UD Goblin Mini v3

[billybc96]

I wasn't too sure about getting a Merlin, or the Serpent - neither of which I could find much info on. I've read that the GM's airflow is more restricted than the Serpent - mainly because of the GM V3's anti-spit screen. I had considered a newer Kayfun, the Mini V3, but it just seems unnecessarily tall compared to what I prefer. The Kayfun Mini V3 Plus looked good, except it wouldn't fit on an iStick Pico without using a heat sink spacer - which would've made for a ridiculously tall setup in my opinion as well. (As you can probably tell, I am not into big vaping devices.)

Direct comparisons between Goblin Minis and Kayfuns, by those that have used both, seem to indicate the GM can do flavorful MTL very well (or well enough at least), in a much more compact setup than a Kayfun, which is what I've been looking for - though the Kayfun's draw is better overall for MTL. Mind you, these days, I don't really like a super restrictive draw anymore. I typically use my Nautilus or Kabuki tanks with the AFC set wide open, and at times would not mind at all if they could be set even more open than that!

I wasn't quite sold on the Goblin Mini V2, but the single coil build deck on the V3 just looks so much easier to work with compared to the V1 and V2 - or even the Kayfun V3. From what I've been reading it looks like I should get some 28 gauge wire, and maybe some 30? I think I only have some leftover 26 gauge kanthal lying around somewhere to try as well. I'd probably shoot for an inner diameter around 2-3mm, but I don't really know. I've tried factory Clapton wire coils in other devices. I wasn't thrilled with how much power is required to ramp them up quickly, and they just seem to gunk up pretty fast, but those were factory coils. Something like double twisted 30 gauge might workout okay. I'll have to download a coil wrap calculator to help me out. I'm mainly just looking for good ideas on where to start experimenting and get decent results from the git-go.

 

[hittman]

There's a thread on the Merlin. It's here Merlin by Augvape and Roxy.

There are some really good people on that thread that really helped me with doing the wicking correctly. You might check it out.

 

[MMW]

My air intake whistles a little bit using the dual deck. Anyone else?

 

[billybc96]

There's a thread on the Merlin. It's here Merlin by Augvape and Roxy.

There are some really good people on that thread that really helped me with doing the wicking correctly. You might check it out.

Damn, looks like I'll have to try the Augvape Merlin as well. Price on FT is less than $18 anyway. (At least for the SS one - the black one is twice that!) I'd be in no huge rush to wait on getting 1 or 2 (plus some spare replacement glass) while playing with the Goblin Mini V3s I will already have in the meantime...

...so I went ahead and ordered 2 of the SS Merlins from FT, plus a few narrow drip tips to try out, and about 6 rolls of UD wire. I got SS 316L and double twisted kanthal, each in 26, 28 and 30 gauge wire. I'm sure some of that I won't be using at all, but I wanted a little bit of everything I might want to tryout in both RTA models. (From FT all that wire was fairly cheap anyway.) I may give the Clapton wire a try later, as well as some regular ol' single strand kanthal, but I think I'm good...for now.

It'll be interesting to see how all this turns out for me. 4 RTAs, plus a whole bunch of wire building supplies, all ordered in a span of less than 2 days. I'm feeling a little crazy apparently. My wife won't be thrilled.

Now, maybe I should try a Kayfun V3 Mini clone as well? No, I have to stop this. I've got plenty enough to play with. But jeez...maybe all this new stuff deserves a new box mod? Plus there's a new Merlin Mini RTA coming out? (Saw that at Subtank Supply.) Holy cow! No reviews at all yet on that little guy, so I'm safe from buying one as of yet. Thank god.

 

[hittman]

Not to add fuel to the fire but the mini is available at STS now.

 

[MMW]

The rabbit hole is deep! I love the journey though.

 

[billybc96]

Not to add fuel to the fire but the mini is available at STS now.

