Basic Rebuidable Questions...

[Mistaree]

Hello everyone,
I'm about to hit my 4th year vaping this summer & I've decided to take my vaping to the next & final level, which is imo "re-buildables". I already ordered an AGA-T2 & I plan to make it work, hook or crook. Now here's some of my questions, How long does a homemade coil last, on average ? Which is better ss mesh wick or the silica wick ? Which method is best to get the maximum vapor & throat hit ? I use 50/50 or 40/60 mix & I plan to use this AGA-T2 on my Vamo for starters, but eventually I'll be putting it on my Silver Bullet. Hopefully this will work to my expectations & I'll buy more for all my Mods. Does anyone know the cause & effect of all the different wires ? Is there any one wire that lasts longer or puts out the lowest/highest resistance ? Can the AGA-T2 be set up as a dripping atty too ? I'm not trying to take the easy route towards vaping perfection, but I'd like my vapor to be really, really thick. I just did a year using nothing but DCT tanks, because the year before that I was wasting money on every new carto that came out. It was always 1 reason or another why they didn't work... DOA, poor quality control, you name it and I always whined up going back to my trusty DCT tanks, but not this time. I refuse to go back to the DCT tanks, I believe with all my heart, there's a better vape. I tried buying cartos again last month & I bought the iClear 30, Vape Only BCC & a Protank. All are descent vapes, but I liked the iClear 30 the most. The ProTank was not a $20 vape at all & I was disappointed with its airy draw & muted flavor. I didn't see the difference between the ProTank & the Vape Only except the price & its looks. I thought I was paying for a carto above the rest, but I have high hopes & expectations on making my own coils. That way if it don't work, all I can blame is myself & do it over until it does work.
Thanks Vaping Buddies...

 

[Mistaree]

Oh I forgot, if your setup is different from the norm, please post pics. And I was wondering if there's a better rebuildable that's affordable (under $40) and versatile as far as set ups go ss mesh & silica please by all means post some info & a link.

 

[Rule62]

The best advice I can give is to experiment. The thing about rebuildables is that the results are all up to you. A $15 RBA will perform as well as a $150 RBA, in the right hands. There are so many variables, it would be tough to list them all. Wick material, wire material, wire gauge, air hole size, juice consistency, method of building wicks, method of wrapping coils, coil resistance, type of PV, etc. Just don't expect perfection immediately, and don't give up. Learn one method well before moving on to another.
Personally, I'm a "mesher". I only use stainless steel mesh wicks. Others will chime in about the benefits of ceramics, silica, Nextel, cotton, wire rope, et al. It's all good.

 

[Bgaffman11]

So many questions so little time to respond but just do some research before you buy anything. There are easy RBAs to set up (RSST and aga-t2) and there are difficult ones (mini did clone, cobra, etc). One note about ur juice question...

You can't get maximum throat hit AND maximum vapor. PG gives u throat hit, VG gives you vapor production. If you want a good balance 50/50 is good, but I have found the RBA has way better nicotine delivery so what I choose to do is lower my nic level, get a higher VG juice (40/60, 30/70, 20/80) cuz the RBA will be a completely different type of hit. Much harder on the throat.

Get an igo-l for a first RBA its a dripper and a monkey could set one up!

 

[jfountain2]

I've been into rba's for about a month now so my experience is still very limited.... so far I've played around with ceramic, silica, cheesecloth and mesh steel wicks and I've only got 3 rba's an AGI, a mini RDA and a Smok RSST.

The AGI is great and it was able to do both dripping or tank mode until I modified it.... now it's just tank mode and I am very happy with it.

The mini RDA is just for testing juices when I go on some flavor mixing rampage and it works great for just testing flavors but I wouldn't use it for much ore than that.

The RSST is great and easy to work on, I wish it had a glass tank but other than that I like it the way it is.

Wicks.... are another story completely

Silica..... muted taste, burned up to fast (IMHO) and I'm not fond of silica in general
Cheesecloth...... great flavor, wicks really well, difficult to form wicks (for me anyway) and burned up to fast... I do rewick all my protanks with it though.
Ceramic...... good flavor, a little slow to heat up and OMG they break easy..... 3 times I had a ceramic wick working good and it broke for no apparent reason while sitting on my desk at work. I have drilled out the wick hole on my AGI and am using a thicker ceramic wick on it today. So far so good but I am leery of ceramic at this point.
Stainless Steel Mesh.... takes time to get it right but works really well when you do. Good flavor, wicks well and no problems burning them up. Heats up faster than ceramic and at this point is my favorite wicking material.

