Building Coils/Wicks - Trial and Error

[adeline]

Well, after spending the last few hours trying to get this down, I finally built a successful wick and coil.

It was a success in that there were no shorts, and the Ohms are holding steady. It is a good looking wrap, too, and I ventured straight into cotton wicking.

Unfortunately, it was an almost perfect looking wrap until I realized my cotton was far too thick and had to pull it out and re-wick. It's mostly decent at this point, but not the beautiful wrap I started with.

Also unfortunately, 4 wraps of coil wasn't enough. It's registering at about 1.6ohms, when I'd prefer it in the 2.6-3.2 range.

But I'm absolutely thrilled that it's working. It tastes pretty darned good too! I'm looking forward to experimenting!

Here's what I used and did:
A7 rba
34 nichrome (the 36 kanthal was giving me fits.. 3 or 4 not so great coils. I will retry later)
cotton ball wick

Cut a hole in the top of a built cardboard box to hold the atomizer base. It fits quite snugly. The box is a neat little workstation
Cut a strip of wire and pulled a bit of cotton ball
Ran a lighter over my bit of wire (holding at the end with tweezers) until I saw a nice hot glow. Don't know why I did this, but I read it somewhere on these forums.
Rolled the bit of cotton fuzz into a thin strip, kind of like RYO cigs, but starting from one end, ending at the other
Took the cotton strip and used a stick pin (the sewing pins with a colored ball on one end) to wrap the coil
Keeping the wrapped coil and wick around the pin, I put both ends of the wire through the holes in the atty posts. This helped to keep the coil steady so it wouldn't warp. This was essential for me.
Removed the stick pin
Fed the wire the rest of the way through and tightened it up
Put the tiny screws back in
Trimmed any excess wire with nail clippers (essential if you don't have teeny tiny wire cutters)
Measured resistance with multi-meter
Dripped a couple drops of liquid on the coil and wick near the coil
Attached to ProVari and tested Ohms a couple times. Still holding steady
Turned down voltage to very low (3.0 - 3.2) and fired, looking for hot spots. Turned it up slowly. No hot spots.
Neatly positioned my wick around the atty, filled it, let the cotton absorb it, filled a bit more
Dialed in my voltage and ENJOYED
Posted to ECF!

I'm such a newb at this and I was moderately frustrated before this coil/wick turned out so well.
Any hints/tips for me? It's so hard to find a straight-up HOW TO (trust me, I've searched!!).

 

[iKN0WaGH0ST]

I made a straight how-to a while back! =p granted it is for a phoenix, not a a7. But its exactly the same process. I use cotton yarn in the video, but I've successfully used this same method with cotton balls, no problem.

Congratz on your first successful build!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkkEoQoJvXM

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[adeline]

I made a straight how-to a while back! =p granted it is for a phoenix, not a a7. But its exactly the same process. I use cotton yarn in the video, but I've successfully used this same method with cotton balls, no problem.

Congratz on your first successful build!

Phoenix Rebuildable Atomizer Mini Review and Rebuild Tutorial - YouTube

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Great video! I wish I had seen it before I started today. I might not have been so nervous about the process. I might not have snapped off my coil by tightening down the tiny screws too far.

I found a bunch of great wicking material around the house.. cotton balls, cheese cloth, gauze pads. I have silica wick too. Unfortunately, after all of that effort to get this working, I don't feel like pulling it apart to try something else (hahaha). I do have a tank RBA that might need to be recoiled and wicked soon though. And of course a VVN that I could experiment with.

Thanks for the tips!!

 

[Gr8Scott]

Great video! I wish I had seen it before I started today. I might not have been so nervous about the process. I might not have snapped off my coil by tightening down the tiny screws too far.

I found a bunch of great wicking material around the house.. cotton balls, cheese cloth, gauze pads. I have silica wick too. Unfortunately, after all of that effort to get this working, I don't feel like pulling it apart to try something else (hahaha). I do have a tank RBA that might need to be recoiled and wicked soon though. And of course a VVN that I could experiment with.

Thanks for the tips!!

Yup,

I referenced 'ghosts vid before I made my first one and it helped alot

I'd say your process is pretty near impeccable, Adeline

I prefer Nichrome, too, 'cuz it's easier to manipulate. Plus the composition of Nichrome is aluminum free, any less aluminum in our systems is better for our health.

