Ithaka official

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jlipson

Full Member
Oct 7, 2013
30
14
Toronto
Hey all,

So I was watching bishopheals (the best!) today build a quad-coil setup in the Ithaca. Near the end of the video he mentioned not to use IMR 18650's on this type of setup. These are the only batteries I use and while it might be a noob question, I thought I'd ask;

- why can't I use these batteries for this setup?
- which ones should I use for these super-low ohm setups?
 

grabeard

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Dec 29, 2009
679
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Just outside my comfort zone.
Go back to Bishops video and scroll beneath it where you can leave a comment and ask him, he usually answers in a few hours.

Hey all,

So I was watching bishopheals (the best!) today build a quad-coil setup in the Ithaca. Near the end of the video he mentioned not to use IMR 18650's on this type of setup. These are the only batteries I use and while it might be a noob question, I thought I'd ask;

- why can't I use these batteries for this setup?
- which ones should I use for these super-low ohm setups?
 

evgeny131

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Apr 5, 2013
3,120
6,198
Los Angeles
beauty and the beast
69 with brass kit+kayfun2.1mini+atmomixani mini me ice dt, Just GG Brass+Ithaka
mHmuIr7.jpg
 

Darkreign

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Aug 3, 2010
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Texas and sometimes Afghanistan
teps, you could use something like the collector tank from the GGTS connected to the rethreader ring, but there has to be something between the atomizer and the battery compartment. Otherwise your Ithaka would connect directly to the top of your battery and airflow would go from your bottom cap, through the battery compartment into the atomizer (this is bad and the GG is designed to prevent the user from being able to do this.)
 

jlipson

Full Member
Oct 7, 2013
30
14
Toronto
Hey I wanted to tell my Ithaka story ... lets call it a Newbie Tale :)

So I got the Ithaka a few months back and it has been hit or miss; short-lived bliss followed by constant frustration. The thing would hit like a champ for a day or so and then I'd get the dreaded 'burnt taste'. Constantly rebuilding, constantly fiddling, no consistency.

One thing I found was that 'choking' the wick seemed to be a consistent issue; almost every time I'd rebuild I'd find the wick to be hard/charred where the coil was. So I tried a few 'loose' coil builds and that didn't work as the coil didn't touch enough wick ... grrrr!

Until last night. I watched a great video (I'll try to link it) where a guy built a micro-coil; I'd heard of these but had never really investigated. His coil looked amazing, heated evenly, and made my hand-wrapped coils look more hack than anything else.

So I used his tips, took a tool roughly the diameter of the 2mm silica wick and wound it up as best I could. I then threaded the wick through the coil; there was enough space to move the wick through easily but close enough that a saturated wick would touch the coil. At first it was terrible; airy, weak vapour etc, but 15 minutes later the thing started hitting amazing and hasn't stopped since.

Anyway I hate to rant, but I just wanted to say if you're having issues with Ithaka/RBA and are a relative noob like myself, please please please remember that the little things make all the difference when building these devices. Getting the coil just right, leaving the wick just enough room to move and saturate without choking, makes all the difference in the world. Weather you use a pin to help wrap or use the wrap/thread approach, I've found this can be the difference between days of great vaping vs daily rebuilds. It's taken some time to figure this out and a ton of wick/wire, but I'm happy to finally have the art of RBA's down to a point where I can get a consistent result!

Any other tips are greatly appreciated ...

J
 

Kataphraktos

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May 1, 2013
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New York, NY
I believe it takes a few minutes before it kicks in because the wick is expanding, and you really get the full effect when the wick has filled out and is pressing against the inside of the coil. Very nice.

When it comes to wicking, I have found cotton is the most forgiving, without ever overwicking. I can't seem to screw up an Ithaka (or Spheroid, for that matter) rebuild with cotton. I believe cotton expands more than Ekowool or silica, so it will always engorge itself on juice to the point where the coil and cotton contact is maximized.

The only thing to remember about cotton is you cannot dry burn it, but you can toss the cotton, dry burn the coil to remove the gunk, and then twist and thread a new piece of cotton through the microcoil. A single coil should last a very long time.

Hey I wanted to tell my Ithaka story ... lets call it a Newbie Tale :)

So I got the Ithaka a few months back and it has been hit or miss; short-lived bliss followed by constant frustration. The thing would hit like a champ for a day or so and then I'd get the dreaded 'burnt taste'. Constantly rebuilding, constantly fiddling, no consistency.

One thing I found was that 'choking' the wick seemed to be a consistent issue; almost every time I'd rebuild I'd find the wick to be hard/charred where the coil was. So I tried a few 'loose' coil builds and that didn't work as the coil didn't touch enough wick ... grrrr!

Until last night. I watched a great video (I'll try to link it) where a guy built a micro-coil; I'd heard of these but had never really investigated. His coil looked amazing, heated evenly, and made my hand-wrapped coils look more hack than anything else.

