# iStick Pico + Melo III Questions/Problems



## Glytch

I got a this mod about a week ago (my first decent mod, was on Twisp for 2 years) and I have a few questions that maybe someone can answer.

*General Info
*
- I do chain vape at times
- I never let the juice run down to below the juice intakes but I do notice quite large air bubbles escaping at times
- I did the required research and prime my coils properly. I didn't get dry hits on any of the coils the first time I vaped and none while I was using them for the said number of days
- I use around 10ml of juice per day

*I've used 3 coils in 10 days
*
One eLeaf 0.3 ohm coil (OCC Kanthal) - This was the first coil I put in the mod. The flavour was legendary (I was using Weiner Vape Roll Over 30/70 PG/VG). I got loads of vapour and loads of flavour. I ran the coil at between 30 - 40w and was during direct to lung hits of about 2.5 to 3.5 seconds. After 3 or 4 days I started getting a horrible metallic taste on the coil. Changed it out for a new 0.5 ohm. Someone suggested that these coils probably don't do well with lung hits longer than 3 seconds.

Two eLeaf 0.5 ohm coils (OCC Kanthal) - Less flavour and vapour. The metallic taste was less but still continued with both coils (even when new). Lung hits at around 40w for 3 - 4 seconds. First coil lasted around 4 days. On the second coil and trying short MTL at 35w but not that enjoyable. These 0.5 ohm coils also make the tank very hot when chain vaping which the 0.3 ohm coil didn't.

*Metallic Taste and Hissing*

I've been using DIY juices at 20/80 PG/VG and the metallic taste is still there as it is with the weiner vape roll over. I've tried the plastic drip tip from my Twisp and with no drip tip and while the metallic taste lessens I get spit back with the Twisp drip tip so I don't use it. Also with the 0.5ohm coils when I release the button after vaping I can hear the coil hiss for another 1 - 1.5 seconds which I don't think is normal. I know the ramp-up and ramp-down on higher resistance coils is longer but surely this can't be good. 

*Vapour's Tounge*

The Weiner Vape Roll Over and my DIY juices are all strawberry based flavours so I have nothing to compare it to really. I taste more when I vape while drinking beer or coffee or right after having eaten some tasty food. Could I have vapour's tongue?

*Suggestions Please
*
I want a coil that will let me do direct lung hits for 3 - 5 seconds with a reasonable amount of tasty vapour and last at least a week. I'm not averse to building my own coils but all the calculations I do with 26g kanthal come out at 2 wraps for below 0.5 ohms. 24g is apparently cumbersome to work with even on the ECR head as they need to pass past the rubber grommet at the bottom of the coil housing. Do I need such a low resistance coil? I rebuilt one of the coils using existing wire and rewicked with cotton. I did a spaced parallel build with 6 or 7 wraps which got me 0.9ohms but it didn't taste overly good.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated (unless it involves buying a RDA/RDTA, which I can't afford at the moment). I really want this device to perform like it did the first few days I had it.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Spydro

I have no idea what wattage the Eleaf coils can run at because I never bothered to find out... just tossed all of mine that came with my tanks aside and have only used Vaporesso .9Ω cCells in all my Melo tanks. The cCells can only run a little over 30W, so maybe you are burning your Eleaf coils at the higher wattage that you are running.

As for the .9Ω cCells, I take up to 8-10 or more second lung hits off them @30W with no issues at all, and I run 100% VG or VG Heavy liquids in them. Flavor is stellar (but not as good as in my Avo's).

@Rob Fisher (and others) will know what the Eleaf coils can take.

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## Glytch

Thanks @Spydro. The coils are rated for 30 - 70w.

I hope the cCell I've ordered will set things straight.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


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## Rob Fisher

@Glytch @Spydro is spot on... get the Vaporesso 0.9Ω or 0.6Ω (my personal preference is the 0.6Ω) cCell coils... but run them at 30-32 watts... the flavour is awesome and the coils last for ages!

Reactions: Like 1 | Thanks 1


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## RichJB

I'm not crazy about Eleaf's stock coils, I didn't have good results with any of them. They do last quite a while, around 14-17 days for me. That is with DIY 50:50 6mg juice which doesn't seem to gunk up coils as quickly as darker-coloured commercial juices do. But I only vape my Melo 2 tank occasionally now. I have a cCell 0.9Ω which I'll use in the tank once this .15Ω Ni TC coil is done. But my vaping is 95% on the Merlin and Avo now.

I'm not a fan of lower resistances, the worst results I got with the Eleaf stock coils was the Ni, slightly better with the Ti, best with the regular kanthal. I get a slightly metallic "fake" taste on all the Eleaf TC coils, and TC generally doesn't work that well for me. It's an anaemic vape. For the RTAs, I build kanthal to about 1Ω and vape at 30W. That is a sweet spot for me. Maybe try a DIY kanthal coil at around 0.6-0.7Ω, play around with different wicking and wattages and see if that works better for you?

Reactions: Like 3 | Informative 1


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## Glytch

Great advice @RichJB and @Rob Fisher. I'll soldier through this month and buy some wire at the end of August and see how it goes. I'll let you guys know.

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## Silver

Sorry to hear your troubles @Glytch 

I am running my Melo3 Mini on the supplied 0.5 ohm coil and so far so good. I only vape it at about 30W and am vaping a 50/50 blend. 

Maybe you should try get another 0.3 ohm coil and try it. Maybe your first one was a dud of sorts (that metallic taste that crept in). That can and often does happen with commercial coils and after trying just one dud it can put us off that coil for life!

