Rebuilding CE5's Recommendations & Advice.

[sfmc-x1]

Okay, so I have 5 ce5 clearos and have gone through 2 x5 blister packs of heads.

I want to get into rebuilding the heads with fresh coil wire and wick material.

I prefer vaping with my flavors on 1.8ohm heads using a VV device.

My juices are all high PG, 80/20, and I'm pretty well stocked for winter at that ratio.


Question: What to buy to reproduce the factory CE5 1.8ohm head?

Kanthal wire gauge: ?

Wick gauge/material: ?


Cheers.

 

[Dakota Jim]

kanthal a1 32ga - Kanthal A1 Wire 32 Gauge 100 ft 0 25oz Resistance Resistor AWG A 1 | eBay

1mm silica wick - Bulk Silica Wick

ohm meter

machine screw tutorial - Machine screw coil wrap for Vivi Nova / Kanger T3 - YouTube

(instead of beading needle just use a small piece of wire bent double)

for micro coil style you will need small refillable butane torch

 

[happydave]

when you say its a CE5 are you talking about the one with the wicks inside the metal tube?
can you show me a pick of the CE5 you have?

 

[sfmc-x1]

kanthal a1 32ga - Kanthal A1 Wire 32 Gauge 100 ft 0 25oz Resistance Resistor AWG A 1 | eBay
1mm silica wick - Bulk Silica Wick
ohm meter
machine screw tutorial - Machine screw coil wrap for Vivi Nova / Kanger T3 - YouTube
(instead of beading needle just use a small piece of wire bent double)
for micro coil style you will need small refillable butane torch

Very helpful. Cheers.

What gauge silica wick for single strand instead of dual strand as seen in the video?

when you say its a CE5 are you talking about the one with the wicks inside the metal tube?
can you show me a pick of the CE5 you have?

Negative, previous version.



Cheers.

 

[happydave]

the coils use non resistance wire for the leads and kanthal wrapped around the wick for the coils
in order to do this you need a resistance to non resistance arc welder. there is some DIY instructions on the web that will explain how to make one, its not the safest thing in the world however if something goes wrong you could shock your self, burn your house down or kill your self with the home made arc welder.

reason for this is that the non resistance wire does not get hot so its used for the coils leads because the leads are in contact with the rubber grommet that holds them to the positive and negative contacts.

 

[Sthur]

My daily build is 30 gauge kanthal wire, 1/16 drill bit, micro coil, 8/9 wraps, 1.8 ohms every time, plus cotton wick.

Best flavor and use in my t3s, evod, pt2, even vape only coils.

Grab an evod or pt mini and will be better overall then the ce5.

 

[sfmc-x1]

the coils use non resistance wire for the leads and kanthal wrapped around the wick for the coils
in order to do this you need a resistance to non resistance arc welder. there is some DIY instructions on the web that will explain how to make one, its not the safest thing in the world however if something goes wrong you could shock your self, burn your house down or kill your self with the home made arc welder.

reason for this is that the non resistance wire does not get hot so its used for the coils leads because the leads are in contact with the rubber grommet that holds them to the positive and negative contacts.

Apologies... but I'm confused.

Why is there a need for a arc welder in the process of rebuilding/refurbishing the coil & wick on a CE5 replaceable head?

There are no welded or soldered points that permanently fix the coil wire to said head, only the rubber isolating grommet that holds the coil in place...?

 

[sfmc-x1]

My daily build is 30 gauge kanthal wire, 1/16 drill bit, micro coil, 8/9 wraps, 1.8 ohms every time, plus cotton wick.

Best flavor and use in my t3s, evod, pt2, even vape only coils.

Grab an evod or pt mini and will be better overall then the ce5.

Cheers.

I'm satisfied with the performance of the CE5 at the moment.

Especially vs. the performance of my pt2 I've been wrestling with since I got it. The forums have been very helpful in regards to the pt2.

I like having all this extra cash saved from quitting analogs, but I'm not in a hurry to spend it on new gak. I don't mind rebuilding my old stuff, and even though it's replaceable(ce5 heads), it would seem like a waste to throw them away.

 

[j3illy]

With the rebuildable CE4/CE5's, you replace the entire head/coil - http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-pack-rep...t=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item20dcd20d09
It's different than coil rebuilding done on higher end gear, when you cut the wire and wrap your own.

