Mesh & Coil Nightmare

[4madcats]

Jan 12, 2013 14:36:41 GMT Skwoddy said:

Jan 12, 2013 14:17:28 GMT 4madcats said:

Not sure how silica as opposed to mesh will stop it shorting, & personally I find it more of a faff using silica in the Aga.

I always leave the syringe needle/paperclip, whatever I've used to wrap the mesh wick, in the wick when I wrap the coil, Just gives the wick some support & you can get the coil tight enough without strangling the wick. Also means you can play around with the coils without distorting the wick.
Only when I'm happy with the coils do I remove the support & gently push the wick over to the center post to get rid of any bridge. Give the wire one full wrap around the center post to get rid of any slack then tighten the top nut.

Silica can't short as there is no metal, SS mesh on the other hand is Steel and will short, the only issue I found with silica is two of the wraps of coil may touch together which lowers resistance. The other potential issue is feeding the silica through the wick hole but wetting the ends with juice helps.

Yeah mybad, was thinking coils burning out re to much power/hotspots, as opposed to shorting.

Have tried the silica method & I just really struggle to get the coil in the right position on the wick . . . by the time I've finished faffing the silica looks extremely fluffy & I end up not being able to see the coil any more.
Probably doesn't help that I rarely use silica 'cos I prefer cotton in the nova's, but it's just a tad too thick to use in the Aga.

[Skwoddy]

Yeah I know what you mean, there's a learning curve to all the methods, but silica can save the day when mesh is playing up, a friend whom I bought an AGA-T for only uses silica, I find it amusing. But I won't pressure him, I just let him taste the difference and let him decide.

[violetblade]

I don't know if this will help you Chris but it did help me so fingers crossed.
It's not a video for the aga but it's a nice vid for help setting up SS wicks

[vereybowring]

I'm not too familiar with the aga-t as I aint got one o' dem.

I use the drill bit method for making the coils, the videos of this are all over the place and it seems to work - but you do need a drill bit the same diameter as the wick.

Try gently pushing the wick over toward the centre post so the wire has less open air.
I also find on my genesis attys I make the coil clockwise if you would be looking down on it but coil to the centre post counter to this.
I find on the VHGenesis and the SS versions I have this cuts down the hot spots.

Also is the coil base fully metal or does the wick hole have an insulator ?
No insulator can cause issues as the wick can potentially be shorting on the metal base.
If this is the case the only solutions are, add a silica grommet to the wick hole, use the oven safe cling film trick or be really OTT oxidising the wick where it passes through the atty base.