If I was near a cliff, I would throw my aga t2 off of it...

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Ryedan

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I've been using my AGA-T regularly for a year now. I drilled the wick hole to 1/8". The air hole is 1/8" also. I use 27 gauge wire so it's quite stiff and wrap it on a 1/8 drill bit in the hole. Use two pliers to tighten the center post nuts. When the drill bit is taken out the coil stays perfectly round and in line with the hole. A 3/2 wrap makes about 0.5 ohms.

I use 50 mm of mesh, flame it once just to red hot and wrap a pretty tight wick. Put it in the coil and generally it's a bit small in diameter. It's easy to roll it backwards slightly to make it bigger so I do that to make it snug but not too tight in the coil. Too tight and it will short a lot. Too loose and the flavor will be metallic. It ends up having a small hole in the center like a straw. I have to tilt to get enough juice to the coil.

Note I did not really oxidize the wick yet. I do that by pulsing out the shorts. After I get the whole coil lighting up I 'bump' all the coils to move them just a bit and pulse again. I'll do that maybe three or four times. I find that stops the shorts that can happen after a half hour of good vaping.

I've tried using 32 gauge wire and find it's too difficult. Thick wire makes a huge difference mainly because it's so tough, it's easy to avoid breaking it. It's also stable enough so I can take the wick out for cleaning and get it back in easily. If I do move the coil, I just put the drill bit back in and fix it.

I don't worry about keeping the top tail short. If that tail is hot, it's because the top coil has a short. It has nothing to do with the length of it.

he instant I notice any burning I stop vaping it until I fix it. A full burnt hit from this puppy is really nasty!

It's a great vape when it's right. Really frustrating when all it does is short or taste wrong. Good luck with it!
 
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emus

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I've been using my AGA-T regularly for a year now. I drilled the wick hole to 1/8". The air hole is 1/8" also. I use 27 gauge wire so it's quite stiff and wrap it on a 1/8 drill bit in the hole. Use two pliers to tighten the center post nuts. When the drill bit is taken out the coil stays perfectly round and in line with the hole. A 3/2 wrap makes about 0.5 ohms.

I use 50 mm of mesh, flame it once just to red hot and wrap a pretty tight wick. Put it in the coil and generally it's a bit small in diameter. It's easy to roll it backwards slightly to make it bigger so I do that to make it snug but not too tight in the coil. Too tight and it will short a lot. Too loose and the flavor will be metallic. It ends up having a small hole in the center like a straw. I have to tilt to get enough juice to the coil.

Note I did not really oxidize the wick yet. I do that by pulsing out the shorts. After I get the whole coil lighting up I 'bump' all the coils to move them just a bit and pulse again. I'll do that maybe three or four times. I find that stops the shorts that can happen after a half hour of good vaping.

I've tried using 32 gauge wire and find it's too difficult. Thick wire makes a huge difference mainly because it's so tough, it's easy to avoid breaking it. It's also stable enough so I can take the wick out for cleaning and get it back in easily. If I do move the coil, I just put the drill bit back in and fix it.

I don't worry about keeping the top tail short. If that tail is hot, it's because the top coil has a short and gas nothing to do with the length of it.

It's a great vape when it's right. Really frustrating when all it does is short or taste wrong. Good luck with it!

Congrats on keeping traditional genny build craft alive. I got spoiled by cotton but it would be fun to try a mesh wick again. Any cloud chasers running mesh or just flavor chasers?
 

Maurice Pudlo

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1.02 ohm using 4 strands of wound 32ga kanthal a1. You'll get similar results out of thicker single strand coils, I just prefer the ability to tinker.

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I make my coils, then install them.

Mesh count depends on juice viscosity 70:30 ish goes well with higher count mesh, 50:50 to 0:100 needs lower count mesh.

If you want or need to draw up a bunch of juice without the tilt, block the air intake with your thumb and draw on the drip tip. The vacuum you create will prime the wick. Go too far and you can flood the deck though. This only works with the fill hole plugged.

