Advice - Orchid v4 setup

[jeffc]

Well this poor eye-sighted olde sod,tried to set up this microscopic deck. Jesus must now have to get a bloody big magnifying unit, so as I can see what I am trying to do.
Used 0.32mm kanthal wire wrapped 8 wraps onto 3mm dia drill bit. Came in at 1.4 ohms(dual reading).
Used `Jap` cotton,cut tails as per video`s viewed.
Result : set mod at 15w, lots of vapour, not brilliant flavour I was expecting.
Looks like a lot more set ups required before it works as good as other Orchid users post.
Should I be making smaller dia coils, or stick as is:being I use 80 VG / 20PG mixes.?
Looking like Kayfun,Heron,Spheroid, are my go to units, have mastered them all.
Shall try again to set this "fecker" up, hoping it will not next set up,have juice seeping from air holes.

[chykensa]

Well, jeffc, you and I must have been sweating over our little flowers at just about the same time! I've resisted the temptation to chuck the damned thing through the nearest open window various times over the last 48 hours, but have finally managed to get two reasonable coils in place (7 wraps of .32 Kanthal round a 3mm mandrel, coming out at a rather unexpected 1.3ohm 0 should have been .9!) and after a vigorous blow through to clear the juice, it is at least pumping out a bit of vapour now.
I still find the business of getting the twin coils in place a right faff, and hopefully these will go on for a bit now, allowing me to get some more practice in with my Plume Veil in the meantime.
I found the trimming of my rayon wicks very time consuming - there isn't a lot of room to play with on that deck, and I'm not convinced that the amount of time it has taken me to get the bleddy thing working is worth it, bearing in mind that I could have done 3 Russians in the same time!
I'll persevere for a few weeks, but I don't think this little baby will be with me for too long; it's just to damned fiddly!!

Happy vaping Jeff, and let me know how it goes

[jeffc]

chykensa.It`s settling down, leaking stopped,not made any adjustments. Ohms settled at 1.2.

Should I be aiming to set this "fecker" up at a lower ohms set up to get the best out of this atty ?

Early days, learning curve, my first dual coil rebuild-able atomiser.

I also will use a plume veil dripper to practice dual set ups.

[chykensa]

Mine settled down now too, no leaks and also not made adjustments. Ohms at .9 although was at 1.3, as stated above - don't know how that happened!
Had a long chat with *-SARIN-* about Orchids on Saturday at our Vapemeet, and he runs his quite low. Hopefully he will tell us as I've tagged him I know he uses twisted wire - maybe that makes it easier to feed through. I'm going to ask him if he can meet up and show me how to coil this little 'fecker' properly over the BLEEPmas period.
Early days for me too, this is my first dual-coil tanker, although I have had some success with DC drippers, although only to about 1ohm. Have some higher discharge batteries now, so can afford to go a bit lower, although I'm not too fussed about cloud-chasing.
We'll crack this Jeff, even if it kills us

ETA: Sarin clears his Orchid by holding kitchen towel over the air holes and blowing vigorously before firing the first time - you lose a bit of juice but it restores the vacuum and prevents any more leaking. Worked for me too just now. Apparently the gap between the chimney and the tank side is so narrow that the juice doesn't get chance to work down, and blowing forces it into the wick chamber/deck straight away and then the first toke establishes to pressure difference. You live and learn!

[jeffc]

chykensa keep me informed how the "teach In" goes. Gone back to using my KFL tonight,no more stress.

Now getting plenty of vapour but poor flavour, might be the new juice I bought, which is new to me.

Friday will clean out tank and put my own VC mix which I know very well.

Should I be reducing the nic strength when using this "fecker" ?

Another challenge to win in this vaping journry.

Good tip blowing out tank, stopping leaks: you learn something every day.

[chykensa]

*-SARIN-* got a nic head on Saturday as he uses 6mg in his dual coilers, and he was trying some of mine at 10mg! I've gone back to a Russian too!

[jeffc]

chykensa My Orchid has settled down to 1.2 ohms.Set power up to 14 watts.

WOW!!! masses of vapour and now massive "flavour" , working a treat on my istick.

Going to leave it alone and enjoy the vape.

Still need to get magnifier. To make setting up easier.

Where to get one ? (cheap).

[chykensa]

jeffc- I'm running my Orchid on a mech mod with a fresh 18650 Samsung from Torchy, only 3 weeks old. Just going to pop it on my wife's iStick as she's gone to bed, provided the iStick will fire it . . . BRB . . . .

