Joyetech eGrip - I am loving this thing!

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Teach

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Sparkle, not sure how low of res a twist will fire before it flashes (short circuit protection). Doesn't hurt to try it though.

All vg is not created equal; some is thick, some is super thick. 100% vg is vapable in any tank system. It's just a matter of waiting on it to replenish the coil after each vape. It will dry hit on you if you get too aggressive with draw length or chaining. Could be your vaping style is more conducive to vaping high vg. My vaping style is to step outside, chain vape a dozen 3-4 second long pulls with every breath, then go back to work. 65% vg is about max in rtas with my vaping style.


Tried it, Twist seems to do fine -
 

vjdossey

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Out and about rockin' my egrip with it's pink skin :) for now I'm using the aspire bvc coils. Got a new yummy juice going too... Tonight I'll attempt to build and use my rba... :)
20150124_152203.jpg
 

AmandaD

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Out and about rockin' my egrip with it's pink skin :) for now I'm using the aspire bvc coils. Got a new yummy juice going too... Tonight I'll attempt to build and use my rba... :)
View attachment 406459

I have one with the pink skin just like yours - I love that one!

I've only so far used the stock coils - and they've all worked fine. I've rewicked a bunch of times, but the stock coils have given me no issues so far. When I run out I'll just rebuild, but it sure is nice to have them ready made! (I build coils all the time for my Reos, but they're less fiddly to mount).
 

Rickajho

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I should specify I can build coils for a kayfun dual in drippers. Varying resistance depending on the need and usually micro coil setups.

So if say while I'm not a guru I'm in the middle. Not new either.

The disposable coils wick like rubbish with anything beyond 50/50. Really really bad. Even some 50/50 wicks horribly if you draw three times in a row.


Screws are tight. Probably around a mm above the base of the deck. The top of the coil is a hair under or on level with the top of the chimney.

The premade coils were advertised as prelate for the egrip from joy tech. The cotton is very thick imo.

How much cotton are you all using. In mm thickness and length. The prefab coils are 2mm diameter

Where did you get those pre-made coils? The ones I got from Cignot don't have nearly that much cotton, and it's nothing that can be "un-braided" either. It looks more like it was cut from a piece of KGD cotton - twist it much and it falls apart.

Also, from what I saw of your photos you are trying to treat this like an RDA - and it's not. Stuffing all the cotton below the coil will block the air flow and make it flood. The instructions said to "pinch" the cotton legs between your fingers, work it into the chimney, and screw the chimney in place. You have it all under the coil and none of it up in the chimney where it wicks from the holes in the chimney to the coil. You build is blocking air from getting to the coil from the bottom of the assembly, and leaving the holes for the liquid in the chimney wide open from the top.
 

vjdossey

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I have one with the pink skin just like yours - I love that one!

I've only so far used the stock coils - and they've all worked fine. I've rewicked a bunch of times, but the stock coils have given me no issues so far. When I run out I'll just rebuild, but it sure is nice to have them ready made! (I build coils all the time for my Reos, but they're less fiddly to mount).

I think I'll throw rewick the stock coil that came in my rba too at first just to keep it simple. I have several of the stick ones too. I tried getting one of my coils in and it is gonna take practice. I like the legs on the stock ones. I have only ever rebuilt for my fiancé in his protanks. I am not the best and for now I'll practice stuffing the cotton down the chimney on this for a while, lol. It seems complicated enough, lol....
 
