RDA Freakshow mini RDA - Drinking my eliquid when I vape

[Spizzel]

So I just got my Freakshow mini in the mail and put together a .8 ohm coil (28 gauge, 6 wraps). Seems great when I'm not inhaling my ejuice when I vape. After taking off the top cap I can see a fair amount of juice on the wall of the top cap on the side where my coil is.

I've heard people talk about how they can have some leaking issues and feel it's due to condensation in the top cap. What about ejuice though, is a build up of liquid in the top cap normal? I feel like this may be why I'm inhaling so much liquid into my mouth.

Anyone have any pointer in how to reduce this from happening with the freakshow mini?

 

[VictorViper]

Positioning your coils well is pretty important on this atty - I just got mine on Friday and it took a few otherwise clean builds to really find the sweet spot.

Do you know what diameter coils you're wrapping? Anything bigger than 2mm internal will be a problem.

Also you may want to try different drip tips. I use a particular make exclusively and unfortunately they all extend a little too deep into the chamber. I'll be finding something a little shallower for this dripper.

As for leaking issues, I haven't had any but I will say that I've only had water condensation in my top cap, not actual juice. I'd be curious to see your build.

 

[Spizzel]

So this was actually the first coil I got working decently. Did like 5 before and had huge hot leg issues. It's 6 wraps of 26 gauge with 2.7 ID and ohms out to .85.

I'm definitely looking at a new drip tip. The one im using doesn't pertrude the inner top cap though, but the bore is on then small end. Would this be a contributing factor to sucking up liquid?

As for condensation, I have that, but also alot of juice on the top cap too. I have to wipe out the top cap every 3 vapes!

(On phone and having issues with uploading pics but here's links)

Imgur
Imgur

Edit: Obvious answer is to drop less liquid, but this is happening even when using only a couple drops.

 

[VictorViper]

That's a tidy little coil, good positioning. Honestly, I think just a touch of loose cotton in the unused half of the juice well will go a long way for you. Just enough to keep the juice in the well from moving freely.

I generally stick to single coils myself, but I'll admit this atty really shines with a dual coil.

 

[Spizzel]

I will be sure to try that. I will say though that the juice is all over the side wall and upper part of the top cap on the side where my coil is.

Is my coil too close to the side wall? I'm afraid to back it away anymore or else it won't be over the air holes.

 

[VictorViper]

You want the coil about where you have it. I might suggest rolling it a tiny bit back toward the posts. Do you know the inner diameter of your coil? Looks a tad beefy from the images.

As a point of reference, I have mine set up with dual coils, 2mm ID at 8/9 wraps each, and it's at about the upper limit for how big I can make the coil. I should also note that I make no effort to centre things as you did. My coils are angled (parallel to one another) such that the sides connected to the neg. posts are just barely reaching the very end of the air slot. I'll try to get a pic posted quick, but I'm kind of in mid-teardown after a bump while cleaning.

[EDIT] Thought I still had my coils in place, but no such luck. Guess I'll slap a single coil together and we can troubleshoot this!

 

[Spizzel]

Yeah I felt like I had good positioning based on the ton of vids and pics I've been looking at while researching this rda.

My inner diameter is 2.7mm right now.

I've seen some vids where the freakshow got praise for performance with macro coils but maybe 2.7mm is too big :/

Also, wick in those pics was decent I felt. Not too tight and not too loose.

 

[VictorViper]

Okay, not my prettiest build, but it's performing as I wanted. Mine came out at 0.7ohms, wrapped 8/7 with 26 gauge Kanthal @ 2mm ID.

This is about dead centre between the deck and the top of the posts.

Note that I've ensured the whole coil has access to the air flow, but I've kept it back a little further and biased to the left. This helps keep the coil legs a little more symmetrical.

Better illustrates the height of the coil.

Note that this is much less packing cotton than it looks. Once it's juiced up it's barely enough to keep excess juice in place.

Finally, after about 15 minutes of vaping. Hard to see, but there is very little condensation. No juice drinking, either, and I'm using my most "straw-like" tip.

 

[Spizzel]

Hmmmmmm. Yeah my drip tip is very straw like too lol. So I'm going to try and back my coil off the air flow slot a little more and try with less cotton like in your pics, see if that helps. I also just bought a wide bore drop tip too.

I will rebuild tonight and post back my results, currently at work. Thanks for the pics too!

 

[VictorViper]

I've been vaping on this sucker for an hour now, keeping the well as full as reasonably possible the whole time. Just took my first "swig" and it was almost pure water. Delicious, if I'm being honest. I should also note that while the top cap has gotten really juicy at this point, the airflow channel is still completely dry.

