Is anybody willing to actually help me? Please

[jamesfarrell]

All I get on here is the same crap. This is for experts. Bla bla bla. I don't want to hear it. I want help. Please.

Here's what I have. I have 2 natural mods. I have a Birshire AGA T+ clone. I'm using 325 mesh and 32g wire.

I oxidize the mesh thoroughly and roll. I then wrap the coil around 7/64 bit inside the mesh hole. I take the drill bit out and test. Coil lights up perfect. I put the mesh through the coil, which is a ... nightmare and fire it up and the top portion of the wire lights up and then it burns the wire out at the top. None of the other coils light up. It's like there's an issue with the mesh or something.

If there is anybody local to Worcester, MA I will pay you to train me on how to do this. This is driving me insane. I can not stand not knowing what I'm doing.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks, Kevin

 

[Thrasher]

I put the mesh through the coil, which is a ... nightmare

this right here is most of your problem, you are creating uneven tension in the coil. when using the drillbit method the wick has to slide in pretty easy if you have to fight to get it in then its wrong and will lead to problems.

If you have a heavily oxidized wick then freehand wrap the coil around it or make the wick smaller for the drill bit coil.

 

[dsy5]

Sounds like you have a problem with not enough oxidation. 400 ga mesh works a bit better as it is finer and seems to resist the shorts better. Have you tried the cigarette rolling paper trick or the cotton rolled on the wick yet? It also helps to have a VV mod to build it on as you can start out with lower volts and keep pulsing and upping the voltage as you break it in. If you don't have a VV device, try using a fairly spent battery to build your coil first. Then up it to a half spent one.

 

[donnah]

before you put your mesh in, what resistance is your coil reading? If putting your mesh in the coil is a nightmare, then it's not rolled tight enough.. it should slide right down in. You're using a mech mod which means you can't control your voltage... if your coil is reading way too low and the battery in your mod is fully charged, you're hitting it with 4.2v and it could very well pop your coil. I'm no expert but I'm slowly getting there LOL.. these are just some of the issues I'm spotting at first glance. One of the things I've learned... PULSING is your best friend!

 

[StaircaseWit]

You've already received good advice, but to add one thing: you don't even really need to oxidize your mesh at all. Read one of the "unoxidized mesh" threads in this very forum. All you really need to do is use a mechanical mod and pulse the coil rapidly until it oxidizes itself in place. As others said, use a nearly-depleted battery to start off.

 

[jamesfarrell]

Thanks, I have a multimeter. How do I determine the resistance of the coil. I don't even know which setting on the multimeter is for resistance. I wish this was easier, I want this thing to work.

 

[jamesfarrell]

Great, all my batteries are fully charged, except the Kgo, don't know what voltage that is. Also is it bad for the mesh to hit the center pole down inside the tank? The hole drilled seems to be at an angle and when I insert straight mesh, it goes into at an angle and hits the center piece.

 

[sawlight]

The top coil is probably too tight on the wick, this is why it's glowing and nothing else, it's also why you are fighting getting the wick in. Loosen the top coil a bit and wrap the coil tighter.
It's also a good idea to add a washer to the pos post, this helps a lot with the top coil heating up as well.
These things are finicky, I still can't build a good one yet, I've tried numerous times! A buddy of mine came over and wrapped up my AGA and my mini DID like it was nothing and they are still working like champs! I've no rhyme or reason to the madness!

 

[beast1911]

I had a similar issue when I got my aga-t+. Its better to use a solid wick (no paper clip ) 400 or 500 mesh
Fold the outside seam over so the edge isn't exposed and face it away from the top coil
Use one layer of cig rolling paper ( more than one will leave too much space once you burn it off)
Wrap the coil around the wick it self first then put the wick in
You can also wrap the top wire back around the top coil wire from the positive post
Make sure your coil isn't touching the center post or bottom in the tank
Use a vv device start with low voltage and work your way up

These should eliminate or reduce the chance of the top coil hot spot. You don't have to be an expert but you have to have a lot of patience. Some times you just have to sit and poke/move the coils around to get them just right. Then you put juice and a hot spot pops up. There is a 60-70+ page thread on the aga-t+ start reading lol they're tons of pictures,examples and write ups on how to get it set up. I've had better success with 30 or 28 gauge wire than 32. I'd be happy to show you unfortunately I live quite far.

*edit* man you guys are fast. That's what happens when you type on this on a phone lol when I started no one had replied

 

[dsy5]

Everyone has posted good tips for you.

I would not use the KGo battery - it is probably not short resistant. You could end up burning out the circuitry if a short occurs.

When using the multimeter, there should be an "Ω" symbol or the word "OHM" where you want your dial to be at when reading the coil. Without the leads touching it should read something like "OL" or overload; when you touch the leads together, it should read close to 0 (0.1Ω - 0.3Ω). As a beginner, I would make my coil around 2Ω - 2.4Ω; it may not give you the best vape, but it is a good way to get a coil to work, without worrying about popping the coil. You can then make lower ones as you get more experienced at making them.

 

[dBm0]

Using 32g Kanthol on an AGA-T+ and got a coil firing right just yesterday after many failed attempts, so I feel your pain. I wrap loosely free-hand on bare oxidized mesh and use a ProVari to test the ohms and break-in the coils. A decent VV mod can help when just starting out with RBAs because most have short circuit protection and you can pulse the coils at very low volts and slowly bring up volts to break your wraps as mentioned above. Good luck.

