First time with an RTA, supply checklist, am I missing anything?

[onewolf]

Hi!

Just ordered my first RTA to go along with my new boxmod, an hcigar vt133.

The RTA I bought is a genuine Merlin.

Here's what I have so far:

- 30ga and 26ga Kanthal A1 wire

- vaping Coil Winding Jig Tool for Rebuildable Atomizers, 1.5mm to 3.5mm in .5mm increments

- LTQ Vaper Japanese Organic Cotton for rda RTA RBA Rebuildable Atomizers

Am I missing anything that could be useful?

Thanks!

 

[BrotherBob]

Looks good. Might need a coil tester if your mod is not sensitive enough to read some sub ohm coils (duel coils). I build single 2 ohms so no coil tester necessary for me. 2 sets of batteries for sure and a good charger.
Could check out:
18650 Battery Buying Guide for Vapor Users – Wake and Vape Blog
(9) Battery Basics for Mods; the Ultimate Battery Guide | E-Cigarette Forum
(12) Deeper Understanding of Mod Batteries - Part I | E-Cigarette Forum
Guide to Choosing a Battery Charger | E-Cigarette Forum
Tank type atomizers... For new vapists - how they work | E-Cigarette Forum
What is Sub Ohm Vaping? Our Sub Ohm Vaping Guide & Tips
ECF Sub-Ohm Advisory

 

[onewolf]

Awesome, thanks!

I believe the board, in my case an Evolv DNA200 will do an ok job at detecting the ohmage, but I may get a tester at some point, my RTA is single-coil. The description stated that it was capable of "stacked single-coil", but I'm not messing with that any time soon. My batteries are Sony US18650V4, which are on the approved battery list and are reviewed well for vaping. I was planning on using the mod itself for charging (it has a little 1A USB), do standalone chargers really make much of a difference, or is it more of a convenience thing?

Great resource list, I will check them out!

 

[sawlight]

Wire cutters (or good fingernail clippers) SMALL scissors (for cutting/trimming wicks), and a couple pair of tweezers. I like a flat pair and just got an angled ceramic tipped pair (like $2 off of evilbay). Then some decent screwdrivers or allen wrenches for the grub screws.

 

[onewolf]

Tools I've got. I work on electronics, so I've got great snips/tweezers/plyers/keys/etc.

 

[sawlight]

Stand alone chargers are much better, and safer, than on board charging. The DNA boards have one of the best charging circuits made, but still not as good as a stand alone. Also if this is your daily driver you'll want another set of batteries ready rather than being leashed while it's charging.

 

[daviedog]

If you work in electronics i assume you have a nice set of hemostats?
An old mouse pad, cut as needed. Parts gonna freeze..

 

[NealBJr]

Tools I've got. I work on electronics, so I've got great snips/tweezers/plyers/keys/etc.

Like others have said, a good pair of tweezers and a good set of scissors. I say good for a reason. If the scissors are even slightly dull, they can snag the cotton, and mis-shape it. For the tweezers, I do recommend a ceramic set..they handle heat better, and you can fire the coil and tweeze at the same time if you want to without worrying about shorts. Some people use a blow torch to torch the coil first, but I don't. I do use it to clean ceramic parts. You can heat ceramic pieces with a blow torch to where it's red-hot... it will burn any foreign materials off. If you use a mechanical mod, an ohm meter is recommended, but if you use a regulated mod, then you can use the built-in ohm meter. I prefer to use the built in ohm meter over a secondary one, since it's the mod itself that determines how much power is put into the coils, so no matter how inaccurate the ohm meter on your mod is, it's the mod itself that determines how much power goes into the coil.

Cleaning cloths and paper towels are of course normal, For kanthal, I like to keep a small magnet nearby, to pickup any wire clippings... they hurt when you step on them. I usually keep a small empty glass cup to put the atomizer parts while building. any small screws or o-rings go in as well... that way they won't roll around and fall on the floor.