That said, I generally have not had much luck with commercial coils and I trust my trusty DIY coils far more. Unless I mess up something in the build, my sweet spot coils for the various devices tend to perform flawlessly and reliably with only the occasional rewicking required depending on the device.

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## Glytch

Thanks all. I'm still confused as to why even the 0.5ohm coils only lasted a few days. I opened the last one up and the cotton was proper black in the centre. Am I vaping like a philistine? It's my first time using a proper mod with VW and all. One of the main reasons I moved was to avoid buying coils.

I will try rewicking my DIY coil later when I get home and keep trying till it tastes good. Also might try rewicking the current coil I have vertically. 

I'm also still perplexed by the metallic tastes on all the coils I've tried since the 0.3ohm. Do I have vapour's tongue?


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## Silver

Glytch said:


> Thanks all. I'm still confused as to why even the 0.5ohm coils only lasted a few days. I opened the last one up and the cotton was proper black in the centre. Am I vaping like a philistine? It's my first time using a proper mod with VW and all. One of the main reasons I moved was to avoid buying coils.
> 
> I will try rewicking my DIY coil later when I get home and keep trying till it tastes good. Also might try rewicking the current coil I have vertically.
> 
> I'm also still perplexed by the metallic tastes on all the coils I've tried since the 0.3ohm. Do I have vapour's tongue?



Mine doesnt have a metallic taste
I doubt the metallic taste is vapers tongue 
Have you tried with a platic drip tip? Sometimes the metallic drip tips in the old mini protank 2s would give me a metallic taste so I swapped to plastic/delrin tip and it was much better.


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## Warlock

Hi there @Glytch My wife has been vaping an iStick Pico with a Melo lll using 10ml per day from 1-07-2016. It has a 0.5 ohm coil rated at 30 to 100w in it.The Starter pack was purchased at Vape King and the two coils are both EC coils. Because we often swop mods and tanks, we vape at 20w for convenience. With the airflow wide open I can do a 10 second draw (on the Pico) and at the end of the draw the mod gives coil at 0.53 ohms, voltage at 3.24v. We haven’t lost a coil yet. My ipv5 hasn’t lost a coil in two months.

My diy mixes are 5% nicotine, 30pg and 70 vg.

This is all just as a comparator for you. Hope it helps in some way.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## Glytch

Silver said:


> Have you tried with a platic drip tip? Sometimes the metallic drip tips in the old mini protank 2s would give me a metallic taste so I swapped to plastic/delrin tip and it was much better.



I've tried without the drip tip and with the twisp plastic drip tip and the metallic taste does go away quite a bit. Maybe I need to get a different drip tip. Weird that it didn't happen in the first few days though.



Warlock said:


> This is all just as a comparator for you. Hope it helps in some way.



It does help. Turned it down to 20w and got similar readings on the 0.5ohm coil.

Maybe it's my DIY juice or something. Hope the ceramic coil/new drip tip or something helps


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## Silver

Glytch said:


> I've tried without the drip tip and with the twisp plastic drip tip and the metallic taste does go away quite a bit. Maybe I need to get a different drip tip. Weird that it didn't happen in the first few days though.
> 
> 
> 
> It does help. Turned it down to 20w and got similar readings on the 0.5ohm coil.
> 
> Maybe it's my DIY juice or something. Hope the ceramic coil/new drip tip or something helps



Maybe after some use the metallic tip is letting off a metallic taste that your taste buds can pick up


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## Glytch

I must be "blessed" to have such sensitive tastebuds

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Jan

Two things try washing your steel drip tip or it can be the onset of a cold (read it somewhere)


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## notna

While the Melo is a good tank I've never been impressed with the longevity of the stock coils, for that reason I got myself a Billow v2 Nano for my Pico and couldn't be happier. I know you said no new tanks, but it's so much cheaper to run & easy to clean coils, re-wick between juices etc. 

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk


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## Glytch

Okay. So on Friday a guy from the KZN WhatsApp Vape Group helped me build a parallel coil out of one of the 0.5ohm coils that was dead. I wicked it with some cotton wool I had lying around and it was vapeable but not great.

I bought some decent cotton wool from clicks yesterday and just rewicked the coil and it's tasting good. No metallic taste at all. So it seams the stock coils just don't do it for me. I'll need to get some kanthal wire at the end of the month and a ECR head and I should be set.

Thanks again for all your help.


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## Glytch

notna said:


> While the Melo is a good tank I've never been impressed with the longevity of the stock coils, for that reason I got myself a Billow v2 Nano for my Pico and couldn't be happier. I know you said no new tanks, but it's so much cheaper to run & easy to clean coils, re-wick between juices etc.
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk



Yeah. Figured that's the way I need to go. I'm looking at the Serpent Mini, Griffin or the Merlin


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## AlexL

[QUOTE="Glytch, Am I vaping like a philistine? 
[/QUOTE]
bloody hilarious....


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## Feliks Karp

IME "metallic" tastes can also indicate dry(ish) hits, I think the definition of dry hits is a little subjective, not all dry hits are soul crushing butter churning blasts from vape hell, sometimes it's just a hint of cotton. Which would suggest to me that the wick is not wicking enough in between hits.

Also, if a coil burns out, you really should wipe down all the insides of your tank, that smell/taste tends to get in to everything, since you said the twisp tip lessens this taste that would also indicate in my opinion that burn cotton taste has infiltrated your tank. Strip it down and pit stop it before putting a new coil in.

My advice, since you doing DIY juice, would be to make a small batch of 60 VG/ 40 PG juice and see how that works with your vaping style.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## Glytch

Thanks. I'll give it a try.

