Wick on DID clone catches on FIRE! Whats wrong?

[NickFit]

So I got my first genesis style device, a DID clone. I started setting it up yesterday, had a good coil on my first attempt and then it went bad and after tinkering with it and beating up the wick and I started all over. I got a few more good coils on the second wick since (tried rolling different level ohms), and I am pretty happy with what I have now (2.3 ohm), but I am not sure if the wick is supposed to catch on fire, actual flame, when firing the coil for long periods.

It only happens if I have the top cap off... I was adjusting the coils on one setup last night and it happend and again today. I re-oxidized the wick this morning thinking it may be something wrong with the wick (I had used the cigarette paper method last night). I oxidized the crap out of it this morning, making sure to burn anything off in the wick. I

If I fire it for more than a few seconds with the top cap off, the juice in the wick ignites into an actual flame. I blow it out and it appears to be smoke still rising after it is gone out and I am no longer firing. It may still be vapor rising from the hot wick, I don't know.

Is there something wrong with my setup? The coils all glow pretty even and it vapes well, no problems when the top cap is on. I just wonder if this is normal or I have something wrong. Thanks.

 

[PhreakySTS9]

Eliquid is very flammable. I've had it happen before while firing with the cap off for long periods of time, is your voltage set very high?

 

[NickFit]

Eliquid is very flammable. I've had it happen before while firing with the cap off for long periods of time, is your voltage set very high?

Voltage is set at 4.9 right now, had it happen earlier with lower voltage though. I just tested out lower voltage and at 3.4 it didn't even light up the coils... but it didn't catch on fire! LOL

Maybe I am running it too hot... I actually was getting the wick red hot near the top when running it at 4.9v... Just tried it at 4.1v and could run it until the timeout kicked in and no flame.

 

[Scottinboca]

Nothing is necessarily wrong. E-liquid will catch on fire if heated to a high enough temp or in direct contact with fire. If you are using a VV device, try lowering the voltage. If you only have fixed voltage and you don't have a vv pv then try wrapping more coils to raise the resistance(ohms). I purposely set fire to plain pg when I make a new wick after oxidizing it to build a layer of extra carbon over the SS mesh wick. You can see people doing that in many SS wick making videos.

 

[NickFit]

Thanks guys... settled my nerves a bit. I had used the burning liquid trick while preparing the wick as well, but didn't think it would catch fire without a flame present. I guess I was running the voltage too high, I lowered it now and I am still getting good results. I guess if the wick is actually red hot when firing, that may be too high!

 

[Dieseler]

Voltage is set at 4.9 right now, had it happen earlier with lower voltage though. I just tested out lower voltage and at 3.4 it didn't even light up the coils... but it didn't catch on fire! LOL

Maybe I am running it too hot... I actually was getting the wick red hot near the top when running it at 4.9v... Just tried it at 4.1v and could run it until the timeout kicked in and no flame.

You mention " and at 3.4 it didn't even light up the coils.
Your coils should not light up (turn red) when fireing as there should not be any glow what so ever.

 

[NickFit]

You mention " and at 3.4 it didn't even light up the coils.
Your coils should not light up (turn red) when fireing as there should not be any glow what so ever.

Really? Never? So they should only glow on a dry burn, but once the juice is wicking there shouldn't be any glow at all?

If I fire it for a long time they light up, and if I fire it again right after they will light up more quickly... but if I let them cool and then fire they do not glow. Does that sound normal?

 

[Dieseler]

Nick when setting up with no e-liquid you want them to glow pretty evenly, then when tank is filled and wick is saturated there should never be a glow and if there is a glow (usually the top most coil ) just nudge it gently up or downwards and see if it stops glowing when you fire again you also want that top wire short as possible to the post and taught but not real tight as in doing so it will dig into the mesh and break the oxidation barrier as thats were many problems start thus nudging the wire you can sometimes get pass that spot.

In short when your atty is fired no wires should glow .
Hope this helps. ; )

Edit: also if you cannot get the glowing to stop you will have to re-oxidize your mesh , the stove and quench method is what works well for me but there are other ways as well equally as good.

 

[Scottinboca]

I agree 100%. If your coil is glowing with juice on the wick, it's either a hotspot(short) usually just the top coil or your voltage is too high or the coil resistance is too low. It's always a good idea to have a multimeter or pv that can check the resistance(ohms) to make sure your in the range you want it to be.

Nick when setting up with no e-liquid you want them to glow pretty evenly, then when tank is filled and wick is saturated there should never be a glow and if there is a glow (usually the top most coil ) just nudge it gently up or downwards and see if it stops glowing when you fire again you also want that top wire short as possible to the post and taught but not real tight as in doing so it will dig into the mesh and break the oxidation barrier as thats were many problems start thus nudging the wire you can sometimes get pass that spot.

In short when your atty is fired no wires should glow .
Hope this helps. ; )

Edit: also if you cannot get the glowing to stop you will have to re-oxidize your mesh , the stove and quench method is what works well for me but there are other ways as well equally as good.

 

[Rule62]

Yep. A properly set up coil won't glow with juice on it. If it does, there's a hot spot.

 

[NickFit]

So if I have high a high voltage set, and hold down the firing button for 10 seconds or more, it should not glow at all by the 10 second mark?

It doesn't glow until I have been on a constant fire for a long time, and then the whole coil will slowly start to glow, and if I do it a few times the wick even gets hot enough to glow... but only when basically recreating a dry burn while there is liquid in the tank (top cap off). All wraps glow fairly the same. It doesn't glow at all at first, just after a long time firing. If I pick it up after 30 seconds or so and fire it, no glowing wraps at all.

