Tinkerers :: Mod/Rebuild Fail/Success

[weisner]

I start this thread because I am a tinkerer and want to share my successes and failures. I would hope that others would also choose to share their experiences this way.

I would like posts to include photos as well as technique and lessons learned if any.

I started vaping to stop smoking, it worked. Now I tinker with my vaping equipment because it is fun.

Best of luck and be safe tinkering out there on the inter-webs.

Please feel free to share your attempts fail/success.

FYI: you can produce the Ohm symbol Ω by using the following code

​

Ω

 

[weisner]

I attempted to rebuild a Kanger T3 element. It was a 5 second success, then shorted out. So this is a FAIL REPORT.

I did however get some good photos:



As you can see I got the coil about the right size and managed to get it put together. After the last photo is where I used the sewing needle to pull my wicks up and then put the top rod and seal back on it. I checked the resistance and it came up 2.3 Ω

Following this I put some RY4 in the KT3 and for a few seconds it seems to have worked then shorted out.

 

[xMackx]

Love the idea of your adventure thread. You have inspired me to soon do the same as a big DIY'er/tinkerer.

 

[Thompson]

Ω = hold alt + 234 on number pad

 

[weisner]

Ω = hold alt + 234 on number pad

Thank you,

I am sure that this works form many if not most people. However the mapping on my Linux system is quite a bit different so in order to drop the Ohm symbol I have to resort to HTML.

 

[weisner]

Ok, so here goes.

I would like to say up front that Bamboo wicks very quickly and seems not to burn as easily as Cotton.
I also want to thank Adeline and a bunch of other people for helping me get as knowledgeable as I am today. I mentioned Adeline due to her crimping idea with silver beads (inert), this makes so much more sense to me than soldering. The element gets hot and solder melts away (dead atty). 8-o

I used the following materials:
Kanthal 30 AWG (Surevapes.com)
Sterling Wire (Micheal's)
Sterling Crimps 2mm (Micheal's)
Aunt Lydias 100% Bamboo Crochet Yarn(Micheal's)
Helping hands with magnifier(harbor freight tools)
eVic (Smokeless Success - Long Beach, CA)







See next post for the remaining steps.

 

[weisner]

And the rest of the pics...





Apparently even after reducing the resolution to 25% the photos I take with my cell phone are too big to bulk upload.

 

[adeline]

How are you liking the bamboo thread?

 

[weisner]

How are you liking the bamboo thread?

It burns easier than hemp but is harder to burn than cotton.
Due to it's fast growing in nature it naturally wicks fast, faster than cotton in my opinion.
It does not lend any flavor to the juice like I experienced with hemp(yuck!, that cleared after a tank or two).
It is in the case of the type I am using (pictured), it is very thin and can likely be threaded through a needle and pulled.
I have noticed less swelling than cotton however and have determined that I need to have at least one more strand in each of the wick holes on the Drunker.

To be crystal clear:: OVERALL I LIKE BAMBOO BEST ABOVE THE REST THAT I HAVE TESTED.

The product was at Micheal's.
Don't forget to boil out just like cotton.

 

[zygote]

and the new thing is...................BOLTS, yes there are those out there that are experimenting w/bolts.....amazing.

 

[weisner]

and the new thing is...................BOLTS, yes there are those out there that are experimenting w/bolts.....amazing.

BOLTS, like the battery mod BOLT or like a zinc coated bolt from the hardware store? I need you to clarify this.

 

[Hidzrami]

hey hey, try rebuilding iclear30 .. i would love to learn how to do that ^_^

 

[weisner]

hey hey, try rebuilding iclear30 .. i would love to learn how to do that ^_^

I looked at the iClear30 like you requested. However I have discovered that the retail price of the iClear $13.00 USD and the wick replacement price of $3.00 USD. At that price point there is very little point for me to rebuild such a device. I purchased the Drunker because I had not done RBA or RBT previously. I now have on order my AGA-T and will likely be posting about my experiences with that soon.

I do like the idea of you trying to rebuild the iClear30 and posting here to tell me how it went. I am sure the components are similar and that it can be done. I just simply do not have the interest in doing so.

Thank you for your post and interest in the thread.

 

[Proetus]

Nice! I look forward to your AGA-T followups. I just got my IGO-l to play around with RBA's before i pull the trigger on the AGA-T2. One little trick i picked up off a youtube video, remove the top two thumb nuts on the center post, replaced middle nut with a spring, washer and replaced third nut. You now have a spring loaded positive post to capture your coil with. I plan on doing a SS U wick with mine, i think.

