cant get rid of hot spots

[jkim5708]

ive been playing with my zap for about a week. ill be able to get a good coil for about half of tank befor3 it goes bad ive watched zens/busardo/riptrippers and countless other you tube videos without success. im using 400x400 mesh oxidized/ half oxid7zed/ non oxidized...tried every combo...tight roll loose roll petar k method. kanthal wire im using is the 1 that came with zap. i can consistently get 1.8-2.0ohms with 4/5 wraps but alwYs get hotspot near top coil. i tried using a small washer pos post but no luck..also diminishes vape. removed insulator installed insulat8r. i always seem to go back to myviva nova..it just works no fooken with coils. when it does work it shines, but its always short lived. i am on the road constantly and cant be playng with coils constsntlyl....maybe i need to go down tank/carto pathway. i want it to work, but icant waste hours to get a good coil....maybe zap will need to be put up in the classies

 

[RudestBuddhist]

I was right where you are a few weeks ago. This is my suggestion from many hours of trial and error. I have an AC9 which has a 3.5mm wick hole, so I'm not sure the size of the wick hole on the ZAP.

Cut a piece of mesh.. let's try 45mm by 60mm. Cut all strands off. Wash in warm water and some dish soap to get any machine oil off, then blot dry with a paper towel. Take out your torch and give it a nice even burn so it's brown. If your mesh is curling, just hold both ends and slide it back and forth against a table edge or something similar.

Now, get one end and while working it back and forth, roll it as small as possible. You're going to want to roll this solid and as tight as possible. At the opposite end of the mesh, fold it over to create a crease, which will give you a solid, strand free edge. Keep rolling it until your fingers bleed. you want to roll it as tight as possible, and when inserting into the wick hole, you want some extra room. Not too loose so it's hard to cram in, and not too tight where it will fall all the way down and instantly touch the bottom.

If all goes well, hold one end with some tweezers, then torch it for about 2 minutes. Let it cool, flip it, then torch again for another 2 minutes. Put some juice on the wick until it's soaked, then light it on fire and let it burn down. Do this 2 more times.

Put the wick in, secure the ground, then start to wrap your coil. Take the ZAP off your ProVari and hold the wire while turning the ZAP, making sure that your coil is touching the wick with each wrap. When securing your positive connection, keep the lead as short as you can get it from post to wick. Use a small flathead screwdriver or something similar and even out your coil. Turn your ProVari down to 3.3V and dry burn until all the coils glow evenly.

You want the coils to start to glow from the INSIDE-OUT. If you notice the top coil is glowing brighter than the rest, keep adjusting them. If you adjust the coil while it's glowing, it will be a lot easier. Once everything is glowing well, add a few drops to the coil and bring your voltage up a bit. Burn off the juice and look at the coils (preferably in a dimly lit room). If the juice is vaporizing and you don't see any coils glowing, you're probably good. Do this a few more times and increase the voltage to your desired level. If you dont see any coils glowing while it's vaporizing, then you are good.

Fill your tank and vape away.

Hope this helps! Once you are good with the process, you can start experimenting with other wick types and coils. I just find it easiest to start out with a solid wick because the wick won't shift much and you can wrap a coil that will stay put and have a harder time developing hot spots.

 

[eHuman]

Two simple methods, don't trash your hard work or give up on the atty.
One is to twist some of the extra wire on the positive post back around the wire up to the coil.
Picture is worth a thousand words:


The other is to kink the positive wire at the wick so it sort of forms an "L".
Pic:


Either of these methods will get rid of hot spots. I have not yet had an issue with a top coil hot spot that was not removed by one of these methods.

Edit: I hope you saved all of those wicks and coils, they can be salvaged...

 

[jimmyh]

Great tips, but why a hot spot after an hour?

 

[Azphat12]

Maybe its not wicking well enough
Or maybe it was a hotspot, but your juice covered it up
Or it may have moved slightly while you set it down and is on a bad oxidized portion

could be alot of reasons.

 

[JD1]

........... but alwYs get hotspot near top coil. .............

......... i always seem to go back to myviva nova..it just works no fooken with coils. when it does work it shines, but its always short lived. ..........

You can easily solve both problems with cotton. On your mesh coil, use the bluegrasslovers method as the final step.

For you vivi's, find a needle or something that fits snug in the slots and wrap your coil tight against each other. I loop one end of my wire back and make the double leg before starting to wrap. That will be my positive leg and I don't double the negative, but rather try to have the negative against the slot and making contact there.

Thread your cotton through, then install with the negative side of the coil against the slot. Replace your wick by pulling it out in the direction that pushes the coil toward the negative side, and pull in a new wick in the same direction. Be sure and always let any cotton soak for at least a couple of hours before use.

All these ideas come from threads and videos found on the forum here.

Mesh/Cotton hybrid wick Bluegrasslover's method - YouTube Start this video at about 1:30 to see what he's doing. A que-tip will work for cotton if you don't have a cotton ball handy. Note that he uses more cotton than is needed in the video. The thinnest layer possible is all that's needed. Be sure and let it soak for a couple of hours before use.


http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...nt-cottons-different-wicks-3.html#post8069106 This is the easiest cotton to work with imo.

