New to RBA's - Few questions (Wicks, coils, fill hole, etc.)

[Dissonance]

OK, this first paragraph is just background so skip it if you don't wanna read a wall of text. Started vaping a 'lil before Christmas (I never smoked cigs, I smoked hookah almost 24/7 tho, so it was a pretty easy transition) on Protanks, didn't take long before I wanted something a little better. Looked into RBA's, figured with the way I like to tweak things til I have them perfect it'd happen eventually so just took the plunge. Ordered an IGO-L and an AGA-T2 (Well, AGA-T+ but I ordered a glass tank to go with it so I guess technically it's a T2 now). Been trying to roll microcoils but I'm still new enough that anything I can get that fires and heats evenly is good enough for me. Also been messing around with wick types, I have a few thicknesses of silica, cotton (from store brand cottonballs), and 400 SS mesh. Cotton seems to be working well in my dripper and Protanks (Actually, the rebuilt protank 2 is my favorite so far, having wicking problems with the AGA-T2). Silica I haven't used much of yet, I have a single strand set in my AGA-T2 atm that's working better than the cotton/ss I've tried but still have to hold it the right way while I'm taking a hit. I've tried stainless steel 3 times... First time I got it to fire easily, but there was next to no wicking (It was dry ~ half a hit in, 500 rolled very tightly no center hole). Second try I couldn't get it to fire (kept shorting out) and third I was having hot spot & wicking issues (400 rolled semi-tightly with a medium center hole). I want to try ekowool & ceramic, but don't have any on hand. All of my builds end up around 1.5-2 Ohm, I have a Vamo V5 & MVP V2 so sub-ohm coils won't work for me. All that out of the way...

1) What are the pro's/con's of each wick material? (Including ekowool & ceramic)

2) Where do you buy your materials from? (Again, including ekowool & ceramic)

3) Are there any good coil "types"? (I mentioned I've been trying microcoils; anything like that without going into sub-ohm territory)

4) Does having the screw in the fill hole effect wicking at all on the AGA-T2?

5) Resistance wire... I always see Kanthal, any others? And can anyone give me a quick 101 on ribbon wire? (To my understanding it's flat rather than circular, does this make for better coils? How does it work out when it comes to Ohms?)

6) Stainless Steel Wicks... Anyone got a thread that goes into detail on these things? I saw the one where it says 500 count rolled very tightly with a small center hole has the best wicking ability based on different tests (http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/330407-500-ss-mesh.html) but I wanna know more about the other stuff done to it (Why you dry burn, quench, etc. v.s. just oxidize, why oxidize the whole thing rather than just the part the coil touches, etc)

7) Ekowool & Ceramic wicks... Pretty interested about these, anyone have anything notable to say?

8) A little more specific; I'm new and wasn't expecting to be messing with my AGA-T2 yet but my dripper really doesn't leave me much to play with... I haven't been able to come up with a good wick for this atty yet, I tend to chain vape and the best I've done is the silica wick that's in here atm and I have to hold it so the juice is on the entire strand while I'm hitting it to keep from getting a dry hit. I tried a cotton U-wick with a single coil and it did amazingly for 1 tank then on the 2nd one stopped wicking all together. All 3 of my attempts at a stainless steel wick have been pretty bad... Any suggestions?

9) (Last one I swear) My experiences with the T2 are making me realize I really like bottom fed tanks... What RBA would you recommend that's bottom fed?

Sorry for the giant wall of text, and thanks in advance to anyone who took the time to read it all xD

 

[Dissonance]

Lots of views no replies On a happy note, picked up a EHPro Kayfun Lite clone, threw a coil & wick (cotton) first try and it's running great I hate how you can't see your fluid level if you're vaping non-plastic friendly liquids tho. Going to have to get a syringe to measure out tanks.

 

[SkvLTD]

To my understanding, kanthal does not have some kind of "metallic" taste nichrome wire does, for some people.

Wicks, all a matter of preference/what you use them in. Cotton, so far and for me, just gets burns too easily and affects taste. I stick with SS mesh for its pure taste and quick wicking or ekowool for its heat tolerance, and same with ceramics. I'm sure metal wire ones are on par with mesh without the mess of having to roll it.

Buy wherever you like best honestly. Lots of shops stock everything and most of these materials are about the same. I use Kidney Puncher for supplies like wicks, and now, ebay for wire.

On plastic friendly juice, from what I read so far its some odd and end kinda flavors, but I agree with ya that pyrex is overall the way to go if you can.

 

[Dissonance]

To my understanding, kanthal does not have some kind of "metallic" taste nichrome wire does, for some people.

Wicks, all a matter of preference/what you use them in. Cotton, so far and for me, just gets burns too easily and affects taste. I stick with SS mesh for its pure taste and quick wicking or ekowool for its heat tolerance, and same with ceramics. I'm sure metal wire ones are on par with mesh without the mess of having to roll it.

Buy wherever you like best honestly. Lots of shops stock everything and most of these materials are about the same. I use Kidney Puncher for supplies like wicks, and now, ebay for wire.

On plastic friendly juice, from what I read so far its some odd and end kinda flavors, but I agree with ya that pyrex is overall the way to go if you can.

