AGA-T Help Needed - Endless Hot Spots

[Sigaro]

After having early success, I've been failing miserably to make a great burning coil on my AGA-T. Here's what I don't understand; I make my 4/5 coil using the DRILL BIT method. Coil looks great, fire it up and it burns perfectly. Glows red from the middle out. No hot spots. Add my wick in, and it's a disaster. Top of the coil lights up like an afterburner. I poke, prod, etc, it just gets worse. Why does it change after adding my wick?

I've tried oxidizing and reoxidizing my wick.

I've tried finding small enough washers to attach at the top as I've seen others post on the forums to tackle the top coil issue, but my ACE had nothing small enough.

Main question: Why does adding the SS wick ruin the perfect coil? What the heck can I do to fix this? Thanks in advance.

 

[BuzzKilla]

simplest way of putting it... your wick isn't oxidized properly and is shorting.

watch the videos carefully, get the proper torches and keep at it. If you get frustrated, walk away.
Nothing is harder than a frustrated vaper fixing hotspots.

There is nothing that we can suggest that hasnt already been covered many times online.

 

[Sigaro]

Alright, thanks for the info. Now that I know it's the wick causing the issue, I can refocus my efforts. From the videos I've watched, this what I'm doing:

1) Cutting my rectangle (40mmx60mm)
2) Lightly torching it with a propane plumbers torch.
3) Roll it to size.
4) Hit hard with the torch until it glows nice and red all over.
5) Dripping juice on the wick
6) lighting the juice and letting it burn off

I guess I'll try other methods like paper or something. Cheers.

 

[meatsneakers]

Start at a low voltage and work your way up.

 

[BuzzKilla]

you are on the right track.

the key is to get that build up on the wick and keeping it there.
try not to disturb that build up when wrapping the coil, or in your case feeding the wick through the coil.
you want the coil to be up against the wick without putting pressure on it (my best results).

like meat sneakers said, starting at a low voltage, will make dealing with shorts a lot easier. and as a result will also build up some more deposits between the coil and wick as you vape through the first few tanks. After the shorts are sorted you can go crazy with voltage.

i think the paper methods are a band-aid solution, and i have never bothered.
once that wick is well used, wrapping the second coil will be a breeze, compared to your current struggles.

it's been about 6 weeks since i've last had to touch a coil.
aside from my most recent purchase(ERA) which also is wicked with SS.

 

[Jimi D.]

The top part of the coil has tension. Make sure that the coil is free of tension. The coil just ever so slighty touches the wick.

 

[Stringer63]

Try putting a little bend in the coil right where it attaches to the positive post. That has helped me with a hot top coil.

 

[chuckie]

I popped the first 3 coils I made on my T+,never had many problems with my other gen. atties. The wick hole is to far away from the post on the T+.I used a small washer and all is well. I agree with others about the wick since you are getting multiple hot spots.The wick may need more oxy. or seasoning.Good luck.

 

[Trick]

One other thing that can be helpful with the AGA-T is to curve your wick toward the post. It's a bit of a long haul between them, so if your hot spot is between the wick and the coil, shortening the distance can help.

 

[EDO]

With the AGA T you need the washers or else your build is going to be an uphill battle. As far as drill bit method.... use the Petar K method....he is the originator of the "drill bit method". I use his method and I don't even oxidize my wicks at all...it isn't necessary.

 

[vapdivrr]

After having early success, I've been failing miserably to make a great burning coil on my AGA-T. Here's what I don't understand; I make my 4/5 coil using the DRILL BIT method. Coil looks great, fire it up and it burns perfectly. Glows red from the middle out. No hot spots. Add my wick in, and it's a disaster. Top of the coil lights up like an afterburner. I poke, prod, etc, it just gets worse. Why does it change after adding my wick?

I've tried oxidizing and reoxidizing my wick.

I've tried finding small enough washers to attach at the top as I've seen others post on the forums to tackle the top coil issue, but my ACE had nothing small enough.

