Hussar Project X RTA Clone (by Coppervape)

[muth]

Note: I started this post just before today's ECF crash. Now that ECF is back I'm letting her rip...

In a hurry I've installed a rather crooked coil in the X but with proper wicking it vaped fine.

I would simply add the following ... once installed the coil should look similar to the photo below and lining your coil up to be centered with the AF holes on each side is optimal for the X.

After the coil is screwed down use the coiling tool and align the center of the coil with the cutouts on each side of the deck base. Your coiling tool will sit perfectly in the cutouts. Push down on the coil with the coiling tool in the coil. That will properly align the bottom inside of your coil to the bottom of the cutouts.

Leave your coiling tool inserted in the coil and use your fingernail, or a screwdriver, and adjust the coil (left/right) to center it to the AF holes.
View attachment 848037
The bottom inside of my coil lines up very nicely with the bottom of the cutout on each side of the build deck. My trying to get a photo perfectly lined up to show that was another matter altogether.

Here is the same coil wicked (cotton) and juiced. After putting the tank together it vaped nicely with excellent flavor. I'm vaping it now as I type.
View attachment 848105
Your coil doesn't need to be perfectly aligned mathematically in order to obtain a great vape. And you don't need a college degree @muth to get the Project X vaping great. This isn't rocket science.

Certainly there is some trial and error involved in order for each person to find their sweet spot with a coil and wicking setup but once one gets that down it is easy to reproduce. Just like any other RTA.

My cheers

I have no complaints with the vape I'm getting. My complaints are in the mechanics of the tank. It's a continuous struggle with parts "getting stuck". AFC ring not budging. Pulling the tank away from the deck, etc. I dread when it comes time to rewick. I have no problem turning the JFC with Mordacai's advice of loosening the top fill cap.

 

[muth]

The weird SS316L 27AWG (0.34mm) that you can get hold of from the crazy wire company is quite decent, 8 spaced wraps makes a good coil for the X.

I'm getting a decent vape with 26g ss but I'd like to try some small Clapton wire.

 

[muth]

I've used baby claptons, and plain 28ga ss316l. Amazing flavour from both - I mainly use just single wire now, as I find it quicker to clean (I like sweet flavours )

With regard to the straightness of the coil - if you let the coil rod sit in the grooves, install the coil, and gently slide the rod out - it should be in the perfect position for flavour and be straight

Right, when it comes to being conservative on power and juice (and cleaning) single wire is nice. I polish my coils with a small brass wire brush. Gets them shiny new. I steady them with a mandrel/rod running through them while I polish.

 

[muth]

@ShowMeTwice, I think that the 28g/36g would be really nice for the X. Enough mass without being too much.

6-8 wraps at 2.5mm ID.

I happen to have that on hand. I can give it a shot, although the single wire 26g ss is working out pretty well at 2.5 ID

 

[muth]

I have one X setup with a 32x3/40g 316L twisted fused clapton and a 2.5mm ID and it vapes great.

This is the one I don't have but have most of the others. Framed Stapled Claptons are a favorite of mine but run expensive. The 32x3/40g is close enough. Was that from LV or AVS?

ETA: I found some 30x3/38g Nichrome in the drawer. I have that in My Aromamizer Lite. Really, I think any of those sizes would work well. I'm pretty happy with the single wire I have in there. Not bad at all.

 

[muth]

Teehee, LV is having a 30% flash sale ending in less than an hour and I ended up ordering some 40g/.8mm x .1mm 316L. Kind of like a Framed Staple without the Frames.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

I have no complaints with the vape I'm getting. My complaints are in the mechanics of the tank. It's a continuous struggle with parts "getting stuck". AFC ring not budging. Pulling the tank away from the deck, etc. I dread when it comes time to rewick. I have no problem turning the JFC with Mordacai's advice of loosening the top fill cap.

@muth that's interesting…

I have 3 standard Project X's and I don't have these issues.

For me the AFC moves freely if lubed and while tightly (not over tight) on a mod.

I've found that pulling the tank away from the deck is easiest if the X is on a mod. I twist the AFC counter clockwise until it hits the stop and pull up holding the AFC. They come off easy for me.

I haven't heard of Mordacai's advice of loosening the top fill cap for the JFC until you mentioned it. If that works, it works. I don't need to loosen that on mine. I lube up all the o-rings used in the mechanics of the JCF with a healthy amount of VG and they're fine. One of my X's JFC is slightly tighter than the other two.

