Beginner's Bad Luck

[daviedog]

Wicking technique can improve/attenuate taste to a degree. Not what you are experiencing.
After rereading your original post,,i would roll a slick coil ID 2.5 mm. Use the mandrel to strum & massage coil. Glow center to edges.
Keep legs as short as possible, they should not glow nor touch anything but the posts.
Also examine your clappy with a loupe, look for a break in the thin wire.
I don't use manufacturers supplied coils/cotton. I prefer to do that myself.
Become a control freak,,in vaping it's good..

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

How is the air flow? Coil could sit up a wee bit or use a smaller coil. Looks like it is actually sitting in the hole not just above it.

 

[spetric]

There are some juices I never steeped, and they still have great flavor. Why not try a speed steep for an experiment on one and see if it makes a difference.



Out of curiousity, what VG/PG Nic ratio are you using?

70/30 with 6 mg of nicotine

 

[spetric]

Hot spot someplace. Did you tune the coil? Heat it up, squeeze the coils together (don't press the fire button while squeezing the coils). They should glow from the middle of the coil out. also make sure your leads are tightened down. A loose lead changes the voltage across that lead.

if you need help with this, I probably have an RBA around here someplace that I can toss a coil on and make a short video. No laughing at my crappy cam though.

And yeah, double check that the coil is ONLY contacting on the pos and neg screw posts, and no place else. Your coil could be a little large. Hard to tell from that angle.

yeah, that would be great. ive never heard of tuning the coil.

 

[mongo74]

Oh yeah. Tuning (via squeezing and brushing) a coil is important. You should always dry fire your coils while tuning to get any hot spots out, and to make sure it is indeed firing from the center outward.

 

[GBalkam]

yeah, that would be great. ive never heard of tuning the coil.

Remember, don't fire the mod if you are using metal to pinch the coil. I use ceramic tweezers in the video, but didn't fire just to demonstrate how to do it. I got the ceramic tweezers (x2) from fasttech and extra tips.

Coil isn't perfectly centered, but I had the cam set up to make a decent view of the coil while i worked on it. Main thing was in the firing and squeezing to get it to glow correctly. That coil is a scrap of wire I had. lol prob 21ga NiChrome, 2.5mm core and 8 wraps. (0.22 ohm)

** See the fancy slow motion effect at the end? Neat eh? LOL I turned the watts down so it would heat slower so you could see it better. High tech FX.

 

[spetric]

Remember, don't fire the mod if you are using metal to pinch the coil. I use ceramic tweezers in the video, but didn't fire just to demonstrate how to do it. I got the ceramic tweezers (x2) from fasttech and extra tips.

Coil isn't perfectly centered, but I had the cam set up to make a decent view of the coil while i worked on it. Main thing was in the firing and squeezing to get it to glow correctly. That coil is a scrap of wire I had. lol prob 21ga NiChrome, 2.5mm core and 8 wraps. (0.22 ohm)

** See the fancy slow motion effect at the end? Neat eh? LOL I turned the watts down so it would heat slower so you could see it better. High tech FX.

I appreciate the video and your help. I was told that the wraps weren't supposed to touch each other and be spaced evenly. No wonder mine wasn't working good with all the wrong information i was told by the people at the store....

 

[daviedog]

I appreciate the video and your help. I was told that the wraps weren't supposed to touch each other and be spaced evenly. No wonder mine wasn't working good with all the wrong information i was told by the people at the store....

Ever hear of Steam Engine? Everything you need to know about the Art of coils..

 

[BrotherBob]

I'm new to both vaping as well as this forum. I have an istick pico mega with the smok tfv4 mini tank. I'm currently using the included rca with a 4 wrap coil using fused clapton coil wire and japanese cotton. It's showing .57 ohms on the display. i cannot get any sort of flavor out of this thing. i tried using the premade coils, same thing. Changed ejuice, same thing. If i turn it above 25 watts it tastes burnt. anything below, zero flavor. Ive tried every sort of wicking style that google and youtube could provide me. more cotton, less cotton, pancake, etc. to the point of having it leaking everywhere just to see if i helped to have it flooded. still bad. i see people on youtube with the same stuff on 60 watts excited about the flavor. i can't get it to thirty without a terrible taste. what am i doing wrong? please help as i have found zero assistance from the ...... who are selling me the stuff.

Welcome and glad you joined.
Could try to simplify your vaping and stay away from intermediate and advanced vape setups, which can present many vaping problematic unknowns to the beginner. Recommend going back to the basics and read:
Learn About Vaping Here - Everything Ecigs - From Beginner To Advanced
Why is My Ejuice Harsh? (Beginner DIY Ejuice Tips)

 

[Smoke_too_much]

I'm new to both vaping as well as this forum. I have an istick pico mega with the smok tfv4 mini tank. I'm currently using the included rca with a 4 wrap coil using fused clapton coil wire and japanese cotton. It's showing .57 ohms on the display. i cannot get any sort of flavor out of this thing. i tried using the premade coils, same thing. Changed ejuice, same thing. If i turn it above 25 watts it tastes burnt. anything below, zero flavor. Ive tried every sort of wicking style that google and youtube could provide me. more cotton, less cotton, pancake, etc. to the point of having it leaking everywhere just to see if i helped to have it flooded. still bad. i see people on youtube with the same stuff on 60 watts excited about the flavor. i can't get it to thirty without a terrible taste. what am i doing wrong? please help as i have found zero assistance from the ...... who are selling me the stuff.

