A few AGA tips from a newbie .

[Edd Harbin]

Only been using a rebuildable for a few weeks , but have learned a few things about what to do and what NOT to do . There are a few things you need to know if you are having a problem , so here they are .....

If you cant get a good burning coils YOU HAVE A SHORT .

If you have a short your wick is probably to long , MAKE SURE it is not touching the bottom . Too short is better than too long . You can slowly lengthen them as you build more wicks .

If you have a short , your wick is probably too thick . It should ALMOST drop through the wick hole . If you have to use ANY force to get it in the hole IT IS TOO THICK .

If you have a short , the coil is probably too tight , LOOSEN IT UP . It should JUST hold the wick from dropping all the way through , NO MORE .

So far these things will help you get it right . That and keep trying .

 

[eHuman]

Sorry, I have to jump in:

"If you have a short your wick is probably to long"
Not true. You are correct in it should not touch the bottom of the tank or the top cap for that matter, but if the wick is properly oxidized it won't matter.

"If you have a short , your wick is probably too thick"
Not true. You want a fat solidly rolled wick so that wicking is not an issue, and if the wick is properly oxidized it won't short.

"If you have a short , the coil is probably too tight"
Sometimes true. Your coil should be touching the wick as evenly as possible without bearing too much pressure on it, if the wick is properly oxidized it won't short, but too tight of a coil wrap can destroy the integrity of the wick's oxidation layer.

 

[Edd Harbin]

eHuman , I meant this for beginners , if you do everything right , then you don't have to worry about any of this . If you just started with a rebuildables then these things are points to look at .

 

[eHuman]

eHuman , I meant this for beginners , if you do everything right , then you don't have to worry about any of this . If you just started with a rebuildables then these things are points to look at .

No doubt! I wasn't intending to steal your thunder, you are obviously learning through experience and eager to share those lessons learned. But right is right.

If you say to a beginner that problem "x" is caused by symptom "y" when it is actually caused by symptom "z", you are doing the beginner a great disservice and may either lengthen their learning process or unintentionally cause frustration when the applied advice does not work for them.

Don't underestimate your audience of beginners, give them credit. If you want to teach them to swim you don't wait until they are good at kicking to present the art of paddling to them.

You are correct in stating that those who do it right don't need to worry about these issues. But pointing to the incorrect solution isn't helping those just starting. From an electronics point of view, if you have a short in your RBA, it is through your wick one way or another. Oxidizing your wick and rolling it properly to prevent electron flow through it is a must as it is touching both the positive and negative ends of your coil and thus battery, but also the grounded case via the wick hole.

All that being said, keep up the good work. The more we all share the more we can collectively know. Your enthusiasm for RBAs is what may cause someone to take a chance and set their carto/tanks aside and dive in with us.

 

[Edd Harbin]

eHuman , only pointing out things to look at . I would love to roll the perfect wick , oxidize said wick perfect and wrap the perfect coil from the start . But I didn't and still don't . I'm getting better AND getting a decent vape ,not perfect but good and gettingbetter . I hate to see anyone give up on Genesis type atty's because for them its not getting anywhere . If you look at a few things ,like what CAN cause a short and check these off the list then you can get a decent vape.and jump on the learning curve WHILE USING said atty .

 

[eHuman]

I don't mean to offend, so I will part with this. Give it a month or two more using, experimenting and reading posts about it, then come back and read the advice you are giving now, you will understand where I'm coming from. Give the right tools from the beginning and they won't need to replace the tools to get back to square one.

 

[Edd Harbin]

No offence taken , just that from a beginners point of view everyone says do it this way or that way . Roll your wick with a as much mesh as you can and make.sure it is tight but not too tight . How tight is that ? How much force is too tight ? Usually we begginers will.start off too tight . So I say make.sure it isn't ...but it probably is . You will learn , but knowi.g some bottleneck points like wick tightness , coil tightness and wick length is a good thing . Work TOWARDS the perfect coil/ wick combo with some success . I and others have.seen the "I give up " or " these things suck" post . Look at the common problems and judgements of "what is right " and make.sure these things are Not the problem . Then move forward . I get what you are saying from the other perspective . But to get to doing it THE right way we as newbies have to go through the.basic problems that you as someone who has been there and.done that just pass on by NOW .

