One more opinion about SS mesh wick. How I found my sweet spot!

[Vaponators]

I've been playing around with different mesh setups since I got my AGA-T a while ago. This is my first Genesis style rebuildable and it's been fun. I watched a ton of videos on the different ways people have been making wicks and coils and then I got started. Pics below.

The first few wicks were mediocre. OK vapor, somewhat muted flavor and not much throat hit. Some metallic taste as well. After some more trial and error, I found my sweet spot using 400 SS mesh (10mm x 40mm) and 30 awg Kanthal.

1. First I prepared my SS mesh. I cut out my piece, oxidized with torch and quenched repeatedly. Rolled it using a small nail and made sure it was a nice, easy fit in the wick hole. When I was satisfied with the fit, I oxidized and quenched the rolled wick several times again to oxidize any part I might have scraped while checking the fit.

2. Heated up my Kanthal wire with a lighter to make it easier to work with and I used a slighly larger nail to twist it making a 7/8 wrap with nice tight coils. I tried the rolling paper method of oxidizing my coils in the past with varied success. So this time I decided to try dry burning it on my device. I slide the nail down into the wick hole with the coil still wrapped around it, secured the positive and negative leads, and removed the nail.

3. It fired up immediately at 1.8 ohms. Dry burned a couple of times until the coil glowed red.

4. Installed the wick by sliding it down through the coil into the tank. Perfect fit!!

5. Filled up the tank with juice, primed the wick and replaced the top cap.

6. Hit the fire button and arrived at vaping NIRVANA!

I would love to hear any of your thoughts on your RBA's, what you think of my setup and what setup is working best for you.

Happy vaping!

 

[Sgresham]

That is one beautiful coil. Is that 30 or 32?

 

[spraintz]

, I found my sweet spot using 400 SS mesh (10mm x 40mm) and 30 awg Kanthal.

30g has become my favorite as well

 

[Vaponators]

That is one beautiful coil. Is that 30 or 32?

Thanks Sgresham. That one is 30. I tried a few with 32 but I wasn't getting enough flavor or vapor. 30 seems to be working very well. Going to try some 28 next and see how much hotter it vapes and if there's a noticeable difference in flavor or throat hit.

 

[Vaponators]

30g has become my favorite as well

Hi spraintz. I'm curious. Have you tried any 28g? I'm thinking of ordering some to see if there's a big difference between the 28g and the 30g I'm using.

 

[spraintz]

I have tried 28g, I have it on my AC9 right now. I am using it at a 5/6 wrap on a thick wick (~2mm) to get about 1.1ohm.

I works pretty well but my only beef is that with so many coils it heats up the mesh really fast and the juice kinda boils from the heat of the mesh after a very short period. It's not a deal breaker but I would rather the wires atomize the juice rather than the super heated wick. I don't have this problem with 30 or 32.

 

[Vaponators]

I have tried 28g, I have it on my AC9 right now. I am using it at a 5/6 wrap on a thick wick (~2mm) to get about 1.1ohm.

I works pretty well but my only beef is that with so many coils it heats up the mesh really fast and the juice kinda boils from the heat of the mesh after a very short period. It's not a deal breaker but I would rather the wires atomize the juice rather than the super heated wick. I don't have this problem with 30 or 32.

I was wondering if I was going to have a similar problem on my AGA-T. My current 7/8 wrap of 30g covers a pretty decent area on the wick and heats evenly with no hot spots and no dry hits. It's a great combination. I'm thinking I won't need any more than a 3/4 or a 4/5 wrap with the 28g to achieve around 1.5 ohms but I don't think that's going to cover enough area on the wick. Guess I'll find out when the 28g arrives. I'm going to play around with it see if I can come up with the right 'formula'.

 

[EDO]

You got it backwards.... you'll need about 10-12 wraps to get 1.5 ohms out of 28g. 28awg kanthal has far lower resistance than the 30g.

 

[Vaponators]

You got it backwards.... you'll need about 10-12 wraps to get 1.5 ohms out of 28g. 28awg kanthal has far lower resistance than the 30g.

OOPS! Thanks EDO. OK, I get it now. I think. Lower Gauge = Lower Resistance and requires more wraps than a higher gauge to achieve the same resistance. Is that right?

WOW! 10-12 wraps? I think I like that idea. I'll give it a try.

 

[spraintz]

With a lot of wraps it takes a tiny bit longer for the whole coil to heat up.....by the time it does the wick itself is hot enough to vaporize the juice instead of just the wire vaporizing the juice. This creates a lil bit of a boiling/bubbling action of the juice that I don't really like.

Just for fun, I took my same AC9 with the same wick and replaced the 5/6 wrap of 28g with a 4/5 wrap of 30g and still came out to 1.1ohms. The cool part is that running at the same 3.7v the juice is instantly vaporized and has tons of vapor without overheating the wick.

 

[Vaponators]

With a lot of wraps it takes a tiny bit longer for the whole coil to heat up.....by the time it does the wick itself is hot enough to vaporize the juice instead of just the wire vaporizing the juice. This creates a lil bit of a boiling/bubbling action of the juice that I don't really like.

Just for fun, I took my same AC9 with the same wick and replaced the 5/6 wrap of 28g with a 4/5 wrap of 30g and still came out to 1.1ohms. The cool part is that running at the same 3.7v the juice is instantly vaporized and has tons of vapor without overheating the wick.

