XC-116 (Nextel 330) Heat Treatment Experiment.

[Rick.45cal]

I dragged out the kiln tonight and heat cleaned all of my xc 116, no more blowtorch for me

Since I had it out, I figured I would try to heat treat some (the hardening process outlined in 3M's technical manual) I fired 4 ft, I didn't want to fire a bunch in case it didn't work, but I also didn't want to fire 4" and waste my time staring at a thermocouple, and tweaking a knob, for an hour.

The kiln is cooling down, I'm just hoping it isn't brittle now. Any guesses?
If it is stiff as a board I have a creative idea for the next test firing

Maybe it will work, maybe it won't who knows

Just in case anyone wonders, I fired it between 1652-1724 F for 60mins, and allowed to cool down with the kiln.

 

[Dream]

what? wrap the coil around it?
haha, don't be coy do tell.

 

[Rick.45cal]

The kiln is almost cool enough to open

 

[Rick.45cal]

It's still flexible! But it does feel much firmer and wants to hold together more. Time to wrap a coil and try it out

 

[Rick.45cal]

So Here it is, sorry my camera battery died during the firing, so the battery recharged while all of that "excitement" was taking place. (you didn't miss anything)

Heat Cleaning my 25' of xc 116

After the Heat Treatment, 1652F-1724F for 60mins. 3.5 Ohm, twisted 36ga Kanthal D, and .999 pure silver wire.

After installation, It holds its shape much better, it is a bit firmer, but is really close to perfect. I think a slightly modded channel will fix this. (and larger cuts in the ceramic)

It vapes extremely well, and dare I say better than the unheat treated xc 116. It's still early, I need to puff on it for a few hours to get an "educated" idea. More to come!

I think I am probably the only person in the world running this setup

 

[Dream]

I think I am probably the only person in the world running this setup

 

[Rick.45cal]

Poor Pee Wee, he didn't end up so lucky

 

[Dream]

you want to test out some xc4?

 

[Valsacar]

Sounds nice, hopefully I get to play with some soon.

 

[RippleInStillWater]

Now wHo do I know with a kiln.....

Thanks Rick!

 

[ainako]

I'm not getting very good performance with the nextel, I keep getting an eventual burn taste and have to unscrew the top cap a few times for it to wick. Then a few GREAT tasting hits then burn taste. I noticed that it doesn't fit very well in the delrin channels and made the cone fit extra snug. I only screwed down the cone about halfway down and am using some 70pg/30vg pv4 from primevaping. Taste is much better than glaswick, but the wicking performance for me is not very good. Any tips?

 

[ainako]

Also I heat-treated it with my gas stove which got it almost white hot. The trick is to get it at the right part of the flame to get the wick hot enough.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Ainako. My cone is only just just barely screwed on, It is as open as it can be without the cone falling off. let me know if this helps.

 

[wfarrar33]

nope i am too as of 645pm central time yesterday

So Here it is, sorry my camera battery died during the firing, so the battery recharged while all of that "excitement" was taking place. (you didn't miss anything)

Heat Cleaning my 25' of xc 116

After the Heat Treatment, 1652F-1724F for 60mins. 3.5 Ohm, twisted 36ga Kanthal D, and .999 pure silver wire.

After installation, It holds its shape much better, it is a bit firmer, but is really close to perfect. I think a slightly modded channel will fix this. (and larger cuts in the ceramic)

It vapes extremely well, and dare I say better than the unheat treated xc 116. It's still early, I need to puff on it for a few hours to get an "educated" idea. More to come!

I think I am probably the only person in the world running this setup

 

[Rick.45cal]

nope i am too as of 645pm central time yesterday

What do you think of it so far?

 

[wfarrar33]

i like the taste a lot better than the wick it came with. It seems to wick better for me also. Vapor seems to be the same. Its performing good but im not spewing out clouds like i had hoped to be and i am using 100 vg. Im still getting the burnt juice on the coil and wick where the coil is. This may be inevitable im not sure? Everything you said about using the torch heavily on the areas your going to cut was dead on. I cut my 10ft piece in half to send half of it to fright88 and it frayed instantly like crazy but when i torched a small section to make a new coil i got absolutely zero fraying. I torched it quite a bit and kept the torch in the same area for awhile and moved down a little and repeated until i covered the entire piece. If you just move the torch back and forth over the entire piece it never gets the bright white glow. I had to keep the tip of the flame in one area for 10 or 15 seconds to get it to glow. Overall its easier to use and tastes better. that being said i still have higher hopes for my iatty because the vapor isnt where i hoped it would be. I have the cone almost all the way open and have tried it in different positions without much change. I haven't had a dry hit yet with the xc-116 or the wick it came with. I have it on a VV so I've tried all sorts of voltages and cant get "vaping heaven". Its performing great but not blowing me away. I think the lack of vapor is from the airy draw possibly. I can hold my hand around the area where the iatty meets the top cap of my mod and it tightens draw and makes the clouds i exhale thicker.


edit: you can not "over torch" it so more is better

What do you think of it so far?

 

[fright88]

Ainako. My cone is only just just barely screwed on, It is as open as it can be without the cone falling off. let me know if this helps.

Since your cone is so unscrewed are you getting any juice in your mouth?

Also nice coils there your twisting looks much neater then mine.

 

[wfarrar33]

mine is the same way and im not.

Since your cone is so unscrewed are you getting any juice in your mouth?

Also nice coils there your twisting looks much neater then mine.

 

[Rick.45cal]

fright, no juice in my mouth, and no gurgling either.

wfarrar, heating each small area to white hot with the torch seems to be the key to keeping it together. Especially where you cut it, you did a much better job of describing the process than I have been able to. It really shines if you can restrict the airflow. The iAtty's draw overall is a pretty loose. Wait until you get it on a GGTS, the amount of vapor will blow you away. I've vaped everything from 50-50 to 100VG and it's just ridiculous the density of the vapor. If my air flow isn't restricted the vapor isn't even remotely as dense

 

[wfarrar33]

see the vapor your describing is what im after, if only my funds allowed. Apparently im a "grown-up" and i have the stupid things called "priorities" i have to take care of first. The good news is once i finish my house there will be no more rent for me and that should free up some cash.

fright, no juice in my mouth, and no gurgling either.

wfarrar, heating each small area to white hot with the torch seems to be the key to keeping it together. Especially where you cut it, you did a much better job of describing the process than I have been able to. It really shines if you can restrict the airflow. The iAtty's draw overall is a pretty loose. Wait until you get it on a GGTS, the amount of vapor will blow you away. I've vaped everything from 50-50 to 100VG and it's just ridiculous the density of the vapor. If my air flow isn't restricted the vapor isn't even remotely as dense