My vape "style" is long, slow draws while pulsing in a little under one-second bursts. This likely helps a lot with spit-back.

My biggest recommendation is going to be to reduce your diameter. You won't lose any surface area (trading length for width) and as a secondary bonus, a longer coil will help you reduce your total leg length.

 

[Spizzel]

Ok, so a little improvement. It just takes longer for the juice to build up on the top cap/side wall. So this is 2mm inner diamater, 26 gauge 7 wraps reading at .7 ohms. I mean, it's slighty better but that image of the top cap is after about 15 pulls and then I slowly start getting juice in my mouth again. Back to the drawing board i guess...

Also in the image of the top cap all that juice is from the side where the coil is. Also my airflow is pretty clear of liquid.

 

[VictorViper]

You're still way out from the posts. If you can get that coil closer to your posts so it's just barely at the edge of the air hole, you should see even more improvement. This atty has massive airflow even at its tightest setting, so don't worry about the coil being so in line with the vent.

I ended up vaping my build all day and only a few minutes ago did I get my first leak. Not where you'd expect - it started to seep from the very bottom. I suspect this is due to me purposely overdripping.

Anyway, I'm glad you've seen some improvement, but I'm sure it can get better. My best recommendation at this point is to push that coil toward the posts more and then fiddle with a good height for the coil.

One last thing I did notice is that your drip tip seems flush with the inside of the cap, while mine protrudes somewhat. Maybe the condensation has a direct line to your mouth as a result?

 

[Spizzel]

Your last point, I think might be a huge factor. It's almost like this dip tip is recessed from the top of the top cap encouraging the liquid to funnel into the drip tip (at the very least its EXACTLY flush with the top cap). I'm going to switch to the drop tip from my subtank mini. It protrudes ever so slightly out of the bottom of the top cap so maybe that little 'bump' will hold back the liquid that's built up.

After looking at those pics, i loosened my grub nuts and pushed the coil in some so it's not over the air hole so much. Fingers crossed! I will have a little vape session and hope for the best!

 

[VictorViper]

I'm pulling for you man! Great taste on this little cloud chucker, but I wouldn't be too thrilled with my mod becoming a drinking box either.

 

[Spizzel]

Ok, much better so far. I think it's the drip tip holding the juice back. I look at your pics though and man, your top cap looks pretty damn dry compared to mine...

I just ordered a 25 dollar drip tip too...now I'm worried that it may not protrude off the top cap if this is going to be the only thing that keeps my atty from being a juice box

 

[VictorViper]

Have you tried it with a dual build yet? I usually stick to single coils for simple economy, but I have to admit after vaping all day on a single and now back on a dual build, it's just plain better on this atty.

I'm currently 0.2 ohms lower than before (bang on 0.5) and the amount of sputter from the coils is drastically reduced. Ran the numbers through the Steam Engine and sure enough:

- Single coil 2mm ID and 0.7ohms, firing at 32W is a whopping 405mW/mm²

- Dual coil 2mm ID and 0.5ohms, firing at the same 32W puts out a far less aggressive 142mW/mm²

I think the numbers say it all.

 

[Spizzel]

I have not tried dual yet. I just slapped in a single when I got it last night and the juice I was getting in my mouth made me focus on trying to improve on that before I did anything else. I will say though that I was only vaping 22 watts on my 2mm ID and 0.7ohm build which says 278 mW/mm².

 

[VictorViper]

Hmm, yeah that's still warm but not nearly as aggressive as at 30. And considering I wasn't getting the same spitback on a fully charged 18650 on the single coil, I think we can safely say your tip is a bigger part of the issue.

Ah well, at least there's been some improvement. Hopefully your new tip will be the last piece of the puzzle.

 

[Spizzel]

Yeah, I'm getting less in my mouth with the new drip tip.

I will say though, still tons of liquid in the top cap and it gets super messy really quick. I'm spilling all the liquid and condensation on my mod when drip.

Progress is progress though and I will continue to make changes to my builds. My relationship with this atty is young, gotta figure this baby out

 

[VictorViper]

By the end of the night yesterday my mini finally leaked - same thing, seeped out past the o-rings and onto my mod. It was very minimal, but still... not good. So I did some reading this morning and it seems like the general consensus with this atty is that

1) It does take some time to dial it in and keep it dry, and
2) This is a big time case of less-is-more for wicking.

Apparently too much wick and too close to the top cap walls is what causes the seeping issue from the bottom.

In light of that, I got tricky this afternoon and so far the results have been a bone dry atty chucking delicious (and I mean deeeeeeee-lish) thick clouds.