New Penelope owner needs help!

[epetrillo]

Just got my Penelope from another forum member. My first coil was a total fail and my second is barely working. I have seen the videos and read a lot of threads but I am still unsure what the problem is. I am using a PrecisePlus 18650 with one week old AW P18650 batteries with a fresh charge. My Penelope came with wire labeled Kanthal A 32 and som wire just labeled NR. I connected a length of Kanthal to a lenght of NR wire then cut the other end of the Kanthal at about 1 5/8" before connecting to the other length of NR. This resulted in almost 5 wraps on a single wick (COV GG wick). I don't yet have a multimeter so I can't check the resistance of my coil. I did test the coil after priming it with some juice before finishing assembly and the performance seemed sort of lack luster. I went ahead and finished putting it together and tried it anyway. If I use a very long, soft draw I do get a slight throat hit and decent taste but very little vapor. There is no evedince of flooding and no burnt taste. The amount of vapor is much less than my 2ohm Boge cartomizers. The vapor I get is cold but the Penelope itself does get warm. Any ideas what I should try to get better vapor production?

 

[snork]

From your description your ohms are probably too high for 3.7 volt vaping. 1 5/8" & 5 wraps might be putting you well over 3 ohms.
I too use my Penelope/Odys on P+s. I'm good at eyeballing the wire so I don't have an exact measurement, but with my Kanthal 32 my resistance wire is just about an inch between the no resistance wire connections yielding around three wraps, three and a half at most. Gets me under 2 ohms in every case.
Think short, shoot for three wraps, & look around for a multimeter in the meantime. You'll be pleased.

 

[epetrillo]

Thanks snork. I am wrapping another coil now and will shoot for three wraps.

 

[unloaded]

Hang in there, you'll find what you're looking for. I think you'll need less than 2 ohm to be happy. The reason being is the long mouthpiece on the Penelope lets the vape cool before reaching you. I'd make a shorter coil and soak the wick, then put the mouthpiece on and try it, without tank or juice. That will give you a good idea of what to expect and if you want to change it, it'll be much easier. Also a good time to check out the draw and adjust the center post exactly where you want it.

 

[rocky111]

And the length of the kanthal after u connect the nr wires plays a big part on res. aswell

 

[Ezkill]

It should not Rocky. If your connections are good and tight then electricity will always follow the path of least resistance meaning resistance wire past the connection should count towards total resistance.

That being said I've had a bad connection were my silver wire was looped back and wasn't making contact with the resistance wire thus increasing my resistance. I now keep my loop small and also crimp the silver wire down really well with a pair of pliers. Every coil I've made has been the exact resistance I want it to be since I started doing that. Doesn't matter how large the connection is.

 

[epetrillo]

Well third time was no better. About three coils yields no more vapor, less taste and no throat hit. Tank is getting really hot. Will try again soon.

 

[Ezkill]

If you're up to it perhaps you could show us a picture of your exposed coil. Just take a picture of it in the assembly before you take it apart again. It really might help to diagnose it.

Maybe coil has really high resistance and 4.2 volts isn't cutting it. I know the wire is labelled as Kanthal 32 but do you have a multimeter to check it?

When I was getting started I had some setup issues as well but they are all user(me) issues and not a problem with the device. I had some bad connections and I also had some poorly seated connections. With a couple of my first coils my connections were seated badly enough that turning the juice control was shorting the coil. The reason was that my connections were sticking out of my channels enough to be hitting the juice control. I was watching the resistance of the coil go from 2 ohms to like 5 ohms by just playing with the juice control. That shouldn't happen and it was completely my error.

I think you will be very happy with the device once you get it dialed in. This was my first rebuildable and I had more problems then most do but after a bit of practice I went and ordered more of them because they are that good.

 

[epetrillo]

If you're up to it perhaps you could show us a picture of your exposed coil. Just take a picture of it in the assembly before you take it apart again. It really might help to diagnose it.

