New to RBA's?

[danpio1217]

As always thanks for all the tips and info! I think you hit the nail on the head on a few spots.

I think my wick is too tight in the wick hole, even tho it's a small wick and even tho i trimmed it even smaller, that wick hole is very small and the wick was sitting pretty tight in it.

Being my first wick, i think it was a bit bent from my needle nose plyers when i oxidized it and seasoned it.

The way I rolled it, i think the center was a bit "smooshed"

I'll try out some of your tips & tricks on the next one. Quick question: I see a lot of genny's where the wick is sort of pulled toward the center post to minimize the amount of wire spanning from the top coil to the center post. Is that a good idea? I tried that, but i feel like it might have contributed to my wire being wrapped too tight. Any thoughts?

Thanks again!

[Uma]

You're welcome! The check-off lists are great aren't they. Pretty soon you'll be checking off the lists like it's second nature, without a thought.

While torching, or seasoning, and coiling my wick, I like to insert the straightened out paperclip or a blunt needle, and then hold the "handle" end with a pair of pliers.

Yes, you nailed it! Bending the wick will bandaid the top coil hot spot, but it causes other problems such as choking the wick, or even slicing wick. The wire will slice right through, shortening the life of your wick. The bent wick can also lean so far over sometimes that the bottom of the wick will touch the side of the tank, smothering the flow or even shorting out. The straight wick, raised off the bottom, cut at an angle or fan, with minute air flow around the edges and a nice clean airhole through the middle, will assure a good wicking genny. (the u-ey's being exceptions, those are cut and rolled differently),

The wick should fit into the hole, snuggish, never tight, ... it should be easy to remove without feeling the "grating" against the sides. Yet it shouldn't be so easy to remove that it removes itself. (for perfect).

We do what we gotta do in order to get the genny up and vaping. Fine tuning is what brings the excellent results to a vape. Knowing what we want, and figuring out ways to achieve our results is half the fun. (and p.i.a.).

Save those cut-offs! Some AGA-T+ vapers have discovered that making 3 or more super skinny straw wicks, bundling them together with a wrap around the top (like the L, but from a lose scrap they have lying around), wicks like there's no tomorrow.

The hole in yours might have a burr or something. Drilling it out, like you said, will fix that, plus make for a larger wick. All the batches that come in from China have something different about them. That's the luck of the "draw" (pun intended).

You are so on the right track.

The goal is to somehow move the positive center post tie down closer to the wick, not the opposite. Either by adding washers, spring, extra roll around the top part of the wick, ... whatever you can think of.

edited to say: As long as you can vape it, you're good to go! All suggestions in this post are for perfecting the vape, perfecting the wicking, ... if you have to do the 3:00 Genesis Tilt, then so be it.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Uma

[danpio1217]

Cool, this is definitely gonna help my 2nd wick. I think i'll use the syringe needle method you suggested in order to ensure I have a good center hole. So many good suggestions here, I'm confident the vape will only get better. Once i vape thru my tank of Cinnamon Danish Swirl i think i'll go ahead and build wick & coil #2. I'll keep you posted

[Uma]

That sounds delicious! I picked up the flavoring, and now I'm antsy to mix some up. I know what I'll be doing today.

[Rixter]

...I'm confident the vape will only get better...

Dude...you have no idea. The difference between my first wick & coil and my second wick & coil was like the difference between a bottle rocket and an A-bomb!

[Proetus]

I'm currently fighting with my IGO-L I think i have buily 5-6 coils and they just aren't doing what i think they should. Watched a few more videos last night, hoping to get another coil made tomorrow night. Hopefully i'll get it worked out and purchase an AGA T-2 next weekend!

[danpio1217]

I've really been enjoying my IGO-L. It was a bit frustrating at first but once you find the right combination and postioning of the wicks it really shines.

