First RDA, first microcoil: Holy ****

[MelvinTheDude]

I bought a Squid (Mini Octopus) for my first rda mostly because I liked the small size and the price was right.

I got some of the advice from the community today about doing microcoils (my second coil ever).

I used the same materials I had at hand: 3mm silica wick, 30 gauge kanthal wire. I'll play around with different gauges some other time. I would have used cotton, but I seriously couldn't find 100% cotton at the grocery store or drug store. Sigh.

Built a microcoil following youtube's directions. Tested at 2.1 ohms on my MVP. Drip drip drip. Ready to rock.

This thing sucks! Barely any vaper and it's a really hard draw. The Squid has a single side air hole. Turns out it's blocked by the wick creeping up the wall. I push the wick down with a paper clip and try again.

It's just okay. My Kanger T3S do better than this. Let's try one more thing....

I rotate the Squid body so that the airhole is directed right at the coil. Maybe this will help.

BAM! Clouds! Beautiful clouds! Not crazy clouds as seen on youtube, but T3S or iClears don't have anything on this! What a difference. I'm doing a happy dance tonight.

 

[InTheShade]

LOL, glad you got it MTD, enjoy the vape. Oh and don't be shy sourcing that cotton. I found some at Walgreens (100% natural organic cotton balls) it really will make another difference by about an order of magnitude...

Good vapes

 

[Dnkeyhnter]

ha ha ha.. Congrats and welcome to the world of RDAs. The vapor and taste is AWESOME!!!!

 

[*deleon517*]

glad you like your first step into rebuilding. Youtube is good for visual instructions, but there are a lot of things they do to get those massive clouds. Crazy low ohm builds, 100% vg, playing with lighting. Some even video near a bathroom where they had been running the hot water to get more moisture in the air. So some of it is camera tricks and some of it is builds I would never suggest. However a good rda with a 1ish ohm micro coil will kick out the vapor even with my 60pg/40vg juice

 

[2naphish]

welcome to the club...a key to the executive vape room will be forthcoming...

 

[MelvinTheDude]

Muahaha! I'm not obsessed with huge clouds (yet), it's just nice to have some. And I can tell the density is doing wonders for delivering the nic.

 

[Fegbri]

I am having similar issue with my igo-L. Just like a w but titanium. Did a single micro coil, 28 gauge, 7/64 diameter, 10 wraps. Was 2.2 ohms. Not it is jumping all over the place! 5.3, 3.2...What?!? I did load it up with lots of juice, and I noticed it is coming out the bottom post a little. Can juice make your rda short or something? I am lost.

 

[MelvinTheDude]

Make sure the coil isn't touching the posts, the floor or the wall. Over filling can cause problems as well.

 

[Fegbri]

Ok, I may have found problem. When I was checking it, one screw was totally loose, went to tighten and the leg snapped off. My first build I over tightened and snapped the leg also. Any tips on how to tighten screw so it doesn't chop the wire when it screws on past the hole?

 

[*deleon517*]

also make sure the screws are tightened properly sometimes with the igo's they will come undone after the first couple of firings.

 

[Fegbri]

So what's the best way to tighten? To the bottom of the hole?

 

[*deleon517*]

I always dry fire a couple of times before wicking to ensure a proper glow. reinsert a screw driver into the coil to stabilize it, and use another to gently tighten the screws. remove the screw driver and a few more dry fires. Then i wick and juice and off to happy vaping.

 

[Fegbri]

So how tight do u make them? To the bottom of the holes?

 

[*deleon517*]

tight enough to where the wire is steady but not overly tight to where you clip the wire.

 

[MelvinTheDude]

Just go easy on them and stop just after you feel resistance.

 

[OBDave]

Congrats, Duderino!

Just got some 28g kanthal in this afternoon, cotton balls boiling as we speak...hope to be spouting the same plumes of joy come this time tomorrow!

 

[alisa1970]

Hint...if you have any Qtips, the cotton off of those is just as good...you need to try it, there's no comparison to silica. Congrats on the build! My first one was out of a used, old, and dead protank coil. Worked great! Now I've got 30ga and 28ga and built 2 - one for my protank @ 2.1 ohms and one for my squid clone at 1.1. Lovin' it!!

 

[Fegbri]

I got it!! Thx so much!!

 

[iBIGGZ]

another one bites the dust

 

[jobob95436]

cotton balls are cheap regardless of organic vs. non organic bleached vs. unbleached

best taste I have migrated to is boiling the unbleached cotton with distilled water.

tap water can add what ever trace minerals as well as what the water agency used to disinfect.

at least for me the unbleached didn't leave a funk taste where as the organic and non organic that were bleached did