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A Better Subohm Tank Comes To Town
The Herakles Sub Ohm tank, made by the company “Sense” is another in the long line of new subohm tanks hitting the market this year. While all these new tanks offer subohm coils, some do a better job than others. Of course, the whole idea of ‘doing a better job than the other’ is based on his or her own vape style or individual vape experience. Some tanks offers intense flavor, some intense vapor, and luckily for us, the consumer, with each new iteration improvements are made.
The Aspire Atlantis was the first subohm tank to hit the big time. Aspire was so confident in that 0.5-ohm coil that they didn’t bother to release anything but the 0.5ohm coil. The Atlantis turned out to be the true game-changer, and it didn’t take long for the other tank makers to churn out their own version.
Today the leader in subohm tanks is Kangertech, or Kanger. The Subtank comes in 3 sizes (the original 6ML Subtank is no longer in production), 3mL, 4.5mL and 7mL. The Subtank is still my choice for everyday vaping, but only because of the ease of filling the tank.
The Subtank delivers good flavor and good vapor, a nice balance of both really, but with the flurry of new tanks arriving on the scene there are now tanks that beat the Subtank in both flavor and vapor, but none beat Kanger in both. The Herakles subohm tank beats the pants off the Subtank when it comes to the volume of vapor it can produce with its’ 0.2ohm coil and its’ 0.6ohm coil.
Herakles Tank
This 22mm tank was designed for great vaping at 50 to 75 watts, though using it with my Vapor Flask, Vaporshark and even iStick 50 produces wonderful vapor production and very decent flavor at 40w. But when used with the box mod I am now in the process of reviewing, the SMOK XPro M80 Plus, the 68w level is my sweet spot that produces amazing flavor, awesome vapor, and the right amount of warmth with the 0.2ohm coil. With the 0.6-ohm coil there is no need to go above 40w, for me anyway.
Unique Issues
Unlike the Subtank from Kanger, all the new subohm tanks have varying difficulties when refilling them. While the Subtank is completely open at the top (which is really the bottom), the others, including the Herakles have much narrower openings for eliquid filling. That’s not really a negative, but because of my personal issues the Subtank earns points for being a tank I refill by tilting the eliquid bottle and pouring to the fill point.
Unique to the Herakles however, is the airflow controller and the eliquid controller, which they refer to as “Juice Entry Points”. Each coil head has a series of circular cutouts that align with cutouts in upper part of the base of the tank. Simply turning the base to tighten it to the rest of the tank may align the holes so that they are covered, or uncovered. This is something I didn’t notice until first using the tank and getting subpar performance from it. It was only by accident that I uncovered the problem. In my case, I turned the base until the holes were aligned, allowing maximum eliquid into the coil itself, and performance jumped by orders of magnitude. Strangely, there is no outside ring to adjust; twisting the entire base is the only way to align the coil holes. Again, the difference in vapor production is astounding when all entry points are aligned to allow maximum juice to hit the coils.
The airflow controller is a large outer ring with a “grill” look. (See photos). You have to look carefully in a well-lit room to see that the airflow controller is wide open. The ‘grill’ is an anesthetic, and as such it does give the tank a good look, so I suppose you could call it an even trade.
Lastly, the Herakles is unique in that it takes as long as an hour to fully saturate the coils. It was not uncommon for me to see air bubbles escaping from the eliquid flow holes 45 minutes to an hour after refilling. While I could get a decent vape going after 10 minutes of waiting, it takes longer to really get it going. This isn’t reserved for filling or refilling either, whenever you ‘cold start’ the tank it takes some time to get going again.
At 22mm the tank fits all modern box mods and tube devices nicely, with literally no hang over in any of the devices I’ve used it with.
Performance
The extra wide drip tip is about as wide as competitor drippers. During the review period I used this drip tip but afterwards I began using one of my other tips. The drip tip is metal, and metal drip tips are not my thing. However, I found the drip tip cooler than most metal drip tips in other subohm tanks, so its an excellent drip tip.
The Herakles tanks produces copious amount of vapor when all the features, and unique issues of the tank align. Just as I got used to the amount of vapor being produced by the Atlantis the Subtank comes along and shows me there is more vapor to be produced. After the Subtank the Arctic tank comes out and shows up the Subtank in the flavor department , and now the Herakles shows up the Arctic in the vapor production, while maintaining good to excellent flavor. Soon I will begin my review on the Matrix tank from High Voltage, and the Starre tank, so who knows what lies ahead. Right now, today, the Herakles is the tank I own that produces the thickest clouds, but that may not be the case much longer.
6 Wicking Points – 5 Juice Entries
The Herakles features 6 wicking points (!) on the tank and 5 juice entry points (the eliquid controllers) on the coil itself. The wicking points and the eliquid entry points are supposed to allow for a fast start, but for me it doesn’t work that way. The eliquid controllers (juice entries) do allow for a ton of juice to hit the coils, which are why the vapor is thick and voluminous, but it takes time to get there.
The vertical coil structure of the 0.6ohm BVC Head produces good flavor, and huge clouds. The BVC 0.2ohm coil produces about the same flavor, a bit more vapor, but can ride higher in the wattage department and so produces warmer vapor at 65-70w.
The Herakles tank is an all Stainless Steel and glass tank. The capacity of the tank is 3mL of eliquid. The copper 510-connector allows for minimal voltage drop. The tanks come completely apart for easy cleaning. Lastly, the coils themselves last a good long while. When I scorch a coil with a Subtank the coil never produces the same great flavor, but the Herakles seems to be able to handle that a bit better, though honestly I’ve only scorched it once.
The Tank is available at Alluring Vapor and thanks to them I was able to obtain a couple of tanks for this review. Alluring Vapor sells the Herakles for $29.99, about $5 less than most of the other vendors I’ve checked out.
So, with all the choices out now, and the ones coming online soon, is the Herakles tank worth buying? The answer, naturally, is one of choice. But I will say that it is always a good idea to at least try one of the new subohm tanks when they hit the market. Had I stuck with the Atlantis I would have missed out on the much better Subtank, and had I stuck with the Subtank I would have missed the Arctic tank, and so on. $29.99 is a good investment to make on a tank that you just might find is the best vape experience you can get, at least until the next one comes out.
Now, for the question you will see in every review moving forward:
If I lost the Herakles tank would I buy it again?
Yes I would.
John Manzione
Product Specifications:
- 22mm
- Copper bottom contact
- Coils made with organic cotton
- All Stainless Steel and Glass
- Comes apart for easy cleaning
- .2 and .6ohm coils (1 each)
- Wide-bore drip tip
Package Contents:
- 1x Herakles Sub Ohm tank
- 1x Replacement coil 0.6 OHM
- 1x Replacement glass tube