 

[happydave]

Apologies... but I'm confused.

Why is there a need for a arc welder in the process of rebuilding/refurbishing the coil & wick on a CE5 replaceable head?

There are no welded or soldered points that permanently fix the coil wire to said head, only the rubber isolating grommet that holds the coil in place...?

I want to get into rebuilding the heads with fresh coil wire and wick material.

so the + / - leads run to a rubber grommet. the leads are made of non-resistance wire (generally pure nickel wire). if the leads get to hot it will MELT AND BURN the rubber grommet. this will happen using just resistance wire, it might not happen all the time. people have found ways of tweaking the coil to make sure the leads do not get hot and melt stuff. but the factory uses an arc welder to make a resistance wire attach to non resistance wire. the reason why they do this is because using wire of a lower impedance (to carry the power to the coil) will allow for a concentrated and even distribution of power. using only kanthal (resistance wire) will some times produce a "hot lead" or "hot leg" that will melt the rubber grommet.
Pure Nickel Wire AWG Ni200 NON RESISTANCE - - Lightning Vapes
Kanthal A1 Resistance Wire - Lightning Vapes

now your saying you would like try to rebuild these heads, and that's fine. i tried a few times for a while until i got the burnt rubber taste and said never again until build an arc welder from a disposable camera ( i have bigger fish to fry ). most factory heads use this method because its a cheap and effective way to insure you will come back and buy more coils for your EVOD, Protank, CE style clearomizer.

if you want to start rebuilding i recommend you start with something a bit easyer. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...cussion/498945-my-build-ego-octopus-mini.html

 

[sfmc-x1]

so the + / - leads run to a rubber grommet. the leads are made of non-resistance wire (generally pure nickel wire). if the leads get to hot it will MELT AND BURN the rubber grommet. this will happen using just resistance wire, it might not happen all the time. people have found ways of tweaking the coil to make sure the leads do not get hot and melt stuff. but the factory uses an arc welder to make a resistance wire attach to non resistance wire. the reason why they do this is because using wire of a lower impedance (to carry the power to the coil) will allow for a concentrated and even distribution of power. using only kanthal (resistance wire) will some times produce a "hot lead" or "hot leg" that will melt the rubber grommet.
Pure Nickel Wire AWG Ni200 NON RESISTANCE - - Lightning Vapes
Kanthal A1 Resistance Wire - Lightning Vapes

now your saying you would like try to rebuild these heads, and that's fine. i tried a few times for a while until i got the burnt rubber taste and said never again until build an arc welder from a disposable camera ( i have bigger fish to fry ). most factory heads use this method because its a cheap and effective way to insure you will come back and buy more coils for your EVOD, Protank, CE style clearomizer.

if you want to start rebuilding i recommend you start with something a bit easyer. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...cussion/498945-my-build-ego-octopus-mini.html

Okay. This is making sense.

Correct me if this is wrong... The coil that comprises the atomizer in a CE5 clearo is made up from two different kinds of wire, one on each of the legs, and a different type on the section of sprung coil.

ie: non-res/res/non-res.
Correct?

I've had one of my ce5's completely apart with coil and wick removed and separated. And I would've never guessed that they were two different types of wire joined, as they were visually seamless.

Thanks for the heads-up.

Cheers.

 

[happydave]

^ thats correct.
i have tore down a lot of heads all of them that have a rubber grommet in the bottom to hold the leads in place, use the non-res to res setup. "visually seamless" hmm.. that's interesting because kanthal (res wire) will oxidize when it gets hot and pure nickel (non-res) will not so you should have a really dark section in the middle and 2 shiny leads on both ends (used coil).
is any part of the wire magnetic?
does the head have a rubber grommet in the bottom?

you should be able to feel a bump where the wires are welded together...

 

[sfmc-x1]

^ thats correct.
i have tore down a lot of heads all of them that have a rubber grommet in the bottom to hold the leads in place, use the non-res to res setup. "visually seamless" hmm.. that's interesting because kanthal (res wire) will oxidize when it gets hot and pure nickel (non-res) will not so you should have a really dark section in the middle and 2 shiny leads on both ends (used coil).
is any part of the wire magnetic?
does the head have a rubber grommet in the bottom?

you should be able to feel a bump where the wires are welded together...

Sure enough. The tacks are there.

Slightly deterred now from completely refurbishing used ce5 replaceable heads...

Advanced question: Is it necessary or highly advisable to arc/build non-res/res/non-res coil legs on a "RBA" even though they mount/pinch to metal posts?

Cheers.

 

[happydave]

Sure enough. The tacks are there.

Slightly deterred now from completely refurbishing used ce5 replaceable heads...

Advanced question: Is it necessary or highly advisable to arc/build non-res/res/non-res coil legs on a "RBA" even though they mount/pinch to metal posts?

Cheers.

i would imagine that there is some instance where you would use a arc welded non-res to res wire on an RBA with metal posts. mainly if you wanted to extend or hang the wick and coil closer to the air hole ( the closer you can get the air hole to the wick and coil the better it will work to some degree ). its not really necessary on a RDA with metal posts.
you can removed the old wick and thread a new wick into the coil. just remove the old wick soak the head and coil in vodka over night and rinse it off with hot water and let it air dry for a few hours. then take new wick, wash or torch it. then put a tiny drop of juice on the end of the wick this end you will thread first. and you need about 2 inchs of wick. look at the wick you will see that is it twisted one direction. when you are threading the new wick into the coil you want to twist the wick so that it compresses the silica threads. for example i twist my wick clockwise because that is the direction that will compress it. so gently push and twist that wick one direction into the coil. after that check the coil spacing. if coils are touching or unevenly spaced it will cause problems i use a pointy tooth pick to space the coils out. then check it for shorts and ohms with a multi meter and put the top back on and its done. kanthal will oxidize with use. the layer of surface oxidation is brittle and flakes off, slowly the wire gets smaller (increasing resistance) and evidently the wire will snap in two. so you cant keep reusing the same head forever. but it will save you a few bucks if you do it a lot or help you out in a jam if its your last coil until your mail arrives.

 

[happydave]

people have good luck with micro coils on the setups with the rubber grommet holding the leads in place.
this video covers a lot of info about how to make good micro coils.
How To Make A Perfect Micro Coil With The Darkzero Coil Jig - YouTube

 

[sfmc-x1]

So, quick question about the replaceable heads for the PT2's.

Lots of talk about rebuilding those with micro coils, but I haven't [yet] come across any text regarding the combination of joined res & non-res wire when wrapping your own coils.

Both the CE5 and PT2 are built on the same principal, in that they both have a coil wrapped wick where the +/- legs are held stationary by a rubber isolator.

Are the PT2 factory coils manufactured in the same manner with non-res legs?

 

[happydave]

So, quick question about the replaceable heads for the PT2's.

Lots of talk about rebuilding those with micro coils, but I haven't [yet] come across any text regarding the combination of joined res & non-res wire when wrapping your own coils.

Both the CE5 and PT2 are built on the same principal, in that they both have a coil wrapped wick where the +/- legs are held stationary by a rubber isolator.

Are the PT2 factory coils manufactured in the same manner with non-res legs?

any coil with the rubber grommet holding the leads will use the non res leads welded to kanthal.
remember what i was talking about with a low impedance carrier wire bringing the power to the high res part?
well the micro coil, if made correctly functions in the exact same way. the leads have a much lower resistance than the bulk of the coil. insuring a uniform drop of power across the load.

 

[happydave]

there might be way of crimping the non res to the res wire. i never really felt like rebuilding my heads so i never looked into it. something like 2 slip knots pulled tight and trimmed just right might do the trick.

 

[sfmc-x1]

any coil with the rubber grommet holding the leads will use the non res leads welded to kanthal.
remember what i was talking about with a low impedance carrier wire bringing the power to the high res part?
well the micro coil, if made correctly functions in the exact same way. the leads have a much lower resistance than the bulk of the coil. insuring a uniform drop of power across the load.

Yep, got it.

Cheers.

 

[sfmc-x1]

there might be way of crimping the non res to the res wire. i never really felt like rebuilding my heads so i never looked into it. something like 2 slip knots pulled tight and trimmed just right might do the trick.

I don't think I'd go that route. That might work for a car stereo in a pinch, but for a vaping device where electrical continuity is the difference between a clean vape and burnt rubber, I'll take your recommendation to either learn to arc my own coils or buy heads in bulk.

I know I can still get a few more miles out the heads I do have by replacing the wicks on their own.

Cheers.