My next step....

[lymmranger]

Thanks for all your input peeps

It would appear that these things are extremely "tricky" to get just right!

It would also appear that I have a lot of fiddling/experimenting to do

..........I had better go and get some more "coils" for my protank2 to tide me over

[flavourtank]

Jun 24, 2015 8:20:19 GMT lymmranger said:

Thanks for all your input peeps

It would appear that these things are extremely "tricky" to get just right!

It would also appear that I have a lot of fiddling/experimenting to do

..........I had better go and get some more "coils" for my protank2 to tide me over

just keep those channels clear and fluff out wick ends

[kittyvape]

I'm new to building, and what solved my leaky Subtank Mini, lymmranger, was using more wick than you think ... I fold and tuck both sides of the wick in with a piece of kanthal, juice them, then, with the kanthal, push both sides of the wick down carefully, right into every cranny. Then I make sure to fluff the top of the wick up a bit, add a dash more juice, check it's not overall too compacted or will catch when screwing on the rba base cap, and you're good to go.

[lymmranger]

Hiya everone............

UPDATE time..........

seals are now leakfree

occ head now in use (rba keeps tasting burnt and has been discarded)

on the whole this has been a disappointing purchase

occ - seems to be satisfactory @ 2 weeks on

battery life is "poor" - I chain vap

-----thank god for car chargers!!!!!!!

......more to follow!

[flavourtank]

Jul 8, 2015 19:56:19 GMT lymmranger said:

Hiya everone............

UPDATE time..........

seals are now leakfree

occ head now in use (rba keeps tasting burnt and has been discarded)

on the whole this has been a disappointing purchase

occ - seems to be satisfactory @ 2 weeks on

battery life is "poor" - I chain vap

-----thank god for car chargers!!!!!!!

......more to follow!

I'm glad your having some progress, shame it's been pissing you about tho

[lymmranger]

LATEST UPDATE............

well this still frustrates/impresses me in equal measure!!!!!

I can now (easily) construct a wire coil (I find 6 turns for aprox 1.8 lasts longest)

I can now (easily) use the above to rebuild a "OCC" coil

BUT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

life expectancy is like picking a lottery ticket

I have managed less than a day, I have also managed 3 days!

.........ultimately coil gets blackened and wick burns

I have used the cotton that comes with the kit -X
I have used 2 other cottons from local shops ---X

Is this behaviour acceptable?

I am about to dump this "kit" - her indoors has even suggested I buy some stinkies!! (I said NO!)

HELP!

[chykensa]

WHoooaaa! lymmranger, before you even think about discarding your RBA base, consider a few things. I should add that I don't have a Subtank and therefore haven't built one, but a few basic principles are worth putting down on paper:-

1) Wick - are you sure that you aren't using too much wick, therefore choking the coil and preventing the juice reaching the 'element'? This used to be my main problem using rebuildable tanks and an element of experimentation is necessary to perfect the right amount of wicking material. Too little, and the coil hasn't got enough cooling juice to vapourise and it burns the wick instead. Too much, and again you in effect choke the coil, resulting in a dry hit because there isn't enough juice - the wick is strangled. It all boils down to experience!
2) Juice - what juice are you using? A sweet dessert juice has quite a lot of sweeteners in it, and these are legendary for gunking up a coil, preventing it from heating up properly. I only reckon on 2-3 tanks of dessert 'custard' type juice before I need to remove the old wick, dry burn to heat off the crud, and then re-wick.
3) Power - if you are using a 1.8ohm coil, you don't want to be using it at much more than 12w or the coil heats up too much and burns the wicking, causing a nasty taste. Try lowering your power to this wattage, and then gradually increase until the burnt taste appears, and immediately lower it a couple of watts until the vape is sweet once again.

Hope this helps, and remember that it's all really down to experience - I have been using Goblins dual coiled for about 4 months now, and I'm just getting to grips with the right amount of wick employed in the right way to give a consistent vape every time. Patience and perseverance are the key-words here; best of luck!

[letsavit]

As chykensa

Juice?
Air hole setting?
MTL or Lung hitting?
Watts used?

all above affect your milage from a coil and possible burnt hits.

[chykensa]

lymmranger - reading my post again in the cold light of day means I will add two further points:-

4) What rratio of mix are you using in your juices? This means the proportion of PG to VG. Most commercial juices fall between 50/50 PG/VG and 30/70. The more VG there is in a juice, the thicker and more viscous it is, meaning it is less able to flow quickly through a wick to get to the coil. If you are using higher VG it would be worth seeing if this could be altered by adding more PG to give it more flow. Of course, anything you add to a flavoured juice will dilute this taste, so little bit at a time, with care.

5) Coil - if you want to run your Subtank at a higher wattage, consider wrapping a sub-ohm coil - www.steam-engine.org is your best friend here. Thicker wire or more wraps will lower the resistance, and will enable you to push more power through the coil without burning.

6) There's more! - Airflow - increasing the airflow will also help to cool the coil, meaning it will take more power before burning.

As I said last night, experimentation is key here, but once you find the correct parameters, you will have a first class vape

[lymmranger]

Thanks folks

OK......

Juice is mainly "sweet" so Chykensa your points are noted! also I already realise that much more than 12 watts doesn't work either (In fact it never has from day 1 - all pre-supplied wicks were destroyed by more than 10watts and all purchased ready built OCC wicks were destroyed by higher power)). At this "power" the vaping experience is fine for me (until it burns)

.........this answers the questions Letsavit asked too, apart from "airhole" - I have experimented and found medium to largest settings suit me best

.....................So...........

this would appear to boil down to "wicking"

Below is OCC build....

I am currently on my 7th home made wick (1.7watts) and today is day 3. we will see....

when I add wick I try and judge it so that the uncompressed size is a bare fraction larger than the coil. I then twist one end and insert. I then untwist and gently pull it back and forward a couple of times. I then trim and fluff ends to ensure holes are full of wick. It is pre-soaked with a few drops and then put into use.

RBA - I need to spend some time un-jamming this - a friendly shop "nerd" set this up for me. He trapped wick in the grooves and this has jammed the 2 parts together

I am currently very busy at work, I drive huge daily distances and really really really need my gear to be reliable hence my PANIC!!!!!!

Edit - high vg currently although I have/am trying several different juices

[GunJack]

You might be better with the uncompressed size smaller than the coil - the cotton expands when wet, so it will be too tight in the coil when its soaking up the juice. This in turn will make the wick tighter in the coil and restrict juice flow through the wick to the coil,, giving the dry hits..

[GunJack]

Also, dont stress, use your old tanks for work until you crack the rebuilding... You WILL get thete

[lymmranger]

OK - day 3 has ended......

rig is still working adequately - Blimey! have I finally cracked it??????

[dagl]

I'm wondering if your istick is behaving its self...
You seem to have had more than your share of coils burning out...

more than 12 watts doesn't work either (In fact it never has from day 1 - all pre-supplied wicks were destroyed by more than 10watts and all purchased ready built OCC wicks were destroyed by higher power))

[lymmranger]

Aug 19, 2015 20:37:18 GMT dagl said:

I'm wondering if your istick is behaving its self...
You seem to have had more than your share of coils burning out...

more than 12 watts doesn't work either (In fact it never has from day 1 - all pre-supplied wicks were destroyed by more than 10watts and all purchased ready built OCC wicks were destroyed by higher power))

Give that man a prize!!!!!!!!!!!

new istick obtained

so far its bloody wonderful! what a difference!

thank you for the tip

hopefully I can get on now!