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The Horizon Krixus Ceramic Tank Review
Prepare to spend a lot more on e-liquid if you plan to buy the new Horizon Krixus Ceramic Tank. It is definitely innovative, has plenty of terrific features, but with a wattage output rating of 40-80-watts it vaporizes e-liquid faster than any tank I’ve used to date, and that’s a fairly large number of tanks. In addition, this is the first tank I recommend for 18650/26650 batteries only, because internal LiPo battery packs do not last long. The Krixus just may turn out to be the fantasy tank you’ve been looking for, but its definitely a “stay at home” tank for most of us.
Before I reveal my week long adventure with the Horizon Krixus, let’s go over some of the features this tank offers up.
RCC – Rewickable Ceramic Coil
A Rewickable Ceramic Coil (RCC) System allows the user the opportunity to swap out the cotton exterior of the tank, which greatly increases the lifespan of each coil head “core”. This is a great idea, and supposedly the Horizon RCC system is “new”, but it does take nimble fingers and a fine tool to accomplish the task.
The RCC Coil System rates approximately 0.3 ohms, plus or minus 0.1-ohms. That’s not a negative by the way, as you probably very well know, a slip in the resistance of nearly all coils is normal. That said, using the Volcano Lavabox that ohm reading was 0.67-ohms. The Lavabox lasted 30 minutes before the battery needed a recharge. After that I switched to the WISMEC Reuleaux DNA 200.
The ceramic core is very porous, exactly what you want in ceramic material in a coil, and when used with Tungsten heating element it affords an amazing range of wattage, 40w to 80w to be exact. The ramp up of the coil system is nearly instant, and noticeable. I would have never guessed that tungsten wire would deliver such great flavor, but there is one drawback to this treasure trove of flavor production…The need to at least 80 watts of power hitting the coil.
As I do with all tank reviews, I did a quick read through of the manual that you get with the Krixus. I followed all the instructions, and decided that I would spend considerable time in Variable Wattage mode before trying out the Temperature Control mode. Using the Krixus in TC mode is not a matter of taking your mod into TC mode, and I’ll cover some tips to optimize the vape experience in TC mode shortly.
The Horizon Krixus in Variable Wattage Mode
After allowing the Krixus an hour to fully saturate with e-juice I set the wattage to 20w, way to low but a good start for a ceramic tank break in. 20 watts doesn’t light the tank at all. In fact, because I always unseat the coil and reseat it before use, I thought I did something wrong so I took it apart to check the coil. It was nice and secure so I put it back together and started again. After a second failed attempt to get the tank moving at 20 watts I bumped it immediately to 40 watts. It was here that I got a little something. Not much, but something. This is supposed to be the minimum acceptable wattage, but it isn’t. At 40 watts the flavor was completely tasteless. I climbed the wattage ladder and it wasn’t until I hit the 80-watt mark that the flavor hit well. Here’s brief rundown of the wattage ladder:
- 20 Watts – Nothing. Nada, Zilch. No vapor at all.
- 40 Watts – Some vapor, not much, zero flavor
- 50 watts – More vapor, no flavor.
- 60 watts – Very nice vapor production, very little flavor
- 70 watts – Enormous vapor, good flavor
- 80 watts – I thought I hit the jackpot here. Ungodly vapor, great flavor… 80 watts produced the same vape experience as the Goliath at 31 watts.
Going Above and Beyond
- . 90 watts – MY sweet spot. Vapor of the Gods and Nectar of the Gods.
- 100 watts – Same as 90 watts, but now the drip tip got just a little warm.
- 110 watts – Somehow the flavor is decreasing now, but vapor is the same as 90 watts.
- 120 watts – Drip tip a little too hot. Not interested at this level. Flavor decreases again.
Obviously the acceptable wattage exceeds the official rating by a lot. I’m not sure why this is, but I’ll take it. If you own this tank, I would love to read your thoughts on this below in the comments.
Vaping the Krixus in TC Mode
Before attempting to use the Horizon Krixus Tank, your vaping device needs to support manual TCR values. Temperature control mode works better when manually inputting the TCR values for tungsten, which is T0.00450 for the DNA200 and YiHi chips. For Joyetech, some eLeaf, and WISMEC devices, set the manual TCR value in a memory slot to 0450.
Not every device out there has the ability to manually input TCR values, but many devices that include upgradable firmware have been updating their devices to allow for manual TCR settings. If you’re not sure, check the manufacturers website to see if you’re using the current firmware or if there is one available. You should do that in any case, but you might also want to look at the changelog.txt file to see exactly what is being updated.
Personally, I enjoy the Krixus in variable wattage mode more so than TC mode. I found it difficult, even after setting the TCR value, to find the right wattage/temperature setting to get the same flavor and warmth from the vapor. Your mileage may differ or course.
