Okay, lets talk:
Rebuildable Atomizers.
For now, just the dripping kind, excluding mesh wicking methods.
First,safety.
You should read ALOT. More than just here. Go to the "rebuildable atomizer systems" section and take in some knowledge, read and heed all the warnings in the form of stickies there.
I am really serious here.
Please overcome our natural proclivity to think "Yeah yeah yeah, I know, whatever. I'm not a dummie." then just grab some wire and silica and dive in.
You can and will learn it, but there are dangers.
Just read, k?
Now. There's a lot to cover, so I am going to try to do the "Cliff Notes" version here.
And by the way?
If at all possible, don't use these things on Ego batteries. I won't lie. I did, without incident, but it's just wiser to use a device with comprehensive protections. I got lucky, but I also thrashed my Egos to where they won't take a charge.
There is a phenomena of "wandering Ohms" in which you can have a nice stable safe 2Ω coil and all of a sudden the little bugger, for no reason, dips down to .25Ω ,
(that's one quarter of an Ω !!)
Usually this indicates a loose connection, but without inherent safeties in your device very bad things could happen. And Ego batteries don't have these advanced protections.
Alright, let's continue.
You will need Kanthal or Nichrome wire. Do a search on Ebay, it's the easiest way to get it cheap.
Other than that, HOV has about the best prices, for now.
Here:
Rebuildables
They also have silica, but I am not advocating silica.
Lots of people have opinions on this, some for some against, and this too is discussed in the rebuildable section. I personally use bamboo or cotton.
Here's my rationale.
You are dealing with handmade, hotter than average coils that will inevitably burn through whatever wick you use. Silica is glass, glass doesn't break down in the throat, lungs whatever.
I have had pieces of silica from a used wick come off in my fingers.
Simple enough for me. I ain't doing it. Nuff said.
PLUS
A skein of 100% organic cotton yarn costs about $3.00 "Amelican" , and will last a very, very long time. Go to a craft store to find real 100% cotton. Organic is also good.
If you go cotton, this is the procedure;
Cut a section (one or a couple of feet, whatever size your pot will accommodate) of 100% cotton yarn. Tie a knot in each end to keep it from fraying.
IMPORTANT NOTE: IT MUST BE 100% COTTON ONLY
(You don't want burnt acrylic in your lungs!)
Anyway, boil it for about ten minutes. When you empty the pot, slowly pour off the water into your sink. The impurities will gather at the top of the pot. You don't want that in your wick.
Okay, now. tie one of the ends of this wet yarn onto a dishrag and throw it into your clothes dryer for a while.
Voila!
You have cotton wick!
When threading a wick, just moisten a small section ( inch or so) with saliva and twist it to the smallest diameter possible. The smaller the wick the easier to thread
And here is how to make a perfect coil:
This is my method of making coils that are as tight as factory made. It's lengthy because I haven't quite gotten over being camera shy, and it really needs a video explanation. Maybe in the future.
You need:
Wire
Small jewelers/electronics screwdriver (the shaft size will end up being the internal diameter of your coil)
1 or 2 pairs of hemostats
Good small scissors (Iris scissors are good)
Small knife blade.
Take a small electronics screwdriver point it upward in your left hand with your thumb on the handle where it meets the shaft(like you were giving the thumbs up sign).
Measure out how ever much Kanthal/Nichrome as you need.
Under your thumb hold about 1/2" of the wire; hold it down tight as we are going to begin the wind and holding it tight is imperative.
The tip of your left thumb should be flush and just to where the handle of the screwdriver meets the shaft.
Now, with your free right hand, get a good grip on the other end of the wire (the section that isn't still held very tightly under your thumb) and pull it as tight as you can.
We now begin the winding process.
With the thumb and forefinger of your right hand (lightly pinching wire) wind the wire clockwise beginning exactly at the base of where the shaft of the screwdriver goes into the handle.
This is a critical point. You've got to keep tension on that left thumb as you wind that coil. You also have got to keep that wire between your thumb and forefinger of your right hand very tight as you wind.
Proceed and wind as many/few wraps as you desire. Once this is accomplished, still holding screwdriver with the left (now pointing screwdriver right horizontally) clamp the remaining unwound wire (that was in your right hand) with a pair of hemostats and let 'em hang, (not letting go of the wire in your right hand just quite yet.) This weight keeps the wire/coil tight on the screwdriver.
