The Next Big thing.... Porous Ceramic Wicks
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That would probably work, but I would use the half round file add it had a sharper angle. The problem is the spiral groove makes the wick thinner at that point making it more fragile.
don't remember if there ever was a name given - dan might know
the wicks were sold in conjunction with ekdp's apv
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/active-coops/373194-afpv-co-op.html
and for a while stand-alone wick orders were possible
I've found that cutting them close to size on a wet saw then using a chunk of fish wick as a file I can round off the glass wicks.
Well, finally got my AC9 Clone today...pretty impressive RBA for the money....better than my AGA-T2 by a long shot.
First thing I did was knock the wick bushing out & removed the nylon sleeve - huge wick hole! about 5mm or a tad over.
I built a quick fishwick for it...not optimized - it's very loose in the wick hole because I made a whole bunch of raw blanks for 1/8 wicks, and they were already smaller than 5mm....but still a lot bigger than 1/8, so until I can get out and get another air-stone to slice up, this will do. Its still about 4.5 mm.....and LOOSE in the wick hole. Wrapped with .5 X .1 mm Ribbon Kanthal.
First surprise; I usually have to do a few additional wraps with the ribbon wire, but 6/7 wrap gave me 3.3 Ohms. A 5/6 wrap gave me 2.4 Ohms, and what I settled on was a 4 wrap which hit 1.9 Ohms....I guess with this large diameter wick the "ribbon rule" doesn't fit.
Second surprise: you don't have to baby this wick - I was yanking it all over the place to get the wire tight and it held up fine (couldn't do a hot wrap - ran out of fuel) .
Anyway -here it is: WickZilla:
(as you can see - still a lot of room for a larger wick)
Compared to a 1/8 inch fishstick
Letting it sit for a while to soak up some Gorilla juice, but it's not doing too bad so far. No much vapor yet, but the flavor is already starting to get petty good.
Looks like a winner!
First thing I did was knock the wick bushing out & removed the nylon sleeve - huge wick hole! about 5mm or a tad over.
I built a quick fishwick for it...not optimized - it's very loose in the wick hole because I made a whole bunch of raw blanks for 1/8 wicks, and they were already smaller than 5mm....but still a lot bigger than 1/8, so until I can get out and get another air-stone to slice up, this will do. Its still about 4.5 mm.....and LOOSE in the wick hole. Wrapped with .5 X .1 mm Ribbon Kanthal.
First surprise; I usually have to do a few additional wraps with the ribbon wire, but 6/7 wrap gave me 3.3 Ohms. A 5/6 wrap gave me 2.4 Ohms, and what I settled on was a 4 wrap which hit 1.9 Ohms....I guess with this large diameter wick the "ribbon rule" doesn't fit.
Second surprise: you don't have to baby this wick - I was yanking it all over the place to get the wire tight and it held up fine (couldn't do a hot wrap - ran out of fuel) .
Anyway -here it is: WickZilla:
(as you can see - still a lot of room for a larger wick)
Compared to a 1/8 inch fishstick
Letting it sit for a while to soak up some Gorilla juice, but it's not doing too bad so far. No much vapor yet, but the flavor is already starting to get petty good.
Looks like a winner!
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hey guys, been doing the ceramics for a couple of months now and have done quite a few different set-ups. the very first wicks i recieved were the 3/32 wicks. i had set one up in an aga w/30g, 4/5 wrap@1.1Ω, this wick changed me for good to ceramics. now since then i have done many set-ups with the 1/8 size, most at 1.1Ω to .08Ω and all with 28g and all done with hot wrapping and using a mechanical mod. the funny thing with the 1/8 wicks is that to date i have yet to have one that performs as well as the 3/32 wicks. my opinion is a heat sink isssue. i tend to believe that with a smaller wick, more heat is going to actually vaporizing the juice rather then heating the wick, or that the larger wick remains much hotter, longer, thus drying out the juice faster, whereas a smaller wick will disapate the heat faster thus keeping the juice at the coils for a longer period of time. i have 3 current set-ups, and they all vape really awesome, but the 3/32 wick just seems to produce more vapor, and a slightly thicker vapor. has anyone had similiar results?
I am glad to see the results are looking good because mine shipped today and will be here soon. I'll have to make a new wick when it gets in. I am a little disappointed with the AGA-T+. My first AGA was the "Birkshire" from gotvapes and it had a good size wick hole. The AGA-T+ has a small hole and really no room to bore it out.
