Those who used both HH357s and ERAs...

[garyinco]

I also have a juice, Plume Rooms Honey Fig Tabacco which is a NET natural extracted tabacco that kills wicks very quickly. But...using the squished coil method and cotton ball wicks, it takes about 90 seconds to change out the wick and dry burn the coil on it every couple of days. The coil lasts and lasts and lasts using 30g. Rewicking is quick and costs less than a penny to do so. Flavor and vapor are just perfect. This setup works so well and is so user friendly, it has been a game changer for me.

By the squished coil method - do you mean squishing the coils together, like compressing a spring?

And I still don't comprehend how you feed cotton ball wicks thru your coils. I've been using a size 3 machine screw, wrapping the wire, and then feeding wicking material (cotton and bamboo embroidery thread) thru it. Are you using a needle and wrapping the coil around the wick (cotton ball)? Just trying to get my head around this...

 

[hildicat]

By the squished coil method - do you mean squishing the coils together, like compressing a spring?

Like this...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...wick-coil-setups-your-reo-12.html#post8309897

And I still don't comprehend how you feed cotton ball wicks thru your coils. I've been using a size 3 machine screw, wrapping the wire, and then feeding wicking material (cotton and bamboo embroidery thread) thru it. Are you using a needle and wrapping the coil around the wick (cotton ball)? Just trying to get my head around this...

Sounds like you're already doing it. Just make one end of the cotton kinda pointed and stiff, although some folks use a piece of folded wire to help 'thread the needle'.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...wick-coil-setups-your-reo-18.html#post8596719

 

[garyinco]

Thanks so much for your response. There are so many RBA threads I can't keep up w/ them, much less find them at a later date. I've read some of your earlier posts about torching the coil before winding. So I'll continue to make sure I do that. Now I gotta figure out how to pull a cotton ball apart "with the grain" to be able to pull it through a coil. Man, 100' coils of wire for $5 and a huge sack of cotton balls for $2. Beats the heck out of $8-$22 attys.

 

[Ratman]

Like this...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...wick-coil-setups-your-reo-12.html#post8309897



Sounds like you're already doing it. Just make one end of the cotton kinda pointed and stiff, although some folks use a piece of folded wire to help 'thread the needle'.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...wick-coil-setups-your-reo-18.html#post8596719

Yeah, what he said

 

[rc10mike]

I guess Ill figure it out eventually...my end goal is to find a long lasting coil/wick combo that replicates the flavor I get from the 357...so far none have come close...so I guess the real question is how does the 357 do it so well in the first place? I mean, the coil itself on a 357 is roughly 3 times smaller than a coil for an RBA.

 

[Mudflap]

I'm rocking an HH 357 on my VV Grand right now b/c my last coil/wick build was kind of sucky. I think the current silica wick is too loose in the coil. I'll futz with it later.

That's the thing about RBA's. You can make a wonderfully performing wick & coil, or you can make it noticeably less so. It just takes some trial & error.

When Hanna Hadawar first started building the HH 357 attys, he could only make 1.5 ohm 510 attys work well. His first attempts at higher resistances and 901 versions were dismal failures. He kept at it and now they all work very well.

I guess what I'm getting at is that RBA's probably can satisfy you as well as HH 357's, once you figure out the specific technique for building a wick & coil that works for you. Whether or not it's worth your time to keep at it is solely up to you. I like to tinker, sometimes. Other times I just wanna grab my Reo and vape.

 

[sonofthesun]

I don't have an HH.357, but when I first got the Hornet, my first battle was to get it to outperform Smoktech shorty cartos, which are my current backup for the REO.

I use XC-116 braided ceramic wick, which, in my testing, is the cleanest tasting wick i've used. Initially, I had to switch my wick design so I wasn't blocking the main air intake, then I expanded the air intake to 1.3mm. Then I added a second air hole at 1mm on the opposite side (170° off from the original airhole), and that seemed to bring flavor, vapor production, and air flow to about where I wanted them.


On the next, I'll be starting at dual 1mm, and stepping up the holes differently, but thats where I'm at now. My ERA v2 (doesn't work on the REO) is at dual 1mm, but I think the narrow cap of the hornet favors a slightly larger hole over the coils, and a smaller hole opposite.

With all the pinoy dippers (Nimbus, Edz, Caliber, Fatty v1 and v2, ERA v2) i have, air flow is often lacking, and thats usually the second place I start modding after I try a bunch of different coil layouts. Unfortunately, you can't add metal back on, so I try to step by no more than .1mm each time I make a modification.

