new to mech mods and rda's, got a few questions

[dielonnn]

Okay so first one is when I go to change flavors am I supposed to do a dry burn with the cotton still in it to vape all the old flavor out before putting a new one in or will this burn the cotton and make it taste bad until I change it.

Second is it normal for the whole top cap and sides of the inside of my rda to get covered in a layer of juice after vapin a bit or am I putting to much in. I just wipe it with a paper towel every once in a while

Also I notice the cotton that the shop put in my rda when they did the build for me seems very stiff and dense, a lot denser than the organic cotton balls they told me to buy to rewick with. Does the cotton become stiffer as it is vaped on?

I also have another question about the amount of cotton in my rda but I need to upload a pic when I get back to my home comp to ask that I will update soon. (On cellphone right now)

okay this is the final added question, is this enough to little to much or just right amount of cotton

 

[xtwosm0kesx]

Ideally, and i suppose it depends on how different the juices are, you would just replace the cotton, although happy accidents happen sometimes when you mix flavors you'd never think to mix. Don't try to actually 'dry burn', like you would with silica, with cotton in there.

Yes, you are going to get a decent amount of 'spatter' and vapor condensation inside the top cap, its normal, no need to really even wipe it, gravity will slowly pull it back down to the deck/wicks.

Denser may not be better when it comes to cotton, actually less is more is generally a good rule of thumb with cotton, or at least cotton ball wicks(imo).

 

[psyc63]

I personally have to say i have found some of the greatest flavors by mixing my juices in my rda. I find it a rule unless you want to totaly taste 1 particular flavor and not mute it to rewick only takes a minute, if not usually change my cotton every 2 days.

 

[B2L]

Definitely change the cotton, not dry burn. Dry burning cotton will turn it to ash. I also enjoy letting (some) flavors mingle, you never know when you may stumble on a great mix.

Splatter and condensation inside the cap is perfectly normal and to be expected.

Used cotton will swell but not become stiff at all (insert joke here)

As far as how much, if you can slide it freely, while dry, through your coil without visible gaps you got just enough. If, when you pull it through, it pulls the PV with it you've got too much.

KGD cotton, to me, is the best wick going. It's easy to use and wicks better than anything else I've used.

 

[Zombiecan]

1. Don't dry burn with the cotton inserted because it will burn and potentially ignite but besides the burnt smell and having to start from scratch nothing horrible will happen. Unless you are changing flavors it is perfectly fine to leave the same cotton in and maybe adjust it a little if needed also some flavors come through a alot more with the same cotton left in. I would say in my own personal preference I changed out the cotton if I'm going from a fruity ejuice to a desert style ejuice. I normally don't mind fruity flavors mix and creep a little.
2. Yes it is normal for juice to get all over the inside of the cap because of the juice heating up and splattering and popping. When you put too much juice you maybe have flooding or leaking depending on the rda you are using.
Did the shop tell you it was organic cotton? And I've never notice cotton get stiffer as I vape on it. Cotton is very juice dependent and it soaks it up and even expands but not stiffen. I know it seems stiff in the coil if you pull too much through and then it's too tight for the juice and cotton to wick properly.
Sometimes less is more when it comes to cotton this also depends on the build and rda.
Anyway just my 2 cents

... Sent from my LG G2

 

[dielonnn]

Okay cool thanks guys, I just got home so ima post my pic with my third question here in a minute. Now that im thinking about it I dont think the shop who did my build told me they used organic cotton but they did say that it was cotton, but did not specify. I was told my a different shop to buy organic cotton and thats what I did. I still have the same cotton in right now from when they did my build yesterday and I have switch through at least 5 ddiff flavors started with 3 or 4 fruity and now am on my second desert flavor all on the same cotton and dont notice any mixed taste besides mybe a couple hits inbetween the change.
I am just worried im guna take the wicks out and then have a hard time finding the right amount to use, but the way B2L described will be the rule of thumb I go by.. give me a couple mins ill post the third q

Oh btw the rda is a tohb clone is using 24 gauge wire it looks like 6 wraps dual coils idk if these are considered whats called micro coils idk what it was wrapped around but I was told the build was betwwen .2-.3 ohms ill post a pic

 

[Dissonance]

1) If you "dry burn" the cotton, do it with the top cap OFF and stop giving it power before the coil starts glowing red. You'll be able to get the cotton mostly dry, to the point that there will only be a slight hint of most flavors (Unless you're switching from like a cinnamon menthol mix to a delicate cream) that'll go away pretty quickly if noticeable at all. If the coil starts glowing red, there's a good chance you've burned some of the cotton inside and it'd probably be better to re-wick. Granted, wet cotton can handle it for split seconds... But since a cotton wick costs like $.01 I'd say the practice of re-wicking is going to be more valuable to you than anything else at this point.