Wouldn't a hot spot show right away? I also don't get any errors. I understand that it shouldn't glow in one spot brighter than another, and my doesn't glow right away... I thought it was just getting too hot after firing for so long.

 

[NickFit]

I just lowered the voltage to 3.7 and fired it to the cutoff which I think is 16 seconds and no glow at all... 3.9v good as well, at 4.2v it started to glow a little right before the cutoff, same at 4.4v, at 4.6 the top wrap glowed a bit brighter at just before the cutoff, at 5.2v more wraps started to glow brighter before the cutoff....

After playing around with tilting it and changing the volts as well, I think it is a wicking problem. When I just hold it straightup at a higher voltage the whole coil will start to glow near the cutoff. If I tilt it down towards the wick side, it won't glow. If I have the voltage set low, I can fire it standing up straight and still not glow at all. My theory is my wick isn't getting enough liquid to the top and at higher voltages it is running dry and getting hot. If I tip it towards the wick while it is getting hot and starting to glow, it stops the glow.

 

[2GLR]

Sounds like it is a short. What resistance do you have? What gauge of Kanthal are you using? How many wraps? With this information we can probably tell you were the short is. Top coil glow is typically caused by one or more of the lower coils shorting out, especially along the seam of the mesh. This can be compounded if the wick was over oxidized. What color was your wick before you put liquid in?

 

[NickFit]

The wick was pretty much black when I finished oxidizing it. I run it on a Provari and it took me a few trys to get it going without errors, but I haven't had an error in a day now.It is running at 2.3ohms and 7 wraps. The kanthal is 32awg...

Sorry if I am way off base, but wouldn't my Provari give me an error code if it was shorting, and wouldn't hot spots show up right away and not only after extended firing? nothing glows until it has been firing at over 4v for almost 16 seconds straight and it doesn't glow even then if I tilt it so it wicks better. It vapes really well, I don't want to mess around with it unless I have to.

 

[spraintz]

dude, it's absolutely a wicking issue (nickfit). there will be a voltage on just about any wick/coil combo where the wick will not be able to keep up with the coil. the idea is to find the right balance of good wicking with the voltage that you want. it can seem like an almost never ending dance until you find the right combination that works.

I wouldn't rule out a bottom coil short but if the wick can't keep up with yer voltage then yes, the top coils will dry out faster and start glowing even with juice in the tank.

 

[NickFit]

dude, it's absolutely a wicking issue (nickfit). there will be a voltage on just about any wick/coil combo where the wick will not be able to keep up with the coil. the idea is to find the right balance of good wicking with the voltage that you want. it can seem like an almost never ending dance until you find the right combination that works.

I wouldn't rule out a bottom coil short but if the wick can't keep up with yer voltage then yes, the top coils will dry out faster and start glowing even with juice in the tank.

Whew... Thanks Spraintz! I figured it must be a wicking issue after tilting and adjusting voltages... I wasn't about to take it apart, or even mess with picking at it, LOL.

I'll have to turn the voltage down a bit and hold it on a tilt until I attempt to roll a better wick.

 

[spraintz]

when you get good at it you'll be able to roll wicks that can keep up very very well, it just takes some practice and some experimentation.

I vape all my atomizers without having to do that above horizontal "like I'm pouring it into my mouth" tilting crap. keep at it.

 

[2GLR]

A 5/4 wrap with 32 ga should give you 2.2 ohms. 7 wraps is alot. There is definitely a short somewhere. I think you have at least 2 shorts. Probably the bottom 2 coils are shorted, and at least 1 near the top. The wick should be brown when oxidized, not black. Black is too brittle and causes shorts as the coils cut into it. E2 error on Provari is for a hard short to ground. E1 is if you are pushing better than 3.5 amps.

I would start over wrapping the coil. I wrap ,y coil around an allen wrench the same diameter as my wick. I take it off my allen wrench and measure resistance with a multimeter. Then I slide it over my wick, and measure it again before tightening it down to the posts. That will tell me if my wick is good or not. I then tighten it down to the posts and pulse and adjust as necessary until I get a nice even glow, and the resistance is the same as I had before I put the coil on my wick. Until I get this result, I do not apply any liquid. Liquid will mask indications, may produce muted or burnt flavor, and cause poor vapor production.

 

[eHuman]

Look at it this way: If you ever drop vaping to go back to smoking, you have a pretty awesome lighter already on hand!

 

[NickFit]

A 5/4 wrap with 32 ga should give you 2.2 ohms. 7 wraps is alot. There is definitely a short somewhere. I think you have at least 2 shorts. Probably the bottom 2 coils are shorted, and at least 1 near the top. The wick should be brown when oxidized, not black. Black is too brittle and causes shorts as the coils cut into it. E2 error on Provari is for a hard short to ground. E1 is if you are pushing better than 3.5 amps.

I would start over wrapping the coil. I wrap ,y coil around an allen wrench the same diameter as my wick. I take it off my allen wrench and measure resistance with a multimeter. Then I slide it over my wick, and measure it again before tightening it down to the posts. That will tell me if my wick is good or not. I then tighten it down to the posts and pulse and adjust as necessary until I get a nice even glow, and the resistance is the same as I had before I put the coil on my wick. Until I get this result, I do not apply any liquid. Liquid will mask indications, may produce muted or burnt flavor, and cause poor vapor production.

Good info, I will try out using the multimeter before and after putting the coil on the wick the next time I set one up. It all glows pretty even when dry burning and doesn't glow when wet with liquid. About the wraps and low ohm level... I may have the wrong rating on the kanthal I think. I have done three coils that worked well and they all came out lower than what I expected... ie.five wraps gave me 1.7ohms. Or maybe it is the wick causing me issues... I don't know. I will try less oxidation next time as well.

I appreciate all the tips...