RDA First RDA, epic fail :/

[Bootsand]

I've been away from ECF for awhile... life's been crazy. The last real mod I had was a Darwin, before I picked up an MVP, then a whole lotta generic ego's and CE5's... fit the bill for the time.

After watching a Grimmgreen vid on the ipv v2, I picked one up along with a couple of TOBH clones. I'm running a dual coil build w/28g kanthal (1.7ohms) and I'm just astonished by how miserable the vape is compared to my $20 gas station ego clone. I get more vapor (yay!) at the cost of searing, lung boiling heat. It appears to be wicked well with some unbleached, organic cotton I ordered (also my first time using a non-silica wicked anything) but man... it hurts. Air flow seems way too high. Mouth hits would be an impossibility it feels like, and lung hits feel like they would honestly kill me. The vapor is there (not near as much as any of the youtube vids I've watched), it just feels awful.

I've tried various wattages. If I go low enough for the vapor to be reasonably cool enough, it produces less than my ego. I know I must be doing something wrong, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is.

Juice is unmarked ratio, but from the viscosity I would venture a guess at the 60/40 VG/PG ratio. Will try with 100% as soon as I can, I know that would help a bit.

Maybe RDA's are just not for me?

 

[State O' Flux]

After watching a Grimmgreen vid on the ipv v2, I picked one up along with a couple of TOBH clones. I'm running a dual coil build w/28g kanthal (1.7ohms)

This bit of build information (or lack of it) caused my "somethin' ain't right here" alarm to go off... which may be why no one has jumped right on this for a few hours.

Coils in parallel that are 1.7Ω each for a net resistance of 0.8Ω+/-? ...
Or two ridiculously long (or large diameter) 28 gauge coils, again in parallel, for a net of 1.7Ω? ...
Or (last one, I promise) two 28 gauge coils in series - with a short little 6'ish wrap each - for a 1.7Ω net?

The first is the most logical... but sometimes logic doesn't play all that well. ;-)

Depending on what you have here, the desired wattage / voltage spread is pretty broad... so build clarification would be a good place to begin 'diagnostics' of your issue... along with the wattage / voltage you've tried.

 

[Dougiestyle]

Agree with State. Something ain't right here.

 

[WeirdWillie]

If you are trying to vape 1.7 ohm dual coil at anything over 15w on a tobh hell yeah it's going to be hot.
Thats like 3.4 ohms each.
Lets cut that down to 1ohm each for a net of 0.5 ohm total and try it again.

 

[WeirdWillie]

If you are going higher wattage you need to go lower resistance.
Votage and wattage are addictive and effected by resistance.
As a general rule of thumb higher wattage lower the resistance which will lower the voltage applied.
Higher resistance + higher wattage = higher voltage applied = hot vape
Lower resistance + higher wattage = lower voltage applied = awesome vape.
And a 3ohm coil is ridiculous period let alone 2 in series LOL

 

[atroph]

Nah. Nothing wrong with the build. I too experienced this dilemma with a Plume Veil which is regarded by some to be the best damn atty evarrr!!! I beg to differ. Turns out that my problem was too much airflow for my juice and wattage settings. I vape a 25/75 PG/VG @ 6 nic and I swear it felt as if I was vaping razor blades no matter the build, wick, watts, etc. I hate that damn atty so much that I have shelved it permanently and am trading it for something else.

OP try vaping pure USP VG that you buy at the pharmacy or grocery store and see if that helps. If you can vape that at all wattages and builds then it is more than likely your juice. Not saying that it is crap, but it is not tuned for your gear and vape style.

I found that my patriot with a simple single coil build and slightly modified air holes worked "OK" for me but was still harsh with lighter juices that were mainly fruity.

I would recommend getting a Magma as "to me" it has overcame my not 100% Vg 0 nic juice. In single coil mode the flavor is tremendous and makes me a happy vaper. (I have a Tobeco clone and it is nice). I get 0 harshness that I once experienced and the flavor is quite incredible as compared to my patriot that I was using just recently.

