Need some help from Aqua RBA owners

[bm2112]

So I just finished a dual micro coil on my Aqua and its not performing the way it should. I have the same build on my dripper and it works fantastic. 11 wraps of 28 gauge kanthal around a small screwdriver. For some reason the coils take a lot longer to get to a nice glow when compared to my dripper. The battery has plenty of juice, connections in my mod are all tight and clean, and I have the posts as tight as they'll get on the Aqua. I have noticed that the top of the posts get scorching hot, but is that expected with all the current?

If you guys have pictures of your successful Aqua builds, I'd greatly appreciate it. I haven't been able to see pics of that many builds and I'd like to get an idea of the coils/wicking you guys are working with.

 

[bm2112]

The coils don't hit too poorly nonetheless. But I'm getting a burnt taste. Last build I put way more cotton and it didn't wick well so I tried using less and I'm getting good vapor but it tastes pretty bad. Flavor control and air control are just about maxed.

 

[bm2112]

Can anyone help?

 

[Cool_Breeze]

For what it's worth, I prefer my Aquas with a single coil. I put wick in the other channels and plugged the 2nd air hole with a toothpick.

 

[bm2112]

Yeah I'm guessing the coils I built are just too powerful for the amount of juice that reaches the coil. What kind of resistance are you working with? I feel like going sub-ohm on this RBA just won't work.

 

[Cool_Breeze]

Yeah I'm guessing the coils I built are just too powerful for the amount of juice that reaches the coil. What kind of resistance are you working with? I feel like going sub-ohm on this RBA just won't work.

~2.4 Ohms here. The heat per watt concentrated in a single coil and wick, rather than spread out in two seems to work better for me.

 

[vapdivrr]

I have 2 authentic aquas and both I run duals. They are 27g, 1.8 mm diameter and 7 or 8 wraps. The total resistance is between .4 and .5 ohms. These perform awesome and never have issues with the wicks not keeping up. This configuration has worked the best for me as it heats up fairly quickly. As for the device getting really hot? I have heard of some people saying this and not sure why. I can vape both my aquas and both stay relatively cool..
Don't have any photos of it wicked but I can take a few tonight or tomorrow and will post.

 

[bm2112]

Yeah I would love to see how much cotton you have. I might have just burnt the cotton hitting it before it was saturated. I'm assuming mine was around .6 ohms and the body did seem hot.

 

[vapdivrr]

Yeah I would love to see how much cotton you have. I might have just burnt the cotton hitting it before it was saturated. I'm assuming mine was around .6 ohms and the body did seem hot.

Couldn't post pics last night but will tonight. Not sure but I always thought more heat to the device is either improper airflow from poor cloned devices, bad connections, to long and wide of coil bringing it to close to posts, and of course improper wicking.

 

[folkphys]

In my experience with the Aqua, if you want resistance below 0.8Ohms, you need larger-than-micro coils. I tend towards coils with an Inner Diameter of 3/32" or even 7/64". The Aqua has wide and deep juice delivery channels, so when your power goes up (=resistance down), the Aqua can usually keep up as long as your wick has enough capacity (= thickness/thirstiness). Also, I try and keep the coils as far away from the posts as possible, while still lining up with the air holes.

Using cotton in the Aqua can present a slight problem when you increase the inner diameter of your coils because you need a good bit of wick to lay inside those vertical juice channels. I now use Rayon, but from what I remember, I needed to significantly taper-trim the cotton wick-ends so that when they swelled they wouldn't choke off juice flow. I think I shaved off nearly half of the wick-ends (widthwise) as they turned downward into the channels.

With 11-wrap micro-coils, you've got way more hot metal than cool wick inside the chamber, which is likely why your Aqua is getting excessively hot.

 

[roosterado]

I am running a dual coil at .7ohm and vapes great. Getting just the right amount of wick in the channels is what works best for me

 

[vapdivrr]

In my experience with the Aqua, if you want resistance below 0.8Ohms, you need larger-than-micro coils. I tend towards coils with an Inner Diameter of 3/32" or even 7/64". The Aqua has wide and deep juice delivery channels, so when your power goes up (=resistance down), the Aqua can usually keep up as long as your wick has enough capacity (= thickness/thirstiness). Also, I try and keep the coils as far away from the posts as possible, while still lining up with the air holes.

Using cotton in the Aqua can present a slight problem when you increase the inner diameter of your coils because you need a good bit of wick to lay inside those vertical juice channels. I now use Rayon, but from what I remember, I needed to significantly taper-trim the cotton wick-ends so that when they swelled they wouldn't choke off juice flow. I think I shaved off nearly half of the wick-ends (widthwise) as they turned downward into the channels.

With 11-wrap micro-coils, you've got way more hot metal than cool wick inside the chamber, which is likely why your Aqua is getting excessively hot.

I agree with all except the coil diameter. I have always run my aquas with diameters in the 1.6 to 1.8 range and have had stellar performance. That's what's so great though with rebuildables, so many possible set ups that can be tailored to individual needs.

