I'm cursed, cursed I tell you

aktorsyl

aktorsyl

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Joined
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Age
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There's some voodoo going on here.

I don't know what it is with me and RTA's. RDA's I can build & wick fine, and BB's I can wick without issues. But when it comes to RTA's.. oh hell.

So as some/most of you know or have noticed, I had a whole thread (actually I think I had 2 threads) about my woes with wicking the OBS Engine Nano correctly. For the record, I still couldn't get it right by the time my Ammit 25 single-coil arrived. With some trepidation, I grabbed the Ammit and - very skeptically - set to work on building on it and wicking it.

Agh nee man. Thank goodness I can laugh at myself because it makes the experience a bit more bearable :p I built a simple 24ga kanthal spaced coil.. I think it was 2.5mm ID, 5 wraps spaced to get 0.45 ohm or so. The usual, in other words.. pretty basic, pretty normal, pretty solid.

Then I started watching wicking videos. Vaping with Vic, Mike Vapes, Twisted420, some other hipster guy, another hipster guy, and a weird Swiss dude that I'm not entirely sure is a legit vaper because the video turned really strange pretty early on. Don't search for "wicking your ammit" on YouTube, friendly tip for the day. But I digress.

So from the first attempt it was pretty much as I expected - downhill. Attempt 1: flooding. Okay, too little cotton, as I suspected. Took it out, replaced it with a bit more, and ensured the juicewells are filled but not packed. Attempt 2: dry hits. Allllright then. Took it out again, made the cotton thinner through the coil (still snug but not tight at all), fluffed it and put it back in the juice well. So then came attempt 3: more dry hits. Okay, wait, nooowww I got it. Rewicked again, combed out the cotton to make it thinner , back into the juicewell to cover the entire well surface but not packed or compressed in any way. So attempt 4 was a bit of a misleading one. It literally went like this:

"Oh good, this one wor...GAHH! F&*#k okay no."
Do a few dry puffs, wait for bubbles.. puff again:
"Okay so this one isn't burni.... gurgle gurgle splutter. Flooding.

I think I should start a career in the circus for being able to get an RTA to flood AND dry hit at the same time. Not just on the same deck, on the same hit.

Lol, so anyway. To get to the point. I've been copying Vic's wicking, then I copied Mike's wicking. Then I used logic and common sense and did my own wicking. Nothing works. It's very bizarre. I also noticed something else (but this may be normal, by now I don't know what is normal and what's not anymore :p).. when I do a dry puff, a big bubble rises from the one juice hole. I read that it's pretty common for only one juice hole to have bubbles, so that's not what's bothering me. The weird thing is that a bubble rises with every dry puff. 5 puffs later, still bubbles. Then when taking an actual puff (at low'ish wattage) there's just one. For some reason the thing is not wicking fast enough.

Anyway. This post is not intended to be a complaint, or a "woe is me", or a rant. Neither is it a therapy session following weird Swiss wicking videos. It's to see if anyone went through this on their first couple of RTA's too, and what you learned from it. I've got this on 2 RTA's but I haven't really learned anything from it yet, even though my 3rd RTA is arriving soon (Skyclone).

I'm just glad that the 2 RTA's that I have are very highly regarded ones, so I know the problem isn't with them, but rather with me. Wait, how is that supposed to make me feel better? Well, at least it means I can improve something somewhere.
 
Yup......you're fu......um cursed..
 
aktorsyl said:
There's some voodoo going on here.

I don't know what it is with me and RTA's. RDA's I can build & wick fine, and BB's I can wick without issues. But when it comes to RTA's.. oh hell.

So as some/most of you know or have noticed, I had a whole thread (actually I think I had 2 threads) about my woes with wicking the OBS Engine Nano correctly. For the record, I still couldn't get it right by the time my Ammit 25 single-coil arrived. With some trepidation, I grabbed the Ammit and - very skeptically - set to work on building on it and wicking it.