If it's not a bother to ask... What technique do you use while rolling your SS wicks? And do you do it that way because of testing or because that's how you learned to do it? Just curious

 

[Jonathan]

SS mesh... it can be a real nightmare to learn. After a good bit of trial and error, this is what I decided I like in my own aga-t2:
Supplies
#450 mesh 45mmx45mm
3mm hollow ekowool tubing
.1mmx.5mm flat kanthal ribbon
14 gauge blunt needle
-Finding hotspots when using a bare mesh wick can be hair-pulling madness, just omit that step completely by using ekowool.
Steps involved:
1) Clean your mesh with hot water and dish soap. Make sure all traces of soap are cleaned away
2) Torch one side of the mesh, allowing it to glow red on entire surface. Flip and repeat 4 more times.
3) firmly hold one end of mesh. use a syringe tip or other pin shaped object to pinch screen between finger with, and drag along length of screen to make it curl up on itself, as is done with ribbons
4) Fold over just the tiniest bit of roughest edge of screen. begin rolling as tightly as possible between thumbs & forefingers until rolled up.
5) roll repeatedly between fingers until wick is solid, w/ no hole in center. one way will tighten, the other way will loosen, you will be able to feel if its tightening or not
6) Once wick is completely tight, hold end w pliers and torch until red glow has been on every part of wick. repeat this step 4 more times
7) cut one end of the wick w scissors at a 45 degree angle. This allows more juice to flow up through the bottom end.
8) Set aside wick for now and grab up ekowool tubing. torch tubing an inch from the end and cut with wire cutters, scissors wont cut right and it will fray uncontrollably if you dont torch the area where you cut it first.
9) Thread 14 ga blunt tip needle through the clean end of the ekowool. torch entire piece till it glows, being careful not to let the syringe glow also. Allow it to cool an d trim just frayed end off.
10) set wick inside clean, dry atomizer. do not attempt to use dirty/wet/full atty or ekowool falls apart. torching makes ekowool stiffen and retain shape
11) trim wick flush w top of center post in atty using scissors.
12) slide ekowool tube over mesh, taking care not to let it snag or fray. Trim with wirecutters, even with or a bit above mesh wick top.
13) Cut a 3 inch piece of kanthal ribbon. torch entirely til it glows orange 3 times. do not hold torch still or youll ruin kanthal
14) wrap on device, not outside of it. I like a 3/4 coil wrapped medium tight giving me 1.3-1.5 ohms of resistance, but its a personal sweet-spot kinda thing, you may like 2.5 or .5, its very subjective
15) test coil w the proper meter. I have a regular old ego threaded one which can be found on almost any site w rba supplies. SAFETY FIRST!!!!
16) Fill w your favorite juice and enjoy. For more info, I found all of pbusardo's videos on youtube to be very helpful while I was learning.

 

[Jonathan]

If you do the above just right, there should be no metallic taste at all. also, be sure to space your coils out nice and even. Since you dont have to burn in or hunt for hotspots from mesh frays, the only way youll have a short or hotspot is by having wires unevenly spaced or touching. You should get between 3 days and 2 weeks of use outta one build where flavor is on par with a dripping RBA. Once flavor starts to taper off, I rebuild w a fresh wire and ekowool sleeve. I wash mesh w hot water only and retorch, then reuse several times before i throw it out.

 

[Dissonance]

I really want to try that, but I don't have ekowool... Probably going to place an order tonight for some along with some ceramic (if I can find it) and see where that goes. Thank you for the step by step xD Going to follow them step-by-step when I get the materials too.

 

[TheGirlfriend]

I've been told that the lower the number on the mesh (325, 400, and 500 being the ones I've seen) are like thread count-- higher the number, higher the "thread count." Talked to one guy at a vape shop and he said he didn't notice much of a difference except that there may be slightly better wicking the lower the number.

Plenty of good youtube vids on making a coil and mesh wick. Very easy to do. I like to do several at a time and keep them in a little plastic box so they're easy to replace and I don't have to get out the torch and supplies more often.

I also highly suggest getting on SpinFuel's magazine/e-letter. I was just reading one review today on an RBA, but even when I'm not shopping for what they're reviewing, I do feel like I'm better informed because their reviewers try lots of different stuff and so you learn from them comparing things-- for example:
Youde AGI RBA/RDA Review

In this, the reviewer talks about his preferences, and even though the Boyfriend and I are fine with mesh, it's interesting to hear about cotton wicking from someone who likes that. Anyway, just a thought since I've learned a lot from them and they seem to have the best comparison reviews when it comes time to buy eliquid.

 

[Jonathan]

Glad to help, mesh really sucks at first. Steep learning curve. Just dont give up on it and youll be quite pleased with the result. Always have 2 attys, that way when you get frustrated during the build you still have one to puff on. Also, remember to roll wick solid, no hole down center. Think I forgot to mention that in earlier msg.
As far as ceramic goes, i havent tried it. General consensus seems to be that they are super fragile. Also, Phil Busardo did a test on one of his videos in which he poked several holes thru cardboard and inserted mesh wicks of varying #'s into the cardboard with the bottoms of wicks suspended over cups of juice for a set time. he also tested various grades of ceramic. Results were measured by amount of saturation in cardboard. The worst mesh outperformed the best ceramic. The most saturated spot was around the 450 or the 500, i dont remember which. I was under the impression that different grades of mesh perform better w different thicknesses of liquid... Thicker liquids work better w lower # mesh and vice versa.
Stick with it and good luck to ya
As far as an atty goes, I like my aga t2, easy to work on, cheap, hits great w good flavor. My gamma clone looks cool, I like the adjustable air flow control, and the flavor is phenomenal but what a huge PITA to recoil, lmfao. Not a good beginning rba at all. Steam Turbine clone I bought is awesome looking, love the shroud, durable, fairly easy to work on(smaller deck than aga) but it was my first, so you should likely have no trouble with it as a second piece in your collection. A kraken clone is basically a steam turbine w different shroud and top cap. adjustable airflow on it, but i dont have one to tell you how it hits.
I dont own any bottom coil RBA's, but everyone seems to like kayfun/russian a lot. Id like to try them out just for something new, lol
Regarding your question about the fill hole screw... Yes I have problems wicking (due to vapor lock maybe?) when I leave screw in.