So I used his tips, took a tool roughly the diameter of the 2mm silica wick and wound it up as best I could. I then threaded the wick through the coil; there was enough space to move the wick through easily but close enough that a saturated wick would touch the coil. At first it was terrible; airy, weak vapour etc, but 15 minutes later the thing started hitting amazing and hasn't stopped since.

Anyway I hate to rant, but I just wanted to say if you're having issues with Ithaka/RBA and are a relative noob like myself, please please please remember that the little things make all the difference when building these devices. Getting the coil just right, leaving the wick just enough room to move and saturate without choking, makes all the difference in the world. Weather you use a pin to help wrap or use the wrap/thread approach, I've found this can be the difference between days of great vaping vs daily rebuilds. It's taken some time to figure this out and a ton of wick/wire, but I'm happy to finally have the art of RBA's down to a point where I can get a consistent result!

Any other tips are greatly appreciated ...

J
 

Idaholandho

Gone Fishin'
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Verified Member
Dec 8, 2012
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Hey I wanted to tell my Ithaka story ... lets call it a Newbie Tale :)

So I got the Ithaka a few months back and it has been hit or miss; short-lived bliss followed by constant frustration. The thing would hit like a champ for a day or so and then I'd get the dreaded 'burnt taste'. Constantly rebuilding, constantly fiddling, no consistency.

One thing I found was that 'choking' the wick seemed to be a consistent issue; almost every time I'd rebuild I'd find the wick to be hard/charred where the coil was. So I tried a few 'loose' coil builds and that didn't work as the coil didn't touch enough wick ... grrrr!

Until last night. I watched a great video (I'll try to link it) where a guy built a micro-coil; I'd heard of these but had never really investigated. His coil looked amazing, heated evenly, and made my hand-wrapped coils look more hack than anything else.

So I used his tips, took a tool roughly the diameter of the 2mm silica wick and wound it up as best I could. I then threaded the wick through the coil; there was enough space to move the wick through easily but close enough that a saturated wick would touch the coil. At first it was terrible; airy, weak vapour etc, but 15 minutes later the thing started hitting amazing and hasn't stopped since.

Anyway I hate to rant, but I just wanted to say if you're having issues with Ithaka/RBA and are a relative noob like myself, please please please remember that the little things make all the difference when building these devices. Getting the coil just right, leaving the wick just enough room to move and saturate without choking, makes all the difference in the world. Weather you use a pin to help wrap or use the wrap/thread approach, I've found this can be the difference between days of great vaping vs daily rebuilds. It's taken some time to figure this out and a ton of wick/wire, but I'm happy to finally have the art of RBA's down to a point where I can get a consistent result!

Any other tips are greatly appreciated ...

J

Kat hit it right on the head as usual.
The only thing I can add is that if you go back and try silica again, I found that in the beginning it may help you to wrap your coil and wick around a small paperclip, syringe or even a bit of kanthal if that is what you can find in a pinch. Then just pull it out when complete. Soon you will just get a feel for the correct tension. If your wicking is dialed in all you need is that coil burning juice.
GL and please don't describe yourself as a newb, noob or anything of the sort. We all learn something everyday.
 

jliu

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Nov 30, 2009
164
10
california, USA
WOOO!!! Arrived back in the states and the first thing I did was open up all my vapemail.

I got 15 difference juices, JGG, Ithaka, bunch of wires and wicks, different batteries(orbtronics 22a and the MNKEs), xtar charger, resistance meter, and an arrow 22 Ti.

So first impressions ... Wow the GG sure has advanced a lot in the last 2 years ... especially the Ithaka. Vapes great, love the airflow control, and easy to do a dual coil(Bishopheals style).

I don't know why people think the genesis type atomizers are easier to build. I had a much easier time on the Ithaka. If anything I need to redo the Genesis atomizer to learn how to do it well because it isn't doing nearly as well as the Ithaka.

Going to pick up a couple more Ithaka's when CoV has the ready wire and SS tank in stock.

So first mistake was ordering the nicotine level to be the same as I used to. Under this set up I need to drop nic level down for sure. Good think I got a mix of 12 and 18 ...

Happy Vaper here!
 

jlipson

Full Member
Oct 7, 2013
30
14
Toronto
I believe it takes a few minutes before it kicks in because the wick is expanding, and you really get the full effect when the wick has filled out and is pressing against the inside of the coil. Very nice.

When it comes to wicking, I have found cotton is the most forgiving, without ever overwicking. I can't seem to screw up an Ithaka (or Spheroid, for that matter) rebuild with cotton. I believe cotton expands more than Ekowool or silica, so it will always engorge itself on juice to the point where the coil and cotton contact is maximized.

The only thing to remember about cotton is you cannot dry burn it, but you can toss the cotton, dry burn the coil to remove the gunk, and then twist and thread a new piece of cotton through the microcoil. A single coil should last a very long time.

Thank you for the feedback; I hear about cotton all the time but when I tried some it tasted pretty awful. Probably the wrong type ... I see people using 'bushels' of cotton but can't see how you'd fill the channels with loose cotton.
 
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