What are your thoughts? im a vape noob

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Papa Lurch

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Mar 11, 2015
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Ive been currently vaping between a istick 30w and a smoktech xpro 80w both using aspire Atlantis tanks

ive decided to invest into rebuildables

heres what I just purchased let me know if i should switch something or if its a good buy please

fogger v4 tank

Black Copper Stingray mod kit with 3 tubes and drip tip

kanthal a1 28 gauge

silica 3mm wick

im just a casual vaper trying to fight the urge of cigarettes

22 AUTHENTIC SAMSUNG INR18650 25R RECHARGEABLE BATTERY 3.7V HIGH DRAIN

and a nitecore digicharger
 

nyiddle

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Hmm.. The Fogger V4 is a pretty nice RTA, but the deck definitely isn't easy to build on. You might have some challenges getting everything lined up and nicey-nice.

I've used one or two Stingray clones, and neither of them felt really good quality. They reminded me of Nemesis clones. Kinda feel cheap, lightweight. I can't speak particularly on performance, as I've only held/used one of a friend's.

I'd suggest buying more sizes of Kanthal. You may find that 28 gauge works for certain builds, but you might want 24 or 26 for other builds. There's always time to buy more wire though, so no real rush.

Lastly, I'd suggest going with cotton rather than silica. About a year ago, silica was the go-to for wicking. Since then, people have found better flavor/results from organic cotton. Additionally, silica may have fibers/particles that get inhaled. Can't speak for sure if it's a health hazard, but it's probably not good for you.
 

Thrasher

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Nyiddle makes some good suggestions while not mandatory it may open up your options starting out.

You have a challenge in front of you, but it seems you have done your homework.

Once you get over the learning curve that should be a kickin setup.

We all have to start somewhere. Don't give up if at first you don't get it. Once you do it only gets easier each time you do a set up.

Good luck and come back to tell us how it goes.
 
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Completely Average

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Here are my thoughts, since you asked.

First off, take one step at a time. You've got a 30W and an 80W mod already, so you really don't need a mech mod as well. Furthermore using the variable mods will give you more options on the types of coil builds that you can use and make work. My recommendation would be to concentrate on the rebuildable tanks and dripping atomizers before getting a mech mod. It's easier to learn to use one at a time.

So, that would save you the cost of the Stingray, batteries, and charger, which is a good thing because you need more stuff for your rebuildable tank(s).

If you're going to get into rebuildable tanks you need some basic tools. This is a good place to start:

1. Small pair of wire cutters
2. Tiny philips head and flat head screwdrivers
3. Ohm meter
4. Pair of very sharp scissors for cutting wicking material
5. Basic set of small diameter drill bits or something similar to wrap your coils around. There are jigs made specifically for wrapping coils and they are a good investment to make.
6. Small butane torch. (Optional, but makes working with some wire easier to work with if you torch it before wrapping your coil)

Silica wick works just fine, but most people prefer the flavor of a cotton wick. Specifically Japanese Koh Gen Do cotton works great for wicking material.

I would suggest buying .26, .28, and maybe even .30 gauge kanthal to start with. You'll find that it's not always a one-size-fits-all wire. Some coil types work better with thicker wire, some with thinner wire. If you're shooting for a specific ohm coil you may find one gauge requires too many wraps while another takes too long to heat up. .28 is by far the most popular gauge to work with, but having the option of moving up and down in gauge to meet your needs is always nice.

The Fogger V4 is a good tank but it can be a bit tricky to work with at first. You may want to consider the eleaf Lemo to start with. It's more newbie friendly.

I would also suggest that at some point you pick up a basic single coil rebuildable dripping atomizer. Nothing fancy or expensive at first. The reason for this is that when you're learning how to build and wick coils it's always easier on an RDA. That way you don't have to worry about the entire tank of juice or go through the trouble of siphoning out your juice and tearing down and cleaning your entire tank if a coil build doesn't work as you had hoped. You can try new coil builds and wicking methods on the RDA first and when you're confident that you got what you want you can replicate the build for your tank.

You want something easy to learn and test on, and something that's easy to take apart and change before you risk an entire tank of juice on it.



Then, once your comfortable and confident with the rebuillding systems, if you're still interested then take the plunge into the mech mods. There's a LOT to learn about mech mods before you dive into them. Battery safety above all. Know your ohms law calculations and safety measures that need to be taken. It's a lot to take in, which is why I suggest learning the rebuilables first and mech mods later.
 
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Baditude

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I'll agree with ditching the silica. It never was a great flavor carrier (its used in simple clearomizers).

Organic cotton is better. Cotton bacon, Japanese cotton, and Rayon (cellucotton) are even better.

The Samsung 25R are good batteries, I use them myself. Battery Basics for Mods

28 gauge kanthal wire is a good choice for beginning to make coils. It's all that I currently use.

