Genesis coil with SS mesh not wicking well!

[onefutui2e]

Hey all,

I'm currently running a Kraken clone with a 2.3 ohm coil wrapped around #500 stainless mesh. I followed most video guides of pre-wrapping the coil around a bit, then attaching it to the posts before inserting the wick. So off the bat there is a little bit of wiggle room in the wick, but it's tight enough that I have to rotate it in order to slot it in.

However, when I take a drag at 5.0-5.2v I notice that I have maybe 2-3 seconds before I get that very harsh metallic taste that irritates my throat and overpowers all flavor. Tilting the mod might give me an extra second or two, but only sometimes.

I didn't notice any hot spots on the coil both when I tested it and when I put the wick in, so I'm assuming that the wick isn't pulling in liquid fast enough for the voltage I'm running. The wick was rolled pretty loosely and there's a decently-sized hole in the middle. I believe the juice I'm using is either 50/50 or 30/70 PG/VG (the vendor said back in December they'd be switching the ratios, but I'm not sure if they've done it yet).

After doing some research, it seems like #325 mesh would give better wicking properties, especially for thicker juices. Do you guys think this would help solve my problem? Also, would using it cause me issues with thinner juices?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Glenn_K]

Greetings, and welcome to the forum.

If you're new to vaping, and are starting out with a genesis-style RBA, that's very ambitious!

There may be no hot spots when you first test your coil, but I've found that this can change once you add e-liquid and raise the voltage. What happens if you empty out the tank with a syringe, then dry fire it again?

Personally, I've found that the drill bit method is a pretty good way of learning how to do genny builds ( The DrillBit Method - YouTube ).

There's a long, long thread on ECF on best wick size (325 vs 400 vs 500): http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/330407-500-ss-mesh.html

Good luck!

-- Glenn

 

[Ryedan]

Hey all,

I'm currently running a Kraken clone with a 2.3 ohm coil wrapped around #500 stainless mesh. I followed most video guides of pre-wrapping the coil around a bit, then attaching it to the posts before inserting the wick. So off the bat there is a little bit of wiggle room in the wick, but it's tight enough that I have to rotate it in order to slot it in.

However, when I take a drag at 5.0-5.2v I notice that I have maybe 2-3 seconds before I get that very harsh metallic taste that irritates my throat and overpowers all flavor. Tilting the mod might give me an extra second or two, but only sometimes.

I didn't notice any hot spots on the coil both when I tested it and when I put the wick in, so I'm assuming that the wick isn't pulling in liquid fast enough for the voltage I'm running. The wick was rolled pretty loosely and there's a decently-sized hole in the middle. I believe the juice I'm using is either 50/50 or 30/70 PG/VG (the vendor said back in December they'd be switching the ratios, but I'm not sure if they've done it yet).

After doing some research, it seems like #325 mesh would give better wicking properties, especially for thicker juices. Do you guys think this would help solve my problem? Also, would using it cause me issues with thinner juices?

Here is what I would do. Take the juice out of the tank. Keeping the wick up (so it is not in any small bit of juice left in the tank), fire the mod until the coils start to glow. They should all glow except for the last bit next to the deck of the RBA. There should be no bright (hot) spots. If there are, you need to pulse them out. Do not pass this step until you are 100% sure there are no hot spots left.

Now fill with juice, leave cap off and tilt the mod. You should see the juice wet the wick. Fire it until a coil becomes red. It may not take too long the first time because the wick may still be a bit dry. Wait a bit with the mod tilted and then try again. I find that if I roll the wick with a hole in the center, tilting moves a lot of juice. Fire it again. How long you have until a coil starts to glow is how long you can draw a puff before it becomes burnt. I don't consider the setup complete until I can fire the coil for 15 seconds with not hot spot. At that point you could fire it all day and get no hot spot

With a new wick I typically find I get another short before too long. I try to fix it immediately. After a couple more shorts it becomes stable. I've been vaping my AGA-T for a few weeks now without one. I dry burn it when it needs it using the same process.

IMO the 325 mesh is better for thicker juice is false. I use 70%VG and 500 mesh wicks better than 400 for me.

Hope this helps.