Okay now the "coil" should be under control and not all "loosey gooosey squirrely", naturally kept in a tight wind. If there is any slack, pull it tight with the right hand.
This is where you make it tight as a factory coil. It's also a bit tricky.
What we want here, ideally, is to end up with that beginning end ( still under your left thumb) to smoothly shift off of the handle in such a way that both free ends of the coil are now under your left thumb and forefinger, without losing the requisite tension.
OR
where both your coil ends (still held very tightly wound on the shaft of the screwdriver) end up in the jaws of your hemostat, next to each other. If this occurs, success!
If the transition requires too much dexterity for ya, you could also clamp the "left thumb piece" with an additional pair of hemostats and let gravity pull the coil tight.
Leave the coil on the shaft of the screwdriver.
Okay now, either way, the coil (still on the shaft of the screwdriver) needs to be compressed.
If all the slack is out of the coil, via tightening it's legs (with 2 hanging or one fixed hemostat), take your right thumb and forefinger and pinch the shaft of the screwdriver (at the tip end) sliding the coil to compression towards and against the handle.
Try not to touch any part of the coil other than the last wind which you are compressing against, and toward, the shaft.
Hold it for a little bit, 30 seconds, 1 minute or so.
If there is any slack, adjust by pulling one or both legs, then setting them to equilateral length in the jaws of one hemostat.
(NOTE: Now is when you can widen the gap between the coils with the tip of a small knife blade, if desired.If not just continue)
Okay now, we are ready to take the actual coil off of the screwdriver shaft, without touching the wound coil itself. This is critical.
Act as if the coil will disintegrate if you touch it. This is good practice, all throughout this process. Doing so will make the coil totally perfect.
So, with the legs still in the jaws of one hemostat, gently slide the shaft out of the coil.
While its still in the hemostat, season out the potential hotspots with a lighter or torch (till it glows a couple of times).
This process of heating also sets the coil in its new shape.
Voila! A perfect tight machine quality coil.
The key is keeping that wire tight on the shaft as you wind it. You don't want to let either or both of the legs getting loose and squirrelly in the process.
Enjoy!
Rebuildable Atomizers.
For now, just the dripping kind, excluding mesh wicking methods.
First,safety.
You should read ALOT. More than just here. Go to the "rebuildable atomizer systems" section and take in some knowledge, read and heed all the warnings in the form of stickies there.
I am really serious here.
Please overcome our natural proclivity to think "Yeah yeah yeah, I know, whatever. I'm not a dummie." then just grab some wire and silica and dive in.
You can and will learn it, but there are dangers.
Just read, k?
Now. There's a lot to cover, so I am going to try to do the "Cliff Notes" version here.
And by the way?
If at all possible, don't use these things on Ego batteries. I won't lie. I did, without incident, but it's just wiser to use a device with comprehensive protections. I got lucky, but I also thrashed my Egos to where they won't take a charge.
There is a phenomena of "wandering Ohms" in which you can have a nice stable safe 2Ω coil and all of a sudden the little bugger, for no reason, dips down to .25Ω ,
(that's one quarter of an Ω !!)
Usually this indicates a loose connection, but without inherent safeties in your device very bad things could happen. And Ego batteries don't have these advanced protections.
Alright, let's continue.
You will need Kanthal or Nichrome wire. Do a search on Ebay, it's the easiest way to get it cheap.
Other than that, HOV has about the best prices, for now.
Here:
Rebuildables
They also have silica, but I am not advocating silica.
Lots of people have opinions on this, some for some against, and this too is discussed in the rebuildable section. I personally use bamboo or cotton.
Here's my rationale.
You are dealing with handmade, hotter than average coils that will inevitably burn through whatever wick you use. Silica is glass, glass doesn't break down in the throat, lungs whatever.
I have had pieces of silica from a used wick come off in my fingers.
Simple enough for me. I ain't doing it. Nuff said.
PLUS
A skein of 100% organic cotton yarn costs about $3.00 "Amelican" , and will last a very, very long time. Go to a craft store to find real 100% cotton. Organic is also good.
If you go cotton, this is the procedure;
Cut a section (one or a couple of feet, whatever size your pot will accommodate) of 100% cotton yarn. Tie a knot in each end to keep it from fraying.
