Brand new to dripping-looking for some info/ support

[GoBlue88]

I am picking up a Sapor rda to start dripping. I'll be running it on an I stick 30w. I have a few questions for the fine folks in this subforum

- I currently run 1.3 ohm coils in a kanger Subtank nano, which according to kanger can support 13-25 watts. I enjoy the balance of TH/vapor production (not cloud chasing), and cool vapor. If I install 1.3 ohm kanthal wires in my new Sapor, would the same wattage range still apply as safe?

-the B&M store recommended that I use kanthal wires as my device is not temperature controlled, is this correct?

-my B&M store is offering to teach me how to build coils, is there anything that they could recommend that should make me run away as fast as possible (something to suggest heir recommendations are wrong or unsafe)

Thanks in advance



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[sunnata]

I am picking up a Sapor RDA to start dripping. I'll be running it on an I stick 30w. I have a few questions for the fine folks in this subforum

- I currently run 1.3 ohm coils in a kanger Subtank nano, which according to kanger can support 13-25 watts. I enjoy the balance of TH/vapor production (not cloud chasing), and cool vapor. If I install 1.3 ohm kanthal wires in my new Sapor, would the same wattage range still apply as safe?

-the B&M store recommended that I use kanthal wires as my device is not temperature controlled, is this correct?

-my B&M store is offering to teach me how to build coils, is there anything that they could recommend that should make me run away as fast as possible (something to suggest heir recommendations are wrong or unsafe)

1 - Yes, that range would be safe. And depending on the build, wick type and airflow settings, you could probably push much higher.

2 - Kanthal is very popular and widely available. It's good advice IMO. There are other options you can explore further down the road if you choose to.

3 - Try to understand the basics of coil building, watch videos, read as much as you can, and if in doubt use the forums to ask any and all questions you might come up with. My advice would be don't rush it, take your time, and do your research, filter out what works best for you and what are considered safe practices.

just my 2c, g'luck

 

[EverPresentNoob]

when i first started dripping my local wire guy at the B&M gave me one of his old RDA's to play with. I had just bought a Little Boy from him and a mech mod and battery. He built the RDA I bought and showed me how he did it. explained all the stuff, safety and what not. then he went and grabbed one of his older RDA's that he said he didn't use anymore and told me to leave his build in my RDA alone, but i could practice building in his RDA to compare them. Told me things to watch out for, and things to NOT do. I got home and started building trying to match what he had built in my RDA. eventually I got to where i could hit it pretty good and have it turn out like i wanted. I returned his RDA with in about a week and thanked him for it. he then had me build it for him so he knew I knew what i was doing. I have seen this same shop do this for MANY new customers since.

There is another local shop that i went to a couple times... again watched a new vaper come in looking to step up to Mechs. shop guy sold him a mech mod some clone RDA and a trust fire battery. Built a dual coil setup from 22G nichrome that was abut .2 or there abouts and told the newb to have fun. I followed him out and told him the build wasnt safe. He seemed a touch nervous anyway and mentioned it was way to hot for him but that is what the counter guy suggested. I ended up taking him to my normal shop and introduced him to the owner and explained what was going on. they took one look at the build and battery and ripped it out. swapped him for a new Efest and built a decent coil and again went through the whole safety aspect.

My point, some shops are good, some not so good. go to your local shop and talk with them see what help they will give you, and if anything seems hokey about it come back here and ask us!

 

[edyle]

I am picking up a Sapor RDA to start dripping. I'll be running it on an I stick 30w. I have a few questions for the fine folks in this subforum

- I currently run 1.3 ohm coils in a kanger Subtank nano, which according to kanger can support 13-25 watts. I enjoy the balance of TH/vapor production (not cloud chasing), and cool vapor. If I install 1.3 ohm kanthal wires in my new Sapor, would the same wattage range still apply as safe?

-the B&M store recommended that I use kanthal wires as my device is not temperature controlled, is this correct?

-my B&M store is offering to teach me how to build coils, is there anything that they could recommend that should make me run away as fast as possible (something to suggest heir recommendations are wrong or unsafe)

Thanks in advance



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1: the wattage range of a 1.3 ohm kanthal single coil depends on the wire gauge.
for the 13-25 watts range, sounds like a 28 gauge.

2:your istick 30 is not a temperature controlled box.
Yes you should use kanthal; the alternative is nichrome.
Nickel and titanium as currently used in temperature control devices

3: if they recommend ICR or 'protected' batteries, or 0.1 ohm coils, then run.