You can build a Genesis with cotton, but doing the wicking is a tedious process for younger more well sighted folk than I.

I've not tried the straw wick method, I presume it would work fine with the whole tilt vape style, I may just give that a go.

As for taste, there is something very special about the way it vapes when setup well. Its just nice and fresh, and very full bodied.

Good luck.

Maurice
 

Tbev

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Build whatever coil you want then shove a cotton wick down there, you can use a piece of wire to force it down the hole, or you can be smart and start with it twisted tight and small enough to fit all the way then pull it.

Say whatever you want about cotton in gennys but that's all I run an and I never have any problems, and always have great flavor.

IMHO the t2 is kinda crappy due to the crazy huge cap, makes for an airy vape that lacks flavor.

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Myk

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I've not tried the straw wick method, I presume it would work fine with the whole tilt vape style, I may just give that a go.

My straws suck liquid up the outside and air down the inside. They do it somewhat faster if you tip. Depending on how thick the liquid is they might drip but that hasn't been much of a problem with the T2 and AGA size holes for me.

As far as flavor or vapor in a T2, I haven't really had an issue once the mesh has been broken in to that flavor. It's not a dripper, but then it's not a dripper. I was messing with making a reducer last night and couldn't tell a difference.
 

Annie56

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@SteelBender--tried coiling on the atty, 4 times. Did raw mesh. (I'm fascinated by the pulse method lol). Really tried to ease up on the tension of the wire. I had a 5/4 30g wrap on the T2, and a syringe needle down the wick. Rotated the atty in my hand, to wind. Pulsed it out, pulsed out perfectly. But then i noticed a boat-load of gaps.

I have duty tonite, so i must retire the t2 to the vault.

@ Ryedan--i used my cobalt 1/8 drill bit to do the wick hole. Made things really nice, for when i decide to mess with it again. The top cap i drilled out to 5/64.

Set up a Did, because thats wat im gonna take with me, tonite. 400 raw mesh 100 mm, rolled onto a 1/16 Allen key. Decided to go conservative with my wrap, and ditch the whole parallel wrap thing. After a day or so it turns into a hot mess. 4/3 28g 0.6Ω. Pulsed it out. Wiggled and bumped the wraps, Ryedan. Vaping nice, Thank God!!! I need my nic.

I think the T2 is a really loose interpretation of the Did, which is why i liked its vape, when i could get it to work.

My failed attempt..( internal resistance of meter 0.6)
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Maurice Pudlo

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My straws suck liquid up the outside and air down the inside. They do it somewhat faster if you tip. Depending on how thick the liquid is they might drip but that hasn't been much of a problem with the T2 and AGA size holes for me.

As far as flavor or vapor in a T2, I haven't really had an issue once the mesh has been broken in to that flavor. It's not a dripper, but then it's not a dripper. I was messing with making a reducer last night and couldn't tell a difference.

Fill hole open or closed?

I have always worked with the whole idea that to have good juice flow there must be a differential of pressure between the tank and the deck hood.

Maurice
 

steel bender

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@SteelBender--tried coiling on the atty, 4 times. Did raw mesh. (I'm fascinated by the pulse method lol). Really tried to ease up on the tension of the wire. I had a 5/4 30g wrap on the T2, and a syringe needle down the wick. Rotated the atty in my hand, to wind. Pulsed it out, pulsed out perfectly. But then i noticed a boat-load of gaps.

I have duty tonite, so i must retire the t2 to the vault.

@ Ryedan--i used my cobalt 1/8 drill bit to do the wick hole. Made things really nice, for when i decide to mess with it again. The top cap i drilled out to 5/64.

Set up a Did, because thats wat im gonna take with me, tonite. 400 raw mesh 100 mm, rolled onto a 1/16 Allen key. Decided to go conservative with my wrap, and ditch the whole parallel wrap thing. After a day or so it turns into a hot mess. 4/3 28g 0.6Ω. Pulsed it out. Wiggled and bumped the wraps, Ryedan. Vaping nice, Thank God!!! I need my nic.