The Horizon Krixus Up Close
This, quite frankly, incredible tank from Horizon may be an e-liquid sucking, power hungry tank, but man, if you can spare the juice have plenty of spare batteries around, this is a tank you need to add to your arsenal, even if you don’t plan on using it full time. (I don’t use it full time)
The Krixus Ceramic tank is a Coil-Less Tank, much like the Gigue Dolphin we reviewed last week. The porous ceramic composite core is embedded with a pure Tungsten heating element, which is what creates the longevity, and the phenomenal flavor output. I was surprised by the size of this core. For the amount of vapor and the incredible flavor at 80-watts I would have thought it would take a much larger core. The small size makes rewicking the core tedious.
Feature Highlights
The Horizon Krixus is Rewickable – The ceramic core lasts a long time, and all you really need to do is replace the small amount of cotton (included) and you’re ready to vape like it’s a brand new tank.
The Krixus holds 4mL e-juice – This juice is going to vaporize fast at 80-90 watts. But most importantly, when vaping at that wattage you must refill the tank before it reaches the top of the e-liquid port inside the tank. If you don’t, you’ll immediately begin to taste a scorched flavor. Take the time to top off the tank.
Top-Fill Design – Speaking of topping off the tank, the Krixus has a fantastic top-fill design, featuring a Spiral Splash Proof Vent. But what really makes the top-fill system great is that it is a simple twist off the top cap and reveal two really wide fill slots. The slots are large enough to tilt the bottle over one slot and pour slowly.
Krixus Airflow – The Krixus has a four adjustable Cyclops style airflow slots for massive air coming into the tank from under the coil system. With 80-90 watts of power you’re going to need these slots to keep the vapor cool(er), as well as the ceramics and tungsten core. The slots are 7mm by 2mm – each.
Removable 510 Drip Tip – I purchased a few of the black tanks, so my drip tip is black, wide-bore, Delphin plastic. Stainless Steel tanks feature Stainless Steel drip tips, with an interior of heat dissipation Delphin plastic.
E-Liquid Ports – The Ceramic Coil exterior shows 4 eliquid ports, and the inside chimney component has several holes. Although it isn’t mentioned, you can maximize the e-liquid access to the coil by moving the glass-to-top-cap portion of the tank slightly to line up all 4 inside e-liquid ports to outside ports. You can’t close the ports off because there are too many holes in the chimney component, but you can minimize it some by careful alignment.
Lifespan of the Core – Horizon says the ceramic center has a lifespan of six-month, and if it winds up being substantially shorter I’ll update this review.
Real World Impressions
Honestly, I’m at a loss as to why the flavor production at 40 watts is so bland. Using my favorite, flavorful e-liquid, 40 watts tasted like I was vaping vegetable glycerin with no flavoring at all. At first I was very disappointed in the tank as a whole.
Although you can enjoy temperature control vaping with the Krixus if the device you use will let you manually input the TCR value, I find it vapes better in variable wattage mode, so most of the time I was vaping the Krixus in VW mode at 80 watts. Using a LiPo-equipped device you’ll tear though the battery life quickly, but if you want to use your DNA 200 or YiHi device hook it up to your computer while you work and you’ll be fine. Otherwise, stay with a dual-18650 100W device or the 3x 18650 WISMEC Reuleaux. Some of the 100w devices I use include the eLeaf iStick 100w TC and the WISMEC Presa 100W with a 26650 battery. In actuality I suppose you could vape the Krixus with a 75w device as well, but with a single 18650, have a few spares ready to go.
Recommended for advanced Vapers with newer 100w devices. In TC mode I recommend a 100w-200w device with manual TCR input capability.
A marvelous ceramic tank that you can pick up at Element Vape for just $24.95. The MSRP is twice that at $49.95. Perhaps the wattage demand, or the manual input of the TCR values have made users shy away from the Krixus. That’s disappointing as well because if you have the wattage you won’t get much better than the Krixus.
Grade: A+
Tom McBride
Horizon Krixus Ceramic Coil-Less Tank Features:
- 22mm Diameter
- 4mL Juice Capacity
- Superior Stainless Steel Construction
- Pyrex Glass Reinforcement
- Tungsten Heating Core – 0.3ohm +/- 0.1
- Ceramic Composite Material in Outer Layer
- Incredible Durability – Expected to Last About 6 Months
- Vertical Cylinder Structure
- Simple Rewick with Cotton Replacement
- Quad Auxiliary Adjustable Airflow
- Spiral Splash-Proof Vent
- Unique Anti-Leak Design
- Convenient Top-Fill Method
- Heat-Insulated Stainless Steel Drip Tip
- 510 Drip Tip Adapter
- Stainless Steel Plated 510 Connection
Box Includes:
- 1 Krixus Tank
- 1 Extra Ceramic Tungsten Atomizer Core
- 1 Small Container of Japanese Cotton
- 1 Replacement Pyrex Tube
- Extra Set of O-Rings
- Instruction Manual
