RDA building for beginners, Kayfun Woes, and Mech Anxiety

[nlaq]

Hey guys!

Almost three months smoke free after a pack a day for 6 years ! I started with a blu (was pretty bad), moved to an ego (Pro tank/nautilus), then an MVP2 (Kayfun/Omega), then a Hanna clone (Magma), and now, finally, an IPV2! Here's to (hopefully) finding a mod I don't outgrow in a few weeks

Anyhow

The title here is a bit misleading, actually. I've been vaping on a Kayfun, Omega, and (most recently) a Magma for well over a month now - and I also have a Tobh laying around... but I've yet to actually build something myself.

A bit ago I got a Kayfun and Omega clone from a friend - both were already built. After a few weeks (early August), I decided to pick up a Tobh so I'd have something to play with myself without risking the two attys that were working fine. I got it from a shop while I was on vacation in Baltimore; and I took up the guy at the shop's offer to build something on it. I didn't take a close look at the build before I left (I was pressed for time), and it didn't turn out so well. I feel kinda bad actually since I was in such a hurry, that I think the dude at the shop rushed a bit.

Anyhow: when I got back from vacation, I decided that I'd also want to pick up a Magma as well... Since I heard they were great for flavor, I figured I could put something a bit more "cloud-chasey" on my Tobh later so I'd have two extremes to play with. The guy at my local shop walked me though the build process and (mostly) put it together himself (dual coil .7 ohm). So far it's been pretty excellent; and I all but forgot about the Tobh and Omega

However, the other day I picked up an IPV2 (upgraded over my Hanna Modz clone); and I was reminded that I had the Tobh just kinda laying there. With two decent box mods (I plan on giving my MVP to a friend since I now have another backup device), I guess I'm out of excuses of trying putting together a build.

Basically; I'm a software guy; and am pretty terrible at anything requiring fine motor skills. If I can't load it up in an interactive debugger, then it's unlikely that I would be very effective at it. Despite me already being a huge fan of RDAs/RTAs over clearomizers, the thought of building something is a bit intimidating. I understand the basic procedure, safety (atleast I think I do), and some tips from the guy who built my Magma; but beyond that, I'm unsure. There are so many builds, wick configurations, and other things out there that the entire process seems very complicated.

So I guess, the first question I have is: what would be a good, straightforward, beginner friendly, configuration for a Tobh? I do have 22 gauge Kanthol and plenty of cotton - and I understand the basic procedure. How many wraps do I need? How should I configure the cotton? I'm looking for some decent clouds, so I guess I'm going for a dual coil build, right? Also, I heard that around 1.7 ohms can actually increase battery life compared to < .5 ohms; and I'm definitely not dead set on sub-ohming.

I know these questions have been answered; so if there are some general resources that fit the atty and my situation, I would be grateful if anyone could shoot some over to me

Secondly, I'm having some troubles with my Kayfun clone. For the first month it was glorious. Then it started tasting burnt. Very burnt. So, I replaced the cotton and went on using it; but within a few hours it had that burnt taste again. I went down to the vape shop, and I asked the guy about it - he said it just needed new cotton and to be cleaned. After dry burning it, he showed me the proper way to wick it, and it worked fine. For a few hours. Then it had the same taste again.

I'm not going to lie: I vaped on that sucker pretty heavily - especially when in Baltimore (such is the nature of alcohol + vaping ). Is it possible that the coil itself is damaged? Should I just go ahead and try rebuilding it? Or did I mess something else up?

Finally, should I feel bad for not liking mechs? In addition to the Omega and Kayfun, my buddy sent me a Magneto. To be honest, I'm not a fan. I don't like being at the mercy of a battery pushing raw juice, and I miss features such as pass-though capabilities, battery indicators and control over wattage. I'm also very concerned about the safety; since it lacks any sort of protections. In addition, the damned magnet-button has popped out TWICE so far (happened a few days apart), which resulted in panicked unscrew-the-atty-as-fast-as-possible moments that I would very much not like to repeat.

However, everyone seems to love mechs. At the vape shops I've been to, they've all used one or another. It feels like my preference for regulated mods is some sort of lack of "e-cig maturity" - yet, I can't find a convincing reason to use one over, let's say, an IPV2. But there's just this thought in the back of my head about them. It boils down to my experience so far with vaping:

When I went from Blu to an Ego, I thought "wow, this is awesome! Why would I need anything else?"
When I went from an Ego to an MVP, I thought "wow, this is awesome! Why would I need anything else?"
When I went from an MVP to the Hanna Modz, I thought "wow, this is awesome! Why would I need anything else?"
When I went from an Hanna Modz to the IPV2, I thought "wow, this is awesome! Why would I need anything else?"

I'm noticing a pattern. I honestly wish I had started with an IPV2. It would have saved me a lot of money :/

But I have this niggling feeling that one day I'm just going to "get" mechs, and ditch my regulated mods entirely. Should I be concerned? Or, more appropriately, should my wallet be concerned?

Anyway, thanks for reading my book - if you got this far any advice would be appreciated!

 

[DFYLR]

Whatever keeps you off of the stinksticks, man.
I've started carrying both a mech/RDA and a regulated/tank. The first for social vaping/ relaxing at home, and the second for in the car/ being out and about.
I do indeed enjoy some subOhming, but battery life and pocket leakery are genuine concerns for me.

 

[eyerhere]

There are tons of coil how to vids on you tube. There is no reason you have to use a mech with rba. Unless you like sub ohm. As long as you totaly understand ohms law and battery safety coil building its self is easy. Love my mechs but if you are happy with the vapor produced on a regulated you will get no criticism fom me.

 

[HgA1C]

My thoughts are that you are under filling the tank and running through the liquid, or maybe chain vaping with a bad wick setup and burning the wick.As far as I know dry burning should take care of the coil. So it most likely is wick material, size, or placement.

