Mesh... what am I doing wrong?!?!?

[DigiManTX]

I am getting pretty frustrated at this point with mesh... I've read and read and read, so I'm not going into things blind here... yes I am an amateur, but I'm NOT an amateur (if that makes any sense)...

my 500 came in today... built a nice tight wick at 40mmx100mm for my AGA-T... it's a nice fit in the 3mm hole... built a coil 30awg a1 7/6 wrap (netted me a 2.3ohm coil)... worked out the kinks, nice red glow everywhere... no hot spots... filled up the tank, watched it wick (had to tip for a few seconds to help it out, but no biggie)... i get the "mini fireworks display", great vapor, nice TH off of 4mg juice (which surprised me a bit), no dry hits... BUT... the flavor country... MAN... WHERE is it? i get more flavor out of all my carto tanks and my notched out vivi novas, than anything that i've built with mesh thus far... the flavors are really muted comparatively... smoother, but missing that clarity of a "sour or sharpness or fullness" that i've come to know when vaping a good juice... sitting side by side, you would never know that i am vaping the same juice... and unfortunately not in the good way that i was hoping...

what am i doing wrong here? i've tried every voltage from 3v all the way to the top at 6v... nothing made a real difference in flavor... i'm about ready to give up on mesh altogether...

 

[asdaq]

Diagnostic pics perhaps?

Just a stab in the dark, long leads burning out the flavor?

 

[JollyRogers]

asdaq is the man. Put up a picture.

What kind of e-juice and what flavor? I only ask, because every once in a while I try a flavor in my genisis setups and I can't get the flavor to come through. Sometimes it is setup also, sometimes a day of break-in helps also with the wick/coil. Sometimes it is the devices characteristics... For example, I am blown away with some of the tobac flavors from AVE and HHV on my Orion, and they are so so on a Zen and can't taste them all that well. Pluid in my Orion is waaayyy over powering, but on the Zen is awesome.

 

[DigiManTX]

 

[DigiManTX]

that's at 5v by the way...

 

[DigiManTX]

asdaq is the man. Put up a picture.

What kind of e-juice and what flavor? I only ask, because every once in a while I try a flavor in my genisis setups and I can't get the flavor to come through. Sometimes it is setup also, sometimes a day of break-in helps also with the wick/coil. Sometimes it is the devices characteristics... For example, I am blown away with some of the tobac flavors from AVE and HHV on my Orion, and they are so so on a Zen and can't taste them all that well. Pluid in my Orion is waaayyy over powering, but on the Zen is awesome.

honestly it's on any juice i try... i mean they are ok... don't get me wrong... but they are severely lacking compared to everything else i have

 

[asdaq]

A nice vid will get you farther.

Your wick is 3mm and the distance to the post is about the same. Try loosening the pos nut and press the wick closer (bending) to the post and re tighten, better at 1mm distance or less without touching. It may be worth a try.

The vid shows vapor starting at the top, and it is very intense there, but when cooling it seems to keep coming off that area and even as if from the positive post itself.

Hope this helps with the flavor.

 

[DigiManTX]

A nice vid will get you farther.

Your wick is 3mm and the distance to the post is about the same. Try loosening the pos nut and press the wick closer (bending) to the post and re tighten, better at 1mm distance or less without touching. It may be worth a try.

The vid shows vapor starting at the top, and it is very intense there, but when cooling it seems to keep coming off that area and even as if from the positive post itself.

Hope this helps with the flavor.

LMAO! that caused all kinds of problems... ahahhahaaa... have to redo the wick i guess... but i do see what you were talking about... instead of the whole coil vaporizing the liquid it was just the top portion... that was also the only part of the coil that had any gunk on it... the bottom was nice and clean... wouldn't the whole coil have build up on it if it was firing right?

 

[Big Screen D]

Wicking looks a bit anemic, particularly if you're taking long draws. To tight a roll, or maybe not enough space through the wick hole hindering wicking. Top leg is a bit long, though I don't see it glowing in the vid.

Might try tweaking the placement or size of the air hole.

 

[DigiManTX]

now i can't get a coil not to short to save my life... ugghhh... gotta walk away for a while... BALLS!!!!!!!

