I just cant get the hang of stainless mesh genesis style atomizers, anyone else have these issues?

[Bobnoj]

Ok, I been vaping for four months, never touched a cigarette since. I did the usual thing (well at least I think it is usual, perhaps I'm bonkers?) and spent a small fortune on vaping stuff, kayfuns, provaris, Zen atty pro

I got on with the ceramic wick from the ZEN but then I bought a cobra genesis style atomizer. Can I get the hang of the stainless steel wick mesh? It just keeps shorting no matter what I do. I tried ciggy paper, blow torch etc. I know that they are tricky and you need patience but this is getting rediculas. Anyone have any more tips before I drill a larger hole to fit a ceramic wick in my cobra?

 

[rando531]

I'm with ya. No matter what I try, how many hours spent, patience used, open mindedness, etc. I can never seem to get the results with the gennys that I do with kayfun and similiar attys. The majority of people I've met seem to swear by the gennys. And even after I use their device I am still not impressed. I prefer kayfun and ithaka etc.

However in my attempts there are a few things that have helped me with gennys. Ribbon wire seems to work better, for me. It seems less prone to hot spots. Also I've had better results with ekowool, it seems to wick better keeping the coils coated with liquid preventing the hotspots causing burnt hits. For me, even the mesh works better with the ribbon wire. Also I've had mesh that I thought was oxidized properly cause shorts and pop the coil.. because it was not oxidized properly. After more of the oxidation process the same mesh would not short. You will not have this issue with ekowool. I would try some alternatives before drilling. If you make any new dicoveries let me know.

 

[Myk]

I have my doubts with what you say you've tried if what you are seeing is shorts. You really don't have to do anything to get a shorting wick to calm down, it calms down on it's own just from firing the coil.
If you've oxidized with a torch and paper you're ahead of what people who don't oxidize do.

I did two unoxidized mesh wicks in a short period of time so if you've been at it enough to get frustrated after oxidizing with a torch and paper you either have very little patience or you're removing the oxidation and creating new shorts when you poke and prod.

Whether it's shorting or hot spots just keep poking, prodding and adjusting the hot spot or short until it calms down. You should get used to what works and what doesn't.

If you have a very stubborn wick that is shorting try dripping a little liquid on it and using the coil to burn it off a few times.

 

[leeca]

Try going to YouTube and enter....

PBusardo zen atty pro

Paul Busardo does a review and builds the Z-Atty Pro.. If you do what he does you should be all set. I have found his videos to be a very valuable asset.

 

[Hill]

If all the above suggestions don't work, might I suggest an RSST they have an insulated wick hole and the tank is made to cover the bottom of the atty so there is no place for your wick to short on

 

[Myk]

Try going to YouTube and enter....

PBusardo zen atty pro

Paul Busardo does a review and builds the Z-Atty Pro.. If you do what he does you should be all set. I have found his videos to be a very valuable asset.

Also look at PBusardo's 2nd AGA-T video. He does an unoxidized wick. If shorting is your problem watching unoxidized will be the way to get the most hints. A PBusardo Review - The AGA-T(s) - Part 2 - Assembly & Building Tutorial - YouTube

 

[jb1981]

Are you building the wick on the provari? What ohm coils are you building? How tight or loose are you wrapping the coil? What gauge wire?

 

[Chef Geoff]

I feel your pain with the genesis atomizers. I got an aga-t2 a few months back. I spent about a week poking and prodding until I finally achieved what I felt to be an excellent vape. I came very close to stomping the ..... out of it a couple of times, but it was finally producing some great vapor, and decent flavor, or so I thought. My Kayfun style atty arrived a few weeks ago, and since then, I have been unable to figure out what's wrong with my Genny. I've dry burned and cleaned the wick, tried vaping with the fill screw out, and tonight, I decided to just put a whole new wick and coil on it to get it back to that awesome device I remembered it being. After about an hour of frustration, I gave up, parked my AGA on the counter, picked up my Kayfun, and decided I'll probably never pick up the Genny again, unless it's to put a cotton wick in, thus converting it into a fancy Vivi Nova. Those who do, can love their Genny's all they want; they are simply not my top choice anymore.

 

[kingatok112]

try stainless steel rope with an ekowool diaper!! it works much much better than the mesh

 

[wildvet]

try stainless steel rope with an ekowool diaper!! it works much much better than the mesh

Totally agree. I got my first RBA, the AGA T2, about 3 weeks ago and had the shop make my first wick. They used the SS cable/ekowool method and it works really well. And it's simple. I haven't tried it myself yet, because everyone in town seemed to be out of ekowool but actually picked some up last night so plan to try my own today. I also made my own SS mesh wick...took a bit of trying but after about the 5th attempt got it going pretty well. Beginner's luck maybe, but I'll take it!

 

[Thrasher]

I will give ya a little comfort. I as well as well known reviewers have stated the real cobra can and will break you.

lol dont know why or whats different, but the cobra has been known to bring experienced coil makers to tears.

with that said its the only atty i love as much as my megatron geni. the flavor just rocks.

so ill offer up the few tricks I use and maybe they will help a little.

for the wick make sure it is snug in the hole, if it moves too much it will hotspot.
make sure the center post doesnt move/spin and is locked down on the atty well.
while it will work I have gotten better results with average resistance 1.2-2.0 then I have with subohm or ultra low resistance
I do unoxy wicks but in normal situations I make sure the wick will fit the hole then simply wrap the wire onto the wick then insert the wick into the atty with a paperclip in it, pull the leads snug then lock it in.

because the diameter of the wick is smaller when you tighten the top nut it is much easier to change the tension on the wires. several have had excellent results using the drillbit method for coils.

