Building Wick Need Help

[BigLiquid530]

So I started with a mesh wick and I wrapped it 4x with 28g Kanthal was getting a metal taste out of it so I trashed that

I then used eco-rope folded it over once and micro coiled it but for some reason the wick doesnt get wet. When I did the coil I wrapped it around a small screw driver test fired it coil lit fine but now it like the coils take longer to get red doesnt give much vapor off. Im using the aga t2 so the hole in the cap is kinda small so.not sure if that is the reason for little vapor, definitely not wicking.


So should I use micro coils or regular coil. Also how many wraps are preferred. Is the wick whether its mesh or eco should it be tight going thru the top hole into the tank, and should the coils be tight. The micro coils around the eco is pretty tight

 

[Endor]

You didn't mention what type of mesh you had attempted to use (300, 400, 500)?

I only use mesh in my AGA-T, so can't help much with the eco-rope question... but perhaps you should revisit an attempt at mesh?

Mesh has a real learning curve, especially when making a fresh wick, but is still my favorite atomizer. A metallic taste is a hot spot. Often you can get rid of them by just fiddling with the coil while its still wrapped around the wick. I use a dental pick/scaler that I bought at CVS; it works great for this (and other things, they are darn handy). Once you get it settled down and vape a few tanks through it, the wick will really break in with a good carbon layer, and hotspots become more rare.

Regarding the air hole, the AGA-T does have a tiny one and that will reduce vapor and give a hard throat hit. I drilled mine out to 1.5mm and it helped a lot. Note that, at least in my experience, the metal on that cap is tough and thick... it's a pain in the ... to drill out.

Keep the fill screw out, as that often helps a lot with wicking (however, that means that you'll need to keep the tank always upright).

Oh, finally, with mesh wicks at least, it should slide into the wick hole with very little resistance. If you have to shove it down in there, it's too fat -- usually you can just pinch-and-roll some more to tighten it up. Also make sure the wick is up off the bottom of the tank a millimeter or so.

Hope this helps...

 

[BigLiquid530]

Wow that is done great info, going to try the mesh again. I'm using 500 mesh. I was thinking it needed to be tight so I didn't leak but what you said makes tons of sense

On YouTube they make it look easy but reality there is a learning curve

 

[Thrasher]

On YouTube they make it look easy but reality there is a learning curve

LOL yea the one thing they always forget to add is "oh by the way I have done this 500 times already"

like he said it takes a bit to get it going just right but I still think there is nothing better in a geni.

 

[BigLiquid530]

Kinds curious how does a piece of mesh get the liquid up to the top out doesn't make sense to me

 

[Thrasher]

it works by a process called capillary action.
Capillary action - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

take a piece dry roll it up and stand it in a small cup or something with maybe a 1/4 inch of juice. you can see the juice travel up the wick.

when done right the act of vaporizing the coil area actually pulls more up the wick faster.. when very gunked up you will notice a dry hit once in a while so we clean them real quick.

 

[BigLiquid530]

Nice kinda weird how stuff works

 

[BigLiquid530]

So on mesh wicks what's better micro coils or regular coils and how tight should the coils be, and how many wraps do you do around the wick

 

[Thrasher]

personally I do right around 4-5 wraps, whether its 28 for my mech or 32 for my regulated mods. dont think a microcoil style will work with mesh, i think you would have to roll the mesh too small to fit the coil. the mesh should always be rolled to fit the wickhole not real tight but not loose..


as for how tight? i have seen people make a small, close coil but i do the barber pole looking kinda wraps. works great so i see no need to try and make it different.

 

[BigLiquid530]

Thanks for the pick

So should I oxidize the mesh then wash with soap and water roll it oxidize it again put some juice on it oxidize it again

 

[Thrasher]

umm that will come down to personal build preferences, personally I wash the sheet when I get it and rinse it off with alcohol then water then put it away once dry,when needed I cut off what I need, roll it, burn the end with a lighter or stove a bit till red. then wrap it and quickly pulse out the hotspots.

if you look at the pic you'll notice the mesh is not oxidized at all. takes a little work the first few times to figure out what to do but after that its easy to replicate.

I dont really know how to do any of that burn, juice, wash stuff so cant help ya there, sorry. lol

 

[BigLiquid530]

So right now I rolled a wick should there be a small hole down the center of the wick

 

[Jazzi Mike]

I don't understand why you would wash the mesh with soap and water?

In all reality, the only part of the mesh that has to be oxidized is the part that the Kanthal touches, meaning you really do not have to char the whole wick. I oxidize both sides before rolling the mesh up. I oxidize the mesh once after it is rolled up. Then I put juice on the wick. I burn the juice off. After that, I just kind of move the coils around until it glows evenly.

When I first started building gennies, part of my issue was I would wrap the coil and think I was done. Every time that I put juice in the tank, it would start tasting like metal. The real work involved in getting a genesis style atomizer up and running is not actually wrapping the coil. It is fiddling with the coil to work out hot spots.

One of my eureka moments with working on SS Mesh coils is this: When you can fire the atomizer and it stops smelling like burning nastiness, you probably are on the right trackl.

 

[BigLiquid530]

The washing of the mesh it's just a step I always see in vids so I just do it but I'm gonna use your steps also


Is the wick suppose to be rolled super tight where there isn't a hole in the middle

 

[grindle]

Seems to be a preference thing, but I'm sure there's a factor everybody isn't mentioning such as their tilt.

I'm not a tilter and used a solid wick. I've seen plenty of wicks with huge holes in them and the only way I can imagine the wick keeping up is with a tilt or at a very low heat.

 

[BigLiquid530]

So im firing the wick up is the coil suppose to glow from top and work its way to the bottom correct


Also when I fire it up it keeps catching fire not sure if its because of all the juice splattering around or is it the coil and this is with the aga t2 cap off

 

[grindle]

When you first test the coil there has to be no juice involved whatsoever, not until you have the coils glowing evenly.

Coils glow from the centre outward once perfect, this is what all the nudging coils up or down a smidge is about.

 

[BigLiquid530]

I thought it goes inside out only if it was micro coils im using 4 wrap coils with the coils spead out

 

[grindle]

Goes from the inside out on any well-built coil. Every coil is about getting it as even as possible, having it heat at the positive toward dark at the negative simple means your coil is colder on the bottom. You want everything even.

Again, adjust the coils when there is zero juice in the tank, pointless otherwise. You don't have to recoil but you do have to nudge coils up and down slightly until they glow fairly evenly.

 

[BigLiquid530]

Okay ill start moving thanks