Wow! That's an impressive difference. Thanks for the picture. Now, where's my debit card to go find one of these RSSTs.
Hey Mike,
Unless your a banker, you can't afford flyfishing and vaping.......where do you fish
Unless your a banker, you can't afford flyfishing and vaping.......where do you fish
Hey Boden,
nice looking wick. So do you have any thoughts on using that material health wise?
nice looking wick. So do you have any thoughts on using that material health wise?
I've found that cutting them close to size on a wet saw then using a chunk of fish wick as a file I can round off the glass wicks.
I kind of thought the same thing about the wick acting as a heat sink, but the ceramic sure does heat up fast. I just wrapped a 4 with some .5 flat Kanthal which is pretty close to 32g around a 5/32 wick at 10w, and once the juice starts flowing, which didn't take very long at all, this thing rocks (excuse the pun). I had to drill out the air hole to 1.5mm for it to be effective for me. I filled the tank with some Pluid, so we'll see how well this thing stands up. I'll definitely know the correct taste too. I think the key with the plastic tanks and those certain liquids is the thickness and composition. I guess I'll find out. LOL
Almost tempted to record one of my lame helmet cam sessions. LOL. I really need to get into the 21st century for cripes sake.
You may not want to use the Pluid in that tank. It has caused problems with the original AC9 tanks, as stated on their web page here. The Rsst is made from a different material but It mat still eat away at it.
Ha ha ha. I love those guys. Not. "STRONGLY recommend discontinuing use of Pluid until it's makeup is better understood. If it is in fact dissolving the tank you DO NOT want to inhale it." LOL
Anyways...
I kind of thought the same thing about the wick acting as a heat sink, but the ceramic sure does heat up fast. I just wrapped a 4 with some .5 flat Kanthal which is pretty close to 32g around a 5/32 wick at 10w, and once the juice starts flowing, which didn't take very long at all, this thing rocks (excuse the pun). I had to drill out the air hole to 1.5mm for it to be effective for me. I filled the tank with some Pluid, so we'll see how well this thing stands up. I'll definitely know the correct taste too. I think the key with the plastic tanks and those certain liquids is the thickness and composition. I guess I'll find out. LOL
Almost tempted to record one of my lame helmet cam sessions. LOL. I really need to get into the 21st century for cripes sake.
the flat kanthal or ribbon is one thing i havent tried yet, will be getting some soon, so well see. but have you actually tried a 3/32 wick? i think most have not just because they are very fragile, which they definatly are. now i am seeing 4mm ceramic wicks and just wondering how these perform.
Oh ya, I think we all were trying to whittle down this stuff to fit the mini Chids and whatnot early on. I think it was quickly decided that experimental drilling was needed. That was (and still is) one of the major tedious downfalls of trying to shape your own wicks. The thin stuff is way too volatile. Works ok when accomplished, but I'm finding that the thicker I get, there really is no downgrade to the way it all works. Just have to be strategic with how you heat it. Dan found the "birdhouse" model to obviously work well. That kind of prep work is extremely tedious.
I'm charging up my camera right now. Will try to post something that is worth a darn. I still have an untouched RSST still in the wrapper. May mod that the same and do a comparison of round to flat Kanthal. Have a busy weekend coming up though. The setup does work well. Pretty impressed.
Yea, I was wondering the same thing. We need a few peeps to post on the comparison to 3/32". I am looking forward to putting .8x.1mm ribbon kanthal into that RSST on a mechanical with a 4+mm wick. Now, hopefully your mail isn't as slow as mine for my full retail RSST purchase. I been stalking the mailman for 5 days.
Well I'm not a banker so my fishing is usually within a couple-few hours drive of home, Pocono Mtn Streams, Central PA, with some trips to the West Branch of the Delaware River.
Just a quick update on the RSST with the 4.5mm Ceramic wick with 4 wraps of .5 X.1 mm Kanthal ribbon wire (2.0 Ohms).
Some observations;
After less than 24 hours, this thing is already producing some really nice flavor and wicking like a beast. Not one dry hit so far, even chain vaping on my Mechanical Mod.
NO "Concrete" flavors at all from first hit on. I was kind of expecting some during break-in because I was unable to do a hot wrap on it, but I did get the wire very firmly wrapped on the wick because it isn't fragile at all. This is also the first time I ran the wick through the ultrasonic cleaner after I finished grinding it - seems to make all the difference in the world. Highly recommended.