2) Take the top cap off and fire your dripper with the wick saturated. Notice how it looks like fireworks and you occasionally get hit with a splatter of scorching hot e-liquid? That's what's causing most of the liquid condensation on the inside of your top cap. There's no way to avoid this realistically and it harms absolutely nothing (Except that annoying ring of e-liquid that sometimes squeezes out when you take your cap off / put it back on)

3) Organic cotton isn't stiff... But there are tons of other materials they could have used. For example, it could have been KGD cotton or Rayon. Chances are if it came from a good vape shop it's gonna be safe. If this is what the guy at the mall kiosk put in... I'd take it out immediately and re-wick with cotton.

Also, to your un-asked question... You wanna use just enough cotton for it to touch the coils all the way around. Any more (hard to pull through, shoulders on the cotton where the coil is actually squeezing the wick, etc.) and you'll get choking, where the juice won't make it to the coil. Any less, and you won't be getting juice to all parts of the coil. Either one has the same result; glowing red coil of dry hit nastyness. Cotton is a bit tricky but once you perfect it it's a great wicking material.

 

[dielonnn]

okay i added this to the top to but i figured i would put it here also just in case

okay this is the final added question, is this enough to little to much or just right amount of cotton

View attachment 357492

View attachment 357494

 

[Dissonance]

If that's cotton, I'd say a 'lil too much. If that's rayon, probably just right. More importantly, how does it vape?

 

[dielonnn]

ehh i dont have much to compare it to, its my first build on my first rda but i can say its a HELL of a lot better than my vision spinner and MPT3 hahaha deffinaitly doesnt produce the kind of clouds i see some people blowing in a lot of youtube videos though

im really happy with it right now though the flavor is soooo much better than before. im actualy hoping my shop will let me return my vision spinner 2 for a in store balance to buy more juices since it has been less than 2 weeks and im probly never guna use it again lol. plus all the juices i had for my spinner iare too high of nic for me to really vape on this mod

what is kgd cotton and what is rayon and what are the benefits of each?

 

[jaxgator]

new to mech mods and rda's, got a few questions

Oh btw the rda is a tohb clone is using 24 gauge wire it looks like 6 wraps dual coils idk (I don't know) if these are considered whats called micro coils idk (I don't know) what it was wrapped around but I was told the build was betwwen .2-.3 ohms ill post a pic

Uh, friend? Do you have an ohms meter? Do you have a multimeter? Do you understand how ohms relates to battery amperage draw? Serious questions I am posing for you here.

 

[Dissonance]

ehh i dont have much to compare it to, its my first build on my first rda but i can say its a HELL of a lot better than my vision spinner and MPT3 hahaha deffinaitly doesnt produce the kind of clouds i see some people blowing in a lot of youtube videos though

im really happy with it right now though the flavor is soooo much better than before. im actualy hoping my shop will let me return my vision spinner 2 for a in store balance to buy more juices since it has been less than 2 weeks and im probly never guna use it again lol. plus all the juices i had for my spinner iare too high of nic for me to really vape on this mod

what is kgd cotton and what is rayon and what are the benefits of each?

Clouds have a lot to do with ohms and airflow. If your ohms are too high or your airflow is too restricted, there's no way you're going to get those youtube video clouds Personally, my ADV device is a .4-.6Ω dual coil (Changes based on what I felt like building) with 2x 2mm air holes... I blow decent clouds but nothing like the guys on youtube that could hide a car. But, I have it set up like that because it's what I enjoy (ex-hookah smoker not cigs, so no clouds is a no go for me, and I like the flavor better in that range as well) not because I want to impress people by being able to hide behind my exhales.

