# Mistakes, lessons learned or not?



## supermoto (2/2/17)

I haven't been vaping for very long, about 6 weeks now, and being someone who gets bored very quickly my first mod didn't hold its appeal for long.
So I originally started with an Atlantic, it's great for a newcomer as there is no firing button to get you confused. All you do is fill the tank with a 50/50 juice and as you suck on it it fires the coil automatically,It uses a 650mah built in battery that charges through a usb port. great I thought easy to use. the downside, I need to chain vape for about 10 minutes at a time to stave off the craving for my beloved stinkeys.
So 4 weeks ago I decide (after joining this forum and reading up on all aspects of the "vape world") to go and get something a little more powerful.
Enter the Tesla 3. 
I did say I wanted something with an RBA and this was recommended to me.
The guy in the shop wicked it for me to start with so I now have a decent Mod but have never
tried to wick one, anyway the drip tip was burning my lips after two hits and there was a bit of a leak from the tank so I thought lets go see an expert, He put the tank on another mod, the coil was reading about 0.02 Ohms, he suggested putting different coils in to increase the resistance, and he re wicked it for me, This time showing me how to do it.
Anyway the tank still leaked so the next day I decide to change the coils for some 0.4 claptons
this was quite easy to do but then came the problem of getting them to glow from the middle,
(I had watched when the originals were put in and it looked as if all he did was give them a squeeze with tweezers) I tried for 10 minutes until I got them some where near to glowing at the same time and from somewhere near the middle, (Cue lots of youtube videos. mental note to self
do more research). now to wick the thing, that went surprisingly easy............. or so I thought
still bloody leaks. 
Then one day it just started firing on its own! I just about burned my fingers off unscrewing the base. Back to the shop I go.
It seems as if the juice that leaked had got into the firing button and made it stick.
So it seems that it couldn't be fixed so it was replaced. Up to now NO LEAKS so maybe it was a faulty seal on the tank. 
If only I had known that a slight leak on the tank would have caused so much trouble.

Reactions: Winner 2 | Informative 1


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## foGGyrEader (2/2/17)

Honest story! Learning from mistakes is the best way at times, it's expensive though ... good luck with the next mod, remember to strum those coils


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## Tockit (2/2/17)

Thats the spirit, Learn from your mistakes and do alot more research first and ask questions before buying anything. In my Honest opinion the Tesla invader 3 is not a beginners Mod. You should have gone for a regulated Device that has a screen. you have more control and adjustability so you can tweak the mod to your kinda vape. If its too hot you can dial down the wattage to get it cooler. The Pico is a very good starter Variable wattage device to cut your teeth on.

Reactions: Agree 3


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## Stosta (2/2/17)

Tockit said:


> Thats the spirit, Learn from your mistakes and do alot more research first and ask questions before buying anything. In my Honest opinion the Tesla invader 3 is not a beginners Mod. You should have gone for a regulated Device that has a screen. you have more control and adjustability so you can tweak the mod to your kinda vape. If its too hot you can dial down the wattage to get it cooler. The Pico is a very good starter Variable wattage device to cut your teeth on.


I agree here, also get something with a screen so you can keep an eye on what your ohms are.

If you went as low as 0.02 you are actually very lucky to get away with some hot lips! I remember you asking about this and I'm still very surprised that they sold this kit to a new vaper. But then again, maybe the fact that it didn't end badly is a testament to them knowing you would be safe in a worse-case scenario.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Scissorhands (2/2/17)

Sounds about right . You only make these mistakes once


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## Tockit (2/2/17)

Stosta said:


> I agree here, also get something with a screen so you can keep an eye on what your ohms are.
> 
> If you went as low as 0.02 you are actually very lucky to get away with some hot lips! I remember you asking about this and I'm still very surprised that they sold this kit to a new vaper. But then again, maybe the fact that it didn't end badly is a testament to them knowing you would be safe in a worse-case scenario.


Luckily the tesla is a semi mech mod and has some protection built into it. whats alarming is the Vape shop built the coils blindly without using a regulated mod or tab reader to check the ohms.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## stevie g (2/2/17)

foGGyrEader said:


> Honest story! Learning from mistakes is the best way at times, it's expensive though ... good luck with the next mod, remember to strum those coils


exactly! I hate watching counter guys squeeze them with those ceramic tweezers. Rather strum them lightly and adjust on leg length than glow the ever loving crap out of the coil.

And remember to rinse a glowed coil. Health first.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## kev mac (2/2/17)

supermoto said:


> I haven't been vaping for very long, about 6 weeks now, and being someone who gets bored very quickly my first mod didn't hold its appeal for long.
> So I originally started with an Atlantic, it's great for a newcomer as there is no firing button to get you confused. All you do is fill the tank with a 50/50 juice and as you suck on it it fires the coil automatically,It uses a 650mah built in battery that charges through a usb port. great I thought easy to use. the downside, I need to chain vape for about 10 minutes at a time to stave off the craving for my beloved stinkeys.
> So 4 weeks ago I decide (after joining this forum and reading up on all aspects of the "vape world") to go and get something a little more powerful.
> Enter the Tesla 3.
> ...


I hope it has been sorted out for you,and remember you can always do a web search to find a solution to most problems.Of course your forum mates are at your fingertips at all times,after all you are a member of the best ecig forum on the planet.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Silver (3/2/17)

Sprint said:


> exactly! I hate watching counter guys squeeze them with those ceramic tweezers. Rather strum them lightly and adjust on leg length than glow the ever loving crap out of the coil.
> 
> And remember to rinse a glowed coil. Health first.



