Wicking technique for coils with long legs

[jersey_emt]

I've been experimenting with coil positioning, including mounting coils almost all the way to the outside edge of the deck in order to place them as close to the air holes as possible, which requires the coil legs to be pretty long. But I'm having wicking issues -- with the long legs the wick isn't in contact with all of the wire, and I am getting burnt juice on pulls longer than a couple of seconds.

To anyone who has had success with mounting coils away from the posts (with long legs), how do you wick the coil to prevent burnt taste on long (4-5+ second) pulls?

 

[Tmb821]

You are wicking through the coil, right? I found that with a 1.2 ohm 26g, 3/32 diameter coil, I could place it right on the edge of the rda close to the air hole. Make sure you keep the wick away from the legs as much as possible.

 

[jersey_emt]

Through the coil, yes. My most common builds are single 0.5 - 0.8 ohm microcoils made with 24 or 26 gauge Kanthal and a 2.0 mm, 3/32" (2.4 mm), or 2.5 mm ID.

Keep the wick away from the legs as much as possible? That seems to exacerbate the problem -- I'm taking pulls long enough to have the legs start to heat up.

 

[Tmb821]

I can take a full 10 second drag without the legs heating up. Maybe you haven't got the coil oxidized right? Not enough squeezing and raking?
Maybe not enough airflow to keep the coil cool?

 

[EverPresentNoob]

<y goal was to get the coils curved and real close to the walls... But then I guess my legs arent to long. but even with long legs as long as I temper adn pinch them properly so they glow good from the middle out I never have glowing hot legs.

 

[jersey_emt]

It really only is a guess when I say that my coil legs are heating up, but it fits what I am experiencing. All I know is if I take the exact same build, and mount it further from the posts, I am getting a higher chance of burnt taste with 5+ second pulls than I do if it is mounted closer to the posts. I'm pinching the coil after mounting it and dry burning until it glows from the center outward with no hot spots or glowing legs.

I don't think airflow is the problem. While I don't like an extremely loose draw, the tightest I go is on my TOBH v2.5 clone, which with a single coil build I have all three 2 mm air holes fully open on one side with the opposite side holes blocked off with a piece of electrical tape on the outside of the barrel (since the TOBH has no single-coil airflow option). Which should be plenty for something like a 0.6 ohm, 2.5 mm coil with 24 gauge Kanthal at 35 watts.

 

[jersey_emt]

Any other thoughts or suggestions? I still can't seem to get things to work right on coil builds with long legs. Builds with short legs (close to the posts) work perfectly, but the exact same build, preparation (pulsing, compressing, and raking the mounted coil to get rid of any hot spots), and wicking, positioned closer to the airholes with longer legs gives burnt taste with long pulls.

I can take a 10 or even 15 second pull at 50 watts with a single coil build mounted close to the posts, but on the exact same build positioned closer to the airholes with long legs, 5 seconds at 40 watts starts to taste burnt. This really is bugging me, because the flavor is better with the coil positioned closer to the airholes, but I can't get those builds to work properly.

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

Hi jersey, yeah keep your coils as close to the air intake as possible as you are doing, it will maximize the cooling effect on your coil/s and even draw an imaginary line from your airholes to the bottom of your driptip and place your coil in that path.
The thing to do with your build once you've wicked & juiced is before putting your topcap on and vaping give it a few burn's for the length of time you would as if you were vaping it and look for any wire that might glow, you could re-juice it and test again a second time just to make sure, the most likely culprit's are the first and/or the last wrap if anything is going to glow, which will tell you that your wick isnt thick enough or sometimes the wick sags away from the last wraps which is highly overlooked.
As for leg's glowing ive only really had this happen where like said above by someone else if you havent got all the hotspots out before wicking or if i've made a coil with very little wraps, say 2 or 3 wrap coils can give hotlegs that are hard to get rid of.
I tend to wick cotton pads very snug and leave enough length on the legs so as i can stop the legs from sagging by sort of puffing up or rolling up the cotton at the ends so as when its wet it doesnt fall away from the upper portion of the coil.

heres a vid from youtube that gives you a good example of the wick density you should shoot for...

Goodluck

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

if you setup your coils this close then make sure you test so you know you arent touching the topcap with your coils and also wrap coils in the direction as below as this will give your wicks more room to run underneath the coil

 

[EverPresentNoob]

Slippy, see, that right there is why no one likes you on this board... Your a coil showoff! Just kidding. But then you knew that already.

I really like that idea for mounting the coils near the air holes. Looks so simple, yet I never thought about doing that. I just may have to try this one of these days.

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

Slippy, see, that right there is why no one likes you on this board... Your a coil showoff! Just kidding. But then you knew that already.

I really like that idea for mounting the coils near the air holes. Looks so simple, yet I never thought about doing that. I just may have to try this one of these days.

Your right mate, i am a show off!
im off to post another build in the wick and coil setup thread right now hahaa