New and need some guidance

[Haps]

So I decided to try my hand with an rba. I decided to pick up an igo-f because I really liked the small form factor. I got it yesterday and the journey began.

For reference I've been using 34g kanthal and 2mm silica.

So around 7 unsuccessful attempts last night. The 2 major problem where the terminal screws pulling the coil into the post causing more then one wrap to touch the post etc. And I believe my other big problem was wrapping a bit too tight so it's not wicking properly. Each attempt was a struggle and my resistance would change constantly every time I touched the coil

So today I sat down for attempt number eight. Torched the kanthal and did a 5/4 wrap. I don't believe it was too tight as it was just loose enough I could slide the coil up and down on the silica. Got it on the posts successfully and it came in around 2.4 ohms. I did a few dry burns to see and made some small adjustments to the coil to try and get the coil glowing evenly.

I then torched everything. Wick and coil.

So there was a bit of a burnt taste that's now disappeared. I continued trying to get this thing setup like it's supposed to wick from the bottom tank. Wasn't having much success and figured to just concentrate on getting it working properly as a dripper for now.

So as it stands now I've been trying to use it as a dripper. The problem I have is that there is lots of flavor. But very little vapor production and low throat hit. It's very airy.

Being a complete newbie I'm wondering two things. The draw is to airy and I'm getting too much air/vapor thru the hole.

Or my other thought is that there just isn't enough vapor production because I burn off the juice in the 2mm wick and it's not wicking enough new juice to produce enough. I'm thinking if I rebuild with 2 2mm pieces I may have more wick/juice directly at the coil and would have better vapor production.

If someone could please steer me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it. If I can at least get this working as a dripper I can worry about trying to get it wicking from the bottom well later down the road.

 

[yankeebobo]

Use a small needle to lay against the silica to wrap the wire. Then remove the pin after. This should leave the best contact point. That should help with wicking.

Another thing to consider may be easier even. Wrap the wire around a finishing nail. Make your connections. Remove the nail. Take a small whisp of a cotton ball (organic cotton ball will last 20 builds or more). Thread the coil setup.
Now when the wick goes south, you remove the cotton, dry burn, and replace.

 

[Haps]

Did. Second build using 2 strand of 2mm. Lots of fiddling to get it working. But it does work. Could definitely do better as I'm probably only getting 75% of the wire glowing on a dry burn.

 

[yankeebobo]

It honestly sounds like you're on the right track. A few more and you'll find the right tension to use when wrapping them.

 

[muzichead]

You might want to rethink the coils you are building. You can get a more satisfied vape using a micro or macro coil. You might also want to rethink your wicking as well. As yankee already pointed out the better and more preferred wick is cotton. Here are a couple of videos to get you on the right path for the coils...
Rebuildable Atomizer / Micro Coil Basics - YouTube
How To Make A Perfect Micro Coil With The Darkzero Coil Jig - YouTube

 

[Haps]

Ok so another night of experimenting(I work nightshift).

I tried a few coils and had semi success on the coil part.

Then I looked at the microcoil stuff. Built a few coils around a small screwdriver shaft. All I have to work with is the 34 gauge kanthal I have. 10 wraps 5 ohms. 6 wraps 3 ohms. 5 wraps. Was around. 2.5.

But nice uniform coils that were pretty easy to thread with 2mm silica. Did the burn and compress with needle owe pliers to get a nice uniform burn. The aside is all the trouble I had mounting to the posts was pretty much alleviated. I still curse UD for having screws instead of a push thru terminal.

The problem I seemed to experience with my 2.4 ohm coil is that it was so small. Once compressed it probably wasn't much wider then 1/8 inch. When using it it didn't work so well because it seemed like it would burn off the juice right at the coil quicker then more juice could wick in.

I spread the coils out and it's slightly better but still have wicking issues.

Perhaps having some 30guage would allow me to have a larger coil and have more surface area if coil touching saturated wick and it won't burn dry as quickly. Or a different wick. I have some ekowool 1.5mm here but no cotton.

Still can't get this thing to wick from the bottom tank well at all so back to trying to get it to work as a tilt dripper.

One other thing that I don't understand that is happening is that I get good flavor but very little vapor when the wick is first saturated. But as it starts drying out I'm getting a lot more vapor.

 

[yankeebobo]

When the wick is OVER saturated, vapor will be lacking. It's because you're bubbling/boiling the juice rather than vaporizing it. That's why it's getting better as you burn off the excess at the coil.

The wick would be long enough to wrap around the base of the posts you are connecting the wire to. This was anything on the floor if the RBA will get soaked up. Cotton is easy because you just wrapping excess around the post and it's base is thinner and more spread out. But same can be done with yarn or silica.

