IGO-L Problem (Terrible taste)

[spacenoob]

My IGO-L came in the mail today, and this is my first attempt at using a rebuildable. I watched several videos before attempting to coil the wick. I'm using 3.5mm silica wick with 28awg kanthal wire which i heated with a lighter before using. my first coil i tried doing a "micro coil" where 7 the coils touch eachother. it turned red from the center and spread out just like its supposed to, but it smelled like the wick was burning (with lots of juice added). I tried again without the coils touching eachother, about 6 wraps, and the liquid would boil and then spatter and still tasted like burning. I tried one last time with 5 wraps, not touching, was a little more careful this time, but still it spatters (shooting liquid everywhere) and tastes terrible.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm gonna sleep on it and try again in the morning.

Let me know if you guys have any suggestions/similar issues.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[CloudZ]

3.5 mm silica will not work for a microcoil. It is just too big. Also, the silica won't be able to keep up. If you read through the microcoil thread, you will notice everyone raving about cotton. It simply works best for this application.

So, now you have a bunch of 3.5 mm silica and 28 gauge to use in your IGO. If you wrap directly onto the silica, you'll have to be very careful to not make it too tight or it will choke out its ability to deliver juice. The best way is to find something to wrap the coil around, then twist/push the silica through it. The "form" will need to be 3.25-3.5mm in diameter. You can also try doubling over the silica to make a nice fatty coil.

Keep resistance above 0.8 ohms for now. Good luck!

 

[holcombgl]

You got a picture of what your setup looks like? I get that when there is too much liquid or my coil is wrapped to tight around the wick. Are you using a drill bit or something to make the micro coil?

 

[FunkyVapes]

Also, if you're rocking 28awg, drill your airhole out. The stock hole is almost certainly too small for 28awg coils.

Real silica will never burn. You should be able to hit it with a torch and it should glow red. When it cools it should still be bone white. There's a lot of nonsense being passed around as "silica" out there, even though it contains other materials.

 

[spacenoob]

Are you using a drill bit or something to make the micro coil?

I tried using an alan wrench about the right size and it gave me the same results. I've also tried wrapping directly to the wick and using a pin under the wick. All gave me the same results. I'm starting to think maybe I just need to fire it for a little while to burn off the bad taste? or something... I made a video of my 5th attempt. I'll post it in a few minutes when it's done uploading.

Thank you all for your help so far.

 

[spacenoob]

Also, if you're rocking 28awg, drill your airhole out. The stock hole is almost certainly too small for 28awg coils.

GrimmGreen recommended this as well. I want to do this but I don't have a drill small enough. I'll have to go pick one up.

Real silica will never burn. You should be able to hit it with a torch and it should glow red. When it cools it should still be bone white. There's a lot of nonsense being passed around as "silica" out there, even though it contains other materials.

I took a lighter to a small piece of my silica and it turned black, but I was able to wipe off most of the black residue after it cooled. Is that normal?

 

[spacenoob]

3.5 mm silica will not work for a microcoil. It is just too big. Also, the silica won't be able to keep up. If you read through the microcoil thread, you will notice everyone raving about cotton. It simply works best for this application.

I'll have to order some cotton and try it out. I've heard great things about microcoils!

So, now you have a bunch of 3.5 mm silica and 28 gauge to use in your IGO. If you wrap directly onto the silica, you'll have to be very careful to not make it too tight or it will choke out its ability to deliver juice. The best way is to find something to wrap the coil around, then twist/push the silica through it. The "form" will need to be 3.25-3.5mm in diameter. You can also try doubling over the silica to make a nice fatty coil.

I tried this using an alan wrench and it gave me the same terrible taste, though it didn't "sputter".

Keep resistance above 0.8 ohms for now. Good luck!

Is there any "rule of thumb" for this? I don't have a resistance guage.

 

[darkzero]

I took a lighter to a small piece of my silica and it turned black, but I was able to wipe off most of the black residue after it cooled. Is that normal?

Best to use a small torch. The black soot you are getting is not the silica burning, it the butane lighter. Try again but don't hold the tip of the flame under the silica, put the silica into the flame preferable closer to the blue area of the flame as possible. Don't worry if you get the black soot, keep heating it & it will eventually burn off.

Also did you clean the entire RBA? There maybe be residual oils on it from manufacturing. Give it a reall good cleaning if you haven't already.