[chykensa]

...... OK, forget that idea, ohms now reading .8 and the iStick won't fire it. Back on the Caravela and pumping out the vapour, although not a huge amount of flavour - this may be due to trying a new mix of Custard with different concentrates from usual, so not a completely empirical test!!
Never mind, onwards and upwards!

[jeffc]

chykensa My thoughts exactly, using new juice in this build, but will once empty will use my own VC mix but I`ll mix it at 8mg, just to see if flavour and TH is acceptable.

Lot happier that I have not wasted my money.

P.S. changed the drip tip for one with smaller bore,makes a diff, IMO a better cooler vape.

Onwards & upwards.

[chykensa]

Haha jeffc - just off the change my driptip for a larger bore, my cheeks are aching from pulling so hard to get a decent vape - horses for courses!

[Deleted]

Iv settle on a thinner drip tip, the orchid was too airy for me at first. I also have dropped to 2.4mm coils closer to the deck and now have next to no leakage of juice from air holes.

I got the Kayfun and orchid at about the same time, both first builds for me. Once the coils are on the Orchid it has is been much more forgiving on wicking than the Kayfun for me. The Kayfun is now on its 3rd wicking technique unlike the orchid, which I hope I'm not tempting fate here but I have never had a burnt hit from yet up to 15 watts. Have 2 orchids running now and another Kayfun on its way so can't all have been luck and I think the orchid thus far is the better atty.

[chykensa]

@letsavit- I'm sure you're right, but I have been using Kayfuns for over a year now, and can pop a new coil on and rewick in about 10 minutes. It's the dual coil aspect that I can't get to grips with at the moment, but early days.
Kayfuns are great daily use atties, and after the few drops of leak when refilling, are so robust that they never leak after that - superb bits of kit. I have three, and another on the way from China plus a couple of nano kits for stealth vaping on a 350 mod!

[Deleted]

Could well change my mind in a week just thought I will add an opinion as a new user to both attys at the same time. So no experience and no bias.

The second orchid liked to cut the wire before clamping but once I changed the screws and coiled it feels done, it's fiddly though, I kinda put the coil I at an angle to allow for it to be pinched and pulled over to the airholes. The Kayfun coil I find easier but wicking for me seems to be a fine art.

Saying all that the kayfun does seem to have a "smoother" vape and is used for my red Astair which I like at lower wattages. My other juices and are in orchids and I really play with the wattages depending on what mood I'm in, still not settled yet.

[*-SARIN-*]

chykensa jeffc

OK first the coiling of the orchid, yes it's a bit of a pain in the bottom but once done it'll give you weeks of usage.dual coiling is a nuisance as you've found. Here's what i do:

1) Make sure that there are decent legs on the coils. We're talking 3/4 to an inch here!
2) Put one coil through using post holes 1 & 3. Make sure that the coils aren't rammed up right against the posts or the second coil is a right %&*% to seat. DO NOT TIGHTEN ANY SCREWS YET.
3) Now for the second coil. Pull the first coil away from the post holes as much as you can to give you access to the second coil legs. Put the second coil in post holes 2 & 4.
4) Now comes the fun part, problem holes are posts 2 & 3 where the opposite coil gets in the way of the other legs. By pulling the other coil away you can get the leg through without the opposite coil getting in the way. Once it's through bend it up as you wiggle it through. Do the same with the other coil leg. It's a bit of a game of a little bit here,a little bit there but once both are through it's easier.
5) Concentrate on posts 1 & 4 now so that all coils are seated correctly. Screw post screws. Clip legs.
6) Only at this point sort the coils out, they might have spread or moved up / down as you screwed down. After testing the ohms, heat pinch the coils and move them so that they are over the deck holes.

NB. If the coils are as wide / nearly as wide as the post holes that they are going into then the coils will not stretch .

Yes there is a bit of faffing but the resulting vape when you get it right is worth it IMO. If i get time later then i will re-coil and post some photos but otherwise chykensa i will get hold of you over the xmas break and sort it out for you. It is different to kayfuns but better once sorted.

Airflow in the orchid is quite airy and lends itself to lung hits rather than mouth to lung. Tighter draw and better flavour can be got from using a narrower bore drip tip but also expect the temp to increase. The stock drip tip is the best IMO. I usually coil mine between 0.6 and 1.2 ohms with 0.8 being the most widely used