Greetings and questions

[Alpha9]

Hello all, long term smoker here happy to report one week since my last cigarette. Figured I would find a community in preparation for moving to an rda in the near future. I have had a T priv 220w mod and have been using sub ohm tanks since the begining. I recently came across the falcon resin tank and they taste amazing compared to baby beast coils my mod came with. I am looking for some advice I am going through coils at an alarming rate. I had the m1 falcon coils last me about a week, my first m2 coil lasted only 5 days. And my most recent m2 only lasted 2 days. Am I doing something wrong? I always place new coils into a lid and leave it for 15 min to fully saturate before placing it into a tank and fill the tank with liquid and let it stand another ten minutes. Also with a new coil what should I expect the first few puffs? When I hold the fire button Sometimes I can hear the liquid "bubbling" on the first few puffs but the flavor is fine and sometimes I get no sound at all usually when I hear no bubbling the taste is not present at all. When this happens I usually turn the wattage up to 70w then after a few puffs I turn it back down to 60w.
Help would be greatly appreciated!
EDIT:forgot to add that the reason for the elaborate coil preparation is the first few times I changed my coils I messed up horribly and It took days to get the burnt cotton taste out of my mouth that is one lesson I learned fast

 

[uthinkofsomething]

This is a common story among vapers using drop in coils. Various things affect how quickly your coil tastes burnt. The most common culprit is the hardest to break from, that's the eliquid itself. A flavor with a lot of sweetener, caramel coloring, or really high amount of flavoring will caramelize on the coils faster, burnt sugar buildup. Another culprit is wicking, if the juice is high vg or the wicking won't allow enough juice through to the coil and it goes dry, scorching cotton, like when you didn't prime the coil. Waiting a little longer between puffs will let more juice soak in and you may get less burnt hits. If the wicking is just not letting enough juice in, you could take a small needle and actually make a tiny hole in the cotton over the wicking holes on the coilhead. Too big and it'll let too much juice in and you may get spitback or leaking. RDAs are much better for these things mainly because you can change out the wicking, burn off the coil, and start fresh without spending 3-5$ on a new coil, and you can control how the wicking is installed. Easier than it seems, but there is a learning curve, so when you start rebuilding keep your old tank around till you get good at it.
As far as the bubbling noise, that is excess juice on the coil or in airflow.

 

[djsvapour]

Listen to me. Listen to me good, now, with your full attention.

Buy a dual 18650 or a 21700** squonker with a chip (VW/TC/with protection) - learn that as your #1 priority.

**Vandy Vape Pulse 80w should do it if you can get the big battery and the right charger for the big battery.

Or, if you can bear it... a Pico Squeeze will get you going but only up to 50w. You might want to swap the atomizer for something half decent too.

 

[Letitia]

You are simply over saturating the coil now. Before installing the coil put a few drops in the top of the coil on the cotten. When you can see the juice soaking in on the side ports install the coil, fill the tank and let sit for 10m. Start at 45w and work up a few watts at a time every few hits until you get to your sweet spot. If you love the tank give some thought to changing juices or making your own juice.

 

[NealBJr]

I agree with what Letitia said.. for one, you don't need to saturate it as much. I don't think it'll hurt the tank, but it will cause the gurgling in the beginning.

After that, I think you might be getting what's called a dry hit. When you put a new coil in, try poking a hole in the side. This is a link to a guy doing it on a similar subohm tank. Different tank, but the advice should be the same. Of course, you need to be careful not to mess up the mesh.

 

[Letitia]

The Falcon coils are efficient at wicking and don't need to be any holes added imo. Would imagine simply learning how to prime the coil is sufficient, it isn't just rebuildables that has a learning curve. Again I would suggest the OP look into different juices.

 

[tara81]

The Falcon coils are efficient at wicking and don't need to be any holes added imo. Would imagine simply learning how to prime the coil is sufficient, it isn't just rebuildables that has a learning curve. Again I would suggest the OP look into different juices.

Agree!
I havent had any problems with wicking with my falcon tank, i recently tested out 80/20 vg/pg with no problems.. The juices you use might be the problem. Just be sure to wait ten minutes after filling before puffing. Try using juices with no / little added sweetener, ive also read darker flavorings like chocolate donut, cinnamon flavors, net juices tend to gunk coils quicker.

 

[NealBJr]

When I hold the fire button Sometimes I can hear the liquid "bubbling" on the first few puffs but the flavor is fine and sometimes I get no sound at all usually when I hear no bubbling the taste is not present at all. When this happens I usually turn the wattage up to 70w then after a few puffs I turn it back down to 60w.