Hi Septric
So did you get it sorted, are you getting flavor now?
On a .57 ohm coil you are pretty much at it's upside limit at 25 watts. I'd expect to vape that at around 12 to 20 watts but it all depends on a number of other factors that have already been mentioned here. Are you getting good clouds because if you are then that would negate the existence many of the potential problems? I'm surprised that when you go low on the wattage you say you're not getting any taste. Try starting very low, around 4 or 5 watts. At that level on a .57 ohm coil you should get little of anything, no clouds or taste. Then work slowly upwards. I'd expect around 8 to 12 watts you should get a wet but tasty vape, gurgling and spitting. Around 12 to 18 you'd probably find the best vape while 18 to 25 it would start to dry out and the flavor would lessen. This though is good with some juices. beyond 25 watts you're getting into dry hit country where if you vape to long and/or too frequently you are likely to run into that burnt taste. The burnt taste comes from too much heat and/or too little juice on the coil. That again can be the result of various factors most of which have already been mentioned here.
Keep experimenting, you'll get it.

 

[spetric]

Ever hear of Steam Engine? Everything you need to know about the Art of coils..

i haven't. will definitely look into it. trying to learn as much as possible.

 

[spetric]

Initially i was out shopping on black friday with my wife. I was interested in the equipment and seen the store beside my wife's favorite clothes store. I walked in to check it out and got talked into buying the setup i currently have. asked him to set it up for me and he did, then he set it on 40 watts, told me that was a good starting point and sent me on my way. it burned out almost immediately on my way home, so i built another and turned it to 40, same thing again. and so began the endless circle ive been on for the last few days. it's been frustrating to say the least. got online and did my research(which i should have done before i ever stepped into a store) and eventually found this forum, which has been such a huge help. still a tad overwhelming with all the things that can go wrong if one small detail is missed. but i think im getting the hang of it. definitely should have started out with something easier, but i guess i walked into the store owned by a former car salesman. Thank you to everyone that has helped(especially the video GBalkam) or given suggestions.

 

[vapdivrr]

I appreciate the video and your help. I was told that the wraps weren't supposed to touch each other and be spaced evenly. No wonder mine wasn't working good with all the wrong information i was told by the people at the store....

Coils can be done either way, all touching or evenly spaces. Usually if all are not touching and evenly spaces, there isn't much tuning to be done, but if they are touching, alot of tuning is necessary

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[GBalkam]

Coils can be done either way, all touching or evenly spaces. Usually if all are not touching and evenly spaces, there isn't much tuning to be done, but if they are touching, alot of tuning is necessary

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

True, but also tuning the coil helps get rid of any hot legs and it is one of the sure fire ways to do it. I use some spaced coils, but mostly tuned. A very good reason is.. coil wraps vs deck space. Obviously, I can get more wraps on a tuned coil in the same space. It helps if you have a tank with limited space and want more vapor. I think, by far, the worst build I have ever done, was a dual coil on a kanger toptank mini RBA mini. Each coil had a 1.25 mm core. It was like knitting with mouse hair. That is something that, having done it once, I feel no urge at all to do again. LOL

 

[Grego25]

Does your tank have a top air flow by the drip tip? I think some tfv4s do. I've heard that reduces the flavor. I would try to put the bottom air flow at about half with .57 resistance. Too thick of wick is the first thing I thought about but you said it happens with premade coils too. I would experiment with air holes and try a thinner wick. Do you have any leaking? I have to leave the tails longer on my smok tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[vapdivrr]

True, but also tuning the coil helps get rid of any hot legs and it is one of the sure fire ways to do it. I use some spaced coils, but mostly tuned. A very good reason is.. coil wraps vs deck space. Obviously, I can get more wraps on a tuned coil in the same space. It helps if you have a tank with limited space and want more vapor. I think, by far, the worst build I have ever done, was a dual coil on a kanger toptank mini RBA mini. Each coil had a 1.25 mm core. It was like knitting with mouse hair. That is something that, having done it once, I feel no urge at all to do again. LOL

No doubt, I still do a little strumming on a spaced for sure but it happens quickly, contact coils however do take a bit more time to get just right. I'm pretty sure the strumming actually imparts slight separations between wraps, thus eliminates the micro shorts.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[GBalkam]

No doubt, I still do a little strumming on a spaced for sure but it happens quickly, contact coils however do take a bit more time to get just right. I'm pretty sure the strumming actually imparts slight separations between wraps, thus eliminates the micro shorts.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

It does I think. I do the strumming too if the coil isn't firing properly. I don't have to strum often though, I just got good at making coils. I make A LOT of coils. LOL.. It's a hobby and I do cloud chasing, so I do a couple builds nearly every day. Working on a quad core (maybe a hex) right now. God help the city if I get a 300w mod. It will look like nuclear winter around here. LOL

 

[Smoke_too_much]

Initially i was out shopping on black friday with my wife. I was interested in the equipment and seen the store beside my wife's favorite clothes store. I walked in to check it out and got talked into buying the setup i currently have. asked him to set it up for me and he did, then he set it on 40 watts...... got online and did my research(which i should have done before i ever stepped into a store)

I suspect a lot of us did the exact same thing, but in my case I later appreciated the fact I was sold a good unit even if it did take a while to understand how to work it and get it working right. The Chinglesh instructions weren't much help.