 

[Dissonance]

You could try cutting the tails of the wicks at angles so there's barely any at the bottom of the L and just enough to keep it from leaking at the top.

Also, if you like the concept behind the Aqua... Try a Fogger V4. Wicking is a bit easier (I've found I wick it like a kayfun, with the tails sitting on the deck above the juice crevices to keep it from leaking) and the airflow is so much better. Also haven't had a problem with my Fogger getting hot (running .7Ω), where my Aqua would heat up as bad as my dripper (running 1.2-1.5Ω).

 

[vapdivrr]

You could try cutting the tails of the wicks at angles so there's barely any at the bottom of the L and just enough to keep it from leaking at the top.

Also, if you like the concept behind the Aqua... Try a Fogger V4. Wicking is a bit easier (I've found I wick it like a kayfun, with the tails sitting on the deck above the juice crevices to keep it from leaking) and the airflow is so much better. Also haven't had a problem with my Fogger getting hot (running .7Ω), where my Aqua would heat up as bad as my dripper (running 1.2-1.5Ω).

There's that really hot aqua issue again. I have heard this quite alot and not sure why. is your aqua authentic? Or clone? Not sure if it's a clone issue but the 2 authentic aquas I use barely gets warm. I run them between .4 to .5 and vape them pretty hard. I have heard people having to use del rin tips because the metal was burning their lips.

 

[Vaponators]

Just received my first Aqua clone from FT a few days ago along with a few other items. Disappointed with a couple of the other items which I will write about elsewhere but I really like the Aqua. Cleaned it, completed my first build, filled it up with juice and I was pleasantly surprised on the very first vape. Vapor production is excellent and flavor is quite close to my drippers.

I posted some pics so you can see how much cotton I'm using. Hope the pics are clear enough.

I was shooting for around a 1.2 ohm dual coil build so I could use it on a regulated mod if I chose to. It ended up at 1.1 ohms with the following setup:
2 coils of A1 Kanthal 30 gauge, 7/8 wrap, 3.0 mm diameter.

Impressive dense clouds of vapor and good flavor. The flavor isn't quite as robust as my drippers but I'm quite happy with it. Never got a burnt taste and not a single dry hit. It never gets hot even when I'm chain vaping it on my Sentinel. But I guess at 1.1 ohms, that's probably not a great concern. Hope this helps and good luck on your next build.

 

[vapdivrr]

Just received my first Aqua clone from FT a few days ago along with a few other items. Disappointed with a couple of the other items which I will write about elsewhere but I really like the Aqua. Cleaned it, completed my first build, filled it up with juice and I was pleasantly surprised on the very first vape. Vapor production is excellent and flavor is quite close to my drippers.

I posted some pics so you can see how much cotton I'm using. Hope the pics are clear enough.

I was shooting for around a 1.2 ohm dual coil build so I could use it on a regulated mod if I chose to. It ended up at 1.1 ohms with the following setup:
2 coils of A1 Kanthal 30 gauge, 7/8 wrap, 3.0 mm diameter.

Impressive dense clouds of vapor and good flavor. The flavor isn't quite as robust as my drippers but I'm quite happy with it. Never got a burnt taste and not a single dry hit. It never gets hot even when I'm chain vaping it on my Sentinel. But I guess at 1.1 ohms, that's probably not a great concern. Hope this helps and good luck on your next build.

View attachment 357367View attachment 357368View attachment 357369View attachment 357370

 

[bm2112]

I must have a defective clone or something. Every coil I build on here takes way too long to heat up. Must be losing voltage somewhere. I seriously hate this RBA. Tiny deck, crappy screws, posts with no holes, etc.

 

[Steamer861]

I really hated mine too for all the same things you mentioned and the tiny tank the poor air flow
I had a hard time finding the right coil wick setup at first. I now use 2 micro coils and Rayon wicks. Less is more for the wicking I find just enough to make it into the top of the channel is enough. I did this air flow mod and now I use my aqua and it works good. It's still not my favourite
Aqua Origin Airflow and Auto-fire Fix - YouTube

I must have a defective clone or something. Every coil I build on here takes way too long to heat up. Must be losing voltage somewhere. I seriously hate this RBA. Tiny deck, crappy screws, posts with no holes, etc.

 

[bm2112]

Thanks for the link. I'm going to check it out tomorrow and see if I can get this thing working better. The last setup I had was a dual micro with minimal wicking, but the build was ~.6 ohms and it was way too hot for the lack of airflow. Nonetheless, I will never enjoy building on this thing. The posts are the most frustrating. But thanks for the help guys! If I get some use out of it then I won't feel bad blowing the money on it.

 

[vapdivrr]

I must have a defective clone or something. Every coil I build on here takes way too long to heat up. Must be losing voltage somewhere. I seriously hate this RBA. Tiny deck, crappy screws, posts with no holes, etc.

Definitely not the easiest of builds and whether its a clone or real makes no difference because like you said, it's kind of small. As for heat up time, airflow issues, and overal crappy material's , that's the chance one takes when buying a clone. And it does give the authentic a bad name because someone who buys a clone and doesnt like it will usually just say that they hate the the atty in general.