 

[RandyF]

The main thing you want to take into consideration using the iStick30 is that you are pushing 4.2v. The iSticks cannot regulate below 4.2v (properly, called step down), so to get the best vape you need to make sure you are pushing at least 4.2v. With a 1.3Ω coil you want to be above 14 watts. The lower you build the coil the more you need to increase the watts. The lowest you can build is .06Ω which would need the full 30 watts.

If you like to vape below 14 watts, then you need to build higher ohm coils. The iSticks will work if they need to send power below 4.2v (i.e. .5Ω coil at 15 watts) but it will do so in pulse width modulation - PWM, noticeable by the rattlesnake sound. So it is still sending 4.2v, but it pulses the power to simulate sending less power.

Steam Engine will help you if you need to determine where the ideal balance is.

 

[GoBlue88]

@edyle and @EverPresentNoob

Thanks for all the input, I built my first coil and gave specs and pics in the coil builds forum. I'll repost that info below because traffic seems slower over there


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[GoBlue88]

Whoops, actually it's in this subforum posted 4 hours ago. I'm not sure how to post links to other threads but I would appreciate the input of either of you on my build.


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[EverPresentNoob]

My first coil build | E-Cigarette Forum

There's your coil thread. It doesn't look bad at all. And is long as you enjoy it who cares what we think. You might look at the end of your coils though, it looks like your leads are wrapping on top of coils

 

[GoBlue88]

I am having some issues with wicking if you have any insights in that regards. I frequently rewet, then vape a bit, then the cotton becomes white around the edges of the coil (where the coil ends and the exposed cotton begins.

However, further from the coil, the cotton is still pretty wet with juice. If I wait a bit it helps some, but still the cotton inside my coil and at the boundaries to my coil are pretty dried out and the ejuice further out is not making it to the coil, resulting in dry hits. As a result, when I rewet I'm really just rewetting immediately around/in the coil, and the ejuice further from the coils is just staying put. My best guess is this means the cotton is too tight (preventing flow) but I'm not sure. Do you have any advice?

And it does look like my leads are partially on top of the coils, is that a real issue?




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[EverPresentNoob]

I only mentioned the leads stacking as that could create a hot spot. your wicking issue does sound like it is to tight to me, but Im sure others that are smarter might have more insight to that. i use KGD cotton so that i can cut a strip off that is just barley wider than my coil. once it is in there is usually enough loosness to be able to move the wick around a little bit. Try looser cotton and see what happens. It also kinda looks like you just have way to much cotton in there. the juice is being absorbed into the cotton, but if the tails are to long it wont really go to the coil, it will just sit down in the cotton. I normally trim my tails so that they just touch the bottom of the well once I tuck them and so there is a little space below the coil that I can see the bottom of the juice well. this way there is less cotton to soak up and hold the juice.

You can kinda see what Im talking about in this pic....



Just keep playing with it and eventually you will be building it and suddenly say "EUREKA!!!" and things will suddenly fall into place for you.

 

[edyle]

I am having some issues with wicking if you have any insights in that regards. I frequently rewet, then vape a bit, then the cotton becomes white around the edges of the coil (where the coil ends and the exposed cotton begins.

However, further from the coil, the cotton is still pretty wet with juice. If I wait a bit it helps some, but still the cotton inside my coil and at the boundaries to my coil are pretty dried out and the ejuice further out is not making it to the coil, resulting in dry hits. As a result, when I rewet I'm really just rewetting immediately around/in the coil, and the ejuice further from the coils is just staying put. My best guess is this means the cotton is too tight (preventing flow) but I'm not sure. Do you have any advice?

And it does look like my leads are partially on top of the coils, is that a real issue?




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maybe you need to wrap bigger diameter coils for the wattage you are vaping at

 

[GoBlue88]

I only mentioned the leads stacking as that could create a hot spot. your wicking issue does sound like it is to tight to me, but Im sure others that are smarter might have more insight to that. i use KGD cotton so that i can cut a strip off that is just barley wider than my coil. once it is in there is usually enough loosness to be able to move the wick around a little bit. Try looser cotton and see what happens. It also kinda looks like you just have way to much cotton in there. the juice is being absorbed into the cotton, but if the tails are to long it wont really go to the coil, it will just sit down in the cotton. I normally trim my tails so that they just touch the bottom of the well once I tuck them and so there is a little space below the coil that I can see the bottom of the juice well. this way there is less cotton to soak up and hold the juice.

You can kinda see what Im talking about in this pic....

Just keep playing with it and eventually you will be building it and suddenly say "EUREKA!!!" and things will suddenly fall into place for you.

Alright I've made some changes and it looks to be improving

1)ensured I cut with the grain of the Cotten (not sure about the last one)

2)used a thinner strip of Cotton (so it wasn't bunching up around the edges of coil

3) dropped the height of the coil itself (less gravity to fight against for ejuice climbing up the wick from the well

4)implemented your suggestion about shorter cotton length so I don't have significant quantities of ejuice sitting in cotton that does nothing in the well.