Next, I'll be trying 316 stainless steel 7x7 wire rope.... been hearing some really good stuff about it.

 

[Mistaree]

Thanks @Rule I'm leaning towards SS mesh as well. I'm pretty good with my hands & tinker from time to time. But I know I need to brush up on my electrician skills a bit more. This is why I was also looking for a "e cig mechanic" for a few of my ideas, but that's another story/thread.... Can someone tell me or direct me to the differences in wire, gauge & such ? Does anyone know if the AGA-T2 is one of those RBA's that require a bigger air hole ? Will I have to do any modding to get peak performance from it? Grrrrr......No vape mail 2day, so now I know I have to get 2morrow, I guess. (smh) I've gotten packages from New Mexico in 2 days. It was shipped out Tuesday...Aww Well, no matter when I get it, I'll still be happy ! Gives me a lil more time to watch some more YouTube videos & read thru a few more threads...hehe

 

[Mistaree]

Thanks so much, for the advice. Keep the info coming, I'm happy to soak up anything you put out there. I understand about the balance, I just wanted to make sure there was nothing I was missing, on that note. I'm hoping I made the right choice buying the AGA-T2 as a first RBA. I'm thinking about also getting a Cobra for my Silver Bullet & something small for my Omega. Is there any RBA that you don't have to take completely apart, to change out the juice or clean ?

 

[vapdivrr]

once a genesis is set-up you really don't need to take it apart to clean, I have a bunch and I can go for months without actually taking one apart. imo a syringe is a great tool to have and depending on the actual devices fill hole you also need a blunt tip needle to fit the syringe, anywhere between 16g to 19g will fit. the syringe will add & remove juice from the device and also is used to clean the tank by injecting water. if interested in a syringe NTT glass syringe co. has really nice ones for about 10 to 15 dollars also avid vapors has the blunt tips for the syringes, I mostly use a 3in blunt tip needle, I believe its 18g, but its the only 3 in needle they sell, the rest of the tips they sell are shorter. as for wire gauges, the gauge for the most part determines your resistance, the thinner the wire the higher the resistance and the higher the actual number. most devices can come with wire as part of the package and some don't, this wire will most of the time be 32g kanthal. this 32g wire will give you more or less high resistances, like in the range between 2.0 to 3.0. basically the thinner the wire the harder it is for electrons to flow through them, so this is high resistance. the next wire is 30g, which is a little thicker, this wire gives you the middle range of resistances, maybe between 1.3 to 2.0Ω. next is the 28g, this wire is much thicker and is low resistance, these resistances can range from below 1 ohm to 1.3Ω. you cannot run low resistances with most vv devices because they have a low resistance cut-off features, so if you want to try 28g and lets say a 1.1 coil you would need a mechanical mod, like your silver bullet. most vv devices wont fire anything lower then 1.3Ω. so its going to be up to you to try these different wires & resistances to see what you might prefer. imo, the thicker the wire the better the flavor, also it makes for an easier build and a more stable build. also I find that the lower the resistance the thicker the vapor. imo 30g & 32g is the best all around wire for you to start. if ordering wire I would recommend purchasing all three gauges so you can experiment. the aga is a great device, so I think it was a good choice, also the rsst is another, and the new agi, which is a genny and dripper together. you also cant go wrong with ss mesh for your wicks, 500 mesh is probably the best. once you get proficient in building your wicks and coils with ss mesh then you can experiment with other wicking materials.good luck

 

[Mistaree]

Wicks.... are another story completely

Silica..... muted taste, burned up to fast (IMHO) and I'm not fond of silica in general
Cheesecloth...... great flavor, wicks really well, difficult to form wicks (for me anyway) and burned up to fast... I do rewick all my protanks with it though.
Ceramic...... good flavor, a little slow to heat up and OMG they break easy..... 3 times I had a ceramic wick working good and it broke for no apparent reason while sitting on my desk at work. I have drilled out the wick hole on my AGI and am using a thicker ceramic wick on it today. So far so good but I am leery of ceramic at this point.
Stainless Steel Mesh.... takes time to get it right but works really well when you do. Good flavor, wicks well and no problems burning them up. Heats up faster than ceramic and at this point is my favorite wicking material.