 

[DigiManTX]

Wicking looks a bit anemic, particularly if you're taking long draws. To tight a roll, or maybe not enough space through the wick hole hindering wicking. Top leg is a bit long, though I don't see it glowing in the vid.

Might try tweaking the placement or size of the air hole.

yeah i tried to move the air hole here and there... didn't seem to improve flavor...

 

[katnbrian]

I am no expert but I use 400 mesh with 3/4 wraps with 3.7V that my 18350 gives me. I have tried around 8 times over three weeks or so and finally got all coils to glow but as long as the top coil was not shorted or glowing bright orange while the others did nothing, I have had great flavor and great vapor. Not being a smart ... but maybe you are trying to hard. I also find after building a new coil that it takes awhile for the flavor to get back to where it was before I rebuilt the coil. You have some nice looking coils but maybe try less wraps. It looks like you have a spring thing going on there. I have built nice looking coils and crappy looking coils and they all work the same.

 

[DigiManTX]

I am no expert but I use 400 mesh with 3/4 wraps with 3.7V that my 18350 gives me. I have tried around 8 times over three weeks or so and finally got all coils to glow but as long as the top coil was not shorted or glowing bright orange while the others did nothing, I have had great flavor and great vapor. Not being a smart ... but maybe you are trying to hard. I also find after building a new coil that it takes awhile for the flavor to get back to where it was before I rebuilt the coil. You have some nice looking coils but maybe try less wraps. It looks like you have a spring thing going on there. I have built nice looking coils and crappy looking coils and they all work the same.

yeah i have 400 in another AGA-T, and no issues other than it doesn't wick unless i tilt... and there is still my flavor issue going on there too... and i thought the whole idea BJ brought up about wraps was essentially "the more the better" when dealing with thick wicks as it spreads out the heat evenly so not to just scorch 1 spot...

 

[JollyRogers]

I know thick solid wicks is the thing. But TBH, I was having a flavor issue on my petar k Vaper, and I started thinking what had I done to ruin what was a perfect vape for me for the last 3 months. I put a solid 500 wick in it 2 days ago. I put a hollow #400 back in and it is great again. I put a solid wick in it because the solid #500 3.5mm wick in my Cobalt with a 3/4 wrap of 30g nichrome (1.3Ω) is awesome. Also, agree that it is a little far from the top post. I also have not had good experience when running so much kanthal or nichrome in there. If I need the resistance to be higher, I run a thinner wire coil. So there is a couple more ideas.

 

[DigiManTX]

changed it up a bit this morning and it's better... but still have my flavor issue... but i took the wick out, and even though it fit good, i rolled it tighter... now there is enough room for it to slide in and out and barely be touching the sides at all... it doesn't wick fast enough to keep on truckin, but plenty of time to take a good toke... possibly chain vape with a bit of a tilt (which suits me fine)... also changed up the kanthal... 5/4 wrap of 32awg a-1 (netted me a 2.3 coil)... and the top is leaning towards the post as you guys recommended... i'll vape this tank and see where i'm at...

 

[gdeal]

Digi...How are you oxidizing your SS?

 

[DigiManTX]

Digi...How are you oxidizing your SS?

my entire process:

boil the mesh, fire the piece a bit before rolling, roll tight wick... use my espresso machine steam arm to steam the oils from my fingers off... fire top 1/3 of it with a bic (don't have a torch type) for a good while (no quench), let cool down, repeat (no quench), let cool down, repeat and quench this time... drop juice, light, 3x's... check all over with meter to make sure there is an extremely high resistance or none at all... all over the wick... wrap coil, slide wick in, set coil, work hot spots, juice a bit, look for more hot spots (do that a couple times)... bob's your uncle...

 

[gdeal]

Some folks have reported improved results by eliminating the burning of VG or PG on the wick after oxidation. Also, are your using a pure (no flavor) VG/PG when you drip juice and burn?

 

[DigiManTX]

yes... just straight pg/vg

 

[DigiManTX]

ok... i vaped the whole tank today, and it's just not increasing flavor wise... idk what else to do... wish there was someone close to me that i could compare things with...