New member. Looking for the best mesh RTA to buy

[thomasterrible]

5' of mesh (screen) (that's 1-2mm too wide) was under $4 so that's about 60 coils. Math tells me I could get about 450 coils out of my sheet of mesh (screen), you can get that for about $20 shipped.
The VapeFly stamped mesh is about $6-7 for 15 from China.

I doubt if it's difficult for the store to get drop in mesh coils. Maybe their supplier doesn't carry them or they don't like them.

Yes no matter how you cut it the cost is going to be less than premade coils. I would prefer to make sure that the metal I am using is of good quality and pure. I would pay more for better stuff. If I can buy mesh made in the USA I would rather do that then buy from China.
I am going to ask the manufacturer of the Themis about the mesh recommendations and using the Bacon Prime which I think is their best cotton vs cotton rectangles. The cost of the best Bacon cotton was not very much and it seems neither is the mesh. As long as it works well enough I don't see any negatives about it.

Have you got your Themis to where you like it and can get the vapor production you want? I don't see any competition out there really. I for sure want to have a tank. I have been keeping my eyes out for sales on that. I have not found one on the mesh version yet.

 

[Myk]

Yes no matter how you cut it the cost is going to be less than premade coils. I would prefer to make sure that the metal I am using is of good quality and pure. I would pay more for better stuff. If I can buy mesh made in the USA I would rather do that then buy from China.
I am going to ask the manufacturer of the Themis about the mesh recommendations and using the Bacon Prime which I think is their best cotton vs cotton rectangles. The cost of the best Bacon cotton was not very much and it seems neither is the mesh. As long as it works well enough I don't see any negatives about it.

Have you got your Themis to where you like it and can get the vapor production you want? I don't see any competition out there really. I for sure want to have a tank. I have been keeping my eyes out for sales on that. I have not found one on the mesh version yet.

I think you'll be fine with any of the cotton sheet types. Mainly for consistency. I might end up buying some after I run out of the sheets I have that came with my SubTanks. But I will try cotton balls first.

My 2nd wicking was better. I went a little wider to make sure I had enough to stay in contact with the mesh.
Rather than call it a dam method I'd think of it as wick meet hole, I didn't stick it in far at all. I trimmed the low part very short, basically shoved that back and then put the top barely into the hole enough to stay there. If the lower part moved it's just over the top of the hole, I can't imagine much of it went into the hole.
But it doesn't leak so it must be plugged up enough to feed but not flood (also I know flooding it with the cap off will cause it to get too hot). I left it laying on its side over night to test.

It worked great through 2-3 tanks. I guess it's still working great, I just saw a big bubble come up while puffing (hard on my eyes) so it is still feeding.
I think I probably lost some taste as everything is getting broken in and need to increase the temperature as is usual I've just been leery of turning up the temperature because the mesh can go from zero to burn quickly.
If I close the air a little bit I'm getting better flavor. Once I figure out a safe temperature range I can play with that to get good flavor.

I ordered another one.

I've seen them expensive and I've seen them on "sale". The one I got was $29 with a constant 10% off code. The best sales I've seen have been $25 at more questionable places.

 

[suprtrkr]

I tried a mesh coil machine once-- a Vandy, it was-- and tossed it out about three days later, replacing it with a round wire coil set. Take a look at an Old Skool Genesis-type atomizer if you like, since you are not bothered by trying to build coils. They use wire coils, but the purists use Stainless mesh as the wick. That way you can have the best of both worlds, lol. I have build a few mesh-wick builds, and they work well enough, but I still like rayon wicks better

 

[Myk]

I tried a mesh coil machine once-- a Vandy, it was-- and tossed it out about three days later, replacing it with a round wire coil set. Take a look at an Old Skool Genesis-type atomizer if you like, since you are not bothered by trying to build coils. They use wire coils, but the purists use Stainless mesh as the wick. That way you can have the best of both worlds, lol. I have build a few mesh-wick builds, and they work well enough, but I still like rayon wicks better

This

Is nowhere near this

He is looking for easy to build. Mesh wicked gennies are anything but easy.
I assume he's looking for good clouds. Mesh wicked gennies are not cloud chasers.
Mesh gennies do produce good true flavor, I have one set up right now I drip on as a taster. But it's nothing compared to the liquid drinking Themis mesh.
I tried modding a gennie into bigger clouds and DTL. Even a 1/8" hole was a very restricted DTL.
A mesh wick is nothing like a mesh coil. Although the thought has crossed my mind to try to make a mesh wick that is also the coil. Like fold the gennie wick over to the post and let it short. But I know from trying to make 3 layer coils out of gennie wick mesh that Ω would end up an issue to get enough layers to hold enough liquid.