Main question: Why does adding the SS wick ruin the perfect coil? What the heck can I do to fix this? Thanks in advance.

your wick may or may not be oxidized enough, but just on the aga-t, the distance from wick to positive post is to far. you definately either need to add the washers or slightly bend over the wick just to get the wick a little closer. for the drill bit way, the washers are the solution, because its all about the perfect coil, so bending over the wick for this method is actually ruining that perfect coil. if you decide to slightly bend over the wick, then i would recommend just wrapping the coil after the wick is installed. this way you can install the wick, bend it slightly over, then wrap the coil. this way you dont mess up the tension of the coil. also if you do make a slight bend, this works better with a more dense wick, because it will stay in this position, if the wick is flimsey it wants to come back and adds tension, which isnt good. so i would try to get the washers, but i have great results with the other way.

 

[michliu]

The kink in the wire coming off the top coil to the post so that it looks like a "Q" from the top works for me too. Take some needle nose pliers and pinch it while still on the drill bit. I couldn't tell you why it works, but it does.

 

[AzPlumber]

Start with low voltage and work out the hot spots while the coil is firing.

 

[gdeal]

Alright, thanks for the info. Now that I know it's the wick causing the issue, I can refocus my efforts. From the videos I've watched, this what I'm doing:

1) Cutting my rectangle (40mmx60mm) YES
2) Lightly torching it with a propane plumbers torch. Yes, but only to remove residual oils after cleaning with water and dish detergent
3) Roll it to size. Yes
4) Hit hard with the torch until it glows nice and red all over. No - This is not necessary
5) Dripping juice on the wick Yes but not for #6
6) lighting the juice and letting it burn off No - This will just give you a burnt taste

I guess I'll try other methods like paper or something. Cheers.

After reading the previous posts, you have the best of the best advice. Go for paper or another method till you get the hang of it if you get hung-up.

 

[DeadPerfect]

nothing here works. aga-t sucks. positive post is too hot. even if your wick is oxidized enough, the will coil will un-oxidize where it sits. hits are constantly harsh.

and gdeal, i dont know bs your spewing, but your basically saying dont do any oxidizing. wash the mesh with soap, then light it to burn off the soap residue? really dude?

 

[st0nedpenguin]

nothing here works. aga-t sucks. positive post is too hot. even if your wick is oxidized enough, the will coil will un-oxidize where it sits. hits are constantly harsh.

and gdeal, i dont know bs your spewing, but your basically saying dont do any oxidizing. wash the mesh with soap, then light it to burn off the soap residue? really dude?

Less is often more with oxidizing a mesh wick.

All that constantly torching and quenching does is leave you with a brittle wick that ends up causing more problems than it solves.

 

[Rule62]

nothing here works. aga-t sucks. positive post is too hot. even if your wick is oxidized enough, the will coil will un-oxidize where it sits. hits are constantly harsh.

They can be frustrating, for sure, at first. But I can assure you, they do work.

 

[calpis]

All the problems would be solved if the nuts were just a little bit larger. And since I don't have the ability to machine my own nuts to close the distance of the positive terminal to the wick, I just went to Home Depot and picked up the smallest washers I could find, #6 stainless (not steel) locking washers. I flattened out the washers with some pliers and installed 1 between the middle and top nut and this got rid of my glowing top lead between the wick and positive terminal. It's been working flawless for the past week but I intend to rewrap it without the washer the next time I have to recoil the wick.

 

[CountSmackula]

I've also left the top tail long after wrapping around the top post and then crossing the tail over the top leg. It resolved my hot leg issue. Later I found that I was putting too much tension on the top leg (even though I didn't think so at the time).

 

[shortyjacobs]

The top tail glowing red is a warning sign. It means you are shorting out on the coil. Washers or bending the wick will solve the glowing tail, but it won't solve the reason it was glowing: you have a short.

I've found, with my short experience, that wick torching does not solve everything. In fact, my last wick I did not torch at all. I soaked it 3x with juice, lit it on fire with a lighter (standard bic), and let it burn out. After that, I wrapped my coil. You want a decently loose coil, IMHO. Still touching everywhere, but not TIGHT. It should move pretty easily on the wick. Also, it is easier to adjust when HOT. Fire your coil, pulse power if necessary to not blow out the coil (burn through it), and poke at it gently, sliding coils up and down to get them all firing evenly. I got a 28g 9 wrap 1.5 ohm coil up and running in ~10 minutes last night on 500mesh doing exactly this, (no washers, no rolling paper, no bending the wick over). The coil glows red from the center out, and neither leg glows at all unless I run it at high voltage for a long time, (at which point the center is red hot).