Specific RTA causing cough?

[Robbin12]

Hi,

I've been vaping on and off for a few years, went through about 5 mods and a dozen+ tanks of every kind until I finally landed on RTAs and started building as well.
I bought a Zeus dual coil a while back, although it's a really finicky one to build on I got better, but the experience didn't. I tried many many different coils of every size, A1 and SS with claptons, fused and twisted/cottons/builds and e-liquids, single coil builds and dual.
First culprit I thought was obviously the nicotine %, so I lowered that and still - harsh hits mostly. My best experience was with a 80/20 3% mix from BLVK, it was almost smooth but still not there.

Recently I bought another RTA(Won't name it so this doesn't look like a shameless plug), single coil with bottom airflow and it was instantly great with the exact same coils/cotton/juice(most of my e-liquids are 70/30 3%). Throat hit, flavor, and satisfaction from the hits were all better.

Am I just horrible at building on the Zeus?

 

[stols001]

Sometimes you gotta give up on an RTA if it's not performing for you and move on. That's my opinion anyway. Like, my two Ares broke within days of each other and I didn't even warranty them, that is how much I hated them.

It's just... Nothing is for everyone.

Anna

 

[Mordacai]

Hello Robbin12, sounds as though your wicking may be the culprit. And with 2 coils, it's double the trouble.

If you want to feel a little bit better, I'm trying to suss the build on a Geekvape Ammit 25 (single coil). Too much wicking, dry hits and no vapour. Too little then it dumps the tank and wets itself.

You'll get it though, eventually.

 

[Opinionated]

The Zeus is a complicated RTA... I've seen a lot of people have difficulty with it, definitely not a beginner rta.

I love single coil RTA's, they just keep life simple..

 

[muth]

Recently I bought another RTA(Won't name it so this doesn't look like a shameless plug)

Please do and share the love

 

[muth]

Thread title. This forum never runs out of new things to read, lol.

 

[bombastinator]

Please do and share the love

S’true. This place is all about shameless plugs. Heck more than half the forum is reserved specifically FOR shameless plugging. It keeps the lights on for one thing. It’s the shameful ones people don’t like. If it’s good, say so. If it’s not good say so. Just don’t say it is good when it isn’t.

 

[bombastinator]

Am I just horrible at building on the Zeus?

Possibly. You’re in good company though. I was horrible at building the aromamizer plus to the point I gave up on it for months until I figured out that if you took the deck out and trimmed and thinned the wick AFTER you put it through the deck holes it suddenly got lots easier. It’s my favorite RTA now. I’ve got one aromamizer plus and 5 decks for the silly thing. I build the decks bare and drop one in a little plastic case that I carry in my pocket along with spare batteries. Acts like a replacement coil cartridge.

YouTube videos are awesome for directions on how to build different RTAs. They’re all of em finicky in their own way. Learning to build the Zeus may or may not be something you want to bother with. That’s fine. No harm, no foul, no shame.

You want a really ridiculous kick your .... PITA of a build try a bellus. Best vape of its day, but boy howdy it was a pain. Still got one. I don’t vape it though. It’s just too annoying. Holds a ton of juice for a 22mm rta though and it looks great. It’s all about what you want.

 

[GOMuniEsq]

Am I just horrible at building on the Zeus?

The Zeus Dual has undersized juice channels. The amount of cotton that's needed to wick dual 3mm coils just won't fit down the the channels without help, so you need to rake the ends to thin them out or you get restricted flow. I presume it was designed that way to make single coil builds more practical. The new Zeus X fixed this.

 

[Falconeer]

As has truly been said, some things just don't work for everyone - recently when I bought a Pico Squeeze the Coral attie that came with it was a breeze to buld on - trouble was it vaped like a breeze - far too airy for me and the nic in the juice just seemed to have miraculously vanished into that thin air.

It didn't even go into my "Failure Box" to be revisted later - it's now in Vape Heaven via the rubbish shute.

 

[bombastinator]

Yeah, PIFing RBAs isn’t really a kindness. It’s why I still got so many old ones.

As has truly been said, some things just don't work for everyone - recently when I bought a Pico Squeeze the Coral attie that came with it was a breeze to buld on - trouble was it vaped like a breeze - far too airy for me and the nic in the juice just seemed to have miraculously vanished into that thin air.

It didn't even go into my "Failure Box" to be revisted later - it's now in Vape Heaven via the rubbish shute.

generally PIF

 

[Robbin12]

Thanks for the replies.
As I've said I tried many many different coiling and wicking techniques, dry hits weren't an issue as I got better - it was always the harshness.
I did a bit of research after a little light bulb moment and it might just be hot spots/legs even though I pre-fire and brush to get rid of them, some seem to return after wicking too hard and moving the coils which is difficult to test post-wicking. I've never visually seen hot legs happen but there is something that I wonder if its normal - on the very edge of the wraps where the leg starts to head to the deck, it is always burnt-looking black. Normal or not?

Since you asked, I got the pharaoh mini. Coiling it is a breeze but I'm still figuring out the best wicking... had a couple of air flow leaks so far but more cotton prevented the overflow, hope that's the last time it happens.

