I admit it took some time for the original Kanger ProTank to grow on me. Now Kanger has come out with the ProTank II in both large and mini sizes. I figured I’d pick each of these up and run them through the paces to see if I could warm to these new designs quicker. Herein lies the Kanger ProTank II review. Let’s find out if they did better the 2nd time around.
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Product name | Kanger ProTank II |
| Available from | VaporAlley | |
| Price | $22.99 | |
| Tank Cnstruction | Pyrex glass | |
| Competing products | Smok Trophy, ARO Tank, EVOD | |
| Who’s it for? | Users who want a tank that can stand up to acidic e-liquid | |
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Kanger ProTank II Design
The ProTank comes in both regular and mini flavors. This particular review will cover the regular sized version of Kanger’s flagship tank. Fear not friends, for I will be reviewing the mini version in an upcoming review. Promise.
Kanger’s latest iteration of its flagship Pyrex clearomizer is a fairly significant departure from its predecessor. For starters, you can actually change the tip out. Yes, this version is no longer stuck with an all-in one top cap and drip tip. Most any 510 tip will fit here, so you can totally rock that flaming skull tip you picked up at the last regional meet.
Having a spot to hold the drip tip does give the ProTank 2 a different look. It lacks the large curving tip. Instead there’s a slightly raised and curved top portion of the cap to accommodate the tip. This gives the deux a sort of flat section on the top that was lacking in the original.
The bottom section and glass tank are pretty much the same, and fairly featureless save for the Kangertech logo on the bottom band. The changeable head system is also largely unchanged, featuring a familiar design.
Inside a small metal casing covered with a silicone gasket is the heating coil. A metal cap with a stem is pressure fitted to the top of the head. This stem fits into a matching tube inside the tank.
This is where things start to get wild. The previous version was pretty simple, with the top cap glued to the glass tube with the bottom section that screwed into the bottom. The ProTank II uses an interesting sort of bolt together system.
A bracket is part of the bottom bottom band and sits inside the tube. There is a receiver under the bracket in which the air tube is screwed in. The air tube is still fused to the top cap, but the cap is not adhered to the tank itself.
Instead, the tank goes between the two sections and is fused into place by the bottom ring and the top cap being bolted together. This removes the need for any sort of glue to be used to hold the ProTank II together. This eliminates one of the big problems with the first version where the mouthpiece would become detached from the tank.
It’s a pretty brilliant piece of engineering work really.
Using the ProTank II
Aside from the interesting mechanical trickery used to hold this tank together, it functionally works the same way. The bottom part still unscrews for head changing and filling. Filling is a simple matter of pouring liquid in without getting it in the center tube. There is a slightly added challenge from the standpoint of getting liquid around the bracket, but it’s not exactly a deal breaker.
From a performance standpoint, the biggest problem I had with the original was that it seemed like it took ages before the thing broke in. Dry hits were a fairly common occurrence. There must have been some tweaks to the new design.
The Kanger ProTank II took a little bit of time for the wicks to become fully saturated, maybe 5 to 10 minutes. Otherwise, it performed well out of the box.
Admittedly, I kept the wattage at 10 or lower, but it performed faithfully for the most part. For some inexplicable reasons there were a couple of times where it seemed like the wicks weren’t properly absorbing.
Setting the 2 aside for a few minutes cleared that up, and then it wouldn’t happen for quite a while, a day or two in some cases.
In general, I consider the performance to be improved. The draw is still slightly on the airy side, but nothing I’d consider even distracting. Vapor production and flavor are not bad, and of course the Pyrex tank means you can use pretty much any kind of e-liquid you prefer.
The ProTank II is definitely a step in the right direction.
You can step over to VaporAlley to pick one of these up for yourself.
Pros
- Glue-free design
- Extra head included
- Decent performance
- Pyrex tank
Cons
- Occasional dry hits
- Slightly harder to fill
- No longer comes in the cool gift box
Disclosure: This review features affiliate links.
