How I get away with having the fill screw in. (Genesis RBAs)

[Zeybrin]

So, as many of us know, the best way to make sure you are wicking is leaving the fill plug/screw left out so you have a nice hole for air to travel into. The problem with leaving the fill hole open though is well.. your fill hole is open. So if you leave the room and something.. lets say a cat(hypothetically this has totally not happened to me >_>) ... knocks your mod over you will probably come back later with your RBA full of juice and possibly it all over your table, counter, or whatever you left it on.

The reason we leave it out is because the juice leaving the tank causes negative pressure, which will pull the juice back in or otherwise keep it from wicking in the first place. To remedy this I do one simple thing. (I use a DiD so your results may vary) That thing is I put my thumb over the air intake hole.. and I draw on the mouthpiece to cause the entire RBA to have negative pressure. Then I take my finger off of the air hole and you will usually see an air bubble go into the tank. Now I don't draw that hard, I don't want to cause too much pressure and get more juice than I need, especially if the tank is almost full.

I just do this if I ever notice the flavor getting weak or metallic taste. You could just make the wick smaller I suppose, but I like a nice solid wick to wrap my coils around. Takes less time than dripping and will keep you from having to leave the fill hole open.

Hope this helps someone!

 

[neonballoon]

This method seems very similar to what you would do with a carto tank. Carto tanks without a fill hole like the kir fanis trap tank or submarine tanks, you would do an unpowered hit to draw the juice up the carto rather than unscrew a hole for the pressure to equalize.
If this is true, could it solve all the leaks that happen with Genny tanks?

 

[rotohammer]

I'm running a Griffin (did clone) with the fill hole open and I can't make mine leak. I even drilled the hole over sized. Maybe its my 50/50 blend that keeps it in the tank. My wick/coil is a very small diameter (wound on a 18ga needle, with a spacer tube of stainless mesh in the wick hole to take up the gap, so that it wont take in air. I used to plug my fill hole with a cut o-ring until I realized I wasn't getting any leakage without it.


Current setup info:
10 wraps of 32ga NiCr around 18ga needle. 2.0ohms.
Wick is 7mm wide #400 mesh rolled as tight as I can get it.
I oxidize the wick/coil separately with a small torch until it glows red.
It slips into the coil easily with almost no play.
Vaping with a Sigelei Vmax on RMS at only 5.5w, battery life is super.
Using it with a Vmax V2 at 3v the coil will short out to the wick after ~5 hits.

 

[vapdivrr]

I'm running a Griffin (did clone) with the fill hole open and I can't make mine leak. I even drilled the hole over sized. Maybe its my 50/50 blend that keeps it in the tank. My wick/coil is a very small diameter (wound on a 18ga needle, with a spacer tube of stainless mesh in the wick hole to take up the gap, so that it wont take in air. I used to plug my fill hole with a cut o-ring until I realized I wasn't getting any leakage without it.

View attachment 173886
Current setup info:
10 wraps of 32ga NiCr around 18ga needle. 2.0ohms.
Wick is 7mm wide #400 mesh rolled as tight as I can get it.
I oxidize the wick/coil separately with a small torch until it glows red.
It slips into the coil easily with almost no play.
Vaping with a Sigelei Vmax at only 5.5w, battery life is super.

are you saying that if you layed this device on its fill hole side down, that it would not leak out? is this because of the wick hole being sealed up ? thats hard to believe, although i definately dont doubt you.

 

[rotohammer]

are you saying that if you layed this device on its fill hole side down, that it would not leak out? is this because of the wick hole being sealed up ? thats hard to believe, although i definately dont doubt you.

Yes, I believe that is the factor. When filling I can see a few bubbles near the wick hole, but between the wick, spacer wick and juice, its pretty sealed. So there's no way for air to get in to displace the liquid to allow it to leak out. Yet air gets in via the fill hole while vaping.

