Need help with rda / pictures included

[eFFeRR]

Hey ECF,

I just got my first mech mod today. Let me explain what I have before I continue.

- GP Paps clone (Brass)
- Nucleus rda clone (Brass)
- Sony VCT4 battery

Alright, so I put my first coils together today, not the greatest but here is a couple pictures.



There is definately room for improvement but considering it was my first time I thought it was pretty good. It came out to 1.0 ohms on my tester in a dual coil. I wrapped some Organic Cotton from Wal-Mart through the coils and I layed the remainder down into the well, if that is what you call it. I made sure to not block any air holes on the RDA with the cotton, and I made sure the two coils lined up nicely with the air holes. I thought for sure I was going to enjoy this way more then my iTaste VV... but it was terrible.

I let the liquid seep into the cotton for about 2 minutes before I vaped it. The first drag was nasty and burned my lungs. When I exhaled not much vapor even came out. So it wasn't like it was a big hit or anything. Throat was kind of sore too. So I took off the cap and fired it, not much vapor coming out. It seemed one side was coming out more then the other.

Flavor was non existent, it honestly tasted like nothing. So I figured I got a dry hit. So I caked on the juice some more, next hit, same thing. There was no way I put too little on the cotton. I made sure I primed it pretty good.

What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions? I put some juice in a ProTank 2 and put it on the GP Paps @ 2.5ohms and it vapes better then the iTaste VV but I want more flavor!

 

[eFFeRR]

I will also add that this is the cotton I used. It does say it was bleached using Hydrogen Peroxide.

https://well.ca/products/swisspers-...n_12681.html?gclid=CKWvor-onsACFQmoaQodMI0AmA

 

[roxynoodle]

Going to guess its your wicks. Going through this myself with my first rda, a Reo. My first coil was 2.1ohms, lol! But apparently I got my wicking right because it worked great. I made a new coil, 1.2ohms, ok that's better. But, kept getting dry hits over and over even though I thought I made a good wick. Rewicked last night, much better. Guess we just need to practice!

 

[eFFeRR]

I am thinking it might have something to do with the airflow.

Ive been using the ProTank 2 on it for awhile now, and with the way the ProTank 2 is its very difficult to get any airflow, I have it a little loose and it gets me a nice vape. When I tighten it a bit more and it closes off the air flow I get some really harsh vapes from it as well.

 

[AtherisDubs]

How much airflow do you have on your RDA? With little to no airflow you get a very warm vape with little vapor production. It looks like the stock holes on the Nucleus RDA aren't that large.

If you're coils aren't evenly built, then one will fire before the other. Did you do a dry burn before wicking it to see if they glowed together? To help fix that you can use some pliers to gently squeeze the coil together. Use a lighter to make the metal easier to work with.

 

[rondasherrill]

If your wicks aren't burnt then it's definitely an airflow issue. The coils are beautiful. Most people have gone to building microcoils, but a well built standard coil like you have there is always a solid performer.

EDIT: Just making sure, are you making sure the airholes in the body are lined up?

 

[eFFeRR]

Yeah the holes are lined up properly. I have 4 holes currently open, 2 on each side. They are smaller holes but 4 shouldn't be too bad.

Maybe the airflow isnt the problem, the reason why is even with the top cap of the RDA off, it still produces very little vapor. The RDA gets real hot as well, the bottom firing button and the mod itself don't get very hot though, just the RDA.

 

[rondasherrill]

Yeah the holes are lined up properly. I have 4 holes currently open, 2 on each side. They are smaller holes but 4 shouldn't be too bad.

Maybe the airflow isnt the problem, the reason why is even with the top cap of the RDA off, it still produces very little vapor. The RDA gets real hot as well, the bottom firing button and the mod itself don't get very hot though, just the RDA.

That's actually quite normal. Dual coils will dump a massive amount of heat into the atomizer body, and you (should) get more vapor with the cap on and vaping, because you are actively pulling air over the coils.

Just curious, but where are the air holes in relation to the coils? The coils should be positioned so that the air is pulled directly onto them when you draw.

 

[G-weezy]

Try wrapping the coils tighter. Double check your screws to make sure it's secured. I use a lot of cotton in my RDA's.

 

[eFFeRR]

Its getting a little better as I add more cotton to it. I did not have the coils making too much contact with cotton besides what I ran through it. As I cushioned some more cotton around the coils the vapor production got a little better but still not great.