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## Glytch

Feliks Karp said:


> IME "metallic" tastes can also indicate dry(ish) hits, I think the definition of dry hits is a little subjective, not all dry hits are soul crushing butter churning blasts from vape hell, sometimes it's just a hint of cotton. Which would suggest to me that the wick is not wicking enough in between hits.



It seems it's mostly the stock coils giving off the metal taste. I rebuilt one of them horizontally and the metallic taste is almost gone. Seems to be a wicking problem with the stock coils that didn't suit my palate/vaping style.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Imtiaaz

Glytch said:


> It seems it's mostly the stock coils giving off the metal taste. I rebuilt one of them horizontally and the metallic taste is almost gone. Seems to be a wicking problem with the stock coils that didn't suit my palate/vaping style.



Sup buddy...I find that so weird though, I have been vaping mine at 40watts, stock 0.3 coils, according to the mod ohm's reading at 0.26, and I've been thrashing this thing, chain vaping, long draws etc and not one issue, with taste, draw, dry hits etc. and this is the 2nd 0.3 ohm coil I popped in here and still no an issues.

Baffles the mind lol @Glytch

Reactions: Can relate 1


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## Glytch

Imtiaaz said:


> Sup buddy...I find that so weird though, I have been vaping mine at 40watts, stock 0.3 coils, according to the mod ohm's reading at 0.26, and I've been thrashing this thing, chain vaping, long draws etc and not one issue, with taste, draw, dry hits etc. and this is the 2nd 0.3 ohm coil I popped in here and still no an issues.
> 
> Baffles the mind lol @Glytch



Who knows dude. I guess there's no accounting for different vaping styles and taste buds.


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## Imtiaaz

Glytch said:


> Who knows dude. I guess there's no accounting for different vaping styles and taste buds.



Indeed buddy, doesn't help that you have super human taste buds either, lol


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## Spydro

Glytch said:


> Yeah. Figured that's the way I need to go. I'm looking at the Serpent Mini, Griffin or the Merlin



You might consider adding the Avocado's to your list of possibilities. I replaced the Melo III and Melo III Mini tanks on my Pico's with Avocado 22's, and run Avocado 24's on my Minikin's and Sig213. The Avo's have unseated all my other tanks (including the Serpent Mini I never liked, the ceramic coil tanks, etc), and are my go to's on all of the TC mods that I am still running now days.

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## Feliks Karp

Imtiaaz said:


> Sup buddy...I find that so weird though, I have been vaping mine at 40watts, stock 0.3 coils, according to the mod ohm's reading at 0.26, and I've been thrashing this thing, chain vaping, long draws etc and not one issue, with taste, draw, dry hits etc. and this is the 2nd 0.3 ohm coil I popped in here and still no an issues.
> 
> Baffles the mind lol @Glytch



Don't take offense to this, but this kind of illustrates my quip about what constitutes a "dry-hit", what is "chain-vaping" to you? I see this a lot when people say I have x problem with y device (coil/mod etc) there will be people who say "I never have this problem", but are the variables the same? Like to me personally with my setup, I'm running dual coils at 0.18 ohm at 145 watts, I would consider 5 sec long drags to be massive, I would consider chain vaping to be successive hits with a few minutes in between. 

Again, no offense meant, nothing personal against you, I'd just like to see more numbers when people share experiences, think it would help everyone more.

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## AlexL

Hello guys my thoughts... maybe there are different batches of coils out there i maybee the manufacturer used different cotton to wick the coils or a different method of inserting the wick... i definitely think the wicking material was too tightly jammed in the coil assembly i pulled apart to be able to let the juice flow freely to the coil...


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## Glytch

Feliks Karp said:


> Don't take offense to this, but this kind of illustrates my quip about what constitutes a "dry-hit", what is "chain-vaping" to you? I see this a lot when people say I have x problem with y device (coil/mod etc) there will be people who say "I never have this problem", but are the variables the same? Like to me personally with my setup, I'm running dual coils at 0.18 ohm at 145 watts, I would consider 5 sec long drags to be massive, I would consider chain vaping to be successive hits with a few minutes in between.
> 
> Again, no offense meant, nothing personal against you, I'd just like to see more numbers when people share experiences, think it would help everyone more.



No offence taken at all. You are absolutely right. It's difficult to compare experiences without some empirical basis. It'd be cool if mods had logging software that you could download and share with other vapers. Telling you average hit, air flow control position, type of coil, amount of liquid used. I hope as the technology matures one will be able to see these stats from devices.


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## Imtiaaz

Spydro said:


> You might consider adding the Avocado's to your list of possibilities. I replaced the Melo III and Melo III Mini tanks on my Pico's with Avocado 22's, and run Avocado 24's on my Minikin's and Sig213. The Avo's have unseated all my other tanks (including the Serpent Mini I never liked, the ceramic coil tanks, etc), and are my go to's on all of the TC mods that I am still running now days.



So @Spydro will you be replacing all those avo's with the new version coming out?


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## Glytch

Spydro said:


> You might consider adding the Avocado's to your list of possibilities. I replaced the Melo III and Melo III Mini tanks on my Pico's with Avocado 22's, and run Avocado 24's on my Minikin's and Sig213. The Avo's have unseated all my other tanks (including the Serpent Mini I never liked, the ceramic coil tanks, etc), and are my go to's on all of the TC mods that I am still running now days.



Thanks! I did some research and I reckon I want a RTA over a RDTA. I don't like the idea of having to keep the wick wet. Also having a bigger tank that doesn't need filling so often would suit my needs better.

I'm not buying anytime soon so I'll keep an open mind and keep on doing my research.