I have a newer photo with some updated notes. It might be helpful.

Are there any other issues you are experiencing?

I wish I could shoot decent video so you could see how mine work. Guess I'll have to work on doing videos.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

This is the one I don't have but have most of the others. Framed Stapled Claptons are a favorite of mine but run expensive. The 32x3/40g is close enough. Was that from LV or AVS?

ETA: I found some 30x3/38g Nichrome in the drawer. I have that in My Aromamizer Lite. Really, I think any of those sizes would work well. I'm pretty happy with the single wire I have in there. Not bad at all.

The 32gx3/40g twisted fused clapton is from AVS.
Spooled Twisted Fused Clapton 316L SS (32gx3 / 40g)

 

[Mordacai]

@ShowMeTwice, are you using the 2ml capacity top section?

 

[johnpalley]

It is interesting how everyone's experiences vary with the Project X. I love it.

Currently I have one X setup with a 32x3/40g 316L twisted fused clapton and another with a 26/36 316L clapton. Both wick and vape excellently with great flavor. No problems. I honestly do not think the X is finicky with coils but that is only my experience. Every wire type I've thrown at the X performs very nicely for me.

The way you described your experience with fused claptons leads me to suspect you are using too much wick. The wick was too tight inside the coil. From my experience "real tight" wicking will lead to the exact problems you are experiencing. When you say "real tight" I have no way of knowing exactly what you mean without actually seeing it for myself up close and personal. My mind automagically goes to "that's likely too much". Your "real tight" might be my "just right" ... I don't know.

The basics of wicking for all atty's is simply ... too tight will lead to dry hits/burnt cotton AND too loose will lead to flooding/leaks. You knew that though!!!

When installing a wick, on any atty, there should be some resistance felt in your fingers as you move the wick side-to-side in the coil. Not too much. If your wick is moving freely then there is too little wick. If it is moving the coil and warping its shape then that is too much. I find "just right" to be when the coil moves very slightly from side-to-side with some resistance. With any thinner wire type, like 28g or smaller, you may have to hold the coil in place with a fingernail as you pull the wick through to avoid warping the coil shape.

With cotton I personally like the wick to have slightly more, or a tad more, within the coil. Overall thickness. With rayon you do need to use ~1/3 more, give or take, versus cotton. There is a balance that once found is the sweet spot (cotton or rayon).

Every wire type I've used in the X has worked well for me. I am able to get a great vape and excellent flavor from whatever coil type I install in it. Doesn't matter if it's plain kanthal, simple round 316L or a clapton. Also, for me, it doesn't matter if I am using cotton or Tidi rayon ... I am able to get a great vape.

In the following photo (prior to dry burn) I have a spaced 26/36 316L clapton 2.5ID 6 wrap coil that comes in at 0.45Ω (LV wire I linked a page back). Note the coil is secured on the insides of the screws. With a coil this size, and spacing, securing it to the inner sides works nicely and retains my desired spacing. If my coil was 8 wraps I would have slightly increased the spacing and secured it to the outer sides of the screws. Is it best, or better, to secure on one side or the other? No, not at all, doesn't matter IMO. I secure based on coil size only and have done it both ways ... the X still vapes great either way.
View attachment 848009
Coil spacing ... does it matter? Here we are likely getting rather nitpicky. I am not a fan of widely spaced coil wraps because I don't feel they perform well - my opinion only - doesn't make it wrong or right. My preference is for the wraps to be more closely spaced/tighter. In all the coil photo's I've seen it appears to me that more closely spaced wraps are the general consensus. I've made coils with wider spacing and for me they don't perform as well as a tighter spaced coil does. I've seen explanations for this but can't find that in a quickie search ATM.

I've also used plain kanthal setup as a contact coil, or non-spaced, in the X and it vapes nicely with excellent flavor. For me personally I am able to use any wire type and get great flavor. Some swear by this and that wire type but honestly it all comes down to whatever works for each person is the correct, and best, route for that person. Maybe I'm just lucky with being able to use many wire types. I don't think so but who knows. Also I am not real fussy with having to use this or that in order to get a great vape/flavor. I like to switch things up, a lot.

In the end for any RTA it all comes down to wicking. Wicking is where the art lies ... IMO. Anyone can be taught to roll up a good coil.

