AGA-T+ Insulator to Prevent Shorts?

[Sigaro]

I was wondering, if you were to put a piece of ceramic cloth around a SS wick where it usually makes contact with the AGA-T (or any genesis rba) through the top hole to insulate/isolate it, wouldn't this prevent the possibility of shorts and allow for an unoxidized SS wick?

I've seen 3M Nextel Woven Ceramic Fabric around before and I'm pretty sure something similar is used on the VIVI NOVAS.

Just curious if this has been discussed / attempted or if my theory is completely off base...

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[eddiezheadiez]

The mesh always needs to be oxidized to work. I know there's an "unoxidized method" but what it really means is the least oxidized method. The coil is what causes the oxidation on the mesh, but only where they make contact. Supposedly this method results in better flavor and wicking. Also I don't think that insulator is necessary. If you're wick is properly oxidized and not conducting electricity (which is possible even using the unoxidized method) you should have no problems with shorts on the wick hole or the bottom of the tank.

 

[pdib]

try it out by making a short wick and coil setup that doesn't reach the hole (maybe upside down so the wick points up into the air). If no shorts issues, take the plunge.

 

[Nomoreash]

What your saying will work to keep it from shorting but the AGA already has a pretty small wick hole, making it even smaller you're going to have to make a pretty thin wick to fit.

Before I went to ceramic I never torched my SS and didn't have any issues. I rolled the wick, soaked it with liquid and burned that off (usually 3 times) with a Bic and that was it.

 

[Sigaro]

the AGA already has a pretty small wick hole

This was my fear too. I guess I could open it up a bit more, but after reading about all the pain that is, I'll pass.

As for oxidizing, I'm having good results with SS wicks, but even on a well oxidized wick, there are times when I can just tell there's a microshort going on because of the hot/metallic vape. I can normally fix this with fiddling with the coils, but it gets old and frustrating when you just want to vape. This ceramic sleeve ss hybrid was just an idea I had to eliminate that issue.

 

[pdib]

The hot metallic taste may be from a coil that's looser than the others. Not so much a short, as it is the coil starts to glow after a few seconds of button press. The wick can keep up with coils contacting, but not one that's got some air between. Could be micro short; but could be this too.

 

[Vap0rDave]

I was wondering, if you were to put a piece of ceramic cloth around a SS wick where it usually makes contact with the AGA-T (or any genesis RBA) through the top hole to insulate/isolate it, wouldn't this prevent the possibility of shorts and allow for an unoxidized SS wick?

I've seen 3M Nextel Woven Ceramic Fabric around before and I'm pretty sure something similar is used on the VIVI NOVAS.
Just curious if this has been discussed / attempted or if my theory is completely off base...

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View attachment 187139

It seems odd, but I recently found a video of some guys wrapping glad wrap or cling wrap around the wick to insulate it from the deck. It looked like it worked. I have never tried it, but its sounds like an interesting thing. I like the ceramic wrap idea, if I can find the stuff, I would give it a go. Do you think local hardware stores would have it?

 

[Sigaro]

Do you think local hardware stores would have it?

I doubt it, but worth a shot. The stuff seems to be used mostly in industrial/aerospace manufacturing. Finding a supplier online is probably the easiest path.

I still haven't tried this as I've had a smooth function SS wick running for the past month. I still think it's worth a go to eliminate this failure point.

 

[StaircaseWit]

The RSST has an insulated wick hole for around $35. Coupled with the PP tank that doesn't allow wick contact in the tank, un-oxidized mesh is a breeze to pulse in, since the coils glow from both ends initially instead of just the top leg.

Same basic idea and an option at a reasonable price.

 

[Clearo-Mizer]

When i got frustrated with my aga-t sending current into my lips...i pulled a vivi coil apart and snagged the small insulator and used it...worked like a champ untill my next rebuild....i cut one side and pushed it into the wick hole around the wick with an o-ring pick

 

[shortyjacobs]

I works quite well, here is Steve from sng vapor with an unoxidized wire rope wick with xc-116 around it. Mesh should work the same.

Thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/SteamHeads/...with_7x7_rope_and_xc116_top_coat_per_request/

Pics: http://imgur.com/a/PjKzF

 

[Trick]

This sounds like a lot of trouble and taste degradation for a minor issue. It's cool that people are playing around with this stuff, but if I wanted silica or stuff like XC-116 in my wick I wouldn't be using a Genesis in the first place.

 

[eHuman]

The coil to wick shorts are the real culprit. If that area id properly oxidized then your wick can be un-oxidized and touching the metal part of the tank bottom and have zero problems.

If your coil to wick zone is properly oxidized, your problems will disappear.