Mech + RDA + Dozens of coil variants... Never quite satisfied.

[AlwaysSunny]

I just lost a lovely, detailed, thorough draft due to login expiration, so I'll just be brief this time. There went that hour...

I want harder, better, faster, stronger production from my Nemesis / Helios / Sony VTC4 / 28g / Cotton builds.

I like TH, body (sensation of density), moderate warmth, and a fairly tight draw. I don't care about flavor until I dial in the rest of the experience. I don't want to sub-ohm below 0.3 or 0.4 because the instant voltage drop is a bummer and the heat cooks my juice into syrupy tar.

I would certainly consider deviating from my 50/50 blend ratio, especially if I can get this thing to produce harder, better, faster, stronger. If the production improves, I'll want less PG, which ought to improve body / density, no?

I'd like to hear some "intermediate" ideas - stuff I wouldn't know to try after casual research and 1-2 months - to get a superior experience. For instance, next time I think I'll try compressed micro quad coils with a higher resistance, because my only other quad build did well except for the heat and voltage drop. I think maximizing the surface area of wick-on-wire was the favorable half of the "quad" idea.

Or am I barking up the wrong tree, perhaps? What other ideas might a relatively inexperienced builder not know to try, bearing in mind the preferences I mentioned?

Anything goes, I'd love to hear feedback. Thank you for your time!

 

[Rule62]

Sub ohm builds and the fairly tight draws that you indicated you prefer don't usually go well together. If you want a nice, thick, flavorful vape, you're going to need to run a looser draw. I'm no cloud chaser, but I run around .45 to .5 ohms. I'm an old pipe and cigar smoker, so I like a nice thick vape. My usual build is with 26g kanthal. Dual coils. 8 wraps, each coil, on a 5/64 drill bit. This puts me in the .5 ohm range.

 

[CRW78]

Based on the info you provided here, you need to find an atty to suit those requirements. You won't get a tight draw from a rebuildable, and if you do, the rest of the vape is gonna lack.. "moderately warm" could use a bit of explaining here. I vape normally .18 and lower and these are moderately warm. Find a build that gives you warmth, above .4/.5? I haven't yet. Overall, I think you're looking for things together that you just aren't gonna get unless you are above/below certain levels. How long have you been rebuilding? 1 or 2 months is nowhere near time to "dial in" anything if you're new to it! I'm moving up on 7 weeks now and I still change my builds every other day.

 

[juggalofisher88]

Well lets see here not familiar with the hielios but i think it has a T-post pos+block (correct me if im wrong)
My sweet spot is normally .3 so maybe i can help.
If you want instant satisfaction with quads in my experience you either have to drop them ohms or go parallel. I also use between 85-75vg/15-25pg juice and both those produce some nice dense clouds.

This one is a dual triple parallel 28g its at .23 a little much for me..
Some regular dual parallels work just fine
Of course in my experience more air equals more dense more flavorful less scorching hits.

 

[AlwaysSunny]

This is great, you guys, thanks for sharing your input!

Now I've got a few things to try, which is what I wanted. Any other readers who'd like to chime in, I'd sure appreciate it!

@Rule62 - I was never a big pipe or cigar smoker, but when it comes to vaping, that's akin to the experience I'd like to get. I think wanting a tight draw is a psychological trick I'm playing on myself, and ultimately isn't as important as that sensation of density. My atty has great adjustable airflow, so I'm constantly experimenting to find my favorite setting for each build. Gave me something to think about. Thanks for sharing!

@CRW78 - Good to know I'm not alone in struggling to find a favorite build after 6-8 weeks. You may be correct that I'm hoping for an experience I won't be able to get with relative ease. I remain flexible as I experiment - maybe I shouldn't have made such a big deal about this or that preference, and just asked about getting production up. It seems like none of my builds push the massive amounts of vapor I see from similar builds in videos, even though I'm mimicking their instructions rather thoroughly. Could be all about VG content, though it sure seems like they have magic batteries or something. I feel like Goldilocks; this one's too hot, this one's too weak etc, and nothing's just right. Thanks for the nice writeup!

@juggalofisher88 - You're right about the T-post / block on the Helios. I chose it for that reason, as well as the adjustable airflow. I haven't tried a parallel build yet, just a lot of different singles and duals with varying success. Some good info and a nice pic, I appreciate it! Now I've got something else to try next time I build.

Big big thank-yous all around, I appreciate your time!

 

[UncleChuck]

You aren't going to get massive vapor with a tight draw, that might be the issue you are having. You need a lot of air to produce those huge clouds you see in videos. Another thing to remember is that vapor can look a lot thicker on camera than in person.

I'm not sure what types of coils you've been building up to this point, but you mention your next plan is micros. I'd suggest going for a larger diameter coil if you are after big performance, micros (IMHO) are only good for efficient low power vaping, up to 12 watts or so. To blow big clouds you need more juice than a super skinny wick can hold, let alone transfer to your coil.

Those cheap little blue-handled screwdrivers that come with all the clone rdas are a great size for higher power coils. If you want to stick with 28g I'd suggest a dual coil build, each coil being twisted 28g at .9 ohm or so. That should give you a decent overall resistance and plenty of vapor, with the larger coils and wicks allowing for more juice to go where it needs to be. And don't forget to open the airflow a bit.

 

[CRW78]

If you're sticking with 28g, run dual parallels. 5-6 wraps around a qtip (not sure the I.D. of that. Lol) Airflow is certainly key to the clouds, and it was mentioned already, but yeah, the clouds are more impressive on camera UNLESS you're driving. Lol. I have to exhale to the passenger side when I'm driving or I lose visibility for a bit. I'm sure I'll be prompted to post a video to back that up, which I can. Lol!
Happy vaping bud!

 

[AlwaysSunny]

@UncleChuck - Sounds like wisdom to me. I'll have a go wrapping on something a bit larger than the jewler's screwdriver I've been using - didn't plan on ever going smaller. I tend to push over 20 Watts fully charged, so maybe my petite coils are part of my performance issue. Sure worth a try going bigger.

@CRW78 - Yet another thing to try; parallels. Definitely gonna give it a shot. A Q-tip sounds functionally identical to the screwdriver I'm using, so maybe next build I'll try both ideas - a larger I.D. parallel build.

Big thanks to you all for giving me some ideas! Just to clarify, when I spoke about seeing massive production in videos, I was mainly referring to the user firing the device with no cap on, so airflow wouldn't have been a factor. Nothing I ever built put out half as hard and fast. Perhaps the looks-better-on-camera phenomenon was to blame, as well as a higher VG juice. Still, I remain dubious; I suspect magic batteries...

Cheers,

 

[CRW78]

Just to clarify, when I spoke about seeing massive production in videos, I was mainly referring to the user firing the device with no cap on, so airflow wouldn't have been a factor.

Cheers,

This can be highly deceiving as well! I can't always duplicate that same incense burner type test fire, but toss clouds like the one below


And at times when I do get that ultimate looking test fire, it seems to lack when vaping. **shrug**

 

[AlwaysSunny]

Aww, now you're just showing off! I'm not sure I need that much horsepower to be happy, but it's sure impressive nonetheless.

I gave it a shot - a pair of macro parallels at 0.4 ohms. I've gotta say, so far I'm thrilled with the results compared to other < 0.5 builds I've tried. I get the volume / density I want in two seconds flat, which is just awesome. For whatever reason, the heat from my other 0.4 quad build was outrageous, whereas here it's a non-issue.

Thank you all VERY MUCH for your advice, I really couldn't be more pleased with what I've learned.