Subtank RBA builds? show em!

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Darryl Licht

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To each their own. I only did it because I was having alot of issues with juice not reaching the wick.... even with 50/50 juice. Mine would vapor lock and required constant priming puffs.

But many of us are having zero issues with much thicker juices. I vape 80-100%VG... Zero dry hits. What are you doing differently than so many here with zero issues?

Perhaps you needed to try different wicking material, or a shorter or longer wick, less or more wick... I would have tried everything before hacking up a great rba!

Post an image or two of your wick technique for us to see...

What wick material are you using?

How much?
 

jefx

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But many of us are having zero issues with much thicker juices. I vape 80-100%VG... Zero dry hits. What are you doing differently than so many here with zero issues?

I don't know....possibly it's my vaping style...?

I'm not telling people to hack their own RBAs, it's just something I did, to achieve the results I wanted.

as far as wicks, I've only used Koh Gen Do from my local B&M, and the cotton that came with the STM. Ive tried it thick, thin, with skins, without skins, long, short, fluffed, brushed, crammed, rolled, covered and smothered :laugh:

So I ended up with hacked and slashed
 

Darryl Licht

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I don't know....possibly it's my vaping style...?

I'm not telling people to hack their own RBAs, it's just something I did, to achieve the results I wanted.

as far as wicks, I've only used Koh Gen Do from my local B&M, and the cotton that came with the STM. Ive tried it thick, thin, with skins, without skins, long, short, fluffed, brushed, crammed, rolled, covered and smothered :laugh:

So I ended up with hacked and slashed

As you said to each his own...

Funny that most of us here also use KGD ... cotton and have no issues using thicker juice. I'd bet my rba that you were putting too great a volume of wick in the coil, or choking out the juice holes at the bottom.
 

jefx

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I tried everything I could think of, watched youtube, followed threads here, etc. I only busted out the dremel after exhausting my other options. Like I said, I tried it with loose wicks, tight wicks, rolled wicks.....Long tails, short tails, tails that didn't even touch the deck, wispy tails, angle cut tails, macro coils, micro coils, twisted coils, dual coils, etc.

ended up modifying it.... works great now!
 

Uncletattoowhat

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As you said to each his own...

Funny that most of us here also use KGD ... cotton and have no issues using thicker juice. I'd bet my rba that you were putting too great a volume of wick in the coil, or choking out the juice holes at the bottom.

Just because someone does something different to suit their own vaping style, doesn't mean they're wrong. I, like jefx, was having constant dry hits no matter what build (nichrome, kanthal, twisted coil, spaced coil, high ohm, low ohm, thick wire, thin wire), wick type (organic balls, koh gen doh, cellucotton, delasco rayon), wicking method (big tails, small tails, thinned completely out, touching the deck, away from the deck on the juice channels, away from them, pulled up then tucked, juiced then stuck in place), density, vg/pg ratio (50/50, all the way up to max vg), etc that I tried. My vaping style must just be different than the norm. I prefer a warm dense vapor. I ended up opening the juice channels slightly and havent had a single problem since. In fact, I used the exact same wick/coil before and after and it was a vast improvement. IMO, there is variations on the RBA decks. Some have reported channels that are only a notch, others have reported an all the way thru channel.

This forum is for helping people, not saying that they're doing something different than you and therefore must be wrong.
 

Uncletattoowhat

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Also forgot to add that my wife's mini has had no issues with the rba section. In fact it's only on its second build since we got it a month ago. I've only rewicked and dry burned twice as well. It's a standard 2.5mm spaced 5 wrap 26ga kanthal coil at 0.7 ohm's. I tried the same build wick and density in mine and had completely different results. Also hers may be a newer deck as her insulator is the tan one and mine has the clear one. Even though I bought mine a week or so after hers came. It was from a different vendor too though. Ymmv.
 

Darryl Licht

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Just because someone does something different to suit their own vaping style, doesn't mean they're wrong. I, like jefx, was having constant dry hits no matter what build (nichrome, kanthal, twisted coil, spaced coil, high ohm, low ohm, thick wire, thin wire), wick type (organic balls, koh gen doh, cellucotton, delasco rayon), wicking method (big tails, small tails, thinned completely out, touching the deck, away from the deck on the juice channels, away from them, pulled up then tucked, juiced then stuck in place), density, vg/pg ratio (50/50, all the way up to max vg), etc that I tried. My vaping style must just be different than the norm. I prefer a warm dense vapor. I ended up opening the juice channels slightly and havent had a single problem since. In fact, I used the exact same wick/coil before and after and it was a vast improvement. IMO, there is variations on the RBA decks. Some have reported channels that are only a notch, others have reported an all the way thru channel.

