Happy New Year, everyone.
Got some free time around the holidays, and put together some info I have learned about RBA.
I have collected at least 50 RBAs (genesis, dripping, tank,…) in the past few months. I’ve gone from phoenix and the like, to genesis tanks, and currently A7 and igo-L (both modified for pocket friendliness)
I put down the genesis as my main gear because I use very “dirty” liquid daily, 4 DIY bakeries, and W2V London. The coils needs wash and dry burn frequently.
Appreciate any ideas/recommendations.
Wick/coil setup:
Silica: use double 2mm instead of single 3mm, or 4x 1mm instead of single 2mm, … multiple strands tend to be more bouncy/puffy after repeated wash and dry burn.
Resistance wire: heat with lighter. My preference is to double back and twist so that it’ll look like: Oxxx-------------------------xxxO before wrapping, for easy adjustment of its position.
Wrap: apply force, with such as you would stretch a thick rubber ban to 2x of its length, to wrap the resistance wire around the wick.
after building the coil, use a micro screwdriver (flat) or needle adjust the coil, so that:
- it's not touching any plastic
- it's not touching the posts and casing
- even the space between the wraps
initial use (the heat) may cause coil to change shape and position slightly, just do the above again.
Airhole:
There should be nothing in the way between airhole and coil.
The air path, that is, from where the air enters the RBA to its exiting point inside RBA chamber, should not have a bottleneck.
The juice buildup around airhole can cause vapor reduction and scratchy TH.
I prefer airhole size 3/64 (1.2mm) that is 2 – 4mm away from the coil. It seems to be a good balance among vapor, TH and flavor.
Resistance wire:
AWG (American wire gauge)
Resistance ~doubles every +3 AWG units (example: 33 has about twice the resistance as 30 at a given length)
Estimate/guesstimate for tobacco and bakery liquid from my personal experience:
Illustrations:
Amp/voltage max output, limited by devices:
Dripping RBA choice:
Performance wise they are similar, provided the same >> type of wick/coil used and position/distance to the air hole.
The ones (phoenix and clones, A7) with well are more considering, easier getting the extra wick in place and less messy when un/casing.
Most post designs are comparable, nothing stands out. one of the worst from my experience is vision eternity – albeit a very good RBA design, the positive post became loose and would leak.
The factor of build material and quality...
Genesis RBA:
Just look around the posts above and below this one.
Got some free time around the holidays, and put together some info I have learned about RBA.
I have collected at least 50 RBAs (genesis, dripping, tank,…) in the past few months. I’ve gone from phoenix and the like, to genesis tanks, and currently A7 and igo-L (both modified for pocket friendliness)
I put down the genesis as my main gear because I use very “dirty” liquid daily, 4 DIY bakeries, and W2V London. The coils needs wash and dry burn frequently.
Appreciate any ideas/recommendations.
Wick/coil setup:
Silica: use double 2mm instead of single 3mm, or 4x 1mm instead of single 2mm, … multiple strands tend to be more bouncy/puffy after repeated wash and dry burn.
Resistance wire: heat with lighter. My preference is to double back and twist so that it’ll look like: Oxxx-------------------------xxxO before wrapping, for easy adjustment of its position.
Wrap: apply force, with such as you would stretch a thick rubber ban to 2x of its length, to wrap the resistance wire around the wick.
after building the coil, use a micro screwdriver (flat) or needle adjust the coil, so that:
- it's not touching any plastic
- it's not touching the posts and casing
- even the space between the wraps
initial use (the heat) may cause coil to change shape and position slightly, just do the above again.
Airhole:
There should be nothing in the way between airhole and coil.
The air path, that is, from where the air enters the RBA to its exiting point inside RBA chamber, should not have a bottleneck.
The juice buildup around airhole can cause vapor reduction and scratchy TH.
I prefer airhole size 3/64 (1.2mm) that is 2 – 4mm away from the coil. It seems to be a good balance among vapor, TH and flavor.
Tips: add a piece of gauge 16 syringe needle in the air tube beneath the coil, of the A7 and odysseys the like, for greater vapor and smoother TH.