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## Imtiaaz

Feliks Karp said:


> Don't take offense to this, but this kind of illustrates my quip about what constitutes a "dry-hit", what is "chain-vaping" to you? I see this a lot when people say I have x problem with y device (coil/mod etc) there will be people who say "I never have this problem", but are the variables the same? Like to me personally with my setup, I'm running dual coils at 0.18 ohm at 145 watts, I would consider 5 sec long drags to be massive, I would consider chain vaping to be successive hits with a few minutes in between.
> 
> Again, no offense meant, nothing personal against you, I'd just like to see more numbers when people share experiences, think it would help everyone more.



My point was, without getting into technicalities, that I've been doing what he has been doing and not had any issues, and that I would actually really like to know why that is @Feliks Karp . We have the same setup and used the same coils, what other statistics need I present? obviously the juice we vape is not the same and wattage's vary but I know what wattage he said he vaped at and I mentioned what I was vaping at.

So a part from just saying I thrash this thing, I should rather say, I pull for this long and this is how I chain vape etc etc. Thrashed it, no issues. case and point.

No offense taken from my side, didn't want to tell him the same thing he has heard over and over again, hence kept it short and TO THE POINT.


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## Feliks Karp

Imtiaaz said:


> My point was, without getting into technicalities, that I've been doing what he has been doing and not had any issues, and that I would actually really like to know why that is @Feliks Karp . We have the same setup and used the same coils, what other statistics need I present? obviously the juice we vape is not the same and wattage's vary but I know what wattage he said he vaped at and I mentioned what I was vaping at.
> 
> So a part from just saying I thrash this thing, I should rather say, I pull for this long and this is how I chain vape etc etc. Thrashed it, no issues. case and point.
> 
> No offense taken from my side, didn't want to tell him the same thing he has heard over and over again, hence kept it short and TO THE POINT.



Well without getting in to technicalities you can't find a reason why two identical set-ups produce two different results, unfortunately wattage is not the only denominator in vaping production, and how long you press the fire button as well as how many times you use up the liquid that's in the wick (including how slowly the wick takes to sufficiently take up more liquid) is going to effect your vaping experience. Thrashing has absolutely no numerical value behind it, so a part from saying that you thrash this thing, you literally could have described your experience in a multitude of more detail that would have been of more value to yourself and the op.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## KimVapeDashian

Feliks Karp said:


> Well without getting in to technicalities you can't find a reason why two identical set-ups produce two different results, unfortunately wattage is not the only denominator in vaping production, and how long you press the fire button as well as how many times you use up the liquid that's in the wick (including how slowly the wick takes to sufficiently take up more liquid) is going to effect your vaping experience. Thrashing has absolutely no numerical value behind it, so a part from saying that you thrash this thing, you literally could have described your experience in a multitude of more detail that would have been of more value to yourself and the op.



Everyone knows that thrashing = 39.75W on a pico @Feliks Karp.

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## AlexL

with the way technology is going i think in the not too distant future we will begin to see vw/vv mods that are filled with temp sensors airflow sensors etc and capable of data logging.. ie recording all parameters during your vape session that you can then analyze.. post on the net.. etc...


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## AlexL

only then could one compare apples to apples...


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## Imtiaaz

Feliks Karp said:


> Well without getting in to technicalities you can't find a reason why two identical set-ups produce two different results, unfortunately wattage is not the only denominator in vaping production, and how long you press the fire button as well as how many times you use up the liquid that's in the wick (including how slowly the wick takes to sufficiently take up more liquid) is going to effect your vaping experience. Thrashing has absolutely no numerical value behind it, so a part from saying that you thrash this thing, you literally could have described your experience in a multitude of more detail that would have been of more value to yourself and the op.



Why thank you @Feliks Karp , nextime I will be more detailed in my explinations.


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## Spydro

Imtiaaz said:


> So @Spydro will you be replacing all those avo's with the new version coming out?



Defiantly not, my original Avo's are here to stay. Now that they are being superseded I may even buy more of them for future endeavors while I can still get them. And that with the advantage of their prices going down as vendors try to sell off their stocks of them with a new model coming out. I have all of mine (22's & 24's) dialed in as perfect as perfect gets for all my liquids. They are no fuss/no muss massive flavor machines that are so good for my uses that they shelved all my other tanks. I've found my own very simple to do build and wicking niche with the originals that never leak, never air lock, never give a dry hit... but they do use up joose like it is going out of style. My DIY makes that a non issue though. 

I have not decided yet whether I will try one of the new bottom air 24's. But I don't see the new so called improvements as being anything I need for my uses. Just fluff I have no need to fiddle with for my uses, and that may also be more prone to leaking by default of their design. I also don't like the dome cap either as well as I do the originals. The new model may be somewhat easier for those with less experience though, maybe more forgiving on wicking, etc. 

Bottom line... I am way more than happy with the originals that are stellar flavor machines with no gear issues at all that I have to deal with (except refilling them and only very rarely re-wicking them... very rarely because I always dedicate gear to the joose I run in it).

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## RichJB

Glytch said:


> Thanks! I did some research and I reckon I want a RTA over a RDTA. I don't like the idea of having to keep the wick wet.



Be aware of the difference between RDA and RDTA. RDA is a dripper where you need to add small amounts of juice at a time because it has no tank as such. The bottom of the deck acts as a sort of mini-reservoir for juice.

RDTA is not a dripper/RDA, it's a tank just like an RTA. The manufacturers add the "D" in to imply that the tank gives a dripper-quality vape. But that is just marketing. The Avo that Spydro recommends, along with other "RDTA" devices like the iJoy Limitless Plus or Smok RDTA, function just like the Griffin and other tanks you're considering. You prime the wicks when you install the coil. After that, it's just a case of filling the tank. There is no requirement to drip juice onto the coil/wick after the initial installation.