Yeah, dripping is hands down the best flavor/vapor you're gonna get. Some RTA's come close and might match it in one area or the other, but nothing else beats it in both categories... Well, except for bottom feeding, but that's using a modified dripper so yeah. And any well built RBA absolutely demolishes anything with a coil that you buy in a pack

KGD is Ken Goh Do cotton pads. You can cut off a strip, roll it up, and use it as a wick. Some people prefer this to regular organic cotton since it's much easier to build the same wick twice, versus pulling off an amount of cotton that you're hoping is just right for your coil. Rayon (also known as cellucotton) is very much like cotton, but a bit more absorbent and has better capillary action. Check out the rebuildable sub-forum here and look at the Rayon thread. Personally, I prefer rayon to regular organic cotton since it just wicks better... But that's just me.

Uh, friend? Do you have an ohms meter? Do you have a multimeter? Do you understand how ohms relates to battery amperage draw? Serious questions I am posing for you here.

Also very good points. Before you go cloud chasing, make sure you've read up on battery safety, mech mod safety, and are familiar with Ohm's Law. Before you rebuild ANYTHING, get yourself a $20 ohm meter from a local B&M or order one online... ESPECIALLY if you're using it on a mech. A mech will try to fire even if there's a short in the coil, which could cause problems with your batteries. I'm assuming you either are using a 26650 mod, sony VTC3/4/5's, or the 35 amp purple efests to be running a .2-.3Ω setup? (Huge difference between .2 and .3 btw)

 

[dielonnn]

ya i do have a ohm reader but i havnt tested this build yet with it, i had this built by a B&M and the guy told me between .2 and .3 when i asked. but ya i got a sony vtc 5 so i think im all good runnin a .2 or .3, right? im still new and learning a lot as i go but i have done a lot of reading on attery saftey and stuff like that, the guy at the shop i bought my ohm/ voltage meter showed me how to use it but i forgot it at my familys house when i left to go to my apartment yesterday and had this built after i left, i will be back tomorow morning though to check the ohms for sure. but i showed the guy at the shop who built the coils my batteries and mod and dripper so i was just hoping he knew what he was doing i guess going off off the fact that he works at a B&M and does builds all the time

thank you for the explaination of the different wicking materials the KGD deff interests me

 

[dielonnn]

i actualy just threw it on my buddies omnimeter smok that stoped by and it was sitting on .2 ohms and every 3 seconds it would bounce up to .3 and back down to .2 real quick and sit there again and repeat every few seconds.... the meter only goes 1 decimel after the .

so if there is a really big difference between .2 and .3 does this mean the meter im using isnt good enough quality and i should get a better meter bc im pretty sure this is the same meter i bought the other day

 

[Dissonance]

I work at a B&M. One of three employees not counting the owner. Two weeks ago (before I taught one of the other guys there), I was the only person that knew how to rebuild a coil period. The owner doesn't even know what an ohm is... Just because they work at a B&M and know how to rebuild a coil doesn't mean they know how to make it safe Just to kind of prove my point, I started working there about a month after they opened... And when I asked for the amp ratings on the generic looking batteries we sold, no one knew the answer. But they did sell batteries, chargers, mech mods, rebuildables, and only 24 and 26 gauge wire.

As far as you being safe running .2-.3Ω... Yes and no. You're within the limits of your battery (30 amp rating, on a freshly charged battery pulling 4.2v the lowest you could go without passing the continuous amp discharge rating would be .14Ω). That's also assuming that 1) your sony is authentic, 2) your sony is in good condition and had no manufacturer defects that went un-noticed, and 3) you haven't bumped your atty the wrong way since you got it and created a short that wasn't there originally, and 4) The guy at the B&M checked your resistance on an ohm meter to check for shorts (which based on the fact he said .2-.3, it sounds like he didn't). Honestly tho, if you've been using it and it seems to fire evenly and whatnot then it sounds like you're in the clear... I'm paranoid about stuff like that tho

For future reference, unless you feel like memorizing the equations for ohms law (which really isn't a bad idea), use this if you ever want to know how many amps you're drawing or how many watts you're firing at.

i actualy just threw it on my buddies omnimeter smok that stoped by and it was sitting on .2 ohms and every 3 seconds it would bounce up to .3 and back down to .2 real quick and sit there again and repeat every few seconds.... the meter only goes 1 decimel after the .

so if there is a really big difference between .2 and .3 does this mean the meter im using isnt good enough quality and i should get a better meter bc im pretty sure this is the same meter i bought the other day

Yes. .3 is 50% more resistance over .2 if that puts anything in perspective. If you're delving into anything sub ohm, especially THAT low, you're going to want to know the decimals to the hundredths.

