New to RDAs and buying my first this week ( Drop ) And have a few questions

[jersey_emt]

Currently still at a .222 build. And now am hitting it at 75 watts .seems high compared to some people who run in the 60-65 range. But I'm gonna try it at 80-85. It's still nowhere near a hot vape, just when it has spit back like crazy.

Try a bit more cotton. And counterintuitively, more power often helps. It can quickly heat all of the juice that collects in the nooks and crannies of builds like a fused Clapton, so that it all vaporizes at once. Not enough power causes this juice to heat up slowly, and when a pocket of juice touching the coil gets vaporized, the un-vaporized juice near it gets blown away by the expanding gas.

Also make sure that you are not over-dripping. That's another common cause of spitback.

So far thinking the DR or the bonza as our local shop has them both for $30. And then maybe ordering a nudge 22 for a single?

Definitely the Bonza over the Dead Rabbit. I haven't tried the Nudge yet, although I do have my eye on the 24 mm version.

 

[mj79]

I'll have to load up some pics.. I stuffed alot of cotton in there at first. But being at this was my first"build" I over dripped and under powered.. seems to be good now tho.. 75-80 watts for me on this dual fused Clapton at .222 seems to be working out good so far.

I'll definitely grab the bonza. But between a nice single coil. The pulse 22 and nudge 22 are catching my attention

Ordered up some ni80 rectangle from kbee, so excited to get that to start wrapping up some coils as well.

 

[mj79]

Also I did notice alot of people say the drop has more spitback than alot of other RDAs , so for a newbie it was gonna be an issue from the start for me

I notice if I drop about 10-15 times in the center vs right on the coil , I basically get no spitback , so being this is my first time I already learned some hands on experience in how to drip and wick better for next time.

 

[jersey_emt]

I'll have to load up some pics.. I stuffed alot of cotton in there at first. But being at this was my first"build" I over dripped and under powered.. seems to be good now tho.. 75-80 watts for me on this dual fused Clapton at .222 seems to be working out good so far.

If a slight increase in power eliminated or greatly reduced the spitback, you're probably good with the wicking. But as you get more experience, you'll figure out what works best for your builds.

I'll definitely grab the bonza. But between a nice single coil. The pulse 22 and nudge 22 are catching my attention

Yeah the Bonza is pretty well-liked. It's definitely first on my list for when I order some new equipment.

Ordered up some ni80 rectangle from kbee, so excited to get that to start wrapping up some coils as well.

I get all my wire from Lighting Vapes. Their prices are great – for example, 100 feet of 24 gauge Kanthal is only $3.74 with the LV15 coupon code (15% off).

 

[mj79]

Ok . Few quick questions on the drip, even tho this will pertain to most rdas I'm guessing .

- do I want my coils as close to each other pushed towards the middle? As close as I can get without them touching? Or as close to the air holes as possible?

- is there an optimal "power chart" that kind of gives you an idea of how much wattage to use for your specific ohm rating? My build on 2 fused claptons is .22 and I see alot of people suggest 55-65 watts , but mine is closer to 75-80 and is still by no means a hot vape.

- how often should you clean your coil ( and what's the best way ) and change your wick.

I know some of those might be obvious, bit there is so much info and different ways to do so, I just thought I'd ask everything in this one thread so I can go back to it.

 

[mj79]

Also , I'm getting my ni80 rectangle in the mail today, so pretty excited to try my own first actual build .

But for times when I want to try something different , where can I get some nice premade coils , like a twisted, or alien etc..

I know the poster above suggested lightning Vapes, so I'll look there first, but am open to any other options

Thanks again

 

[stols001]

Advanced vapor supply often has a good collection of more exotic builds, you may want to look there, as well.

Anna

 

[Ralph_K]

Ok . Few quick questions on the drip, even tho this will pertain to most rdas I'm guessing .

- do I want my coils as close to each other pushed towards the middle? As close as I can get without them touching? Or as close to the air holes as possible?

- is there an optimal "power chart" that kind of gives you an idea of how much wattage to use for your specific ohm rating? My build on 2 fused claptons is .22 and I see alot of people suggest 55-65 watts , but mine is closer to 75-80 and is still by no means a hot vape.

- how often should you clean your coil ( and what's the best way ) and change your wick.

I know some of those might be obvious, bit there is so much info and different ways to do so, I just thought I'd ask everything in this one thread so I can go back to it.

I think you get better flavor if coils are above air holes a little closer to drip tip. Could be wrong but that has been my experience

 

[mj79]

Advanced vapor looks pretty nice, thanks @stols001

Nice to see prices so low on prebuilt coils. Before I got into RDAs I was looking at squidoode coils and they were like $15 a piece!

 

[jersey_emt]

- do I want my coils as close to each other pushed towards the middle? As close as I can get without them touching? Or as close to the air holes as possible?

Depends on the RDA. Some work better with the coils pushed back. But usually, closer to the air holes is what you want.

- is there an optimal "power chart" that kind of gives you an idea of how much wattage to use for your specific ohm rating? My build on 2 fused claptons is .22 and I see alot of people suggest 55-65 watts , but mine is closer to 75-80 and is still by no means a hot vape.

Not really. For plain wire, twisted, and parallel builds, the heat flux calculation on Steam Engine works great. Once you figure out what heat flux value works for you, the calculator will give you a pretty accurate recommendation on wattage.

Steam Engine does provide a heat flux per watt calculation for more complex builds in the Wire Wizard section, but I've found it to be way off in figuring out what wattage to use. You are just going to have to figure out for yourself based on your own preferences.

- how often should you clean your coil ( and what's the best way ) and change your wick.

Depends on your own preferences (starting to sound familiar now?). And the specific juices you use can have a huge effect on coil and wick life. Some flavorings can gunk up your coils very quickly.

I rarely go more than two days with a wick, and most of the time I rewick after just one day. I take out the old wicks, and rinse everything thoroughly with tap water. Then I dry burn the coils until they start to glow, then put them under the tap – the rapid cooling breaks off any gunk. Rinse again for several seconds in case any of the coil gunk fell off into the deck, then rewick.

Most people go much longer between rewicking.

And I typically replace the coils after about a week, even though they still have a lot of life left. But I do have about a mile of wire total in various gauges and material to work with.

 

[mj79]

In my Drop right now I have that same wire. Dual coils 7 wrap contact coils 3.5mm id at .22ohms.

Ok, just tried wrapping a coil quick to see how it worked out . Did a 3mm 7 wrap with the rectangle ni80. Ohmd Out at .37..

Only thing I'm having a tougher time with is getting that flat wire to wrap tight. Definitely not as simple as round wire to get everything perfect . Nor does this like being pinched with tweezers as it tends to overlap...

I definitely need some practice , but it'll come . I might try 8 wraps at 3mm to see if it fits ok.

I did the build with just one coil on my big baby rta , just to try things out.

 

[mj79]

 

[mj79]

OK.. last question for the drop

what is " supposed to be " the best flavor.. Im guessing coils as high as they can go?

ANd closest to the air holes , or closed close together towards the middle

 

[Ralph_K]

IMO coils closer to the drip tip give better flavor. same reason a shorter atty has better flavor than a tall one

 

[mj79]

Ok, as of now my coils are close to the drip tip in height, and they are close to the walls( airholes ) .. gonna try pushing them close to the middle , to try it out. But just wondering what others have found the best .

Also coils being close together in the middle just makes dripping on the coil so much easier. Otherwise they kind of get tucked away on the sides