 

[Rule62]

If you are rolling your wick first, and then using a drill bit to wrap your coil, this may be your problem. If you use the drill bit method, always get your coil wrapped and installed before making your wick. In order for the drill bit method to work properly, the wick needs to be fitted to the coil, which has already been installed. The fitting of the wick is critical. If you're forcing your wick into the coil, you are scraping the oxidation layer off. For a proper fit, the wick should slide into the coil with very little friction. The coil should be very lightly contacting the wick.

 

[jamesfarrell]

Ok, sounds good. Wrapped teh coil loser around the wick and now I have 1 dead battery. This sucks, I have another better AGA T+ on the way too. I'm ready to put my fist through a wall.

 

[scrappy]

This isn't an oxidation issue. Your wick is too big. Roll it. Between your fingers until it's small enough to slide easily in and out of your coil. When you pulse it, if the top coil lights up first stop right away. If you keep going it will pop. Wait a second for it to cool down then give the wick a twist and attempt it again. If the top coil is still lighting up first the pull the wick out and roll it even smaller. Repeat until it lights from the center. If the bottom is lighting up first then twist your wick inside the coil and give it a go. Eventually it will light up nicely. But the top coil lighting up first is harder to deal with than the bottom.

 

[KillTheNoise]

First off...people don't say it's for experts, it's for people who have done some research and know the basic do's and don'ts in concern for YOUR OWN safety. Second, be patient...slow DOWN...take your time with starting on these.

Here is what I, and a few others do now...all this is thanks to Thrasher who has already posted in this thread.

1. Wash mesh before hand, hot water and a little dish soap, then rinsed thoroughly and let it dry.
2. Cut your strip of mesh so the grain is going vertically, I use 500 but 400 should do just fine.
3. Start rolling with a paperclip, once you have it started remove the paperclip and roll tight enough to keep it together. You want the wick to be solid-ish (not a log...just solid-ish).
4. Run your rolled wick through a flame (I use a bic lighter) enough to make it more rigid and burn off any skin or debris. You're not "oxidizing", just another cleaning method and a way to make your mesh easier to work with.
5. Wrap your coil using the Petar K method. Use a drill bit that fits nicely in the wick hole (I use a 3/32 on my AGA-T) and space the wraps out evenly.
6. Insert the drill bit and secure your coil to the positive post. Give it a few brief fires on a lower voltage to ensure they are glowing nicely.
7. Back to the wick...make sure it slides into the coil pretty freely, you want it to just "set" in there. If it is difficult at all to put in or take out adjust accordingly so it feels like it may slide out.
8. Use the lighter to blacken the area where the coils are, this helps with shorts. You are NOT "oxidizing" it, just blackening the area. -- Recently (again thanks to Thrasher I have been skipping this step and just let the coils oxidize where they sit...much cleaner IMO but this step could help a beginner.)
9. Once assembly is all together, fire your coil again. Adjust your hotspots GENTLY, if you use too much force you will most likely get a short. In that case, kill power to the mod, slide your coil around a bit and give the coil a couple pokes and turn the power back on...the short should be solved. If not, slide it around again and adjust coils (it gets annoying when you can't get it, but don't give up).
10. When you get your hot spots resolved, fill your tank up around 5/8 full (don't over fill tank with a new wick, it prevents wicking from fully working from my experiences).
11. Tilt your mod around 90* and watch the wick, you're watching for juice about to drip out of the top of the wick assembly. Then burn some juice. I start at a lower voltage then work it up as I go...this helps with seasoning it, lessens break-in time I believe.
12. VAPE!

Again...take your time, if you get frustrated, walk away. You should really have started with a VV/VW device, but you can get it on your Naturals. Make sure you wrap it to a higher ohm to start with (32awg is usually a 5/6 wrap to get around 2.4 ohms).

Practice makes perfect...good luck.

 

[jamesfarrell]

Thanks. I'm getting it now. The coil is looser and all the 4 coils are firing up. However the taste is terrible, very burnt taste. The cheapo atomizers from the Kgo taste better. Wonder what I'm doing wrong.

 

[scrappy]

In a vv/vw device you can just turn the power down until the burned taste is gone. In your case you'll have to raise the resistance to do it. Try 7 wraps and give it a go. I bet it will taste much better. For me, when I have a brand new wick it tastes a little muted for about 1/2 an hour then really comes to life.

 

[dsy5]

Fire your device with the atty cover off. If there are any glowing coils, you are not getting enough wicking. Try tilting your device to get it to wick. Put some juice on the wick to saturate it and then see if any coils are glowing. They should not glow when the wick is properly "wet".

That is normally the reason for the burnt taste; or you have a hot spot while vaping it that you cannot see with the cap on.

 

[jamesfarrell]

Thanks guys I was ready to give up hope. The coils aren't glowing, so it's getting juice. I redid a new wick, this time using the cool water, heat with torch x 5 and redid the coil again. Now the taste is better, immense throat hit, but not a lot of vapor. Chripes, this thing is a bear to get right. I have 4 wraps. So you think I should go higher? If I'm doing the ohms right, I put the + lead on the + post and the - on the screw where the other coil wire is right? I'm getting about 2.2 if I'm doing it right.

 

[scrappy]

Fire your device with the atty cover off. If there are any glowing coils, you are not getting enough wicking. Try tilting your device to get it to wick. Put some juice on the wick to saturate it and then see if any coils are glowing. They should not glow when the wick is properly "wet".

That is normally the reason for the burnt taste; or you have a hot spot while vaping it that you cannot see with the cap on.

I forgot he was using a tank. I use dripping rba's so I don't have to do this bit. James, try this first before rebuilding your coil again.