What is the deal with RBA's?

[RottenJeeves]

I own a few rebuildable atomizers and I just dont get the hype.

All I taste is wick and coil.

My coils always light up perfectly even with no hot spots yet all I taste is a nasty dry metal and coil taste.

They seems to taste fine in my kanger or iclear 30, which as you know are not true rbas, but like I said in my igo-l or my phoenix they taste like crap.

So what am I doing wrong? Is there something I am missing?

Thanks in advance.

 

[RottenJeeves]

Sorry I realised I posted this in the wrong section before it was too late...

 

[Ryan1888]

Maybe you are using low quality wire and wick?
I know I got the same taste when I first got into rba's and that was the culprit

 

[Penn]

Do you heat the wire to a red glow and make sure the wicks are cleaned of the manufacturing residue?

 

[RottenJeeves]

Maybe you are using low quality wire and wick?
I know I got the same taste when I first got into rba's and that was the culprit

Kanthal a1. I would assume its decent quality.

Do you heat the wire to a red glow and make sure the wicks are cleaned of the manufacturing residue?

I usually heat them up pretty good to remove the hot spots. Is that enough you think?


Someone even mentioned using organic cotton balls for wick but then all i taste is cotton and wire.

 

[Heavyrocker]

It maybe the juice,does the juice taste ok wiith silca?,what ohms your getting?

 

[RottenJeeves]

It maybe the juice,does the juice taste ok wiith silca?,what ohms your getting?

I have tried a slew of different juices. I mostly use silica and I can taste the wick. I usually rebuild around 2.0-0.6 ohms.

 

[Broodwich]

Do you heat the wire to a red glow and make sure the wicks are cleaned of the manufacturing residue?

I usually heat them up pretty good to remove the hot spots. Is that enough you think?

I thing he's asking if your oxidizing the mesh. Do your torch it until its glowing red and then quench it? I also boil all of my stuff before I put it together to make sure I get any residue or whatever could be left from manufacturing off of it.

 

[RottenJeeves]

I thing he's asking if your oxidizing the mesh. Do your torch it until its glowing red and then quench it? I also boil all of my stuff before I put it together to make sure I get any residue or whatever could be left from manufacturing off of it.

I have not tried boiling my stuff yet, I will give that a try.

I usually use silica or cotton I have yet to use mesh.

 

[Heavyrocker]

I taste the silca too,this is why i use mesh now,it also maybe the wicking action of your mesh,try a solid wick or a straw style.

 

[Unseen]

I agree with rocker. A bud of mine sent me some cotton wick to try on my RDA and well it was fantastic. Then I moved over to a genisis the other day and must tell you the experience is much different with mesh. If you can wrap, and wrap well, mesh is hands down the way to go period. A lot of shorts and errors if you can't wrap though. Once the mesh breaks in it's like a dream. Try out some 500 mesh or 400 you'll love it.

 

[Vap3ster]

I just got some temco 30 gauge kanthal and I have not had a single problem with hot spots like I constantly would with 32 gauge kanthal from unknown manufacture. 30 gauge is more stable and workable compared to 32 but I also feel having a quality product helps also.

Can someone recommend where to get good quality silica. I got some 3mm silica from ebay that I am not happy with. The $1 2mm glass fiber rope I got somewhere else worked great but idk about glass fiber sounds unhealthy possibly. I wish I knew who has the best silica.

 

[RPadTV]

Can someone recommend where to get good quality silica. I got some 3mm silica from ebay that I am not happy with. The $1 2mm glass fiber rope I got somewhere else worked great but idk about glass fiber sounds unhealthy possibly. I wish I knew who has the best silica.

I highly recommend Ekowool. For me, it has much better flavor than run-of-the-mill silica. Once it's torched, it's easy to work with. If you end up going with Ekowool, be mindful of the size. The 1.5mm is a solid braid, but the others are hollow. 3mm Ekowool is likely bigger than the 3mm you're currently using.

 

[Randy C]

I have not tried boiling my stuff yet, I will give that a try.

I usually use silica or cotton I have yet to use mesh.

Oil residue left over from the RBA manufacturing process is likely the main culprit- it will give you a nasty taste! Disassemble, wash with a mild dish detergent, rinse, boil, rinse.

If you are tasting your wick, regardless of what it's made of, you are either running too hot, too dry, or both. Keep the watts low at first. You will likely experience poor results with sub-ohm coils- and... unlike what you might have read, there is no need for them. If you are running 3.7, start off with coils measuring 1.3-1.4 ohms. Lastly--keep the coil/wick wet.

Not taking a shot at you, but you are doing something wrong. RBA's, when done right, will provide the cleanest, best tasting vape you've ever had. Don't give up on them; stick with it. Keep reaching out with questions and we'll get ya up and running.

 

[Randy C]

Kanthal a1. I would assume its decent quality.



I usually heat them up pretty good to remove the hot spots. Is that enough you think?

Someone even mentioned using organic cotton balls for wick but then all i taste is cotton and wire.

Heating a coil up will not solve a hot-spot problem. Hot spots are due to a portion of a coil not coming in contact with the wick. Make sure your wick fits snugly inside your coil and fills each wrap. Keep the legs of your coil (where they attach to the posts) as short as possible.


Note: Most people do heat up their coils before using them, but only to burn off any oils left over from the manufacturing process

 

[Mortificant]

Since switching to RBA's have you been using the same nicotine level of juice? Perhaps it's a little intense on the nic side and messing with your flavor. If you're vaping on the 18-36mg range try halving your nicotine content and giving it a vape.

If you aren't in that mid to high nic range, then I guess I'm all out of ideas...

 

[Fizzpop]

I find RBAs give the best vape possible. I find silica does just fine in my dripper; I prefer ceramic in my genesis tank.

 

[Fizzpop]

Note: Most people do heat up their coils before using them, but only to burn off any oils left over from the manufacturing process

I use a lighter to anneal my wire before wrapping. Not only does it burn off any stuff left over from the manufacturing process, but makes the wire more supple and easier to wrap around the wick.

 

[vapdivrr]

a coil taste or bad taste in rebuildables can be many of things. the number one reason is usually a hot spot, which is caused by either a loose coil or possibly to tight of a coil.if you know for sure that this is not the issue the next cause is usually a wicking issue, this is just the result of a poor made wick or poor wick material causing insufficient juice to the coils. next could be wire temperature, this is usually caused by to much voltage for a specific wire gauge. I see this a lot when people are using a 32g and using to high of a voltage, this will cause the juice to burn because of to much heat to the coil. imo a thicker gauge wire will produce a better flavor and is easier to work with and is much more stable. this is why a lower resistance is better imo in rebuildables, because a lower resistance coil will actually run cooler then a higher resistance coil, thus produces a better flavor for the your juices.

 

[zoiDman]

I own a few rebuildable atomizers and I just dont get the hype.

All I taste is wick and coil.

My coils always light up perfectly even with no hot spots yet all I taste is a nasty dry metal and coil taste.

...

Could be a Wicking Issue?

ie: Not Enough e-Liquid reaching the Wick/Coil.