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vjdossey

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Only because it's so delicious you vape more:D

It really is... so flavorful... I am loving it... GUESS what? I was successful at rewicking... took 2 trie to get it right. I had too much the first round. So much that the airflow was restricted. Luckily I know whst it feels like when it's set up correctly so I knew. I am taking pics as I go so I can remember what works and what doesn't. Been vaping about half hour or more, so far no leak and super good flavor. So happy!!! Did I mention tons of vapor? Lol... yehawwww
 

MrSparkle

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After 3 hours of fiddling (inclusive of taking pics, cooking and eating a chicken pot pie and taking a 30 min phone call), I have #1 eGrip RBA cleaned, recoiled with a Joyetech factory coil, rewicked, and vapin sweet n airy. Man, what a difference. I'm going to use 10 days on a wick / coil for a benchmark with the juice I like (again, the Dekang USA Mix VG 16 mg and the Basic Tobeecco VG (< 2% PG) 12 mg mixed 50/50). That might change based on the dry burn experience below, and as I have a go at #2 eGrip after this post.

This afternoon I swang by the Cignot near me and picked up the Eleaf ohm meter, the RBA 510 adapter, and some juice from my man Dennis and got to meet the delightful Vicky - quality peeps.

Funny though: I was getting ohm readings all over the map, but finally got 1.5 a few times in a row after priming / assembling and stopped futzing and installed the RBA in the body, which is firing no problem. Two suspects:

1) I think I needed a $2 adapter to go between the eGo threaded posts on the Eleaf meter and the Joyetech 510 RBA adapter (which threads fine into the eGo twist I used to fire the new coil, which worked just fine - except for oddness which I'll relate below as well). There's a thread adapter / connector that comes with the Eleaf that the instructions say is to go between the eGo threads on the meter and 510-threaded devices. I had to futz with this a lot, but I was able to get readings (though not consistent).

Dennis had mentioned this adapter (forgot who makes it, but it's not the Joyetech eGrip 510 adapter) - but we got to talking Vape World (specifically the most recent bogus formaldehyde "study"), then a customer came in, then Vicky arrived, and I had already closed the sale and split to let Vicky do her business.

2) One of the tiny deck screws is definitely stripped - more than once, I was getting 2-3 ohm readings, and would just try to tighten the screw while in the 510 adapter on the meter, and it would go back down instantly.

So here we go:

Here's what the factory-installed coil at 14 days, and wick job I did about 10 days ago (mentioned way back in this thread) looked like:

IMG_1548.jpgIMG_1549.jpg

Grody! Grody to the max, I'm sure!
:p But honestly, this didn't taste bad at all - I was only doing this cuz I was curious, and reading accounts of folks only getting a week out of a factory RBA coil vs. others going two weeks (which this one was at). Resistance: 2.93 with the wick, 3.94 after I pulled the wick (but this might be due to the meter post / connector / adapter fiddling / weirdness). Fellow noobs / noobettes take note: this has all the world to do with your juice. Unflavored PG will not gunk up a coil for a long time, where a Belgian Waffle VG will do it within hours (if I understand this right).

Here it is before and after 4 or 5 7-10 second dry burns on my eGo Twist at 3.2 V (now I don't feel so bad about this guy, he has a use after all lol):

IMG_1550.jpgIMG_1552.jpg

Resistance: 1.54. This very easily could be rewicked and used again for the tight of purse strings.

Here it is after I pulled the RBA completely apart, cleaned it, and installed a new factory wound coil:

IMG_1553.jpg

Resistance: 1.54. However, with all the fiddling, I was seeing as high as 3.3, and low as 1.4.

I think it's only 5 attachments per post - more to come for #1:
 

MrSparkle

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Here's the coil unfired and aligned, slight angle:

IMG_1554.jpg

Note the symmetry, and distance from the air hole (which isn't hard to get right with the factory pre-bent coil legs). What will help here getting the coil legs into the side holes in the RBA base posts: get one leg in and the screw tightened down on it, then use tweezers to get the other leg in. Then use the little blue screwdriver through the coil to adjust it so it's aligned perpendicular with the screws. Also handy: needlenose pliers to squeeze the coil together (I did this both before and after firing)

Here's the firing through one sequence - heat up, full glow, cool down (I repeated this maybe 10 times - see below):

IMG_1555.jpgIMG_1556.jpgIMG_1557.jpg

As cigatron had mentioned earlier in the thread, you want to see a consistent glow across the coil, with no hotspots or unevenness. However, when I was doing this firing, there were times where the coil was not glowing - it was definitely hot to the touch (and not from the previous firing, I waited a minute or so between each). The eGo never showed it was shorting or low resistance with the flashing, it just acted normal with each press.

