Strata Builds: Vapor Production

[RamShot Rowdy]

My Strata came in the other day and I'm looking for advice on coil builds for it. I would like something in the 0.4-0.5 ohm area that makes good vapor with an 80% VG juice. I know the Strata caused a bit of controversy when it was released, so I threw dual horizontal coils in it just to try it the wrong way. It honestly doesn't make very good vapor setup like this at around 0.65 ohms. Many people I've seen making good vapor with it are using an ophion, straight wire, or dual vertical coils. So I know it can make decent clouds.

So is there a simple way to get it to make vapor similar to an Atlantis? Would you suggest I try a straight wire, ophion, vertical coils, or something else? I have 28g and 30g Kanthal to work with and I'm by no means a great coil builder.

Thanks.

 

[forcedfuel50]

If you visualize, the Strata functions by spreading the airflow out around the outside 360 degrees of the chamber, so you want to maximize the amount of coil exposed to that incoming airflow, coils that wrap around the outside perimeter take advantage of this. Since you only have 28 and 30 g on hand, try twisting the coils to lower the ohms (you'll need heavier gauge to lower the ohms more but run what you brung for now), keep the coil lower on the wicking material (I find if the coil gets too high, the wick can sometimes be less saturated and can give you dry and burnt tasting hits).

 

[spek]

Hey Ramshot, Im in the same boat with the same materials to work with. Im getting pretty good vapor production with .55 ohms with a strait coil build. To get that resistance you want to use your 28g and twist it up. I highly recommend straitening your kanthal before twisting it or building any kind of coil, for that matter. Its much easier to work with. Here are some links that taught me about straitening and twisting kanthal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA_iUkuKufs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPjuJ0ZLxLI

I posted some pictures of my build in the pictures and comment thread that might help. Im still perfecting my build but I rebuilt last night with this method and its running at .55, wicking well and lots of vapor. It is hot though.

Also, I like to start with the contact posts removed from the deck. I bend the wire around the positive post and then screw it on. Also, it helped me to bend the wire into a circular shape on my screw driver handle before attaching it to the atty. Its not a perfect circle and its larger than the circumference of the deck, but it helps to have it rounded before you start so you dont have to try and bend it into a circle while its on the deck.

 

[spek]

Since you only have 28 and 30 g on hand, try twisting the coils to lower the ohms

Twisting wire lowers the ohms. Its similar to going from one coil to two coils in terms of resistance drop. Also, Make sure your wick doesnt bury your coil. You want to make sure the air can hit it as directly as possible.

 

[forcedfuel50]

Thanks for catching my typo Spek, by "up" I didn't mean numerically increase...corrected

 

[forcedfuel50]

Ramshot, for reference, in my industrious thread, I did up a twisted 26 gauge which yields around .5 ohmwhich is in the ball park of what you are looking for. You may end up a bit lower, but the lengths won't be too far off as, though there were more wraps around on the industrious, they were tighter and the Strata has a bigger inner diameter then the industrious.

 

[RamShot Rowdy]

Thanks for all the suggestions. So a twisted 28g circular coil, keep it slightly above the deck level and close to the outside edge, that sound about right?

I was messing with it a little today and it's actually probably closer to the Atlantis with dual micro coils than I originally thought. So just a little bit more vapor and heat then it should be great. I'll try rebuilding it tomorrow and post my results.

 

[forcedfuel50]

Yeah, play with it a bit more and let us know. Its a good atomizer, its just takes some playing to dial in your taste preferences.

 

[forcedfuel50]

As an addendum. I think it got a bad rap for a couple reasons.

1. First, I think expectations where really high. I think there was an expectation that one could use the builds they were used to building and it would work just as well , if not better, but that wasn't the case, traditional builds often deliver mediocre results and it led to disappointment. Couple that with unfamiliarity, and our dropping the ball here at Super-T prior to release with some good "how-to" videos led to a lot of problems.

 

[forcedfuel50]

2. Second, a popular reviewer did a scalding video of it after only having it about two days. In contrast, I read some posts between this reviewer and another mod makers product he had and he used their product for a month before reviewing it and had had a couple dozen emails back and forth with the maker trying to figure it out during that month of having their product. In contrast, he did up a video of mine only a couple days after receiving it. I never received one single email from him which is customary with reviewers anyway, they take their concerns to private email first to try to find out a resolution before going public.

He did start a thread asking for help, which I immediately replied that I'd help him with it, but within only a couple of posts of that thread, he posted up some photo shopped pictures pointing out that I had manufactured it "wrong"! Clearly his mind was already made up, because on the one hand he was asking for help, but was already behind the scenes photoshopping up pictures showing it was built "wrong" and gathering up testing apparatus as within about one more day he already had a video up using incorrect testing methods using forced air through the Strata to show it was "defective" (when I had pointed out to him in his thread the day before that RBA/RDA's don't work via forced induction as he sated, they work via vacuum induction, yet he went ahead and did the video anyway using knowingly flawed testing methods).

As an aside, since I think it serves as a reminder that no matter how you may trust someone, no one is infallible. This reviewer went on to heavily criticize me for deleting comments (for the record, not one of his posts was edited or deleted by me and his comments are still all there for anyone to view in that thread, only some trolls were deleted who were making false claims and were there only to hate monger). After strongly criticizing me for deleting, an ecf member posted over on his you tube video calling out his testing methods. The reviewer then replied with a strongly worded reply and then he himself later deleted both his comments and their comments! The sad hypocrisy in calling me out for deleting is he deletes himself when he sees fit.