 

[Chuckq4yoo]

with my igo, i'd fold two loops of 3mm silica. length would come out to about an inch. Also use 28g wire, and I would wrap it 3/4 times and make sure to spread them apart. and that its not to tight but not to loose. also after wrapping the wire around the posts, make sure to screw those suckers down tightly

 

[spacenoob]

My 5th attempt at the IGO-L - YouTube

heres the video of my 5th attempt.

Using 3.5mm silica wick and 28ga kanthal with my iTaste MVP set at 3.3volts

At the end I show a couple of my other attempts.

The biggest problem is a bad taste, like burnt rubber or something. Maybe my coil is touching the post where it shouldnt? Maybe its the juice I use? Maybe my wire is the wrong size? Let me know if you see something wrong in the video.

Thanks

 

[Chimney34]

Good luck! Just got my first Igo & did my first coil. I got my silica & 32g kanthal from RTDVapor! Did about 4 wraps & ended up with a 1.3ohm coil. And thanks for the thread! Got a couple of lil tips here that I wasn't aware of!

 

[spacenoob]

Also did you clean the entire RBA? There maybe be residual oils on it from manufacturing. Give it a reall good cleaning if you haven't already.

I did not! I will try this. I didn't even think about that.

 

[spacenoob]

with my igo, i'd fold two loops of 3mm silica. length would come out to about an inch. Also use 28g wire, and I would wrap it 3/4 times and make sure to spread them apart. and that its not to tight but not to loose. also after wrapping the wire around the posts, make sure to screw those suckers down tightly

two loops? As in 3 layers of silica? I will try this.

 

[spacenoob]

Good luck! Just got my first Igo & did my first coil. I got my silica & 32g kanthal from RTDVapor! Did about 4 wraps & ended up with a 1.3ohm coil. And thanks for the thread! Got a couple of lil tips here that I wasn't aware of!

I'm glad you're having better luck than me, and that my thread helped you a little :]

do you have a provari? I really want one just for the resistance checker.

 

[Chimney34]

I'm glad you're having better luck than me, and that my thread helped you a little :]

do you have a provari? I really want one just for the resistance checker.

I do have one but my first mechanical should be here tomorrow! I'm pretty psyched! Its just a cheap KTS but its a start. I don't have anything else to check my resistance so I used my Provari. Plus I was kinda scared to try my first build on a unregulated mod.

For the 2 loops you should check out Phil Bursado's Igo L review. He builds one with 2 loops in the video. I'm going to try that out myself tomorrow. I'm sure you'll get it right on your next try! If someone like me can do this...trust me, you can for sure!!! Where did you get your silica from?

 

[darkzero]

My 5th attempt at the IGO-L - YouTube

heres the video of my 5th attempt.

Using 3.5mm silica wick and 28ga kanthal with my iTaste MVP set at 3.3volts

At the end I show a couple of my other attempts.

The biggest problem is a bad taste, like burnt rubber or something. Maybe my coil is touching the post where it shouldnt? Maybe its the juice I use? Maybe my wire is the wrong size? Let me know if you see something wrong in the video.

Thanks

Try positioning the coil further away from the posts. I can't tell in the video if the coils might be touching the posts although it does look like you were making sure the coils weren't touching each other & you pulled the coils away from the posts. I personally like to put my coil far out right up against the air hole.

Also in the video I noticed after mounting the coil you applied juice & fired right away. On the next one do a dry fire before addding juice. Even though your coils don't look like they're touching each other, still need to check for hotspots & shorts on the posts. The coils should glow evenly. A hotspot or short can also cause a bad taste.

 

[spacenoob]

Where did you get your silica from?

AltSmoke. Thanks for your optimism!!

 

[spacenoob]

Try positioning the coil further away from the posts. I can't tell in the video if the coils might be touching the posts although it does look like you were making sure the coils weren't touching each other & you pulled the coils away from the posts. I personally like to put my coil far out right up against the air hole.

This is interesting! I haven't heard of this method. I will try it and let you know. Thanks!

 

[Chimney34]

AltSmoke. Thanks for your optimism!!

Ok. Was asking because a god friend on here got some from another vendor & he said it was horrible! Thanks! Trust me...I'm not always so optimistic...you don't want to see me on a bad vape day! lol

 

[darkzero]

This is interesting! I haven't heard of this method. I will try it and let you know. Thanks!

Just start by positioning the coil out a bit so it doesn't touch the posts at all & check for hotspots before adding juice. If you position way out like I did you may get hot glowing leads (legs as others call it) which you don't want. The micro coil allows this to be done. The micro is just another way of making coils, I still got good vapes before doing the micros.