I would suggest the coil build vids, and pay attention to wick length and size.. Look into a "coiling gizmo" if you are concerned over coil making. It can be bought locally and modified for around $10 to make perfect micro-coils. 28ga Kanthal A1 seems to be the most popular wire for the Kayfun, 6-8 turns at 1.2-1.8 ohms. Japanese cotton sheets seems to be the overall consensus for wicking; although many are sporting Rayon on Kayfuns. The biggest concern with Kayfun is wick placement and size, less is more, it appears that on top of the channel and not in the channel is best location for Kayfuns. I just came back to vaping and have done substantial research on these topics, and this is a summary of many hours of research.

Added:
I bought a real DNA30 (Radix), and a Kayfun clone as my starter kit. Mech's are rather advanced for beginners, unless you have the proper knowledge of physics. I personally would only consider going mech for size advantage, or cloud chasing. Regulated will always be safer unless the electronics fail. Regulated might be as simple as adding a kick to a mech. However, a mech is essentially a battery with a switch, and DC is no joke. These batteries with 30amp limits could be adapted to damn near weld with.

 

[Paradicio]

Re: Mechs vs regulated devices.....

Use what you like! Personally I have a preferred use case for each.... For the most part....

I use my regulated mods for my Kayfuns and Orchid, and I use my mechs for dripping attys. The only exception I've made to this rule is my Slug, which I have a Kayfun on top of. I dunno why, it just felt right.

But this is just my preference. What works for you can, and most likely will, be quite different.

Who cares what anyone else thinks? It's your vape, not theirs.

 

[nlaq]

I appreciate the replies! Thanks

I tried putting something together over the last hour or so, and it didn't go too well. I was following a video tutorial that showed a dual coil build, with the second coil being built out of the lead from the first one passed though the center post, and... it didn't go so great. Was using 22 gauge (like the guy in the video), but I certainly need more practice on wrapping. The first coil actually turned out well enough, read in at .4 ohms and heated up pretty evenly (though the center heated up about 500-1000 milliseconds faster than the edges) - but I gotta say, seeing it even heat up at all instead of blowing up the street block was rather nice.

But yeah... emphasis on "tried." I mutilated the second coil so badly that it wouldn't even wrap right again, so then I decided to build a second coil outside of the deck and plop it in there. Turns out I wrapped it upside down, and the damn coil wouldn't clear the lip of the deck. Things you learn, I guess.

Anyhow, this material is very difficult for me to work with. I think I'll head down to the shop and get some different wire that I can wrap easier, and try again.

I do have a question about resistance wire, however: is there any chance of it blowing up? I mean the wire itself and not the battery (which should be safe from shorts in my mods, and as long as I stay within safe voltage ranges). You gotta think there's a lot of energy going though those guys, I wonder if it's physically possible for that energy to... You know... Take off a finger or something. I know this is a dumb question, but still

 

[HgA1C]

I appreciate the replies! Thanks

I tried putting something together over the last hour or so, and it didn't go too well. I was following a video tutorial that showed a dual coil build, with the second coil being built out of the lead from the first one passed though the center post, and... it didn't go so great. Was using 22 gauge (like the guy in the video), but I certainly need more practice on wrapping. The first coil actually turned out well enough, read in at .4 ohms and heated up pretty evenly (though the center heated up about 500-1000 milliseconds faster than the edges) - but I gotta say, seeing it even heat up at all instead of blowing up the street block was rather nice.

But yeah... emphasis on "tried." I mutilated the second coil so badly that it wouldn't even wrap right again, so then I decided to build a second coil outside of the deck and plop it in there. Turns out I wrapped it upside down, and the damn coil wouldn't clear the lip of the deck. Things you learn, I guess.

Anyhow, this material is very difficult for me to work with. I think I'll head down to the shop and get some different wire that I can wrap easier, and try again.

I do have a question about resistance wire, however: is there any chance of it blowing up? I mean the wire itself and not the battery (which should be safe from shorts in my mods, and as long as I stay within safe voltage ranges). You gotta think there's a lot of energy going though those guys, I wonder if it's physically possible for that energy to... You know... Take off a finger or something. I know this is a dumb question, but still

You want the coil to heat evenly from center outward. Sounds like you did decent on your coil build.

From a physics point of view yes you can blow up anything. From a practical point of view, no. Kanthal has a melt point I believe close to 2200F You would have to vastly exceed that to blow up. The wire will just break before explosion as it will melt. Overall, the liquid would have to be gone and then dry burn the coil for it to fail prematurely. That is why Kanthal is used. It does not oxidize like ordinary metals so it is resistant to breaking.

The off-gassing of the battery and subsequent explosion in an improperly setup mechanical mod could kill you. Although the likelihood is low because if holding it you would have thrown it before that happened. Lastly, you should seriously look up "coiling gizmo vape" watch the micro coil 101 video, learning curve is minutes and your results will be consistent.

 

[msingletary]

22g is pretty thick. Pick up some 30g or 28g. These are easier to work with and give you more options for tinkering with various coils. The Omega is a PITA to use as a learning RDA due to the high walls. Love building on my Magma.

 

[vince01]

My advice would to stop chasing the perfect kit,

and start chasing the perfect vape

the two are not mutually inclusive

 

[nlaq]

Well, I did a thing.



Not pretty though :/

I ended up ripping out that 22 guage coil and replacing it with 28 gauge. I realized that I was going for a high ohm build; gut even then I didn't quite get what I was after

Clocks in at .6 ohms. The vapor is about on par with the Magma, though the flavor isn't bad. Not as good as the Magma for sure.

However; it works! I guess that's all we can hope for for a first build