How to make an unoxidized, hot spot free and cleanable coil

[petar k]

LeakiWick - i don't think so that raising would make any significant difference, but also i can't be completely sure, because i didn't use any Zenesis aty so far. so, if you think that raising of the - pole, would improve your coils, use some small washers to raise it. anyways, if you have some problems with coils on the Zenesis, it would be best to show us some photos, so we can inspect it and solve the problem.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

marking......

 

[gdeal]

Petar - Hope you dont mind the post. I wanted to provide some follow-up on your method. This is on the ease of wick-coil cleaning.

I posted this build in another thread called Kanthal Ribbon Wire, but this advantage I feel belongs here. So I thought I would share the experience here.

Petar K method coil technique after 50ml:


After 75mls, the wick coil needed to be cleaned. Here is the set-up after a dry burn and bit of brush clean-up:


After the clean-up and starting to pull the wick out from the coil:


Full wick removal (pretty clean, I just wanted to see it I could do it) :



Wick insertion (no coil deformation!) :



Instant vape - no oxidation - no hot spots.....just goodness

 

[Hello World]

Great tutorial, Petar.

Except for widening at the top, what prevents the wick from sliding down the tank and shorting the PV out?

 

[Cyrus Vap]

Great stuff petar K, thank you for this. Should have paid more attention to your famed method before

I'm curious to know how people are handing this kind of a build on a Zen or DID; I've always built my coils on a drill bit for the most part but because of how the positive screw is set up flush against the base of the atomizer chamber I tend to angle my first run to the wick to avoid getting to close to the positive insulator. Works fine but it makes for angled coils which seem to deform a bit when pulsing the coils before wick insertion

Anyway as I posted in the 500 mesh thread I set up my DID entirely unoxidized and it works perfectly; just have the sense that it would be less of a pain in the .... with a genny more like the vaper, line, etc

 

[Ulmer]

A few additional words about wick-coil cleaning. This is a picture of my heater, which was made from Kanthal ribbon wire using the Petar K method coil technique, after cleaning:

No oxidation of SS mesh, no hot spots…

 

[petar k]

@gdeal - no, not at all. actually, we need more posts like that one (with pictures of different mods and set-ups).

Great tutorial, Petar.

Except for widening at the top, what prevents the wick from sliding down the tank and shorting the PV out?

to make it contact good enough (with coil wire), it needs some experience. mine is so tightly in contact, so i can lift up my 60gr mod by holding mesh, and the the mesh will not come off.

to do so, your wick should be wrapped in spiral shape like this http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...u13553353.gif/
it wicks good, and it's flexible to make good contact with wire/coil. you should make it tighter until it doesn't make shorts.


@Cyrus Vap - yea, the vaper is made especially for the method. my problem is that i don't have any experiences with making the set-ups on other mods, except the vaper and Sturm/Sturminator mod, which threads/posts are centered.


@Ulmer - looks like a new one. how long have you been using it before the cleaning?

 

[Ulmer]

@Ulmer - looks like a new one. how long have you been using it before the cleaning?

Two weeks, 56 ml.

 

[EDO]

to do so, your wick should be wrapped in spiral shape like this http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...u13553353.gif/
it wicks good, and it's flexible to make good contact with wire/coil. you should make it tighter until it doesn't make shorts.

Petar...I want to try this.....how do you roll the wick so to make it spiral like that?

 

[petar k]

Two weeks, 56 ml.

that's great, because i have to clean mine every day don't know why...

Petar...I want to try this.....how do you roll the wick so to make it spiral like that?

roll the wick around some needle, tightly. than unroll it, and roll again (this time, without the needle). at first, spiral shape will be more pronounced, so you have to tighten it until it fits in the coil.

 

[EDO]

roll the wick around some needle, tightly. than unroll it, and roll again (this time, without the needle). at first, spiral shape will be more pronounced, so you have to tighten it until it fits in the coil.

Very good...thank you.

 

[Ulmer]

that's great, because i have to clean mine every day don't know why...

I mean here a complete cleaning…In fact, I clean my heater every day using a micro-brush for teeth:

 

[par292]

very good information here, will have to give this method a try

 

[burnie71]

Very informative indeed, should be made a sticky for those just starting out.
Many thanks Petar K, and contributers.

 

[Koman]

Cool, you learn something new every day!

 

[jaxvap]

Tanks Petar
I'll try this out on my first genesis style atomiser ( mini did ) that I will get tomorrow. The main thing for me is that I would like not to use à big butane/ flaming stuff and keep it as handy and less " heavy" tools possible. Also I think it looks very cool
Now, it will be my first genny so I might smile à less once doing it ! We'll see.

 

[DrMA]

I'm thinking there must be insulated nichrome or Kanthal coated in TiN or another titanium-based ceramic. Even some high-temp enamel might work... However, I've been unable to find something that would work in our application.

