UD Goblin Mini v3

[billybc96]

I grabbed some 28 gauge kanthal at local vape shop today. Built 3mm ID, 10 wrap coil on deck pictured below. Lighter on the wick, with thinned, flattened v-cut tails - going approximately 1/3 or so into wick/juice channel. I was going for 1.5 or so ohm coil, but ended up with a 2.18 ohm one (reading 2.11 with tank assembled). I sure have a lot of trouble hitting my resistance mark, eh? Which makes me curious what I maybe need to adjust in the Coil Wrap Calculator - or maybe that's just typical for newbies? I'm only running it at about 8.5 watts right now with the draw restricted to about 1/4 - which works okay for me using an old, narrow inner bore Kayfun drip tip. I've found that my drip tips that have only one (1) o-ring do not want to stay flush on the tank - especially after refilling. Which is too bad, as it really limits me on which narrow MTL drip tips I can use! (Sorry about below image quality.)

The Goblin Mini V3 is the second from the left, on an iStick Pico, next to another iStick Pico to the right with a Nautilus BVC'd 2.5ml Kabuki clone. The first device on the left is a Kangside 25W Vamo Box that uses single 18350 batteries. On the far right is an IPV D2. I don't use either of those much anymore. They are just there for some size comparisons. The old Kayfun Lite Plus drip tip actually looks and feels pretty good on the GM V3.

I still haven't got my RTA vape quite were I want it, but I do think I'm getting there. I still get a lot of juice coming out the AFC openings just after I refill, which is very annoying. I turn off the AFC and juice flow dial before refilling, but that doesn't seem to help much. Any advice for that? Maybe try replacing a seal?

 

[MadVLN]

on the wire wizard, i'm getting 7 wraps needed for 1.5ohm single 28ga 3mm coil.

 

[billybc96]

on the wire wizard, i'm getting 7 wraps needed for 1.5ohm single 28ga 3mm coil.

Damn, you are right. I see now that I forgot to fully reset the calculator after my last build - which was a 26 gauge double twisted one! I switched 26 gauge to 30 gauge, but forgot to reset double twisted back to single strand. Jeez, my bad. Thank you! I somehow, strangely, feel better now. It is nice to know where I goofed up.

 

[MMW]

@billybc96 it appears that your wick on the left is going over the air intake hole on the deck. If juice comes off of that, it will go into the air intake and out the afc. Try to either make a coil that spans the entire hole(spaced works well) or move the wick away.

 

[hittman]

I was making that same mistake on the Merlin when I first got it. I wet the wick then run a small screwdriver down each side to make sure the wick isn't touching the air hole.

 

[billybc96]

@billybc96 it appears that your wick on the left is going over the air intake hole on the deck. If juice comes off of that, it will go into the air intake and out the afc. Try to either make a coil that spans the entire hole(spaced works well) or move the wick away.

I was making that same mistake on the Merlin when I first got it. I wet the wick then run a small screwdriver down each side to make sure the wick isn't touching the air hole.

Good observation and advice. I will check that out. Does the spacing have to be even, or does it not really matter too much if it is not precise?

 

[Tagi]

Good observation and advice. I will check that out. Does the spacing have to be even, or does it not really matter too much if it is not precise?

To make a good looking spaced coil -

Wrap the coil spaced. get it evenish but don't obsess.

then for example I wrap on drill bits. I grab one end with pliers making an L with the bit and pliers

using your fingers compress the coil up against the pliers - may take 1-2 squeezes

when you release the coil it pops back looking very even

I like to leave the leads on the long side so that I can then grab both leads with the pliers and snug the wire back down onto the drill bit. IE pull em at the same time.

 

[MMW]

Woops

 

[billybc96]

I finally got a 1.7 ohm build going, spaced 28 gauge coil, about 11 wraps. I had a hard time coiling (wire overlapping in some spots) until I realized I was applying too much pressure while coiling with the jig. Wrapping the coil with much looser pressure alleviated the problem, making it much easier to space the coil. Not perfectly evenly spaced, but more than good enough. The edges of the coil are just beyond the outer edges of the air hole now.

I'm still having major juice leak issues after filling though (leaks like sieve), enough that I'm unwilling to go out and about with this setup yet. Leaking greatly reduces after awhile, until I refill again, but there's enough going on even then that I have no confidence in how I've wicked this thing - or maybe just in the tank in general? (For now it feels like I'm blowing through my 2ml of juice way too quickly, but that is mostly due to juice leaking.) Perhaps something is loose I should be checking? Any ideas?

Getting the wick just right is one of the annoying things about rebuilding that turned me off years ago when I first tried it out. I will stick with it though, experimenting until I get it right - if I ever get it right. I hope I do. The MTL vape is pretty good on the Goblin Mini V3, but in the meantime I ordered some Kayfun Mini V3 clones to tryout - just in case I never figure things out with the V3. The Kayfun Mini V3s are supposedly pretty forgiving. I may also have an easier time with the Merlin RTAs I've got coming in. I should order some more Aspire Nautilus coils too, just as a backup if all else fails.

 

[MadVLN]

just got mine in the mail a couple of hours ago. about to head home now and throw a build in. probably gonna start off with a 5 wrap 28/32A1 clapton. around 1.2 ohm, 2.5-3mm single coil.

i got this tip from fasttech as well. one thing that bothers me slightly about the gob mini v3 is that it's listed as 22mm, but with AFC nubs and knurling, it's closer to 23-24mm. i bought a beauty ring specifically for this atty and it's not going to work. oh well, not a huge deal. just a heads up if you were thinking about this one. i also heard it does not work on the istick Pico. not sure if true or not, i will test when i get home.