 

[weisner]

Nice! I look forward to your AGA-T followups.

I'll be doing a hybrid SS wick on the AGA. I think I will loosely fill the center of the SS wick with a long strand or two of Bamboo to help with the capillary action. In theory Bamboo grows as fast as it does because of it's natural capillary action being so high. This being said and knowing that the SS will help protect the Bamboo from scorching I thought if it did scorch I could just pull the Bamboo through the SS until I could cut away the scorched part and Vape on.

I hope to find time to do this over the weekend with documentation and photos.

Good luck on the IGO SS U wick, I would like to see photos of that.

 

[Oktyabr]

Nice thread! I think I found it on a search for that bamboo stuff. I just dove headfirst into RBAs the other day when I received my first AGA-T2 (and A7 RDA but that's a different post). Since it only includes one small square of SS mesh I experimented with 2mm silica first. This worked but wouldn't wick fast enough to keep up with vaping demands. Finally got brave enough to roll my first SS wick. I popped the included mystery gauge wire in a heartbeat and only had some 34 gauge kanthal left to re-wrap. I think I popped the coil twice more before I finally got one to cook consistently right at 2.1 ohms but it still hadn't cured my curiosity about non-SS wicks...

Attached are two photos of my newest creation, a 3.0 ohm, 34 gauge kanthal A1 wrapped 4/3 around one strand of 3mm silica AND a 2mm strand of silica, what I call my "helper wick". I wish I would have had some lower resistance wire to play with (in the mail today!) but this one rocks hard now, right around 5.5v, with massive throat hit, vapor and flavor. I could still run the wick dry, if I really tried hard (several huge rips in quick succession) but for realistic vaping it works just fine My custom blend of MBV's "Lemonade" (gotta love the glass tanks!), "Early Blackberry", and just a hint of their "Rad Bull" as well. 16mg, 80/20 pg-vg.

 

[Oktyabr]

Nice! I look forward to your AGA-T followups. I just got my IGO-l to play around with RBA's before i pull the trigger on the AGA-T2. One little trick i picked up off a youtube video, remove the top two thumb nuts on the center post, replaced middle nut with a spring, washer and replaced third nut. You now have a spring loaded positive post to capture your coil with. I plan on doing a SS U wick with mine, i think.

I haven't seen any videos of this yet. I might make a run to the local hardware store and see what I can find! How does this work out in practice?

 

[Oktyabr]

hey hey, try rebuilding iclear30 .. i would love to learn how to do that ^_^

I don't have an iclear to experiment on but after watching this video I've *easily* rebuilt vivi novas (including the mini) and a Smoktech Redux clearomizer (Stardust CE5 knockoff). 2mm silica and 4/3 wraps of 34 gauage kanthal A1, produced a 2.5 ohm coil. A buddy watched me do a vivi and then he did a redux himself... his first coil rebuild! Took all of about 10 minutes and a vast improvement, even over a brand new factory head! Maybe 20 cents worth of silica and a couple of pennies worth of kanthal. I'm starting to think that if it comes apart it *can* be rebuilt! (YMMV)

(good bit starts at about 13:40)

A PBusardo Tutorial - Vivi Nova Cleaning & Rebuilding - YouTube

 

[weisner]

Nice thread! I think I found it on a search for that bamboo stuff. I just dove headfirst into RBAs the other day when I received my first AGA-T2 (and A7 RDA but that's a different post)......

Looks like you got really good results. I like the way you are documenting what you do and explaining the why and how's. This is exactly why I started this thread. I was hoping persons like you would participate.

I like the 4 wick arrangement you have photographed in your post and think that it looks really good.

 

[Oktyabr]

Looks like you got really good results. I like the way you are documenting what you do and explaining the why and how's. This is exactly why I started this thread. I was hoping persons like you would participate.

I like the 4 wick arrangement you have photographed in your post and think that it looks really good.

Thanks!

I rely a lot on information provided by others when ever I'm trying to learn something new. It's a pet peeve of mine when people (even the youtube experts) leave out bits of important information like size of wire, etc. so I try extra hard to not repeat those same failings.

Your posts too, are excellent! I look forward to seeing more of what you have in store.

By the way, how are you liking your "helping hands"? I've been wanting something like that for a few days now... Spotted one on amazon but some of the reviewers said that the adjustments were next to impossible to get "tight enough". Any regrets with yours?