gunked up RBA coils

[Vaslovik]

I was told when I started using an rba that a coil would last me a couple weeks. Yeah, right. Not in my experience it won't. I vape a lot, and I'm a chain vaper, and during the day my coil gets pretty gunked up. Maybe it's my juice, but it does. Sometimes I can just pull the wick out through it, burn off the coil, pick off the carbon, burn off the wick, slip it back in, work out the hot spots and truck on. Other times the coil ends up just welded to the wick in all the carbon, and I have to to re-coil it.

Now I don't mean to complain here, I have plenty of 28g kanthal, and I've gotten coils down pat. I can wind a new coil, .72 - .76 ohms consistently, burn off the wick to work out the hot spots, and have it back together in 3-5 min. with no hot spots, and vaping just dandy. I just wondered if anyone else is seeing this, or if I'm the only one. If not, where did that person get the idea that a coil should last me two weeks? Is that even realistic?

 

[Oomee]

0.72 Ohms ?
Sounds like too much power for the wicking .

 

[Vaslovik]

0.72 Ohms ?
Sounds like too much power for the wicking .

Well it wasn't any different when I was winding them for .80 to .84 ohms, the coils still gunked up on me. I'm using 500# ss mesh, which wicks quite nicely. It's in an AGA-T2 and I've not drilled out the wick hole. What would you suggest?

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

Too many variables go into the equation for anyone to say how long a coil will last, regardless of the device.

Your vaping technique is important. So is the viscosity and chemical makeup of your liquids. So is the resistance of your coil, the ability of your system to present liquid to the heating element, the capillary activity of your wicking material, even the grade of the coil material.

RBA's and RDA's are a fiddler's dream but a low maintenance user's nightmare.

 

[Oomee]

Try making a coil at 2.5 Ohm .
See how it vapes over time , does it last longer .(it most probably will not produce as much vapour , but this is part of the process and equation) .
If that is running OK , but you want more vape , then decrease the resistance little at a time and test to see the results .

Don't be caught up in this sub Ohm fashion , it is mostly a lot of hot air talked .
Find what your wicks can run at , then if you wish to push the margins harder , look at improving your wicks .

All IMHO of course .

 

[Vaslovik]

Too many variables go into the equation for anyone to say how long a coil will last, regardless of the device.

Your vaping technique is important. So is the viscosity and chemical makeup of your liquids. So is the resistance of your coil, the ability of your system to present liquid to the heating element, the capillary activity of your wicking material, even the grade of the coil material.

RBA's and RDA's are a fiddler's dream but a low maintenance user's nightmare.

Well as I said, I'm not complaining, I get a very satisfying vape out of my RBA and mech, and I don't mind re-coiling it, I just wondered why that guy told me a coil would last me two weeks. I think maybe he vapes a lot less than I do. With a .75 coil I get very good vapor and taste, so I like it. Even with .8 and above it's okay, but the coils gunk up in half a day. Maybe I just vape too much? It's nothing for me to go through 10 ml in a day, even 15 ml is not unheard of. I was a 3 pack a day smoker before I started vaping.

I do my wicks tight, with just enough center hole to put a thin needle into. I tried making hollow wicks that had bigger holes through them, on the advice of someone at a B&M, but found that juice came up through the center and got all over inside my RBA, wasting a lot of it. After that I went for as solid a wick as I could.

I still get juice up under the top cap of the RBA, just not near as much. I'm not a low maint user

 

[Oomee]

Too many variables go into the equation for anyone to say how long a coil will last, regardless of the device.

Good point !
I assumed the OP is using a mech mod based on post made in another thread .

 

[WattWick]

I just dry burn with wick in place and rinse with water. Just don't go crazy with long dry burns or you'll burn holes in your wick. Not 100% sure, but I do believe one of my Agas have been set up with the same wick and coil since April.

They do last a very long time, but that doesn't mean you don't have to clean them every now and then. How often depends on the gunkability of your liquids.

 

[Vaslovik]

Good point !
I assumed the OP is using a mech mod based on post made in another thread .

Yes, Sigelei 24. I also have a Magneto.

 

[dr g]

I just dry burn with wick in place and rinse with water. Just don't go crazy with long dry burns or you'll burn holes in your wick. Not 100% sure, but I do believe one of my Agas have been set up with the same wick and coil since April.