Hmmm...I'm not sure yet that I see a good reason to get the Merlin Mini RTA (about $30 on STS). It only holds 2ml, making it not much different than the GM V3 or 22mm Serpent Mini. Oh wait, I see it is listed as being 24mm in diameter. Thank goodness! That kills it for me. No way in heck I can go over 23mm on the iStick Pico. (Yay! One less RTA I have to buy!)

I am seriously looking at getting at least one SS 22mm Serpent Mini though (about $21 from FT). Because, why not, right? Well, maybe not, because I think overall the reviews for the 22mm Serpent Minis, though good, might not be good enough. I like that it is a somewhat simpler tank. A tank that, on paper at least, looks to be easier and quicker to refill (no juice cutoff to twist, but still apparently has no refill leak issues). But people have complained of the top cap being very difficult to get off sometimes - in particular with the black painted ones, which also apparently don't have a very long lasting paint job. Reportedly, even when using the same exact build, the Serpent Mini tends to use up more juice than the GM V3 - even though the Serpent holds 50% more juice! Additionally, securing the coil leads in the Serpent's post design appears to be a bit difficult to do with the grub screws - especially when using twisted wire. And lastly, clipping the excess wire off close enough to the posts to avoid causing a short from contact with the chimney can be difficult, making building on this deck overall a bit more of a pain compared to the velocity style decks on the GM V3 or Merlin.

Still, despite all those (relatively minor) negatives, one SS 22mm Serpent Mini only costs $21 from FT, with free shipping, so why not? I'd love to directly compare all 3 of these RTAs. Someone else here can maybe tell why I shouldn't bother, or why I should?

 

[drugarth]

I own the regular sized Merlin, the Serpent mini and the Goblin V3.....I personally almost never use the Serpent mini anymore, the Merlin and goblin V3 (together with the good old Bellus and the avocado 24) are my favorites, both are so easy to build and wick, and both give me a very good vape.
If you get the Merlin and the Goblin V3 you are good to go on all sorts of vaping except the real big DL hits, both are pretty versatile, especially the Goblin V3.
So I would skip the Serpent and just get a Goblin and Merlin.

 

[billybc96]

I own the regular sized Merlin, the Serpent mini and the Goblin V3.....I personally almost never use the Serpent mini anymore, the Merlin and goblin V3 (together with the good old Bellus and the avocado 24) are my favorites, both are so easy to build and wick, and both give me a very good vape.
If you get the Merlin and the Goblin V3 you are good to go on all sorts of vaping except the real big DL hits, both are pretty versatile, especially the Goblin V3.
So I would skip the Serpent and just get a Goblin and Merlin.

Thank you. That is very helpful. Almost pulled the trigger on a Serpent Mini. I think I may still get some extra grub screws from FT though. I believe I need m2.5x3 for Merlin spares, but what about for the GM V3?

 

[billybc96]

Well...got my GM V3s in today. Installed the anti-spit "screen" on the SS one, and a Teflon SS hybrid drip tip with a narrow 3mm inner bore. Did my first build. Tried using some double twisted 26g kanthal I had on hand. I was trying to go for something over 1 ohm, but after 4 tries ended up with a ~9 wrap coil with a 3 inner diameter that read 0.79 ohms on the Coil Master 521 Mini, and 0.82 ohms once rayon wicked and installed in the tank. This was my first time using rayon ever. I think I did okay, but the tails could probably have been a little longer. I think I ended up being too concerned with thinning them out on the ends, like you're supposed to do with rayon wick, thus leaving them too short.

Despite that, leaking hasn't been much of an issue, but there has been some slight seepage and occasional slight gurgling - especially when the AFC is turned down low. I guess I may have wicked passably, but not great. It's hard to tell right away when using rayon. I'll have to inspect the wick after awhile and see how it looks.

I'm currently running the setup in the low teens wattage-wise, for now, with the AFC about only 1/3 open, taking 10 second or so drags. It's a fairly warm vape. The tank glass itself gets fairly hot, fairly quickly - especially when attempting to chain vape. The top of the tank just gets warm. No dry hits that I can tell so far. The juice I'm using is 70/30 VG/PG stuff, undiluted with distilled water as I'd normally do when using high VG juice with Nautilus coils.