Agh nee man. Thank goodness I can laugh at myself because it makes the experience a bit more bearable :p I built a simple 24ga kanthal spaced coil.. I think it was 2.5mm ID, 5 wraps spaced to get 0.45 ohm or so. The usual, in other words.. pretty basic, pretty normal, pretty solid.

Then I started watching wicking videos. Vaping with Vic, Mike Vapes, Twisted420, some other hipster guy, another hipster guy, and a weird Swiss dude that I'm not entirely sure is a legit vaper because the video turned really strange pretty early on. Don't search for "wicking your ammit" on YouTube, friendly tip for the day. But I digress.

So from the first attempt it was pretty much as I expected - downhill. Attempt 1: flooding. Okay, too little cotton, as I suspected. Took it out, replaced it with a bit more, and ensured the juicewells are filled but not packed. Attempt 2: dry hits. Allllright then. Took it out again, made the cotton thinner through the coil (still snug but not tight at all), fluffed it and put it back in the juice well. So then came attempt 3: more dry hits. Okay, wait, nooowww I got it. Rewicked again, combed out the cotton to make it thinner , back into the juicewell to cover the entire well surface but not packed or compressed in any way. So attempt 4 was a bit of a misleading one. It literally went like this:

"Oh good, this one wor...GAHH! F&*#k okay no."
Do a few dry puffs, wait for bubbles.. puff again:
"Okay so this one isn't burni.... gurgle gurgle splutter. Flooding.

I think I should start a career in the circus for being able to get an RTA to flood AND dry hit at the same time. Not just on the same deck, on the same hit.

Lol, so anyway. To get to the point. I've been copying Vic's wicking, then I copied Mike's wicking. Then I used logic and common sense and did my own wicking. Nothing works. It's very bizarre. I also noticed something else (but this may be normal, by now I don't know what is normal and what's not anymore :p).. when I do a dry puff, a big bubble rises from the one juice hole. I read that it's pretty common for only one juice hole to have bubbles, so that's not what's bothering me. The weird thing is that a bubble rises with every dry puff. 5 puffs later, still bubbles. Then when taking an actual puff (at low'ish wattage) there's just one. For some reason the thing is not wicking fast enough.

Anyway. This post is not intended to be a complaint, or a "woe is me", or a rant. Neither is it a therapy session following weird Swiss wicking videos. It's to see if anyone went through this on their first couple of RTA's too, and what you learned from it. I've got this on 2 RTA's but I haven't really learned anything from it yet, even though my 3rd RTA is arriving soon (Skyclone).

I'm just glad that the 2 RTA's that I have are very highly regarded ones, so I know the problem isn't with them, but rather with me. Wait, how is that supposed to make me feel better? Well, at least it means I can improve something somewhere.
Click to expand...
sorry dude - can't help with the tank - but f*&k I had a good laugh - hang in there I am sure you will come right. just make sure you don't run out of cotton by then :)
 
I wish I could help, but that was a bloody good read :D
 
KZOR said:
Lol ....... sounds like a very frustrating time you had.
Well ........ you know you always welcome to pop-in if you in the vicinity. I will try and help if i can.
Click to expand...
I just might take you up on that :p I've been meaning to pop in at some point actually, I'm in the area pretty often.
 
If this is ever narrated, I insist on it being by David Attenborough. "The confused vaper looks at the RTA, puzzled. Being out of his natural habitat, he relies on his other senses to provide...." you get the idea.

Hugh Bladen can do the paragraphs with the attempts though. For variety.
 
Excellently explained original post @aktorsyl

Am with you and feel for you - i know how frustrating it is when one has issues with these tanks
I just wish they all worked well first time....
 
aktorsyl said:
The Skyclone should be here tomorrow or Thursday. Trust me, there will be a post :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Awaiting the delivery of the Skyclone and the follow-up 'experience share' with bated breath, sire.

