# Re-wicked Iclear 30b



## 360twin (20/4/14)

This tank came with my wife's grenade, and since I got her a PT3 too she didn't need it, so I adopted it. Unfortunately it came with a faulty coil causing it to leak like a mofo as soon as it was filled (some of the upper wick was missing), so I ordered a new one and tried to fix it by threading some new wick through the coil. I also added a couple of strands using a sewing needle to ensure it wouldn't leak.

I may have overdone the amount of threads I'd inserted, since although it didn't leak afterwards, it didn't produce much vapour either 

The new coil wasn't really any better either, making me wander why these tanks are rated so highly. The draw is looser than the PT3 but doesn't produce the same vapour, and the flavour seemed a bit muted too. The only thing really going for it was the cool swivel drip-tip.

On Good Friday I accidentally dropped my PT3 glass tank which ended up in pieces, and had no spare at the start of a long weekend. This provided some incentive to get the 30b working properly, as the only other tank I have is a mPT2.

After seeing something similar on the 'net, I decided to replace the Silica wicks with cotton-wool (or 'car-din' as the Yanks like to say). This was done by rolling a bit I had separated into a thin enough sausage-shape to enable careful insertion through each coil, after the original wicks had been removed. I then trimmed the ends as close to the unit as possible, and squashed them inwards to ensure no leakage.

I didn't boil or do anything else to the cotton-wool before using it - as one user had stated, you get a bit of a funny taste at first, but it goes away fairly quickly. And you do have to be fairly careful inserting it - too much to fit and you can deform the coil, too little and it will leak. I luckily got it right.

The difference is noticeable from the first drag - vapour, flavour and TH all stronger. It may be better than the PT3 now, but I'll have to wait until I get another glass tank (and a spare!) for it before I can compare. It's working so well I haven't even missed the PT3 

Obviously there are some drawbacks - the cotton-wool will not be as durable, and you can't dry-burn the coils without first removing it, but the improvement over the standard wicks was huge. And it wasn't too difficult to do either. I've run about 4 tanks through it since doing it and it's still working great, and I've only flushed it once when changing flavours.

Next time I will boil the cotton-wool first though - the 'funny taste' wasn't that great, and I've no idea what may have caused it

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1


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## johan (21/4/14)

What you taste in the uncooked cotton is basically bleaching chemicals, most probably hydrogen peroxide.


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## Silver (21/4/14)

Congrats on your improvisation @360twin 

Highlights the need to always have good backups on hand
We forget that if we ran out of smokes, we could buy a pack at any garage, but with vaping we need to be prepared.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## 360twin (21/4/14)

johan said:


> What you taste in the uncooked cotton is basically bleaching chemicals, most probably hydrogen peroxide.



Blehh! How would you get rid of this? Do you immerse some in a cup of boiling water, or would you cook some in a pot of water for a couple of minutes? I imagine that this would result in a solid lump of material that would take ages to dry, which is why I never attempted it.



Silver said:


> ...
> Highlights the need to always have good backups on hand
> ...



Silly not getting a spare glass tank when I bought the PT3, just didn't think of it at the time


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## Andre (21/4/14)

360twin said:


> Blehh! How would you get rid of this? Do you immerse some in a cup of boiling water, or would you cook some in a pot of water for a couple of minutes? I imagine that this would result in a solid lump of material that would take ages to dry, which is why I never attempted it.


Most recommend boiling it in distilled water. Just pat dry and lay it out on paper towel to dry overnight.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## johan (21/4/14)

@360twin you boil it for 10 to 15 min at a rolling boil in de-chlorinated (bottled or RO) water, then rinse with de-chlorinated water, boil again, rinse and boil again until the rinse water is perfectly clear.

Reactions: Informative 2


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## Hein510 (21/4/14)

Now you must try the iclear X1! Basicly the identical twin of the 30B but glass and if I'm not mistaken the coils are the same but I think the X1 coils is better than the 30B coils, my thoughts on the 30B was an awesome unit, coils never leaked but gave me a dry vape every now and then.

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## 360twin (21/4/14)

Basically as I thought - way too much hassle considering the small quantity of 'pollutant' - the taste disappeared after about 3 - 4 puffs. Next time I will run about 0.5ml PG through it first (without inhaling!) 



Hein510 said:


> Now you must try the iclear X1! ...
> Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk



I did look at one, but it's price and my disappointment with the 30b put me off. The coils not being rebuild-able also didn't help, but I see that they have come down in price. I prefer my PT3 as it's worked perfectly since I got it without requiring modification, and has a glass tank (although this has its draw-backs  )

The 30b is working well now though, and I will need to compare it to the PT3 once I get it repaired.

Reactions: Like 1


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## kevkev (22/6/14)

@360twin have my iclear 30b for a week now. Re-wicked it with cotton and what an improvement. No more dry hits. Thanks. Kk

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