I don't know if you have more than one Project X or not. But if you do have 2 ... and are willing to send one to me I will set it up with either a 32x3/40g 316L twisted fused clapton or a 26/36 316L clapton, or clapton wire you send, test it and then return it to you so you can see how I did it, vape it and check it out and see what you think. Just a thought. Let me know and we can go from there.

Wowza ... this got long!!! Apologies

I really appreciate the offer and thats a great idea. The only thing is I only have one project x. I have another idea though at least for now. I'll send you a package of the wire I use which is the coilology 2-30/40 mtl ni80 fused clapton wire and you can try different coils in your x and tell me if you run into any issues. That would also be great for me cause you can tell me how the flavor compares to other wire your using. If you respond back and tell me your having no issues i'll immediately order a second project x and i'll test that out to make sure its not an rta problem. If im still having issues at that point i'll send you one of the rta's and we can do your idea.

Sounds good?

 

[johnpalley]

I’m testing out my new cotton. Koh Gen Do. I’ve heard a lot of great things about it. Just wanted to show you guys exactly how I coil and wick this so we’re on the same page. This is the one coil I use without problems happening. Just to be clear this wick is slightly looser than what I normally do.

 

[johnpalley]

Ok so I just had to take that cotton out and re wick my project x. It was not tight enough! I’m so glad that I wicked it a little looser this time so you guys can see how tight I need to wick this in order for it to work properly for me. What was happening is there was less crackling and when I release the firing button you could here the cotton being vaped for a couple seconds. This is what normally happens when I wick a little looser. In a little while I’ll end up with burnt hits. Here is how tight I normally go and have no problems. Now when I release the firing button the Vape stops immediately and there’s way more steady crackling. If I lightly tug the cotton it will not move. Before it would slightly move

 

[muth]

@muth that's interesting…

I have 3 standard Project X's and I don't have these issues.

For me the AFC moves freely if lubed and while tightly (not over tight) on a mod.

I've found that pulling the tank away from the deck is easiest if the X is on a mod. I twist the AFC counter clockwise until it hits the stop and pull up holding the AFC. They come off easy for me.

I haven't heard of Mordacai's advice of loosening the top fill cap for the JFC until you mentioned it. If that works, it works. I don't need to loosen that on mine. I lube up all the o-rings used in the mechanics of the JCF with a healthy amount of VG and they're fine. One of my X's JFC is slightly tighter than the other two.

I have a newer photo with some updated notes. It might be helpful.
View attachment 848201
Are there any other issues you are experiencing?

I wish I could shoot decent video so you could see how mine work. Guess I'll have to work on doing videos.

I've seen Todd's Video. But Mordacai has a question for you that could be relevant to my situation. Are you using the long mode tank? Because we are and maybe it's causing some issues?

 

[muth]

Ok so I just had to take that cotton out and re wick my project x. It was not tight enough! I’m so glad that I wicked it a little looser this time so you guys can see how tight I need to wick this in order for it to work properly for me. What was happening is there was less crackling and when I release the firing button you could here the cotton being vaped for a couple seconds. This is what normally happens when I wick a little looser. In a little while I’ll end up with burnt hits. Here is how tight I normally go and have no problems. Now when I release the firing button the Vape stops immediately and there’s way more steady crackling. If I lightly tug the cotton it will not move. Before it would slightly move View attachment 848399 View attachment 848401 View attachment 848403 View attachment 848405

Right, your wick shouldn't be loose enough to move like that. Once the wick gets wet and starts to collapse away from the top inside of the coil, your firing up metal with burnt juice on it. It's the tails in the X that need to be thinned enough to not interfere with the turning of the tank. So says Todd and I haven't had any problems with his wicking suggestions.

 

[muth]

@ShowMeTwice, are you using the 2ml capacity top section?

Very good question, indeed. I will not be happy to find out if it's been the long mode tank giving us problems. To be honest though, I haven't torn it down to lube every o-ring yet. Well, I got all except the 2 tiny ones on the JF ports.

Also, have you had the time to measure out the o-rings? I'll try to do that, too. I have digital calipers here.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

@ShowMeTwice, are you using the 2ml capacity top section?

I've seen Todd's Video. But Mordacai has a question for you that could be relevant to my situation. Are you using the long mode tank? Because we are and maybe it's causing some issues?

I have two that I'm using the basic 2ml tank and one with the 4ml tank extension. I did buy 4ml tank extensions for all my X's but am only using one.