 

[onefutui2e]

I dry burned it a little and did notice some inconsistency with which the coil was lighting up, so I'm starting over. I wrapped a new one at 2.1 ohms and tested it to make sure there were no hot spots with and without the wick. I uploaded the video here: 2.1R @ 4.8v - YouTube

Does that look okay? I'll hold off on filling it until I hear back.

And yes, I'm a bit ambitious. I started vaping about 3-4 months ago and went from there. I started first by rebuilding the coils on my Kanger ProTanks, then messed with an Igo-L for a little while (I still use it for flavor testing, neat little thing!) before deciding it was time to try a genesis.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Glenn_K]

What are you using for a build? Looks like a lot of wraps.

One thing I notice from the video, it looks like the wick is too thin for that coil -- it seems to slide in without any friction. Either the coil is too big for the wick hole, or the wick isn't big enough.

You will not get your best results vape-wise if the coil it too tight or not tight enough around the wick -- this is the sort of thing that causes hotspots.

Ryedan talked about 'pulsing' the coil, which is a great way to deal with hotspots. Here's a video on pulsing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9fdQfc8nuk

-- Glenn

 

[Ryedan]

I dry burned it a little and did notice some inconsistency with which the coil was lighting up, so I'm starting over. I wrapped a new one at 2.1 ohms and tested it to make sure there were no hot spots with and without the wick. I uploaded the video here: 2.1R @ 4.8v - YouTube

Does that look okay? I'll hold off on filling it until I hear back.

And yes, I'm a bit ambitious. I started vaping about 3-4 months ago and went from there. I started first by rebuilding the coils on my Kanger ProTanks, then messed with an Igo-L for a little while (I still use it for flavor testing, neat little thing!) before deciding it was time to try a genesis.

Thanks for your help!

Great video .

Glenn gave you great advice already onefutui2e. The coils will not hot spot (short) before the wick is installed. What happens is the coil shorts through the wick to the top of the Kraken which is ground.

Your mesh is too thin, so the coil will not make contact with it. That can give you bad taste because your juice is not able to wet the coil completely. If you make the wick too tight in the coil it will be harder to get rid of shorts. It needs to be snug, but still easy to move. You can unwrap the mesh a bit to make it bigger.

 

[Sewage]

Make sure your not rolling your wick to thick. And cut the bottom end that feeds into the tank at an angle like the bottom of a flower. Again make sure your not rolling your wick to thick to restrict better wicking.

 

[onefutui2e]

I'm using 30 gauge kanthal wire, 8 wraps for 2.1 ohms. I think for my next build I'm going to go with 28 gauge and try to get it to around the 1.5 ohm range. Is there anything wrong with those numbers?

I thought I had seen some videos where the wick was relatively small compared to the coil, but I fixed that by re-rolling. I'm guessing this causes the coil to heat up much quicker since it has no contact with the wick?

After pulsing it a few times with/without the wick in place I managed to get it glowing correctly. Filled it up, set the voltage to 4.8 and vaped without any issue. But the liquid I used this time is noticeably thinner so we'll see (ran out of other ones). I'll revive this thread or PM glenn_k if I run into this again.

Again, thanks so much!

 

[Glenn_K]

I don't think there's anything wrong with these kinds of builds in theory, but all of the builds I've seen on YouTube are 4 or 5 wraps. I think that the fewer the wraps, the fewer hotspots to deal with.

I've been using 32 gauge (4 wraps) because it's been working well, but i'm going to start trying 30 gauge.

-- Glenn

I'm using 30 gauge kanthal wire, 8 wraps for 2.1 ohms. I think for my next build I'm going to go with 28 gauge and try to get it to around the 1.5 ohm range. Is there anything wrong with those numbers?

I thought I had seen some videos where the wick was relatively small compared to the coil, but I fixed that by re-rolling. I'm guessing this causes the coil to heat up much quicker since it has no contact with the wick?

After pulsing it a few times with/without the wick in place I managed to get it glowing correctly. Filled it up, set the voltage to 4.8 and vaped without any issue. But the liquid I used this time is noticeably thinner so we'll see (ran out of other ones). I'll revive this thread or PM glenn_k if I run into this again.

Again, thanks so much!

 

[Kr3wsk8er]

I have to ask did you fire treat your mesh prior to using it for wicking? I take a torch or put the mesh over my kitchen stove, burns off any residue, chemicals ect.