 

[eHuman]

You're on the right track. I too started off by learning how to bandaid the problems before learning how to avoid them. As you've rightlly said, It's a learning process.

 

[Edd Harbin]

That's just it , I'm not bandaiding the problems , I'm figuring out what the problems are and working my way towards perfection . You can't and won't start off perfect , you work your way towards the right way . You figure out the problems and then work TOWARDS the solution .

 

[RickL]

I haven't tried rebuilding yet, but I'm sure I will. One of the tools that I will use is a ohm meter or multi meter. This will allow you to check the resistance of your coil before you ever apply power to it. A dead short across your battery is not the best thing you can do for it. Inexpensive meters are available just about anywhere, as low as $10.00 and very easy to use.

 

[tartanraven]

Only been using a rebuildable for a few weeks , but have learned a few things about what to do and what NOT to do . There are a few things you need to know if you are having a problem , so here they are .....

If you cant get a good burning coils YOU HAVE A SHORT .

If you have a short your wick is probably to long , MAKE SURE it is not touching the bottom . Too short is better than too long . You can slowly lengthen them as you build more wicks . MYTH, all of my wicks touch the bottom of the tank.

If you have a short , your wick is probably too thick . It should ALMOST drop through the wick hole . If you have to use ANY force to get it in the hole IT IS TOO THICK . MYTH, makes no difference with a properly torched wick. some do straw wicks, some do solid.

If you have a short , the coil is probably too tight , LOOSEN IT UP . It should JUST hold the wick from dropping all the way through , NO MORE .

So far these things will help you get it right . That and keep trying .

Sigh........

 

[Edd Harbin]

Again Tartanraven you are missing the point of this post ....NEWBIES ! If as a newbie we did everything right from the start it wouldn't matter , but getting to that "properly" oxidized wick is a trial and error thing . For the "old hats" at doing this , do what you have learned over timr , failure and success . For us newbies we almost always don't oxidize "properly" or build our wicks properly . We are learning what is "propper" and what to do/not to do .

 

[eHuman]

Again For us newbies we almost always don't oxidize "properly" or build our wicks properly . We are learning what is "proper" and what to do/not to do .

Now you are hitting on why I said anything, and why tartanraven rolled his eyes.

If a newbie doesn't oxidize his wick properly, why tell him his wick is too long, too fat and is touching the bottom?

Why not tell him his wick is not properly oxidized? Just sayin'

 

[4matic]

Now you are hitting on why I said anything, and why tartanraven rolled his eyes.

If a newbie doesn't oxidize his wick properly, why tell him his wick is too long, too fat and is touching the bottom?

Why not tell him his wick is not properly oxidized? Just sayin'

this x 1000. im not gonna learn how to swim from a beginner...just sayin lol

 

[Edd Harbin]

4matic , you also won't learn how to swim from an olympic gold metal winner . If you.are just beginning , what is properly oxidized ? What is too little ? How about over oxidized ? How hot should the torch be ? How long should the mesh how red ? What is the right color of the glow to make sure it is "properly" oxidized ? If it is over done the layer is brittle and you will end up with a short .

 

[eHuman]

And in the end, if it's not oxidized, go tell them their wick is too fat right?

 

[Edd Harbin]

NO , tell them they have a short ! Which is what I said . It may be they didn't oxidize enough , or too much and it was brittle and cracked/scraped off because the wick was to thick . Or maybe they are shorting out on the bottom cap . But if you tell them to do it "properly" what is that ? If they know what "proper" was they wouldn't have a problem . Read some of the newbie post . You will see things like " I have oxidized my wick but still have hot spots/popping coils , what is wrong ?" . YOU HAVE A SHORT ! Why ? Check the coil , is it too tight and scraping through the oxidation? Did the oxidation scrape off when you put wick in the hole ? Is it too tight and scraping off on the hole ? Is it shorting out on the bottom cap becauseit is not oxidized correctly ? Telling someone to make sure that it is done "properly" is like telling someone "to tuck and roll when you hit the ground ...... You do have a parachute ? right !"