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## Glytch

RichJB said:


> Be aware of the difference between RDA and RDTA. RDA is a dripper where you need to add small amounts of juice at a time because it has no tank as such. The bottom of the deck acts as a sort of mini-reservoir for juice.
> 
> RDTA is not a dripper/RDA, it's a tank just like an RTA. The manufacturers add the "D" in to imply that the tank gives a dripper-quality vape. But that is just marketing. The Avo that Spydro recommends, along with other "RDTA" devices like the iJoy Limitless Plus or Smok RDTA, function just like the Griffin and other tanks you're considering. You prime the wicks when you install the coil. After that, it's just a case of filling the tank. There is no requirement to drip juice onto the coil/wick after the initial installation.


Yeah got all that. Tanks on the RTA's just look bigger. Looked at the general design of the RDTA's and the wick above the liquid just seems like the design will be more effort than a RTA.

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## Glytch

For those that are interested I seem to have mostly gotten rid of the metallic taste. 


Washed my tank thoroughly and sterilised with steri tabs. First 30 minutes the metallic taste was gone only to return as before. Definitely something in the tank was imparting the taste.
I started building my own coils in the past few days and I got hold of some NiChrome wire and the metallic taste lessened drastically. It seems Kanthal might not agree with my tastebuds.
Not sure if this is at all possible but this is the only thing that seems to have made a difference.

#weird

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## Andre

Glytch said:


> For those that are interested I seem to have mostly gotten rid of the metallic taste.
> 
> 
> Washed my tank thoroughly and sterilised with steri tabs. First 30 minutes the metallic taste was gone only to return as before. Definitely something in the tank was imparting the taste.
> I started building my own coils in the past few days and I got hold of some NiChrome wire and the metallic taste lessened drastically. It seems Kanthal might not agree with my tastebuds.
> Not sure if this is at all possible but this is the only thing that seems to have made a difference.
> 
> #weird


Whatever the reason, glad you got sorted. Easy to build the ECR head once you have done the first coil, not so?


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## Neal

Glytch said:


> For those that are interested I seem to have mostly gotten rid of the metallic taste.
> 
> 
> Washed my tank thoroughly and sterilised with steri tabs. First 30 minutes the metallic taste was gone only to return as before. Definitely something in the tank was imparting the taste.
> I started building my own coils in the past few days and I got hold of some NiChrome wire and the metallic taste lessened drastically. It seems Kanthal might not agree with my tastebuds.
> Not sure if this is at all possible but this is the only thing that seems to have made a difference.
> 
> #weird



Mate,
Glad you seem to be getting sorted. Just a suggestion but perhaps try a different brand of Kanthal, I recall getting similar problems which cleared up after switching to a different make of wire. Not sure it will help but worth a shot. Good luck.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Glytch

Andre said:


> Whatever the reason, glad you got sorted. Easy to build the ECR head once you have done the first coil, not so?



It's taking some practice but it is a lot of fun. Actually don't have an ECR. Just rebuilding stock coils which is a little trickier.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Glytch

Neal said:


> Mate,
> Glad you seem to be getting sorted. Just a suggestion but perhaps try a different brand of Kanthal, I recall getting similar problems which cleared up after switching to a different make of wire. Not sure it will help but worth a shot. Good luck.



Thanks. I'll try this.


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## Silver

@Glytch - i agree with @Neal above
Try different brands of Kanthal
I have also seen some reports of certain brands imparting different tastes

For the record i am using Vapowire from Vape Cartel and no problems on my side


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## AlexL

Glytch said:


> For those that are interested I seem to have mostly gotten rid of the metallic taste.
> 
> 
> Washed my tank thoroughly and sterilised with steri tabs. First 30 minutes the metallic taste was gone only to return as before. Definitely something in the tank was imparting the taste.
> I started building my own coils in the past few days and I got hold of some NiChrome wire and the metallic taste lessened drastically. It seems Kanthal might not agree with my tastebuds.
> Not sure if this is at all possible but this is the only thing that seems to have made a difference.
> 
> #weird


thanks @Glytch.. yeah i have been following this thread with great interest thank you and the other vapers for posting your progress and on fixing your melo3..... i zapped my 0.3 coil and also got a bad metallic taste.. stripped it all down cleaned in soapy water then vinegar and hot water... assembled with the 0.5 coil.. no metallic taste just not as much flavor and vapour as the 0.3 coil.... i also looked at rebuilding the stock coils... looks a bit fiddly, what wick material are you using? and from what i have been told by the guys at Vape Cartel top quality nichrome is the way to go for unbeatable flavour...


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## Glytch

AlexL said:


> thanks @Glytch.. yeah i have been following this thread with great interest thank you and the other vapers for posting your progress and on fixing your melo3..... i zapped my 0.3 coil and also got a bad metallic taste.. stripped it all down cleaned in soapy water then vinegar and hot water... assembled with the 0.5 coil.. no metallic taste just not as much flavor and vapour as the 0.3 coil.... i also looked at rebuilding the stock coils... looks a bit fiddly, what wick material are you using? and from what i have been told by the guys at Vape Cartel top quality nichrome is the way to go for unbeatable flavour...



Hey @AlexL, glad I'm not alone here! I'm actually just using Dove Pure Cotton which I bought from Clicks. I've only rebuilt stock coils and it is a little fiddly but after a few tries I'm getting better. I can make a vapeable coil now from an old stock coil.