I'm personally not a fan of any mechanical which uses a bottom fire button for safety reasons. I use an AltSmoke Silver Bullet which uses a recessed side fire button which is nearly impossible to autofire. Side fire is more natural, after all nearly all tube regulated mods use them. The above link has some suggestions for helpful rebuilding tools and where to find them.
 

Papa Lurch

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Mar 11, 2015
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Dearborn
Thanks guys for the reply and suggestions I just ordered a pack of 24-26-28-30 gauge wire but the wick part I was reading that you have to boil or do some sort of work before you use it im not really looking forward to ....ing up my first build and heard silica is easier to work with and I do alot of soldering so most of the items I already have and I have done my homework (watching vape academy on youtube) I have almost all the supplies I will take all your information into consideration thanks alot!!
 

roxynoodle

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Jun 19, 2014
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I would probably also skip the mech mod at this time, and get a few other things. I do have 5 Stingray clones though and my SXK/Infinite ones are very nice.

A single coil tank, preferably one you can access the deck on without dumping your juice. A Taifun GT II would be a good first tank. Its easy to build, fill and has good flavor.

Maybe a dripper as well. A Magma clone works well in single coil mode.

I can build nearly everything with 26 and 28g kanthal.

I would also skip the silica and use organic cotton or cellucotton rayon.
 

roxynoodle

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Thanks guys for the reply and suggestions I just ordered a pack of 24-26-28-30 gauge wire but the wick part I was reading that you have to boil or do some sort of work before you use it im not really looking forward to ....ing up my first build and heard silica is easier to work with and I do alot of soldering so most of the items I already have and I have done my homework (watching vape academy on youtube) I have almost all the supplies I will take all your information into consideration thanks alot!!

No reason to boil cotton :)
 

nyiddle

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Thanks guys for the reply and suggestions I just ordered a pack of 24-26-28-30 gauge wire but the wick part I was reading that you have to boil or do some sort of work before you use it im not really looking forward to ....ing up my first build and heard silica is easier to work with and I do alot of soldering so most of the items I already have and I have done my homework (watching vape academy on youtube) I have almost all the supplies I will take all your information into consideration thanks alot!!

Actually you don't need to boil organic cotton/Japanese cotton/cotton bacon/rayon at all. Some people were going through the tedious process of doing it, but most of us quickly realized you should be buying chemical-free/bleach-free organic cotton (surprisingly easy to find), and with that cotton there wouldn't be anything to boil out.

Oh, not to mention "rewicking" is pretty much impossible with silica wick, meaning that every time you want fresh wick, you'll need to do a fresh build. It gets old fast.
 

Completely Average

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Thanks guys for the reply and suggestions I just ordered a pack of 24-26-28-30 gauge wire but the wick part I was reading that you have to boil or do some sort of work before you use it im not really looking forward to ....ing up my first build and heard silica is easier to work with and I do alot of soldering so most of the items I already have and I have done my homework (watching vape academy on youtube) I have almost all the supplies I will take all your information into consideration thanks alot!!

If you get Japanese cotton you won't want to boil it. It comes in little sheets and you just cut your wick out of the sheet. Boiling it causes the entire sheet to break down to mush. For the Cellucotton some people boil it, others don't. I haven't tried it myself so I can't give any recommendations either way with that. Organic cotton should not require boiling because it was never chemically treated in the first place.

Boiling the cotton is only for removing any leftover chemicals from when it was processed and isn't necessary or even helpful with untreated organic cotton products. Keeping this in mind if you do boil your cotton you would only want to boil with distilled water, otherwise instead of boiling out the chemicals from the cotton you're introducing new chemicals from the tap water to the cotton that weren't there before.
 
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nyiddle

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Glad I asked Im going to switch to cotton is it better in the pads or should I look for twisted line, last question guys I promise

I prefer the pads personally, they're super easy to cut and portion out, and you end up not wasting as much as you would deconstructing cotton balls.

Also there's no limit on the # of questions homie, ask away!
 

juggler86

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Cotton even regular cottin balls boiled are 100X better then silica. Unless your wrapping your coil around the silica its kinda useless IMO.

I just got 25ft(life time supply) of rayon to try out for $4 and must say im loving it. To me its easier to wick a coil with and wicks better then cotton.

Organic cottonballs are sometimes treated with peroxide and other chems after its picked, so you should always boil it. They can add stuff after its picked the organic is how its grown.
 
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nyiddle

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after some research came up with nothing on pre twisted pure cotton so I just ordered organic non bleached japanese called koh gon do or something researched and came out to be very reliable cotton.

got a 25 pack for 6 bucks seemed like a good deal and 25 seems like overkill lol im only new to this

Koh Gen Do is pretty great, you'll definitely be satisfied, and 25 sheets should last you a VERY long time. It's what I use.
 
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