Graduated To The SubTank Mini

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

I've Graduated to the SubTank Mini, and have some questions.

I started Vaping a few months back and having been using Mini Nautilus Tanks on both the iStick 20w and iStick 50w batteries.
I wanted to get a sub-ohm tank with a rebuild-able deck so I could start learning to build my own coils at a beginners level.
I also heard the SubTank Mini had great flavor, and of course...more vapor.

First off, the flavor on this thing is phenomenal!
I was actually quite happy with the flavor from my Mini Nautilus tanks, but had no idea what I was missing.

I haven't tried building a coil because I don't have everything I need yet,
and I'm still enjoying the OCC's that came with the tank.
I bought some Koh Gen Do cotton for the wicks, but what kind of wire do I need for the coils?

Some other questions I have are about Tank Capacity and Vapor Production:
It says the tank capacity is 4.5ml, but it seems a bit off to me.
The way I measured (because I don't have a ml syringe) was by using my Mini Nautilus Tank.
What I found was strange though...
I could almost fit 3 of the Mini Nautilus tanks into the SubTank Mini up to the Chimney.
If the Mini Nautilus truley holds 2.5.ml than that would make the SubTank Mini around 7ml give or take. Something isn't right here. Does anyone know the true capacity?
The other thing I noticed about the SubTank Mini's Capacity is that One Full Tank of the Mini Nautilus will only barely cover the Wick Holes on the OCC of the SubTank Mini.
That makes me think that 2.5ml of the capacity isn't even really usable because you wouldn't ever want to run your level below those wick holes right?
Now if you subtract that amount, I guess things start to equal out at about 4.5ml,
but it still seems odd to me for some reason.

As far as Vapor Production goes:
I don't seem to get those billowing clouds from this tank that I've seen most others get and am wondering why??
The farthest I've cranked it up so far is 28watts on the OCC.
For me...the Vapor is pretty warm and for some reason a bit painful at that level while doing a large lung hit.
I'm using Max VG juices, with a Nic level of 15-18.
Is that why it's a bit overwhelming?

The clouds also don't seem very "dense" at any level.
It actually seems like the vapor I get out of lung hits with my Mini Nautilus are more as far as the density goes. And by that, I just mean color. The Vapor from the Nautilus Mini seems thick and white, where as the Vapor from the SubTank Mini seems greyish and somewhat thin.
That seems Bass Ackwards to me.

 

[Slurp812]

Ive noticed that too. I get more density from my kayfun. The mini vape seems very moist, and seems to deliver lots of heat and NIC!

 

[GrayVaper]

First of all, save your OCC coils after replacing them. There are instructional videos on how to easily rebuild them. The RBA that came with it should already have a .5 ohm coil installed plus a spare in the bag. Check on YouTube for information on inserting and trimming your cotton. I have two of the Sub Tank Mini units and I run both with their RBA . I generally vape them between 25 - 30 watts and get great flavor and decent vapor.

 

[Caboose]

You are right that with the OCC coils you lose that little bit of capacity, however with the rebuildable deck the juice holes are at the very bottom so the entire tank is available. I vape mine down until there's virtually no juice left in the tank, makes changing flavors much easier lol.

As far as your discomfort, you're getting a lot more vapor out of the subtank vs the nautilus mini, I have both and can confirm. I can vape 12mg out of the nautilus but if I try that in my subtank it burns like hell. I switched to 3mg a while ago for my dripper and use that solely now, it works great in my subtank mini too. I use my subtank with the rebuildable deck and am currently using it with a vertical coil build, I vape at 15 watts and get plenty of vapor and awesome flavor out of it.

 

[Neunerball]

....I bought some Koh Gen Do cotton for the wicks, but what kind of wire do I need for the coils?....

I'd recommend to use either 26 gauge or 24 gauge Kanthal A1 wire, depending what kind of coil you're trying to build.
FYI, take a look at the following website http://steam-engine.org. It has some useful tools for building coils, ohms law etc.

