Smok tfv12 prince rba issues

[PeterKay]

Hi guys need a bit of help here, I just installed that rba base while watching a few yt vids. With the coils that came with it, reading at 0.24ohm. I've pulsed it on 51W, checked for hot spots (as best as I could judging by wht I saw the guys did on yt), wicked it as best as I could. Primed the wicks. Screwed everything together, waited a couple of minutes. 70VG, 4.5mg juice. Started at 45W, few hits, went up to 65W, +5W at a time. Hard preheat.

Results: two of the smoke alarms in my flat went off but that's not the reason why I post lol

I might have overprimed the wicks. However, I'm halfway through the 3.5ml tank and the cracking and gurgling noises won't go away on the pull. Tried adjusting the airflow, changing the preheat to normal, turned the watts down to 55W. Gurgling and cracking remains. Vapor production is intense. Flavor ain't bad, however I think that the factory coil I used before gave a slightly better flavor. I get no spitbacks just the gurgling and cracking that I can't get rid off, so any advice welcome.

Another thing I noticed is the tank heating up a lot, mainly at 65W. Found that table and it shows that I can go from 43.7-73.5W with the 0.24ohm coil. So 65 ain't max.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6a/18/d9/6a18d946e8a2a912ca8d8778056af5de.jpg

Should I be concerned about that?

 

[PeterKay]

Second fill. Now that I run it at 55w the overheating is much smaller. I noticed air bubbles coming up from the wicking hole. Does that mean that i didn't block it enough with the wick? Or something else might be the culprit?

 

[stols001]

Is that table specific to YOUR RBA deck? If not I would junk it, because it's frankly, mostly crap. There are many factors contributing to overheating including tank size, construction, airflow and a billion other things. I would at the very least use it as the most RUDIMENTARY of guides.

I can't give you much on building coils inside a tank made for drop ins, I kind of never saw the appeal. It did make me think, "Wow, something that can do two things.... badly. So I have no wisdom to give on what is happening honestly,

If it were me I would personally start to build on a dedicated RTA (single coil) to start, and work your way up? Down? to Smok decks. Although I will say there are some who find them quite great so IDK, maybe they will be along shortly.

ETA: I see you watched the YT vids, cool.

I get bubbles rising all the time in my tanks, I think or I did when I used to check, there's nothing weird about it (IN A MTL RTA not a smok deck I should say.)

Best of luck, it hasn't exploded so I'm sure there isn't tremendously much wrong maybe you need a bit of fine tuning is all.

Anna

 

[sonicbomb]

@PeterKay Think about the physics of what is happening. Juice is being consumed from within the tank, this increases the space above the juice. If you continued this would create increasingly low pressure which would quickly start preventing any juice from leaving the tank. The rising bubbles is air equalizing the partial negative pressure in the tank above the liquid, and is both perfectly normal and essential. However a slightly lowered pressure is one of the factors that stop the juice from just dumping out of the airholes.
The key to a good RTA build is the balancing act between wick density, length and positioning in relation to wattage. Read this article.

Some crackling is fine. Gurgling is not so good and usually means that the wick is over-saturated. Try increasing the density of your wicking.

Ignore that chart.
The right voltage/wattage is what you consider to be right based on what your brain and mouth hole tells you is right. Too hot? Then it probably is. Not enough vapor and too cool? Turn it up. The general and often repeated advice is, start low and increase the power until vape happiness is achieved.
In my opinion (and experience) a good build will always out perform a factory drop-in coil. However some experimentation coupled with experience is always required to fine tune your build and airflow to a particular device. There is great satisfaction in getting a great vape, and knowing it's because you made it that way.

Can you share some pictures of you build?

I strongly suggest you have a read of the following articles which I suspect may help you enormously.

Why does my atomizer crackle&pop and spit hot juice on my tongue? | E-Cigarette Forum

Understanding the relationship between power and coil resistance | E-Cigarette Forum

Why do we strum/scrape/tap our contact coils to make them glow evenly | E-Cigarette Forum

Ohms/Watts Law - Calculating safe amp usage | E-Cigarette Forum

Battery Safety | E-Cigarette Forum

 

[Coyote628]

Yeah I had a smok rba deck with the tfv8 tank once. Very frustrating to build on and frankly, didnt work that well. Tried it one time and thought if I'm gonna learn coil making, I'll just get a regular rebuildable. So I did. Several. Different types. All superior to anything smok makes. And I never even wondered why smok doesnt make a dedicated rta. Or rda for that matter.

