IGO-L problems. And can someone school me on RBA? Ready to learn!

[m3lov3r]

Hello,
I recently purchased a IGO-L out of the package and a coil was already built. So I added some juice and the smoke was gross....
20 hits later the same thing....kinda tasted like plastic.

Wondering why? I heard dripping atomizers have better flavor, the DCT I have is tasting much better.

Also can someone school me on rebuild-able atomizers?
Wondering about a good kanthal to buy and should I use cotton or a sponge setup?
Wondering the best setups for flavor and smoke.

This is all being used on a iTaste MVP 2.

Really appreciate guys.

vape on

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

Silica tends to have a break-in period. Some taste the exact flavor of their juice, others taste the silica until it's broken in. Coming from the factory, they most likely didn't torch the silica or kanthal, which is normally recommended when rebuilding, so the taste could be simply due to that. Silica itself doesn't burn unless exposed to extremely high levels of heat (in excess of 1,000F), so the taste you're tasting is most likely due to it not being broken in / torched.

When it comes to RBA's, they do deliver some amazing flavor, but airflow is mostly what controls the flavor. The IGO-L does have a rather small airflow hole and most recommend drilling it out to a slightly larger diameter. On the stock airflow hole, I get decent vapor, but on a airflow hole that's drilled out just a tad larger, vapor production is increased as more air get's to the coil. It just depends on whether you prefer a tight draw or if you can deal with a more airy draw. It also depends on whether you prefer lung or mouthal hits (tighter is better for mouthal, increased air flow is better for lung).

As for Kanthal, it depends on what ohms you're reaching for - 32 gauge is pretty standard for 1.5-2.4 ohms and can be done with 5/6 6/7 wraps depending on what you're wrapping it around. I also use 28-29 gauge since it's thicker and holds shape much better, especially if you get into micro coils. If you've never built coils, I'd stick with basic coils until you get them down and then move to micro coils if you feel like it .

As for mediums, I only use cotton. I ditched silica because the cost versus cotton is too expensive. I use cotton balls or Peaches & Cream brand 100% Cotton Yarn (you can find it at Walmart in the Crafts aisle - about $2.50-$3 gets you more than enough for well over a few hundred builds, if not 2-3x that).

 

[m3lov3r]

Wow very nice write up man. Thumbs up to you buddy.

 

[m3lov3r]

Regular cotton balls???

Silica tends to have a break-in period. Some taste the exact flavor of their juice, others taste the silica until it's broken in. Coming from the factory, they most likely didn't torch the silica or kanthal, which is normally recommended when rebuilding, so the taste could be simply due to that. Silica itself doesn't burn unless exposed to extremely high levels of heat (in excess of 1,000F), so the taste you're tasting is most likely due to it not being broken in / torched.

When it comes to RBA's, they do deliver some amazing flavor, but airflow is mostly what controls the flavor. The IGO-L does have a rather small airflow hole and most recommend drilling it out to a slightly larger diameter. On the stock airflow hole, I get decent vapor, but on a airflow hole that's drilled out just a tad larger, vapor production is increased as more air get's to the coil. It just depends on whether you prefer a tight draw or if you can deal with a more airy draw. It also depends on whether you prefer lung or mouthal hits (tighter is better for mouthal, increased air flow is better for lung).

As for Kanthal, it depends on what ohms you're reaching for - 32 gauge is pretty standard for 1.5-2.4 ohms and can be done with 5/6 6/7 wraps depending on what you're wrapping it around. I also use 28-29 gauge since it's thicker and holds shape much better, especially if you get into micro coils. If you've never built coils, I'd stick with basic coils until you get them down and then move to micro coils if you feel like it .

As for mediums, I only use cotton. I ditched silica because the cost versus cotton is too expensive. I use cotton balls or Peaches & Cream brand 100% Cotton Yarn (you can find it at Walmart in the Crafts aisle - about $2.50-$3 gets you more than enough for well over a few hundred builds, if not 2-3x that).

 

[Ryedan]

There's a really active and very informative sub-forum on RBA's here.

It covers RDA's like the IGO too.

I use micro coils on my IGO-L with cotton wicks. Check out Super_X_drifter's videos on building these.

 

[Sickkboy]

RDAs are giving a wonderful flavor but I find that the pre-built coil is a useless piece of *crap*, so you might want to rebuild it.
Tacktical pretty much cover where you can get wicks and wires. For the building technique, there's a lot of type to build you can check them out in Rebuildable section.

 

[Rat2chat2]

I should be getting mine soon so I appreciated the post and answers.

 

[m3lov3r]

There's a really active and very informative sub-forum on RBA's here.