 

[OBDave]

Check out the last page of the SUBTANK WARS thread on here - there's a good video with a tip wherein the poster stabs a couple holes in each side of the OCC coil with a needle to help with juice flow. I found it tremendously helpful with my high-VG juice, which was previously giving me dry hits like mad...

 

[BoomStick]

I think your nic is way too high. I use 6mg in my subtank and rda's and a lot of people use even lower. You're 3-6 times higher than most. Lowering the nic will help the harshness a bunch. I've also found that some flavor combo's are great for mouth to lung hits, but are terrible for direct lung hitting. So maybe the flavor, but definitely the nic level needs adjusting.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, lots of good input here!

GrayVaper - Thanks for the tip on the OCC's. I didnt realize they could be rebuilt. But since the subtank mini comes with an rba deck, why would one want to mess with rebuilding one of the others? Just courious.

Neunerball - Thanks for your suggestion on wire gauge. I dont really know what kind of coil that I need to be building at this point, other than something similar to what the deck came with. Nor do I understand the differences yet or which is better for what. That link to steamengine should come in really handy after I figure out what I need to doing though, thanks!

Obdave - Nice tip about the juice holes. I havent had a problem with dry hits yet thank god. Your juice must be a bit thicker than mine.

Mike & Boomstick - You guys are dead on about tje Nic level and flavors. I was using a Peanut Butter @ 15 and 18mg. While the flavor was awesome, I didnt realize how much the subtank would intensify the Nic as well.
I have a Honeydew flavor here that I was never able to use because the guy made it too strong and it was making me nautious. Last night I went and bought some VG USP from Walmart. I mixed it with that juice at a 1 to 1 ratio then added 3 drops of distilled water because of how thick the new VG was. It turned out PERFECT guys! The flavor was now great and not overpowering, and the hits were super smooth. Warm...but smooth. Vapor production also went way up because it no longer hurt to rip on it the way I should be able to. So....problem solved I think.

Now what Nic ratio I ended up with I really dont know.
I staryed with a max vg juice at 15mg. Mixing 1 to 1 with the VG would that put it at a 7.5 Nic level? And did adding the 3 drops of water lower it even more?

 

[BoomStick]

I would just consider it to be 7.5mg. Unless you make your own juice, the closest you'll probably get to that when buying juice is 6mg. Some shops mix their own stuff so you could have them make 7 or 8 mg if it seems to be just what you want.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

Well making my own juice is probably going to be my next vaping adventure along with learning how to build coils.
Now having the subtank mini really makes me cringe at having to go back and use my mini nuatilus because tje subtank tastes so much better and now seems to out perform my nautilus. The problem is...theres no way I'll be able to afford the juice consumption that tje subtank requires vaping it the way I like to vape. So my only real options are ...use the subtank very sparingly and stick to my nautilus for everyday use, or make my own juice.
I dont even know where to begin there.

I thought about trying to stretch the juice I bought to run in my subtank, but have no idea if it would destroy a perfect flavor. Im vaping a perfect Captain CrunchBerry in my nautilus right now. Its Max VG at 18 nic. Using the same method as I did above with the overly strong Honey, Im sure the Nic level would turn out fine for my subtank, but would it destroy the already perfect flavor??

 

[OBDave]

If your flavor is good, it'll weaken it a bit diluting, though I think you'd definitely have to dilute to run it in your Subtank. Go ahead and take a look at the DIY subforums when you've got a chance - tons of super helpful folks over there that'll make you wonder why you didn't start mixing your own sooner. I haven't bought a bottle of store juice in over 4 months...cost has been about the same, but I've got enough supplies to buy nothing for the next year and still burn through 30 ml a day between me and my wife.

 

[bondo]

For a more dense vape,close the airflow a bit.

Be careful when you pull from the rba.
both of mine gave dry hits regardless of the wick.
I had to file the channels in both to run 50/50 without loosing a lung..