They work nicely for me except as I noted in an earlier post one, the 4ml, has slightly more resistance when opening/closing the JFC. But I am still able to open/close it. There is just slightly more resistance.

Lubing up the 2 small o-rings, juice flow, at the bottom side of the PEI tank section (2ml or 4ml) goes a long way in getting the JFC working smoothly. I slop on the VG on those two and also to where they make connection, the bottom SS section. There is reduced friction as a result. And when I say slop on the VG ... I mean SLOP it on.

If you lube up all the o-rings I noted in my attached photo, see my earlier post, that should help. Take a look at that and you'll see exactly what I mean. Look at the bottom SS section, see all the VG? That will reduce the friction of the 2 small o-rings when opening/closing the JFC.

Being that these are clones I have to wonder if there are tolerance issues (stainless steel and o-rings) that would account for our differing experiences??? I don't have an authentic to compare with but if I see one on the secondary market for a fair price I'll likely scoop one up.

Note: I'll be back in a bit. I need to get my grass cut one last time before the weather turns and the snow falls. We're supposed to get snow this week. It'll likely melt quick but I gotta get the grass cut.

Be back soon-ish <>

 

[muth]

Lubing up the 2 small o-rings, juice flow, at the bottom side of the PEI tank section (2ml or 4ml) goes a long way in getting the JFC working smoothly.

Thanks. Those are the only ones I didn't lube. I have the deck off now and plan on cleaning everything out and starting over with a good lube job.

 

[muth]

I'll be back in a bit. I need to get my grass cut one last time before the weather turns and the snow falls.

Me too.....and the gutter needs cleaning before I get ice dam hell this winter. Replaced the roof about 4 years ago. It was about that time anyway but ended up with a wet mess inside the house before it got done.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

Ok, I'm back!!! Was rather quick and easy. Even got the leaves mulched in the process. Although there are still many more that have yet to drop. We had our roof replaced about 6 years ago. Yep, ice dams. I haven't had any problems since the roof was replaced - knocking on "real" wood lol. Though when there are heavier snows I do roof rake the snow off certain spots to be safe. I still need to check the gutters too.

I was thinking while cutting the grass (perfect thinking time) that we don't know where, or in how many different factories our clone's, and its parts, are actually made in. This year has been my first foray into the clone world. All my atty's have been authentic (Kayfun's, Tripod's etc.) until this year.

Who knows??? One factory may use o-rings that are slightly thicker, or thinner, than the authentic Project X or clone version. How many different suppliers are there for the PEI tank sections or the SS sections? We just don't know.

Could those account for our experiences? In my thinking, yes. That may well account for what is working well for some and not working so well for others. Makes sense to me but I don't know, just my thoughts.

A while back I bought some spare o-rings from the o-ring store. I used the measurements that were published for the authentic Hussar Project X (see below). When I tried a few of those on one of my X's I had problems with leaking. Back to the ones that came with the X, no problems. So that tells me there are differences. I never got around to measuring the spare o-rings that came with any of the X's.

Here is the info I used from the authentic that I pulled from a Polish site for the o-rings:

I browse the Hussar FB page from time to time and I've not seen anyone having difficulties with their authentics like those expressed here. I may have missed something cause I don't live on FB like many youngsters do (I'm not into social media). But if the issues seen here were common with the authentic you would have thought someone here would have run across something somewhere. Right? Hence my thoughts with clone mfr'ing.

I bought 4 Coppervape Dvarw MTL RTA's over the summer and those are all rock solid. Not a single issue or problem with any. They offer a lovely vape and great flavor as well. So very easy to setup too. I might still grab a couple of the Coppervape Dvarw DL's. I have had the same experience with the SJMY 2k16 Doggy.

With the dumber than dumb pending regulations I decided heck with buying anymore authentic's with our backs up against a seemingly immovable gov't wall of ignorance and stupidity. On the one hand we have state governments legalizing pot (I have no opinion either way) but completely neglecting the vaping community at large. It's just all so stupid. I bet if we had 6 year olds running the gov't we would all be better off. Likely better decision making too.

Ok, rant over ... like I said doing yardwork offers much thinking time!!!

 

[Mordacai]

@ShowMeTwice, it could be a legal finagle. If the measurements are different to the original, then technically it is not a copy.

Then words like style are mentioned an awful lot.

It's just a thought.