 

[Territoo]

If it were me I would personally start to build on a dedicated RTA (single coil) to start, and work your way up? Down? to Smok decks.

Yeah I had a smok rba deck with the tfv8 tank once. Very frustrating to build on and frankly, didnt work that well. Tried it one time and thought if I'm gonna learn coil making, I'll just get a regular rebuildable. S

Anybody have any recommendations? I have the Prince TFV12 RBA in reserve for when I run out of drop-in coils, but I hadn't had much luck using it. I got one good build, then with the second one, nearly fried my mod. I've had that crackling issue too.

 

[PeterKay]

Is that table specific to YOUR RBA deck? If not I would junk it, because it's frankly, mostly crap. There are many factors contributing to overheating including tank size, construction, airflow and a billion other things. I would at the very least use it as the most RUDIMENTARY of guides.

I can't give you much on building coils inside a tank made for drop ins, I kind of never saw the appeal. It did make me think, "Wow, something that can do two things.... badly. So I have no wisdom to give on what is happening honestly,

If it were me I would personally start to build on a dedicated RTA (single coil) to start, and work your way up? Down? to Smok decks. Although I will say there are some who find them quite great so IDK, maybe they will be along shortly.

ETA: I see you watched the YT vids, cool.

I get bubbles rising all the time in my tanks, I think or I did when I used to check, there's nothing weird about it (IN A MTL RTA not a smok deck I should say.)

Best of luck, it hasn't exploded so I'm sure there isn't tremendously much wrong maybe you need a bit of fine tuning is all.

Anna

It's just a table I found online on another forum, there's no tables or info specific for that Smok deck.

The reason why I got it was because I already had the tank and the RBA for it costed me 6£ (so around 7=8$?). And reviews were alright, so I thought- why not?

As to youtube vids- I just find it easier to watch how people actually do something rather than read and try to figure things out. There are often little important details that you can miss if you just try to follow guides with pictures and explanations.

I'll try to mess around with wicking and see how it goes. I'm fine to keep wattage down to keep it from overheating, I don't like a warm vape anyway

 

[PeterKay]

Thanks for a knowledgeable answer. Right, so where do I start... maybe with this:

Can you share some pictures of you build?

I filled the tank before I read your post, once it runs out ill disassemble it and take a few pics. Can't take it apart with the liquid inside, bottom of the glass pops up as it's pressed down on the seal if it makes sense.
Maybe you can spot something about the wicking that I did wrong, as I haven't changed anything that came with the RBA (coils were already installed).

The key to a good RTA build is the balancing act between wick density, length and positioning in relation to wattage. Read this article.

Luckily there's no leaking, but the article was useful anyway, one of the things I was worried about bubbles, taken off the list, thanks!

Some crackling is fine. Gurgling is not so good and usually means that the wick is over-saturated. Try increasing the density of your wicking.

I'm beginning to suspect the wicking. I haven't used the material provided by smok, instead I used some cotton that came with the cheap coil building set I bought online. When I was combing it towards the end, quite a lot came off. So maybe I thinned it out too much? Or haven't used enough to start with?

Ignore that chart.
The right voltage/wattage is what you consider to be right based on what your brain and mouth hole tells you is right. Too hot? Then it probably is. Not enough vapor and too cool? Turn it up. The general and often repeated advice is, start low and increase the power until vape happiness is achieved.

Since I have no idea about RBA's, I didn't want to wreck havock on my first attempt and turn it up too high, so I wanted a rough range of minimum and maximum wattage I should use for the resistance of these particular coils that came with the deck. My main concern was safety- I try not to do something if I'm not sure what the outcome would be. Also the tank heating up a lot was a really worrying occurence. I've seen what happens when 18650's blow up in a hand. So, unless I know what I'm doing I can live without experimenting. I'd rather ask and use external sources before I get enough background myself. That's basically my aprroach. I take risks when the reward is worth it, usually women are involved haha
So, if we toss that chart: what would you say the maximum wattage for a coil like that would be? Without frying the mod, wick, or getting everything to blow up?