After re-reading this part, that is the opposite of what you should do. the "bubbling" sound is actually oversaturation of the coil, where the juice gets into the air intake chamber. Of course, the wick is fully saturated at that point, so it should taste fine, but that juice in the air chamber has the chance to escape, and leak out of the atomizer. If you want to force more juice into the coil, close or limit the airflow a bit and take a few primer puffs.. just inhale a few times without holding the fire button. Too much, and you'll oversaturate the coils again and it will start gurgling again. I would try a few primer puffs first, see if re-saturating the coil brings back the flavor. Of course if the flavor starts to die off again, and you are constantly re-primer puffing the coil, then try the hole poking technique.

And if you've already burned the coil, then that coil is permanently damaged. You'll just have to get another one. Burning the coil is actually burning the cotton around the coil. If the cotton is singed around where the coil touches the cotton, it won't allow the juice to fully get heated... only fix is to replace the coil.

The other thing to check, is the color of the juice itself. If it's a darkish brown color, chances are that juice will quickly cause residue around the coil when it is heated. Residue around the coil limits the amount of juice that gets heated, and can mute the flavor quite a bit. Sometimes, you can get some everclear and soak the coil into everclear for 12 hours, rinse the coil out with water, then dry out the cotton... I only advise this if you have multiple gunked up coils and do several at the same time... since the cost of the everclear doesn't quite warrant cleaning one coil at a time.

 

[Letitia]

Cheap bottom shelf vodka works just fine. 70 proof is more than adequate to clean the coil. I used to just rinse under the tap and set the coils upside-down overnight in vodka. Now that I diy I find wicks last much longer. I seldom use any sweetener and not into custards.

 

[tara81]

I use flavor west sweetener at 1-1.5 percent and my coils havent burnt out yet . Maybe the juices you are using has cap super sweet which is 4x stronger then all other sweeteners. Or , the dark flavors. There is no reason to poke holes in your mesh coil , they already have one very open space for wicking. Almost every tank recommends at least 5 minutes of saturating before puffing. Im pretty sure the wait for 10 minutes instructions came with the tank somewhere.

 

[stols001]

Just wanted to say welcome to the forum and congrats on switching, well done.
Anna

 

[djsvapour]

Cheap bottom shelf vodka works just fine. I seldom use any sweetener and not into custards.

Agreed about the Vodka.

Now, no custards but.. whipped cream?

 

[Letitia]

I don't have issues with creams, may have to change wicks a little more often than straight fruits but nothing annoying like every day or two.

 

[BrotherBob]

Help would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome and glad you joined.
If you can bend paper clips and thread a needle, you can build your own coils and wick them. It's that simple. All you need is wire and a round rod (small screw drivers work) with approximately 1/8 inch od plus a wire cutter.
You Tube is a good source in learning hand eye techniques regarding coil and wicking.
The rebuildable information below may help you:
(7) Information Resources for Your First RBA | E-Cigarette Forum
Wrapping Building Coils 101 For Beginners
Rebuildable Tanks Explained: RBAs vs RDAs vs RTAs vs RDTAs
Rayon Wick - Better Flow, Flavor, Longevity, and Nic Hit!! - Pt.2
Rayon wick, better flow, flavor, saturation and Nic Hit!
Could ask detail questions here: Wick and Wire

 

[Alpha9]

I would like to thank everyone for the advice, It's good to know that i can ask an expert if I need help.

 

[somdcomputerguy]

Welcome to ECF. Congrats on the switch.

 

[EricMorr]

Welcome! Glad you decided to quit the cigarettes. My Falcon coils (M1 & M2) don't seem to last very long...maybe 30ml per coil, but I vape alot sweet liquids which gunks them up fast. I put my pre-built coil in the tank, fill it up and wait 20 minutes or more. Then start out low on the wattage. Usually 30 watts. Then I go up in 1 watt increments until I hit my sweet spot where it tastes good and the temperature of the vape is where I like it. I went through coils fast when I didn't kinda gradually break the new ones in. Don't know if there is any science behind that, but that is what works for me.

 

[EricMorr]

I should add, the Falcon mesh coils taste really good!

 

[gerrymi]

Hi Alpha...Welcome to ECF...

Can't help you much...since I'm a MTL Tootle Puffer and in 5 years have never been over 10 Watts...and have NO interest in coil rebuilding...

But...would suggest while you're figuring things out...you might want to consider sticking with INexpensive (but quite flavorful) ejuices:

Buy E-Liquid and Ejuice on Sale - Cheap E Juice 120mL and 60mL and Vape Juice Wholesale | LNW

The Blends - flavored e-liquid - standard USP nicotine or WTA


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