Throat hit using 3mg juice is a bit on the harsh side, or at least more than I've been used to recently using 3mg in a Nautilus coiled Kabuki clone. Flavor is nothing special at this point, but better than I'm used to. Vapor is okay. Better than I'm used to, but nothing amazing - keeping in mind that I'm just using this tank as a mouth-to-lung device. 1/3 open is still too loose a draw for good MTL, but setting the AFC tighter (to just 1/4 open) makes for too warm a MTL vape.

Obviously my next build will need to be a higher ohm one. So I think using 26 gauge wire in general is out. I've got some 30 gauge kanthal I will have to try next, or maybe try going for a 3.5 inner diameter, 10 or so wrap build with the 26 gauge double twisted stuff. I'm not sure there's really enough room to go quite that big. I think I can make it work, but it probably still won't get my vape where I want it to be. I can't wait until my other 28 and 30 gauge wire comes in. I'm curious about trying some twisted SS stuff, but have none on order for now. I can see Clapton coil possibly being in my future with this tank.

After disassembling the tank I saw even coloration on both sides of the rayon wick, indicating the tails are still too thick, but they are also probably a little too short - by maybe just a few millimeters. (It's really hard to tell, but I think I cut them a little too short in the first place.) I seem to have used about the right thickness of rayon through the coils though, so at least I've already got that part down.

Next time I will cut the wick a little longer, remove more than half the wick at the bend point, then give the tails a "V" cut (with the thin tip pointed down). The first time around I think my tails just weren't long enough to do a proper job of that while still having enough wick tail to prevent seepage. Condensation from the anti-spit screen might be a bit of an issue too, but properly wicked I don't think that will be a problem.

So far I'm not hating the tank, though I feel it is a little quirky compared to what I'm used to. The velocity deck sure helps with quickly installing the coil. Using rayon wick is a little tricky, but has given me better overall results than what I recall getting from using cotton a few years ago in a Kayfun. CelluCotton Beauty Coil seems to be about the right size out of the box to not need much adding or removing of material to get it to fit tight, but not too tight (the way rayon should) in coils of this approximate inner diameter. That makes the process a little easier. I'll post how well I do with my second coil build...

UPDATE, 2ND BUILD: Tried using the 30 gauge kanthal. That stuff is a little tough to work with, so I think the 28 gauge will workout as a happy medium for me when it arrives. My 30 gauge build was not successful. Then I retried a 26 gauge double twisted kanthal build. 3.5 inner diameter, 10 wraps, but the build still ended up being 0.82 ohms! I think I wicked a bit better this time around, as leak and seepage issues were reduced, but I still had a little bit of that going on. The setup ran a little more smoothly after some additional thinning of the wick. I still can't restrict the draw too much or the vape gets too warm, so the AFC ends up being set at the halfway position, and that doesn't make for a satisfactory MTL draw. I can totally see how a higher ohm build would let me achieve a tighter draw without so much unneeded warmth, so I'm really looking forward to my wire order coming in. In the meantime I'm mainly just vaping on my Nautilus coiled Kabuki clone. *sigh*

 

[billybc96]

I had a heavy leaking issue when refilling the GM V3 recently. Very annoying. After tearing down the tank I noticed that the large (though rather thin) black bottom section o-ring fell out rather easily, indicating it was probably no longer properly in position when I last assembled the tank. Obviously something to keep an eye on when re-assembling the tank. I'll be trying some new (to me) builds on this tank soon. Hopefully, by making sure that o-ring is properly in position when I re-assemble, I can avoid having that issue occur again.

On another note, I was curious where you folks are cutting your wick initially after installing the wick in your coil? Last time I cut at about the outer diameter edge of the bottom section of the tank, but after disassembly and checking that setup I feel that may have been a bit to long. Should I cut closer in, at about where the black o-ring is instead? Do I want the wick sitting just at the top of the juice feed ports? Or do I want the wick farther in? All the way in? It's hard to tell from looking at bad quality videos on the subject.