After working with the Themis I'm thinking the Vandy design might be a bad design for rebuilding. I sense uneven feeding problems with the Vandy that cause the dry hit problem I've heard about. The fixes I've seen for that are the opposite of what I think is needed. But what is really needed is to feed the coil from both ends or the center like premade mesh coils. That would probably be a leak/flood problem for rebuilders.

 

[suprtrkr]

This
View attachment 748493

Is nowhere near this
View attachment 748495

He is looking for easy to build. Mesh wicked gennies are anything but easy.
I assume he's looking for good clouds. Mesh wicked gennies are not cloud chasers.
Mesh gennies do produce good true flavor, I have one set up right now I drip on as a taster. But it's nothing compared to the liquid drinking Themis mesh.
I tried modding a gennie into bigger clouds and DTL. Even a 1/8" hole was a very restricted DTL.
A mesh wick is nothing like a mesh coil. Although the thought has crossed my mind to try to make a mesh wick that is also the coil. Like fold the gennie wick over to the post and let it short. But I know from trying to make 3 layer coils out of gennie wick mesh that Ω would end up an issue to get enough layers to hold enough liquid.

After working with the Themis I'm thinking the Vandy design might be a bad design for rebuilding. I sense uneven feeding problems with the Vandy that cause the dry hit problem I've heard about. The fixes I've seen for that are the opposite of what I think is needed. But what is really needed is to feed the coil from both ends or the center like premade mesh coils. That would probably be a leak/flood problem for rebuilders.

I agree, of course. I was joking. I do like the clean taste of a mesh wick, but it's so flinking hard to do I don't see it as worthwhile. Too easy to pull another tuft of rayon.

 

[Myk]

I agree, of course. I was joking. I do like the clean taste of a mesh wick, but it's so flinking hard to do I don't see it as worthwhile. Too easy to pull another tuft of rayon.

I got pretty good at it, gennies were all I used for a while. Until I started TC on SubTanks. Then I went a month without building a gennie and had nothing but trouble when I tried.

This one wasn't bad but I recoiled a working wick. It would probably take me all day to get a working wick again.

If you were serious about the Vandy and interested in mesh I'd consider the Themis. If you still don't like it at least you can put wire coils on it. I think I'll be doing that with my new one at least once just to see how it works for my mod that doesn't like TC mesh.

 

[suprtrkr]

I got pretty good at it, gennies were all I used for a while. Until I started TC on SubTanks. Then I went a month without building a gennie and had nothing but trouble when I tried.

This one wasn't bad but I recoiled a working wick. It would probably take me all day to get a working wick again.

If you were serious about the Vandy and interested in mesh I'd consider the Themis. If you still don't like it at least you can put wire coils on it. I think I'll be doing that with my new one at least once just to see how it works for my mod that doesn't like TC mesh.

I take your point but I don't feel I gain anything from mesh coils. They really shine up above 100 watts, but I prefer to break that in thirds.

 

[Myk]

I take your point but I don't feel I gain anything from mesh coils. They really shine up above 100 watts, but I prefer to break that in thirds.

Interesting. I couldn't get these above 35w trying them in wattage, and that was with the heavier precut mesh rolls.
But my goal was TC. If they didn't do TC to my liking I would have a wire coil in it.

 

[thomasterrible]

I think you'll be fine with any of the cotton sheet types. Mainly for consistency. I might end up buying some after I run out of the sheets I have that came with my SubTanks. But I will try cotton balls first.

My 2nd wicking was better. I went a little wider to make sure I had enough to stay in contact with the mesh.
Rather than call it a dam method I'd think of it as wick meet hole, I didn't stick it in far at all. I trimmed the low part very short, basically shoved that back and then put the top barely into the hole enough to stay there. If the lower part moved it's just over the top of the hole, I can't imagine much of it went into the hole.
But it doesn't leak so it must be plugged up enough to feed but not flood (also I know flooding it with the cap off will cause it to get too hot). I left it laying on its side over night to test.

It worked great through 2-3 tanks. I guess it's still working great, I just saw a big bubble come up while puffing (hard on my eyes) so it is still feeding.
I think I probably lost some taste as everything is getting broken in and need to increase the temperature as is usual I've just been leery of turning up the temperature because the mesh can go from zero to burn quickly.
If I close the air a little bit I'm getting better flavor. Once I figure out a safe temperature range I can play with that to get good flavor.