One of the most important tools you'll need, and can't buy is patience. Since you're new to building RTAs, keep track of how things are put together, and be prepared to empty the tank to re-wick it. If you build too tight or too loose, you can either have dry hits, or flooding tanks... Be prepared to empty your tank to re-wick it...otherwise you'll loose a lot of juice. Go in to building RTAs with the idea that you won't get it right the first, second, fifth, or even tenth time.... There was a steep learning curve involved for me and lead to frustration. Even following other's directions, I just wasn't doing something right. I even ended up throwing my first RTA off the back deck out of frustration(but looked and found it the next day)... I finally got it working a few months later.

 

[Canadian_Vaper]

$1.77 Vaping Coil Winding Jig Tool for Rebuildable Atomizers - stainless steel / 1.5mm + 2.0mm + 2.5mm + 3.0mm + 3.5mm sections at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping
$2.68 PLATO #170 Flush Cutter for Rebuildable Atomizers - max.040" (1mm) dia copper Wire at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping
$3.03 VETUS Heat Resistant Stainless Steel Tweezers for E-Cigrettes - ceramic round tip at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

DHL Global mail seems to be the quickest cheap shipping for me.

 

[onewolf]

Wow huge thanks for the great replies!

@NealBJrr, thanks for all the info man! I have very sharp, high-quality scissors and my tweezers are ceramic for working on computers. I also have a heat gun/torch, interesting thought about cooking off tweezers to keep em clean.

I use my workspace for working on the mod, I'm used to keeping track of tiny fragments of things and screws etc. I've never worked with kanthal before, but I have managed to push a piece of high guage wire completely through the thick of my thumb. I'd rather avoid that

One of the most important tools you'll need, and can't buy is patience. Since you're new to building RTAs, keep track of how things are put together, and be prepared to empty the tank to re-wick it. If you build too tight or too loose, you can either have dry hits, or flooding tanks... Be prepared to empty your tank to re-wick it...otherwise you'll loose a lot of juice. Go in to building RTAs with the idea that you won't get it right the first, second, fifth, or even tenth time....

Best advice. Having literally built a career out of tinkering with small, finicky pieces of equipment I can totally identify and appreciate the sentiment. I don't mind doing and redoing things a million times anymore. I'm immune. I digress, but about fifteen years ago I snapped and ripped the cables out of the back of a system I was repairing and threw a CRT monitor from the second story deck.... at a client's house.

One of the things that appealed to me about getting and RBA is the general sort of "art" involved with learning the intricacies and subtleties of the things. I'll waste some parts and some materials and some juice, but I'll get there since cool people in places like this have paved the way.

Thanks all!

 

[stalkster]

Possibly Nichrome80, I can't stand kanthal taste after switching about a yr and a half a go.
Also a build calculator like Coil wrapping

 

[Eskie]

If you're already working with electronics, building the coil will be easy (well, even if you don't work with electronics it's still not hard). The wicking will take some practice. Check out a few YouTube videos, and be prepared to experiment a bit. I have a Merlin I do single coil builds on, and it performs beautifully. It also is not too hard to wick as I'm new to it as well, and had no problem with my first build on it.

 

[AzPlumber]

I believe the board, in my case an Evolv DNA200 will do an ok job at detecting the ohmage, but I may get a tester at some point, my RTA is single-coil.

One advantage an ohms tester has, it makes a great base to hold your atomizer while building a coil.

 

[Eskie]

One advantage an ohms tester has, it makes a great base to hold your atomizer while building a coil.

Another advantage is you don't have to worry about your vertical DNA 200 tipping over while placing the coil or wicking versus a horizontal, stable 521 ohm meter with burning capability for the coil. A DNA 200 is a rather expensive base to build on. Great mods, though. Love mine.

 

[onewolf]

I have lots of clamps and stuff for holding electronics when I'm soldering, but it didn't occur to me that I'd want to be testing ohmage *during* the building. Is this the case?