 

[F-machine]

You can always try spaced, or spacing your coil for hot spot proofing.

EDIT: By the way you said it, sounds like too much cotton too. You cannot deform, or rather, should not deform your coil from wicking.

 

[GOMuniEsq]

Dunno, friend. It's pretty hard to quantify a subjective thing like 'harshness'.

If any part of your wicking turns black, especially in the first day, that's a sign of impeded flow or hotspots. Impeded flow happens when the wicking is too dense or not inserted fully into the channels. Hotspots happen when your contact coils aren't balanced, or stray out of balance. I find contact coils finicky and prefer to space my builds slightly for this reason.

I see a lot of youtube reviewers giving out what I consider bad advice: they tell you not to push the cotton all the way into the channels, to just have it resting on the lip. This causes flooding or poor wicking in my experience.

When you're installing your wicking there is a fine balance. You should use as much cotton as you can while still being able to slide it back and forth through the wraps without strain. Then, without pre-moistening it, feed the ends into the juice channels dry, all the way to the bottom, and if it's not pliant and springy when you poke it it's too dense and you'll need to rake it out.

 

[Nikhforos]

I don't really think you're a bad builder. I've built thousands of rtas/rdas a thousand times each. Zeus just won't work for me either. It's a poor rta from many perspectives IMO.

 

[P3ch3]

Am I just horrible at building on the Zeus?

Possibly and let me tell that zeus dual and zeus X might be tricky also people claim single one to be complicated, have you seen some videos / reviews about it, how it should perform and setups used on it?

some RTA's arent for some people thats it, for example, my friends love revolver RTA and manta RTA, i could build whatever you can imagine for both, but they dont taste that well for me, and my friends claim that are perfect builds, so.. its a matter of taste and liking,

Recently I bought another RTA(Won't name it so this doesn't look like a shameless plug), single coil with bottom airflow and it was instantly great with the exact same coils/cotton/juice(most of my e-liquids are 70/30 3%). Throat hit, flavor, and satisfaction from the hits were all better.

well, thats pretty normal, thats why maybe i love zeus single and people claim i am nuts about that, same for wismec Theorem RDTA, what a old piece of art... = and a clon of paraoh RDA too, its just persona taste and preference!

The Zeus is a complicated RTA... I've seen a lot of people have difficulty with it, definitely not a beginner rta.

single one is ultra easy if you base the wicks according the little "u" shape they have near vent holes and the ones that take the wick to bottom of the deck! and fluffy ends well.

Since you asked, I got the pharaoh mini. Coiling it is a breeze but I'm still figuring out the best wicking... had a couple of air flow leaks so far but more cotton prevented the overflow, hope that's the last time it happens.

my friend, paraoh mini is a heartless ..... at the beginning, i love mine, just be sure to let coils be close by the air inlets at the bottom of its deck, wick for it, pretty simple... then try to make cotton not that tight... always fluffy ends or thin them, the put the chimney and take the measurement to cut ends a bit larger than the marc the chimney will leave then sit over coil and un cut wicks, then put'em with tweezers on the juicy ports or holes!

 

[Robbin12]

If any part of your wicking turns black, especially in the first day, that's a sign of impeded flow or hotspots. Impeded flow happens when the wicking is too dense or not inserted fully into the channels

I didn't mean the wick turns black, I meant the coil itself. On both ends of the wraps there's a single straight lines that turns black as I'm pre-firing it to get rid of the hot spots and it never goes away(SS coils).

Possibly and let me tell that zeus dual and zeus X might be tricky also people claim single one to be complicated, have you seen some videos / reviews about it, how it should perform and setups used on it?

Yes, I've read just about any forum post and watched many competent reviewers(fav one being Vaping With Vic), tried them all.

just be sure to let coils be close by the air inlets at the bottom of its deck, wick for it, pretty simple...

Thanks for this, I read that 10 minutes after I did this exact thing today as my previous build was too high and it leaked the whole tank out twice. As for the wicking it seems my "wick harder" approach did the opposite so I also thinned and fluffed, put in about 70% into the channel and cut off the rest - so far so good.

 

[P3ch3]

Yes, I've read just about any forum post and watched many competent reviewers(fav one being Vaping With Vic), tried them all.

i like, geekvapes videos and also riptrippers, there are other few interesting reviews there that i like and dont remember name,

Thanks for this, I read that 10 minutes after I did this exact thing today as my previous build was too high and it leaked the whole tank out twice. As for the wicking it seems my "wick harder" approach did the opposite so I also thinned and fluffed, put in about 70% into the channel and cut off the rest - so far so good.

always try to leave center a bit fluffy, when cotton absorbs juice will end-up a bit tight and wider so is better to leave it lke that, not that much tight! in center, also works for zeus single, duno if you ya know what i mean, im quite bad for giving directions or instructions, sorry by that

Regards

 

[bombastinator]

I didn't mean the wick turns black, I meant the coil itself. On both ends of the wraps there's a single straight lines that turns black as I'm pre-firing it to get rid of the hot spots and it never goes away(SS coils).

A black line? Are you working out hot spots while you have cotton in the coil? This black line thing confuses me.

 

[Mordacai]

Black line, don't quote me but could that be caused by too much wicking?