I ordered another one.

I've seen them expensive and I've seen them on "sale". The one I got was $29 with a constant 10% off code. The best sales I've seen have been $25 at more questionable places.

Well your buying a second one means something. I don't see anything on the market that I would be more interested in than the Themis. There very well may be one or more before too long but I am pretty sure I will get the Themis. I got a $12.99 goodwill credit so I can apply that against the $29 price which make it an easy purchase.
I had liked the mesh coil heads I was using with the Smok Big Baby Beast and the lighted version was on sale for $12.99 so even though they had the lights they were cheaper than those that don't so i got a few. They are all filled with different flavors. So a Themis would be used for what tasted best through it. Also if there was a juice I came upon that quickly gummed up coils but I liked the flavor a lot the cost would be much cheaper to go with the RTA.
I am going to talk to the guys that make the Themis and ask them some questions including wicking with Bacon cotton and how to select the mesh to best suit my needs.

I like having decent vapor but I don't have the need to blow out crazy amounts of vapor. Plus the fact that I like vapor that is cool means I won't be getting clouds as large as if I were to crank up the wattage. But I like the flavor and vapor temp my way so it is just a matter of a reliable tank that can give me good flavor and continue to cut my costs down as I have been. I am stocked up with juice that was on sale. They are all decent and I have a dozen 120ml bottles and several smaller bottles and a couple 240ml bottles I have been steeping for a few months that I need to go somewhere that is cheap to buy some good liquid Stevia as I won't need much of it to sweeten my juice to where I want it.

It would be nice if that and the Themis produced some nice flavor together.

 

[Myk]

Well your buying a second one means something. I don't see anything on the market that I would be more interested in than the Themis. There very well may be one or more before too long but I am pretty sure I will get the Themis. I got a $12.99 goodwill credit so I can apply that against the $29 price which make it an easy purchase.
I had liked the mesh coil heads I was using with the Smok Big Baby Beast and the lighted version was on sale for $12.99 so even though they had the lights they were cheaper than those that don't so i got a few. They are all filled with different flavors. So a Themis would be used for what tasted best through it. Also if there was a juice I came upon that quickly gummed up coils but I liked the flavor a lot the cost would be much cheaper to go with the RTA.
I am going to talk to the guys that make the Themis and ask them some questions including wicking with Bacon cotton and how to select the mesh to best suit my needs.

I like having decent vapor but I don't have the need to blow out crazy amounts of vapor. Plus the fact that I like vapor that is cool means I won't be getting clouds as large as if I were to crank up the wattage. But I like the flavor and vapor temp my way so it is just a matter of a reliable tank that can give me good flavor and continue to cut my costs down as I have been. I am stocked up with juice that was on sale. They are all decent and I have a dozen 120ml bottles and several smaller bottles and a couple 240ml bottles I have been steeping for a few months that I need to go somewhere that is cheap to buy some good liquid Stevia as I won't need much of it to sweeten my juice to where I want it.

It would be nice if that and the Themis produced some nice flavor together.

If I like something vape I want more than one. Getting another just means I like it. If I end up with 8 of them that will say something (besides the price dropped).

 

[thomasterrible]

Yes my point was you liked it.

I got a fast but pretty meaningless reply to my Themis questions.
They.said to buy thick mesh Kantbal and use whatever wick I liked best. So that was quite lame. I get much more detailed information from some vape stores.
Now I need to find who sells good quality mesh. Made in USA and not China. Will try the wick I like best and if it doesn't work as planned I will just use others I have.

 

[Myk]

Yes my point was you liked it.

I got a fast but pretty meaningless reply to my Themis questions.
They.said to buy thick mesh Kantbal and use whatever wick I liked best. So that was quite lame. I get much more detailed information from some vape stores.
Now I need to find who sells good quality mesh. Made in USA and not China. Will try the wick I like best and if it doesn't work as planned I will just use others I have.

Pretty much what I say about wick. It's all wicking. If you like it it's what works. If you like Cotton Bacon use it.

It comes with 2 each of Kanthal, nichrome 80 and SS 316L so you could vape for a while before having to find any. It seems to last, I've been through quite a few tanks of chocolate flavors and it doesn't looked gunked up from what I can see through the barrel.