As for chasing the clouds most of the Youtubers are in front of bright lights which makes the vape look more pronounced or are simply vaping pure unflavored 0 nic VG. I can bet that if you vape pure VG that you can crank the watts and blow thunder clouds. I vape not to smoke so that is fun as a novelty but doesn't satisfy my needs.

Tone it down a bit and start super simple with single coil builds and around 1.2-1.8 ohms. See how you do and then go from there. I know the tobh isn't single coil friendly but a simple piece of scotch tape over the unused holes helps a lot if it is too airy.

You don't need to crank the watts to have a good vape. I daily vape on my IPV2 @ 10W with a strawberry shake juice @ 6 nic in my Magma with a 1.59mm 30 ga coil. I think it is 8 or 9 wraps but don't quote me on that. (1.8 ohm build)

Another thing I do to cool the vape down a tad and increase the longevity of the coil and wicking is to space the coils out evenly vice a tight coil. There is debate as to what is better but IMO with a darker flavored juice a spaced coil will last longer in the build vice a tight one. IMO it also produces superb mouth-lung hits or just straight lung hits in single coil mode (Magma RDA).

Parting shot: You don't need to sub ohm with uber low builds to get a good vape. Especially with a more advanced regulated mod. With a low ohm build you are limiting your power to something that may be higher than you need. The IPV2 puts out 3.7V at its lowest setting no matter what. If your build it too low then you could be high up in the power level even though you are commanding something much less on the display.

Parting shot #2: Try a thinner wire. It heats up faster at a lower power setting allowing you to get a good vape at a lower watts setting thus giving you longer battery life.

Parting shot #3: I reread your post and you sound just like me. Try 100 unflavored 0 nic VG. You'll get the clouds, trust me. Throw in the PG, flavoring, and nic and you must adjust your build and RDA to match your juice.

 

[WeirdWillie]

Did you read the op he said 1.7 ohm dual coil superman couldn't vape that over about 15w without saying holy crap.
1.7 ohms at 15w would be about 5v... 20w would be around 5.5ish volts
.I'm vaping my magma with a 0.3 ohm dual coil at 30w 3.2v see the difference?
1.7ohm dual coil at 30w is like vaping superheated steam.

 

[edyle]

I've been away from ECF for awhile... life's been crazy. The last real mod I had was a Darwin, before I picked up an MVP, then a whole lotta generic ego's and CE5's... fit the bill for the time.

After watching a Grimmgreen vid on the ipv v2, I picked one up along with a couple of TOBH clones. I'm running a dual coil build w/28g kanthal (1.7ohms) and I'm just astonished by how miserable the vape is compared to my $20 gas station ego clone. I get more vapor (yay!) at the cost of searing, lung boiling heat. It appears to be wicked well with some unbleached, organic cotton I ordered (also my first time using a non-silica wicked anything) but man... it hurts. Air flow seems way too high. Mouth hits would be an impossibility it feels like, and lung hits feel like they would honestly kill me. The vapor is there (not near as much as any of the youtube vids I've watched), it just feels awful.

I've tried various wattages. If I go low enough for the vapor to be reasonably cool enough, it produces less than my ego. I know I must be doing something wrong, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is.

Juice is unmarked ratio, but from the viscosity I would venture a guess at the 60/40 VG/PG ratio. Will try with 100% as soon as I can, I know that would help a bit.

Maybe RDA's are just not for me?

So you were vaping two 3.4 ohm coils on an ipv2 at.... what.... 12 volts? 84 watts?

 

[atroph]

Did you read the op he said 1.7 ohm dual coil superman couldn't vape that over about 15w without saying holy crap.
1.7 ohms at 15w would be about 5v... 20w would be around 5.5ish volts
.I'm vaping my magma with a 0.3 ohm dual coil at 30w 3.2v see the difference?
1.7ohm dual coil at 30w is like vaping superheated steam.