Thanks for the links, I'll definitely look into them!

 

[dom qp]

I skipped everything everyone wrote so it might have been touched, but 51W for dry firing seems really high to me. At that power i've melted/burned my coils before.

 

[PeterKay]

I skipped everything everyone wrote so it might have been touched, but 51W for dry firing seems really high to me. At that power i've melted/burned my coils before.

Hi. To justify using that wattage:



If you stop the video at 3:06 you'll see that Mike dry fires it at 79W. This was one of the very few videos where the reviewers used the coils provided by Smok instead of their own. So I assumed 51W was rather on the safe side.

 

[AngeNZ]

I'm beginning to suspect the wicking. I haven't used the material provided by smok, instead I used some cotton that came with the cheap coil building set I bought online. When I was combing it towards the end, quite a lot came off. So maybe I thinned it out too much? Or haven't used enough to start with?

From what I've read, this may be the cause of your gurgling. It either has tails that are too thin, or you needed more cotton in the coil. Try rewicking it with the cotton it came with, via the method Mike Vapes does in his tutorial.

When you dry burn to clean the coils, you'll want enough wattage so that it pulses the coils a light red colour. With my teeny tiny coils that is only 15watts, but it will be a lot more than that for dual clapton coils.

It is hard enough to do your first successful build and wick in an RDA or an RTA. An rba deck is frickin TINY - so you did awesome to get a vapable build on your first attempt.

 

[PeterKay]

Can you share some pictures of you build?

 

[PeterKay]

From what I've read, this may be the cause of your gurgling. It either has tails that are too thin, or you needed more cotton in the coil. Try rewicking it with the cotton it came with, via the method Mike Vapes does in his tutorial.

When you dry burn to clean the coils, you'll want enough wattage so that it pulses the coils a light red colour. With my teeny tiny coils that is only 15watts, but it will be a lot more than that for dual clapton coils.

It is hard enough to do your first successful build and wick in an RDA or an RTA. An rba deck is frickin TINY - so you did awesome to get a vapable build on your first attempt.

Thank you for your kind words. I'm trying. I noticed emty spaces in the juice intake holes, so I tried my best to adjust the wick to cover these up. I haven't seen them earlier, I guess the wick compressed when I filled the tank. Wattage down to 55W, slightly better now but still essential amount of crackling going on, no gurgling sounds anymore though. There was a little bit of juice that leaked out, nothing inside 510 port but some where the tank touches the mod. Not sure how much of it was from condensation though. I'll rewick it next time the juice runs out and see how it goes.

I'm not sure if I adjusted the coils well now that I look at the picture.... but they seemed to be heating up well, inside out...

@sonicbomb

 

[Coyote628]

Anybody have any recommendations? I have the Prince TFV12 RBA in reserve for when I run out of drop-in coils, but I hadn't had much luck using it. I got one good build, then with the second one, nearly fried my mod. I've had that crackling issue too.

An rdta is the best of both worlds, tank and dripper. You do have to take care that you dont tip them over because the coils are on top of the tank and not down inside it and you will pour all your juice out. But, with that said, I bought a limitless plus rdta a few yrs ago. It is easy enough to build on and it really makes a nice vape. There are others besides the limitless and they are, in my opinion, a perfect place to start learning the tricks of coil building and wicking. A straight rta is tricky just because if you dont have everything perfect with the wicking it will leak horribly but once you figure it out, you'll be vaping famously in no time. Rda's are ok too as they are the most forgiving of wicking errors but they make a nice vape, but tend to get a bit messy with juice condensation. I'd go for a rdta as a first choice, then branch out once ya got it all figured out. My limitless plus is almost 3 yrs old now and it still works jus fine.

 

[AngeNZ]

Thank you for your kind words. I'm trying. I noticed emty spaces in the juice intake holes, so I tried my best to adjust the wick to cover these up. I haven't seen them earlier, I guess the wick compressed when I filled the tank. Wattage down to 55W, slightly better now but still essential amount of crackling going on, no gurgling sounds anymore though. There was a little bit of juice that leaked out, nothing inside 510 port but some where the tank touches the mod. Not sure how much of it was from condensation though. I'll rewick it next time the juice runs out and see how it goes.