The micro you are trying to do and the ohms you are trying to achieve are not the most effective. Hence your tiny micro. Remember the higher the number gauge, the thinner, the more resistance. For a good micro you should grab some 28 or even 30 (I'm not familiar with the atty you are using so I don't know if there is room for 28.)

Pick up some different sizes so you can enjoy your experiment better.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/kingorchid/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

 

[scrutineer]

A small point, and I don't even know if it's worthwhile mentioning, but in your original post you said you had problems with "the terminal screws pulling the coil into the post causing more then one wrap to touch the post etc". I usually attach my wires so that the screw is pushing the wire away from the post, rather than pulling it in when tightening. The theory is that it puts less tension on the wire over repeated heating and cooling cycles.

I'd like to hear from you more experienced builders - any truth to this?

 

[ncbrigar]

I use the igo f's for out and about. I have the best luck setting it up with "Peachs and Cream" 100% cotton yard from Walmart and 32 ga A-1 kanthal. I get the cotton ready by boiling in distilled water for about 5 minutes, cool, squeeze out water boil, again for 5 min in fresh DW. when cool squeeze out water an let dry. cut a piece about 4-5 inches long. double over and using straitened out Large paper clip as support, wrap a 4-5 wrap coil at the doubled over end, evenly spaced to fit between the posts. Not too tight, the cotton will swell when the juice wets it. Mount coil, then remove paper clip. Wet the tails with a bit of juice and roll to a point and thread through the holes in the deck. you want nice even bends not sharp turns. clip off the tails to fit in the tank when assembled. NEVER DRY BURN!!! I fill the tank through the wick holes with a syringe. This is what works for me using near 100% VG liquid. ymmv

 

[muzichead]

2 distinct problems I am seeing... You are using Silica and 34g wire. You can't do a micro, (1/16" dia) or even a macro, (5/64" dia), coil with that wire gage. It would be in your better interests to invest in some 30g or 28g wire first and then move on to a different type of wicking. I don't think I have ever read anyone having success wicking from a tank with silica. Not that I can remember, anyway... Have you seen PBusardos review of the Igo-F? Total failure in his book... Just FYI...

@scrutineer, in my experience the direction in which the coil is attached to the post make no difference in the vape. It only made a difference when attaching the coil to the post. Wrapping the wire counter clockwise kept the coil from sucking up to the post and that was it. If you are mounting a coil and still have whatever you wrapped it on, (say a drill bit or such), and holding it while attaching, it makes no difference. The only time I had a coil move after vaping was when I ran the legs through the posts as opposed to under the screw heads... For some reason when the wire is going through the posts, (when you tighten it down), the wire has a tendency to slip up between the thread and the inside of the post causing a loose connection. This had happened on more than one occasion and is the reason I went back to securing the coil legs under the screw heads...

 

[Haps]

Still having difficulty.

Placed an order tonight for an aga-s. I'm sure there are other devices that would be better suited to learning. Especially something larger that provides more room for clumsy inexperienced fingers.

But the size isn't bad and it seems to be relatively well received and gives me the option to try silica style builds as well as genesis style.

I think at this point my skill level isn't great enough to overcome some of the design flaws of the igo-f.

 

[Jerri Dowling]

My husband is finding himself leaning toward the rda/rba models he was wondering if out of the 3 models hes looking at what would be his best performance with a vamo2 Kayfun lite, Igo W4, style atomizers the Trident building his own coils and using cotton wicks? Any experience on any experience on these three would be greatly appreciated, Thanks (Note: all three are clones)

 

[Haps]

My trials continue...

AGA-S showed up today. As well as some steel mesh. Grabbed a piece of 500 mesh and went to work. Torched first. Rolled. Torched. Juice burned 3 times. cut on 45 and put it in AGA-S.

Still only have 34AWG kanthal around so used that wrapped around the wick and tested it out. Hot leg from the positive post. Tried to work it out but it popped. So re-wrapped again. Resistance came in at 2.0 ohms. Coil wasn't the prettiest. But it does glow fully. A bit hotter on the legs.

Anyways figured I'd try some juice. Fill plug was out and I was tilting. Doesn't seem to want to wick. Using a 50/50 juice.

 

[Haps]

Success. Finally success!

After taking a break for a few hours I decided to give it another shot. Popped coil. So pulled the wick and decided to torch and quench 3 times and retry.

Did 3 wraps of 34 and got 2 ohms. Seemed to be pretty stable and a decent overall glow. Grabbed some juice that I know is a bit thinner then the previous I tried. And it's working.

Just had like 10 puffs without dry hits. Pretty happy about it. Still got a ways to go but a first successful build feels like a huge milestone.

 

[Krizzell]

Try a few more wraps to bring the ohms down I use 32 ga and 28.You may want to get a small amount of ribbon wire.5 and try that. You don't have to torch to much just the top anyway. Never quenched any of my mesh, have you tried the cigarette paper trick.