It's breaking in a lot faster than any of the smaller wicks ...no idea at all why, unless it has something to do with the ultrasonic cleaning, but after only half a tank, the flavors are just spectacular (AV Gorilla Juice).
Some Cons;
I don't like the "response time" of this setup - it takes a few seconds after you press the button to get any vapor at all (unless you're chain-vaping) , and once it gets going, it keeps producing vapor for at least another full toot (or two) after you let go of the button. It seems to take a lot of time to get that big piece of rock up to temperature, and it stays hot for quite a while. It produces a nice cloud of vapor (and flavor) once it gets going, but it takes a bit of time. Don't know if I like that or not - maybe it will get a little better as it breaks in. I don't see how it could, but this is all new territory for me, but again, nothing I've tried so far has matched the flavor this beast is producing already (pretty damn close to dripping!)
If I can figure out how to get it to respond as well as a SS wick, this would be the perfect setup. First attempt will be to try to get the resistance down from 2.0 to my personal sweet spot (1.5-1.8 Ohms)...but pulling one wrap will get me down to only three turns on the wick, and may effect flavor, and I definitely don't want to give that up.
I may also try popping the original wick bushing back in and try it with a 1/8 ceramic & 30 ga round Kanthal like a couple of my other RBAs and do a comparison, but I hate to give up the flavors this thing is producing right now.....might have to wait a day or two & just enjoy this beast.
BTW: The RSST is really an outstanding RBA for the money...The fit & finish on the one I got is better than any of the other Chinese clones I've seen. Great machining, no sloppy threads, cap fits nice & tight, and looks great. I didn't think I'd like the spring loaded center post, but I added two SS washers under the screw, and it's holding perfectly. It doesn't come with any wicking materials, wires, or spare parts like many other RBAs, but for $35, you just can't beat it. I'm ordering a couple more.....
That's it for now... Have fun.
Some observations;
After less than 24 hours, this thing is already producing some really nice flavor and wicking like a beast. Not one dry hit so far, even chain vaping on my Mechanical Mod.
NO "Concrete" flavors at all from first hit on. I was kind of expecting some during break-in because I was unable to do a hot wrap on it, but I did get the wire very firmly wrapped on the wick because it isn't fragile at all. This is also the first time I ran the wick through the ultrasonic cleaner after I finished grinding it - seems to make all the difference in the world. Highly recommended.
It's breaking in a lot faster than any of the smaller wicks ...no idea at all why, unless it has something to do with the ultrasonic cleaning, but after only half a tank, the flavors are just spectacular (AV Gorilla Juice).
Some Cons;
I don't like the "response time" of this setup - it takes a few seconds after you press the button to get any vapor at all (unless you're chain-vaping) , and once it gets going, it keeps producing vapor for at least another full toot (or two) after you let go of the button. It seems to take a lot of time to get that big piece of rock up to temperature, and it stays hot for quite a while. It produces a nice cloud of vapor (and flavor) once it gets going, but it takes a bit of time. Don't know if I like that or not - maybe it will get a little better as it breaks in. I don't see how it could, but this is all new territory for me, but again, nothing I've tried so far has matched the flavor this beast is producing already (pretty damn close to dripping!)
If I can figure out how to get it to respond as well as a SS wick, this would be the perfect setup. First attempt will be to try to get the resistance down from 2.0 to my personal sweet spot (1.5-1.8 Ohms)...but pulling one wrap will get me down to only three turns on the wick, and may effect flavor, and I definitely don't want to give that up.
I may also try popping the original wick bushing back in and try it with a 1/8 ceramic & 30 ga round Kanthal like a couple of my other RBAs and do a comparison, but I hate to give up the flavors this thing is producing right now.....might have to wait a day or two & just enjoy this beast.
BTW: The RSST is really an outstanding RBA for the money...The fit & finish on the one I got is better than any of the other Chinese clones I've seen. Great machining, no sloppy threads, cap fits nice & tight, and looks great. I didn't think I'd like the spring loaded center post, but I added two SS washers under the screw, and it's holding perfectly. It doesn't come with any wicking materials, wires, or spare parts like many other RBAs, but for $35, you just can't beat it. I'm ordering a couple more.....
That's it for now... Have fun.
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