I am of the opinion that when you are a reviewer, you have a higher standard of professional responsibility. He tried to cover, saying his video wasn't a "review", giving him carte blanche to say and do anything in it and release it to all of his 30,000 plus followers at once. It was a big injustice to Super-T and its viewers and it still sits there to this day, with its hundreds of vitriol and hatred filled posts, him knowing full well that the testing is incorrect for RBA's, yet the viewers trust him and take it at face value what he says is true.

It's actually one of the reasons I'm leaving this industry. It isn't all profits. It's the hatred I see day in and day out. It was those hate filled comments about me that were untrue. I don't have the stomach for it. I started in this industry to help people and I regrettably know I've been an ahole myself at times but nothing warranted that. I serve other industries and don't see this hatred I see in the ecig industry. I don't know why it is. There are many, many good people on here and many friends I've met so I try to keep that in mind

 

[RamShot Rowdy]

Yeah, I know the thread and reviewer/video you're talking about. I purchased the Strata knowing it's a different style atomizer and might require a bit of experimenting to get it working satisfactorily. I liked that it was a quality hybrid that fit my ELA/Workhorse seamlessly.

I'm most definitely not trying to reopen that can of worms, just honestly asking for suggestions from people who have and use the Strata. I think you and Spek have me pointed in the right direction, I'll post how the build turns out.

 

[forcedfuel50]

No worries at all RamShot,I know neither you nor Spek were trying to start anything or open any can of worms. I just saw an opportunity to express some feelings that have weighed heavy on my mind for a long time. It was ugly, and what was uglier is that people actually came into the thread and onto that video and lied claiming they had one just to trash the device and to trash me personally. The internet brings out the worst in people and it took a lot out of me emotionally.

 

[Djoof]

For me, your products were among the most beautiful I've seen.

But what you have expressed made me realize that a modder is not a manufacturer like the others, he's very exposed.

It's such a shame that you have to leave the business, partly because of a few people.
This is not the majority who strongly appreciates the true value of your products.

Yes, I know many people here in Europe who are very sad to have received their parcels Super T ... because it was probably the last!

 

[RamShot Rowdy]

OK, built a ~0.4 ohm twisted 28g Kanthal coil.



And the results...



Not to shabby, especially considering this is my first use of twisted wire and this type of coil.

 

[spek]

Glad its working for you. How's your wick working? If you start getting hot spots in the coil, twisting it more thoroughly seemed to help for me. My twisted wire looks like this:

 

[RamShot Rowdy]

Wicking seems fine, I wish I would have left more above the coil like yours. Looks like my wire needs to be twisted more also, based on yours. It's a learning process as with anything new I guess.

 

[spek]

Haha, seeing yours, I was wondering if my wick went too high.. its why I asked. Not sure if twisting more is necessary buy my first build looked a lot like yours after after about a day a hot spot formed. If you notice that sizzling atty sound after you stop pressing the button, that's probably the culprit.

 

[RamShot Rowdy]

After using it a while the wicking didn't seem that great, had some bad dry hits with it. I rebuilt today with some better twisted wire. I also tried to place the coil closer to the outside edge. Seems to be my most successful build thus far...The flavor is really good and the vapor is also good.

One question, this is my first RDA, how often do you drip and how many drops?

One other thing, the Strata gets pretty hot if I chain vape it. I can still touch it, but it's really warm. Is that typical with most RDA's or the Strata?

 

[spek]

In my experience the strata is much hotter than most. Its much much beefier than most RDA's and that metal heats up and stays hot. The Veritas (also a big chunk of metal) heats up in a similar way but the strata is hotter.

As far as how often you drip, it depends on the atomizer. That's one thing I'm having some trouble with on the strata. If I fill the reservoir up with the cap off it can go for quite a while but if I drip through the top to refresh my wick it doesn't seem to go as long. Also it seems inconsistent in how long it takes to produce a dry hit. Sometimes I'll get a dry hit but the wick is still really saturated which leads me to think that this style of build burns the juice off right next to the coil. Sometimes just waiting a minute without dripping will work.

Most RDA's don't have to use quite so much wicking material, its usually a micro coil with a bit of wick running through it. With this particular build on the strata there needs to be a relatively large wick which seems to get dry right near the coil when you chain vape but stays saturated toward the bottom and inside of the wick. I've been trying build after build, mostly the ophion and strait circular wire. Different gauges, twisted, twisted ribbon kanthal. What keeps happening for me is that it works pretty well at first but I will have inconsistent results as I use it throughout the day. Today I'm trying an ophion coil with 26 guage and I'll see how that does.

I did notice that if I raise the wire up away from the air intake it seems like I get slightly cooler vapor with less TH. Its still near the outer edge, just up higher.

 

[RamShot Rowdy]

This is my build from yesterday:



Same as the last build but with more cotton above the coil and the wire closer to the outside of the atomizer. So far it doesn't seem to dry hit as often, and when it does it's not nearly as harsh. The vapor is a lot more dense than the previous build also.

Let me know how the Ophion coil works.