What difference does that make for this device? 1.7 ohm dual coil @ 15W is 5V sure, but only 7.5W per coil. I don't see the problem here. That is not supercharged by any means. Especially for 28ga.

Steam engine shows that it would take around 30 wraps to get 3.4 ohms per coil if indeed the net build is 1.7 ohms. Something isn't right with OPs build or post in general.

You mean to say that if I use 12V on a 4.8 ohm coil that it will be different than 3.2V on a 0.3 ohm coil? Watts is what matters. It doesn't matter how many volts are present. It depends on the Watts or work on each coil which correlates to how much heat it produces. In the case above the work is the same.

 

[muzichead]

Oddly enough, all the hemmin' and hawwin' wouldn't be happening here if the OP had posted pics of his build.... I will just chalk that up to his having been gone for a while. I would suggest he post some pics, then everyone can be more helpful without the guessing game and a little more factual info can be given. It could be something as simple as coil placement in his situation. Seen it multiple times!!! I think it's called user error...

 

[TomGeorge]

^^ your right, he also may not have the air flow in front of the coils!

 

[muzichead]

^^ That is what I meant by "coil placement"....

 

[TomGeorge]

^^great minds think alike

 

[Bootsand]

Thanks much for the response, guys. I decided to do a new build after I got home from work tonight, and take pictures during the process. Ended up at ~1.1 ohms this time.

Coil 1 in place.


Coil 2



Wicks



Wicks tucked down into place



I attempted to align air holes with the coils. Still getting the worst vape of my life on this thing. I started at 7 watts, and worked my way up as high as I dared on my 50w device to try every voltage on this puppy I could stand. Miserable all around. ~2 second delay on device before it feels like its firing at all (could be the IPV, could be my build) with painful results. Covering 2 of 3 air holes on each side with tape helped considerably. Switching to 100% VG helped even more (thanks for those suggestions, you guys

I'm about one more evening's worth of trying before this whole ~$150 experiment goes on eBay.

Anything raise a red flag of "No don't do that!!"?

 

[dravell]

Im willing to bet youre vaping the same nicotine that you did when you used egos...

When you drip, and lung inhale, and MUCH higher wattage than a MVP or ego...you need to drop your nic severely or itll burn your lungs. I vaped 24mg on egos, i vape 6mg or lower when I drip.

Even 50w on a TOBH wont really be hot regardless of the build. A bit warm, but not the feeling you describe. What youre describing really sounds like youre using your "old" nic level.

 

[Bootsand]

Hmm... never really thought of the nic affecting feeling before. Definitely gonna try some 0mg pure VG to test. Thanks man.

 

[muzichead]

Your coils are a little far from the air supply... They should be as close to the air source without touching the side walls right in the middle of the air flow...

 

[ReigntheGamer]

I'm new to building so take this for what you will, but to me that looks like a 11/10 wrap with 28ga and to even get near it being a "warm/hot" vape you're looking at 70+ watts easy. I am thinking it is nicotine level or some other factor like the above poster said. I am running 28 ga 6/5 @ .5 ohm's and at 35 watts on a fresh battery it's a warm vape but very enjoyable.

Like dravell said, I vape 12mg in my tanks but if I am dripping I only use 6mg unless I am having a bad craving and I will put 12mg in it and I do get a throat burn from time to time.

Coil wrapping | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators

 

[stanthemanchan]

Did you dry fire the coils before you wicked it? Did you make sure that they're firing evenly and each one is glowing from the middle out without the legs glowing?

 

[Bootsand]

Alright, cut it back to 100%vg, nic and flavor free. The burning is gone, vapor production pretty poor. I'm going to rule out the Kanthal and wicking next, try some silica and a thinner gauge... some sample shipped with the Tobh atties. Too tired tonight, though.

I cannot thank you all enough... you guys are amazing.

Cheers.