I think the key is keeping the wicks nice and short, but still have them dipping into the 'pool' of juice at the bottom, and keeping the coil as close to the posts as possible without them touching. I've been using 2 wicks, with about 4 wraps

[danpio1217]

My 2nd wick and coil on the AGA-T is much much better. I really just took my time wrapping the wick and made sure it didn't get bent or messed up too much. I also cut it down the center to fan it out a bit on the end that sits in the juice. Where my first wick had no visible center hole, this one has a clear round center vein for the juice to travel through. Also instead of putting just a bit of juice on it to burn off after oxidation, i put as much as possible without it dripping off. I could visually see the difference in how quickly it absorbed it after the first burn.

With everything all setup im happily vaping away on another 1.7 ohm coil. Still want to get the wick hole drilled out but for now its workin well. Thanks for all your help Uma!! You're a rockstar

[Uma]

Right on!!! You're the Rockstar dude, btw. It takes a lot of nerve and patience to do these. I bow to you dear Sir, for tearing apart a working genny, in order to get a better working genny. (I need to do that with my IGO, like Proteus above).

You're so going to love it after it's drilled out. Drilling it out will provide room for many optional experiments, as you're very aware of. Make sure the airhole is lined up with your wick, and is facing towards the floor. (sometimes I forget this simple to do task, and end up with a dry hit when chain vaping). Congrats Danpio, it's all uphill from here.

[danpio1217]

Thanks much Uma

[Uma]

Here is a collection of wick sizes for the various gennys out there. Hope this helps.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Atm-i6EmP-hudG9XQ3ZHNXBNUndUaFFzZU1SdXhDeEE#gid=0

[Rixter]

Got a tip for you.

Roll your wick around a short piece of paper clip that's about ½" longer than your desired wick length after trimming (if you trim).

Leave the paper clip in the wick when you wrap your coil...it'll help hold things in place and help to retain the center flue. It also adds strength to the wick so you can pull your coils a little bit snugger.

Using the method above, I made this wick & coil for my AGA-T2 from a 1" x 1½" slice of 400 SS mesh and some dual twisted 32g Kanthal wire. It meters at .7Ω.

[danpio1217]

Interesting tip Rixter, do you leave the paperclip during oxidation and priming with juice as well?

[Uma]

Great tip and photo!!

That's how I like to coil mine. The wick stays straight and true that way even while tightening er down.

I also wrap mine before inserting it into the wick hole, to compromise for lack of knuckle space. (my post that follows MSE's, that shares "yet another way" was supposed to cover this, but I got sidetracked and just repeated what he said cuz what/how he said was so cool and fresh in my mind. Dontcha hate when that happens lol. (not the fresh in mind impressions, but the fact that we can't stick with our thoughts long enough to say them)

Thank you for your post!!! You made it easy to see and understand. I'm so glad you posted this!!!

Dan, I leave mine in during the torch, seasoning, and wrapping. It doesn't leave my wick until the fat lady sings.

It keeps the wick from squishing, and it keeps the wick from kink bending over towards the positive post.

[danpio1217]

Awesome, will have to try that out on my next wick. Suprisingly tho, my 2nd wick and coil has been holding up beautifully. With a bit of tilting it's been able to wick up every last drop of juice in the tank and i've had nary a dry hit. Hope i still remember how to rebuild it by the time it finally craps out on me

[Uma]

LOL, yeh, I've been there, done that. Totally forgot how I perfected it the last go-round. But it all came back to me as I plodded along. A good coil will last for a long long time. Before each refill, I like to turn it upside down, pulsate dry burn, blow off the gunk, and she's as good as a few days old.

[Uma]

Headsup!! If you prepare your wick the non-oxidized way by only pulsating the coil, you'll need a fresh battery a few hours off the charger to no lower than 3.8v. The pulsating action takes a lot of juice from the battery.

If you oxidize your wick, like I do, you'll want a 3.8-ish battery or the current will be too strong for your new coil and they'll pop easier.

Clear as mud?

[Rixter]

With a bit of tilting it's been able to wick up every last drop of juice in the tank and i've had nary a dry hit.