For precut strips I've only seen Vandy and Digiflavor (remember Vandys is 1-2mm too wide so it needs cut or bent).
I only know of Kidney Puncher for SS mesh in the US (I haven't really looked) and they don't brag about it being made in the US. Again I don't think it matters where it comes from.

I don't know if the 200 (heavy) they supply is needed. I haven't tried my 400 and 500 yet.

 

[thomasterrible]

Pretty much what I say about wick. It's all wicking. If you like it it's what works. If you like Cotton Bacon use it.

It comes with 2 each of Kanthal, nichrome 80 and SS 316L so you could vape for a while before having to find any. It seems to last, I've been through quite a few tanks of chocolate flavors and it doesn't looked gunked up from what I can see through the barrel.

For precut strips I've only seen Vandy and Digiflavor (remember Vandys is 1-2mm too wide so it needs cut or bent).
I only know of Kidney Puncher for SS mesh in the US (I haven't really looked) and they don't brag about it being made in the US. Again I don't think it matters where it comes from.

I don't know if the 200 (heavy) they supply is needed. I haven't tried my 400 and 500 yet.

Ok I think I will stay away from making more work for myself than I need to by purchasing the Vandy that is not the correct dimensions. I have not seen pre-cut mesh just the rolls. But if there are ready to size pieces like come with the attty then I might go for that. Otherwise at least getting rolls that are the correct size other than cutting a length off would be good.

I will try what comes with the Themis and that should give me a good idea of which I like best.
I have found a store to get the mesh Themis at cheap as I have a credit there. But I have not seen a good place to buy the mesh. Hopefully it will work well enough so I use it. I wish there was a known good metal being used.
Like there is an online conventional coil maker that only uses Sandvik metals in his coils. I would much rather have mesh made from metal that came from there than some place in China. If that is my only choice I will find out about breaking it in. I know the high end coil makers offer break ins of the coils. No reason why this meash should not be broken in also (and hopefully burn off any impurities before I start vaping with it.

 

[Myk]

Ok I think I will stay away from making more work for myself than I need to by purchasing the Vandy that is not the correct dimensions. I have not seen pre-cut mesh just the rolls. But if there are ready to size pieces like come with the attty then I might go for that. Otherwise at least getting rolls that are the correct size other than cutting a length off would be good.

I will try what comes with the Themis and that should give me a good idea of which I like best.
I have found a store to get the mesh Themis at cheap as I have a credit there. But I have not seen a good place to buy the mesh. Hopefully it will work well enough so I use it. I wish there was a known good metal being used.
Like there is an online conventional coil maker that only uses Sandvik metals in his coils. I would much rather have mesh made from metal that came from there than some place in China. If that is my only choice I will find out about breaking it in. I know the high end coil makers offer break ins of the coils. No reason why this meash should not be broken in also (and hopefully burn off any impurities before I start vaping with it.

This is Digiflavor's Digiflavor Mesh Wire Spools - 5 Feet
I've never ordered from them. It's 150 mesh so lower Ω than the Vandy 200 I got. And I think this more expensive than Eciggity's Vandy mesh I got. I may try the 150 just to see if it's better.

I was building on the road without all my stuff but I tried 500 mesh today and it wasn't doing TC well. I pulled it out and put in the stock mesh. I'll try again when I feel like tinkering.
Burning it in does produce smoke. I don't think I'd vape any of it without burning it in even if I wasn't doing TC.

 

[thomasterrible]

Well I found a site with a good deal on the Digiflavor. I would have to wonder why they made it as they did and recommended the Kanthal 80 to me if there was not a reason. I have not seen the ohm ratings. The thickness of the wire the mesh weave is made from will help dictate the ohm rating. I expect to try the stuff that comes with the atomoizer and found the Bacon Prime at a great price also. At least I won't be spending much money.

I have seen some information on ohms as measured per foot. So dividing those by 12 give some crazy low ohm ratings if my math is correct. The sales manager at Digiflavor was not particularly helpful in answering my questions with good answers.

This is where I found the best price I could on the mesh. The Bacon cotton is super cheap on the site I have the credit on for the Themis. So not huge money we are talking about.

Digiflavor Mesh Wire - The Vapor Room

 

[Myk]

I get .17-.20Ω with the SS. The Kanthal looks like over twice that.

 

[thomasterrible]

I get .17-.20Ω with the SS. The Kanthal looks like over twice that.

In that case the Kanthal would work great for me. With credits and promo code sales it is a good time to give it a try.