Just want to check something @Sprint

Are you suggesting we should rinse under a stream of water *while* its still glowing red?
Or do we wait for it to cool down before rinsing?

Reason I ask is that i am confused.

For quite a while I would pulse the coil (kanthal) and then let go the fire button and while it was still red i would put it under a stream of water. Hear the hiss and maybe do it again. Coils tend to get cleaner after that but if they are very old they stay quite dark.

However, i have heard from a few guys that the sudden cooling under water while its glowing red is not a good thing because it can degrade the wire. That does make sense to me but I am no materials expert.

I would like to know what is the best practice and if it differs according to wire type.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Kalashnikov (3/2/17)

Silver said:


> Just want to check something @Sprint
> 
> Are you suggesting we should rinse under a stream of water *while* its still glowing red?
> Or do we wait for it to cool down before rinsing?
> ...


I been putting coils looking like molten lava under running water. Never had any issue and wire all seems to be fine. The temperature drop is not drastic enough i rate to even affect the wire. Differt story if you dry burning then put it under liquid nitrogen. So keep doing that

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Silver (3/2/17)

Kalashnikov said:


> I been putting coils looking like molten lava under running water. Never had any issue and wire all seems to be fine. The temperature drop is not drastic enough i rate to even affect the wire. Differt story if you dry burning then put it under liquid nitrogen. So keep doing that



Thanks for the feedback
What wire you doing that with @Kalashnikov ?


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## Kalashnikov (3/2/17)

Silver said:


> Thanks for the feedback
> What wire you doing that with @Kalashnikov ?


All claptons as well as 24/26 Kanthals

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## RichJB (3/2/17)

supermoto said:


> the coil was reading about 0.02 Ohms



How can this be? That's effectively a dead short. At 0.02Ω and 4V (which is just above minimum on the Tesla Invader III, i.e. the dial turned nearly all the way down), you'd be drawing 200A and generating 800W. If you'd cranked the dial fully open to its max 6.6V, you'd have been drawing 330A and generating 2178W. Of course, the Tesla has built-in safety features to ensure it will just cut out long before that. With coils at 0.02Ω, the Invader shouldn't even fire. It has a minimum resistance of 0.1Ω.

I don't know how it's even possible to make coils that low. The Invader doesn't do TC so I find it unlikely the shop would have installed nickel coils. According to Wire Wizard, dual SS316 20g wire around a 1.5mm ID (very thick wire, very small ID) would still only require 2.2 wraps to hit 0.02Ω. On a more likely 24g wire around a 2mm ID, it would require 0.59 wraps. I just don't see how any coil could get that low. Are you sure it wasn't 0.2Ω?

Reactions: Agree 1


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## boxerulez (3/2/17)

supermoto said:


> snip



Tesla Three 

or

Tesla Invader III?


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## Petrus (3/2/17)

Biggest Mistake...... Don't order concentrates after a mens night out......total disaster. Received my order this week....what a mess

Reactions: Funny 1


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## supermoto (3/2/17)

Ok I apologise for not proof reading before i posted, It should have read 0.2 NOT 0.02, ANOTHER mistake. (oops red face again)
But even at 0.2 it was way too hot for me, since i put in the 0.4 claptons it is a much cooler and smoother vape.
I only got the mod back a couple of days ago and even though the guy in the shop offered to set it up for me I decided to do it myself.
I put in the coils, no problem, ( I hadn't heard about running them under water so didn't do that, next time I'll try it.) I wicked it, no problem
I primed it and put the tank together great so far. half way through today and I get a really bad dry hit. never had one before and don't want one again. I took the tank off and one of the coils had blown apart where the leg starts to curve at the end of the coil. So tonight that is my project read what I can find on coils failing, unless one of you guys has an answer for me, I know it wasn't touching any part of the tank as the tesla 3 (not the invader in answer to someones question) apparently has a failsafe in case that happens,
I am definitely on a steep learning curve but thats how i like to do things


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## Kalashnikov (3/2/17)

RichJB said:


> How can this be? That's effectively a dead short. At 0.02Ω and 4V (which is just above minimum on the Tesla Invader III, i.e. the dial turned nearly all the way down), you'd be drawing 200A and generating 800W. If you'd cranked the dial fully open to its max 6.6V, you'd have been drawing 330A and generating 2178W. Of course, the Tesla has built-in safety features to ensure it will just cut out long before that. With coils at 0.02Ω, the Invader shouldn't even fire. It has a minimum resistance of 0.1Ω.
> 
> I don't know how it's even possible to make coils that low. The Invader doesn't do TC so I find it unlikely the shop would have installed nickel coils. According to Wire Wizard, dual SS316 20g wire around a 1.5mm ID (very thick wire, very small ID) would still only require 2.2 wraps to hit 0.02Ω. On a more likely 24g wire around a 2mm ID, it would require 0.59 wraps. I just don't see how any coil could get that low. Are you sure it wasn't 0.2Ω?


the size of the explosion is directly proportional to the difference between 0.2 and 0.02

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Kalashnikov (3/2/17)

Petrus said:


> Biggest Mistake...... Don't order concentrates after a mens night out......total disaster. Received my order this week....what a mess


did you order a lot of creams?

Reactions: Funny 1


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