Help with Russian build?

[Cob24]

I'm having my wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow so I probably won't be back on. But when I come out of the recovery coma (2-3 days?) I should have my kanthal wheels waiting on me so I'll be building a new coil. This one is a little low for my liking so I'll be upping my drill bit and adding one more wrap. Gonna shoot for a flat 2.0 ohm on my next one.
Update on this coil: good wicking.

 

[Cob24]

200' feet of kanthal showed up yesterday. Gonna build a new coil today once all the meds wear off ( would be funny working that small with the dope kicking). Wonder if I'll be able to vape it or if I still will have to wait.

 

[Cob24]

Tried 32 ga 6 wraps at 3/32. All the way up to 2.4 ohms. I can't vape it currently so I don't know how I did with the cotton. I'm dying here!

 

[bosun]

I've read some of the posts, and skipped around quite a bit so I might be posting some redundancy!! I build the coil (1/16th inch drill bit, 32 gauge kanthal, looking for about 1.8 ohms). Dry burn and squeeze. Put cotton through coil, couple of drips of juice, 'glue' the wick to the sides of the block going across the tops of the juice channels. Then take the ends of the wick and lay them across the top of the coil in an 'X' pattern (tip from another post. Saturate the wick with juice and assemble. No problems with wicking!

 

[Cob24]

I've read some of the posts, and skipped around quite a bit so I might be posting some redundancy!! I build the coil (1/16th inch drill bit, 32 gauge kanthal, looking for about 1.8 ohms). Dry burn and squeeze. Put cotton through coil, couple of drips of juice, 'glue' the wick to the sides of the block going across the tops of the juice channels. Then take the ends of the wick and lay them across the top of the coil in an 'X' pattern (tip from another post. Saturate the wick with juice and assemble. No problems with wicking!

Yeah the coils haven't really been the issue. It's been the wicks. Every time I try to make a wick out of these cotton balls it tears or I make it too fat or something. I think I'm getting there but I had zero success at the 1/16th size did much better at 5/64 and I think I went to big with the 3/32 cause my ohms was all the way up at 2.5 after just 6 wraps. So I'll build another one this afternoon at 5/64 and try to make a better wick. Then I suppose I'll give this x wicking idea a shot.

 

[amp79423]

Wicking was my problem at first as well. I just kept the same coil on the deck and when I'd get a dry hit, go back and troubleshoot. I soon discovered that I was using too much cotton. It's really amazing how little you actually need to make the thing wick properly. After a few tanks through my Russian and changing flavors and wicks with every tank, I can clean, dry burn and re-wick it in about 5 minutes flat. Between this and my carto tank, I have found my ideal setup.


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[Ozwald]

Yeah the coils haven't really been the issue. It's been the wicks. Every time I try to make a wick out of these cotton balls it tears or I make it too fat or something. I think I'm getting there but I had zero success at the 1/16th size did much better at 5/64 and I think I went to big with the 3/32 cause my ohms was all the way up at 2.5 after just 6 wraps. So I'll build another one this afternoon at 5/64 and try to make a better wick. Then I suppose I'll give this x wicking idea a shot.

Try doing a twisted 32g on a 3/32 bit. 10 wraps gets me 2.4-2.5 depending on how much twist is in it. Depending on the juice I run it at 3.8-4.6v. I get great flavor out of it with a cotton ball wick.

The trick with a cotton ball wick takes a bit of practice. I have 2 or 3 pics on my blog post about it. Twist one end into your 'needle'. Pinch the 'needle' in your non-dominant hand. Starting at the base of the 'needle', very, very gently pull the cotton & work your way down. If it's super fluffy (like it should be) it won't look even, but when you gently pinch the wick, you can feel it. I don't like to twist any part of it other than the 'needle', which gets ripped off after the wick is in place. The untwisted fibers will wick better.

 

[eda123]

Yeah the coils haven't really been the issue. It's been the wicks. Every time I try to make a wick out of these cotton balls it tears or I make it too fat or something. I think I'm getting there but I had zero success at the 1/16th size did much better at 5/64 and I think I went to big with the 3/32 cause my ohms was all the way up at 2.5 after just 6 wraps. So I'll build another one this afternoon at 5/64 and try to make a better wick. Then I suppose I'll give this x wicking idea a shot.

2.5ohms is fine if you are using a VV or VW device. It's too high for a mechanical, but if on a provari, just set the voltage to ~4.2-4.5 and it will vape great!


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[Cob24]

Try doing a twisted 32g on a 3/32 bit. 10 wraps gets me 2.4-2.5 depending on how much twist is in it. Depending on the juice I run it at 3.8-4.6v. I get great flavor out of it with a cotton ball wick.

The trick with a cotton ball wick takes a bit of practice. I have 2 or 3 pics on my blog post about it. Twist one end into your 'needle'. Pinch the 'needle' in your non-dominant hand. Starting at the base of the 'needle', very, very gently pull the cotton & work your way down. If it's super fluffy (like it should be) it won't look even, but when you gently pinch the wick, you can feel it. I don't like to twist any part of it other than the 'needle', which gets ripped off after the wick is in place. The untwisted fibers will wick better.

Thanks oz. that's the explanation I needed.

 

[Ozwald]

Thanks oz. that's the explanation I needed.

No worries. Learning to pull it out evenly is the part that takes practice. You'll inevitably pull it in half if you try to do it in one pass. Be very gentle & start pulling it into a generally elongated shape on the first pass. Then gradually work it into a uniform thickness over several passes. After a bit of practice you can do it reliably in 2 or 3 passes.

 

[Cob24]

This coil and wick is doing pretty good. Not a fan of the juice I put in there though so I guess I'm about to dump and try to refill

 

[Ozwald]

This coil and wick is doing pretty good. Not a fan of the juice I put in there though so I guess I'm about to dump and try to refill

Cotton's cheap. When I was getting the hang of it I was rewicking every single time I emptied... and a lot of times I was only filling the tank halfway. I figured I've got this bag of cotton balls that I'll probably never be able to use up even if I vape for the next several decades, so why not? Now I only do it when a wick gunks up or if I'm changing flavors. But early on, it's good for getting your wick making skills up to snuff.

 

[naturecannon]

I just grabbed a Russian today. Purchased local after work, kid at shop offered to build so I could vape with the new Russian on the ride home, I said SURE!!! Now I am gettting same semi burnt taste as mentioned by OP. This thread with Cob's pain and suffering was helpful. Going back to rebuild and will report back.

Paid a bit more local for Rusian......... but with cash......wife wont see purchase amount as she would have if i had ordered online!

Update: I noticed the kid at the shop snipped the cotton half inch above the chimney. The videos I watched showed both flush or a tad above. I trimmed cotton another 3/8 or so and refilled. Same semi burnt taste. Second attempt to dis-assemble I noticed I had the tank full, like stuffed blow the glass out full LOL. I remembered illustration a few pages back about Russian being too full. I emptied some juice, guessed on amount and it resulted to a little bubble showed when tilted (LUCk).

No more burnt taste!! Still does not taste as good as my Ebaron Dripper Pro with ekowool, but then again cotton is still fairly fresh and new like the tank. Maybe its not seasoned yet...... Improving as I type this

 

[Say10]

I use the bsuardo build. It's simple and very consistent. Troubleshooting it was easy as well. First time my wick was to thick and was not vaping like it should have. When I got a burnt taste I realized my coil was resting on the air valve, lifted it up and worked great.

1.8 ohm @ 3.9 volts works great for me.

11 wraps of 28guage