Built my first coil ever, pretty excited though I know it's not the prettiest or most efficient. I think my diameter is too big because the vapor production is a bit low (not that I'm cloud chasing and I realize the Magma is more of a flavor chaser but it seems to produce about the same amount of vapor as my nautilus Minis and less than my Lemo). Wicked it with Koh Gen Do and it's 1.35 ohm. I failed on the first three attempts at installing the coil. The wrapping went fine but I seemed to warp it while trying to install. The wicking also took about 3 tries because I was getting harsh, burnt hits at first but now it's vaping really well. Lots of flavor (better than the Lemo). I'm gonna attach a picture for any critiques out there. I also want to attempt to put a build in my Plume Veil tomorrow night. Gonna shoot for a build right around 1 ohm. I'm guessing I need to decrease the diameter to give me more wraps for more surface area which would lead to more vapor? Or am I way off base?
RDA First build ever - Magma
- Thread starter jhhollier
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Good stuff!
I built my first last week.
Exhilarating ain't it?
Congrats on it.
Happy Vaping.
I built my first last week.
Exhilarating ain't it?
Congrats on it.
Happy Vaping.
Pretty nice coil, there. And yes, you are right, the more surface area, the more liquid gets vaporized, thus more vapor. It's a balancing act between that and slow heating times, though that I, personally haven't totally mastered yet.
Happy Vaping!
Happy Vaping!
Another question: How much wick is too much? I have some stuffed down in each well but it's not full. Should I only have enough wick to hit the bottom of the well or should I fill it? Or kind of in between like I have it now? Another thing I noticed, if I drag too long, I'll get a burnt taste at the end but if I back off and take short drags the taste is fine. I'm vaping it at 23w right now and I've found I can't go over 25w or burnt taste every time. I'm chalking it up to my wicking but I can still enjoy it as long as I don't drag more than a couple seconds or so. Any thoughts?
I'm around .28 on the Magma. Using the same wick material and running around 35-38 watts.
If you cut the whole length of the cotton to almost the same width of your coil and cut that in half to get 2 wicks, that should be plenty to tuck.
If you cut the whole length of the cotton to almost the same width of your coil and cut that in half to get 2 wicks, that should be plenty to tuck.
So it looks like I used a good bit more cotton. How exactly would that affect the vape? Could that lead to the harsh hits I experience? Just to add I'm using 28 ga kanthal and my juice is 90vg/10pg
I tend to get harsher hits in 2 situations. One, I built too low (Ohms) for the air flow. or 2 I used too much cotton (too tight in the coil). Because mines on a BF MOD, I don't have issue with cotton inside the base.... but pack the cotton a little too tight in the coil :-/ I'll usually trim it a bit and get a smoother vape. I also added an o-ring to the top of the airflow ring, helped with the condensation leak I was getting.
Hullo jh
What diameter is the coil?
From the picture as well as your description my first thought is you have to much wick with regards to the diameter of the wick as opposed to length of the wick.
The wick appears to be bunching up at the coil. This indicates too much cotton being forced into the coil.
When this is the case the cotton is too compressed inside the coil to wick liquid fast enough to keep up with the heat generated during a hit.
Note the lack of bunching in the pic David posted. In that pic the cotton when wet remains very close in diameter to the coil.
Hope this is a help!
What diameter is the coil?
From the picture as well as your description my first thought is you have to much wick with regards to the diameter of the wick as opposed to length of the wick.
The wick appears to be bunching up at the coil. This indicates too much cotton being forced into the coil.
When this is the case the cotton is too compressed inside the coil to wick liquid fast enough to keep up with the heat generated during a hit.
Note the lack of bunching in the pic David posted. In that pic the cotton when wet remains very close in diameter to the coil.
Hope this is a help!
It's 3mm. I do see the bunching and I will re-wick later tonight using less cotton and see what happens. I appreciate the comments/help all.
Thought it looked on the largish side for diameter.
Appears to have perhaps 5 wraps at 3mm? So yeah, smaller diameter will give you a bit more surface area.
Have you used Steam Engine for spitballing build parameters? Great tool, check it out.
It's a great calculator for playing what-if with various combinations of wire gauge and number of wraps and, and, and...