I think the T2 is a really loose interpretation of the Did, which is why i liked its vape, when i could get it to work.

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Well, this probably isn't your problem, but this happened to me. I drilled out a wick hole to 1/8 inch and apparently did it wrong/left some burs in there or something, because I have never been able to get a coil to work right in that hole anymore, ohms constantly jumping around.

For my wick, I like 3/32 ss cable, with a mesh topper. I ran a torch up and down the cable mainly just for cleaning, then torched each side of the mesh just the once. I also torch my piece of 28g kanthal twice to reduce springiness. Then I trap the ground wire first and start wrapping around the mesh counter clockwise about five or six times, as loose as possible, while maintaining contact (I like to stay around 1.2 ohms). Then I wrap around the positive post clockwise, usually putting a kink in the wire before it leaves the wick, so it's going straight to the post at the shortest distance. If the coil isn't touching the wick at any point, when I tighten the top nut, it will tighten up the top coil and I just have to poke it around so it's all touching. Sometimes taking the nut off and pulling more wire out, until it's all touching the wick.

Basically, I believe loose coils and that kink at the top are what helped me the most.
 

Myk

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Fill hole open or closed?

I have always worked with the whole idea that to have good juice flow there must be a differential of pressure between the tank and the deck hood.

Maurice

Fill hole closed. Gennies are pretty much all I use so they need to travel and get laid down.
I tested this vaping while in a stand and bubbles came up from the hole in the wick.

I have had the wick refuse to wick before. I think I've tracked it down to the wick being too tight in the hole squeezing off the flow of liquid up. At least that's what I did to fix it and so far it has worked.

I do like the differential of pressure idea for the times when I'm vaping faster than it wicks. I'm going to have to try that.
 

Annie56

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I will also never buy an expensive genny, because I believe the vape from my aga t2 is as good as it gets. At least for my tastes...

Mm Vapors was having sales, or else i would have been content with my Hydras :p. Then i went whole hog and bought a Poldiac. I like the Hydras and Dids because Annie and glass tanks don't 'make nice' /c one another.

I adjust the tension, and kinda 'paint the coil' with my screwdriver, but I've been doing it from the neg lead. I would have done that with the T2, but i had to get going w some other stuff.

Highly recommend cobalt drill bits. They make for a really clean tool!!


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Myk

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Highly recommend cobalt drill bits. They make for a really clean tool!!

Not as brittle as carbide or tear inducing (expensive and impossible to sharpen) when they break. But I have run into stainless caps that dulled my cobalt bits. I went through a lot of standard bits drilling my lathe's bench (stainless butcher table from a grocery sale).
 

Annie56

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Not as brittle as carbide or tear inducing (expensive and impossible to sharpen) when they break. But I have run into stainless caps that dulled my cobalt bits. I went through a lot of standard bits drilling my lathe's bench (stainless butcher table from a grocery sale).

You know something? Drilling the Aga T2 deck wick-hole out was easy as pie?? But I had a hell of a time with the top cap of the T2. Drill was all charged up and everything.

I was able to drill out my Did top caps, and my IgoL caps, the cobalt went thru them like buttah. But that T2 cap took some work lol


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Myk

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You know something? Drilling the Aga T2 deck wick-hole out was easy as pie?? But I had a hell of a time with the top cap of the T2. Drill was all charged up and everything.

I was able to drill out my Did top caps, and my IgoL caps, the cobalt went thru them like buttah. But that T2 cap took some work lol


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I think it was a UD cap (although it could've been an IGO-L clone). I know at the vape shop for the build party I got my IGO-W they were having problems drilling people's caps.
 

Annie56

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So in the end, OP, it took me about 95 tries to get this to work. Was bound and determined to use the pulse method. Wound it off the atty, pulsed it out.
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gonna vape Pina Colada 50/50 pg vg and cat hair. And call it a day. Plus....im fresh out of vodka.
1.3Ω 5/4 30 g 70 mm 400 mesh rolled on a 1/20 Allen Key.
Happy St Patties Day. Remember Your Green Drip Tip


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