Wasn't getting any replies..

[codywest]

I wasn't getting any replies in the rba section but I received my Cobra yesterday and I still have not been able to get it to taste right. I'm not really sure what could cause this. Any ideas? Tips for a first time rba owner? Oh and I must add that I oxidized the wick and it seems to be wicking fine, when I dry fired it the coils were glowing evenly and it still tastes burnt.

 

[Thrasher]

the burnt taste is usually a shorted coil or uneven heating. i get it sometimes after adjusting it and putting the cap on. so i take it back off and sure enough there is a hotspot..
lets see ummmm......
there is the chance your running the voltage too high.
the wick isnt wicking correctly or fast enough.

how is the vapor with the cap off does it look like its even around the coils or are just one or two wraps getting gunky. (hotspot again) fire it with juice in the tank and blow on it, see if it puts out a cloud, smell it like that too.

again either a hotspot or your running too high.
i have also had the wraps too loose so they fire correctly dry but dont work like they should once they get wet.

 

[sawlight]

Give the RBA guys a bit of time. It's the holiday's and that part of the forum is generally a bit slower than the rest of the forum. Someone will get to it soon.

 

[Huffelpuff]

posting a pic of your coil may help the RBA experts to see what's doing with your cobra. Just a suggestion.

 

[Jeff Young]

I had the same problem did a bunch of diffrenet wraps various ohms nothing worked so as a last resort drilled airhole out to 1/16th problem solved but not it has an airy draw like the zen but im ok with that if you dont like an airy draw then id wait for more replies from people who know what thier doin

 

[codywest]

Well I finally got a good coil and eliminated hot spots but now its not wicking. This is the most frustrating thing I think I've dealt with

 

[tartanraven]

Make sure your wick is not in contact with the bottom of the tank...also make sure there are no kinks or pinches in the wick....lastly, are you chain vaping?

 

[Cloud Wizard]

I think @thrasher covered a lot of what to check. I'd also look to be sure the coil is making contact everywhere on the wick (tight enough to touch - not so tight that it crimps the wick). No taste or metallic taste is almost always a short. If you're not seeing hot spots it could be a micro short. One trick I use is to juice the coil area and burn it a bit (not all the way to dry) and then twist the wick 1/4 turn (rinse/repeat). This will build a layer under the coil pretty quickly.

I also make sure the wick is ~1mm off the bottom of the tank and doesn't touch the top cap. Micro-shorts can happen in these places especially if the SS mesh has any of those little hairs sticking out the ends. Last but not least, neither the wick nor coils (except the tail to the + post) should touch the center post.

What wire, mesh and #wraps are you building? A pic may help for diagnosing.

 

[Cloud Wizard]

Well I finally got a good coil and eliminated hot spots but now its not wicking. This is the most frustrating thing I think I've dealt with

Hang in there, RBAs give (IMHO) the best but have a learning curve.

You can load up the wick by "squonking". Just hold your thumb over the air hole and suck in on the drip tip to pull juice up the wick.

 

[tartanraven]

Hang in there, RBAs give (IMHO) the best but have a learning curve.

You can load up the wick by "squonking". Just hold your thumb over the air hole and suck in on the drip tip to pull juice up the wick.

Especially when vaping VG.

 

[Cloud Wizard]

Here's the method I use (hybrid of a bunch of different folks advice)
Typical setup for me is Kanthal 30awg 4/5 on #500 mesh (1.4ohm-1.6ohm on a DID w/3.5mm wick hole).

1. Jack Frost (torch both sides of mesh before rolling)
2. ~1mm flat folded outside leading edge (seems to eliminate shorts/hotspots on the edge)
3. Fat wick (full width of wick hole)
4. Thick walled with a center channel (as much #500 as I can wrap around a 15ga blunt tip needle and still slide into the wick hole with very slight friction to hold it in place but slides in easily)
5. Sizing ~1mm off tank bottom, even with center post top (after getting the roll correct I trim with scissors and the reroll ends to be round)
6. Wrap coil on wick before installing and twist ends 1/2 twist to keep shape (I find it easier to wrap a nice coil - not too tight, nice and evenly spaced before sticking wick in)
7. Holding the twisted wire end in hemostats do 3 juice burns (douse with juice, light on fire and let burn out) with a 1/4 turn of the wick in the wire between burns. (this seems to temper the coil into the perfect shape and by turning the wick between burns I get a juice layer under all areas of the coil - minimizes break-in)
8. Install wick/coil (snug but not overly tight at top/bottom - nudge to even out wraps)
9. Fill and vape (4 out of 5 times flavor vapor is perfect, for that 5th time I simply twist the wick 1/4 turn and keep vaping - repeat till no metallic/burnt taste)

Sometimes I'll do the dry burn after install to see the evenness of glowing coils but most times I just juice it up and go for it. This seems like a lot of steps but really goes very quickly once it becomes habit and (YMMV) it seems to eliminate/reduce and fiddle time required once the setup is complete. Another cool aspect is that these wicks last a really long time (weeks/months), can easily twist out the wick for dry burns/cleaning or to recoil using same method above.

 

[codywest]

I'm using 400 ss with .20mm wire.

 

[Cloud Wizard]

#400 /.20 (32awg in US) should work fine. Looks pretty good from the photo. Is the top of the wick touching the center post? Looks like the bottom coil is a little loose (you could tighten that a little just by pushing it in beween the wick and neg screw with a toothpick). Also, make sure the air hole in the top cap is pointed right on the wick.

 

[NancyR]

ok some basic questions

Did you clean it well before setting it up?

Did you do the juice burns on the wick?

Are you using high % VG juice?

Is the wick solid or straw?

 

[codywest]

No it's not touching the center post, but I'll give all that a try and pray I don't screw it up!

 

[codywest]

@NancyR, I did clean it before set up, I did burn juice on the wick and the wick is like a straw and a 70/30 pg/vg

 

[NancyR]

@NancyR, I did clean it before set up, I did burn juice on the wick and the wick is like a straw

ok when you say you did do the juice burn how many times? as that does help with it wicking and helps shorten the break in time.

Also is this your first rba?

 

[Cloud Wizard]

No it's not touching the center post, but I'll give all that a try and pray I don't screw it up!

You can't screw it up, it's rebuldable Worse comes to worse, you pull the wick, re-oxidize and re-coil (wicks are reusable and last a lot longer than coils).

 

[NancyR]

Also this is a long shot, but what juice are you using? We had a guy in the iHybrid thread a while back that had this same complant with his iHybrid. Come to find out it wasn't a problem with his wick or coil, it was the juice, some people think tobacco juices taste burnt in a genesis.

 

[codywest]

Also this is a long shot, but what juice are you using? We had a guy in the iHybrid thread a while back that had this same complant with his iHybrid. Come to find out it wasn't a problem with his wick or coil, it was the juice, some people think tobacco juices taste burnt in a genesis.

It's a DIY but it is a black honey tobacco...