Dan, there is something to be said for the bottom of that wick tilting out to touch the side wall of the tank (clear only...not metal tanks) just above the tank floor. It definitely helps to keep things wicking all the way to the bottom with just the slightest tilt. You can actually see the e liquid climbing the wick at the surface when your juice gets really low...

...I can, anyway.

Works for me.

Edited May 31, 2013 by Rixter

[Aquatroy]

Damn interesting, but so way over me head!

[Uma]

If I can do it, anybody can do it. Trust me.

[Jeffb]

I saw a guy on VapeTV build a coil at .3 ohms. You should have seen the vapor coming off that thing. It was crazy!!

[Rixter]

I saw a guy on VapeTV build a coil at .3 ohms. You should have seen the vapor coming off that thing. It was crazy!!

With a freshly charged battery (4.1v), that's just over 56 watts & almost 14 amps...no way I'm stickin' that in my piehole.

[Uma]

Crazy is right! For me, 0.8 is the lowest I'm comfortable with, and that's, of course, only with a newer battery that can handle that. Overall, I try to keep mine around 1.2... plenty hot enough for instant sizzle and I can handle the vapor amounts without waste of juice to make the wasted vapor. To each their own though, of course.

[VAPERMAN]

I do not remember where I originally got this information from but I use this as a way to get my ohms as close as possible. It is listed as ohms per inch of different gauge wire. Very easy to get the right ohms with this list....

Kanthal Grade ------ A-1 ------ A -------- D -------- Nichrome60 --- Nichrome80 -- Dia.in --- Dia.mm
28 awg (ohm/in) --- 0.4563 --- 0.4360 --- 0.4250 --- 0.3520 ---28--- 0.3390 ------ 0.0126 -- 0.3211 -- 28
29 awg (ohm/in) --- 0.5754 --- 0.5497 --- 0.5359 --- 0.4439 ---29--- 0.4274 ------ 0.0113 -- 0.2859 -- 29
30 awg (ohm/in) --- 0.7255 --- 0.6932 --- 0.6758 --- 0.5597 ---30--- 0.5390 ------ 0.0100 -- 0.2546 -- 30
31 awg (ohm/in) --- 0.9149 --- 0.8741 --- 0.8522 --- 0.7058 ---31--- 0.6796 ------ 0.0089 -- 0.2268 -- 31
32 awg (ohm/in) --- 1.1537 --- 1.1022 --- 1.0745 --- 0.8900 ---32--- 0.8570 ------ 0.0080 -- 0.2019 -- 32
33 awg (ohm/in) --- 1.4547 --- 1.3899 --- 1.3550 --- 1.1222 ---33--- 1.0807 ------ 0.0071 -- 0.1798 -- 33
34 awg (ohm/in) --- 1.8344 --- 1.7526 --- 1.7086 --- 1.4151 ---34--- 1.3627 ------ 0.0063 -- 0.1601 -- 34
35 awg (ohm/in) --- 2.3131 --- 2.2100 --- 2.1545 --- 1.7844 ---35--- 1.7183 ------ 0.0056 -- 0.1426 -- 35
36 awg (ohm/in) --- 2.9168 --- 2.7868 --- 2.7168 --- 2.2501 ---36--- 2.1668 ------ 0.0050 -- 0.1270 -- 36
37 awg (ohm/in) --- 3.6780 --- 3.5141 --- 3.4258 --- 2.8373 ---37--- 2.7323 ------ 0.0045 -- 0.1131 -- 37
38 awg (ohm/in) --- 4.6379 --- 4.4312 --- 4.3199 --- 3.5778 ---38--- 3.4453 ------ 0.0040 -- 0.1007 -- 38

[croniclis]

for more information on this woven fine wire mesh - which I have always struggled to find - I found a pretty good resource here: http://www.bwire.com -

There they tell you about open area %'s - wire diameter - wires per inch etc.

Stainless Steel is always the way to go - stays cleaner and will last for a longer time than anything else - pay more now, but less replacement later and save money in the end.

I also try to stay around the 1.2 area - most comfortable for me w the battery situation.