They do last a very long time, but that doesn't mean you don't have to clean them every now and then. How often depends on the gunkability of your liquids.

This. Dry burn and wash/clean.

 

[Vaslovik]

I just dry burn with wick in place and rinse with water. Just don't go crazy with long dry burns or you'll burn holes in your wick. Not 100% sure, but I do believe one of my Agas have been set up with the same wick and coil since April.

They do last a very long time, but that doesn't mean you don't have to clean them every now and then. How often depends on the gunkability of your liquids.

Oh I don't do long dry burns. The reason I take the wick out of the coil before burning the coil off is that there's liquid in the wick that would impair that. I do take the juice out of the tank. I've found that taking out the wick before burning off the coil, then burning off the liquid in the wick before putting it back into the coil makes it a lot easier to work out the hot spots that turn up. It might be this is part of my problem, and I should just leave the wick in there, but it's seemed to me that burning off a coil with a wet wick in it will just generate more carbon, and taking the wick out lets me burn the coil clean and use a dental pick to get the carbon off it.

Gunkability of my juice may be a factor too...

 

[Jimi D.]

Its all in the juice. I build all my coils. I can get 2 weeks easy on DV Absinthe flavor. I get 4 days to a week on most of my Hangsen tobacco flavors. All my devices range from .3 - 1.3 ohm. These are all RDA's with silica wick and ribbon Kanthal.

 

[Vaslovik]

This. Dry burn and wash/clean.

Okay, I'll try it, but how can you dry burn with a wet wick in the coil?

 

[dr g]

Okay, I'll try it, but how can you dry burn with a wet wick in the coil?

Burn it until the wick dries out. Some people actually catch the wick on fire and use the fire to burn the gunk. I don't, personally.

 

[ScottP]

Okay, I'll try it, but how can you dry burn with a wet wick in the coil?

You just fire it up and watch the remaining juice turn to vapor. You can try to speed up that part by using a paper towel to pat dry the wick as much as possible. The only time I have ever removed a wick to dry burn is when it was a cotton wick. I will admit other than cotton i have only used Silica so far but I am planning on trying out some SS rope. The goal being the longest lasting wick and coil combo possible.

 

[handdrive]

Tilt your tank to one side so as much of the wick as possible is out of juice and fire the coil it will burn it enough to crust up and a good huff and puff and blow the crud off. Tilt the tank back to wick and test fire. Good to go. I had a wick and coil in my RSST for 45 days only hesitantly took it out to try RipTrippers micro coil and cotton auto drip thing and so far like that too.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

[mentaleeill]

i was having similar issues using just rolled mesh in aga-t+. i have since switched to wire rope(cable) with a bit of #400 mesh wrapped under the coil, wicks better then i ever imagined. no need to tilt, swirl, etc.. this it at .7 ohms. as stated, juice plays a big part, but if it doesn't wick properly you'll get poor results too.

 

[Vaslovik]

i was having similar issues using just rolled mesh in aga-t+. i have since switched to wire rope(cable) with a bit of #400 mesh wrapped under the coil, wicks better then i ever imagined. no need to tilt, swirl, etc.. this it at .7 ohms. as stated, juice plays a big part, but if it doesn't wick properly you'll get poor results too.

Well SS rope is something I've yet to try, but I'll be looking into it. Where would one order it? Got a good source link? To be quite honest about it, the 500# SS mesh I'm now using wicks marvelously, and well enough that I get more juice to the top than is necessary, so clearly wicking is not the issue.

Another question comes to mind:

Does it matter how much you fill your tank? Might this have something to do with coil gunking? Might filling it all the way up produce more gunk on your coil?

Sent from my DEC PDP-11 using VMSmail

 

[JulesXsmokr]

you mean somebody has not yet invented wick and coil cleaner juice??? come on guys,,, get busy !!!!
where's my lab kit...

 

[JulesXsmokr]

Coil Cleaner, Solvent, No-Rinse Aerosol, Size 18 Oz, Application Cleans Grease, Dirt, Lint And Other Debris Instantly With Minimum Effort And Does Not Require Rinsing, Characteristics Leaves The Coil Clean And Bright With The Efficiency Restored, Function High Pressure Liquid That Cuts Through Grease And Dirt On Refrigeration Coils, Standards USDA Accepted For Use In Federally Inspected Meat And Poultry Plants


JK