I may get some SS mesh on the off chance I try TC or can use wattage if that is not working for me.

 

[evan le'garde]

Running - Innokin Giveaway! Ask Phil and Dimitris anything :)

 

[thomasterrible]

Well I got my Themis today and my Bacon Prime cotton wick. I also got a bottle of some juice I had not tried before which in hindsight was not too smart.
I looked at a ton of photos of people that had their Themis mesh wicked and all of them were significantly shorter than if I were to stick the entire pre-cut piece of mesh in there as is. It would have the top of the loop be above the sides with the 3 holes in them. So I cut the mesh down so it would be more around where the air holes were. I had primed the coil and let it sit for 20-30 minutes and tried to hit it with much lower voltage than should be needed. Oh BTW I did pulse the mesh to burn off whatever might have been on it and there was no more smoke so I let it cool.

When I measured the mesh installed it said .25 which sounded fine to me. When I hit it at a high enough wattage for it to produce a vapor it tasted gross like menthol or toothpaste or something. This is why it was not so smart to use a juice I have never used before. It was Orange and was not supposed to be menthol etc..

So I took it apart and cleaned it and put it back together with new mesh and am letting it sit as we speak.

The thing that concerns me is that it doesn't seem to take 5ml of juice to fill it up. Most of my tanks are 5ml and I didn't measure but I would hope I could tell the difference.

I will be interested to see what happens here when I try it again. It seems sort of finicky to me.
Like the top air flow control really needs to be lubricated and worked in with juice or it will not move. The idea is that having the top air flow will prevent it from spilling juice out if it is on it's side.
I wish it was all clear so I could see exactly where the juice was going and see if there is something not adjusted right etc..
The manual for this thing is laughable. It shows you the handful of main parts of the tank and it would only be one page but they have it printed in so many different languages.

When I measured the ohms using the same piece of mesh on the new wick it came out to .18. Not quite sure why the difference.

If my problems sound familiar to someone please let me know. If by some miracle I figure this out on my own without having slept for 2 days I will be sure to advise.

 

[Myk]

Well I got my Themis today and my Bacon Prime cotton wick. I also got a bottle of some juice I had not tried before which in hindsight was not too smart.
I looked at a ton of photos of people that had their Themis mesh wicked and all of them were significantly shorter than if I were to stick the entire pre-cut piece of mesh in there as is. It would have the top of the loop be above the sides with the 3 holes in them. So I cut the mesh down so it would be more around where the air holes were. I had primed the coil and let it sit for 20-30 minutes and tried to hit it with much lower voltage than should be needed. Oh BTW I did pulse the mesh to burn off whatever might have been on it and there was no more smoke so I let it cool.

When I measured the mesh installed it said .25 which sounded fine to me. When I hit it at a high enough wattage for it to produce a vapor it tasted gross like menthol or toothpaste or something. This is why it was not so smart to use a juice I have never used before. It was Orange and was not supposed to be menthol etc..

So I took it apart and cleaned it and put it back together with new mesh and am letting it sit as we speak.

The thing that concerns me is that it doesn't seem to take 5ml of juice to fill it up. Most of my tanks are 5ml and I didn't measure but I would hope I could tell the difference.

I will be interested to see what happens here when I try it again. It seems sort of finicky to me.
Like the top air flow control really needs to be lubricated and worked in with juice or it will not move. The idea is that having the top air flow will prevent it from spilling juice out if it is on it's side.
I wish it was all clear so I could see exactly where the juice was going and see if there is something not adjusted right etc..
The manual for this thing is laughable. It shows you the handful of main parts of the tank and it would only be one page but they have it printed in so many different languages.

When I measured the ohms using the same piece of mesh on the new wick it came out to .18. Not quite sure why the difference.

If my problems sound familiar to someone please let me know. If by some miracle I figure this out on my own without having slept for 2 days I will be sure to advise.

Mine is 1ml of liquid to soak a wick AND 5ml to fill the tank. I have measured. The problem with that is running the tank completely dry really doesn't happen.

My new one was having issues. I think one of my clamps needs honed, the center on one side glows more than the edges while the other side is more even. I think I tightened the screw too much and bent it slightly.
But once I tried a cotton ball instead of the sheet it's been better (still going to try clamping a piece of fine sandpaper in it).

I'm not sure about .18Ω if you're using Kanthal. How short did you make it? But I haven't checked my stock kanthal to really know how much it should be.