I have to leave for work soon but will try again tomorrow. If it still isn't working I will get a picture of it and post it here. I have an old multimeter somewhere I just can't find it. I will be looking for that tomorrow to.

 

[epetrillo]

One more question. I thought I read somewhere that the Penelope was supposed to shallow slots milled in the bottom of the base so you would get good draw even if it sat flush with the top of the device it was mounted on. Mine does not. Is mine an older model? Works OK anyway by adjusting center post to stick out a little so I was just wondering

 

[snork]

Penelope doesn't have the slots, Odysseus V2 does.

 

[epetrillo]

OK must have been where I read it.

 

[Ezkill]

None of mine do either. I believe the milled slots you are thinking about are in regards to the Odysseus V2. The second version has air slots milled into the bottom.

With the Penelope you have to get the post out a bit to get good air. With the Odysseus V2 I build it on top of my device and get it just so it's contacting. I get it as close as possible because the channels provide enough air and I don't want more.

Edit: Had an old version of the thread up in a page, asked and answered.

 

[unloaded]

Do you have the negative wire under the wick or a few wraps around it? If it's just sitting undeer the wick it might not be making good contact and raising the resistance. Try a few wraps around the leg of the wick and see what happens.

 

[fright88]

Do you have the negative wire under the wick or a few wraps around it? If it's just sitting undeer the wick it might not be making good contact and raising the resistance. Try a few wraps around the leg of the wick and see what happens.

+1 on this.

Also I would pick up a multi meter asap. It really is the best way to know if you are having connection issues.

 

[epetrillo]

Do you have the negative wire under the wick or a few wraps around it? If it's just sitting undeer the wick it might not be making good contact and raising the resistance. Try a few wraps around the leg of the wick and see what happens.

This is the wire that runs down the metal channel? Are you saying I should wrap the NR wire around the leg of the wick that runs down the metal channel rather than just laid under the wick in the channel?

 

[unloaded]

Yes, some are doing it like that with good results. I think Imeo posted a video about it.

 

[epetrillo]

Will definitely give that a try today. If I can't locate my multimeter guess I will have to break down and buy one.

 

[epetrillo]

Woo Hoo!! got one working this morning. It's not perfect but it's working. I tried wrapping the negative wire a couple of time around the wick that goes down the metal channel. I was also real careful about the joins between the resistance and NR wires. I can feel tight spots as I screw the mouthpiece in and out (maybe the wire wraps around the wick on the negative side?) It seems to work better when adjusted between the tight spots rather than on one. I tried to go for 1.5" of R wire and four wraps but still ended up with 1.25" and 3.5 wraps. Will be getting a multimeter today so I have a better idea whats going on. Thanks for the help, any more suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[epetrillo]

So... after yesterday mornings success I closed the juice feed and went to bed (i work nights). About 5 hours later I got up and tried it again. Couldn't hardly get it to work at all. This was very disappointing.

Today I wrapped a new coil and wick using 1.5" of some new Nichrome 32 ga wire I got which made 4 nice even wraps. I have some .999 silver NR wire coming but it's not here yet so I used what was supplied, not sure what it is. Result was again lackluster and disappointing. It does work but with a lot less vapor production than my Boge 2.0 cartos and poor flavor. I still haven't picked up a multimeter yet but will soon. I tried taking it off my PrecisePlus 18650 and putting it on an Ego twist battery. At .38 to 4.0v it works like it does on my Precise. If I kick it up to 4.4 to 4.8v it works much better. Does this indicate I am getting higher resistance coils than I should be? I should also mention the outside of the tank gets very hot! too hot to touch comfortably. Is this normal? I was also wondering if using AW protected batteries instead of IMR batteries could be a possible cause?

I am at a loss. At this point I will probably set it aside until I get a multimeter so I know what ohms I'm getting and then take it from there. Any suggestions would be appreciated.