Kanger T3 & Ceramic Wick

[zippersnapper]

I decided to put a little idea I have been thinking about to the test today. I have been following Scubabatdans thread on the use of ceramic as a wick. Scubadatdan deserves all credit here. a true pioneer in the vaping community

Since I really love the Kanger T3's, I though I might as well make a ceramic wick for it, and see what happens:

I tried using the "flavor" wicks with this setup, and it quickly ran into dry hits. I then removed the flavor wicks, reassembled, and vaped.
I must say, the flavor is much more pronounced. The ceramic stone does not wick as fast as rope, so an easier draw is needed. After every vape, bubbles are rising to the top to indicate it is indeed, wicking. On my next attempt, I will give a couple more wraps of Kanthal, thus giving me more surface area to heat. This setup only yielded 1.8ohm.


It's producing a decent amount of vapor, now that that juice is soaking in really good. Still not up to par though. Using Boba's, for the ultimate test...........

Convinced that the problem lies with the size of the ceramic stone, I decided to open things up a bit to accommodate a larger stone:

This setup yielded 2.8ohm..my favorite sweet spot @ 4.2V.

Extreme care must be used while increasing the diameter of the top breather tube. Too much material removed, will result in a dead short, as the coils will come in contact with the inside portion of the breather tube.

 

[Dunder Mifflin]

Very nice! Did it improve? any gurgle? did you modify the silicone cup?

 

[Action_Jackson]

Nice job! It looks like you have greatly increased the surface area in contact with the coild and should be getting a lot more vapor. I was thinking about doing the same thing with the breather tube to make is fit flush with larger diameter wicks. That should help with any seepage around the wick, guessing that is what the flavor strips are used for.

 

[zippersnapper]

Very nice! Did it improve? any gurgle? did you modify the silicone cup?

Actually, I removed it completely...No gurgling, but Vapor production is not where I want it. I would imagine if using any juice but Boba's, it would be MUCH better. A thinner juice is in order..

Nice job! It looks like you have greatly increased the surface area in contact with the coild and should be getting a lot more vapor. I was thinking about doing the same thing with the breather tube to make is fit flush with larger diameter wicks. That should help with any seepage around the wick, guessing that is what the flavor strips are used for.

I think in addition the helping with leakage they provide additional juice to lay on top of the coils, thus increasing vapor/flavor production.

The ceramic stone is very brittle when ground down this small, and putting a hole through it would be a BIG challenge... I'm afraid it would crumble with the slightest pressure..

Please give it a try, and post here with your results !!!

 

[mrelwood]

I have noticed that larger diameter coils are slow to warm up, and since I'm a 3s dragger I never wrap around bigger than a 2.5mm wick.

Not sure what I'd try next in your situation though. I do know that I have to make a vertical coil carto-style stone setup inside a T3 at some point. Just to know atleast!

 

[zippersnapper]

I have noticed that larger diameter coils are slow to warm up, and since I'm a 3s dragger I never wrap around bigger than a 2.5mm wick.

That's a damn good observation. The guys doing the RBS's however, make the wicks much larger in diameter than 2.5mm and even what I have made, with no adverse effects. Much to the contrary, the larger the better in the case of RBA's. Given that those are vertical wicks much longer than mine, and have gravity to overcome, it seems that a Bottom coil setup would vape much better.

Still allot of experimenting to do, without a doubt..

 

[mrelwood]

That's a damn good observation. The guys doing the RBS's however, make the wicks much larger in diameter than 2.5mm and even what I have made, with no adverse effects. Much to the contrary, the larger the better in the case of RBA's.

I've been thinking about that. And I can't get my DID clones to work properly with a 3mm 1.9 ohm coil. Could be that using a 1.5 or lower ohm coil on a mechanical mod makes the big difference. I use Vamo at around 8 watts, and the large coils I made for the DID clone needed 11W and long drags. They didn't vape nearly as well with my 3 second drags as the Vivi Nova setups I build. Still trying though.

 

[zippersnapper]

I've been thinking about that. And I can't get my DID clones to work properly with a 3mm 1.9 ohm coil. Could be that using a 1.5 or lower ohm coil on a mechanical mod makes the big difference. I use Vamo at around 8 watts, and the large coils I made for the DID clone needed 11W and long drags. They didn't vape nearly as well with my 3 second drags as the Vivi Nova setups I build. Still trying though.

I'm thinking I need to be using a different size gauge Kanthal. Cant remember if thicker gauge =higher ohms, or vice versa?
Can anyone chime in?

I'm using a Vamo as well......

 

[rjeatkrconley]

Thicker the wire lower the ohms.
Sent from my SGH-i667 using Board Express

 

[trevor148]

Pretty sure thicker is lower ohms, and thinner is higher.

 

[zippersnapper]

Thicker the wire lower the ohms.
Sent from my SGH-i667 using Board Express

Pretty sure thicker is lower ohms, and thinner is higher.

Good deal and thanx.. So I'm thinking 30ga or even 28ga should be in order on the next attempt. Hopefully, that will fire it red much quicker.

 

[Action_Jackson]

Good deal and thanx.. So I'm thinking 30ga or even 28ga should be in order on the next attempt. Hopefully, that will fire it red much quicker.