Thinking about it, I recently had my setup filled in a side pocket of my laptop bag while flying with the bag flat in the overhead compartment. No mess at all after two 2hr flights.

 

[donnah]

Mine fell over once and leaked out, but I think it leaked out via the wick and not the open fill hole. I understand all about the equalization of air pressure in a carto tank but I don't think that my DID clone has any pressure in it, even it I plugged the fill hole. Air can get in through the wick hole unless the wick is jammed tight down in it, which you wouldn't want anyway. My vulcan (the DID clone) is pretty much for here at home, relaxing in the recliner, I for out and about, use a carto tank or the drunker.

 

[vapdivrr]

Yes, I believe that is the factor. When filling I can see a few bubbles near the wick hole, but between the wick, spacer wick and juice, its pretty sealed. So there's no way for air to get in to displace the liquid to allow it to leak out. Yet air gets in via the fill hole while vaping.

Thinking about it, I recently had my setup filled in a side pocket of my laptop bag while flying with the bag flat in the overhead compartment. No mess at all after two 2hr flights.

its funny how things are, some say you must leave a space around the wick for it to work, they say you need airflow around the wick,yet yours is sealed up and works fine, also your wick needs space between it and wick hole so it reduces the possiblity of shorts, yet you have jamed mesh between. who really knows exactly whats up.

 

[EDO]

I do it the opposite of rotohammer....Since starting to make my wicks slimmer I put in the fill screw and let the space around the wick be all open and my Cobra doesn't leak at all....but I am still paranoid so I try to always lay it down with the wick side up. I never had good wicking with the fill screw in and a thick solid wick....but with a slim wick and the fill screw in I never get dry hits.

 

[CountSmackula]

I'm doing what EDO is doing. I roll the wick just shy of filling the hole, leave the fill screw in, & vape my face off. No dry hits evar. This works with my Chids, Chobras, and all the different varieties of AGAs I own.

And yes, a cat has knocked a mod or two over and no leaking... well, if there is any it stays in the cap & works its way back into the tank or onto the wick. YMMV...

I do it the opposite of rotohammer....Since starting to make my wicks slimmer I put in the fill screw and let the space around the wick be all open and my Cobra doesn't leak at all....but I am still paranoid so I try to always lay it down with the wick side up. I never had good wicking with the fill screw in and a thick solid wick....but with a slim wick and the fill screw in I never get dry hits.

 

[BuzzKilla]

I wrap my mesh around a thin threading needle... and cut the base of the wick at a 45 degree angle...
As i vape i can see little bubbles coming out of the bottom of the mesh.
the outer diameter of the wick, is a snug fit in the wick hole.

The hole is small enough to let air in, but not large enough to flood the tank if i leave it laid down on its side overnight.

fill screw is only removed for filling

 

[Thompson]

I've not had wicking issues and just leave the fill screw in on my AGA-T? Wick is snug in the hole. #500 rolled tight. Can set it on its side with no negative effects. No dry hits vaping vertical either.

 

[FlipperWi]

New Cobra owner with dry hits here - I also had a coat pocket full of juice. Thanks for this thread. I am looking forward to a new Saturday morning build.

 

[jasl90]

I just replaced the fill screw with an old ss wick. It seals the hole well enough to prevent leaking but allows air to pass. It also makes for easy, tool free, filling.

 

[meatsneakers]

I drill a small hole next to the fill screw - 1/32" or 3/64" and leave the fill screw in. Let's air in but not big enough to let juice pour out.

 

[EDO]

New Cobra owner with dry hits here - I also had a coat pocket full of juice. Thanks for this thread. I am looking forward to a new Saturday morning build.

I use a drill bit to make my coils...I wrap the coil around a 3/32 drill bit...making my wicks 2.4mm....the wick hole for the cobra is 2.5mm. I wrap my wicks around a needle to insure that there is a small hole in the middle of the wick. With the fill screw in I have never had the cobra leak....it is totally pocket friendly.