An Affordable RBA, turn key & safe for our mods

[Randy C]

"I don't use silica (I use cotton thread) so not sure about which size on that. But, I don't think it'll matter much. Maybe order a little of each and experiment."

Silica is the main reason why I started dripping in the first place. I don't want to inhale silica or poly "anything". I just want to inhale vapor created by pure (american made) juice hitting hot metal- period. I even de-wick all of my 306 atty's upon arrival. Please read "Wick materials. Safe vs dangerous". I looked at silica wick under just a 4X magnifying class and I was amazed at what I saw; this stuff splinters into tons of tiny pieces just by touching it. After investigating silica, my mind was made up- No more silica for me- ever!! I know there are some die-hards that will say I'm over reacting, and that they've been vaping from an old sink strainer for years with no problem, however I've spent years trashing my lungs, and now that I've quit smoking, I don't want to put myself at any further risk. Seriously... Just handle a small piece of silica wick, then look at your fingers under a magnifying glass; you'll be surprised what you see!

I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I don't think that we ever want to lose track of the fact that most countries who develop and manufacture vaping components have no love for the free world. I'd hate to look back 20 years from now and find out that harmful components were introduced to the vaping industry on purpose... Just my thoughts.

 

[Randy C]

You won't need to get more air flow...this one has plenty. But if you need to tighten it up a bit, you could use a cut carto condom. I'll share pictures here in a bit so you can see what I'm talking about.

This sounds like a great idea! Can you please post some picks of this? I'm having a hard time understanding where the condom would go

 

[davelog]

I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I don't think that we ever want to lose track of the fact that most countries who develop and manufacture vaping components have no love for the free world. I'd hate to look back 20 years from now and find out that harmful components were introduced to the vaping industry on purpose... Just my thoughts.

You can at least take some comfort in that they do love the free market, and aren't about to do anything that could hurt their bottom line.

 

[Geoscouter]

RandyC. Does the cotton thread burn easily? Is there specific cotton thread that you have found works well? Pics or link showing this alternative to silica. That original thread is huge. Thanks


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[Ratman]

RandyC. Does the cotton thread burn easily? Is there specific cotton thread that you have found works well? Pics or link showing this alternative to silica. That original thread is huge. Thanks


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I can help you with this one as I have been using cotton for a while now on all my RBA's. JCOkie turned me on to it and I haven't looked back. The cotton does not burn easily as it wicks very, very well and so is always wet under normal usage. You can NOT however dry burn it like you do with silica or it will burn up quickly. I suppose if you left it sitting for a week or two it could dry up enough burn.

The best I have used is also very easy to get and very cheap. It's DMC embroidery floss. It's a 1mm thread, I use 3-4 strands of it. It's pure cotton and costs 30 cents for about 25 feet of it at Wally World.

Here is a pic of the thread:

And here is what it looks like in a circle/well build on an ERA:

 

[Rhapsodies Fire]

This sounds like a great idea! Can you please post some picks of this? I'm having a hard time understanding where the condom would go

woops! I forgot to do that. Here you go.

 

[Gioajack]

woops! I forgot to do that. Here you go.

Huh, all these years and it turns out I wasn't even close on where to put those. For the life of me I don't see the enjoyment in that but if you say so, I guess I'll have to try it.


Jack

 

[Randy C]

RandyC. Does the cotton thread burn easily? Is there specific cotton thread that you have found works well? Pics or link showing this alternative to silica. That original thread is huge. Thanks


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No, cotton doesn't burn easy... just keep it wet. There are many posts about cotton wicks here on ECF, but no particular ones come to mind. Just search posts for "cotton wick". If you do burn a cotton wick, it's easy enough to replace. Just pull the cotton wick from your coil and reinstall a new one. Cotton wicks should easily slide into the coil, as they will expand to fit the coil diameter when it gets wet.

FYI... I use pure 100% cotton cheesecloth as a wick

 

[Geoscouter]

Thanks RandyC and Ratman. Picked up some of that thread from wallyworld today and have some silica and kanthal coming from Rob with the Reobuildable. Hopefully they'll ship Monday. This will be my first rebuildable and I just passed two years analog free and looking for a better solution than Boge Lr cartos. They don't seem to last as long as they used to. Only getting about 6-7 ml of juice through them b4 they get too stiff a draw.