I initially used the wire from the old coil after dry burning it with a torch (I actually used a bunsen burner). I built my first few as horizontal spaced coils with a 2.5mm ID. Got about 0.9 ohms and the coil worked well up to around 17.5 watts. Chain vaping was not possible though as the 2.5mm juice holes and the small coil size meant the wicking wasn't quick enough. The horizontal coils are fairly easy to build though.

I then made a vertical parallel coil with some NiChrome wire and wicked it with the same cotton wool. This was way trickier and my first 2 or 3 leaked big time. In fact my mod was basically a straw for hot ejuice. I then managed to wick it without it leaking but the draw is a bit tight. Turned out at a respectable 0.48 ohms and it's going nicely now at 30 - 35w. That was last night and I'm still vaping happily on it today but will rebuild when I get home later. I'm sure I can do better.

Basically I watched about 10 - 15 different youtube videos on "eLeaf EC Coil Rebuild" and tried some of the techniques and made a few adjustments of my own for the tools and materials I had at my disposal. I re-watched some of the really good ones a few times. Note: the aspire coils are similar so I watched some of those as well.

By far the most taxing part of rebuilding stock coils is removing the cotton that covers the two "redundant" juice holes, cutting it and replacing it (most videos show this step). This took almost half the time on the two coils I rebuilt. Now that I have those holes covered I leave those two pieces of cotton in there when I rebuild.

All in all it was a fun learning experience as I'd never rebuilt a coil before.

Hope this helps.

Reactions: Like 1


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## AlexL

Glytch said:


> Hey @AlexL, glad I'm not alone here! I'm actually just using Dove Pure Cotton which I bought from Clicks. I've only rebuilt stock coils and it is a little fiddly but after a few tries I'm getting better. I can make a vapeable coil now from an old stock coil.
> 
> I initially used the wire from the old coil after dry burning it with a torch (I actually used a bunsen burner). I built my first few as horizontal spaced coils with a 2.5mm ID. Got about 0.9 ohms and the coil worked well up to around 17.5 watts. Chain vaping was not possible though as the 2.5mm juice holes and the small coil size meant the wicking wasn't quick enough. The horizontal coils are fairly easy to build though.
> 
> I then made a vertical parallel coil with some NiChrome wire and wicked it with the same cotton wool. This was way trickier and my first 2 or 3 leaked big time. In fact my mod was basically a straw for hot ejuice. I then managed to wick it without it leaking but the draw is a bit tight. Turned out at a respectable 0.48 ohms and it's going nicely now at 30 - 35w. That was last night and I'm still vaping happily on it today but will rebuild when I get home later. I'm sure I can do better.
> 
> Basically I watched about 10 - 15 different youtube videos on "eLeaf EC Coil Rebuild" and tried some of the techniques and made a few adjustments of my own for the tools and materials I had at my disposal. I re-watched some of the really good ones a few times. Note: the aspire coils are similar so I watched some of those as well.
> 
> By far the most taxing part of rebuilding stock coils is removing the cotton that covers the two "redundant" juice holes, cutting it and replacing it (most videos show this step). This took almost half the time on the two coils I rebuilt. Now that I have those holes covered I leave those two pieces of cotton in there when I rebuild.
> 
> All in all it was a fun learning experience as I'd never rebuilt a coil before.
> 
> Hope this helps.


very informative and detailed post... frikkin awesome @Glytch...how about a pic or two in future posts  ??...you mentioned something i hadnt seen when i pulled my stock coil to bits... that indeed two of the juice feed ports are redundant... hmm.. i too think this is why it cant keep juice flow up to the 0.3 ohm coil.. no dry hitting on the 0.5 ohm coil so far at 30w limiting draws to 5 seconds or so ... juice is pg65/vg35.... will be getting a rebuildable head for it soon and some nichrome wire etc.... cant wait to try the cCell ceramic coils.0.19ohm( if i am not mistaken) from vaperesso will be picking some up tomorrow apparently they give awesome flavor and last very long... i did however get myself a second hand rda yesterday for a bargain... was nervous did my first build last night... 20 ga.. or 0.78mm, kanthal a1. only wire i had.. did a dual coil build , 6 wraps, 2.4mm coil inner diameter.. came in at 0.14ohms.. at midnight i discovered i had no wicking material so also used dove cotton wool.. lol... thats why i was asking about wicking material... well i burned the coils clean 3 or 4 times.. wicked it with dove cotton wool.. dripped Voodoo Juice jack the ripper on it... started out at 35w then to 50w then flat out on the pico at 75w vape was still cold and smooth clouds were ridiculous as was the flavor... off topic i know jus sharing my 1st build

Reactions: Like 3


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## Glytch

Nice! I'm hoping to get a Avo22, Griffin, Serpent Mini or Gemini RTA at some point this year.


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## AlexL

@Glytch.. i have only heard good things about those avo's..... back on the subject of the melo coils.. i am going to teardown a new standard 0.3coil and drill those 2 redundant holes out and reassemble and see how long it goes for.... will post findings...

Reactions: Like 1


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## ddk1979

AlexL said:


> with the way technology is going i think in the not too distant future we will begin to see vw/vv mods that are filled with temp sensors airflow sensors etc and capable of data logging.. ie recording all parameters during your vape session that you can then analyze.. post on the net.. etc...




and do my SARS income tax return as well ... 

