MY FIRST TRY> can someone please give me advice?

[shortee611]

Also...make sure the wick is NOT touching the bottom of the tank.

My wicks touch the bottom all the time and I don't juice burn, oxidize, or quench in water. All I do is a quick burn before I roll it up just to clean the mesh. The way I look at it the wick is touching the sides of the hole it goes into so why can't it touch the bottom. Mind you it's not jammed into the bottom, that'd probably be a problem.

 

[SteveW]

My wicks touch the bottom all the time and I don't juice burn, oxidize, or quench in water. All I do is a quick burn before I roll it up just to clean the mesh. The way I look at it the wick is touching the sides of the hole it goes into so why can't it touch the bottom. Mind you it's not jammed into the bottom, that'd probably be a problem.

Exactly right. If the wick was shorting to the bottom of the tank then that would mean there is already a short between the coil and the wick i.e., the issue is not that it is touching the tank (top or bottom) but there is a problem with the wick contacting the coil and becoming part of the circuit. In electrical terms the wick is "floating" when it is working properly and does not form part of the circuit. If there is already a short it does not make any difference if it touches the bottom. Either way, you do not need to be concerned at all about wicks touching the bottom of the tank. All mine do and it is never an issue.

 

[overall]

Double the 36awg and twist it. 36awg is REALLY hard to work with. You can make the wire thicker and lower resistance by tightly twisting it.

 

[graffinfected]

i was able to wrap a 32g around my wick this morning and i must have done something right..

but now the problem is that only the top part of the coil is heating up.. nothing else is turning orange.. and after i hold the fire button on the provari for too long it gives me error E8.

 

[SteveW]

Are you working on the coils? As you nudge them around with something like a toothpick or needle blunt to even out the tension you should be able to see then all start to glow. It takes some patience and time and you need to work them all around the wick but you will get them all to glow. See the video on the Provape website to see what to do.

 

[graffinfected]

thats what i have been doing.. im going to continue un til i get them all to glow or until the top wire pops from constantly being heated...

 

[graffinfected]

i keep nudging at the wire.. but nothing different is happening its only the top part of the wire thats getting hot

 

[overall]

Fiddle with the bottom coil. I find that the ground can cause problems. Tinker with that wire and see if the rest jump into action.

 

[graffinfected]

i got it... FINALLY..

i wrapped a 32g wire around 325 ssmesh... successfully.

im running at 2.4 ohms.. i was happy to finally get it right... but im unhappy about the flavor... its ... not very good to say the least however im wondering if it gets better after i use it a little more often. ill use it for a day and see if it changes.. if it doesnt then im guessing this isnt for me.. i was hoping RBA's helped more with getting better flavor.. and so far.. not so good. we'll see.

thank you everyone for helping me get my first rba up and running.

 

[Blix]

2.4 ohms is a lot, remove a wrap or two IMO.

 

[overall]

You may have a minor hotspot that you can't see. Try dripping juice on the coil and firing several times. This will help build up a protective layer on the coil. If you are using a variable voltage or wattage you may just need to increase the power. On mechanical mods I use a 1 - 2ohm coil for my preferred performance.

 

[graffinfected]

its now at 2.8 ohms.. firing at 5 volts.. seems ok.. im gonna bump up the voltage in a little while to see if it gets better because i dont think im liking this RBA situation too much..

i know i know.. im sure somone will tell me im doing it wrong but everything seems to be in place. coils are all glowing at the same strength (at least to what my eyes can see) and its firing without any errors on the provari.. im just not liking the flavor.. or vapor production..

will it taste better if i used something else for wicking?? instead of this mesh.?

 

[Blix]

its now at 2.8 ohms.. firing at 5 volts.. seems ok.. im gonna bump up the voltage in a little while to see if it gets better because i dont think im liking this RBA situation too much..

i know i know.. im sure somone will tell me im doing it wrong but everything seems to be in place. coils are all glowing at the same strength (at least to what my eyes can see) and its firing without any errors on the provari.. im just not liking the flavor.. or vapor production..

will it taste better if i used something else for wicking?? instead of this mesh.?

Why do you want such a high resistance?


Bad flavor and not much vapor are signs of wick and coil not being optimal.
With a proper setup there should loads of vapor and plenty flavor and you should be able to hit it with plenty power. IMO, go for a coil around 1.5-1.8.

 

[graffinfected]

ok ill do that

 

[SteveW]

will it taste better if i used something else for wicking?? instead of this mesh.?

I know there are "dyed in the wool" fans of stainless mesh and it is a tried and trusted wicking material. No doubt also that you will be able to improve the flavor if you get it working really well. I used it and thought it was pretty damn good. I now have ceramic wicks and will never go back to stainless mesh. Why? The flavor is superb, there are no shorts on setup (which takes a couple of minutes) and you can accurately coil them so you will get the same resistance every time. Check out the FC 2000 thread in this forum to get some idea of what people think about it and how it performs. It is a new, pioneering development but you won't know what the talk is about unless you give it a go. You will taste nothing but your juice, they are amazing! They are hard to get a hold of and a little expensive at the moment so you may have to wait if you want get your hands one but it is worth the wait.

 

[bmarley5780]

its now at 2.8 ohms.. firing at 5 volts.. seems ok.. im gonna bump up the voltage in a little while to see if it gets better because i dont think im liking this RBA situation too much..

i know i know.. im sure somone will tell me im doing it wrong but everything seems to be in place. coils are all glowing at the same strength (at least to what my eyes can see) and its firing without any errors on the provari.. im just not liking the flavor.. or vapor production..

will it taste better if i used something else for wicking?? instead of this mesh.?

Same with me. I get more vapor with a 1.7 cart/tank then my 500 mesh/30g 1.7ohm Dud..... user error Im sure...

 

[graffinfected]

i give up on RBA's... not my thing..

i tried somone elses RBA the other day.. he was using the same thing as me.. he had it running for about 2 weeks.. reading .8 ohms..

i didnt even care for it.. its really no big deal.

i guess i should try it on a mechanical mod to see what the "woop dee doo" is really all about.. but as of right now.. its nothing special for me.

 

[StaircaseWit]

i give up on RBA's... not my thing..

i tried somone elses RBA the other day.. he was using the same thing as me.. he had it running for about 2 weeks.. reading .8 ohms..

i didnt even care for it.. its really no big deal.

i guess i should try it on a mechanical mod to see what the "woop dee doo" is really all about.. but as of right now.. its nothing special for me.

Get something simple like an IGO-L, and wrap a bunch of coils on silica. It gets you started in the RBA realm without all the frustration: no hot spots to worry about, excellent wicking from the get-go (because the silica is sitting directly in juice you drip), great taste if you pre-torch the section of silica you're going to wrap the coil on, and huge clouds of vapor at the right resistance and watts. I can wrap a SS mesh coil and have it working well in a matter of minutes on my AGA-T2, but it sits in the drawer while I use my IGO-L. An added benefit is it's very easy to take out of the house and just drip a few more drops when it runs dry. The AGA became a "in the house" device for me because it's not easily pocketable and likes to leak no matter how I set it up.