What am I doing wrong with my AGA-TD?

[Marc Dixon]

So my AGA-TD came in the mail the other day.
since, I've built many coils. None of which have been worth a lick.
I've got some 30 gauge kanthal. Mounted on my provari I was sure to check the ohms and aim for 3.
I watched a dozen YouTube videos and mimicked each technique, but couldn't recreate great results.
SS mesh, Wick, Cotton... Nothing. I even drilled an air hole directly in front of the coil.
but by the time I get any vape at all, it's at 5+ volts and HOT n NASTY and hardly any vapor.
after much trial and error, my egocc changeable atty kicks my rba coils butts...
help me!

 

[emus]

I'm vaping my AGA-TD today and it 's vapor quality is impressive.
3/32" ID coil.
Drill twisted 30GA kanthal.
Single vertical coil.
1.0 ohm at 3.7volts (3.7 amps); I forgot provari limit?
My AGA-TD came w/ a single coil air hole option; Todd's didn't.
I am using only one air hole which is slightly less than 1/16".
Coil is positioned 2 mm from inside well wall; roughly 3 mm from cap ID.
Coil is centered w/ air hole.
Dual cotton wick.
Very skinny wick through deck hole; much smaller than hole.
Skinny wick touches tank floor.
Second fatter wick sits atop deck.
Cotton ball loose fiber wick not twisted.
Both wicks are pulled through coil until medium resistance; The wick outside coil looks swollen.
Highly recommended setup.

 

[Marc Dixon]

I'm vaping my AGA-TD today and it 's vapor quality is impressive.
3/32" ID coil.
Drill twisted 30GA kanthal.
Single vertical coil.
1.0 ohm at 3.7volts (3.7 amps); I forgot provari limit?
My AGA-TD came w/ a single coil air hole option; Todd's didn't.
I am using only one air hole which is slightly less than 1/16".
Coil is positioned 2 mm from inside well wall; roughly 3 mm from cap ID.
Coil is centered w/ air hole.
Dual cotton wick.
Very skinny wick through deck hole; much smaller than hole.
Skinny wick touches tank floor.
Second fatter wick sits atop deck.
Cotton ball loose fiber wick not twisted.
Both wicks are pulled through coil until medium resistance; The wick outside coil looks swollen.
Highly recommended setup.

2.9 ohms, provari recommends 2.8-3.2 is safe.


image by marcusthegladiator, on Flickr

Coils good...



image by marcusthegladiator, on Flickr


SS wick with fiber wick inside...



image by marcusthegladiator, on Flickr

Checking oxidization is ok, seems legit.


image by marcusthegladiator, on Flickr


Add some cotton...



image by marcusthegladiator, on Flickr

And now everything still seems legit...


image by marcusthegladiator, on Flickr



Then em I put on the cap, and all I get is little vapor, LOTS of heat. Leaving things very undesirable....
and the flavor isn't burnt, but seems to be on its way to a burnt flavor.

see anything I should do different. I've tried puffing and even throat hits, same crappy low vape, high heat either way...

 

[emus]

I've used cotton over SS wicking before. I quit because one user error burns up wick; unlike all cotton wick. I couldn't see how wet your coil/wick is after firing. Coil and cotton must be juicy all the way to the top every time you sneak a peak. One dry hit on your wick style can trash the thin cotton layer. For your wick style I always did the Genny tilt to be certain wick is nice and wet. I also made sure wick OD is much smaller than deck hole.

 

[vapdivrr]

I can see using cotton over mesh but why the other way around? mesh by itself wicks extremely well. for one I would reduce the resistance to about 1.5ish, this will let you vape at lower volts. after inserting the wick (with out the cotton inside) your tank should be dry, this way you can fire it and check for hot spots. with the cotton inside how can you do this? it will burn up. first step in a successful set up is not to have any hot spots and also to have a good wick.

 

[iowajosh]

Maybe, I'd try 1/2 that many coils. The thing I've found with mesh it is a big heatsink.

 

[epcii]

Your coils look all bunched at the top and that could create hot spots. I believe they should be evenly spaced, or all touching like a micro coil.