Next, I'll be trying 316 stainless steel 7x7 wire rope.... been hearing some really good stuff about it.[/QUOTE]
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WOW !! You've done a lot in a month, I am utterly impressed ... Yes I'm leaning towards mesh, I love descent flavor but most of all vapor. Plumes & Plumes of vapor... Plus I'm looking forward to the savings by making my own atty. I am so fed up with playing the "carto lotto" . It never sat right with me, to expect to have problems since vaping is so new..(smh) When I pay for something I expect it to work. No vendor wants to guarantee cartos & I can't go with the flow when I'm told I should expect a few dudes or issues bcuz its part of vaping? Poppycock 2x over, for such nonsense ! If I buy 5 cartos, I expect 5 cartos to work. Not "Oh you did good, at least 3 out of 5 wasn't too bad.. grrrr. Anyhoo, (don't get me started) I will love making my own wicks & coils & such. I've been waiting 4 years to give cartos, clearos & all other undependable scraps of crap the finger & I hope I never have to buy another carto again... whew that felt good & I'll feel even better when my AGA-T2 lands its pretty self in my mailbox... Thanks so much, keep the info coming.. I just finished watching how to make a "U" wick of SS mesh.....

 

[Mistaree]

Awesome! I knew all about high & low resistances, but I wasn't sure about how the different gauges of wires worked. Do you know the formula to compute what voltage you should be at, for any given resistance ? I hope I said that right ? I ordered the 30g kanthal & I believe 32g kanthal wire comes with it. I think after a week or so with this AGA-T2, I'll be looking into buying the RSST. Almost everyone in the rebuildable threads suggested both the AGA-T2 & the RSST. I was trying to find out where to get the small spring & washer to improve/mod the AGA-T2. DFW Vapors has some sort of kit, but $8 for 2 tiny springs & matching washer, and a couple of O rings, sounds a bit over priced. Did anyone in here modify the center pin on the AGA-T2 ? I'm learning more in this thread, than any video.(smile) Can the mesh touch the sides of the wick hole or the bottom of the tank ? And what's the rule on oxidizing ? I've read some vapers don't necessarily oxidize the mesh or the wire ? Well no, I'm thinking the wire has to be oxidized no matter what, right ?

 

[varivapr]

once a genesis is set-up you really don't need to take it apart to clean, I have a bunch and I can go for months without actually taking one apart. imo a syringe is a great tool to have and depending on the actual devices fill hole you also need a blunt tip needle to fit the syringe, anywhere between 16g to 19g will fit. the syringe will add & remove juice from the device and also is used to clean the tank by injecting water. if interested in a syringe NTT glass syringe co. has really nice ones for about 10 to 15 dollars also avid vapors has the blunt tips for the syringes, I mostly use a 3in blunt tip needle, I believe its 18g, but its the only 3 in needle they sell, the rest of the tips they sell are shorter. as for wire gauges, the gauge for the most part determines your resistance, the thinner the wire the higher the resistance and the higher the actual number. most devices can come with wire as part of the package and some don't, this wire will most of the time be 32g kanthal. this 32g wire will give you more or less high resistances, like in the range between 2.0 to 3.0. basically the thinner the wire the harder it is for electrons to flow through them, so this is high resistance. the next wire is 30g, which is a little thicker, this wire gives you the middle range of resistances, maybe between 1.3 to 2.0Ω. next is the 28g, this wire is much thicker and is low resistance, these resistances can range from below 1 ohm to 1.3Ω. you cannot run low resistances with most vv devices because they have a low resistance cut-off features, so if you want to try 28g and lets say a 1.1 coil you would need a mechanical mod, like your silver bullet. most vv devices wont fire anything lower then 1.3Ω. so its going to be up to you to try these different wires & resistances to see what you might prefer. imo, the thicker the wire the better the flavor, also it makes for an easier build and a more stable build. also I find that the lower the resistance the thicker the vapor. imo 30g & 32g is the best all around wire for you to start. if ordering wire I would recommend purchasing all three gauges so you can experiment. the aga is a great device, so I think it was a good choice, also the rsst is another, and the new agi, which is a genny and dripper together. you also cant go wrong with ss mesh for your wicks, 500 mesh is probably the best. once you get proficient in building your wicks and coils with ss mesh then you can experiment with other wicking materials.good luck

I 2nd everything Said ^^^^^^. I'll just add something quick in reference to wire size and resistance. The thinner wires produce a higher resistance per given length of wire. Example: 1in of 32g equals 2ohm. 1in of 30g equals 1.5ohm. 1in of 28g equals 1ohm (the ohm/in is not accurate). So, the more wraps or longer yer yer wire is in your coil the higher your resistance will be. When you are just starting out and using a VV device the resistance of your coil will not matter a great deal. You can adjust the voltage to match the coil wrapped and your desired vape. IMO it is easier to get a coil with fewer wraps to work rather than a coil with many wraps. For me its easier to perfect a 4 wrap of 30g at 1.5ohm than a 6 wrap of 28g at 1.5 ohm. If yer looking for throat hit and vaper production the quickest path to that is wattage. The higher you can crank up the voltage on your device the more of both you will get as long as your wick keeps up. The original airhole size on the AGA is small. some like it. I don't. Drilling the airhole to a larger size will also increase vaper production. The RSST would be a good RBA to add to your arsenal. The AGA can be a beach to setup sometimes. The RSST is much more forgiving and less prone to hotspots and produces a more stable setup over the life of the coil/wick.