Thanks spraintz. That makes sense. So was there any difference in performance or flavor? If so, which one did you end up liking better? The 5/6 wrap of 28g or the 4/5 wrap of 30g?

 

[Rule62]

I'm curious about the size you cut your mesh. 10mmx40mm? Seems like a pretty thin wick. Mine are usually about 65mm. Other than that, I set mine up basically the same way. I roll the coil around a drill bit. 7/64" for the AGA-T. Hook up the coil, and then size the wick to fit the coil.

 

[Vaponators]

I'm curious about the size you cut your mesh. 10mmx40mm? Seems like a pretty thin wick. Mine are usually about 65mm. Other than that, I set mine up basically the same way. I roll the coil around a drill bit. 7/64" for the AGA-T. Hook up the coil, and then size the wick to fit the coil.

Hi Rule62. Actually, it was a rather thin wick. I could have rolled it a bit thicker and it would have fit just fine. But my first few attempts were with thicker wicks and they didn't perform very well. I guess I made them too thick. More metallic than anything else. I searched the forum for some dimensions other people had used and decided to try a thinner wick. It's performing much better but I think I can get even more vapor production by making my next wick a little thicker. I'll try making one like yours at around 65mm and see how it vapes. Thanks for the tip.

 

[spraintz]

Vaponators, it was actually a 3/4 of 30g....my bad

Personally I liked the flavor, vapor and hit of the 3/4 of 30g way better than the 5/6 of 28g.

 

[Vaponators]

Vaponators, it was actually a 3/4 of 30g....my bad

Personally I liked the flavor, vapor and hit of the 3/4 of 30g way better than the 5/6 of 28g.

Thanks for the update spraintz. I think I will end up liking the 30g over the 28g as well but still going to give it a try.

 

[njgeek]

Is there a downside of using AWG34 with only 2-3 wraps for 3ohm?

 

[spraintz]

Is there a downside of using AWG34 with only 2-3 wraps for 3ohm?

Not really. you might not get as much vapor production as say, 32g at a 3/4 wrap. But no, no real "downside".

 

[EDO]

vaponators....the consensus is the ticker the wick the better. I drilled out my DUD wick hole for this reason to 7/64 inch (2.8mm). It vapes way better with the ticker wick. You want your wick to slightly hug the walls of the wick hole when your sliding it in.

I agree with spraintz...with Kanthal you don't want to make a coil with too many wraps....the device becomes too unresponsive. IMO a 4 wrap 32g coil will be more responsive than a 7 wrap 30g coil....even though the 30g wire is more responsive. I don't think a 10 wrap 28g coil would work out too well. BTW the type of setups that spraintz is talking about won't work on your lavatube....1.2ohm cutoff. If you want to experiment with 28g wire and low ohm setups you need to get a provari.

 

[Azphat12]

I got my Aga - T finally working, but have a few questions.

1. How do you determine your wraps? I see 3/4 and 5/6 but what is that. If I had to guess that would be each side of the wrap. So maybe you see 5 coils o the right, and 6 on the left where the legs to the posts are?
2. I have a 7/64 drill bit and have tried over and over to use this method, but have found the cig paper seems to work best for me. I get the coils on there spot on....but always get caught up with trying to adjust the coils.
3. Is it normal for the top (near positive post) to light up first and slowly work toward the ground? What would cause that?
4. Vapor production is great, throat hit is good, and flavor isnt bad. Is there a way to make the draw just a tad tighter without really losing the rest? It almost feels like I am sucking air through a straw (no feeling of any vapor), but when I actually inhale it hits me. Basically I cannot feel any inhale until I take it into my lungs....

So far I have sanded down the top and the air hole is over the wick.
I drilled out the air hole to 1/16 (I even used jb weld to re-drill it down to 1.3mm and liked the bigger hole better)
I am using 32awg Kanthal a-1 and 400 ss mesh. I got the pre cut mesh from clouds of vapor....if you want reference to size
I rolled my wick around a 7/64 drill bit. Then I heat it...soak 3x. Then I put vg on it, heat it, soak 3x. Then I put juice on it and burn it off with a lighter 3x.
My wraps (I think) are 5 on the right and 6 on the left where they attach to the posts. I wound the coil counter clockwise so when I tighten the positive post it actually pulls the mesh closer to the post when I tighten down.
It shows 2.3 ohms, and I am vaping at 10 watts on a Vamo
It is working ok right now, but it is not consistant. Just looking for best practices as I really like this thing.

Dont want to hi-jack so I would be happy to re-post a new thread. Any help would be appreciated.

Oh and 1 last question. Can the Aga-t be setup with dual wicks? Maybe a second one in the fill hole or something?

 

[EDO]

What do you mean you rolled the wick around 7/64 bit? Did you make your wick like a straw?....It is supposed to be solid....I prefer my wicks with no hole at all.

Don't mess with the air hole..... once you start using the AgaT you will get used to how you are supposed to inhale...actually more like a cigarette. Also the coil has to break in for you to fully appreciate the vape. I like to break in the coil by filling the device with liquid and then doing 10 second burns until the coil is black....it takes about five or six 10 second burns to do that.....the vape gets much better when you do that.