I'm not sure if I adjusted the coils well now that I look at the picture.... but they seemed to be heating up well, inside out...

@sonicbomb

You will get a lot of crackling going on with claptons, it is part of their charm. It's just juice popping around the tiny little wire pockets you get in clapton wire.

From your pics, you need more wick through the coil - in the first pic it shows a tiny gap at the top of the coils. It's harder to judge with claptons - but insert the wick, then holding either ends of the wick pull it lightly back and forth through the coil. If it pulls through easily, you need more cotton. If it doesn't move at all, and makes the coil move - then you've used too much. Otherwise, it should be fine. It's a pita but you will get used to how much cotton to use each time.

 

[PeterKay]

An rdta is the best of both worlds, tank and dripper. You do have to take care that you dont tip them over because the coils are on top of the tank and not down inside it and you will pour all your juice out. But, with that said, I bought a limitless plus rdta a few yrs ago. It is easy enough to build on and it really makes a nice vape. There are others besides the limitless and they are, in my opinion, a perfect place to start learning the tricks of coil building and wicking. A straight rta is tricky just because if you dont have everything perfect with the wicking it will leak horribly but once you figure it out, you'll be vaping famously in no time. Rda's are ok too as they are the most forgiving of wicking errors but they make a nice vape, but tend to get a bit messy with juice condensation. I'd go for a rdta as a first choice, then branch out once ya got it all figured out. My limitless plus is almost 3 yrs old now and it still works jus fine.

Thanks. RDTA sounds like a good idea, I've read about RDA's before and I can already tell you it's not going to work for me. Having to drip every few hits would kill it for me- I never sit down and vape on it's own, I always vape while I'm doing something. Can't imagine watching a movie in the dark living room and trying to get the dripping done and watching out for the wick not to dry out. Or playing an online game and getting a dry hit in a crucial moment when I can lose. or running around the house with a bottle of juice in my pocket... I'm ready to compromise a bit of flavour for my own convenience

 

[PeterKay]

You will get a lot of crackling going on with claptons, it is part of their charm. It's just juice popping around the tiny little wire pockets you get in clapton wire.

From your pics, you need more wick through the coil - in the first pic it shows a tiny gap at the top of the coils. It's harder to judge with claptons - but insert the wick, then holding either ends of the wick pull it lightly back and forth through the coil. If it pulls through easily, you need more cotton. If it doesn't move at all, and makes the coil move - then you've used too much. Otherwise, it should be fine. It's a pita but you will get used to how much cotton to use each time.

Thanks again. It all looked ok when I dry wicked it, I did the pulling thing and it wasn't loose. Same with the juice holes- it looked fine at first. But once the wick got juice, it seemed to compress, which I haven't noticed. The pictures I took straight after taking it apart, before I played around with it. Might be due to the quality of that cheap cotton I used...

 

[stols001]

Sure it's cotton? I think cotton is supposed to expand but it may just be how it looks.

Or you may have gotten a polyester-cotton blend .

I like overstuffing my coils and wick so rayon (which shrinks) plays to my strengths. I just find it overall easier to deal with, honestly. Etc.

Just keep at it, you are gonna be fine but I am afraid.....
…….. it sounds like you are MADE for...…..;

…………….squonking.

Anna

 

[PeterKay]

Cellucotton 10 Metre Length | eBay

this is advertised as rayon wicking material. I saw it getting sold in US as well so you guys might be familiar with that particular brand. Is it falsely advertised or will it work well? thanks

 

[gsmit1]

I haven't read this whole thread, but I have 3 Prince tanks with the RBA deck in them and a ton of experience with it.

See this illustration which I made for somebody else last year. The deck is open behind that red mark you see there. You must have your wicking filling that space (yellow mark) or juice will sneak up between there. Somebody else may have brought this up and if so I apologize.

It's possible that this is not your problem, but that's usually it. This RBA is not sooper easy to wick, but it's not terrible either. Once you get it, you got it and it won't give you trouble after that.

I also have an airflow hack that closes off that canyon in the middle, turning it into a dual port setup with one on each coil. Why go through all this? Why not