 

[Jonny5]

I just built my first one on a Pure. I used 400 mesh, 28 g kanthal, and did 3-4 wrap. The wick is in the hole, a little loose. I pulsed it dry at first and to my surprise, the coils burned perfectly. All 4 lit up evenly. I added a little juice to the wick to test. Hot spot at the top. I fiddled around and got the coils to all burn evenly again. But they burned red, even with some juice on them. After brning a little bit the juice lit up with some juice fire.

I then added juice to the tank. Terrible dry burn taste. Took off the cap and noticed dry spots again. When I was working on pulsing and getting the dry spots solved, the juice kept catching fire. Is this normal? I haven't seen this happen on videos. If not, why is this happening and what am I doing wrong?

2nd Question. When I put on the top cap, I made sure the air hole was in front of the wick/coil. When taking a hit, should the air hole side be at the bottom or the top. I assume bottom as it means you naturally tilt the device towards the wick/coil when taking a hit.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Chef Geoff]

Wick and air hole at the bottom when taking a tilt (since they are lined up). I picked my AGA-T2 back up and fiddled some more and realized why it tasted like crap when I rebuilt it: When using an unoxidized wick, the break-in time is a few tanks. I've changed my coil a few times, but have kept the same wick until recently. New wick tastes like assbutt. I will be doing some juice burns in the future to prevent this break-in, tastes like I'm vaping a hair dryer, metal taste for 2 days. Wait til your wick AND coil are black before judging taste in a newly wrapped Genesis. Just vape through it, or tilt and slowly burn some gunk onto the coils. Don't burn until the coil glows, or you are just reversing the process.
P.S.- My wick catches on fire all the time when checking for hot spots with drops of juice.

 

[evilfrog]

I will give ya a little comfort. I as well as well known reviewers have stated the real cobra can and will break you.

lol dont know why or whats different, but the cobra has been known to bring experienced coil makers to tears.

with that said its the only atty i love as much as my megatron geni. the flavor just rocks.

so ill offer up the few tricks I use and maybe they will help a little.

for the wick make sure it is snug in the hole, if it moves too much it will hotspot.
make sure the center post doesnt move/spin and is locked down on the atty well.
while it will work I have gotten better results with average resistance 1.2-2.0 then I have with subohm or ultra low resistance
I do unoxy wicks but in normal situations I make sure the wick will fit the hole then simply wrap the wire onto the wick then insert the wick into the atty with a paperclip in it, pull the leads snug then lock it in.

because the diameter of the wick is smaller when you tighten the top nut it is much easier to change the tension on the wires. several have had excellent results using the drillbit method for coils.

Thrasher is spot on here! I haven't got my hands on one of these (yet), but I've known people with over a year of mesh experience to fail at the Cobra.

Try what he suggests, and if it still won't cooperate you can always trade it for something easier to deal with... but give yourself a few weeks to play with it properly first.

 

[toughguitar]

I was able to get over the learning curve with SS mesh and am able to get a great vape with it on my AGA-t2. With having to clean it every other day, adjusting for hot spots, heat sink,and juice sometimes changing color, I begin to not love it, only tolerate it. I now use it with a micro coil with cotton, great vapor,flavor, easy setup and I use fresh cotton with every tank fill. This setup works so good, I got a couple more AGA-t2's.

 

[Thrasher]

Thrasher is spot on here! I haven't got my hands on one of these (yet), but I've known people with over a year of mesh experience to fail at the Cobra.

Try what he suggests, and if it still won't cooperate you can always trade it for something easier to deal with... but give yourself a few weeks to play with it properly first.

even TODD over at toddsreview said in the video for the cobra hybrid the original was the first atty to break him as well


my fist success was using the drill bit method for wrapping coils.

 

[evilfrog]

Heh, as I recall Todd had a pretty steep learning curve with mesh in general
He seems to do fine these days though.

I think the wick holes are threaded on the Cobra? From what I hear, threading seems to increase the chance of shorts. The wick probably gets scratched up on the way in if it isn't small enough? All my gennies are smooth...

Titanium seems to work well for flavor in gennies for some reason. Have you tried a Hydra, Thrasher? I'd be interested in how they compare.

 

[Nightshard]

Ive got aga-t and getting it right takes practice and some more practice.
I'm not sure what and if yr doing something wrong, just make sure yr doing the following:
When you wrap try to space the wraps evenly.
Make sure to torch the mesh before and after you roll it and do all the steps you see in the vid to make sure you torch it properly.
If you recut the wick after you make it make sure to reburn the edges.

 

[Steam Turbine]

I was a genny user and I solved the problem by not using them anymore. Massive PITA!

But that's no help.

The way I built them at the end, was to insert the ss mesh into a ekowhool sleeve.

No oxidation, no torch, no pulse nonsense.

Just wrap my wire around the sleeve wait for it to wick and vape.

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

shorts on the wick, roll the wick (test to make sure it fits in the wick hole), hold with some pliers on the end, hold over the stove burner till the entire thing is glowing red, remove, let cool, repeat 2x more times...the wick should be JET BLACK, no shorts. I then take a 3/16 drill bit, put in wick hole, wrap the coil around it, tighten it down on center post, pull drillbit, check resistance, dry burn it 3x times (glow red evenly across cooils, let cool), gently push wick thru the coil into the wick hole, check coils to make sure they are even and snug (it took some work to get the wick in)...vape!

I have never built one...followed a thread here on the AGA-T, got my AGA-T2 running like a champ
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...4463-aga-t-2-may-have-figured-device-out.html