Hi Guys.
Well it’s been a while since I last posted due to getting stuck in the UK looking after my mum after she needed a ‘hip revision’ but I am back in my adopted country now (the good ol’ US of A). And I am raring to go. First a few vape related posts and wow… hasn’t vaping moved on since my last post?
I think I had just acquired an Innokin MVP 2 at that time last fall and was blown away by its power and capabilities. Now not quite 6 months on and the MVP 2 is almost a dinosaur. Mine was the 11 watt version though and they have since released the 20 watt version and now the new 30 watt MVP3. Rather than stay loyal to Innokin I have acquired some different mods.
First of all while I was in the UK I purchased an eFag. Yep that’s right, an eFag. I know. Bit of an unfortunate name especially in the USA but it is basically an unbadged eLeaf iStick with a top end of 23 watts. I believe the normal iStick offering tops out at 20 watts. And it has been great. No problems so far plus it is a lot smaller and lighter which was always a downside for me with the MVP2.
In fact I have been so impressed with it that I bought the official iStick 50w which is also great and gives me that extra power and battery longevity that I like. No need to be charging it up every 5 minutes although I do use my sticks in pass-through mode a lot when I’m on the computer.
Now I do see people in Vape groups on Facebook raving about bazillion watt mods that could power a small town but I do tend to ask why? Apart from the possibility of taking your head off if one of those babies blow I cannot see the point in spending lots of dosh on some over hyped device unless it is viewed as some kind of ‘penis extension’. The 50w iStick has power to spare for all of my needs INCLUDING sub-ohming.
Ahhhh. Sub-ohming. What is it? Sub-ohming is coil builds where the coil resistance is less than 1 ohm. You need a more powerful battery to run one of these sub-ohm set-ups and so produce more vapour (steam) or ‘clouds’ as they are known to vapers. You also, hopefully get more flavour. The downside is that these builds drink juice like a thirsty steroid laden weightlifter. More on that later. Also my old MVP will barely sub-ohm as it will only fire down to about 0.9 ohms. I still use it with a 1.0 ohm coil in it and it is OK-ish.
So now. I have the POWER. How can I utilize it for my vaping? I need at least a new tank preferably 2 or 3 and I started the hunt. I already have a Kayfun Lite Plus which is a nice piece of kit and so I decided to try the new Kayfun 4. OMG have they misfired on that one. About 40 pieces and over complicated. Now as a hobby interest it may be good for a vape nerd but I want my juice fast and easy and the KF 4 doesn’t cut the mustard I am afraid. Next I tried the Fogger 5. Very fiddly to rebuild due to a small sized deck and also little airflow. I use it occasionally. It is a nice looking tank. But I also hit the nail on the head there in regards to airflow. Basically for sub-ohming you need airflow… and lots of it. The Kayfuns and Fogger don’t have it. Now I see some people drill them out but it’s not something personally I can be assed with and so my next mission was to find a tank with LOTS of airflow.
I have always been a little ‘anti’ Kanger as I usually find they have leakage problems. I remember my first experiences of vaping with the ubiquitous Kanger EVOD tanks which leaked like crazy and almost made me give up vaping.
The Protanks weren’t much better.(I still have a Protank 3 sitting in my drawer gathering dust) And so I have usually gone with Aspire whose products do seem more reliable ( I still think fondly of the Vivi Nova BDC which I still think takes some beating now you can fit them with the BVC coils.)
BUT … I now have a new Kangertech Subtank Plus and I am pleasantly surprised. It’s a great tank and now it uses the same rba deck as the Subtank Mini which I also own it is even better than the old Subtank.
Why did I not stay with Aspire products? Well I thought I’d give Kanger another go as the new Subtanks (well 2 out of 3 of them) can use the ready-made coils and also they come with a rebuildable deck, so all angles covered. The small Subtank Nano doesn’t have the rba deck option. Aspire’s Atlantis only use pre-built coils, or at least they did. I see now that they have released a rebuildable deck too obviously to compete with Kanger’s Subtank. Too late for me Aspire.
I have used both the Kanger 0.5 ohm occ coil and the rba deck. Both are excellent and the ease of building the rba is amazing. I also have the Subtank Mini which is also using the same 0.5 ohm coil it came with lasting just over 3 weeks before giving up the ghost. And as the occ coils are expensive you don’t want to pop those babies too frequently… which is the other reason I want the rebuildable option. Kanger coils are great but at about $3 a time they don’t compare with rebuilding which costs pennies.
I must point out one problem I have encountered with Kanger’s rba deck though. The one I received with my Mini did not work. It was odd too. It came pre-installed with a coil. It read around 0.6 ohm on my ohmmeter … fine. But when I loaded it up into the Mini my eFag just showed ‘No Atomizer, which was very odd. I tried making my own coil. Still the same problem and since then I have also tried it on the iStick 50W with the same ‘No Atomizer’ result even though it still reads 0.6 on the ohmmeter. I have given up and ordered a new rba tank direct from Kanger.
It is nice and easy to refill and the fantastic new double airflow control on the Subtank Plus works a treat too. It now has airflow holes on both sides for that all important airflow and my Subtanks both blow clouds like a steam train. So much so that I have to turn away from my screen as I am writing this when I take a puff unless I want to wait for the fog to clear before restarting my post. Kinda reminds me of that Pink Floyd album … Obscured By Clouds. Ha.
Problems? Well yes my Subtank Mini does suffer from the notorious Kanger leak although it seems to be just a very slight weeping. Nothing too serious and my new Kanger Subtank Plus seems fine. They boast an extra o ring in the blurb. Whatever they have done seems to have cured the new Subtank Plus.
Overall a great buy and who knows? I may even get a Nano to complete the set.
Toodle-Pip.