The "RBA's for Dummies" Thread

[FeistyAlice]

Did I see somewhere that Robert is milling down the REOmizer 2.0 bases to fit into the smallest Metal wells? And question, although the base may fit the smallest wells, if this is indeed true, what about the cap fitting into the smaller Woodvill Brass catchcups? (brass catchcups vary widely in diameter and height on same model Woodvils. What fits one may not fit others.) I have no desire to have x many catchcups on Woodvils in collection replaced to fit any rba, other than having some 801 sex changed to 510. (and the tiny brass catchcups on Mini Woodvils are so appropriately sized to look perfect; any larger would throw them off to my "eye.") Some of us have a crazy amount of Woodvils. My Killers and Hornets fit all of the smallest brass catchcups. Can't say that about any other BF rba currently available. Mini A7 and Surface are a tight squeeze on some of them.

Feisty Alice

 

[Wharfrat71]

Speaking as a brand new user of the Hornet (I got mine yesterday) I must say it is easier than I thought. I made my first coil that metered at 2.2 and used a cotton ball for the wick. I made another today which metered at 1.6. I'm using a toothpick to wrap the wire around.
The second coil I made took half the amount of time to make as the first one.

I am metering them first to make sure they are working ok. I then put it on an old lavatube to test on before I put it on my VVG. I'd rather something go wrong on the tube than on "my Precious"!

I think you will be very happy with the Hornet! I know I am!

 

[FeistyAlice]

Great choice. The hornet was my first RBA way back when I started RBing A's about 2 months ago. Before that, I figured it was way above my head and thought my cartos worked fine. It was so easy to coil and wick a hornet. Like others have said, understanding the basics and use of common sense (and a good magnifying light) is all that is required.

Once I started I was hooked. HOOKED I tell you.

You will also notice that a good RBA, such as a hornet holds its value. There are no moving parts so the only ways to break em is accident or stupidity.

Aluminum Hornet caps can deform when dropped; SS not so prone.

Center positive post insulation, Hornet and ERA, and others, can be melted even without putting a torch to them. Go ask Alice and Jack.

{edit}Jack and Robert had some kind of super secret fix or replacement for the positive post insulator. Mine, on ERA, didn't melt enough to cause a short but it did ooz up out of the hole some.

Here's my 2c on silica. There are no debates on its dangers. There may be debates here on ECF, But in the world outside, it's a fact. It is not a good substance to inhale. That's why I quit smoking, to reduce bad sh_it going into my lungs. Cotton on the other hand is very user friendly, no taste and if you happen to singe the wick, just squonk and keep on vaping. Unless you burnt it (like on fire) but you would have to endure a few nasty dry hits before you ever caught on fire.

My suggestion is to build your coil on a drill bit (I use 1/16" and about 10 winds of 30 ga Kanthal) put it in, then slide your cotton rope thru. Can't get no freakin simpler! Check out the thread called "share your wick and coil setups for your REO, or my personal favorite, "micro coil for the RBA on your REO" that one was created by a real douche bag, but those little coils kick ....

As the papa bird said to his little fledgeling: You can and will suck seed son. Rock on Brett!

As another poster said, after doing a few builds it takes more time to get the tools out and put them up than to make coil/wick or rewick.

 

[PapawBrett]

Yet another question- I see/ read all these different ways to test coils for ohms. Can't I just use the voltmeter in my shop for that ?

 

[FeistyAlice]

Yet another question- I see/ read all these different ways to test coils for ohms. Can't I just use the voltmeter in my shop for that ?

As long as it's digital and sensitive enough. Before purchasing my first digital cheap-o mm I tried using an old pretty cheap, non-digital one. No workie.

 

[tlynn]

For the mini 2.1 I would suggest some sort of short protection besides the spring. Just my

Could you elaborate on this please?

 

[Rhapsodies Fire]

I'm guessing you're looking for clarification on "short protection besides the..."
A common thing used these days is something like this.

 

[Commie]

Could you elaborate on this please?