.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Silver

AlexL said:


> very informative and detailed post... frikkin awesome @Glytch...how about a pic or two in future posts  ??...you mentioned something i hadnt seen when i pulled my stock coil to bits... that indeed two of the juice feed ports are redundant... hmm.. i too think this is why it cant keep juice flow up to the 0.3 ohm coil.. no dry hitting on the 0.5 ohm coil so far at 30w limiting draws to 5 seconds or so ... juice is pg65/vg35.... will be getting a rebuildable head for it soon and some nichrome wire etc.... cant wait to try the cCell ceramic coils.0.19ohm( if i am not mistaken) from vaperesso will be picking some up tomorrow apparently they give awesome flavor and last very long... i did however get myself a second hand rda yesterday for a bargain... was nervous did my first build last night... 20 ga.. or 0.78mm, kanthal a1. only wire i had.. did a dual coil build , 6 wraps, 2.4mm coil inner diameter.. came in at 0.14ohms.. at midnight i discovered i had no wicking material so also used dove cotton wool.. lol... thats why i was asking about wicking material... well i burned the coils clean 3 or 4 times.. wicked it with dove cotton wool.. dripped Voodoo Juice jack the ripper on it... started out at 35w then to 50w then flat out on the pico at 75w vape was still cold and smooth clouds were ridiculous as was the flavor... off topic i know jus sharing my 1st build
> View attachment 62580
> View attachment 62581
> View attachment 62582



Great first coil @AlexL !
Wow, 20 ga - thats like coathanger wire - lol

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1


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## AlexL

Silver said:


> Great first coil @AlexL !
> Wow, 20 ga - thats like coathanger wire - lol


thank you @Silver... coathanger wire..yeah all of the sudden 75w isnt enough lol.. was a bit tricky to work with ... the first three coils went in the scrap bin... will be experimenting more soon.. those clapton coils seem to be all rage at the moment...will hav to have a look...the 200w realeaux and coil building supplies arrive tomorrow ... any ideas on a good tank for flavor? Rebuildable tank style..... thx...


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## Silver

AlexL said:


> thank you @Silver... coathanger wire..yeah all of the sudden 75w isnt enough lol.. was a bit tricky to work with ... the first three coils went in the scrap bin... will be experimenting more soon.. those clapton coils seem to be all rage at the moment...will hav to have a look...the 200w realeaux and coil building supplies arrive tomorrow ... any ideas on a good tank for flavor? Rebuildable tank style..... thx...



Lol, you asking me about 200W and flavour tanks! Hehe
I think some of the other guys will advise you much better on that

I am happy with my subtank mini at 15W with my 18mg juice - i tend to put more power in my juice not the coils 

Just on that build on the pico with 20ga wire - i think if you try 26g you will find its much better handled by the 75W limit. Havent tried it myself on the Pico but i imagine it will be much better from a ramp up perspective.


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## AlexL

Silver said:


> Lol, you asking me about 200W and flavour tanks! Hehe
> I think some of the other guys will advise you much better on that
> 
> I am happy with my subtank mini at 15W with my 18mg juice - i tend to put more power in my juice not the coils
> 
> Just on that build on the pico with 20ga wire - i think if you try 26g you will find its much better handled by the 75W limit. Havent tried it myself on the Pico but i imagine it will be much better from a ramp up perspective.


okay @Silver...... i guess bigger is not better... i mainly want the rx200 cos the pico at 30w doing about 5ml of juice just makes a day on a battery i figure the rx will do 2 days at least between charges.... yeah you are spot on about the ramp up perspective with the 20 ga build on the pico...it is really sluggish boils the e juice a while before the clouds arrived... according to my coil build calculator these coils should max at 234w....overkill... it was a kind of Mcgyver build at midnight.. dove cotton wool included... was maybe bit exited about my rda and doing a build... but it worked and nothing has blow up... .... yet.....


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## AlexL

that is blown up.......


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## Silver

AlexL said:


> okay @Silver...... i guess bigger is not better... i mainly want the rx200 cos the pico at 30w doing about 5ml of juice just makes a day on a battery i figure the rx will do 2 days at least between charges.... yeah you are spot on about the ramp up perspective with the 20 ga build on the pico...it is really sluggish boils the e juice a while before the clouds arrived... according to my coil build calculator these coils should max at 234w....overkill... it was a kind of Mcgyver build at midnight.. dove cotton wool included... was maybe bit exited about my rda and doing a build... but it worked and nothing has blow up... .... yet.....



At least you got it going and thats what counts!

Strange thing for me is that my RX200 triple battery doesnt last a heck of a lot longer than my two battery mods. One would expect it to but it doesnt. Will obviously last a lot longer than the single battery Pico

Reactions: Like 1


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## Glytch

AlexL said:


> @Glytch.. i have only heard good things about those avo's..... back on the subject of the melo coils.. i am going to teardown a new standard 0.3coil and drill those 2 redundant holes out and reassemble and see how long it goes for.... will post findings...



Would be interested to see. Those two holes have metal walls behind them. You'll need to remove those or the coil won't sit flush with those holes and leak up the side of that wall.



AlexL said:


> nothing has blow up... .... yet.....



That's not a great metric for success

Reactions: Like 1


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## AlexL

hello @Glytch... i havent looked on the net at the videos on the stock melo3 coil rebuilds... here is what i noted.. when i pulled my coil apart it had a parallel, 5 wrap, so 10 individual coils... approximately 5mm inner diameter on the wraps 0.38mm kanthal wire in it... today i saw the reply and noted that u said it took a long time to get the cotton out from behind those feed holes... and some thing about leaking out the holes between the walls if i drill it. .... so i pulled it completely apart.. bet i can get that cotton wool in there in 2 seconds now .... jus need do push the tube with the slots in it out of the main body it requires some force and be carefull around those threads.... here is a pic of my dismantled coil... the wrap of cotton that sits behind the juice feed holes and where i have marked the spot where i intend to drill open up the redundant feed hole...


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## AlexL

i see also that the coils from the Triton, the Atlantis the Melo2 aswell as the vaperesso cCell coils all apparently fit the Melo3......