 

[MMW]

I had a heavy leaking issue when refilling the GM V3 recently. Very annoying. After tearing down the tank I noticed that the large (though rather thin) black bottom section o-ring fell out rather easily, indicating it was probably no longer properly in position when I last assembled the tank. Obviously something to keep an eye on when re-assembling the tank. I'll be trying some new (to me) builds on this tank soon. Hopefully, by making sure that o-ring is properly in position when I re-assemble, I can avoid having that issue occur again.

On another note, I was curious where you folks are cutting your wick initially after installing the wick in your coil? Last time I cut at about the outer diameter edge of the bottom section of the tank, but after disassembly and checking that setup I feel that may have been a bit to long. Should I cut closer in, at about where the black o-ring is instead? Do I want the wick sitting just at the top of the juice feed ports? Or do I want the wick farther in? All the way in? It's hard to tell from looking at bad quality videos on the subject.

I'll post some pics later, but mine are about 1/3 into the wicking port.

 

[billybc96]

I'll post some pics later, but mine are about 1/3 into the wicking port.

Okay, cool, so about where do you make your initial cut of the wick on both sides of the coil to achieve that 1/3rd into the wicking ports end result? (I suppose that will depend some on what gauge wire and how many wraps you are using?)

 

[Tagi]

I have mine just sitting on top. But I have a very relaxed pull. When I had the wick going into the channels it would dry hit on my normal pulls. It would wick correctly though if I pulled harder.

I put my scissors up to the inner chamber and snip. Then knock the corners off like a \_/ shape.
this leaves just a smidgen of wick that that will just barely go into the channels. This is just to help hold them in place.

 

[billybc96]

I have mine just sitting on top. But I have a very relaxed pull. When I had the wick going into the channels it would dry hit on my normal pulls. It would wick correctly though if I pulled harder.

I put my scissors up to the inner chamber and snip. Then knock the corners off like a \_/ shape.
this leaves just a smidgen of wick that that will just barely go into the channels. This is just to help hold them in place.

I see, so for a tighter draw, I may want to cut a little farther out, maybe just about where that black o-ring is instead? Yeah, I was using to long a wick, and too much in general. Even when using a "V" cut at the end of the wick, my wick ports were stuffed to the point it took a bit of work to get the wick out when it was time to tear down and rebuild.

 

[hittman]

I've only wicked mine once so far. I'm probably about as sloppy as they come when it comes to wicking. I tucked my wick into the holes on the single coil deck and I haven't had any dry hit issues.

 

[hiclass]

When playing with the way cotton is cut and tuck into the juice well, I think it is important to take into account the size of coil used. Because, the bigger the coil diameter, the more quantity of cotton is allowed to go through the heating area, in this case, just tuck your cotton to the bottom of the juice well - I have never face a dry hit with a 3.5mm coil.

 

[MMW]

Okay, cool, so about where do you make your initial cut of the wick on both sides of the coil to achieve that 1/3rd into the wicking ports end result? (I suppose that will depend some on what gauge wire and how many wraps you are using?)

These are trimmed like @Tagi had mentioned. \_/
I also trim a litte off the tops of the wick.

 

[Tagi]

These are trimmed like @Tagi had mentioned. \_/
I also trim a litte off the tops of the wick.

Using 30/70 pg\vg
I am using the single coild deck. I was using a 1\8 (3.175mm) coil I was getting an occasional dry hit from chain vaping. Bumped it up to 5\32 (3.969mm) and tucked a little less and shes a runnin like a dream.

I tucked about half way down of what yours is. eyeballing it maybe 1ish mm into the channels. May have used a sharper angle too on the \_/

Most of the wick is fluff just above the channels

 

[MMW]

I use very little cotton in there. I also trim above and below before tucking.
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Less is more in the flavor department here with the wick.