Here's some fluffy wicking - I deliberately started with too long of a wick, with the intention of trimming after the RBA tube / chimney was installed:

IMG_1558.jpg

Note how the coil isn't all shiny and new - this is from the firing cigatron mentioned that is necessary to get the coil "broken in" before actual firing in the eGrip itself.

This is where resistances got all over the map: I measured between firings and saw anywhere from 3.3 to 1.45 again, but was able to see 1.4 / 1.5 on a regular basis, which is when I decided to wick - then for some reason, it hung around 1.7.

Even more to come:
 

MrSparkle

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Here's the RBA with the RBA tube / chimney installed after doing the "bunny ears" thing as recommended in the Joyetech RBA instructions (pulling up on the wicks, threading them up through the tube / chimney, then threading and installing the tube). The wicking is tucked down a bit with a nail file, but as you can see, there's too much.

IMG_1559.jpg

Here's a bit trimmed off before final tucking:

IMG_1560.jpg

This is a good shot, as it shows the relationship between wicking, coil, and air hole. I was testing resistance during all this, and it was bouncing between 2.0 and 1.7 (again, prolly due to the stripped screw, and the Eleaf connector / adapter / post weirdness).

Here's the tucking finalized before priming (using a nail file and a thumbtack):

IMG_1561.jpg

Noob folks, you want to prime prime prime that wick. Get it soaked (but not dripping) before installing. And don't wick unprimed before firing a new coil, unless you like the smell / taste of burning cotton (btw, this is all with the cotton supplied by Joyetech with the RBA base kit - I've yet to try the rayon I've read much about, or other esoteric cotton suppliers like Cotton Bacon).

Final resistance reading I was getting after all said and done (at least the most consistent reading, considering the weirdness: 1.47. Remember, the eGrip will not fire below 1 ohm.

Yeah, it's a lot of fiddling / extra work - keep in mind this was my first rebuild ever. But if you think you want extra airflow / flavor - it's all worth it.


Off to do eGrip #2. I'll spare the pics :p
 
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MrSparkle

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While not really a time trial, I did eGrip #2 as fast as possible:

I used another factory-wound coil, tested resistance pre-fire at 1.1 ohms. No funny business this time around with the Eleaf meter, as the RBA base in #2 has no stripped threads. 1.1 every time.

Fired 5 times on the eGo at 3.2 V again, 7-10 seconds each, a minute or so between. Resistance after: 1.3 every time.

Wicked, primed: 1.4 every time.

35 minutes start to finish. Lovely thick tasty vape at 14 watts on both.

Final notes: remember to shut down the eGrip with the 5 clicks whenever messing with the atomizer, whether it's stock or the RBA.

And may I recommend Adam Franklin and Bolts of Melody for the soundtrack for any rebuilding efforts:

All Happening Now (disc one) | Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody
All Happening Now (disc two) | Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody
All Happening Now (disc three) | Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody
 

cigatron

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Great job Sparkles! Coil symmetry, height and positioning all look great. Coil appears to be firing perfect and res is on target. Wicking density looks good too. I could tell from the pics of the fired coil and wicking density that you were going to be pleased with the results.

If you find that you are limited to 14w without dryhits it's going to be those slightly short wick tails. A little longer will get them into the the tiny juice well at the bottom of the chimney where hidden juice is just waiting to be slurped up by the wick. Keep reminding yourself that cotton swells (bulges out and pulls up) when wetted and will lift up off the bottom where it does the most good.

Again, great post but do tell; how's the flavor and vapor production?