The higher the gauge the thinner the wire is, so if you want a higher resistance wire you need to buy a higher gauge. If you want a thinner wire with higher resistance then 36ga is probably what you are looking for.

 

[zippersnapper]

Ok, my bad your right..I cant think straight..I'm going to get some right away..

Ordered up some 34ga yesterday. Cant wait to give it a go..

 

[harmonic]

i havent read dans thread. what did your stone start out as?

 

[Scubabatdan]

i havent read dans thread. what did your stone start out as?

It started out as this:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752197

Dan

 

[Scubabatdan]

That's a damn good observation. The guys doing the RBS's however, make the wicks much larger in diameter than 2.5mm and even what I have made, with no adverse effects. Much to the contrary, the larger the better in the case of RBA's. Given that those are vertical wicks much longer than mine, and have gravity to overcome, it seems that a Bottom coil setup would vape much better.

Still allot of experimenting to do, without a doubt..

Is the second wick 1/8" or 7/64"? I would go with 4 wraps of 32ga, should yield around 1.8-2.1 ohms.
Dan

 

[zippersnapper]

The higher the gauge the thinner the wire is, so if you want a higher resistance wire you need to buy a higher gauge. If you want a thinner wire with higher resistance then 36ga is probably what you are looking for.

Action:
I tried your idea today, The max diameter stone that can be put into the Kanger base is slightly larger than 1/8". I took a 1/16" drill bit and drilled it out (tried to) It crumbled into dust..way to fragile to hollow out.

Some more food for thought:
Diamond wheels are a MUST HAVE. Not only for cutting up the Air Stone into sections for "rounding" but also to get it close for final dimensions. I was using the med course stone on the bench grinder, and after 2 1/2 hours, it doesn't want to "cut" the ceramic anymore. This results in applying to much pressure on the stone, thus breaking them. Its almost as though the ceramic, has actually made the med grit stone "smooth". I will need to attack it with a wheel dressing stone I guess.

Keeping your ceramic stone wet during the grinding process seems to cut down on breakage as well. My theory is not only is it keeping it cooler (not much mind you, as it doesn't get hot at all), but the pores are filled, making the stone less brittle. If that makes any sense.

This is a pick of a Kanger as it is newly cleaned:

My goal is to get the same number of wraps, on the much larger stone "wick" while maintaining a respectable Ohm load. The lag time from when the fire button is hit, to when the coils start to glow is killing me.

I have 28ga and 34 ga Kanthal on the way. I also cut a few stones for the Kanger, and put a ever so slight "flat" on the top to prevent the center breather tube from hitting the coil, and causing a dead short.
Which now that I think about it, was a waste of time since the coil certainly wont lay flat.

Stones in production:

I can fully appreciate why these things go for $12 a three pack. They are very tedious to make..After an hour at the grinding stone, I have to walk away...

 

[zippersnapper]

Is the second wick 1/8" or 7/64"? I would go with 4 wraps of 32ga, should yield around 1.8-2.1 ohms.
Dan

Much appreciated Dan. I'm going to try that right now ! (tad larger than 1/8")

 

[Action_Jackson]

Thanks for giving it a try Zipper, wasn't sure is it would hold together. I was thinking of drilling the hole first, then shaping the stone around it. With the max diameter being only 1/8 inch, that does not leave much material to work with.

I was looking at making some porous ceramic using molds, but the cost for the raw materials I have been looking at are too high. It would cost about $100 - $150 for the materials in the smallest quantities that I have found so far. Would be enough to make hundreds of wicks, but then they would have to be fired in a Kiln. Porous cramic seems relatively easy to make. It just takes the right ingredients mixed together, poured into a mold, dried, then fired in a kiln.

This would only be a viable solution if there was an intent to sell because the cost is so high.

Not sure what the market would be for something like this. Plus not sure how well it will actually work.

 

[zippersnapper]

Thanks for giving it a try Zipper, wasn't sure is it would hold together. I was thinking of drilling the hole first, then shaping the stone around it. With the max diameter being only 1/8 inch, that does not leave much material to work with.

I was looking at making some porous ceramic using molds, but the cost for the raw materials I have been looking at are too high. It would cost about $100 - $150 for the materials in the smallest quantities that I have found so far. Would be enough to make hundreds of wicks, but then they would have to be fired in a Kiln. Porous cramic seems relatively easy to make. It just takes the right ingredients mixed together, poured into a mold, dried, then fired in a kiln.

This would only be a viable solution if there was an intent to sell because the cost is so high.

Not sure what the market would be for something like this. Plus not sure how well it will actually work.

Agreed for sure. That would be a big investment for something that may not work. Your correct about drilling the hole first, then shaping the stone around it.

Another hurdle to overcome is the coil will have to be micro sized to fit into that tiny of a space. Not sure how well they would work.

Tried Dan's coil setup= 4 wraps of 32ga. and it yielded a slightly lower ohm load of 2.5. The flavor is EXCELLENT, but vapor production is still not where I would like it..I have the largest stone you can put in...the breather tube barley fits on..I'll give it one more shot with less resistant wire and more wraps to see what happens. I'm going to coil this thing up just like a CE3 BC...super tight coils and see....


I'm using 100% VG Bobas..I should have some more kangers arriving soon, then I will try a lighter juice and see what happens..