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## Glytch

@AlexL You are a legend! Didn't know that part could come out. I will have to try that. You reckon that inner coil was as much as 5mm?


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## Glytch

How on earth did you get that other part out?


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## AlexL

Glytch said:


> How on earth did you get that other part out?


a legend... thanks for the kind words mate @Glytch



... i have been called worse... .. yeah i rekon the coil diameter was 4 to 5mm judging by the hole in the top mesh screen.. see pic 1...ok to push the inner sleeve out i found a washer with a 11mm hole in it.. the coils threads fit through the hole but the flange where the o ring that seals the coil base /tank from the airflow chamber doesn't pic 2...then by pushing a 9mm punch or back of a 9mm drill bit in fron the top of the coil chamber whilst counter holding the washer and coil body will drive out the inner sleeve and cotton strip...pic 3

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## Glytch

Thanks! I'll have to try that. How did the rest of the build go?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


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## Imtiaaz

Such a cool informative thread, love it.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thanks 2


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## OneShotStott

I'm following this thread with great interest to be honest....I also noticed a horrible difference going from the 0.3 to the 0.5 coil, much, much less flavour, cloud and I am going through juice at a stupid pace!

Definitely going back to 0.3 coils at the end of the month - does anyone here recommend another brand/type of coil that will work with this Melo tank?

Not sure if i am perhaps a simpleton but i am battling to properly reassemble this Melo tank, no matter how many times i line up the parts, the bottom two sections just screw together skew, allowing a small amount of juice to leak out, has anyone else had this issue yet or am i somehow just being an idiot here?


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## Andre

OneShotStott said:


> I'm following this thread with great interest to be honest....I also noticed a horrible difference going from the 0.3 to the 0.5 coil, much, much less flavour, cloud and I am going through juice at a stupid pace!
> 
> Definitely going back to 0.3 coils at the end of the month - does anyone here recommend another brand/type of coil that will work with this Melo tank?
> 
> Not sure if i am perhaps a simpleton but i am battling to properly reassemble this Melo tank, no matter how many times i line up the parts, the bottom two sections just screw together skew, allowing a small amount of juice to leak out, has anyone else had this issue yet or am i somehow just being an idiot here?


Seems people have the most success with the black ring 0.6 ohm cCell coil units (available here), but even with those some report wicking problems. Seems to work best in the 2 ml Melo Mini 3.
I use the ECR (rebuildable head), but it is not good for low resistance. Good to go from 0.8 ohms and up.
Sounds to me as if you have a cross threading problem there.


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## OneShotStott

Andre said:


> Seems people have the most success with the black ring 0.6 ohm cCell coil units (available here), but even with those some report wicking problems. Seems to work best in the 2 ml Melo Mini 3.
> I use the ECR (rebuildable head), but it is not good for low resistance. Good to go from 0.8 ohms and up.
> Sounds to me as if you have a cross threading problem there.



Is there any way to fix this cross threading issue at all or is it stripped and ruined now?


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## Andre

OneShotStott said:


> Is there any way to fix this cross threading issue at all or is it stripped and ruined now?


I have no idea. Calling @blujeenz for help.

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## blujeenz

Andre said:


> I have no idea. Calling @blujeenz for help.


The only way to fix cross threading is to run the correct tap through to fix the threads.
The coils and plated brass items and dont take well to repair, best to chuck and start again.

SS should clean up reasonbly well but will always catch at the original damage point, ie needs extra care in future.
The main problem is that taps dont exist for tank threads due to them being cut on a lathe, finding the correct pitch thread file to dress the damaged threads is going to be a mission on its own.

Its kinda hard to diagnose if its stripped or not, me being in Cape Town  , sometimes the start point of the thread gets a little damaged and it catches on the 2nd thread instead.
A tank should always screw together smoothly and if you need to change to gorilla mode, you've already got problems.

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## OneShotStott

blujeenz said:


> The only way to fix cross threading is to run the correct tap through to fix the threads.
> The coils and plated brass items and dont take well to repair, best to chuck and start again.
> 
> SS should clean up reasonbly well but will always catch at the original damage point, ie needs extra care in future.
> The main problem is that taps dont exist for tank threads due to them being cut on a lathe, finding the correct pitch thread file to dress the damaged threads is going to be a mission on its own.





Errrm, well that really sucks, especially considering I only bought this three weeks ago and the guy in Vaperite put the coil in for me in the first place....

Thanks so much for the response though.

Reactions: Can relate 1


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## BATMAN

I know that I am about a year and a half late for this thread,but I thought I would post something here. 

I have just given my old Melo 3 tank to someone who has just started their first day of vaping in the attempt of getting away from hookah/hubbly.

So I purchased a new 0.30 ohm coil and fitted and primed it like I always did back in the day and within moments i continuously got burnt hits at 40w.
The coils recommended resistance is between 30-80W so this baffled me.

Upon investigation and searching endlessly on the net,I came across this thread.
I used a torch and managed to see that while the outer parts of the cotton got juice,it was too compact/dense for juice to travel to the cotton which was actually in contact with the coil (as suggested by somebody else earlier in this thread).
I primed the coil to soften the juice and used my ceramic tweezers to 'remove' small bits of cotton from the entry holes on the coil (repeated this about 4 times) until juice managed to travel to the center of the coil.
Now,even at 55Watts,There is not even a trace of a burnt hit.

I know this may not matter right now,but incase somebody else loses sleep over this in the future-there it is.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## GerritVisagie

Cool. 
Thanx for sharing.
Somewhere there's someone who will need to see this. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Reactions: Agree 1


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