As a sidenote, I reviewed my tracking information today and realized that fasttech ships from China. I'd foolishly assumed they were US-based when I saw USPS shipping (I didn't realize they did international shipping as well) so I have no idea how long it'll take for my Merlin to arrive. Got a shiny new mod and no tank to use it with

 

[Eskie]

You need to test the resistance once you have mounted the coil. You also want to pulse the coil to to check the build and adjust the coil as needed (some good YouTube videos help so you see how a coil "glows" properly). You can do this all on your mod, but I find it easier to do it on the ohm/burn meter. Again, most mods are tall and thin, so fiddling with mounting and then adjusting the coil is easier for me on something relatively flat. I also prefer to wick the coil on it as well, again as pushing and pulling the cotton/rayon around might make your mod wobble (or in my case maybe fall over). Finally, you're going to prime the wick. Again, I'd rather drip juice onto the wick on the 521 tab so if I do have excess drops of liquid landing elsewhere, I'd rather it not be on my mod.

If you have a regulated mod that will read the resistance, and you're comfortable just building with the deck mounted on the mod's 521, then you're set and don't need a separate ohm meter or 521 tab. It's simply more convenient for me. If you are building for a mech mod, and ohm meter is a necessity.

Edit: A side note on FT. If the item is in stock, FT delivery times have been surprisingly good. I've had shipments fly through and clear NY Customs quickly with delivery of less than 2 weeks, and 7 days order to delivery on my last order. That's standard USPS first class, not the expensive DHL options. So don't worry quite yet.

 

[onewolf]

Success!

Got my Merlin earlier today, got home and got to work. I found some videos reviewing the Merlin, but after a cursory search didn't find anything specifically building the coils etc. So I watched the generic "making a coil" video posted in the FAQ here and decided to try my luck.

For my first gamble, I made five wraps of 26ga. Kanthal A-1 around a 3mm. jig, installed the coil, clipped the leads, and attached it to the mod. 0.66ohms, not bad! Fired it up at around 10-12 watts and got a nice, even glow that originated at the center of the coil.

Next I clipped a strip of organic cotton about 1/4" wide, twisted one end, threaded it through the coil and clipped it flush with the deck threads. Tucked 'em down and saturated the cotton with my 90%VG juice of choice. Gave a few quick pulses and it smelled pretty damn nice.

Screwed everything together, filled the tank, opened the juice flow and air control all the way and gave a couple little puffs. Tasty!

Tinkered around with the juice/air control, finally settling on a closed juice control and wide-open air. Finished about half a tank (2ml) and am happily cooking away at .66ohms, 3.2V, and 16watts. Smells great, tastes great, is great!

Thanks a ton to everyone in this thread for helping me get this set up and working so nicely. My only complaint (ha) is that the mod is generating too much vapor - I'm going to have to reduce the nicotine content of my juice 'cause I got a bit light-headed

Anyway, thanks again, and if anyone is total newb to this and wants to ask questions of another newb, please feel free to ask me and I'll help you out as best I can.

Obligatory pic:

 

[Eskie]

Sounds great! Glad it worked well for you. One suggestion. For the next few days, don't leave the tank on top of your mod overnight so if you do have a small leak, you won't be all upset if it dripped into your box. Yes, you can also close the JFC as well for storage, but I always like to leave things alone (open) for a little bit on a new tank to make sure it really does stay dry on its own.

 

[onewolf]

GREAT suggestion, I'll do that. I would not be super happy if I woke up to juice all over my brand-new mod D:

 

[onewolf]

Good news is that my tank didn't leak with JCV and ACV left open overnight. Bad news is that it leaked in my pocket earlier in the evening I wasn't surprised by this really, and it barely leaked before I caught it.

Quick question: how often to you guys rewick/recoil these things? I'm sure it varies based on a number of factors, but roughly?