 

[WattWick]

That's a whole lot of coils. Takes a while to heat up that much wire unless you run crazy high wattage through it. If you want that high a resistance, you are better off with thinner wire. The Provari should have no problem running quite a bit lower resistance, tho. Not saying you should push any limits. Just saying you could easily halve the resistance without worry. It is a protected/regulated mod after all

 

[Marc Dixon]

That's a whole lot of coils. Takes a while to heat up that much wire unless you run crazy high wattage through it. If you want that high a resistance, you are better off with thinner wire. The Provari should have no problem running quite a bit lower resistance, tho. Not saying you should push any limits. Just saying you could easily halve the resistance without worry. It is a protected/regulated mod after all

I read that a provari is safe at 2.8-3.2 ohms. Is this incorrect. If I wrap less coils it quickly drops below 2.5. I don't want to damage my provari. Maybe I'm wrong. Thanks for all the replies. I just threw a wick inside the SS cause I get a better round roll on it. I guess I could do without.
Im always saturated and tipping. Even dripping all over the coil during the trial and error.

how much different will 32 gauge be helpful vs the 30 gauge I was using.

I understand the provari is protected, so your saying if 1.5 ohms isn't harmful, the provari will allow it. If this is true, I'm going to try again with less coils tonight,


and it's true, that many coils takes forever to heat up...


again, thanks for the help and replies. I'm dying over here, it's so very appreciated...

 

[WattWick]

I don't own a Provari, so what I say is probably not the most reassuring. Tho, I would have no worries putting almost anything on it, being confident it would simply not fire and give an error message if something was wrong.

I was hoping some trusted Provarinatians would come along and tell you it's all OK. Until then, don't let us find you dead, clutching a fully charged Provari in your hand

If you do insist on such "high" resistance, you can try with thinner wire to achieve the same resistance with less wraps. You know... Rome and roads and such

 

[iowajosh]

The wire needs to get to a certain temp to make vapor. I think you hit your amp limit before that big coil gets hot enough. So it just makes the whole wick hot but doesn't make any smoke.

 

[Jargon]

Oh man you are putting your self through a bad experience for no reason.

A) That 2.8-3.2 ohm thing about the Provari????? First time I hear it. I have two Provaris and have been using them straight for two years now with 5 Genesis atomizers ALWAYS with 1.8 resistances.

B) My Genesis atomizers are 3X Steam Machine Gini, 1X Large DID, 1X Gemini DID. In all of them I make the res 1.8 and I've been using them at 4.2 volts for almost two years now. I use AW IMR batteries and never had an issue.

If I were you:

- I would use only mesh (I use 400) and no cotton or anything inside.

-I would make sure that my wick is a bit smaller than the hole it is inserted into so it can breath. Find the appropriate size for the mesh so it is like that when you roll it.

- Make sure it is oxidized well at the spot where you will wrap the coil.

- Roll the mesh around a stiff metal object and when done burn it hot and cool it with cold water. Do this 2-3 times. This is optional but it stiffens it and helps if you want to wrap the coil around it.

- Then insert the properly oxidized coil with the metal "rod" you wrapped it around in the hole on the atomizer and cut to height. I avoid touching the bottom of the tank and I cut that end diagonally to increase wicking surface.

- Then wrap the coil around it 4-5 times (depending on the gauge) not very stiffly and measure it to be 1.8 ohms. Then fix the coils equidistantly by pulling them diagonally if needed to reduce any looseness since they all need to be touching the wick. Be careful not to have a big distance with bare wire from the poles. The rod (still inside) helps straighten the wick and fix the distance from the poles as well.

- Remove the rod, reduce the voltage down to 3.5 and fire slowly. Watch for hot spots and keep firing on and off (make breaks to avoid bringing up the menu) so the hot spot can "cure themselves" through oxidizing the wick surface they are touching on. If you get E1 errors (normal) just use a small needle to slightly move any coil causing a hot spot (an electrical short) and try again. A mechanical mod helps here since it ignores shorts but if you do not know what you are doing (with batteries that is) forget it.

- Once your coil lights up all at once and without hot spots you are ready.


This might seem a lot but honestly it is taking me 5 minutes to setup any of my genesis. I just oxidize and roll my mesh wicks in bunches of 10s and always have them ready but they last me about 2 months each easily since I am using 5 genesis and now not much since I got into the Kayfun, Taifun, Ithaka etc bandwagon with microcoils, cotton and mechanicals.

You could even avoid oxidization with a mech but it not recommended. I use a propane torch for this and oxidize fast while the mesh is still in a sheet form, then cut and roll and torch them again.

I hope this helps.

 

[olderthandirt]

I read that a provari is safe at 2.8-3.2 ohms. Is this incorrect....

Per the Provape website, the current Provari V2 has an amperage limit of 3.5.

So turned up to 6v it should handle as low as around 1.7ohms producing 21 watts.

I enjoy running coils of 1.8 to 2.2 at 4v, well within the limits of the Provari.