The closest I've come is this ebay item. It looks promising (at least it's the right color), though it's a bit thin for our purposes and the coating is not specified.
Insulated Resistance Wire Kanthal D 37 AWG 100 Ft | eBay

 

[thedesbois]

Thanks Petar!

Was looking for a way to use non oxidized mesh because of the possible negative effects of torching the mess (hexavalent chromium (chromium VI)).

I just tried a built on my ZAU. I did not oxidize the mesh at all. Not even a juice burn or a flame pass on it. Just plain and simple 325 mesh, boiled for 30 minutes to clean it.

3 mm outside diameter wick (my ZAU has the insulator removed). 7/6 wraps of 28 AWG Kanthal A-1. Gives me roughly 1.2 ohms. About a 1.8 mm straw hole in the middle.

This is SCARY good! On a mechanical mod, it fires like crazy. Really I am scared of this setup as I just cannot believe it is working on a conductive non oxidized SS wick. But it just works.

While vaping on it, if I tilt it too much the vapor dies down as the juice will flood the coil. So a short tilt and drop before taking a drag is perfect. I have never ever seen such an amount of vapor on my ZAU. Using the same exact juice as before with other setups. I can chain vape it as long as I do a little tilt & drop after 3-4 long drags. Sick!

Anyone knows if there is a risk that the mesh could oxidize to a level where it would create chromium VI? I highly doubt it since the temperature of the coil, even if a hot spot where to arise, is too low. Is my assumption correct?

 

[proteckt3d]

that's great, because i have to clean mine every day don't know why...



roll the wick around some needle, tightly. than unroll it, and roll again (this time, without the needle). at first, spiral shape will be more pronounced, so you have to tighten it until it fits in the coil.

Thank's for the tutorial, I've been using your method with success also. I do have to change the wick every day or two days at best when vaping VG based liquids, it might be because it's less mesh with this build. What I wanted to ask is how exactly do you clean them? Do you use these small brushes like Ulmer does?

 

[petar k]

i'm glad to hear positive feedback from most of you

I'm thinking there must be insulated nichrome or Kanthal coated in TiN or another titanium-based ceramic. Even some high-temp enamel might work... However, I've been unable to find something that would work in our application.


The closest I've come is this ebay item. It looks promising (at least it's the right color), though it's a bit thin for our purposes and the coating is not specified.
Insulated Resistance Wire Kanthal D 37 AWG 100 Ft | eBay

well, this method is about simplicity and efficiency - to avoid any additional processes, materials or parts... but that's good idea, and i'm just wondering how it actually works. so, what is the coating/insulating material?

Thanks Petar!

Was looking for a way to use non oxidized mesh because of the possible negative effects of torching the mess (hexavalent chromium (chromium VI)).

I just tried a built on my ZAU. I did not oxidize the mesh at all. Not even a juice burn or a flame pass on it. Just plain and simple 325 mesh, boiled for 30 minutes to clean it.

3 mm outside diameter wick (my ZAU has the insulator removed). 7/6 wraps of 28 AWG Kanthal A-1. Gives me roughly 1.2 ohms. About a 1.8 mm straw hole in the middle.

This is SCARY good! On a mechanical mod, it fires like crazy. Really I am scared of this setup as I just cannot believe it is working on a conductive non oxidized SS wick. But it just works.

While vaping on it, if I tilt it too much the vapor dies down as the juice will flood the coil. So a short tilt and drop before taking a drag is perfect. I have never ever seen such an amount of vapor on my ZAU. Using the same exact juice as before with other setups. I can chain vape it as long as I do a little tilt & drop after 3-4 long drags. Sick!

Anyone knows if there is a risk that the mesh could oxidize to a level where it would create chromium VI? I highly doubt it since the temperature of the coil, even if a hot spot where to arise, is too low. Is my assumption correct?

that's great! and no, there is no way it'll even get to level IV, because, as you have said - no high temps. but, there will be some gunk (as always) which will also insulate the mesh and wire, which means that your coil will get even more stable more you use it.

Thank's for the tutorial, I've been using your method with success also. I do have to change the wick every day or two days at best when vaping VG based liquids, it might be because it's less mesh with this build. What I wanted to ask is how exactly do you clean them? Do you use these small brushes like Ulmer does?

you mean, change or clean the wick? i have already explained the cleaning process, but once again - there are two ways: burn it or scratch/brush it with a toothpick or some small brush (like Ulmer's one). so, you can brush your coil with those "tools" and than with a paper towel, or just burn it by pulsing to glow red (pulse just a few times). to clean mesh, you have to pull it out (anyways), and torch it by lighter or just wrap it in paper towel (like wrapping a mesh) which will suck out most part of the gunk. (i'm using a lighter in this case