Friggin gennys...

[Hans Wermhat]

SO, my first rda was a Kracken. It's what I learned how to build coils on. I'm familiar with the process to say the least. I have been using cotton wicks for a while now for simplicity's sake, but tried to go back to mesh last night. I was building new coils for my Perseus and just can't seem to make it work. Every time I fire them they pop at the first wrap just above the deck. WTH??? I went through about 6 feet of kanthal last night and still can't get a coil that will fire once. Anbody else ever had a problem like that? Is there a simple problem that I am overlooking?

 

[TheOnyxEgg]

A few questions to try and help narrow things down:

1. By "first wrap above the deck", do you mean the wrap furthest from the positive connection?
2. If you fire the coil without a wick does it still pop?
3. Are you oxidizing the wick at all either by torching or pulsing on a mech?
4. What type of device are you firing the coil on when it pops? Mech? Regulated?
5. If regulated, how much power are you pushing through it? Does it happen at lower power levels?
6. What resistance is the coil you're using? What awg wire are you using?
7. Are you inserting the wick first then wrapping the coil around it? or are you mounting the coil then sliding the wick through it?

 

[Hans Wermhat]

1) Perseus has + connection at bottom, wraps up to neg.
2) I wrap on wicks after inserted into deck
3) Yes, torching
4) Mech, but using batteries that need charging (3.4ish V) so as not to over power a new build.
5) N/A
6) 28G kanthal, 6 spaced wraps, dual coil, around .5ohm, same build I have always used
7) see above

 

[TheOnyxEgg]

Ah ok, didn't realize that the Perseus had the + connection at the bottom.

I've had runs of coils in the past where I've had this problem, and it's almost always been due to the coil shorting to the wick. Usually for me this was because that particular wrap was too tight on the mesh. Once or twice it's been due to a kink in the wire used in the coil that I hadn't noticed prior to wrapping it.

I ended up switching to wrapping and mounting the coil first, then rolling up and sliding the mesh through as I found that it made it a lot harder for me to wrap the coil too tightly around the mesh. I typically don't torch the wick at all and just pulse with a mech to oxidize the wick along the path of the coil. May be worth a shot, it certainly improved my success rate.

Good luck!

 

[Hans Wermhat]

Yep. Tried ALL that.

I typically don't torch the wick at all and just pulse with a mech

Me too, but tried torching when that failed 3 times.
Still popping. I'm lost on it. Maybe a bad length of coil from the mfgr? Dunno. Gonna get some more wire today and give it another whirl. If it still doesn't work I will have a month old 29mm Perseus for sale cheap!!! Lol!

 

[Arthur]

Yep. Tried ALL that.
Me too, but tried torching when that failed 3 times.
Still popping. I'm lost on it. Maybe a bad length of coil from the mfgr? Dunno. Gonna get some more wire today and give it another whirl. If it still doesn't work I will have a month old 29mm Perseus for sale cheap!!! Lol!

Don't say that! I'll probably end up wanting it! I've apparently developed an addiction to collecting gennys.

 

[Vaslovik]

You might want to try using a partially discharged battery. A fully charged battery will pop your coil a lot easier.

 

[WattWick]

My vote is with the Egg; too tight wraps. They can be a beast some times. You really don't want to do it all over again, so you try to pulse. Sometimes it works, most of the time it snaps. Not really worth the extra effort anyway. Still, next time may be different, right?

There's a certain "feel" to when the tension is right. The coil should be moveable, but not too freely. If it feels loose and springy, it likely is. If it's hard to move, it's likely too tight. You should feel a gentle "scratch" when you move the coil around.

Also agree with Vaslo to start with a weaker battery. Just remember to switch to a fully charged one after; to make sure your insulation can handle a full load. Been there, done that. Left the house with a new setup and a new battery - not able to fire up 4.2 volts without hotspots.

For the topmost wrap, there's a little trick you can try. If you wrap it a quarter-turn longer than usual - then unwrap it again, you'll get a nice, round "exit" from the wick. Instead of the straight line that tends to squash/push/dig into the wick a little. Problem with this "trick" is you may end up with a small gap instead of perfect contact on the topmost wrap. Do check

Edit: Completely unrelated: someone needs to make a gennie that clamps down wires instead of the tensioning screws we got now. All it takes is a square washer in a square hole.

 

[Hans Wermhat]

You might want to try using a partially discharged battery

I did.

someone needs to make a gennie that clamps down wires instead of the tensioning screws we got now

That's why I got the Perseus. It has holes in the posts like a RDA. Super easy to get the wires in and no wrapping around the screws. The holes are even turned the correct direction so the wire slides right in when wrapped around the wicks. It's a great design. Nice vape too.

 

[Thrasher]

Wire tension is uneven.

Personally I wrap the wire on the wick then mount everything.
I pull one lead lock it in, do the second, then go back to the first and give it a little tug to snug it up

I also use the half dead cell and pulse real quick if I see the first wrap is the only one glowing, I will poke at the next coil a bit and adjust the spacing just a tiny bit. As wierd as it is what looks perfectly spaced and what works are two different things sometimes.

Look up the drill bit or petark method, it seems to work for lots of people.
Me, I just pulse it out slowly