The "RBA's for Dummies" Thread

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ancient puffer

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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).

I was having the same issue until I "accidentally" positioned the air intake directly next to the coil. I'm not exactly sure why, but if the air is coming in anywhere else, I get that same wretched vape. That said, real men refer to that as "throat hit" :)
 

Commie

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I'm glad this thread is still going! :) Never in a million years would I have thought the position of the airhole could somehow affect flavor. Thanks for bringing that up Ahreekeeteekee.

It can affect all kinds of things. Like burnt trigger finger for example. My reomizer's airhole is right over the fire button :)
 

PapawBrett

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So yuh learnin' anything PopPop?

There's a saying in the Trucking Industry; You learn something new everyday. The day you don't learn something new you'd better park that rig and go home before you kill somebody.
I try to carry that ideal into daily life as well. Everyday's an Education. :)
 

Rictic

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According to USPS Tracking, my Hornet will be here Today! :) Probably while I'm at work :?: So tomorrow, Saturday morning means riding into town to get my RBA and proving to myself why I needed to start this thread in the first place :laugh:

Nice Papaw! I hope you can enjoy it as soon as you get it and build your coil wick. I had posted before that I was frustrated with mine, but Gary was right to ask about my juice. Based on my experience, try the first few builds with a light, 70%+ pg juice first and then experiment from there with darker and heavier stuffs.

My initial disappointing experience had nothing to do with the coil. I figure this because the first juice was a dark, 50/50 pg/vg thicker-than-usual NET juice from myvapejuice (which is delicious in an atty, don't get me wrong). I removed the cotton ball wicking, cleaned/dry burned and put a silica wick on the same coil. This time I used a light honey flue at 70/30 pg/vg.... Wow. It's amazing. I'm glad I decided to try it out again. I

Enjoy your hornet!
 

PapawBrett

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Nice Papaw! I hope you can enjoy it as soon as you get it and build your coil wick. I had posted before that I was frustrated with mine, but Gary was right to ask about my juice. Based on my experience, try the first few builds with a light, 70%+ pg juice first and then experiment from there with darker and heavier stuffs.

My initial disappointing experience had nothing to do with the coil. I figure this because the first juice was a dark, 50/50 pg/vg thicker-than-usual NET juice from myvapejuice (which is delicious in an atty, don't get me wrong). I removed the cotton ball wicking, cleaned/dry burned and put a silica wick on the same coil. This time I used a light honey flue at 70/30 pg/vg.... Wow. It's amazing. I'm glad I decided to try it out again. I

Enjoy your hornet!

That could be a problem. Due to acute sinus allergies, I NEVER go go below 70% VG or above 12mg nic. Some of my juices are 30/70 PG/VG, some are 100%VG. Now I am familiar with MyVapeJuice, have about four NET and two pastries I'm trying now. Not as clean or as clear as my usual vendors, HHV, HighBrow and CravinVapes. I also have distilled water to 'thin' them down if neccesary. Will just have to work around that somehow....
 
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garyinco

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It won't be a problem, just some head scratching and adjusting how and with what you make your wicks out of. Did you get some wire? I threw away the first four or five coils I made because I didn't like the looks of them.

I also vape mostly VG. Some 100%, mostly 90% VG. Occasionally a 50:50. I have sinus problems too.

Some things I experienced when I started messing w/ RBA's:
  • You'll go thru more wire than you think.
  • You need to change the wick, if not the coil too, more often than you'd throw away a conventional atty. At least when starting out.
  • Different wicking materials tastes a lot different. If you don't like one, try another. Take JC Okie up on her offer to send some wicking material.
  • Pre-heating (heating until it glows) the wire before you wind the coil takes some of the "springy-ness" out of the coil. That'll make sense after you try it.
  • Turn down the power from what you've used in the past. At the old wattage/voltage you'll get hot hits. This was discouraging for me since my juice tasted burnt. More efficient I guess.
  • Practice making some coils while you wait until tomorrow. Use a toothpick or something smaller in diameter to wind the coil around. Maybe start with 2.5 to 3 inches of wire. Leave a tag on the beginning of your wind of 3/8" of an inch or so. Then wind a neat spiral and finish with the end pointing in the same direction as your beginning, with a similar tag at the end. That is specific to certain RBAs, including the ERA's/Hornets. When I started the coils were coming out at lower ohms than I wanted and I had to adjust the length of the wire.
  • When mounting the coil, you'll notice one post has one hole and the other has two. In the two hole post secure the wire in the upper hole. The bottom one is where the juice enters the RBA and you don't want to restrict it.
  • It takes time to tweak your procedure. Every coil/wick setup is better and faster than the last.
  • Get at least one other RBA for a backup. I'm looking forward to trying out the Reomizer 2.0.
  • I keep a carto within reach in case something goes haywire (short, bad taste, drop in vapor production...). I'm still addicted to nicotine and don't want to be tempted; been there done that.
 

PapawBrett

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OK! First Coil- Kanthal 30 and 1mm silica that came with Hornet- seven wraps around a toothpick, no coils touching- double-fed wick with needlethreader donated from Mamaw's sewing kit- dryburned- using household voltmeter ohms at 3.0- aligned drawhole on same side as wick- aaaand--- GAG! Damn this think burns HOT! WAY TOO MUCH throat hit! Only flavor I'm getting is BURNT- as in burnt atty, burnt tounge and burnt throat! Something wrong here, a little help and/or guidence, please ?
 

super_X_drifter

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OK! First Coil- Kanthal 30 and 1mm silica that came with Hornet- seven wraps around a toothpick, no coils touching- double-fed wick with needlethreader donated from Mamaw's sewing kit- dryburned- using household voltmeter ohms at 3.0- aligned drawhole on same side as wick- aaaand--- GAG! Damn this think burns HOT! WAY TOO MUCH throat hit! Only flavor I'm getting is BURNT- as in burnt atty, burnt tounge and burnt throat! Something wrong here, a little help and/or guidence, please ?

Hi Brett! Did you soak the hornet in alcohol then rinse it it cold water first? Mine came with oil on em. Most RBA's do.
 
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