The coils on each side are lined directly with one of the holes. I am also hating the drip tip on this thing, I prefer a tighter draw that I get from the ProTank. I might switch the drip tips and see if it helps.

 

[rondasherrill]

The cotton that you fed through the coils, did it swell out so the cotton is in full contact with coil wraps once you put liquid on it? If not, you will need to redo your wicks. You want them to swell right up against your coil. Any part of the coil not in contact with the wick is going to form a hot spot, and that will limit vapor production and make the hits very harsh.

P.S. This is why microcoils are so popular. It's a lot easier to accomplish this task with a micro.

 

[AtherisDubs]

Its getting a little better as I add more cotton to it. I did not have the coils making too much contact with cotton besides what I ran through it. As I cushioned some more cotton around the coils the vapor production got a little better but still not great.

The coils on each side are lined directly with one of the holes. I am also hating the drip tip on this thing, I prefer a tighter draw that I get from the ProTank. I might switch the drip tips and see if it helps.

It's entirely possible that RDA's aren't for you. You might want to look into rebuildable tank atomizers, like a Kayfun.

I have the protank 3 and the stock driptip on that is compatible with all my RDA's, but a tighter draw will give you less vapor than a more open draw. It's all about what finding what works for you.

 

[Froth]

Wow, first RDA is a Nucleus...That's a brave move IMO since there are zero other atomizers that share the nucleus build deck design. Airflow seems to be your issue IMO, coil looks good from the pics. As far as the wick goes, is the cotton easy to pull through the coil or does it offer some resistance when pulling?

 

[eFFeRR]

Appreciate the replies guys. I probably should of started off with something more simple then a Nucleus

I made some new coils, I wrapped them very tightly around a thin screwdriver. Honestly, the coils came out real nice this time, no way they are the problem. When it came time to feed the cotton through, it was very difficult to get through but I managed. It was either very tight, or I was trying to feed too much cotton through. When I get home, I will take a picture of the RDA with the liquid and cotton inside so you guys can see what I am doing wrong. I believe it is my wicking. Vapor production is low, and throat hit is way to high. Pretty much the exact opposite of what I was hoping for.

Someone mentioned if the cotton is "swelling" after the juice is on. As a matter of fact, I don't see any swelling at all. It's almost as if it's too tight that the juice isn't making its way into the cotton properly there. Is it possible to wrap your coils too tight?

What makes this such a PITA is I have to remove the deck out from the base every time I want to work on the coils.

EDIT: I did fire the coils after they were inserted into the deck. They glow evenly. The only part of the coil not glowing is the outside wraps that lead to the posts, but I believe this to be normal.

 

[Weizenheimer]

Sounds like too much cotton at this point. You should be able to pull it through with a bit of resistance; not too easy but not too hard.

 

[Nytebreed]

How are you drawing on (hitting) this thing?
It is very hard to successfully mouth hit a dripper.
Open the air all the way up and give it a big lunger.

 

[USMCotaku]

I was just going to ask the same thing, after noticing he liked a tighter draw.....you won't get a lot of vapor on an RDA without lung hitting it....ofcourse if your wicking is off making flavor bad, lung hits will be nasty

 

[eFFeRR]

Lung hits? That's the only way to successfully use an RDA? no thanks.

I prefer to use it like I would normally smoke a cigarette, inhale after I pull the mod from my mouth and then exhale. If that is the case, maybe I will go out and purchase a KayFun and stick to those. If I could get similiar, but better performance from the kayfun then I do the ProTank 2 then maybe I'll enjoy it.

 

[rusirius]

Yeah definitely, rdas like you have need too much air flow with low ohm build to perform with a mouth hit. You could build a higher resistance coil to keep the heat down, but then it's going to be too airy of a draw and you still won't like it. When I vape tanks I mouth hit, but an rda it's lung hit or nothing. Lol.

Get yourself kayfun... you won't regret it. I love mine and use them all the time as my daily's...

 

[rusirius]

On a side note, if you still want a dripper experience, you can get one of the small ones that are basically like a cartomizer without the pad. That well give you more of the experience like you're looking for...

I also have an atomic rda... it's small enough that it could be built with a single coil using it's smallest air hole (1mm) that could possibly give a decent mouth hit. I've never tried it, so don't take my word for it, but just guessing with the air down at minimum like that combined with it's small chamber size that it would work.

On the other hand, based on what it seems like you like, I still think you'd be much happier with the kfl!