[NOTE TO SELF] Remember to empty bladder (and possibly bowels for safety sake) before reading ;)
 
Kuhlkatz said:
Awaiting the delivery of the Skyclone and the follow-up 'experience share' with bated breath, sire.

[NOTE TO SELF] Remember to empty bladder (and possibly bowels for safety sake) before reading ;)
Click to expand...
Well from what I can see in the wicking pics/vids, getting a coil into that deck is like getting a schoolbus through a garden gate. This ought to be cringe-worthy.
 
aktorsyl said:
Seeing a patent lawyer tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Random: "You know any vape tricks?"
Me: "Yeah, the aktorsyl dry-flood!" :p

Good luck man. The only tank that I'm building on is the Big Baby Beast (RBA) but I'm looking to get the Ammit 25. Seriously hoping I have better luck than you :|
 
aktorsyl said:
There's some voodoo going on here.

I don't know what it is with me and RTA's. RDA's I can build & wick fine, and BB's I can wick without issues. But when it comes to RTA's.. oh hell.

So as some/most of you know or have noticed, I had a whole thread (actually I think I had 2 threads) about my woes with wicking the OBS Engine Nano correctly. For the record, I still couldn't get it right by the time my Ammit 25 single-coil arrived. With some trepidation, I grabbed the Ammit and - very skeptically - set to work on building on it and wicking it.

Agh nee man. Thank goodness I can laugh at myself because it makes the experience a bit more bearable :p I built a simple 24ga kanthal spaced coil.. I think it was 2.5mm ID, 5 wraps spaced to get 0.45 ohm or so. The usual, in other words.. pretty basic, pretty normal, pretty solid.

Then I started watching wicking videos. Vaping with Vic, Mike Vapes, Twisted420, some other hipster guy, another hipster guy, and a weird Swiss dude that I'm not entirely sure is a legit vaper because the video turned really strange pretty early on. Don't search for "wicking your ammit" on YouTube, friendly tip for the day. But I digress.

So from the first attempt it was pretty much as I expected - downhill. Attempt 1: flooding. Okay, too little cotton, as I suspected. Took it out, replaced it with a bit more, and ensured the juicewells are filled but not packed. Attempt 2: dry hits. Allllright then. Took it out again, made the cotton thinner through the coil (still snug but not tight at all), fluffed it and put it back in the juice well. So then came attempt 3: more dry hits. Okay, wait, nooowww I got it. Rewicked again, combed out the cotton to make it thinner , back into the juicewell to cover the entire well surface but not packed or compressed in any way. So attempt 4 was a bit of a misleading one. It literally went like this:

"Oh good, this one wor...GAHH! F&*#k okay no."
Do a few dry puffs, wait for bubbles.. puff again:
"Okay so this one isn't burni.... gurgle gurgle splutter. Flooding.

I think I should start a career in the circus for being able to get an RTA to flood AND dry hit at the same time. Not just on the same deck, on the same hit.

Lol, so anyway. To get to the point. I've been copying Vic's wicking, then I copied Mike's wicking. Then I used logic and common sense and did my own wicking. Nothing works. It's very bizarre. I also noticed something else (but this may be normal, by now I don't know what is normal and what's not anymore :p).. when I do a dry puff, a big bubble rises from the one juice hole. I read that it's pretty common for only one juice hole to have bubbles, so that's not what's bothering me. The weird thing is that a bubble rises with every dry puff. 5 puffs later, still bubbles. Then when taking an actual puff (at low'ish wattage) there's just one. For some reason the thing is not wicking fast enough.

Anyway. This post is not intended to be a complaint, or a "woe is me", or a rant. Neither is it a therapy session following weird Swiss wicking videos. It's to see if anyone went through this on their first couple of RTA's too, and what you learned from it. I've got this on 2 RTA's but I haven't really learned anything from it yet, even though my 3rd RTA is arriving soon (Skyclone).