 

[billybc96]

The Goblin Mini V3 does fit on an iStick Pico, but the airflow control won't have full freedom of movement. That's the case on mine anyway. I can't tighten the tank down all the way, or I would not be able to dial the AFC down to where I want. Also, I have to remove the battery cap in order to screw on or off the tank. While I am experimenting with builds right now, trying to figure out various issues, that is a real pain.

Something like the 22mm Serpent Mini would likely be less of a hassle. Using a 22mm heat sink would probably resolve this issue as well, but that would increase the height of your setup - without gaining anything significant in the bargain.

I'm kind of disappointed with the GM V3 so far. The vape alone is good, but the tank itself seems overly fiddly to refill - especially with such small and difficult to see controls to work with. I feel a little silly for having bought two of them.

 

[Ed_C]

Yeah, the Serpent Mini is a great fit with the Pico. Just got one a couple of days ago.

 

[drugarth]

the goblin V3 works all rigth on the Pico, you just have to take off the battery cap when screwing on the atty.

I love this atty it has become one off my favorites.

 

[Ramsay Bolton]

the goblin V3 works all rigth on the Pico, you just have to take off the battery cap when screwing on the atty.

I love this atty it has become one off my favorites.

Is there a sliver of a gap or does the bottom of the Goblin V3 touch the battery cap?.

 

[DebbieNY]

i got this tip from fasttech as well.

Which tip is that? Me likey.

 

[drugarth]

Is there a sliver of a gap or does the bottom of the Goblin V3 touch the battery cap?.

The little protrusion just above the bottom lightly touches the battery cap, never noticed though until I looked to answer your question

 

[Fozzy71]

just got mine in the mail a couple of hours ago. about to head home now and throw a build in. probably gonna start off with a 5 wrap 28/32A1 clapton. around 1.2 ohm, 2.5-3mm single coil.

i got this tip from fasttech as well. one thing that bothers me slightly about the gob mini v3 is that it's listed as 22mm, but with AFC nubs and knurling, it's closer to 23-24mm. i bought a beauty ring specifically for this atty and it's not going to work. oh well, not a huge deal. just a heads up if you were thinking about this one. i also heard it does not work on the istick Pico. not sure if true or not, i will test when i get home.

Which tip is that? Me likey.

It looks like these ones I wish listed because they looked similar to the merlin's tip - $12.82 Resin 510 Drip Tip (5-Pack) 5-pack at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

 

[MadVLN]

yessir, those are the tips, i got a 2 pack. put a build on mine last night and loving it so far. threw in single 2.5mm clapton and have had nothing but a great vape. zero leaks or seepage thus far. only refilled 2 times so far, but not a drop lost. i think the controls work great. i set my airflow and dont mess with it. so i'm good there. i tighten the atty real good on my mod and it allows for easy juice flow control. when taking the tank off, it basically automatically shuts off juice flow, which is cool. so far, it is like hte gob mini v1, but better in almost every way, other than juice capacity.

the only other con i have is that the topcap feels thin and it's sorta hard to get the threads started without fiddling with the drip tip.

 

[billybc96]

With regards to leaking, I've tried shutting down juice flow, keeping AFC open and not filling quite as much with juice, but still get severe leaking (even before I open the juice flow at all) until the juice level drops to about level with the top of the "deck chamber" - just below where the narrower top part of the chimney is. (Leaking then appears to stop at that point.) Should I only be filling to that level? (I'm not sure if that is even 2ml capacity at that point.) Could I have a loose connection between those two pieces? (I'm not even sure if that is two pieces or just one, but if that is two pieces that might be were the issue is.) How would I check for correcting that? Anyone else had a problem like that.

As to this tank's fit on an iStick Pico, how tightly you can screw the tank down partly depends on where you will want your AFC set. If you want it at or near wide open, you should be able to screw down the tank all the way. But if you want to dial down the AFC some, you will run into issues with that dial not clearing the Pico's battery cap - unless you loosen the tank a bit. If the Pico's battery cap was less thick it would probably not be an issue for some of us, but the cap does need the knurling it has to help get it on and off. I'm wondering if there are any aftermarket iStick Pico battery caps that are thinner (slightly smaller diameter) in construction? There might be. I'll have to search around a bit and see.

UPDATE: I searched for spare iStick Pico battery top caps, but found nothing - not even on eLeaf's website or on FT. No aftermarket top caps found either, of course. I tried refilling the tank to just the very top of the "deck chamber" (no idea what that part is actually called), but still ended up with about the same amount of leakage as before, until the leaking slowed down or stopped (about 2mm or so below the top of that "deck chamber"). So the amount of leakage appears to always be about the same, regardless of how much (or how little) I fill the tank. No idea what is going on there. I guess I'll break out my black GM V3 and see if it has a similar issue? The leaking juice ends up coming out of the AFC dial ports near the bottom of the tank.

 

[billybc96]

Yeah, the Serpent Mini is a great fit with the Pico. Just got one a couple of days ago.

How are you liking the Serpent Mini so far? I had considered getting one or two to tryout, but I already have some Merlin and Kayfun Mini V3s on the way, so did not want to go overboard on ordering tanks. My main interest is in loose MTL style vaping. Sub ohm direct lung hits have never been my thing, though I've given in it a shot a few times in the past. The Kayfun Mini V3s will probably be better suited for MTL use, but I also wanted a shorter tank as well - just because I like to keep my vaping setups pretty small and light overall.