But first, lots and lots of coils.

 

[rc10mike]

I noticed something interesting today with my Chalice. I had made a beautiful coil with silica that ended up tasting mute...very mute..

So I decided to pull the cap off and do a few dry burns...just to see whats going on in there....

I noticed that the wick was changing color FAST. It was going from soaked to white in about 2 seconds. This leads me to believe that the wick simply cant hold enough liquid at one time to get a really good pull.

It seems to me like the coil is working, but the relatively low fluid holding capacity of the small wick cant supply it for long. Perhaps thats the issue?

 

[super_X_drifter]

I would argue it you like the performance of cotton or bamboo, changing a wick every other day is a very small price to pay for a good vape.

Well said. I would recommend rolled cotton. In less than 2 minutes you can rewick and be back to vaping. No dry burns, no torching, nada. So simple and flavorful. Not to mention that silica is known to be harmful to ya.


Shot thru cyberspace with my iGun

 

[ltrainer]

Well said. I would recommend rolled cotton. In less than 2 minutes you can rewick and be back to vaping. No dry burns, no torching, nada. So simple and flavorful. Not to mention that silica is known to be harmful to ya.


Shot thru cyberspace with my iGun

I have to agree with this. I was using a doubled over 2.5 silica wick. It vaped ok but rolling cotton wick is wicking much better.

 

[Ratman]

I have to agree with this. I was using a doubled over 2.5 silica wick. It vaped ok but rolling cotton wick is wicking much better.

But... cotton does not play well with all juices. If I remember correctly Mike has had issues with cotton messing up the flavor of his juice. Perhaps doubling or even tripling the silica wick over itself to give it more capacity would help you Mike.

 

[rc10mike]

Well, heres what I made today...A very small coil with 3 strands of Aunt Lydias #10 cotton thread, trimmed to size.

As always, vapor production is huge, and flavor is much better, but still not quite HH357.

 

[super_X_drifter]

Mike, looks great! Are you using 30 ga wire? Perhaps 2 or 3 more wraps would put it in the optimum zone with a small bore coil like that? That looks like about the same bore as my micro coil, but I started with around 10 or 11 wraps (to increase surface area) and it it hitting better than anything I previously screwed to my REO.

I suspect that the small bore coils also improve airflow within the chalice, thus improve vaporization?

At any rate, nice job boss.


Shot thru cyberspace with my iGun

 

[rc10mike]

Im using 32awg for this one. I didnt measure the ohms but Im guessing around 2.5. (it started as a 4ohm coil which I trimmed) Im using a VVG.

So after vaping it for a day Im just not happy. The cotton had 'ok' flavor at first, but after just only a day, it started tasting like crap. By the end of the day, I couldnt stop wishing I had my HH357 on there instead!

I need something that lasts longer. Right now, the best coil I ever built for any of my RBAs lasted just as long as a carto, but still the carto (when new) still had MUCH better flavor. I really dont feel like rebuilding my RBA every other day. I guess I expected too much, maybe they just arent for me..idk.

Im beating my head against the wall wondering how the 357 works so well. I need to figure out its tricks, then apply it to the RBA, then Ill be happy I think.

 

[FeistyAlice]

I, for one, am not at all interested in rewicking my coil twice a day, most usually, using the natural wicks. I'vd been using the same basic 3 juices, most usually blended at different proportions, with an ocassional few drops of other flavorant for some variety, for over two years, on most attys/cartos that have been on market........ and they ALL gunk really fast!!!! On average I can get about 3 days before pre-built atty needs boiling and dry burning. Max 4 days before tossing carto.

Natural wicks sometimes not even a whole day before flavor, Th, vapor reduces.

I stay on edge of being overwhelmed with everything that needs my attention, energies, and time 20 hours a day..... so keeping vaping devices to minimal hassle is MAJOR for me.

That's the only reason I keep going back to good silica wick with RBAs. I can pull cap off, dab off excess juice, and dry burn, while catching some relaxation in recliner, with TV on, and needing no hassle of pulling out extra devices, magnifying apparatuses, nor needing extra lighting. (We have so much dust here everything is covered in dust within hours so most things have to be stored in boxes that become covered with dust if not in cabinet or drawer.) (Cooking utensils and vessels hanging on racks in kitchen or in containers for display have to have dust rinsed off before use even if they were washed day before.) So there are extra steps every time I need to rewick or recoil. Everything pulled out of protective storage and put back up making a 5 minute rewicking turn into a 15 minute chore. And that's usually twice a day.... I'd rather be resting my cranky neck.

