Gotvapes Stardust: How to re-wick and replace the coil

[Robert T]

I hadn't heard that they were going to get any, that would be great!

I MacGyvered mine with duct tape. It works fine until GV gets some replacement tubes in.

 

[antfuzz]

I hadn't heard that they were going to get any, that would be great!

I'm not really sure but I think they might be in this week along with the colored Stardusts. Go check out their own forum and look for an announcement.

GotVapes

 

[iuseaspork]

So... I tried this:



Its a flat SS mesh wick. I cut down the silicone cup to accommodate it, but made sure that it's pressing down on the wick pretty good. Over the wick I have 4 wraps of 32 kanthal that made about 2 ohms. This has improved airflow and wicking so far. I'm only 15 minutes in to testing. I will report back with my findings.

BTW... I torched and dipped 4 times AND burned off eliquid 4 times to make sure it is oxidized.

 

[iuseaspork]

So... I tried this:

View attachment 90003

Its a flat SS mesh wick. I cut down the silicone cup to accommodate it, but made sure that it's pressing down on the wick pretty good. Over the wick I have 4 wraps of 32 kanthal that made about 2 ohms. This has improved airflow and wicking so far. I'm only 15 minutes in to testing. I will report back with my findings.

BTW... I torched and dipped 4 times AND burned off eliquid 4 times to make sure it is oxidized.

It's flooding. I think I know why, but don't have much time to work on it. when I folded it, it didn't end up perfectly rectangular. This left a small hole on the bottom of one of the sides. I'm pretty sure this could be fixed into a pretty good system.

 

[Charlz]

What's everyone getting from the posts on these things as far as resistance. I just fit a 2.0 coil in there and it's now 2.5. I touched the leads to the opposite ends of the guts and got .2 ohms. Could I be getting as much as .5 resistance up and back?

 

[Cyrus Vap]

I had a strange experience like that as well

Just guts, usual method, I got 2.0 ohms (2.3 minus the leads)

Filled with juice and assembled, I got 3. something

Finished the juice, measured it assembled, got 2.3 minus the leads = 2.0

I attributed the cookiness to the juice...!?

Charlz was the reading steady or running all around?

 

[Charlz]

If it runs all around, it usually means one of the wires isn't seated securely. It may be there enough to work but you may not get an accurate reading. Could mean the wire went into the post rather than between the post and silicone (If I had a nickle......you only get so many tries with the sharp metal slots wrecking the wick)
I measured it before fill. I've gotten a higher reading sometimes too though when filled. I'll check again

 

[dshack]

Great video! Thanks for posting it.

 

[Big Screen D]

The reason for the added resistance is usually because of poor contact of the coil to the body.

What I've found that works well is to twist in at the ends of the coil some no resistance wire. So when the coil is finished, what you have is all of the heated part of the coil is on the wick with the 0 resistance part extending down to it's contact points.

Does two things. The silicone no longer gets burned where the coil wire touches it, and with the wire now being thicker where it does make contact makes a much more sure connection.

 

[Charlz]

Hmmmm.....what I've found works best is to shove the guts of a ce2 in there, seal the base with a syringe plunger and be done with it.

So you twist the no resistance? No solder? I'm still working on my soldering skills. By that, I mean I need to buy some solder. And maybe a soldering gun.

 

[Big Screen D]

Yep, just twist em together at one end then cut off the excess 0 ohm where it meets the nichrome, then cut the twisted together section so it's about 1/2" long. Measure out how long you want the resistance length to be from where the wires meet, then do the other side at that point.

I hear ya on the CE2 thing. I've spent way to much time fiddling with these. But, I've got this down pretty good now.

If all I were doing is extending the life of this $5 carto, I'd not bother. I make em even better than new.

 

[Charlz]

Totally agree with the rewiring and fatter wick. It makes these come alive. That being said, I don't recommend vaping unflavored on a fresh coil and wick. I though I had boiled everything pretty well.

 

[Njt07]

I found out that I can pull the coils from my wife's DCC cartos after she switches them out about every 2 weeks or so. Each DCC has enough wire for two coils in the stardust!

I also found that with the 1.5 ohm DCC, about 5 wraps with the excess snipped off works great on my kgo batt, no idea what the ohm reading is cause I don't have a multimeter...

I tried to use two wicks and had flooding issues, but then again I had the upper wick longer than the stock wick.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

The added no resistance wire is a great idea!

Only issue I can see is, if its copper wire, do we want it bathing in juice?

I know its in the center tube, in principle, it shouldn't really be touching much juice, but still

I also haven't had much success with a double thick wick. It makes it really hard for me to get the resistance I want, and I usually ended up destroying the wick on the 2nd or 3rd try getting it down into place.

 

[Big Screen D]

I've been using the 0 resistance wire that is sold for the I-atty. It's made of nickel, and look to be 30ga.

34ga nichrome wrapped 6 times on a 2mm silica wick is to die for.

Next on my Stardust hobby things to do list is a dual coil.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

What kind of resistance do you get with 6 wraps?

I'm getting ~2.0 with 4 wraps

Speaking of multimeters, mine starting freaking out a little while ago. Then it stopped lol. I was getting 'stable' reads that were 2-70 ohms too high on multiple cartos/clearos.

HAHAHAHA

 

[Cyrus Vap]

And pure no nickel no resistance wire sounds awesome! i was going to order the pure silver from twisted jewels, and then suddenly my soldering skills improved and I lost interest lol

 

[Big Screen D]

Right at 1.8-2.0 34ga

 

[Cyrus Vap]

Right at 1.8-2.0 34ga

wow wonder what I'm doing wrong!

is it nichrome 80?

 

[Big Screen D]

Yes 80. You using 34ga?

1 1/2" will give you 2 ohms...unless your adding resistance at the connection point.

Also, without the 0 resistance twisted on, there is about 3/8" of coil wire that is wasted to make the connection between the coil and silicone seat.