 

[jkim5708]

Two simple methods, don't trash your hard work or give up on the atty.
One is to twist some of the extra wire on the positive post back around the wire up to the coil.
Picture is worth a thousand words:
View attachment 169552

The other is to kink the positive wire at the wick so it sort of forms an "L".
Pic:
View attachment 169554

Either of these methods will get rid of hot spots. I have not yet had an issue with a top coil hot spot that was not removed by one of these methods.

Edit: I hope you saved all of those wicks and coils, they can be salvaged...

Thanks for picts..will attempt tomorrowbwhen i get more juice

 

[jkim5708]

I was right where you are a few weeks ago. This is my suggestion from many hours of trial and error. I have an AC9 which has a 3.5mm wick hole, so I'm not sure the size of the wick hole on the ZAP.

Cut a piece of mesh.. let's try 45mm by 60mm. Cut all strands off. Wash in warm water and some dish soap to get any machine oil off, then blot dry with a paper towel. Take out your torch and give it a nice even burn so it's brown. If your mesh is curling, just hold both ends and slide it back and forth against a table edge or something similar.

Now, get one end and while working it back and forth, roll it as small as possible. You're going to want to roll this solid and as tight as possible. At the opposite end of the mesh, fold it over to create a crease, which will give you a solid, strand free edge. Keep rolling it until your fingers bleed. you want to roll it as tight as possible, and when inserting into the wick hole, you want some extra room. Not too loose so it's hard to cram in, and not too tight where it will fall all the way down and instantly touch the bottom.

If all goes well, hold one end with some tweezers, then torch it for about 2 minutes. Let it cool, flip it, then torch again for another 2 minutes. Put some juice on the wick until it's soaked, then light it on fire and let it burn down. Do this 2 more times.

Put the wick in, secure the ground, then start to wrap your coil. Take the ZAP off your ProVari and hold the wire while turning the ZAP, making sure that your coil is touching the wick with each wrap. When securing your positive connection, keep the lead as short as you can get it from post to wick. Use a small flathead screwdriver or something similar and even out your coil. Turn your ProVari down to 3.3V and dry burn until all the coils glow evenly.

You want the coils to start to glow from the INSIDE-OUT. If you notice the top coil is glowing brighter than the rest, keep adjusting them. If you adjust the coil while it's glowing, it will be a lot easier. Once everything is glowing well, add a few drops to the coil and bring your voltage up a bit. Burn off the juice and look at the coils (preferably in a dimly lit room). If the juice is vaporizing and you don't see any coils glowing, you're probably good. Do this a few more times and increase the voltage to your desired level. If you dont see any coils glowing while it's vaporizing, then you are good.

Fill your tank and vape away.

Hope this helps! Once you are good with the process, you can start experimenting with other wick types and coils. I just find it easiest to start out with a solid wick because the wick won't shift much and you can wrap a coil that will stay put and have a harder time developing hot spots.

Thanks...will give it another try....i wont give up

 

[Gunner83]

*Just subscribing to this thread, so I can look at the pics later. Took my first stab at mt AGA-T this morning and had problems with hot spots.

 

[48lowes]

jkim5708

playing with my zap

IMO hotspot is due to excessive wire from the coil to the connection at the positive post. This can be cured several ways depending on what device we're talking about. Just an FYI that is give us a link to the zap so it's a ready reference. Peter K method for vertical coil and the hybrid cotton instead of oxidizing. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/363175-petar-k-method-hybrid-wick.html?&]

 

[Corncob]

Short answer for OP: Massage the cold spots with your tool of choice.

jkim5708
IMO hotspot is due to excessive wire from the coil to the connection at the positive post.http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/363175-petar-k-method-hybrid-wick.html?&]

Nope.

*Electrons (electric current) run through the coil.
*Resistance = heat (think: electron's friction).
*Electrons, among other things in physics, take the path of least resistance.

More telling than the hot spots are the cold spots, because where a cold spot begins is where the electric current has found a path of less resistance than traveling the full length of the coil. Assuming all assembly is normal, and there's no draft or liquid to cool parts of the coil, the only possible culprit is the wick.

Case in point: On every SS wick/coil I've ever made, the coil heats perfectly every time I remove the wick and the coil is naked... there is only one path for the electricity to take! Of course it glows perfectly! Upon re-inserting the wick, there is potential for electrons to use it as a conduit.

Assuming the wick is dry, our installed coils glow where electrons flow through them, and do not where electrons have found a path of less resistance.
The beginning of a cold spot is where the coil is making electrical contact with the mesh. If you're not sure if that's the case, remove the mesh with the coil intact, fire it up, and see what happens! I'm banking on a perfect glow ;-)

I'm still struggling to get as good a vape off my RBA as a stupid carto. A 4/5 wrap with 32g wire and either 400 or 500 mesh doesn't vape as well as a Kanger carto of the same resistance. I've tried 75/50, 50/50, and 25/75 liquids, re-aligning the draw hole and changing it's size, Peter-K method ... and though I may get it right for a second, one bump or draw and it's lame again. At varying voltages on my lavatube, an eGo-C, or stacking batteries in a Don, all while making sure all my coils are working, my findings have been the same.