 

[Mistaree]

Oh & I always, always do research. Like I said, I'm not a newbie to vaping by any means, just the use of RBA's is new. I've spent the majority of the past 4 yrs using my (3) Liquinators, but immediately after I tried the iClear 30, I knew I needed more & there had to be a better vape out there. With 4 yrs in, its definitely time for me to upgrade, instead of settling for the DCT's. I just wish there was something that was as simple as pulling out a cig & firing it up. Yeah, I know wishful thinking, but a homemade coil just might be the golden ticket. I don't mind fiddling, if I don't have to do it so often. If making my own coil can take me to the next level & its as great as everyone says... I am all in. I hope you guys don't mind my questions. You Tube videos are great for a visual, but they can't cover everything. I am very thankful for the insight & advice.

 

[varivapr]

IMO going from a clearo/carto/atty to a properly setup genesis is a bigger stepup in performance then when going from a 901 ecig style to a clearo/carto/atty. Just be aware, for me there is no going back. Nothing off the shelf is satisfying after I got a taste for big flavor and vaper

 

[hueyduey]

Lots good info in this post. My current goto is a carto-tank, but I'd like to see what RDAs have to offer. I found all my answers in this thread. Thanks.

 

[CptBragg]

I too switched to RBA/RDAs from the carto catastrophe about 3 months ago. There is a learning curve, but it is well worth the investment. The only warning that I have is you may become consumed by buying MANY RBA/RDAs and or mods... There are so many variables from one device to another. Experimenting is the fun part though.

 

[Mistaree]

I saw PBursado clean his RBA with a syringe also. I'm hoping the 30 gauge suites my needs & I believe it comes with the 32g kanthal wire. What difference does the "kanthal ribbon" make, if any ? Is there anything else that can be used as a wick besides the usual SS mesh, silica or cotton ?

 

[Mistaree]

Now that's what I'm talking about. I want that shot at perfection bcuz this is how close I'm hearing a RBA is. I've been researching for the past 2/3 weeks & I haven't found not one person who didn't like their RBA after they got it set up. Not even 1... Even if it took the person a week or better to set it up, they all said & I quote "I could never go back to buying cartos or clearos. I like those odds & I hope to get it going with in the first 3 tries...lol. Yes, I tend to be cocky at times, but I'm a quick learner and the AGA-T2 can't get here fast enough. I did get to order a couple of SS drip tips, speaking of which, is there any favorite type of drip tip for RBA's ? I ordered a stem drip tip & a kind of odd shaped drip tip from Desert Vapes. It got shipped today but no telling how long it'll take to reach me....

 

[Mistaree]

RDA ? Oh a dripper atty....smdh sorry brain fog for a sec. I was looking at the RDA's to but I'm a bit older & set in my ways. I'm trying very to keep my vaping simple & too the point. I like sweet or pastry flavored e juices but I never could afford the so-called "Gourmet" juices. But now that I think about it, I've always wanted to try Pink Spot (can any1 give me an idea of what it tastes like?) and a good snicker doodle juice. In 4yrs I still don't have a serious favorite, okay perhaps Sweettart & Dragon's Tear, but yeah that's another thread. How does making a dual coil on your RBA workout for anyone ? Is it the same principal as the dual coil cartos sold on so many sites or is it more like the new iClears in a sense??

 

[varivapr]

you need an RBA with 2 wick holes to do dual coils and then you will end up in the lower resistance area and may need a mechanical and will def need a mechanical to get the full potential out of a dual coil or actually and RBA or RDA

 

[Mistaree]

Ohh.... So when it comes to wrapping the coils, the more coils the higher the resistance will be..
Depending on the gauge of wire & per given length..
So using 30g 3 or 4 wraps should put me at 1.5 ohms or better ? I am seriously thinking about just putting it on my Silver Bullet. What drill bit size did you resize the air hole too ? Does anyone know how to mod the AGA-T2 center pin with a spring & washer ?