My First RBA Wicking

[Lehan]

Good Morning Vapers

So last night i tried to wick my first coil. I used with pre-made coil that came with my Sub Tank mini (0.5 ohm). Watched a few videos before hand and read a few threads and off i went.

It seemed to vape just fine for the first 10 minutes or so. Played around with the wattage to see if i can find some sort of a sweet spot. The coil however started to make a pop (heating of the liquid and spitting it up to the drip tip) not in such a extent that it reaches my mouth.

I then tried to vape at a higher wattage (25 - 30) but the drip tip became extremely hot. So my question is, did i use too much wick? (can't think its too little seen as there is no dry hits) is this heat normal when vaping lower resistance coils?

Thanks

 

[Silver]

Hi @Lehan
Congrats on your first wicking!

It would help if you take a photo - then it will probably be easier for those experienced with this tank to give you advice.

Vaping subohm at higher power certainly does increase the heat of the vapour and sometimes can make things a bit hot.

 

[Lehan]

Hi @Silver

I will post some pics tonight and hopefully someone will be able to help me a little. Personally i am not too fond of a hot vape, i prefer a cooler vape, then i must say the Sub ohm coil gives that intense flavour that i cant get enough of.

Once i get the wicking sorted out i might just have to build my first coil. Hope to find a good balance between the cool vape and great flavour maybe at 0.9 - 1.0 ohm

 

[Silver]

Hi @Silver

I will post some pics tonight and hopefully someone will be able to help me a little. Personally i am not too fond of a hot vape, i prefer a cooler vape, then i must say the Sub ohm coil gives that intense flavour that i cant get enough of.

Once i get the wicking sorted out i might just have to build my first coil. Hope to find a good balance between the cool vape and great flavour maybe at 0.9 - 1.0 ohm

Agreed @Lehan

I too generally dont like a vape thats too hot
I also find it depends on what juice i am vaping
I prefer cooler for the fruits and menthol fruits
I like a bit more heat for the richer juices and the tobaccoes

You need to experiment a lot and adjust to find something that works for you
And if you end up like me with broadly two different setups for two types of juices, then you need another setup so you can have both loaded and dialled in just the way you like it.

And then when its all perfect, you get a different device - and it starts all over again

 

[Lehan]

Thanks so much for all your help @Silver.

Its so much fun playing around going to have my hands busy over the holidays with DIY juices and building coils...

 

[Cespian]

Hey Bro

With my subtank mini adventures; I found that if I over-wick, I get mini explosions and in turn, juice spitting up. I'm assuming this to be as a result of; 1. Air pockets, 2. Too much pressure inside the chamber.

Tip 1: Try not to over-wick. Remove the hardish skin of your cotton pad. The wick needs to pull through quite tightly, but not too tight. I find that if the coil bends while pulling the cotton through, its too much. Once the cotton is in, fluff the ends before pushing it down. Eventually when you get to wrapping your own coils (thicker in diameter) you can play around with the scottish wicking technique which should alleviate all air pocket problems.

Tip 2: If you are sure about your wicking, fire your device upside down for a couple of seconds. I find that this removes all the air pockets and hence stopping the mini explosions. You might have a little juice trickle out from the drip tip, so be just be cautious of that.

Hope that helps

 

[Lehan]

Hi @Cespian

I do believe that i have over wicked. I did however remove the harder sides from the cotton pad. When i rolled it and pulled it through i was pulling the coil over to some extent. I did not fluff the ends, after pulling the wick through, i screwed the "side cap" on, cut off the ends of the wick to a length that looked similar to what i saw on youtube. Pushed the sides in and added some liquid on the wick.

There is a very good chance that there might be air pockets...

 

[Cespian]

Ah ok. Try firing upside down for a couple of seconds, see if that helps. You also dont want too much juice inside that chamber (as it creates some sort of a vaccum), so dont "over prime" after building.

Good luck sir. Keep the over wicking in mind with your next build.

 

[Lehan]

Thanks for the advice @Cespian

I'll have a look at these things and let you guys know.

 

[KlutcH]

Howzit, I also used to have this problem then I started using 28g twisted coil 5 raps on a 2mm screwdriver and wicked differently, I never get any splitting or "crackling" noises anymore.

I cut my cotton about 5-6mm in width, take the top and bottom layer of the cotton off, pull it through the coil, then I pull the sides of the cotton through the side holes of the "cover" slightly till it reaches the screw, I then tighten the screw and only then cut the cotton on the edge.

I will take a few pictures when I replace the wick again.

 

[dwayne19420]

Hi @Silver

I will post some pics tonight and hopefully someone will be able to help me a little. Personally i am not too fond of a hot vape, i prefer a cooler vape, then i must say the Sub ohm coil gives that intense flavour that i cant get enough of.

Once i get the wicking sorted out i might just have to build my first coil. Hope to find a good balance between the cool vape and great flavour maybe at 0.9 - 1.0 ohm

I have my Subtank mini firing 1ohm coils with good flavourful vape and its very cool around 22-24 watts.
Regarding the popping it could be just some excess joose on the coil that needs to be atomised.
I know with my tank if I have been vaping low wattages or the tank was standing for a while.
It was ok and then cranked it up and it would pop until the excess joose on the coil was used up hope my 2c helps.

 

[Lehan]

Realizing more and more that it's a over wick issue, I used between 8 and 10mm wide strip cotton, think this is because on the videos and pics it looks allot wider and bigger than what it actually is...

I'll re wick it tonight and see what it does.


Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

[Lehan]

Just an Quick update.

I re wicked the coil, used a little less cotton and viola, second time lucky, vapes like a dream... 17 - 20 watt with 0.5 ohm coil works great for me, nice cool fruity vape.

Noob question, is it normal for the wick to turn dark brown close to the coil after only two tanks? Liquid is quite light in colour due to low nic levels.

 

[Silver]

Just an Quick update.

I re wicked the coil, used a little less cotton and viola, second time lucky, vapes like a dream... 17 - 20 watt with 0.5 ohm coil works great for me, nice cool fruity vape.

Noob question, is it normal for the wick to turn dark brown close to the coil after only two tanks? Liquid is quite light in colour due to low nic levels.

Great stuff @Lehan, well done

Perfectly normal for the wick to change colour. When you notice flavour starts dropping off, its time to change the wick.

Some liquids change the wick colour more than others. Also depends on the wick material and the power.