It seems better already, I'll try it out for awhile and see what further improvements I can make. Thanks for the help!

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[GoBlue88]

maybe you need to wrap bigger diameter coils for the wattage you are vaping at

Thanks for the input, I've considered that too. It makes sense if your vaporizing ejuice from the outside of the cotton touching the coil that a larger diameter cool/cotton would serve to ship ejuice from the innermost part of the Cotton to the outermost part where the vaporization is occurring.

Is there a limit to the number of loops you should have? I'm at 7 now and am considering bumping it down to 5 with a larger diameter.


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[EverPresentNoob]

As long as your ohms are within safety/operating specs for your mod you should be good. I normally build lower than you are looking for, but my favorite is a dual parallel build with 28G on a 3/32 dia rod. 6 wraps. granted your vape is what you like, not what I like. I normally try to make a smaller diameter coil that is longer so that I have more surface area on the coil. more hot coil touching the cotton vaporizes more juice and hence better flavor. at least in MY experience. YMMV.

Just keep playing with it and trying different things. It can always get better.

 

[GoBlue88]

As long as your ohms are within safety/operating specs for your mod you should be good. I normally build lower than you are looking for, but my favorite is a dual parallel build with 28G on a 3/32 dia rod. 6 wraps. granted your vape is what you like, not what I like. I normally try to make a smaller diameter coil that is longer so that I have more surface area on the coil. more hot coil touching the cotton vaporizes more juice and hence better flavor. at least in MY experience. YMMV.

Just keep playing with it and trying different things. It can always get better.

Thanks Bud, I appreciate the input


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[edyle]

Thanks for the input, I've considered that too. It makes sense if your vaporizing ejuice from the outside of the cotton touching the coil that a larger diameter cool/cotton would serve to ship ejuice from the innermost part of the Cotton to the outermost part where the vaporization is occurring.

Is there a limit to the number of loops you should have? I'm at 7 now and am considering bumping it down to 5 with a larger diameter.


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I have heard that 7 is like a magic number for coils.
you don't want a coil too long at higher watts because then the center of the coil will tend to dry up because the liquid has a harder time getting there, plus the center of the coil tends to be the hottest
and on the other hand, too few wraps (1 wrap is like no coil at all) is like having no coil at all:

I have a habit of aiming for 10; that's just my personal bias because then I remember that's how many wraps I made a coil.

One thing to look at is the length of the coil compared to the diameter.
on many coils you will see just by eyeball that the length of the coil is usually about the same as or a bit more than the outer diameter.
Although I do have a couple rda's with coils twice as long as diameter, but those are 30 gauge and relatively low power (15 watt)

 

[GoBlue88]

I have heard that 7 is like a magic number for coils.
you don't want a coil too long at higher watts because then the center of the coil will tend to dry up because the liquid has a harder time getting there, plus the center of the coil tends to be the hottest
and on the other hand, too few wraps (1 wrap is like no coil at all) is like having no coil at all:

I have a habit of aiming for 10; that's just my personal bias because then I remember that's how many wraps I made a coil.

One thing to look at is the length of the coil compared to the diameter.
on many coils you will see just by eyeball that the length of the coil is usually about the same as or a bit more than the outer diameter.
Although I do have a couple rda's with coils twice as long as diameter, but those are 30 gauge and relatively low power (15 watt)

Right now I have only 28 gauge a1, and would really like to hang in the 1-2 ohm range. I like cool vapes so even tho my device can subohm I'll still be in the aforementioned neighborhood for the time being. I'll see how I can make this thing dance holding the material and gauge constant, because I still am finding I've got a lot to learn about wicking, coil construction itself, coil position etc.

Once I get all that down I'm sure I'll branch out into different garages and all that. Even if I'm happy with my build, I'm wired to tinker (safely of course).

Thanks for the input


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[GoBlue88]

And I actually taste the flavors that the manufacturers describe with an RDA. I didn't know what I was missing.


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[edyle]

Right now I have only 28 gauge a1, and would really like to hang in the 1-2 ohm range. I like cool vapes so even tho my device can subohm I'll still be in the aforementioned neighborhood for the time being. I'll see how I can make this thing dance holding the material and gauge constant, because I still am finding I've got a lot to learn about wicking, coil construction itself, coil position etc.

Once I get all that down I'm sure I'll branch out into different garages and all that. Even if I'm happy with my build, I'm wired to tinker (safely of course).

Thanks for the input


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With 28 gauge A1, you should be good with your 30 watt power source.