Hi there all,
Been vaping since mid August, but being a straight into the deep end/hands on/ 'tinkerer' kinda guy, I dove (almost) right in on the DIY mixing, and recently into RBAs - converted a Smoktech carto-tank into a mesh wick and kanthal style RBA (to later find out they make their own in almost exactly the same way LOL!), then whilst playing with that bought myself a 'CHID'.
After reading the entirety of the ~500 mesh thread, the DUD builds thread and a few others, and a good 3/4 dozen attempts, I *finally* got the CHID to work with 500# mesh *without* using a fibeglass 'condom' in-between the mesh and kanthal (FG 'tube' scavenged from an old cart, slid over the mesh and burned clean), but a long way to go yet to get it working 'perfect'. The converted Smok tank has since become somewhat of a test-bed for wicks and coils etc...
Anyways, being the kinda guy I am, I've 'been having thoughts' about these units and how to possibly improve them, one track of which has lead me to this:
Carbon fibre as both wick *and* heating element - did several web-searches and haven't found anything about anyone even speculating, but having (C) 100m of CF 'tow' here, thought I'd have a play this last couple of days.
I've had some success already, but at around 2mm wick diameter, can't get high enough resistance to have one run from my limited gear - the h/m USB passthrough I have will fire the thing, but it (wickement) gets way too hot too quick and I'm fairly pushing the PC's PSU, so much that it drops from its usual 4.6-4.9v, down to around 3.5v - the 2mm thick 'Wickement' comes in at around 0.9 to 1.1 Ohms and is quite long at that - I have it come outa the mid-plate of the tank and spiral a bit around the centre post - but I do see potential - it's running and working now but at this length and after being fiddled with all day until it's started to fall apart a little, it's not quite up to the wicking level that's needed.
The CF itself wicks beautifully however, and when I had it shorter and at about 0.7 Ohms, it had no trouble keeping up, right until the entire length glowed a dull orange and the juice caught fire (my blue tank tube rilly didn't like that, and is now a little, uhhhmmm - 'melted' LOL!).
I'm thinking a U-wick style RBA might be a good base to experiment with this stuff on given the length of wick it allows for, but the fact the mounting plate is conductive would all but negate the benefits since I woldn't be able to isolate one end electrically from -ve/ground to attach the +ve connection - for other reasons I already have my head working on a non-conductive wick and terminal plate, but my limited resources likely don't allow for me making such a thing - likely won't stop me from trying at some point though!
Now for those running low V/super high current mods, there may be something in this for them although of course that kind of set-up is ill-advised as the potential for personal disaster is, well kinda 'up there', heheheh, but it doesn't seem to have put some folk off.
Anyways#2 - this is why I thought I'd throw this out there now so those with more/different/better resources and different minds could see if they feel they want to and can, forge on with this line of thinking whilst I'm doing my humble best here, meanwhile a little about the 'Wickement' as I made them:
I started with a fairly fine 'TOW' of CF - 3k Tow: Carbon Fibre 3K Tow / Roving on a 100m Reel - Easy Composites is the stuff I got.
I cut several lengths about 30% longer than needed, and bundled them together until they were almost at the dia. of the (in this case 2mm) wick hole, then whilst giving the bundle a gentle twist, glued the 2 ends of the bundle to hold it fast.
I then asked Mrs. Vapir to kindly hold each glued end whilst I wrapped it 'flat' (wrapping fibres spread out) in another length of the fibre, spiralling from one end to the other, opposite direction to the previous 'gentle twist', then glued the ends of the wrapping to the glued ends of the bundle - I could now handle it without it spreading open.
Just below the glue at what would be the top end of the 'Wickement', I wrapped 3 or 4 turns of ~28 guage plain copper wire very tightly, bringing the two ends back together and twisting them tight as well - this twist would connect the wickement to the +ve post of the RBA. Above the wire wraps could then be cut off to remove the glued part.
I fed the other glued end down through the wick hole leaving enough length above, and wrapped another piece of the copper wire around the fibres just at the plate level, and secured that under the -ve terminal screw - the contact between CF wickement and alu. plate is insufficient for it to make it's own connection - got a reading of between 17 and 30 Ohms without using the copper wire - the CF needs to be compressed somewhat before it gives a good and consistent connection.
I wrapped another piece of copper wire around the bottom end of the wick above the glue, twisted it tight, then cut off the glue before reassembling the RBA.
So, I know some of you may be thinking this all makes it not a 'one-piece' affair but hells, I'm indulging my license a little here LOL!
Well that's it - all I gotta say for now except - feel free to poke holes/constructive criticism encouraged etc. - sounds fiddly but if the idea can be made to work, shouldn't really take any longer than mesh and coil to set-up after a little practice and the potential seems to be there for the basics of this idea to be used in alternative arrangements perhaps.
I gotta go now and eat summink - be well folks!
