Kangertech Subtank Plus

Introduction to the Subtank Plus

The Kangertech Subtank series really needs no introduction. Currently the most popular sub ohm tank on the market, and arguably the most popular tank on the market at present. For the few that aren’t aware, already an established household name thanks to the huge popularity of the Protank series, Kangertech entered the sub ohm tank market at the end of 2014 with the original Subtank that took the vaping community by storm. With a huge up to 6ml capacity, hybrid clearomiser/rebuildable tank and almost dripper standard vape, the vaping community bought this up in droves. There were a few grumbles though, the Subtank has a 25mm width which overhangs on a lot of mods and a fair few vapers weren’t best pleased with this. In response to this feedback, Kangertech listened and in early 2015 Kangertech released the Subtank Nano (18.5mm width) and, the most popular itineration at present, the Subtank Mini (22mm width).

Offering the option for standard clearomiser user with swappable prebuilt OCC coil heads at 1.2ohm or 0.5ohm resistance (0.15ohm Ni200 OCC coils are available should you wish to use your Subtank with a temperature controlled mod), or if you want to dive into the world of rebuilding (or already do rebuild) an RBA (ReBuildable Atomiser) base is included with the Mini and original Subtank allowing you to swap the Subtank from a clearomiser to a full blown Rebuildable Tank Atomiser (RTA) with ease. It’s a hybrid clearomiser/rebuildable, and it’s popular for a reason- it does its job very, very well.

Since my original review of the Subtank Mini and Subtank Nano there have been countless new sub ohm tanks released, and plenty of competitors. Kanger are looking to up their game with the release of the Subtank Plus, a revised version of the original best-selling Subtank, which is what I will look at today.

Specs

• Hybrid Clearomiser (OCC Coil Heads)/Rebuildable Tank use
• 510 Connection
• Pyrex Glass Tank Section
• Now much easier to swap between RBA and OCC coil use
• 25mm Diameter
• 7ml Capacity
• Redesigned Airflow Control System

What's in the Box?

• 1x Subtank Plus
• 1x Drip Tip
• 1x Replacement Pyrex Tank
• 1x OCC Sub Ohm 0.5 Ohm Coil (Japanese Organic Cotton Wick)/ Range 15-30W
• 1x OCC 1.2ohm coil (Japanese Organic Cotton Wick)/ Range 12-25W
• 1x Mini RBA Base
• 2x 0.5ohm premade RBA coils
• 1x Japanese Organic Cotton (Muji) pad
• 1x Screwdriver
• 2x Replacement Screws
• 3x Replacement Black O-Ring Seals
• 1x User Manual

As you can see, and as per previous Subtank releases, plenty of kit and spares included within the ubiquitous red Subtank box, which has become an instantly recognizable trademark from Kanger these days.

Subtank Plus Look

Now, it’s not small by any stretch of the imagination and that is what will put off some potential buyers. The base measures 25mm which will overhang a lot of the most popular mods on the market these days, and the Subtank Plus measures 55mm without the drip tip so it is by no means small. It also feels weightier, and the pyrex tank section has been reinforced and beefed up to protect against breakages, I have dropped mine more than once and can testify it is a lot tougher than the original, however if you do manage to break the glass section there is a spare included in the packaging. Kanger have also included the popular black O-rings within the package which will please a lot of Subtank fans! The 510 connector is also flat and no longer spring loaded and protruding from the Subtank.

Essentially, looks wise, this is the Subtank Mini but just a lot larger, there isn’t really any difference other than the size, even the drip tip from the Subtank Mini has been used for the Subtank Plus.

Capacity

The Subtank Plus now holds up to 7ml of juice, which is much more than most tanks on the market these days, and will last a lot of vapers the entire day without the need to refill the tank. As warned in my previous Subtank reviews though, the same warning applies, vaping at higher power (especially with a Sub Ohm coil installed) will very quickly drain the tank, you still may find yourself refilling this at least once a day! I most definitely do. Your juice consumption may also increase, so if you are intent on chain vaping using the Subtank Plus then you may need to be prepared to spend out more on juice, or get into making your own juice to save money. I would check the O-Rings are securely fitted when you get your Subtank Plus, the old leaking issues have been rearing their ugly head, when I received mine I found two of the O-Rings were not fitted correctly, which would have likely caused leaks. I haven’t had an issue with leaking since ensuring the O-Rings were securely fitted. When refilling, unlike with the original Subtank, you simply unscrew the tank from the base, fill, screw back in and you are good to go. This is a major plus point for rebuilders, used to having a bottom fill screw to top their tanks up, there is no need to drain a whole tank when something goes wrong with the coils and you need to get at the desk, you simply unscrew the tank from the base, seat it upside down, and you are able to get at the base of the tank and the coils without needing to lose a whole ton of juice! The juice will stay in the tank rather than escaping out through the top of the tank.

Airflow

The Subtank Plus has in my opinion the best airflow and cloud production out of all of the Subtanks. This is down to the same AFC system used in the Subtank Mini but beefed up for the Subtank Plus, there are cyclops airflow slots present instead of the old airflow holes, and with the addition of a second cyclops airflow slot on the other side. Each airflow setting now clicks into place, with a satisfying audible click, rather than spinning freely like it had a tendency to do with the original Subtank. Wide open this is still a lung hitters dream, but there are more options now to restrict the airflow to satisfy mouth to lung vapers.

OCC Coils

Coming box shaped with a single coil contained and a Japanese Cotton Wick, the OCC coils wick exceptionally well. There were no issues with wicking juice up to 80vg, dry hits were an absolute rarity (and mainly came when I forgot to change the power setting on my mod after using my drippers!), the flavour and cloud production were absolutely spot on. For me, this is the best Sub Ohm tank on the market when it comes to flavour and clouds. You get a very warm vape at high power, excellent throat hit and outstanding cloud production. Some people may find the warmer vape takes a while to get used to, personally I love it.