IMPORTANT NOTE: IT MUST BE 100% COTTON ONLY
(You don't want burnt acrylic in your lungs!)
Anyway, boil it for about ten minutes. When you empty the pot, slowly pour off the water into your sink. The impurities will gather at the top of the pot. You don't want that in your wick.
Okay, now. tie one of the ends of this wet yarn onto a dishrag and throw it into your clothes dryer for a while.
Voila!
You have cotton wick!
When threading a wick, just moisten a small section ( inch or so) with saliva and twist it to the smallest diameter possible. The smaller the wick the easier to thread
And here is how to make a perfect coil:
This is my method of making coils that are as tight as factory made. It's lengthy because I haven't quite gotten over being camera shy, and it really needs a video explanation. Maybe in the future.
You need:
Wire
Small jewelers/electronics screwdriver (the shaft size will end up being the internal diameter of your coil)
1 or 2 pairs of hemostats
Good small scissors (Iris scissors are good)
Small knife blade.
Take a small electronics screwdriver point it upward in your left hand with your thumb on the handle where it meets the shaft(like you were giving the thumbs up sign).
Measure out how ever much Kanthal/Nichrome as you need.
Under your thumb hold about 1/2" of the wire; hold it down tight as we are going to begin the wind and holding it tight is imperative.
The tip of your left thumb should be flush and just to where the handle of the screwdriver meets the shaft.
Now, with your free right hand, get a good grip on the other end of the wire (the section that isn't still held very tightly under your thumb) and pull it as tight as you can.
We now begin the winding process.
With the thumb and forefinger of your right hand (lightly pinching wire) wind the wire clockwise beginning exactly at the base of where the shaft of the screwdriver goes into the handle.
This is a critical point. You've got to keep tension on that left thumb as you wind that coil. You also have got to keep that wire between your thumb and forefinger of your right hand very tight as you wind.
Proceed and wind as many/few wraps as you desire. Once this is accomplished, still holding screwdriver with the left (now pointing screwdriver right horizontally) clamp the remaining unwound wire (that was in your right hand) with a pair of hemostats and let 'em hang, (not letting go of the wire in your right hand just quite yet.) This weight keeps the wire/coil tight on the screwdriver.
Okay now the "coil" should be under control and not all "loosey gooosey squirrely", naturally kept in a tight wind. If there is any slack, pull it tight with the right hand.
This is where you make it tight as a factory coil. It's also a bit tricky.
What we want here, ideally, is to end up with that beginning end ( still under your left thumb) to smoothly shift off of the handle in such a way that both free ends of the coil are now under your left thumb and forefinger, without losing the requisite tension.
OR
where both your coil ends (still held very tightly wound on the shaft of the screwdriver) end up in the jaws of your hemostat, next to each other. If this occurs, success!
If the transition requires too much dexterity for ya, you could also clamp the "left thumb piece" with an additional pair of hemostats and let gravity pull the coil tight.
Leave the coil on the shaft of the screwdriver.
Okay now, either way, the coil (still on the shaft of the screwdriver) needs to be compressed.
If all the slack is out of the coil, via tightening it's legs (with 2 hanging or one fixed hemostat), take your right thumb and forefinger and pinch the shaft of the screwdriver (at the tip end) sliding the coil to compression towards and against the handle.
Try not to touch any part of the coil other than the last wind which you are compressing against, and toward, the shaft.
Hold it for a little bit, 30 seconds, 1 minute or so.
If there is any slack, adjust by pulling one or both legs, then setting them to equilateral length in the jaws of one hemostat.
(NOTE: Now is when you can widen the gap between the coils with the tip of a small knife blade, if desired.If not just continue)
Okay now, we are ready to take the actual coil off of the screwdriver shaft, without touching the wound coil itself. This is critical.
Act as if the coil will disintegrate if you touch it. This is good practice, all throughout this process. Doing so will make the coil totally perfect.
So, with the legs still in the jaws of one hemostat, gently slide the shaft out of the coil.
While its still in the hemostat, season out the potential hotspots with a lighter or torch (till it glows a couple of times).
This process of heating also sets the coil in its new shape.
Voila! A perfect tight machine quality coil.
The key is keeping that wire tight on the shaft as you wind it. You don't want to let either or both of the legs getting loose and squirrelly in the process.
Enjoy!
Last edited:
