Room for One More?

[BobbyGWurd]

Hey all!

Just wanted to drop a line and say hi! I'm from the great white north (Canada) and I've been smoke free for a few weeks after smoking for about 15 years.

My only piece of hardware right now is an Aspire K1 glassomizer on a 900 mAh battery. I'm interested in rebuildables, although I have no idea where I should start!

If any of you veterans out there have any tips, I would greatly appreciate it.

Besides that, I look forward to being a part of this great community!

 

[Rickw57]

Welcome to ECF!

As for the Rebuildable part - do you want to rebuild your own coil heads so you can use them in a clearomizer/tank? Or do you want a Rebuildable, as in Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer, where you have to "drip" eliquid on your coil and wick every so often?

In both cases, you'd need a better battery, or a so called "mod". One with variable wattage.

Then you'd need a somewhat bigger tank than you have now. Perhaps a tank with an RBA(rebuildable) coilhead. This way you can build your own coils but still have the convenience of a tank.

Or you can buy a simple RDA, make your coils, wick it, drip it, and vape it.

Good luck!

 

[Katmar]

Welcome to the forum....

 

[papler]

wassup dawg
welcome to the forum!

 

[suprtrkr]

Hi and welcome. We'll have plenty of comment about gear, but we need some more info. How much power are you looking for, and do you want a tank or a dripper?

 

[BobbyGWurd]

Hi and welcome. We'll have plenty of comment about gear, but we need some more info. How much power are you looking for, and do you want a tank or a dripper?

I've been looking in to RDAs as to me it appears they produce the most vapor. Not that this is overly important to me, it looks cool as hell when a cloud fills up a room.

When it comes to batteries, I understand quite little. I know that the mAh's usually indicate how much charge it can hold, but I've also seen variable voltage/wattage. How do each of these numbers affect the vape?

Thanks for the welcomes as well

 

[suprtrkr]

I've been looking in to RDAs as to me it appears they produce the most vapor. Not that this is overly important to me, it looks cool as hell when a cloud fills up a room.

When it comes to batteries, I understand quite little. I know that the mAh's usually indicate how much charge it can hold, but I've also seen variable voltage/wattage. How do each of these numbers affect the vape?

Thanks for the welcomes as well

Fair enough. I am not really a cloudblower, but I have a Fishbone and a Dark Horse that both throw serious steam on my Snow Wolf when cranked up above 60 Watts or so. I am really a flavor chaser. My favorites there are the Aris Pro by Council of Vapor and the Sapor by Wotofo. Batteries are very important. That's a lot of energy compacted in a very small space and, when mishandled, bad things can happen. Very bad things. For a new vaper, I strongly recommend a regulated mod; that's one with internal electronics to make wattage selection possible on any coil, and they are much safer. It all depends on how much power you want, there are many possible choices. Good brand names for removable battery mods are Cloupor and Sigelie, among others. I have an Asmodus Snow Wolf 200 Watt machine I love all to pieces. With mechanical mods, controlling wattage is hard to do-- the only way to change it is re-coil the topper-- and finding the sweet spot can be an exercise in frustration. I have them, and love them; I'm vaping a mech as I type. But they're not for everybody, and I suggest a bit more experience before you try. I did all that to talk about batteries. One of the best resources on batteries on the board is @Mooch 's battery selection chart, located here. The key thing is to get enough amperage available so you don't blow it up in your hand. With a regulated mod, this is much easier; with a mechanical it is critical, crucial and dangerous. On a regulated, in general, I recommend the Samsung 25Rs or the LG HE2s or HE4s if you're going to consistently vape under 70ish watts. If over that, or in a mechanical, use the Sony VTC4s. I use VTC4s exclusively, even though 25Rs would be a better choice for my regulateds at the power I use, just because I don't want a lot of different ones hanging around. For really high power applications, the LG HB6s, but their battery life sucks. You are correct mAh tells you how much power they hold, but the key is getting an amperage capability that can handle the draw you're going to put on it. Battery life is less important than safety There are also a lot of re-wrapped and counterfeit batteries out there, so you have to be careful. Authentic ones can be purchased at Illumn, Orbtronic and RTDVapor.

 

[BobbyGWurd]

Fair enough. I am not really a cloudblower, but I have a Fishbone and a Dark Horse that both throw serious steam on my Snow Wolf when cranked up above 60 Watts or so. I am really a flavor chaser. My favorites there are the Aris Pro by Council of Vapor and the Sapor by Wotofo. Batteries are very important. That's a lot of energy compacted in a very small space and, when mishandled, bad things can happen. Very bad things. For a new vaper, I strongly recommend a regulated mod; that's one with internal electronics to make wattage selection possible on any coil, and they are much safer. It all depends on how much power you want, there are many possible choices. Good brand names for removable battery mods are Cloupor and Sigelie, among others. I have an Asmodus Snow Wolf 200 Watt machine I love all to pieces. With mechanical mods, controlling wattage is hard to do-- the only way to change it is re-coil the topper-- and finding the sweet spot can be an exercise in frustration. I have them, and love them; I'm vaping a mech as I type. But they're not for everybody, and I suggest a bit more experience before you try. I did all that to talk about batteries. One of the best resources on batteries on the board is @Mooch 's battery selection chart, located here. The key thing is to get enough amperage available so you don't blow it up in your hand. With a regulated mod, this is much easier; with a mechanical it is critical, crucial and dangerous. On a regulated, in general, I recommend the Samsung 25Rs or the LG HE2s or HE4s if you're going to consistently vape under 70ish watts. If over that, or in a mechanical, use the Sony VTC4s. I use VTC4s exclusively, even though 25Rs would be a better choice for my regulateds at the power I use, just because I don't want a lot of different ones hanging around. For really high power applications, the LG HB6s, but their battery life sucks. You are correct mAh tells you how much power they hold, but the key is getting an amperage capability that can handle the draw you're going to put on it. Battery life is less important than safety There are also a lot of re-wrapped and counterfeit batteries out there, so you have to be careful. Authentic ones can be purchased at Illumn, Orbtronic and RTDVapor.

Thanks suprtrkr. This information is very helpful and you've pointed me in the right direction as to what I should be looking for. I'm going to look in to getting a regulated mod while I do some more research on mechanical mods and batteries, as it would seem the possibilities are almost endless as to what you can do with them.

I'm looking at a Sigelie Mini 30W online as it is in my current price range. One feature that I noticed on it is that has a DC-DC mode that allows it to bypass circuitry and act as a mechanical mod, which makes me think it might be a good piece of hardware to play with. Has anyone tried this mod?

Also, what kind of tools should I keep in my kit? I have a multi-meter, precision screwdrivers, wire cutters/strippers and some others that many people keep around the house, but any other basics I should keep handy?

Thanks again for all the help guys. I feel like such a noob, but you guys have been very helpful so far.

 

[suprtrkr]

Thanks suprtrkr. This information is very helpful and you've pointed me in the right direction as to what I should be looking for. I'm going to look in to getting a regulated mod while I do some more research on mechanical mods and batteries, as it would seem the possibilities are almost endless as to what you can do with them.

I'm looking at a Sigelie Mini 30W online as it is in my current price range. One feature that I noticed on it is that has a DC-DC mode that allows it to bypass circuitry and act as a mechanical mod, which makes me think it might be a good piece of hardware to play with. Has anyone tried this mod?

Also, what kind of tools should I keep in my kit? I have a multi-meter, precision screwdrivers, wire cutters/strippers and some others that many people keep around the house, but any other basics I should keep handy?

Thanks again for all the help guys. I feel like such a noob, but you guys have been very helpful so far.

You'll do fine with that Siggie, it's a nice piece of gear I hear, albeit you'll probably want more power in the future. As I said, I don't think you'll find meching easy to do. It's much easier to regulate wattage in wattage mode. WIth a mech, all you can do is recoil as wattage is controlled by resistance and battery voltage. Still, the bypass mode on the Sig will let you get the idea. Coil up one dripper at 1 ohm and another at .5, and swap them out to see the kinds of things you're going to be looking at when you do move into mechs. That's a good tool kit so far. You will also find a coil tool of some kind useful, just for the precision mandrels (not strictly necessary; I started on drill bits and they work just fine.) My personal favorite kind is on sale right now at myfreedomsmokes. It's a short piece of stainless stepped down in .5mm increments:

There are other kinds. One handy thing to have is a 510 adapter ohmmeter. Your multimeter probably isn't too accurate below 1 ohm, if it reads that low at all. Plus the things serves as a handy atomizer stand while you're building. You can get cheapos all over the net for 10-15, and a good one from USAOhmmeters for 30. If you decide to stick with a regular ohmmeter, a building stand is helpful.