I would recommend trying 100% organic cotton yarn. Boil a section for 10-15 minutes then tie it to a dish rag (knotting the opposite loose end first) then throw it in the clothes dryer set to "air" dry.

You would be surprised how small of a coil you can make work with yarn.

I wind mine on the same screwdriver that I adjust my screws (in the Phoenix) with.

I just now wound one on the wrong screwdriver ( one size smaller) and was thinkin' "damn this seems small!" only realizing when I was finished with a threaded coil, that it was indeed smaller!

You just need to keep the yarn wet and keep twisting until it gets smaller and smaller.

I would recommend going on Ebay and purchasing a kit of :

1 straight hemostat
1 mosquito (curved) hemostat
1 needle holder (these are hemostats without teeth, great for smoothing out burrs in the Nichrome)
1 pair of "iris" scissors

You can usual get all of 'em in a kit,shipped, for under ten bucks.

The iris scissors are great for snipping that little hair-fine thing that sticks out at the end of the yarn when you've twisted it a bunch.

And good luck, welcome to the great world of graduated vaping with Rebuildables!

Now you just gotta to figure out what to do with all those cartos and clearos you bought

 

[adeline]

Thanks for the advice!!

Yarn is one of those things I'll be picking up eventually. Thanks for the tips. Would you recommend buying online, checking craftstores, or a good old-fashioned walmart?

Those hemostats look nifty! I can certainly see how that whole kit would be useful. I have iris scissors, but it's probably time to replace them, they don't cut anything very well these days.

Thankfully I don't have a huge stash of now-useless stuff. I have 8 or 9 standard atties and a couple shorty cartos that would work fine on my Reo, but I never use them on my ProVari. I have a bunch of spent vivi nova heads though. I could rebuild them, but I am perfectly happy with them living in the closet in my vaping caddy.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Thanks for the advice!!

Yarn is one of those things I'll be picking up eventually. Thanks for the tips. Would you recommend buying online, checking craftstores, or a good old-fashioned walmart?

Those hemostats look nifty! I can certainly see how that whole kit would be useful. I have iris scissors, but it's probably time to replace them, they don't cut anything very well these days.

Thankfully I don't have a huge stash of now-useless stuff. I have 8 or 9 standard atties and a couple shorty cartos that would work fine on my Reo, but I never use them on my ProVari. I have a bunch of spent vivi nova heads though. I could rebuild them, but I am perfectly happy with them living in the closet in my vaping caddy.

Wherever you can get the cheapest yarn will work. I paid like about 3 bucks for 120 yards of 'Sugar n Cream" at a local craft store. While you are there be sure to look into their Candy making section if you DIY also. They could have Lorann's flavorings.

The scissors make shoring up the excess Nichrome totally easy. There's specialty scissors of all kinds, too.

Ebay is also a great place to pick up Nichrome for pennies.

Speaking of vape caddys, here's post on vaping kit boxes here:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/366994-perfect-storage-diy-mixers-imho.html

I am eyeing that Caboodle box covetoutsly.....

 

[adeline]

Well my Drunker tank needed a new wick last night, and the way it's built, there was no salvaging the coil.

I made 3 new, pretty awesome wick/coils.

The first one looked great, but I wasn't sure how to put the frackin thing back together, so I trimmed the lead wires too short. I saved it in case I can put it on my A7.

I figured out what I was supposed to do and soldiered on.

The second one looked just as awesome! But the leads were again too short, but not because I trimmed them! It was just a fail.

The third one I got right. And it's sitting at a beautifully perfect 3ohms.

Couldn't ask for more than that!!

 

[Gr8Scott]

Ah sweet victory!

 

[adeline]

So the two coil/wick setups that wouldn't work in my Drunker tank slip nicely into my A7. They are cotton gauze wicks. I wasn't a huge fan of the wicking in the tank.

Put one of my gauze-fails from last night in my A7. Steady 2.4 ohms.. I like the gauze in the A7. Maybe it's just not a good wick for the Drunker. The trial and error (and successes!) continue...

And because I had built it for the tank, there are actually 2 strips of wick. One is wrapped neatly in the cup, the other is sticking up a bit. There's so much liquid in this atty! Really liking it.