There are various fuses like this: Vape Safe - 2 Cents For Safety Mod Battery Safety Fuse [gv-VapeSafe-2csForSafetyFuse] - $7.99 : GotVapes.com, E-cigarette Supplies - Atomizers Cartomizers Mods Juice and more

I'm not a fan -- they take space, squish the spring down, etc. Some blow out when there's a short, some are designed to survive.

I'm not sure how they handle super low resistance coils either.

In the last few months since I got my first Reo, I've been relatively careful with my RBAs (which I rebuild almost daily just to experiment), I have not blown a single spring yet. I have a few just in case, but so far multimeters have kept me safe

 

[boilednuts]

Could you elaborate on this please?

Dang,brown out...lost my post. Crushed/torn center post gaskets may also give hard shorts. So could a drop, i.e pos post in contact with damaged atty cover. Like Commie says check resistance with ohm meter. To check (one lead to pos and the other to the neg post of the atty/ground) after installing the atty onto the mod is better because it will alert you if the center post of the atty and the center post gasket of the mod are also good to go.

I agree that the jury is still out on fuses, a few others and myself are trying them out so hopefully a pos or neg opinion of them will soon be forthcoming. Not sure bout the Short Stop fuse but the VapeSafe 2 will cease to function after a while. The length of time I believe varies depending on the number and severity of the shorts.

 

[clyde2801]

Agree with others about waiting for Rob's second RBA, unless you want to try an A7 to get your feet wet (by RBA standards, they're damned near free). At $40, it's still fairly reasonable in price, it will be assured to work in most if not all Reos, Rob stands by his products (most RBAs have no warranty unless maybe its DOA) and you'll have the support of the people on this forum. God knows there will be thirty threads about procedures, techniques and tweaks within a week or two of it coming out.

Most of all, Rob has even said his new one will stand up to ME, and he knows better than most my 'talents' as a Mod Assassin: I can take out a halfway designed mod faster than Jason Bourne and James Bond combined.

 

[oldbroad]

Old Broads words (loosely) (and I think she doesn't give herself credit for her competent capabilities but she does kid a lot).... "If I can do it anybody can."

Well said guys and gals.

Hugs, Feisty Alice

To reiterate.....



IF I CAN DO IT,ANYONE CAN!!!!

Just the facts, folks

 

[clyde2801]

Dang, oldbroad, you look really good for........uh.......umm.......








Yeah, you look really good!

 

[oldbroad]

Good clean livin' Clyde............







and thank you!



( I've worried myself enuf about this post, so here goes...it sounded conceited..I'm a lot of things and gladly own up to them but I don't think conceit is one if my many shortcomings...I was trying to be funny

and that doesn't always come out right. Actually it's a unusually good pic...not because of me but cuz of the lighting, a ton of makeup and a beautician's hairdo and I took it at a distance)

 

[Rictic]

I've read all the posts about RBAs on REOs when I ordered my hornet. I finally got it, and no matter how many times I re-did the coils in a variety of different methods I still got a very gross, sort of between burnt and plastic-y taste. The coils burned evenly and were between 1.6-2.0 ohms, I set my Grand's kick at 8 watts to make sure it wasn't running super hot. I tried silica, organic cotton balls and organic cotton yarn, still a gross taste. So upset. I really really wanted it to work. I think I'm putting the hornet away until I can go to some kind of vape meet or convention cause I've followed all video and written instructions and I think I just need someone to see what I'm doing to figure out whether I'm just being to picky with the flavor or if my luck is just horrible with RBAs (I sold my genesis style cobra cause I was only ever able to make one good coil on it).

 

[Gioajack]

If you're able to it might help if you posted a picture of your installed coil/wick so we might get a better idea of what's going on. You also might want to keep in mind that many, (if not most, people drill out the air hole to 1/16. When positioned directly in front of the coil the larger hole helps produce much more vapor and flavor.

The ERA/Hornet is a very fine RBA and once you figure out the sweet spot you'll probably be very pleased.

I have 7 of them... I'd have more but Pietro has bars on his windows.