 

[edyle]

Hey all!

Just wanted to drop a line and say hi! I'm from the great white north (Canada) and I've been smoke free for a few weeks after smoking for about 15 years.

My only piece of hardware right now is an Aspire K1 glassomizer on a 900 mAh battery. I'm interested in rebuildables, although I have no idea where I should start!

If any of you veterans out there have any tips, I would greatly appreciate it.

Besides that, I look forward to being a part of this great community!

with rebuildables, a good place to start is with an rda; you learn faster with an rda, plus they are very simple, can be very cheap, and usually indestructable.

$8.60 Velocity Styled RDA Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer - 304 stainless steel / 22mm diameter at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

 

[BobbyGWurd]

with rebuildables, a good place to start is with an rda; you learn faster with an rda, plus they are very simple, can be very cheap, and usually indestructable.

$8.60 Velocity Styled RDA Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer - 304 stainless steel / 22mm diameter at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

Thanks for the segway edyle. I actually have 3 different (cheap) rda's already on their way from FastTech that I ordered a couple of weeks ago. I didn't really do the research I should have before ordering them, but was interested in the rebuildable coils (again, a topic I know next to nothing about).

I haven't earned my rights to post in other forums yet, so hopefully it is ok that I bring this up here, but are these coils wrapped from Kanthal wire? If so, what gauges should I be looking at to start with, or does it vary with RDAs? Also, looking at some of the cheap/clone RDAs, the coils are wrapped around a wick. What kind of wicks should I be looking at? I think these cheap options are good to play with before I make a serious investment in a nice piece.

 

[edyle]

Thanks for the segway edyle. I actually have 3 different (cheap) rda's already on their way from FastTech that I ordered a couple of weeks ago. I didn't really do the research I should have before ordering them, but was interested in the rebuildable coils (again, a topic I know next to nothing about).

I haven't earned my rights to post in other forums yet, so hopefully it is ok that I bring this up here, but are these coils wrapped from Kanthal wire? If so, what gauges should I be looking at to start with, or does it vary with RDAs? Also, looking at some of the cheap/clone RDAs, the coils are wrapped around a wick. What kind of wicks should I be looking at? I think these cheap options are good to play with before I make a serious investment in a nice piece.

1: i don't think the 5 post limit applies anymore since we moved to the new server this year.
2: the standard resistance wire used is kanthal; nichrome is another resistance wire.
3: good all round starting gauge to use is 30.
28 gauge is often used on rebuildables.
Nowadays 26 gauge seems to be getting more popular; probably because of the high powered regulated boxes.
If you get thin gauge you can always twist strands together to simulate thicker gauge.
use the steam engine coil calculator
Coil wrapping | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators
4: the pics you see with the wire wrapped around the wick are usually with silica wick.
most people just use cotton from the pharmacy.

and get a coiler; look for kuro coiler, or coilmaster and such.

 

[Adam8705]

The k1 is a great start. Now you are hooked! LOL good luck finding your next setup, the sky is the limit! There are a lot of really good brands out there. I personally would stay away from clones of rdas and mods.

 

[BobbyGWurd]

The k1 is a great start. Now you are hooked! LOL good luck finding your next setup, the sky is the limit! There are a lot of really good brands out there. I personally would stay away from clones of rdas and mods.

I am hooked! I over-payed for my K1 from a local vape shop without knowing any better, however it's been a great lil tank for a noobie.

1: i don't think the 5 post limit applies anymore since we moved to the new server this year.
2: the standard resistance wire used is kanthal; nichrome is another resistance wire.
3: good all round starting gauge to use is 30.
28 gauge is often used on rebuildables.
Nowadays 26 gauge seems to be getting more popular; probably because of the high powered regulated boxes.
If you get thin gauge you can always twist strands together to simulate thicker gauge.
use the steam engine coil calculator
Coil wrapping | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators
4: the pics you see with the wire wrapped around the wick are usually with silica wick.
most people just use cotton from the pharmacy.

and get a coiler; look for kuro coiler, or coilmaster and such.

Thanks for all the tips! The coil wrapping link was useful. I'm going to order a couple different gauges to play around with.

 

[Adam8705]

I am hooked! I over-payed for my K1 from a local vape shop without knowing any better, however it's been a great lil tank for a noobie.