This forum is for helping people, not saying that they're doing something different than you and therefore must be wrong.

Feel free to step down from your soapbox!

I never ever said anyone was doing it wrong, just questioning. Please prove me wrong! This is a discussion forum isn't it? Asking questions leads to answers. Answers solve issues. I also don't recall seeing images of his wicks prior to him hacking the rba, which may have shown where his problem was.

ECF is about helping people get the best vape possible, right?

What many of us DO NOT WANT TO SEE & my point was: that it wouldn't be wise for a newb to read this thread and take a dremel/drill/file to a brand new RBA just because his/her first attempts at using it failed. That isn't doing the newb any assistance.

I too thought the juice channels looked small and wondered if they'd benefit from opening them up. But I experimented with it stock first and found the devices sweet spot! My vape is spot on using 80-100% VG. 95+% of the time this "dry hit" issue will be poor coil construction and/or poor wicking. These RBA's are obviously well engineered devices that many are having zero issues with. YMMV
 

Uncletattoowhat

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Feel free to step down from your soapbox!

I never ever said anyone was doing it wrong, just questioning. Please prove me wrong! This is a discussion forum isn't it? Asking questions leads to answers. Answers solve issues. I also don't recall seeing images of his wicks prior to him hacking the rba, which may have shown where his problem was.

ECF is about helping people get the best vape possible, right?

What many of us DO NOT WANT TO SEE & my point was: that it wouldn't be wise for a newb to read this thread and take a dremel/drill/file to a brand new RBA just because his/her first attempts at using it failed. That isn't doing the newb any assistance.

I too thought the juice channels looked small and wondered if they'd benefit from opening them up. But I experimented with it stock first and found the devices sweet spot! My vape is spot on using 80-100% VG. 95+% of the time this "dry hit" issue will be poor coil construction and/or poor wicking. These RBA's are obviously well engineered devices that many are having zero issues with. YMMV

My soapbox? Wow ok. My post was not meant to sound preachy or say that any given person had said anything of offense to another member. I apologize for misleading you. It is hard to convey tone over a mass of text on a page. I'm glad you and others have had no problem, and I even stated that my wife's tank has had no problems with the same builds. My point I was trying o make was that it may not be operator error, yet quality issues from unit to unit.

Again, apologies all around if I was offensive in any way.
 

Darryl Licht

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My soapbox? Wow ok. My post was not meant to sound preachy or say that any given person had said anything of offense to another member. I apologize for misleading you. It is hard to convey tone over a mass of text on a page. I'm glad you and others have had no problem, and I even stated that my wife's tank has had no problems with the same builds. My point I was trying o make was that it may not be operator error, yet quality issues from unit to unit.

Again, apologies all around if I was offensive in any way.

I agree that tone and intention are difficult to gauge with the written word. I too apologize if I seemed harsh; as I was reacting to your statement that said someone was doing it "Wrong".

However, my point still remains that a new user of the STM RBA should exercise every possible option before performing a non-reversible modification like this. ...And I bet I am in the majority here.
 

jefx

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However, my point still remains that a new user of the STM RBA should exercise every possible option before performing a non-reversible modification like this. ...And I bet I am in the majority here.

I agree, nor did I take any offense at anything said above. I don't recommend hacking up a device designed by highly educated engineers unless you are willing to accept the risk of destroying your device.

I only resorted to that option after trying everything else and being left with less than desirable results. I also accepted the idea that my experiment is irreversible and could have been detrimental to the RBA. I also made sure that I could buy a replacement RBA in case I failed.
 

Uncletattoowhat

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And I'm sure you may be. I didn't see a problem opening mine a little. I figured if I botched it or it didn't work Id still be able to use occ coils while I waited for my $7 replacement rba deck to arrive. Then again, I've been known to be type to build my own 100w box for cost of parts than than buy a Sigelei. Some just like to tinker :)
 

Darryl Licht

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And I'm sure you may be. I didn't see a problem opening mine a little. I figured if I botched it or it didn't work Id still be able to use occ coils while I waited for my $7 replacement rba deck to arrive....

Where did you get a replacement deck for $7? I want 3 more! Please post or PM a link! Thanks!
 
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