Resistance wire:
AWG (American wire gauge)
Resistance ~doubles every +3 AWG units (example: 33 has about twice the resistance as 30 at a given length)
Estimate/guesstimate for tobacco and bakery liquid from my personal experience:
AWG 36 7.5-8.5 Watts (1.4 – 2.8 Ω)
AWG 34 9-11 Watts (1.4 – 2.8 Ω)
AWG 33 10-12 Watts (1.4 – 2.4 Ω)
AWG 32 11-13 Watts (1.4 – 2.4 Ω)
AWG 30 13-15 Watts (1.4 – 2.0 Ω)
AWG 28 15-18 Watts (1.4 – 2.0 Ω)
In general, provided wicking can keep up, lower AWGs (thicker resistance wires) produce more intense vaping. However, wicking usually becomes issue with too many thick wraps heating the juice – therefore the common preference is to build a low AWG coil at low resistance.AWG 34 9-11 Watts (1.4 – 2.8 Ω)
AWG 33 10-12 Watts (1.4 – 2.4 Ω)
AWG 32 11-13 Watts (1.4 – 2.4 Ω)
AWG 30 13-15 Watts (1.4 – 2.0 Ω)
AWG 28 15-18 Watts (1.4 – 2.0 Ω)
Illustrations:
Analogy: more heat would be needed to warm up a larger room than a smaller room in winter.
At same AWG, 2.8Ω is 2x the length (2x the volume) as 1.4 Ω – requires more heat/wattage (more vaporizing) but not necessarily a proportional/linear relation.
At same resistance, AWG 30 is 2x the length (4x the volume) of AWG 33 – requires much more heat/wattage …
A dual-coil of 1.4 Ω (2x 2.8Ω) using 36 AWG, would be better than 1.4 Ω using 33 AWG in term of wicking and coil contact surface, but not necessarily the experience in the RBA world (tricky positioning for both coils and air hole/s)
At same AWG, 2.8Ω is 2x the length (2x the volume) as 1.4 Ω – requires more heat/wattage (more vaporizing) but not necessarily a proportional/linear relation.
At same resistance, AWG 30 is 2x the length (4x the volume) of AWG 33 – requires much more heat/wattage …
A dual-coil of 1.4 Ω (2x 2.8Ω) using 36 AWG, would be better than 1.4 Ω using 33 AWG in term of wicking and coil contact surface, but not necessarily the experience in the RBA world (tricky positioning for both coils and air hole/s)
Amp/voltage max output, limited by devices:
2.5amp/4.8V -- 2Ω >> 12W max (such as vision spinner)
2.5amp/6V -- 2.4Ω >> 15W max (such as Kgo)
3amp/5V ---- 1.7Ω >> 15W max (such as mvp)
3amp/6V ------ 2Ω >> 18W max (such as lavatube)
3.5amp/6V -- 1.7Ω >> 21W max(such as Provari v2)
4amp/6V ---- 1.5Ω >> 24W max(such as smoktech zmax)
5amp/6V ---- 1.2Ω >> 30W max(such as vamo)
10amp high drain protected batteries /mechanical/kick……
2.5amp/6V -- 2.4Ω >> 15W max (such as Kgo)
3amp/5V ---- 1.7Ω >> 15W max (such as mvp)
3amp/6V ------ 2Ω >> 18W max (such as lavatube)
3.5amp/6V -- 1.7Ω >> 21W max(such as Provari v2)
4amp/6V ---- 1.5Ω >> 24W max(such as smoktech zmax)
5amp/6V ---- 1.2Ω >> 30W max(such as vamo)
10amp high drain protected batteries /mechanical/kick……
Dripping RBA choice:
Performance wise they are similar, provided the same >> type of wick/coil used and position/distance to the air hole.
The ones (phoenix and clones, A7) with well are more considering, easier getting the extra wick in place and less messy when un/casing.
Most post designs are comparable, nothing stands out. one of the worst from my experience is vision eternity – albeit a very good RBA design, the positive post became loose and would leak.
The factor of build material and quality...
Genesis RBA:
Just look around the posts above and below this one.
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