Very important, when using silica wick, is different wicks from different sources, even if same size, and wrapped the same, vary drastically in wicking properties and ability to not fray and splinter. Some silica is super and some is crap. I've gotten lots of different pre wicked coils and small quantities of different wicks with RBA purchases. A few major quality and a few major crap. I just got in two sizes that are smaller than the 3 mm I orginally got from source. Haven't coiled them yet but hoping they will be same quality as the 3mm.

I can't stress enough how important quality of silica wicking is for quality vape no matter ones level of experience building coils. A cheap paper plate will never serve food as well as a good ceramic, porcelain, or earthen ware and it will fall apart very quickly and never hold up to repeated cleanings.

I strongly suspect that well performing silica wicks have more to do with the quality of wick and not as much the abilities of wick builder.

Feisty Alice

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

[FeistyAlice]

BTW... I'm going on two weeks with the stock coil that came on my Killer 705!!!! I've never gone that long with any coil/wick combo or pre-built atty. Here sre several factors I think are relevant.

1) it has no grommets or insulators or o-ring (nothing soft) that can affect flavor or melt or deform. So I can torch the whole thing without concern about melting anything. Most RBAs have, at the very least, an insulator on one wire post that can and will melt if subjected to too much heat.

2) The wick is super quality. No discernible fraying.

3) Wick has excellent wicking ability.

I have been taking cap off daily, blotting, and then a couple minutes plusing dry burn; three sessions letting it cool slightly between sessions.

I run it under hot water every three days, squeeze and pat dry and then dry burn. I can do this when I go to bathroom and when washing hands so little extra effort.

I've torched it twice so that all exposed wicking, and probably wicking stuffed under ceramic cup is lily white along with resulting lily white ceramic cup.

I can't agressively torch installed coil on ERA, Hornet, Surface, A7, A7 Mini, VE, REOmizer because of soft parts and most importantly.... post insulators WILL melt.

I love my other RBAs but Killer 705 is to RBAs as REO is to PVs....... virtually hassle/fiddle free.

And it fits any catchcup or well because of its small diameter.

Feisty Alice

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

[rolygate]

The main difference in opinion about flavor seems to be between PG and VG vapers. Many VG vapers report very poor flavor with an RBA.

Maybe there is an answer for this specific problem.

 

[FeistyAlice]

The main difference in opinion about flavor seems to be between PG and VG vapers. Many VG vapers report very poor flavor with an RBA.

Maybe there is an answer for this specific problem.

May be the case. I've been mostly using 50/50 pg/vg basically the same juice with all RBAs and various tanks. DH using same flavors but much higher VG percentage. His vapor smells much more yummy than mine and sweeter, and more of it, but every time he takes a toke on what I'm vaping he ask me what he can do to get as much flavor as mine.

Every different RBA and RBA tank I have vary in flavor, vapor production, and TH even if all at close wattage.

One thing I've suggested to DH is to add a drop of butterscotch, our base flavor, to his juice. Or use higher % PG. Past week he's done higher PG and no complaints.

Hugs, Feisty Alice

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

[nerak]

The main difference in opinion about flavor seems to be between PG and VG vapers. Many VG vapers report very poor flavor with an RBA.

Maybe there is an answer for this specific problem.

I must be in the minority then. I do 100%VG and the flavor is the best on my RBA's on my REO's!

I DIY and do 20% flavor. I could probably go less on the RBA's because it is very flavorfull!

 

[FeistyAlice]

I must be in the minority then. I do 100%VG and the flavor is the best on my RBA's on my REO's!

I DIY and do 20% flavor. I could probably go less on the RBA's because it is very flavorfull!

One advantage you have is that you DIY your juices so you can adjust your flavor strength. I just recently found a 120 ml bottle of FSUSA 30mg 2x added flavor Butterscotch Almond, 100% VG, hiding in my cooler (50F) from Dec 2010!!!!!! Talk about steeping. As DH and I both are now doing ~18 mg we've been cutting it down with plain, no nic PG, me, VG, DH. It is still way strong flavor!!! DH is cutting it down to even less mg because the flavor is so strong and gives him too much TH. He certainly is filling the room with massive clouds of delicious vapor, though. BTW... he mostly uses a Mini ViVi Nova on eGo Twist and Spinners. Turncoat living in my house.

Hugs, Feisty Alice