DV (If it ain't broke, break it first and then fix it)
Been vaping since mid August, but being a straight into the deep end/hands on/ 'tinkerer' kinda guy, I dove (almost) right in on the DIY mixing, and recently into RBAs - converted a Smoktech carto-tank into a mesh wick and kanthal style RBA (to later find out they make their own in almost exactly the same way LOL!), then whilst playing with that bought myself a 'CHID'.
After reading the entirety of the ~500 mesh thread, the DUD builds thread and a few others, and a good 3/4 dozen attempts, I *finally* got the CHID to work with 500# mesh *without* using a fibeglass 'condom' in-between the mesh and kanthal (FG 'tube' scavenged from an old cart, slid over the mesh and burned clean), but a long way to go yet to get it working 'perfect'. The converted Smok tank has since become somewhat of a test-bed for wicks and coils etc...
Anyways, being the kinda guy I am, I've 'been having thoughts' about these units and how to possibly improve them, one track of which has lead me to this:
Carbon fibre as both wick *and* heating element - did several web-searches and haven't found anything about anyone even speculating, but having (C) 100m of CF 'tow' here, thought I'd have a play this last couple of days.
I've had some success already, but at around 2mm wick diameter, can't get high enough resistance to have one run from my limited gear - the h/m USB passthrough I have will fire the thing, but it (wickement) gets way too hot too quick and I'm fairly pushing the PC's PSU, so much that it drops from its usual 4.6-4.9v, down to around 3.5v - the 2mm thick 'Wickement' comes in at around 0.9 to 1.1 Ohms and is quite long at that - I have it come outa the mid-plate of the tank and spiral a bit around the centre post - but I do see potential - it's running and working now but at this length and after being fiddled with all day until it's started to fall apart a little, it's not quite up to the wicking level that's needed.
The CF itself wicks beautifully however, and when I had it shorter and at about 0.7 Ohms, it had no trouble keeping up, right until the entire length glowed a dull orange and the juice caught fire (my blue tank tube rilly didn't like that, and is now a little, uhhhmmm - 'melted' LOL!).
I'm thinking a U-wick style RBA might be a good base to experiment with this stuff on given the length of wick it allows for, but the fact the mounting plate is conductive would all but negate the benefits since I woldn't be able to isolate one end electrically from -ve/ground to attach the +ve connection - for other reasons I already have my head working on a non-conductive wick and terminal plate, but my limited resources likely don't allow for me making such a thing - likely won't stop me from trying at some point though!
Now for those running low V/super high current mods, there may be something in this for them although of course that kind of set-up is ill-advised as the potential for personal disaster is, well kinda 'up there', heheheh, but it doesn't seem to have put some folk off.
Anyways#2 - this is why I thought I'd throw this out there now so those with more/different/better resources and different minds could see if they feel they want to and can, forge on with this line of thinking whilst I'm doing my humble best here, meanwhile a little about the 'Wickement' as I made them:
I started with a fairly fine 'TOW' of CF - 3k Tow: Carbon Fibre 3K Tow / Roving on a 100m Reel - Easy Composites is the stuff I got.
I cut several lengths about 30% longer than needed, and bundled them together until they were almost at the dia. of the (in this case 2mm) wick hole, then whilst giving the bundle a gentle twist, glued the 2 ends of the bundle to hold it fast.
I then asked Mrs. Vapir to kindly hold each glued end whilst I wrapped it 'flat' (wrapping fibres spread out) in another length of the fibre, spiralling from one end to the other, opposite direction to the previous 'gentle twist', then glued the ends of the wrapping to the glued ends of the bundle - I could now handle it without it spreading open.
Just below the glue at what would be the top end of the 'Wickement', I wrapped 3 or 4 turns of ~28 guage plain copper wire very tightly, bringing the two ends back together and twisting them tight as well - this twist would connect the wickement to the +ve post of the RBA. Above the wire wraps could then be cut off to remove the glued part.
I fed the other glued end down through the wick hole leaving enough length above, and wrapped another piece of the copper wire around the fibres just at the plate level, and secured that under the -ve terminal screw - the contact between CF wickement and alu. plate is insufficient for it to make it's own connection - got a reading of between 17 and 30 Ohms without using the copper wire - the CF needs to be compressed somewhat before it gives a good and consistent connection.
I wrapped another piece of copper wire around the bottom end of the wick above the glue, twisted it tight, then cut off the glue before reassembling the RBA.
So, I know some of you may be thinking this all makes it not a 'one-piece' affair but hells, I'm indulging my license a little here LOL!
Well that's it - all I gotta say for now except - feel free to poke holes/constructive criticism encouraged etc. - sounds fiddly but if the idea can be made to work, shouldn't really take any longer than mesh and coil to set-up after a little practice and the potential seems to be there for the basics of this idea to be used in alternative arrangements perhaps.
I gotta go now and eat summink - be well folks!
DV (If it ain't broke, break it first and then fix it)