Jack

 

[JC Okie]

That description sounds like a taste I was getting once when I first started. If you have any part of the coil touching either the bottom of the atty or either post, it won't work right. With the top off, do a dry burn. Are any of the coils NOT lighting up? If the coils close to the posts are black, that's a problem. I don't think I'm describing it very well, but make sure that ONLY the tails of the wire are touching any part of anything in the atty (except the wick.) The Hornet is pretty tiny inside, and there's not much room for very many wraps to fit in between the posts. After you get it all installed, move it with your hands or a screwdriver/tweezer to make sure it's not touching anything. This might help. It should be working and you should be getting an AWESOME vape from your Hornet.

Jack is right....if you could post pictures, we could help troubleshoot.

 

[Justice]

Agree with others about waiting for Rob's second RBA, unless you want to try an A7 to get your feet wet (by RBA standards, they're damned near free). At $40, it's still fairly reasonable in price, it will be assured to work in most if not all Reos, Rob stands by his products (most RBAs have no warranty unless maybe its DOA) and you'll have the support of the people on this forum. God knows there will be thirty threads about procedures, techniques and tweaks within a week or two of it coming out.

Most of all, Rob has even said his new one will stand up to ME, and he knows better than most my 'talents' as a Mod Assassin: I can take out a halfway designed mod faster than Jason Bourne and James Bond combined.

HMMMM he hasnt said it will withstand my abuse maybe hes still making some special for me

 

[garyinco]

I've read all the posts about RBAs on REOs when I ordered my hornet. I finally got it, and no matter how many times I re-did the coils in a variety of different methods I still got a very gross, sort of between burnt and plastic-y taste. The coils burned evenly and were between 1.6-2.0 ohms, I set my Grand's kick at 8 watts to make sure it wasn't running super hot. I tried silica, organic cotton balls and organic cotton yarn, still a gross taste. So upset. I really really wanted it to work. I think I'm putting the hornet away until I can go to some kind of vape meet or convention cause I've followed all video and written instructions and I think I just need someone to see what I'm doing to figure out whether I'm just being to picky with the flavor or if my luck is just horrible with RBAs (I sold my genesis style cobra cause I was only ever able to make one good coil on it).

What kind of juice are you using?

I can't explain why but I've found the RBA's seem hotter. Even at identical wattage/voltage of a conventional atty or carto. More efficient or something, I have no idea. 8 watts is really high for me. I usually like around 6. As a test, I just tried some Pluid (god, I love that stuff) at 6 watts with a regular atty. Then I tried it on my ERA. 6 was way too much. I backed down to 4 watts and it matched the conventional atty at 6 watts. Why, I don't understand.

I mostly use cotton balls and they do have a funny taste for the first 5-10 hits. I hope you can get it sorted out.

 

[JC Okie]

What kind of juice are you using?

I can't explain why but I've found the RBA's seem hotter. Even at identical wattage/voltage of a conventional atty or carto. More efficient or something, I have no idea. 8 watts is really high for me. I usually like around 6. As a test, I just tried some Pluid (god, I love that stuff) at 6 watts with a regular atty. Then I tried it on my ERA. 6 was way too much. I backed down to 4 watts and it matched the conventional atty at 6 watts. Why, I don't understand.

I mostly use cotton balls and they do have a funny taste for the first 5-10 hits. I hope you can get it sorted out.

I agree that the RBAs seem to run hotter. I just haven't used anything but an RBA for awhile now, and had forgotten that. Also, Gary, if you'll get some organic cotton balls (Studio 35 Beauty from Walgreens is what I have) I think you won't have ANY funny taste for the first 5-10 hits. At least that's been my experience. For all I know, that's what you're using, but just thought I'd throw that out there. When I was using regular cotton balls, I had that funny taste at first, but with the organic, nothing.

 

[garyinco]

You're exactly right. Just plain old cotton balls, bleached or whatever. I thought about picking up some of the organic ones a couple of days ago but forgot about it. Will have to add to my to do list. Thanks.