 

[dielonnn]

yeah that does make sense actualy, that is a really big differance now that you put it that way. so basicly i have the ....tiest cheapest multimeter i could have gotten?haha but ya i think for now to be safe im not guna go below .5 with my builds, even if im not the one building them, until i have a better understanding of everything thats goin on here.

when you said this

4) The guy at the B&M checked your resistance on an ohm meter to check for shorts (which based on the fact he said .2-.3, it sounds like he didn't)

do you mean just taking my rda and putting it on a meter and testing the ohms like i just did with the smok omni meter? or do you mean somthing else



and if the meter i used that only goes 1 digit past the decimel and it was bouncing between .2 and .3 would it be safe to assum that it is closer to .3 than .2 as far as guessing passed the first decimel past the . ( i really need to learn my terminology better :/ )

 

[Dissonance]

Yeah, that's exactly what I meant. If you bought the meter at the shop tho and it's the same one they were using, he could have done that and that's why he said .2-.3 rather than like .24 or something. Just goes to prove the first point about how just because they work at a B&M doesn't make them professionals tho I mean I guess that method is still theoretically safe, since if they were expecting a resistance in that range and it metered out as such there aren't any shorts... But you get my point

As for the quality of your ohm meter... It's not the ....tiest out there, just not the best for your application. That meter would be fine if you were building for a regulated mod that can only fire 1Ω and above since the hundredth's make very little difference... For example, if you had a Kayfun which most people like to run in the 1-2Ω range, it would be just fine. But for sub ohming, it's definitely not the quality you want. Where it is between .2 and .3 based on the bouncing of the numbers... That I don't have a clue. It could automatically round down, meaning it's bouncing between .29 and .30, or it could round up (bouncing between .20 and .21), or it could round normally bouncing between .24 and .25... It all depends how that meter is wired.

 

[jaxgator]

First, find out what your battery amperage rate is. This is probably the most important step IMO. I only use Sony VTC5s. They have a 30 amp continuous and 60 amp pulse apmerage rate. I always try to stay well below the continuous rate myself for safety's sake.

You want to take your coil's ohms and determine what the amperage draw from your battery is and stay under the continuous amperage rate. At least that is what I go by.

Watts - volts - amps - ohms conversion calculator

Ok, so, taking for instance a .3Ω coil we input the following into the link above...4.2 volts (maximum voltage for 18650 batteries)... .3 ohms for your coil...Click the Calculate button and we come up with an amperage draw of 14. Well within our 30 amp max.

Now, lets take a .2Ω coil and see what we get. An amperage draw of 21. Still within and under the 30 amp draw of this particular battery.

Anything below that I would not hit the fire button. Go ahead, enter .1Ω and 4.2 volts and see what the battery will be "asked" to do. That's right, 42 amps! Almost 1 1/2 times what the battery is rated for on a continuous charge. DO NOT venture there. You're only asking for injury.

Don't get me wrong. Sub-ohming can be safe, IF you know what you are doing when it comes to battery safety.

 

[dielonnn]

thank you guys sososososo much you just made sooo much stuff make sense to me that i have been trying to make sense of myself for the last 2 days. you guys ROCK. i will deffinaitly be using that calculator, *bookmarked*
and ya im pretty positive they said that the battery has a amperage rating of 30, they didnt say if that was continuous or pulse though... does this mean like just holding my firing button down= continuous and pressing it rapidly = pulsing??

 

[Dissonance]

thank you guys sososososo much you just made sooo much stuff make sense to me that i have been trying to make sense of myself for the last 2 days. you guys ROCK. i will deffinaitly be using that calculator, *bookmarked*
and ya im pretty positive they said that the battery has a amperage rating of 30, they didnt say if that was continuous or pulse though... does this mean like just holding my firing button down= continuous and pressing it rapidly = pulsing??

Sony VTC3/4/5 all have 30 amp continuous discharge rating. Technically, in our application we use the "pulse" rating (Firing up to 12 seconds I believe?) which is 60... But the rule of thumb is to go by the continuous for when something happens and you forget to lock your mod and it somehow ends up firing over an extended period of time. Heard a lot of stories of people throwing their mods in their pocket or putting them on a desk forgetting to lock them and noticing it minutes later... The mod will be scorching hot, tank dry, probably needing a good re-wicking... But not exploding.

Also, that's the maximum ratings for new batteries in perfect condition with no wear & tear. Like any other piece of hardware, they perform less than optimal over time, so it's always nice to have a little safety cushion.