Advanced coil builds on RTAs

[Jaximus]

Hi there,

So I have recently I have really been struggling with my tanks. These being a smok TF-V4, an orchid V4, a steam crave rdta and a kanger subtank. I love to DIY on the rebuildable sections of these and have found the best builds for both flavour, and cloud production, to be generally 8 wraps of contact 26g kanthal. Im not sure of the diameter as I use a coil master and everyone seems to use inch fractions as a reference. But it says 25 on the metal pole and its the second thinnest of a set of four.

I am looking mostly for good flavour performance and vape 3mg 70/30 VG/PG juice. I usually run between 40 - 50 watts.

When wicking I use organic cotton, currently cotton candy and I have read hundreds of posts regarding methods to provide a decent vape. Threaded snug within the coil so there is only a little resistance when pulling the wick back and forth. Wicks cut to sit nicely on the deck and not blocking the juice channels etc etc.

My problem is this. When using my go to method, everything is great. I get a really satisfying vape. However, when I attempt to build something a little more intricate (claptons triple twisted etc), everything goes .... up. I wick it how i would a regular build, but the flavour just doesn't come through. It tastes like I have wicked it wrong. I also tried stepping up the wraps on my Orchid from 8 to 10, and I encounter a similar problem with the taste being off.

Are the more advanced coil setups designed purely for RDAs? Or am I missing something?

Any help in this area would be amazing as I do love to try new builds, but I am getting incredibly frustrated when having a sub par vaping experience.

Thanks

 

[Taowulf]

Hi there,

Are the more advanced coil setups designed purely for RDAs? Or am I missing something?

Not at all. Currently in my TFV4 -

That is 22ga 316L Stainless Steel wrapped with 34ga Kanthal A1. Vapor and flavor production are great. Usually I run 24/32 Claptons in it, but i had some wire to play with, so made this monster. The wick (not pictured) is kind of an experiment, basically a modified Scottish roll wick, and so far, so good. Wicks great and haven't had any dry hits vaping 85/15 juice.

In the Griffin right now I have 24/34 fused Claptons, they perform as well as you would expect -

Wicking in this is also similar to how I have wicked the TFV4, with a slimmed down version of a Scottish Roll. Working really well. Juice is around 80/20 or so as well.

Now for my Zephyrus, there is no way to get a decent sized wire in there and I don't have enough really small gauge wire to make microclaptons, so I did a Tiger Wire build with 28ga and .5mm ribbon. This is around a 2mm mandrel. I finally emptied the tank so was able to take a pic. And yeah, the screws are in a sorry state. I've used this tank for about a year now.

So yes, you can do "fancy" builds in RTAs, it sometimes just takes patience and practice. Honestly with wicking them my old way I would get semi-dry hits once in a while, but I have had a lot of success playing with the wicking especially with the modified Scottish roll stuff I've been doing lately.

 

[Jaximus]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. Those builds are amazing!!

When you say slimmed down scottish roll, do u mean the diameter? Or length. Also can you possibly send a few pics when wicked please?

Also is there any way you could give a step by step account of your wicking method, as I am desperate to start trying all the different coil types.

I practice all the time and am patient with it up to a point, but days of fiddling with the same tank trying to get it right is incredibly aggravating.

Thanks in advance

 

[Taowulf]

Basically watch a video on how to do the Scottish roll wick on a RDA and then use less cotton. To clarify the width of wick I will cut off, for a normal 3mm ID coil, I would cut off about 2x the ID, so 5-6mm of cotton. For my modified Scottish roll, I will cut off around 10-15mm or so (I really should measure it after I eyeball it next time). Then peel off the top and bottom layers. and start stretching the cotton until you can pretty much see though it. My pieces usually end up closer to about 2 inches wide. Then roll it up, twist one end and insert it in the coil. It will be tighter than you are used to, but don't worry, it will wick fine For the TFV4, you need to trim the ends down quite a bit to fit in the juice channels. I run mine out all the way to the bottom of the chamber for when it is screwed on. Next time the tank is empty, I will try to get a pic. The second you drop juice on it, you will see how fast it wicks even though it is a much denser mass of cotton. It also can be vaped until the cotton is pretty much white and no dry hits. I started doing this again in the last couple of days on my drippers and have been adapting it for all my tanks as well. Well, except the Zephyrus, I got too much cotton on the last attempt with the 2mm coils and just with something closer to standard wicking for that one. I will try it again though.

I think it works because you are breaking the horizontal "weave" of the cotton and making it wick down the vertical "grain" of the cotton pad.

Oh, and after running a bunch of juice through it it pretty much stays the same, it doesn't get limp and compressed like a standard wick does.

 

[Taowulf]

I decided to pull the juice out of the tank (syringes are awesome) so I could take a pic for you.

 

[Jvincent516]

These new rta's are made for exotic coils.
Here's aliens in the moonshot 24
Here's framed staples in the augvape boreas

And here's more aliens in the steam crave supreme

I love them because it's so much easier to put my bigger builds in these. You should have no problems with any of the newer dual coil rta's. Heck even the single coil rta's are being made to accommodate bigger builds!

 

[defdock]

Even "older" tanks can support a clapton build as long as your withing perimeters, and have enough patience

Kayfun monster base.
After I posted this elsewhere, someone tried it "in their standard kayfun 2.0 and the flavor was fantastic!!!"

I enjoy the flavor I get, it's just a PITA to get the leads trapped :/

 

[Jim_ MDP]

I enjoy the flavor I get, it's just a PITA to get the leads trapped :/

LOL, that's the first thought I had... those screw heads really don't want anything to do with that wrapped wire.

---

I second the idea of the "modified" Scottish.
The only vid I watched... whoever it was stretched and then stuffed an entire KGD pad into a normal dual build. That was ludicrous.

I'd guess I cut that amount back by a third to a half, and it works beautifully.
I haven't done enough of them to throw numbers around, you just get a feel for it.
I roll it fairly tight, like a rug, and trim off a tad if it feels too tight going in the coil.

Actually pretty easy.

 

[Taowulf]

I knew I wasn't the only one trying this.

 

[Jim_ MDP]

Absolutely.

I'm sure The Roll was developed for RDAs, but I think it serves a greater purpose for our RTAs with their juice channels needing coverage or U-shaped sidewall cutouts that need to be filled.

There's a lot more tail to fluff out and close off leak prone spots.

 

[Hightech Redneck]

I started a thread that never really took off like I wanted. Some of the above look familiar though lol. Have a look at some of those pics and it may help having visuals.
Rta build pics

 

[Jvincent516]

I started a thread that never really took off like I wanted. Some of the above look familiar though lol. Have a look at some of those pics and it may help having visuals.
Rta build pics

I was really hoping your thread would take off. Good idea, and I love my rta's. I've got a couple new ones in the mail. Maybe I can give the thread a bump...

 

[Taowulf]

I would do more, but these builds last for a while.