subtank rba build questions

[tomitom12]

Hi yall, so i got a subtank mini for my bday recently and im loving it. Now im starting to fiddle with the rba head, which was one of the nicer selling points by the way, are reading about a .6 on a i stick 30w . They taste great the first day i build them then they look like they're burning up and get a slight burning feeling in the back of the throat. Its wicking correctly that im damn sure, it sucks juice like a beast. im using a standard 26 gauge kanthol wire. ive checked my build and looks normal i think. What am i looking for, how long does a build last, what am i not doing or doing right/wrong? Any tips, tricks or general advice would be most appreciated. almost forgot im runiing at 15 to 18.5 watts too. So Im a little stumped.

 

[DingerCPA]

I'm still learning the ropes on my STM RBA deck too. I usually wrap a 3/32 diameter coil, and I think I'm around 0.8 ohms. I use shesido cotton pads. Just barely the diameter of the coil. Snip the ends so they just barely touch the deck. Fluff the ends and actually thin them a bit.

I've suffered a LOT of dry hits, which is what sounds like you have going on. Take a primer puff... No fire button, cover air holes and take a draw or two. Should see bubbles.

What VG? I'm about 70-80 max. Not sure if 100% VG just can't flow properly thru juice channels.

 

[dbrandt01]

How much cotton are you using? I'm at 0.8 ohms on mine roughly and it's twisted 28g. Is the cotton so loose it'll slide right through the coil? Is the cotton so tight you'll distort the coil if you keep pulling? It should be snug, but not loose or tight in the coil. If I run unflavored I've gotten a month out of a coil and cotton. If it's flavor I make it a week before having to dry burn and change cotton.

This is my usual build in my subtank mini.

 

[The Shotcaller]

How much cotton are you using? I'm at 0.8 ohms on mine roughly and it's twisted 28g. Is the cotton so loose it'll slide right through the coil? Is the cotton so tight you'll distort the coil if you keep pulling? It should be snug, but not loose or tight in the coil. If I run unflavored I've gotten a month out of a coil and cotton. If it's flavor I make it a week before having to dry burn and change cotton.

This is my usual build in my subtank mini.

What kind of watts can I run with the coil that comes stock in the RBA?

Around 25 watts on the Subox battery it seems to get dry hits. Interestingly it seems to perform better on my iStick 30w, though haven't pushed the wattage on it.

I probably put too much cotton in the wick as well, it functions ok but not that much flavor.

From what I remember the 0.5 OCC coil had real good flavor but seemingly burnt out very quick. If I put it in it doesn't "dry hit" as much as not really hit at all.


I also have a Delta II tank and got the RBA for it as well recently and have barely used it, I think that one can run higher watts than the Subtank RBA, do you know?

 

[hashtag]

Do you have the new RBA (holes in the side) or the old one? The old ones often had wicking problems and would give dry hits if you don't drill out the juice channels. If you have an old one search youtube fo rdrilling out subtank RBA to see what you need. If you have the new RBA then it is probably an issue with the way you are wicking it, refer to the subox thread for more on that.

 

[WonderDude32]

IMO It sounds like you're power is too high. Try 15 to 18 watts and see if that helps. Like the others have said, wicking is the toughest part to learn and may take a few tries to get it just right. Remember, cotton swells when wet. I use cotton Bacon and it swells like a champ. I've been using a 2.4 screwdriver with 26 ga and it comes to .6 every time so you're doing the build right. Good luck and Happy Birthday.

 

[tomitom12]

IMO It sounds like you're power is too high. Try 15 to 18 watts and see if that helps. Like the others have said, wicking is the toughest part to learn and may take a few tries to get it just right. Remember, cotton swells when wet. I use cotton Bacon and it swells like a champ. I've been using a 2.4 screwdriver with 26 ga and it comes to .6 every time so you're doing the build right. Good luck and Happy Birthday.

thanks, that's what i'm thinking too, i use the stupid little screwdriver that came with the mini so i'm assuming i am wicking wrong. i'm using organic cotton loosely (went throng the Japanese stuff quickly trying to learn to wick) so hopefully ill mess around with it and get it right. thank god the cotton and gauge are cheap so i can f up a lot. trail by error is the best way to learn i guess.

 

[kkiet]

You know there are alot of youtube videos on this, that may help. I was glued to youtube when I started doing my own builds.

 

[khalidmna]

I built a few using the provided organic cotton by kangertech in the box. After that run out I tried some organic cotton I bought and burnt them. I tried again and let them soak for ten minutes and still burnt them. The coils I'm building look fine and I followed Rip trippers youtube tutorial:



and still I burned them. I'm gonna order some organic Japanese cotton off amazon and try again.

 

[tomitom12]

I built a few using the provided organic cotton by kangertech in the box. After that run out I tried some organic cotton I bought and burnt them. I tried again and let them soak for ten minutes and still burnt them. The coils I'm building look fine and I followed Rip trippers youtube tutorial:



and still I burned them. I'm gonna order some organic Japanese cotton off amazon and try again.

ah yes i watched his video like 10 times to get it right. i was wicking incorrectly. still haven't got it quite right but its hitting much better. i did notice with the organic cotton that if ya let it sit for a few minutes after wicking that it gets more flavor and less heat so all in all i think i got it finally.

 

[James Wilson]

I hate my rba that came with mine. I can't get it to wick correctly.

 

[tomitom12]

I hate my rba that came with mine. I can't get it to wick correctly.

wicking is a b but im learning by trail by failure

 

[VNeil]

A couple ideas for better wicking...
1. I found that my wicks gunk up very quickly and with some juices I need to rewick every day. Other juices every 2nd day. It's rare I get more than 3 days from a wick but I'm a chain vaper...

2. Rip uses a lot of cotton. Other people trim the cotton so it just touches the juice channel. I'm not sure which is better but experimenting with that might be helpful

3. Enlarge the juice channel. There are Youtube vids on that, generally using a dremel and either a cutoff wheel or a tiny router tool. You can also drill holes in the round RBA chamber similar to the style now shipping with the Subox. My Subox RBA is good up to 25W or so. If you drill holes in the chamber you may have trouble with burs on the inside catching the coil deck when you try to screw it back on and of course need to worry about shorts.

4. Replace the RBA deck with new ones (with holes) when they become available.

 

[chopdoc]

There is a forum thread for the subtank mini that has some great info on modding the RBA deck. I have three STM's and am using the RBA deck on all three and they perform great, after I modded them. Had to take a dremel cut off wheel to the slots to deepen them as well as widen them, and I drilled holes in line with the coils. Now I build 3 mm coils and wick with rayon. Was vaping them at 20 - 25 watts with no problems.
For the last couple week been using the same decks and vaping them on temp control. The STM's are awesome!

 

[Wolfenstark]

Subtank mini rba - I was using 2.5mm 26g around 5-6 wraps ( well I think, been a while).
Cotton snug in the wick then put the top on thread the wick through and cut it about half an inch above the chamber then fold each end down into the chamber so the bottoms are touching the deck. Then juice the wick and gently move the ends away from the sides where the juice channels are.
Was good for me though I always preferred the OCC section and started to rebuild those.