Hot Coil/Tank Question

[KarynRH]

Hi folks,

I'm a total noob here (as you can probably tell from my avatar), and a total noob to non-cigalikes. I've googled for the answer but not really seeing anyone else with the same problem.

I bought a KangerTech Subvod-C kit and love everything about it except one thing; after only a handful of hits, the coil gets rather hot. It's inside the tank so I suppose it could be the tank that's getting hot but it seems to be pretty much the bottom half of it where the coil is. What little I could find suggested that it's a bad coil so I replaced it. Same thing. I then got a Subvod (minus the -C), wondering if it was something wrong with the unit itself, but I have the exact same issue with that one. I obviously am not adjusting the wattage so the posts I've seen referencing that can't solve my problem.

This leads me to assume I'm doing something wrong. I'm generally a mouth to lung hitter so tried switching to direct to lung and it seems to be the same, while being less satisfying to me. I've watched videos of other people vaping and I don't seem to draw on mine any longer than they do. It could be I've got greater lung power but after many years of pack-a-day smoking, that would surprise me.

Does anyone know what else I should try? This device seems spot-on for me otherwise and I've even lucked into a juice mix that makes me quite happy. I just keep being afraid the thing is either going to explode or break because of the heat in what appears to be the coil.

[spydre]

Could you give us some more information?  Like what resistance you are using and what wattage?  Is it only the bottom that gets hot, or does the whole thing get hot?

[KarynRH]

6 minutes ago, spydre said:

Could you give us some more information?  Like what resistance you are using and what wattage?  Is it only the bottom that gets hot, or does the whole thing get hot?

It's an out-of-the-box KangerTech Subvod-C and Subvod. It looks like the battery is 1300mAH, output voltage 3.7v. There's no way to adjust the power. It says it has an SSOCC 0.5 ohm coil. Just the basic set-up, no changes to it.

If it helps any, I'm currently vaping a mix of two flavors from VaporHQ - American Red, which is 12mg nicotine, 50vg/50pg, and Blast Radius, which is also 12mg nicotine, 50vg/pg.

 

Edit: I've also vaped a 4mg nicotine 90vg/10pg juice from my local store which I've found to be way too sweet for me. The same thing occurs while vaping this juice.

Edited February 6, 2017 by KarynRH
Adding the other juice I've vaped with this device

[spydre]

Does this happen only when you've been chain vaping - hitting it multiple times in a row, whith only short breaks in between, sort of like you would a cigarette?

[KarynRH]

Sort of. I'll take a break from whatever I'm doing and hit it four, maybe five times in the space of 3-4 minutes. Not quite as much as I'd hit a cigarette in that amount of time. 

[spydre]

That MIGHT be it, but I'm not sure.  It's not anything wrong with it, it just gets a little bit hot.  If I'm chain vaping on any of my tanks, they get hot (helpful hint:  a hot tank on bare skin hurts like hell).

 

[KarynRH]

So doesn't seem like I need to worry it's going to blow up in my face or catch fire? I feel like an idiot asking but I really don't want to do anything stupid with the thing. :^)

[Adversarious1]

25 minutes ago, KarynRH said:

So doesn't seem like I need to worry it's going to blow up in my face or catch fire? I feel like an idiot asking but I really don't want to do anything stupid with the thing. :^)

Welcome to VT @KarynRH

Don't ever feel like an idiot for asking completely legitimate questions or stating completely legitimate concerns.  I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in stating that I would much rather see new vapers ask what may seem like silly questions to them than I would hear of someone who gave up out of frustration and went back to analogs, or worse, become a statistic because something DOES blow up in their face.

That being said, I think @spydre is spot on.  It's probably getting hot simply due to hitting it several times in a short period of time.  It happens.  It doesn't mean anything is wrong with your mod, your tank or your particular method of vaping.  There are a couple of things you can do that will help cut down on it, though.  The first, and probably thet cheapest, I would recommend is trying a coil with a higher resistance than .5 ohm, for instance the 1.2 ohm coils SSOCC coils.  You won't get as much vapor, but it also won't get as hot.  As a mouth-to-lung vaper you may actually enjoy the higher resistance a bit more.  You will also notice a longer life on your battery between charging.  

[KarynRH]

Ahhh, that might be it. I like some vapor but I don't much care about lots of it. In fact, there are times when too much vapor is a problem. I'll definitely try some 1.2 coils - thanks, both of you!

[spydre]

I was going to make the same point as @Adversarious1.  With a sub-ohm coil, you are pumping a lot of power through it, and a higher resistance won't give you as much higher, so it should cut back on the temperature of the tank a bit.  You said you aren't looking for clouds, so loss of vapor isn't a problem for you, and you'll still a good taste out of it.

 

EDIT:  My vapor talk siggy isn't working!

Edited February 7, 2017 by spydre

[KarynRH]

Thanks, I'll definitely try that. If my local shop doesn't have them, I'll order them. VT is out of them at the moment.

Your sig was working just fine earlier! I don't know what happened to it. :^(

[Tam]

Looks like you're being well cared for so I'll just add one thing. Might think about trying a variable voltage/variable wattage mod? There are some that are easy to use and you get to lower or raise the power level to match the resistance in your coil. I'm also a mouth to lung hitter and frequently chain vape. The one thing I do not like is warm or hot vapor so I use a 1.8 ohm coil at anything from 9.4W to 10.7W depending on how old the coil is. As you use it, the coil will get gunked up. When that happens, you'll want to add a little more power to get the same draw from your tank. Just a thought.

Welcome to Vapor Talk!   

[KarynRH]

Thanks, Tam! I'll definitely check out other coils to see which one works best for me. I may end up going the variable route but for the moment, I'll see if I what I've got works well once I start using it correctly.

[Tam]

Good for you! Persistence and troubleshooting will serve you well as you learn more about vaping. Don't forget to ask questions. We're here to help.   

[spydre]

On 2/9/2017 at 5:43 PM, KarynRH said:

Thanks, Tam! I'll definitely check out other coils to see which one works best for me. I may end up going the variable route but for the moment, I'll see if I what I've got works well once I start using it correctly.

I think you'll find that going the variable voltage or wattage route will truly make your flavors come alive.  The people in my family that have tried vaping, the only ones that actually quit smoking and vaping worked for were the people that got off the stick battery and went variable.

 

[Tam]

10 minutes ago, spydre said:

I think you'll find that going the variable voltage or wattage route will truly make your flavors come alive.  The people in my family that have tried vaping, the only ones that actually quit smoking and vaping worked for were the people that got off the stick battery and went variable.

 

Stick batteries can also be variable voltage like the Vision Spinner and eGo Twist.

[spydre]

Right.  I meant the straight up "starter" 3.7 volt stick batteries that aren't adjustable.  Come to think of it, I've still got a spinner in my set of old mods that I used when my MVP was charging, not that it took that long to charge, way back when.  Looking into a new mod and tank right now though, but that's another thread.