First coil and lacking vapor

[ceejay]

This is my first coil with a IGO-W. Using single coil at 2 ohm @ 3.7v with a cotton wick. The TH and flavor is there, but seriously lacking in vapor. The IGO-W comes with 2 holes and I have one of them aligned with the coil. Any help as to why there's hardly vapor? Thought I wouldn't have to drill the holes since it has 2 holes but maybe not...

 

[Thrasher]

well a few problems.
the coil is uneven and looks like only one wrap is getting hot before the rest of them. good attempt though.

and the airholes, vapor is directly related to airflow. with the second airhole there is air coming into the cap that is not blowing on the coil. you wil either have to block the second hole or build a second wick. try an experiment, take a draw with your finger on the hole that is not facing the coil and see if it gets better.

 

[State O' Flux]

This is my first coil with a IGO-W. Using single coil at 2 ohm @ 3.7v with a cotton wick. The TH and flavor is there, but seriously lacking in vapor. The IGO-W comes with 2 holes and I have one of them aligned with the coil. Any help as to why there's hardly vapor? Thought I wouldn't have to drill the holes since it has 2 holes but maybe not...

Thrasher's advice, and...

It looks like you wrapped the coil around the wick. The coil diameter appears inconsistent. If that's the case, as you are apparently using cotton as well.... wrap a new coil around a metal shaft - like a 1/16" drill bit.
Fit the coil, space it evenly, test fire it to make sure it lights up evenly... then thread your wick through. Re-space any coils you tweaked, wet your wick and test fire again.

 

[ceejay]

thanks guys, i actually wrapped the coil around a small screwdriver, it's kind of hard to get it all pretty

i'm in the process of drilling one of the holes larger....bad mistake? i never tried blocking one of the holes while drawing. i also test fired it before putting the wick and all the coils heated up evenly.

 

[ceejay]

should i have the coils spaced out or have them touching? i shouldn't have any coils touching the post right?

 

[State O' Flux]

Looking at the photo, I find it hard to believe that it's firing evenly.

You need to get it pretty... pretty is consistent... and consistent is an even and rapid heating of the individual coils. Practice makes perfect. Have you test fired it with a wet wick?

Coils touching post can create hot spots... and "short out" any coils before the contact.

Keep it simple for now... get a basic coil working well, then maybe look at the various micro coils.

Stop drilling until everything else is right.

 

[TastyKakes]

All very good advice here. I will add, however, that the air holes on the igo w are incredibly small. I've been running a single coil after drilling out both air holes to 1/16 and this thing blows clouds. 1.6 ohm, 30 awg micro coil running at 10 watts - vapor, th, and flavor are great.
I agree with everyone else here to get the coil building down first, but be prepared to drill those holes out in the very near future.

 

[Thrasher]

i thought the W only had one airhole? if thats the case then yea it could be an airflow problem. but if for some reason it does have two cover the other one first.

 

[ceejay]

i thought the W only had one airhole? if thats the case then yea it could be an airflow problem. but if for some reason it does have two cover the other one first.

yea it comes with 2 holes. tried covering one and there's not much difference. I just need the practice in making coils.

 

[ceejay]

anyone know if this tool would help make the holes bigger?

Mini Micro Drill Bit Set with Pin Vise Chuck 31 Pcs | eBay

i tried using my driller and it's taking forever to drill a hole. my drill bits suck lol

 

[ScandaLeX]

If you have to rebuild your coil, since you're using cotton, make sure you don't "test fire" with dry cotton.
As far as the coils touching- I build micro coils, so yes- they touch each other; they just don't touch the post.

As said, practice makes perfect.
Soon you'll be doing it with your eyes closed.

 

[State O' Flux]

anyone know if this tool would help make the holes bigger?

Mini Micro Drill Bit Set with Pin Vise Chuck 31 Pcs | eBay

i tried using my driller and it's taking forever to drill a hole. my drill bits suck lol

No. Buying those would be buying brand new drill bits... that suck as much as the ones you already have.
A complete waste of money, effort and time. Those are crap for drilling stainless... more useful for plastics, soft metals, pcbs, wood and such.

In a reasonably priced bit, you need HSS (8% cobalt)... and you need to use coolant, modest to low speeds and good pressure when you drill SS. If you're making SS "dust" instead of chips - too fast and/or not enough pressure. ;-)

And a bit of safety - if you're doing it with an electric hand drill but without a vice to hold the workpiece... that's a good way to get hurt.

You can do it with a hand held pin vice and forgo the workpiece stabilization... but you still need good bits for SS.

 

[albcig]

i find small chambered RDA's to be waaaaaaay better than the normal chambered ones. anyway, try to put the coil as close to the air hole as possible. not by just adjusting the air hole possition, but by actually making the coil as close as possible to the air hole. the yellow line should be shorter

also RDA's work better at around 1 ohm used on a mech. never been happy using them on VV devices.

 

[ceejay]

Ok I was able to drill both holes out to 1/16 and it didn't really help.
Does it matter which side of wire gets attached to the posts? Should I get a different kind of wire? I'm using 32g

 

[State O' Flux]

Ok I was able to drill both holes out to 1/16 and it didn't really help.
Does it matter which side of wire gets attached to the posts? Should I get a different kind of wire? I'm using 32g

Ooops. Cover one hole and build a coil of thicker wire to reduce resistance... or leave both holes open, build dual coils of the wire you have, or preferably, thicker wire.

No.

Yes... 30, 28 and even 26 gauge. A single 32ga coil has too much resistance and not enough surface area for what you're trying to accomplish.

 

[ceejay]

Ooops. Cover one hole and build a coil of thicker wire to reduce resistance... or leave both holes open, build dual coils of the wire you have, or preferably, thicker wire.

No.

Yes... 30, 28 and even 26 gauge. A single 32ga coil has too much resistance and not enough surface area for what you're trying to accomplish.

Thanks out of those gauges, which is best for me?

 

[ceejay]

btw i'm using a mvp 2 if that makes a difference

 

[State O' Flux]

I personally use a single 28 gauge 7 wrap, 2.85mm mandrel, coil at 1.6Ω on an MVP2, in a KFL clone... but that is neither here nor there. I am an experimenter... what I like today, I may not like tomorrow.

On a mech, and by extension... with a dual coil RDA, I use the same coil X 2 - at 0.7-0.8Ω. If you want to do a single coil, bear in mind that my current coil scheme is quite large in diameter... and quite uncommon.
Simply by reducing diameter to a more conventional 1-2mm mandrel, you will reduce resistance substantially. A 1/16" mandrel is quite a popular and easy to obtain size.

You do know that your MVP2 may not fire a coil(s) below 1.0Ω... right?

I'd get some 28 and 30 gauge. You can do almost anything with those two sizes.

 

[ceejay]

yes i know the MVP 2 can't do sub ohm, so therefore i don't want to go that low either

 

[ceejay]

mandrel? never heard of that