something that isn't VV, but it'd depend on the eliquid. In general if you can go to a slightly higher ohm and then crank up the voltage till you're happy your batteries will thank you, but obviously you can't if it's just a 3.7V so you have to compromise.

 

[raitizz]

1.8 ohm is probably the sweet spot for an ego/etc that isn't variable voltage. As for why they often come with a 1.5ohm -- these things often come in $16 blister packs with 80/20 eliquid where people haven't even tried an ecig before, and initially try to vape it like a normal cig instead of longer/smoother draws. 2ohm may be pushing it for something that isn't VV.

Thanks. Gonna organize some upgraded 1.8 ohm duals for my buddy then (as mentioned, he uses two Mini Protank 3s on eGos).

R

 

[OldBatty]

The issue is that the Protank III is dual-coil, and your battery is only putting out 3.7V as a fixed voltage. While you get more surface area dual coils to produce vapor, each coil is now only getting 1.8V. Heating a coil with 1.8V before the battery cutoff kicks in is really, really hard. If you had a VV battery, you could crank it up to 4.8V, so each coil was getting 2.4V.

Ah Why are the various 'Safe Vaping Power' charts not explaining that dual coils need twice the voltage of singles? Should have been obvious to me (due to my back ground) that they would be treated differently, but failed to catch it until now.

 

[jj6404]

Well this morning when I got up I realized that the evod 2 comes with the same 650 battery that I'm using and uses the same dual coil as well. I don't know what's wrong. the heads that came with my PT are the upgraded enclosed wick 1.5 ohms. I've tried long slow draws and I'm not getting squat. It doesn't even feel that much more airy than my evod. And on the evod right now I'm using 1.8 single coil and literally producing twice the vapor in half the draw.

 

[jj6404]

1.5 ohm coils on an eGo class battery are a really bad idea - unless you don't mind killing the battery within a month or less.

So what if I use the PT with say a 1000 mah ego battery? Or an evod vv battery? Is it still not recommended? I ordered a 1000 mah kanger evod vv to pair with my PT because I thought the minis were made for ego class batteries.

 

[drunkenbatman]

Ah Why are the various 'Safe Vaping Power' charts not explaining that dual coils need twice the voltage of singles? Should have been obvious to me (due to my back ground) that they would be treated differently, but failed to catch it until now.

That's a good question, probably simplicity? It only really ever comes up when:

1. Someone isn't able to increase their voltage/wattage
2. Someone is building coils in a RDA/RTA and isn't realizing that two 1-ohm coils is actually seen as one 0.5-ohm coil to the battery.

So to get a 1.5-ohm dual coil in an atomizer, each little coil in it is 3-ohm. While you may see a bit of extra vapor production pound-for-pound by having two coils instead of one at the same voltage as a single coil, at 3.7V it's just hard to get them going for some.

So what if I use the PT with say a 1000 mah ego battery? Or an evod vv battery? Is it still not recommended? I ordered a 1000 mah kanger evod vv to pair with my PT because I thought the minis were made for ego class batteries.

It isn't the tank that is the issue, it's the low ohm (1.5ohm) coils, and only because they are just hard on the battery. A protank using a single-coil 1.8-2 ohm ohm coil will cause your batter's functional life to be longer, though at 2ohm with a fixed voltage battery you might not be happy with how long it takes the coil to heat up depending on your vape stule. In terms of actual use, I use the equivalent of PT1 and PT2 single 2-2.5ohm coils at around 3.3-3.5V all the time with 50/50-70/30 eliquids.

The 1.5ohm coils will work just fine, though with normal vaping technique and/or thicker eliquids you'll notice a harshness or burnt taste quicker -- and be shortening the battery's life. If 1.5 ohm works for you and you don't mind replacing your batteries more frequently, you're OK.

Hopefully that makes sense -- if anything isn't, feel free to ask so you're on the right page.

 

[jj6404]

That's a good question, probably simplicity? It only really ever comes up when:

1. Someone isn't able to increase their voltage/wattage
2. Someone is building coils in a RDA/RTA and isn't realizing that two 1-ohm coils is actually seen as one 0.5-ohm coil to the battery.

So to get a 1.5-ohm dual coil in an atomizer, each little coil in it is 3-ohm. While you may see a bit of extra vapor production pound-for-pound by having two coils instead of one at the same voltage as a single coil, at 3.7V it's just hard to get them going for some.



It isn't the tank that is the issue, it's the low ohm (1.5ohm) coils, and only because they are just hard on the battery. A protank using a single-coil 1.8-2 ohm ohm coil will cause your batter's functional life to be longer, though at 2ohm with a fixed voltage battery you might not be happy with how long it takes the coil to heat up depending on your vape stule. In terms of actual use, I use the equivalent of PT1 and PT2 single 2-2.5ohm coils at around 3.3-3.5V all the time with 50/50-70/30 eliquids.

The 1.5ohm coils will work just fine, though with normal vaping technique and/or thicker eliquids you'll notice a harshness or burnt taste quicker -- and be shortening the battery's life. If 1.5 ohm works for you and you don't mind replacing your batteries more frequently, you're OK.

Hopefully that makes sense -- if anything isn't, feel free to ask so you're on the right page.

No I get it. I guess I'll just wait for my evod vv to come in and crank up the voltage and see if that does the trick. The only thing I still don't understand is how a single coil at 1.8 ohms is producing more vapor than a dual at 1.5.

on a side note I ordered my evod vv from discountvapors last week and for three days all it says is "shipping label created" on the usps tracking page. Is this how discountvapors usually is?

 

[drunkenbatman]

No I get it. I guess I'll just wait for my evod vv to come in and crank up the voltage and see if that does the trick. The only thing I still don't understand is how a single coil at 1.8 ohms is producing more vapor than a dual at 1.5.

I get that it's confusing -- you'd think twice the surface area at half the voltage would end up being the same. And often it is, but at much lower voltages it can get weird. Thicker eliquids can be more problematic with dual-coils too, but you weren't reporting dry-hits or a burnt taste.

on a side note I ordered my evod vv from discountvapors last week and for three days all it says is "shipping label created" on the usps tracking page. Is this how discountvapors usually is?

They're generally well-regarded and I have in my head from threads that they generally have quick shipping. There's no harm in sending a note asking when the ETA on it actually getting picked up is. Now and again USPS can get a little weird too, with their system isn't updating as it should until it hits a certain point or it getting picked up but not getting scanned etc.

 

[TonyB66]

We'll done on giving up smoking. In my experience it's power or adjustable power that you need once you change to Pro Tanks even the Mini. Having the option just allows you to adjust the vapour to your coil and will make them perform at their best. For me it was the next step from the switch from Evod tanks in my vaping journey.

I like the Innokin ITaste variable volt/wattage batteries, the latest being the VV4. Simple enough to use, small enough to remain subtle in your hand and portable.