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[Dan Patrick]

I just picked up 2 of these, can't wait to try it out. Hope it fits on some Reo's my other's won't!

 

[oldbroad]

Thanks RandyC and Ratman. Picked up some of that thread from wallyworld today and have some silica and kanthal coming from Rob with the Reobuildable. Hopefully they'll ship Monday. This will be my first rebuildable and I just passed two years analog free and looking for a better solution than Boge Lr cartos. They don't seem to last as long as they used to. Only getting about 6-7 ml of juice through them b4 they get too stiff a draw.


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Congrats on two years freedom form those dang cigs!

 

[AmnNate]

Is this any shorter then the ERA? Can anyone that has both post a side-by-side pic please? Thanks!

 

[Randy C]

woops! I forgot to do that. Here you go.

Thanks Rhapsodies Fire; Ingenious! I've struggled with airy RBA's in the past and this looks like a great work-around!

 

[Randy C]

Thanks RandyC and Ratman. Picked up some of that thread from wallyworld today and have some silica and kanthal coming from Rob with the Reobuildable. Hopefully they'll ship Monday. This will be my first rebuildable and I just passed two years analog free and looking for a better solution than Boge Lr cartos. They don't seem to last as long as they used to. Only getting about 6-7 ml of juice through them b4 they get too stiff a draw.

I hear ya... for me, all carto's seem horrible as of late; even my trusted Kanger horizontal coils. The Boge's just taste nasty after just a few ml's.

 

[Randy C]

There are lots of gauges of wire and lots of wicking materials. I use 32 gauge Kanthal (Rob sells it on his site.) I use cotton thread as a wick, but lots of people use cotton, bamboo, silica, SS mesh.....it goes on and on. Rob also sells silica (2 sizes and either will work) on his site. It's pretty much experimentation as far as what to use. There are some pretty good you tube videos about wrapping coils for the rebuildables. Check out a few....this one is similar to either the Chalice or the ERA or the A7 as far as building a coil goes. Hope this helps.

I agree. I've experimented with many, many coils on my DUD, and really like the 32 gauge Kanthal. 5 wraps of this consistently yield 1.4-1.6 ohms. These things pump out amazing vapor; way more than conventional atty's at the same ohm's ! As a matter of fact, I actually had to turn my Provari down to 3.2-3.4 volts when vaping at 1.5 ohms.

I actually prefer the taste of cotton, as opposed to silica. I think it's a much cleaner tasting vape.

 

[Randy C]

Oh.. I forgot to post earlier. Here's a tip for those of you new to RBA's: If these are like other RBA's I've tried, It may help vapor production to adjust the position of the air hole in relation to the wick. Just place an o-ring over the threaded portion (that the cover screws on), so you can adjust the position of the air the air hole as you tighten down the cover.

I have a question... I'm rather new to using RBA's on bottom feeders. Since the wick is no longer related to air flow, like with a regular atty, what is the best way to determine that it's time to "squonk"? just by the taste?

 

[rasci2]

I can help you with this one as I have been using cotton for a while now on all my RBA's. JCOkie turned me on to it and I haven't looked back. The cotton does not burn easily as it wicks very, very well and so is always wet under normal usage. You can NOT however dry burn it like you do with silica or it will burn up quickly. I suppose if you left it sitting for a week or two it could dry up enough burn.

The best I have used is also very easy to get and very cheap. It's DMC embroidery floss. It's a 1mm thread, I use 3-4 strands of it. It's pure cotton and costs 30 cents for about 25 feet of it at Wally World.

Here is a pic of the thread:

And here is what it looks like in a circle/well build on an ERA:

Does this have to be boiled before use or can it be used right out if the package?

 

[Ratman]

You might want to boil it just to clean as it will have been sitting out open on the shelf at the store collecting dust etc. It does not need to boiled for flavor tho as I have tried it boiled and not, and no discernible taste difference that I could tell.

 

[Rhapsodies Fire]

Is this any shorter then the ERA? Can anyone that has both post a side-by-side pic please? Thanks!

Here you go...

 

[AmnNate]

Thanks for the pic Rhaps. Got a preference between the 2 yet?