ETA: What Jargon said above (-:

 

[Marc Dixon]

I read that a provari is safe at 2.8-3.2 ohms. Is this incorrect. If I wrap less coils it quickly drops below 2.5. I don't want to damage my provari. Maybe I'm wrong. Thanks for all the replies. I just threw a wick inside the SS cause I get a better round roll on it. I guess I could do without.
Im always saturated and tipping. Even dripping all over the coil during the trial and error.

how much different will 32 gauge be helpful vs the 30 gauge I was using.

I understand the provari is protected, so your saying if 1.5 ohms isn't harmful, the provari will allow it. If this is true, I'm going to try again with less coils tonight,


and it's true, that many coils takes forever to heat up...


again, thanks for the help and replies. I'm dying over here, it's so very appreciated...

IT DOES THANK YOU!.

I havent built a new coil yet, maybe I'll have time later, well see. Ill post how it goes. Hopefully I am like, "WOW THIS THING IS AWESOME!

 

[Marc Dixon]

Everything works great now. I'm so happy!!!!!

 

[Marc Dixon]

Yea this RBA is awesome. I will save sooooooo much money not buying 5 packs of ego changeable attys.
very happy. Now if I can find an RBA that doesn't leak when I fall asleep with it in my hands.

 

[dekkert]

well i have been waiting for a thred to open with this on it. i have rebuilt w/ ss mesh 50 times now. no luck. short short short. the one time it did fire on my itaste134 off a fresh build it started draining my battery hardcore (lights went from green 4.2v to yellow 3.8v in i would say 100 puffs). then it started putting out heat. my thought to that was must be grounding out somewere. nothing was touching the ss mesh but the coil. no hot spots. if i threw in a build off of the aga2 w/ ribbion instead of the 28g kantal i use it worked (just not great). now i am using cotton with a 1.5 ish coil and it rocks. problem i have is i want ss mesh build for the durability and longevity. the center pin was grounding out at some point (due to the fact that their was a black strip on it) so i insulated the 501 post inside the tube. still nothing. i love this atty just have spent more on builds than i feel should be nesassary to get it going to a good cloud making vape. hopefully someone can help because i have contiplated just boxing it up and putting it away.

 

[vapdivrr]

Per the Provape website, the current Provari V2 has an amperage limit of 3.5.

So turned up to 6v it should handle as low as around 1.7ohms producing 21 watts.

I enjoy running coils of 1.8 to 2.2 at 4v, well within the limits of the Provari.

ETA: What Jargon said above (-:

the v-2 provari will handle resistances to .8 ohms at the lowest. the 3.5 amp limit is correct but the v-2 maxes at 15 watts and anything over 4.4 volts is held to like 14.5 watts, so no 21 watts can be achieved.

 

[olderthandirt]

the v-2 provari will handle resistances to .8 ohms at the lowest. the 3.5 amp limit is correct but the v-2 maxes at 15 watts and anything over 4.4 volts is held to like 14.5 watts, so no 21 watts can be achieved.

Oh yeah....... then there's that!
Thanks for the clarification! I can be dangerous when I think I can help (-:

 

[Varelse]

well i have been waiting for a thred to open with this on it. i have rebuilt w/ ss mesh 50 times now. no luck. short short short. the one time it did fire on my itaste134 off a fresh build it started draining my battery hardcore (lights went from green 4.2v to yellow 3.8v in i would say 100 puffs). then it started putting out heat. my thought to that was must be grounding out somewere. nothing was touching the ss mesh but the coil. no hot spots. if i threw in a build off of the aga2 w/ ribbion instead of the 28g kantal i use it worked (just not great). now i am using cotton with a 1.5 ish coil and it rocks. problem i have is i want ss mesh build for the durability and longevity. the center pin was grounding out at some point (due to the fact that their was a black strip on it) so i insulated the 501 post inside the tube. still nothing. i love this atty just have spent more on builds than i feel should be nesassary to get it going to a good cloud making vape. hopefully someone can help because i have contiplated just boxing it up and putting it away.

Yup. Same here. Been messing with my new Vamo v5 (It's nice) and AGA TD (not so nice) all day. What's left of the aga td is going in the trash as soon as I pull it out of the wall. I feel like you need to have nuero surgeon hands and I have sausage fingers.

The videos on youtube didn't help so I guess it's back to the drawing board. I'm sill determined to make a ss mesh dual coil work -probably have to buy it already set up. Also, any hit was impossible until I drilled the 4 holes on the top cap out, they came plugged.