AGA-T+ Coiling issues

[feelinggood]

Hi, I have been creating my first coils for my new aga-t, so far just one worked for a few days, the rest(many) did not work due to a persistent hotspot on the first coil loop close to the positive post. I have tried making the coil closer to the post but still the hotspot. I am using kanthal 28 and have to wrap it like 7-8 times around the wick to get 1.3 ohms. I wonder if that is the problem and if using kanthal 34 would help.
Pleasee advice!
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[vanillagurilla]

Just gota move the coils around a bit and try twisting the wick. Often it works best if the seam of the wick os facing the center post. I dont even oxidize my wicks anymore, far easier setup if you have a mechanical device

 

[motelgrim]

I've been using an AGA-T (with glass ibtanked tank) since they came out more or less. The top coil hotspot is, certainly, a pain in the rump. What I've resigned to doing is pulsing the power until it, effectively, burns the hotspot point of contact away. Basically the wire will glow from center post to wick and as you pulse it, it will eventually glow further and further down the spiral.
Making a looser coil helps as well as starting with perfectly straight wire. Kinked wire will touch the wick at irregular intervals vs straight wire. I can always sort it out in a few mins though. If it gets really persistent, I'll move the top coil up or down with the idea being to move the wire away from the unoxidized portion.
Some say a washer (stainless!) on top of the center post will help this as it shortens the distance between the + and the wick. I haven't seen it work for me though.

Good luck.

 

[jasl90]

Try using 30 wag Kanthal. IMO it's the easiest to work with. It's easy to get it to conform to the wick but can survive a hot spot w/o popping.

Also. The top hot leg has nothing (or at least very little) to do worth the distance from your wick to your coil. It is the result of too much tension on the coil... Your attempt to drag the the wick closer to the positive post is causing the top coil to dig into the SS wick, causing the hot spot.

You don't want the coil to apply any real pressure on the wick.

I'm not a fan boy of any particular method of coil building but you may benefit from looking into the "Petar K" method of building the coil independently of the wick and then inserting the wick after the coil is installed. This method insures that coil isn't biting into the wick.

 

[04stinugget]

I also had this problem with my aga and I think now after a few weeks of messing around with it I figured it out. the seam of the wick needs to face the center post for some reason. The bottom coil needs to stay as close to the bottom surface as possible until it makes contact with the wick. when you wrap your coil spin the device instead of working the wire this will help with making sure your coil doesn't end up to tight. on the top wrap make sure your wick is completely vertical with no slop in toward the center post. When pulling the wire to the nuts on the positive post pull the coil around almost like your going to make another wrap and then take it the post. so the top coil will have an s shape coming off the wick to the post. this will allow you to spin your wick easier while adjusting your coils and keep the top coil from biting the wick when you tighten the nuts. When you go to pulse your device the first couple times do it without allowing any of the coils to glow for some reason this helps stiffen the coils before they actually get hot and makes it easier to adjust. last but not least I have found that using a wooden toothpick to adjust my coils works best for me as when you touch the coils or wick it doesn't create a ground path making your coils stop glowing while your moving them. once you get them all lighting up evenly or close to it don't fill the tank yet. continue pulsing your device until the coils glow and then let it cool until you can get the voltage up to at least 4.6 volts this also seemed to make the coils stiff so that once you start vaping the coils don't come out of adjustment resulting in terrible tasting vapor. once this is done fill your tank and enjoy your vape. seems like a long process but so far it is the one that has worked best for me. remember to leave a little bit of wire left on the pos post so that if you need to tighten or loosen the top coil as you adjust you have some wiggle room to do so instead of running out of wire. also make sure the nuts on your pos post have the flat sides facing together if you look closely the nuts have a beveled side, you do not want your wire on either of these as it will result in a crappy connection.

 

[feelinggood]

Thanks guys for the tips. Will try tomorrow again using petar k method also with kanthal 34. Great tip about the tension vs short distance from post, will take that into account.

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[feelinggood]

Thank you jasl90, you are completely right, I made a coil using petar k with normal distance from post and it worked the first time. Also ordered some kanthal 30. Thank you!

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[jasl90]

If you we're able do a Petar K with 34 awg wire, my hat is off to you sir! I wouldn't have thought that wire that thin would be able to hold its shape while inserting the wick... You must have the hands of a surgeon...

 

[Hello World]

Been my experience where a persistent hot spot between the very top leg of the coil leading to the pos. post exists where no amount of wire/coil technique/manipulation has resolved the situation ... at least a partial short circuit exists in either the wickhole, bottom or post of the tank the SS mesh is in contact with.

Where I have insulated the SS mesh from the wickhole with heat shrink tubing and prevented contact with the bottom or post inside the tank, the hot spots have uniformly disappeared. The only Genny I have never seen hot spotting is the Z-Atty Pro where ZEN~ had installed a plastic insulator inside the wickhole.

 

[feelinggood]

Jasl90 actually I used the same kanthal 28 as before, I am expecting the 34 today but based on your comments I won't use it and will wait for the 30 that I ordered.

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[feelinggood]

Hello world, I didn't know about the plastic insulation in the z-atty pro, I was tempted to get one but decided for the cheaper aga-t+, though is good to know that for the future.

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[vapdivrr]

as one mentioned before, try the 30g next. 34g is way to thin, your going from one extreme to the other. 28g is a beautiful thick wire mainly used for lower resistances and mechanical mods, it is the best gauge wire but for most vv devices you have to do to many wraps to achieve a resistance that will work on most devices so the next best thing is the 30g. i personally wouldnt go any thinner then this but alot of people will use 32g, but to go from 28g to 34g is kind of strange. if you find that the 30g isnt to your liking(which i doubt) then 32g is next in line. forget about the 34g completly.

 

[Hello World]

Jasl90 actually I used the same kanthal 28 as before, I am expecting the 34 today but based on your comments I won't use it and will wait for the 30 that I ordered.

34 ga twisted will give you about the same resistance as 28 ga. How to twist kanthal wire