I have two IKV LR 801 minis that I have been playing with on my REO Grand.
I'm having a bit of trouble with the learning curve of bottom feeding an 801.
When the
juice level is just right, its the best tasting atomizer I have found.
And I have tried a bunch.
My question is (so i don't have to tear one apart) what is in the space between the connector and the coil? Is it a small metal tube for airflow ... is it sealed or are there holes in it?
I am just wondering when I squonk the bottle am I filling up the whole "casing" of the atty or should it be directed right up to the coil?
It seems like I go from dry to flooded pretty easy with them.
I am using them on a 510 with the super short stealth adapter .....
Thanks.
Anyone have pics of one torn apart ??
{second edit} I just reread your question. Yes there is a lot of space between the bottom of the cup and the bottom of the tube. I would suspect that fluid does not collect in that "space" as there are air holes on the side of the tube. Juice would leak out of those holes if juice was in that area. I think that is an issue with the 901 where juice actually enters the area where the air holes are and a gasket or o-ring is needed to keep juice from flowing out and/or running down the outside of tube. I have some 901 but haven't ever used them on a Reo.
See edit at end of post.... And will add that there is no "post" or tube or wick between the coil, which rests in the cup and the bridge.
First off the 801 probably has the largest learning curve of any atty especially when used with a bottom feeder. When you add in the size differences of the Mini and Tall you double the curve. I have Semi 801 too, which are phased out and replaced by the little bit longer, newest Mini, you have some more learning curve as all three act differently.
The 810 innards and bridge construction is similar to a 510 but there are two, wide and thick layers of mesh on top of the bridge. At least on the one I debridged there was. The white cup (probably ceramic), that the coil sits down in, is huge compared to most other atty styles so it will hold a lot of juice. The wick is also longer and thicker than most other attys. Between the cup and the tube walls is a wrap of the wire mesh too.
I've debridged only one 801 and it was not dead but reduced performance, which increased by debridging but not de-wicking. I'm a firm believer in the wick helping to provide the great taste and clouds of vapor in addition to the huge coil. Generally you run an 801 at about 0.5 ohm (corrected to MORE or higher) than a 510 or 306 depending on your juice, of course. It was a 3 ohm and was probably an IKV but may have been an SLB. I'll go put a debridged one on a Grand, in a minute and watch what happens when I squonk it.
Until Dec 2010, when DH tried and took over my Woody, he had been using 801 pen style PVs, so we have a few of them. The typical pen style 801 is around 3.0 ohm though. The first week
vaping DH popped an 801 on a standard pen battery but we have not killed any more since that one he popped. They are very tough attys. I, now, have and have been using the IKV Mini and Semi and Tall style for a few months too. I clean (soft boil for 5 minutes) and dry burn them on a regular basis.
One thing to note. I cleaned several attys this weekend by only soaking in alcohol for a few minutes and doing several rinses in extremely hot tap water. Then put in front of my Notebook fan to dry after a good blowout and wrist flick. I think I may have failed to do both steps on one Mini. Last night I did a pulsing dryburn for 20 seconds on all, as many times on each, as it took to get any residual gunk to burn off (stops producing vapor). Usually it is two or three times with a cool down between each dry burn. One of the Mini, I've done maybe 20 times and it still produces vapor for the first 5 seconds. So there is a lot of juice hiding in there somewhere.
I'll go get the de-bridged one to see if I can observe anything.
{edit} Just squonked the debridged 801 tall. I made a mistake of doing it with a bottle down about 2/3. So it took a longer time to get the air through and juice up to it. Juice comes up either through a center hole, that is hidden under the coil, or one of the holes that go through the cup for the wires. The IKV 801, all sizes have what's called a "low bridge" design so there is not a lot of space between the bottom of the tube and the cup and coil.
It took a lot of squonking to get the juice up into the cup. I started with a dry debridged atty. I normally put about 5-10 drops of juice onto the bridge and let it sit for a few minutes before first squonk and toke so I usually don't have to squonk so much.
I think you just have to be patient and learn what is the best way. It's really hard to say in words what direct experience provides.
Hope this helps some.
BTW.... I still flood the 801s sometimes and I'm an 801 veteran. It's inevitable and just a small annoyance to pay for the benefits that some of us enjoy using the 801 on our Reos.
Alice