Well I own a vape shop In SE Texas. In our defense, we can not compete with internet prices. They move so much quantity that they can afford to let products go for cheaper. That being said our prices are much lower than most vape shops, we do not gouge our prices sky high but we do have bills to pay. I have personally overpaid on several different items just because I didn't do my research before the buy. The feeling of paying triple or more for something made me sick and I decided that my shops goal was to never give anyone that feeling of being ripped off.
Anyways, we carry the aspire K1 and it sells for about $10. If you want to upgrade without jumping into the realm of the "cloud Chasing scene" I would recommend the Aspire Nautilus or Nautilus Mini. I remember when it first came out, it was like the Rolls Royce of tanks. Up until then it was all ViVi Nova tanks with Silica wicks instead of organic cotton and cartos. It was a game changer! (Thats sounds weird saying it.)

 

[cmillion]

I've been using a Sigelei Mini with a half dozen RDAs over the past few months. Take my advice and invest in something that can handle at least 40+ watts. It will save you time and money. The Mini is amazing and still works flawlessly, but you will probably hit its power ceiling quite fast if vapor production is what you are looking for.

 

[BobbyGWurd]

I've been using a Sigelei Mini with a half dozen RDAs over the past few months. Take my advice and invest in something that can handle at least 40+ watts. It will save you time and money. The Mini is amazing and still works flawlessly, but you will probably hit its power ceiling quite fast if vapor production is what you are looking for.

Thanks cmillion. I guess if I'm going to invest in something, I should probably make it worth it. I was also looking at this Snow Wolf on FastTech. I've read a lot of good things about Snow Wolf looking through some of the posts here.

 

[suprtrkr]

Thanks for the segway edyle. I actually have 3 different (cheap) rda's already on their way from FastTech that I ordered a couple of weeks ago. I didn't really do the research I should have before ordering them, but was interested in the rebuildable coils (again, a topic I know next to nothing about).

I haven't earned my rights to post in other forums yet, so hopefully it is ok that I bring this up here, but are these coils wrapped from Kanthal wire? If so, what gauges should I be looking at to start with, or does it vary with RDAs? Also, looking at some of the cheap/clone RDAs, the coils are wrapped around a wick. What kind of wicks should I be looking at? I think these cheap options are good to play with before I make a serious investment in a nice piece.

There are different kinds, but most coils are wrapped from Kanthal. It's easy and cheap and requires no special knowledge. (Stay away from Nickel and Titanium wire; these are for special, temperature control applications and you have to have a mod with the right circuitry to use them.) There is a good bit of discussion regarding proper wicking material, and I don't care to get the Wick Wars started again. Suffice it to say the most used are organic cotton and Rayon, which is a synthetic cotton made in a chemical plant instead of a cotton field. I personally happen to be a Rayon man; I think it wicks better and tastes better, in addition to having better temperature stability and being harder to burn. You'll have to try both and decide for yourself. The simple and cheap way to get started is to go to the drugstore and buy a bag of unbleached organic cotton balls. House brand will do. Unroll one of the cotton balls, rip a piece of the sheet cotton off the edge and there you are. The bag contains approximately a lifetime supply of wicking material, so long as your wife doesn't steal them for makeup, so you might do with just that unless you want to branch out to test other things later. You can buy small quantities of other types of wick online and compare them as time goes on. When you get into it a little-- ok, a lot-- deeper, remind me to tell you how to build composite wicks our of a Rayon outer shell with an Egyptian short-stable cotton interior...

 

[suprtrkr]

Thanks cmillion. I guess if I'm going to invest in something, I should probably make it worth it. I was also looking at this Snow Wolf on FastTech. I've read a lot of good things about Snow Wolf looking through some of the posts here.

If you go that way, you'll love it. Promise. BTW, I just saw a Sigelei 100 W (or maybe it was the 150, I forget) in the deal bin at myfreedomsmokes under 70 bucks. Solid gear and top drawer price, but not temp control like the SW.

 

[BobbyGWurd]

If you go that way, you'll love it. Promise. BTW, I just saw a Sigelei 100 W (or maybe it was the 150, I forget) in the deal bin at myfreedomsmokes under 70 bucks. Solid gear and top drawer price, but not temp control like the SW.

Thanks for the tip suprtrkr. I'll have a look.