RDA First Ever Build and Coughing

[Vaping_Racoon]

Hi guys,

so I had my dual coil on my Lush rda working, I stuck the chuff cap on there
and I took my first ever puff off of it.

I started coughing like crazy... lol

I'm using 80/20 3mg juice so I wonder if maybe
the airflow is too opened (I had it fully opened) or if I should use a standard drip tip for it?

My build is 0.44 ohms at 40 Watts, if that helps.

Thanks

 

[suspectK]

Can you take a picture of your build, with it wicked and saturated?

The first things that pop in my mind are wicking, wire gauge, and distance to airflow.

With the wick, if you're seeing bubbling in between the coil and wick, inside the coil, you don't have enough wick. If you have too much wick, you will get dry hits, but you will notice that on the sides of the coil, the wick develops a look similar to it having shoulders. They rise up a little. Think of your coil trying to look macho, and flex its arms/tails...

If your wire gauge is too small, rather the surface area of the coil being too small, than you will get harsh hits.

With the airflow, the coil would be too far from the airflow source, but since you immediately coughed, I don't see that being the issue. I bounce back and forth from liking my coils right on top of the airflow, or further away from it.

Also, I'm assuming, but you're using 80%VG? Since I've been yelled at for this here, the generally accepted way to write out the ratio 'round these parts is PG/VG. Several vendors, like fuzion(at least they did when I used them), write out the ratio the opposite way. But hey, we ain't regulated, so you can do what you want, but if you're using 80% PG...I'd cough up a lung taking a 10 Watt hit of that ratio, let alone 40+.

Edit- I'm picturing an intense burning cough, when you describe it as a cough. So I wouldn't think having too much air would be the cause of the problem, but if you aren't use to that sort of vapor production, I suppose it could cause irritation. However, since you've probably been vaping, I wouldn't suspect that to be the case.

 

[Vaping_Racoon]

Yes, I use 80/20 VG/PG and the surface area of my coil is 8 wraps of 26g kanthal.

It may be the wicking actually.. my coils aren't spaced and I can't see any macho bumps
hehe.

I took some pics but they're kinda blurry.

 

[Vaping_Racoon]

This is it, it's pretty dry though

 

[suspectK]

Yes, I use 80/20 VG/PG and the surface area of my coil is 8 wraps of 26g kanthal.

It may be the wicking actually.. my coils aren't spaced and I can't see any macho bumps
hehe.

I took some pics but they're kinda blurry.

Yeah, just looking at those pictures, I'm seeing a sign(the slight fold in the tails of one of the wicks) that the wick might be too little in one, at least, but they don't appear to be saturated.=edit-duh...didn't see the remark above pictures.

Sorry if what I typed was misleading, but when there isn't enough wick, where the wick comes out of the coil will have a slight space. A lot of the time, you won't be able to notice this without test firing it. So saturate, and test fire, you'll see bubbling happening where the wick comes out of the coil. I'm just making sure, because your response seems to be talking about your coils making contact.

Have you seen the ITEO wicking method for cotton? I don't always follow it 100%, but I do always wash my hands thoroughly, and I just roll the wick in the same direction to compact it. The step I usually leave out is to saturate the wick, so you can compress the wick even further, allowing for more wick to be in the coil, but without it being fluffed up to act like too much wicking.

 

[markcfh]

You have worked out any hot spots right? Does the vape feel dry and scratchy?
When you start out it takes a bit to get your wicks set up the way you like it. Maybe try rewicking it.

 

[suspectK]

Great point, mark. Funny how stuff just slips your mind like that after things become routine.

A hot spot is an area of the coil that has a higher resistance than the rest of the coil, so this will cause that area to glow and be a lot hotter and brighter. Cuz one coil did seem like the wraps could have been jostled a bit, and that could cause hot spots to form. Two coils that don't burn at the same brightness won't cause discomfort, but the possible hot spot issue will definitely cause an issue.

 

[Vaping_Racoon]

I know I checked and there was no hot spots, glowing evenly.

It could be the wicking, I'll try a new method.

 

[Vaping_Racoon]

You have worked out any hot spots right? Does the vape feel dry and scratchy?
When you start out it takes a bit to get your wicks set up the way you like it. Maybe try rewicking it.

I felt the juice in there but it was defo scratching my throat, like if it was too much vapor but
I was used to small clouds on my Subtank.

 

[Vaping_Racoon]

ITEO wicking

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out, looks easier to do than the Scottish Roll.

 

[Vaping_Racoon]

It had to be the wick, just tried the ITEO and it works great!

Thanks guys

 

[markcfh]

It's all about practice

 

[Vaping_Racoon]

It's all about practice

Right on, for my second try I'm proud of myself. XD

 

[suspectK]

Hey, that's way better than me. I also had this resource... I wasn't a member yet, but I was always lurking. It took me a week to figure it out... and I'm involved with low-high voltage testing, maintenance, and repair. You would think with that experience, I would have the common sense to wrap a small coil...since I've done it for various things, with different and much larger wire.

I tried to follow you, not allowing me, but feel free to follow, and PM me whenever you need help.

I'm so glad you got it figured out. Did you use the full method? or did you just stick to rolling it up?

Remember with cotton, you want enough for the wick to ALMOST cause it not to move freely, but you don't want to be able to move the tails back and forth comfortably enough to where you're not concerned about possibly warping you coils. Did you check for the bubbles and so forth before you changed the wick?

Also, TRY STAINLESS STEEL 316L!!!!!! Oh my geewiz.. it is amazing.

I know I checked and there was no hot spots, glowing evenly.
It could be the wicking, I'll try a new method.

If your coils are glowing from the inside out, without a more intense brightness after the coil has heated up all the way, or often immediately after firing. They are often found on the legs of the coil, where the term "hot leg" comes from, but it is possible to get random spots with compressed coils...

Have a great weekend, fwiend!

 

[Vaping_Racoon]

Yeah I did the complete method, didn't check for bubbles but I'll make sure to do that next time.
Stainless Steel is not my thing, I'd rather stay with Kanthal because I find temp control too complicated for now.