TL/DR: I like it, no probs using it w/o air control ring.
Finally got the coil/mesh to settle down to 1.1 ohms. Before this I was getting either a straight short, atty messages saying either "check atty" or "shorted", along w/coil wires burning in two down at the neg.screw. What DOES surprise me is I've seen builds online that didn't use wire that had been burned or otherwise given a chance to form any non conductive passive layer to insulate it from the mesh. On these builds the mesh had been burned before adding the coil so I suppose that created enough insulation between the mesh and coil to allow it to work. Oh, did I mention I'm new to using mesh for a wick? lol
Anyway, I like how it vapes. A lot, actually. More so than many other attys fresh out of the box. I'm certain that the build I have on it now (using 5 turns of 28G Kanthal and 18mm x 45mm stainless 400 mesh) can be improved on so looking forward to what it may bring in the future.
I did note the lack of airflow through the drip tip when fully assembled, even set on the largest holes. I decided to use it w/o the air control ring installed. I took the top O-ring and rolled it onto the body, then carefully rolled it back onto the lip that it rides on. Then carefully screwed the top down on the O-ring, stopping before it was squeezed out of position. If anyone does this, do NOT lube the O-ring- you want it to have some traction so it doesn't immediately squirt out of position when the top is replaced. To avoid disturbing the O-ring/top cap assembly, I bottom filled it. This will likely be temporary as I plan on drilling the air holes larger (and adding more holes in the ring to match up to the existing holes in the body). But as-is, it doesn't leak when placed on its side and no problems pulling a vacuum.