You may want to consider dropping the nicotine content (and the PG content if you are used to high PG) of your juices when using the Subtank Plus OCC coils and Mini RBA Deck, these coils provide a lot more power than most new users are used to, people not used to sub ohm/ high power vaping may find that their vaping experience is uncomfortable using the same nicotine levels they previously used. This is usually remedied by dropping the nicotine content of your juices right down, and/or swapping to a higher VG mix if necessary.

Coil lifetime for me is still great and I have never had a duff OCC coil. You need to ensure your coils are properly primed before usage by dripping your chosen liquid into the centre of the coil to saturate the wick and allowing the juice to stand in the tank for at least a minute before vaping. I regularly swap between the 1.2ohm OCC coil and the 0.5ohm OCC coil and I still get almost 2 weeks out of the 1.2ohm coil vaping at wattages between 14-20watts, and the same from my 0.5ohm coil vaping at wattages between 24-30watts. This will vary however as different juice types and the power used will affect the lifespan of your coils. There are plenty of guides out there on rewicking and rebuilding the OCC coils to get even more life out of them!

Mini RBA Deck

Kanger have decided to scrap the old RBA deck, and included the Mini RBA deck with the Subtank Plus, which is a marked improvement on the original RBA deck included with the Subtank, and you can use your RBA deck from the Subtank Mini in the new Subtank Plus.

The Mini RBA is completely different from the original RBA deck on the original Subtank - Kangertech completely revised it for the Subtank Mini and arguably improved it. Kangertech also made the Subtank Plus less fiddly to swap between the OCC coils and RBA deck than it was with the original Subtank, inline with the Subtank Mini- no longer to you need to take out the top screws (there are none present on the Subtank Plus) and install a different chimney shaft to swap to the RBA base, you simply unscrew the base of the tank and swap out the OCC coil for the RBA deck. Easy as that. Focusing on a single coil set up, modelled on popular build decks from existing rebuildable tank atomizers, the deck is now far easier for beginners and experienced vapers alike to build on. It already comes with a pre-installed single 0.5ohm coil, rather than the fiddly dual coil set up on the original Subtank, and the airflow through the deck incredibly is better than the original Subtank in my opinion due to the addition of a second airflow slot.

As before I would advise any user of the Subtank Plus to make the jump to using the RBA base as soon as you can. The possibilities are endless with the Mini RBA section, you can customise the vape to suit yourself and get a real insight into rebuilding with the larger build deck. I have put endless builds in the Mini RBA base, each offering me something different, and the Mini RBA section is surprisingly accommodating. One thing I have noticed, is that the juice channels are larger than any revision I have seen on the Mini RBA deck, and this should hopefully eliminate the dry hit issues experienced by many vapers with older revisions of the Mini RBA deck. The Mini RBA with the Subtank Plus also comes with the latest upgraded insulators.

The only negative I have found previously with the RBA deck, and it is still present here, is that you need to be careful screwing the unit back together, if you are too forceful with it you risk seizing up the Mini RBA deck and it can be a pain to unscrew it again to get at your build. As long as you are careful, you should have no issues

Safety

As with any Sub Ohm/High Power tank exercise great caution when using the Subtank Mini, especially with the 0.5ohm OCC coils or Sub Ohming with the RBA base. Ensure that your batteries can handle the amp draw from the coil. Your safest bet is to invest in 18650 batteries with an amp draw of 30A (20A at least) and ensure you purchase these from a reputable seller. Make sure you have an ohms checker to hand when rebuilding and you read up on Ohm’s Law and Battery Safety. If you have any problems refer back to the Subtank guide found under the Guides section on the website to hopefully resolve your issues. If not, don’t be afraid to ask on the forum!

Conclusion

The Subtank Plus has improved on the original, and arguably in my opinion it’s the best of the bunch. There aren’t many changes over the Subtank Mini- and that is a good thing as in my opinion the Subtank Mini is the best of the bunch. I find I am the best flavour out of the Subtank Plus over any other revision of the Subtank, you definitely get the biggest clouds out of all of the Subtanks with this latest offering with the addition of the second airflow slot on the AFC ring. The Subtank Plus is the Subtank Mini on steroids- all of the best bits of the Subtank Mini have been used to create the Subtank Plus, upsized and enlarged, and even increasing the capacity over the original Subtank to 7ml means a lot of vapers will now not need to even stop to refill their tank throughout the day. The 25mm base along with its large size in general is going to put off a lot of OCD vapers, as it won’t be flus on most popular mods, personally I get around this by using it on the Kanger Kbox for an easy pick up and go vape.

Despite the influx of sub ohm tanks , there is still only one sub ohm tank I return to constantly and have come to rely on each day, and that is the Kanger Subtank. Made even better by the Subtank Plus!

You can win one of these big beauties in one of our weekly competitions here.

Dave Junglist

Reviewer at POTV

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Dave Junglist is co-owner of Planet of the Vapes and has been vaping since 2015.  He spent his early years with his head in a bass bin and was a very committed and experienced smoker.  He had his first cigarette at the age of 13 and just knew it was for him.  He did stop briefly with the aid of patches but reverted quickly and became a ‘secret’ smoker, working hard to keep his weak will from the attention of his family.  Vaping made an honest man of him and for this he is forever thankful. He has been involved in websites since completing a degree in Environmental Science in the late nineties.  At that time there was pretty much no contact with computers but on joining the regular workforce and deciding that the world-wide-web was the future he blagged his first job as a web designer and never looked back. As you would expect from a junglist, Dave likes his beats and is most comfortable when the bass is wobbly.

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