Darn sure update this thread on your progress!
Appears to have perhaps 5 wraps at 3mm? So yeah, smaller diameter will give you a bit more surface area.
Have you used Steam Engine for spitballing build parameters? Great tool, check it out.
It's a great calculator for playing what-if with various combinations of wire gauge and number of wraps and, and, and...
Darn sure update this thread on your progress!
Yeah, I was messing about with Steam Engine after the fact. Probably should've done so before, heh, but I was mainly looking at battery safety stuff before I built the coil and didn't even think to click over to coil wrapping. I'll definitely update my progress after I re-wick tonight. I think I went heavy handed cause I was worried about leaking and thought the extra might help with that. It's funny because when I first started vaping earlier in the month I didn't think I'd ever want to mess with rebuilding or anything and now I'm using a coil I built myself and anxious to try more builds.
Hehe - that's the way it goes "I don't think I'll ever ...."
And then you dive in
And then you dive in
The Magma is a pretty decent dripper. I like the deep well. It was getting too hot for me at .6, so I drilled 2 1/32" holes centered and just under the logos on my clone. Helped a ton, for cooling the vape and vapor production.
You might like the Plume Veil better. The well isn't deep at all, but it has a lot of airflow. Two other really inexpensive authentics I find myself really loving are the Mutation X, and the Tesla DII.
Happy building!
You might like the Plume Veil better. The well isn't deep at all, but it has a lot of airflow. Two other really inexpensive authentics I find myself really loving are the Mutation X, and the Tesla DII.
Happy building!
Well, I'm a bit frustrated now. Tried building on the Plume Veil clone. No go. Tried and failed 7 times before I decided I needed to step back from it. It appears as if the screws for the two middle posts are too short and I couldn't trap a lead under them. Maybe I'm just terrible still, I dunno. I know that when I screw them down no lead running through there is a very noticeable gap where as the two outer posts screw down flush. Also tried re-wicking the Magma with less cotton twice both with the same result - very muted flavor and after 3-4 vapes I start getting harsh, burnt flavor. It's pretty discouraging after the success of last night. The juice I'm using today is 70vg/30pg so I was hoping that would wick much better but no such luck. Any thoughts? I could post a pic of the new wick if need be.
I wouldn't get discouraged by your issue with the Plume Veil. It sounds like it's a flaw with your particular clone, not your coils.
As for the Magma giving dry hits, I've personally never had an issue with it but it may be that you still are using too much wick. When you wick it you want to make sure that you are able to pull the cotton both ways without it moving your coil or your mod. If you notice that it's getting bunched up a bit when you're pulling it through the coil then you know you've got too much cotton. Wicking for me was the hardest part of rebuilding to get the hang of and it takes a few tries but after a while you'll start to be able to to feel when you've got the right amount.
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Well I re-wicked again and it's performing much better now. I think I may have put too little cotton the first two times but I'm not getting any dry hits now. Yeah, it does seem like the Plume Veil is flawed. Gonna email eciggity and see what options I have. I was considering just trying to find replacement screws (there were none in the box, just a bit of wire and wicking material) but not sure if I'll be able to find any. I've heard it's a really good rda too. Once I saw the problem (or possible problem) with the screws, I felt a bit less bad about it. I think I was more discouraged because building the Magma went a lot more smoothly and I didn't understand why I couldn't get the Plume Veil going.
Just a thought, but have you tried doubling up the leg to see if you can get a bite on it? Sounds like you got a poo clone. That sux. On my Magma, I fill that well right up with juice.I have just enough wick so both ends just touch the bottom. That's me, though. YMMV.
I love my Infinite clone Magma. Good flavor and vapor. I tend to use a 2.4mm inside diameter and cut the cotton just past the end on the short and long side and tuck. So far the only harsh/dry hits I get are when I'm really into it and forget to re-drip.
That 2.4mm has also worked well in my Foggerv5 (that I almost retired permanently in frustration) and the Billow. Both tanks have been considered "leaky".
That 2.4mm has also worked well in my Foggerv5 (that I almost retired permanently in frustration) and the Billow. Both tanks have been considered "leaky".
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