It covers RDA's like the IGO too.

I use micro coils on my IGO-L with cotton wicks. Check out Super_X_drifter's videos on building these.

Do you put the cotton through the middle of the coil like normal?

 

[m3lov3r]

RDAs are giving a wonderful flavor but I find that the pre-built coil is a useless piece of *crap*, so you might want to rebuild it.
Tacktical pretty much cover where you can get wicks and wires. For the building technique, there's a lot of type to build you can check them out in Rebuildable section.

Good stuff!

 

[gjshaw29]

Do you put the cotton through the middle of the coil like normal?

pretty much yeah, only thing is you can't dry burn the cotton. So you have to keep it wet

 

[Barbara21]

Thanks to the OP and also to anyone who has chimed in. I recently ordered/received two igo-L(s) and am not sure I'm doing things right. Unfortunately I'm in the middle of my work stretch and can't take the time right now to investigate further but will catch up in a couple of days.

One thing - I'm glad I ordered two because on of them doesn't fit the mod I planned to use it on. Very annoying. Hopefully it'll fit on the one that should arrive this week, otherwise it's useless to me.

 

[Jazzi Mike]

Did you wash out your igo-l before you used it? With all RBAs, you need to give it a good rinsing or more before use.

As for the taste, i suspect it is a matter of using the pre-built coil that is your problem. I build just normal coils and I get awesome flavor.

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

Regular cotton balls???

Yep . You can pick them up at Walmart, Walgreens, CVS etc. Cotton Balls are rolled to get their shape, so you just unroll them and then stripe away the fibers, twist it into a wick (using your fingertips) and then twist it through the coil. Once it's through, twist it in the other direction so you're not left with a tight piece of cotton that won't expand to it's full potential.

Do you put the cotton through the middle of the coil like normal?

Indeed . Just as described in the above.


Cotton is the most forgiving as you can twist it too tight and then loosen it up by twisting in the opposite direction. It needs to be wet 100% of the time and you can't dry burn it, but it produces great vapor and the flavor is much better than silica, IMO.

 

[Ryedan]

Keep in mind you can't dry burn cotton. It also doesn't last that long before it loses performance. Once you've done it a few times, replacing it takes about a minute. Sometimes I just replace it once a day to keep that new wick experience happening all the time

It also takes so little cotton, a $4 bag of cotton should last a year.

 

[ceejay]

Being a noob myself and only have a week under my belt, I'd recommend doing micro coils with 28 or 30 gauge wire. I had trouble doing 32 gauge regular coils.

 

[super_X_drifter]

Here's a couple of videos that should help:
The basics of Rebuilding:
http://youtu.be/OzKAz7gojEA

Here's a photo tutorial to show you how to build and wick a mini coil - it's slightly larger than a micro but excellent for anyone just starting out
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=413000

How to build a micro coil and wick it with rolled cotton:
http://youtu.be/_XjH8lFurPk


Good luck bro. Your in good hands with these guys

 

[m3lov3r]

Man you guys are awesome.
Great forum.

Vape on

 

[LeoRex]

The IGO-l is an awesome RDA. I have one with a 1.5 ohm microcoil/cotton, and it vapes better than anything else I have. Drill out the vent to 1/16 and it'll perform like a champ.

I chucked the stock coils without them even touching juice.. they were all wonky and misshapen...

 

[m3lov3r]

Here's a couple of videos that should help:
The basics of Rebuilding:
Rebuildable Atomizer / Micro Coil Basics - YouTube

Here's a photo tutorial to show you how to build and wick a mini coil - it's slightly larger than a micro but excellent for anyone just starting out
RM2 / RBA 2.0 / Reomizer 2 Rebuild Tutorial

How to build a micro coil and wick it with rolled cotton:
How To Make A Perfect Micro Coil With The Darkzero Coil Jig - YouTube


Good luck bro. Your in good hands with these guys

How To Make A Perfect Micro Coil With The Darkzero Coil Jig - YouTube
How many wraps??

 

[super_X_drifter]

How To Make A Perfect Micro Coil With The Darkzero Coil Jig - YouTube
How many wraps??

If your using 30 ga around a 1/16" mold, start with 10 tight (touching) wraps. This is a good baseline. If it's too warm, wrap another coil with a couple more wraps. Too cool, wrap another with a couple less wraps.

If you find that you like a warmer vape after dropping to 8 wraps, order some 28 ga Kanthal A1 from temcoindustrialpower.com. 100' is like. $6.

If you find that 8 wraps us still too cool, order some 27 ga.

Ideally, you want to reach your target resistance with 10-14 wraps with a micro coil for optimal performance