Cig
 
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MrSparkle

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If you find that you are limited to 14w without dryhits it's going to be those slightly short wick tails. A little longer will get them into the the tiny juice well at the bottom of the chimney where hidden juice is just waiting to be slurped up by the wick. Keep reminding yourself that cotton swells (bulges out and pulls up) when wetted and will lift up off the bottom where it does the most good.
All too true, which proves you know yer stuff, Mr. Tron :2cool:

To be honest, for all I've read about how nasty dry hits are, I don't think I've had one yet out of either eGrip, with either stock or RBA coils. I noticed definite flavor improvement from used stock coil to new, and now from ~14 days on the factory RBA builds to my own, but never anything gross or cough-worthy yet.

I should point out that 12.5 to 14 watts with lung hits is my personal sweet spot. It's too much first thing in the morning, I start at 8 and after an hour or so I ramp up. On occasion I can and will go to 15.5 to 20 for fun without any burnt taste, but it has to be a mouth to lung hit.

#1 wood finish eGrip is the first one I bought that I dropped on pavement the first week I had it and now has the mahogany wrap - I'm calling it my "beater" Grip (it also has the early run loose fire button / watt dial - a minor issue). For that reason, it also has the RBA where two of the four juice inlet holes in the tube / chimney line up with the base posts when fully screwed down, and it's next to impossible to get wicking down in there. I can't even get the smallest needle I have on hand in the house down in between there.

Sure enough, it started gurgling a bit again, so out of sheer boredom tonight I pulled that one out - and sure enough, like you said above, the wicking was not enough. But I'm now convinced that when first pulling on it, it's drawing a bit extra juice from those inlets, then it equalizes or whatever for the rest of the draw as the coil heats. I dry burned and rewicked that one tonight, and it's still doing it a bit. The wicking from 10-11 days ago preventing it must have been an anomaly.

I really want to ask next time at Cignot to look through what RBAs they have on hand to see if I can cherry pick one that all four inlets are exposed to the wells when the tube / chimney is tightened. I bet heavily this might have to do with other folks' troubles with the RBA.

#2 wood finish eGrip is the replacement I bought for #1, to have something nice to show off to folks when the topic comes up (see my Walgreens experience earlier in the thread). All four inlet holes in the tube on that one align nicely with the wells and not the base posts when the tube / chimney is tight. No issues.

Again, great post but do tell; how's the flavor and vapor production?
And thanks again :)

I'm almost of the opinion that a video is in order - picture's a thousand words, y'know. I have a Youtube channel dedicated to what little VHS documentation exists of my part time rock star career from my youth. I might upload something this week if I have the time and link it here.

Nutshell: it's awesome on both counts. As we all know, taste is subjective. Between the performance, style, and convenience of the eGrip, and the satisfaction I have with the 50/50 USA Mix / Tobeecco, I have little reason to look elsewhere right now.

Except to look back at all the coffin nails I dropped stupid amounts of money on.
 

Rise

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Does anyone else get an annoying drop of liquid coming out the airflow hole on the bottom when using the rba? I have tried endless styles of wicking, 3 different grips and 3 different rba and that drop keeps appearing, help! This seems to accumulate when i leave the mod sitting for a while most often.
 
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AmandaD

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Does anyone else get an annoying drop of liquid coming out the airflow hole on the bottom when using the rba? I have tried endless styles of wicking, 3 different grips and 3 different rba and that drop keeps appearing, help! This seems to accumulate when i leave the mod sitting for a while most often.

I often get a little drip on all of mine. I use higher PG juice,l and I think that's the issue. But it's not a big deal - or at least I'm used to it now!
 

cigatron

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Come to think of it mine doesn't drip when I'm not using it. It's only if I chain vape that it does that . I stick them in my purse all the time, and I haven't found any messiness inside LOL

Funny...roflmao!....if I dropped my egrip in my wife's purse it's likely I would never find it again....lol
 
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