I'm just glad that the 2 RTA's that I have are very highly regarded ones, so I know the problem isn't with them, but rather with me. Wait, how is that supposed to make me feel better? Well, at least it means I can improve something somewhere.
Click to expand...

Mate,
If it was possible I would give you a like, a winner and a funny at the same time. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to further instalments of your RTA journey.
 
aktorsyl said:
Well from what I can see in the wicking pics/vids, getting a coil into that deck is like getting a schoolbus through a garden gate. This ought to be cringe-worthy.
Click to expand...

That could be the answer. Making use of magnifying glasses and precision instruments may add that 'Neurosurgeon in an operating theatre' look & feel to the process and might just add to the success of the venture.
...but please don't do that, as it would deny us the privilege of reading another cracker like the OP above :D
 
TheV said:
Random: "You know any vape tricks?"
Me: "Yeah, the aktorsyl dry-flood!" :p

Good luck man. The only tank that I'm building on is the Big Baby Beast (RBA) but I'm looking to get the Ammit 25. Seriously hoping I have better luck than you :|
Click to expand...
Oh I think the chances of you having better luck than me are fking stellar :p
 
aktorsyl said:
Oh I think the chances of you having better luck than me are fking stellar :p
Click to expand...
Oh I wouldn't be too sure of that. I managed to burn 2 deep gouges into my nail by accidentally firing my RDA while rebuilding it last night.
I might just give you a run for your money! :p
 
Last edited:
@aktorsyl

Alright, this is a stretch but have you tried a simple Clapton (eg ni80 26/40 or 24/38 and/or a larger id coil ? (eg. 3mm )

Like i said, its a stretch but i think the dry hit problem might be a conflict between the chosen coil and vape you are trying to achieve from it.

As far as wicking goes, you seem to have it waxed, cotton in the juice wells must be as fluffy as possible but thick enough to ensure no leaking during the minute it it takes to refill and take a couple puffs after a refilll , cotton in the coil should have a slight but noticeable resistance.

Kind regards
 
Last edited:
Scissorhands said:
@aktorsyl

Alright, this is a stretch but have you tried a simple Clapton (eg ni80 26/40 or 24/38 and/or a larger id coil ? (eg. 3mm )

Like i said, its a stretch but i think the dry hit problem might be a conflict between the chosen coil and vape you are trying to achieve from it.

Kind regards
Click to expand...
I like the way you think. I actually slapped a fused clapton in there about an hour ago, on a whim. 4 wraps, 0.36 ohm (3mm ID). So far I don't get any dry hits if I keep my puffs below 3 seconds (which is fine, actually). However I can still not in any way, shape or form do 2 consecutive puffs at 3 seconds each before it burns.

PS: If I only do 2-second puffs I can do about 4 in semi-quick succession before it burns. I don't usually chain-vape so it's not a dealbreaker yet, but this needs further testing :p Watts is at 32 at the moment.

On a completely different note: I am very, very VERY seriously considering developing a juice that tastes like burnt cotton. For trolling purposes.
 
aktorsyl said:
I like the way you think. I actually slapped a fused clapton in there about an hour ago, on a whim. 4 wraps, 0.36 ohm (3mm ID). So far I don't get any dry hits if I keep my puffs below 3 seconds (which is fine, actually). However I can still not in any way, shape or form do 2 consecutive puffs at 3 seconds each before it burns.

PS: If I only do 2-second puffs I can do about 4 in semi-quick succession before it burns. I don't usually chain-vape so it's not a dealbreaker yet, but this needs further testing :p Watts is at 32 at the moment.

On a completely different note: I am very, very VERY seriously considering developing a juice that tastes like burnt coil. For trolling purposes.
Click to expand...

See my edit above on wicking

Try lower the wattage by 2 - 5 watts and repeat till you are satisfied with your draw time.

If you mix i would recommend a slightly higher pg content 5 - 10%

That would be one evil juice! Just mix TFA slim mint cookie at 5%, i guarantee burnt coil taste in 5ml or your money back!
 
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