Griffin doing my nut in.

[SteveF]

Feels like I'm having a real Victor Meldrew relationship with this tank.

I haven't been overly impressed with my Griffin, from the start it just hasn't wicked consistantly, giving dry hits on all manner of coils and wicking methods.
I have watched videos, God have I watched videos. I have tried plain coils, claptons, spaced coils, everything from 0.2ohm to 0.6 ohm, TC stainless, nickel and titanium. 40w right up to a mega cloudy 80w with 22g. Wicking has ranged from almost falling through the coil loose instant leak to the point where I know its too tight.

Every build I give fair chance to settle in with a couple of tanks worth and believe me that really does take some patience. So far the only thing that is consistant is the failure to wick. It seems to be a 'one and a half draw' tank then it has to be left to rest.

One thing that I have managed to work out is that I can only get a bubble from one juice well, irrespective of wicking, its the same one every time. Its like one side of the deck is simply not having it (or getting it) and this one is doing the work for all four.
 If I undo the cap...surely asking for trouble.... I get one big bubble from that hole and thats it. The rest of the time there are locked bubbles in the other three.

Now yes theoretically  I could be making a hash out of 75% of my wicking, but I marked the chimney and the base. Its the same well.

Hints and tips down to you Griffin users but after 3 months I'm still not feeling the love.

[thebishman]

jtc

[striker42]

Sorry SteveF to hear you are having trouble with your Griffin. When I wick mine, I thin the wick down at either side of the coil before tucking it into the juice well. I found this helped mine to wick better. I never really had a full blown dry hit from it, just that the flavour wasn't great, a bit like when you are dripping and you are on the verge of a dry hit before juicing up again. I also found that KGD is better for wicking than Muji for me with this one. The ID of my coils is only 1.8mm, again for me that works great but I know others use coils at 2.5 and maybe 3mm ID with no reported issues. Sorry I can't really suggest anything definite that will help, hopefully jtc might be able to suggest a more positive solution.

[minime]

I didn't have much success at first with the griffin with high vg juice, like you say trapped bubbles so I did some juice 50/50 and 2.5mm coils at .5 ohm and it works perfect now. I have quite a bit of cotton in the coil to.

[jtc]

Sorry to hear this SteveF
Ok my process.
I use spaced ss coils 8 wraps around a 3mm coil master
Koh-Gen-Do cotton and max vg juice.
I never get a dry hit or any excessive leaking as long as set up well.
I set my coils low on the posts almost level with the bottom holes as I believe this gives better flavour and wicking.
With the wick I cut about 6/7mm long ways off the pad.
I then peel a very thin layer off both sides, then cut in half making 2 wicks.
When I have them in the coils I cut so the length of wick is the same as the diameter of the base of the tank (22m).
I then fluff up the ends then gently stroke them from top and bottom so they form a dickie bow.
I trim the wicks by straight cutting across the front face of the coils.
This should trim them perfect for the juice wells.
Then gently poke the ends into the ring.
At the correct length they just sit in the top nicely.
I also check the inside by the airflow holes so that the wicks aren't pushed against them creating leakage.
With this method you can go up to 70w maybe more with shorter draws no problems.
Hope this helps mate

[SteveF]

striker42, wouldn't say that I've hit burning cotton although it is right on the edge but definitely dry and flavourless on the second pull.
Mostly used 2.5 and 3mm with better results with the 2.5. Hadn't really considered any smaller.
Been using KGD and Puff wicks, fine in everything apart from the Griffin. I had shaped the wicks so that there was a whisp in the channels, ended up really leaky.

minime I gave up on 75/80% VG very quickly and dropped to 60% any lower would mean a one off juice just for this poxy thing. Ain't happening.

lol, I've just had two lugs on it and the one big bubble has made its way up the glass with another stuck in the hole.

[minime]

Just used some 70/30 and it's still ok, with my cotton I remove the top & bottom bits then pull the cotton apart so you can just about see through it then cut a 10mm strip lightly roll it them try it in the coil. If it's to tight I run my fingers down the cotton so it pulls small bits off then when it's a snug fit I just let the tails just dip in the channels then screw the ring on.

[SteveF]

jtc , ticked all of the boxes on your method apart from the 80vg. And SS coils which I'm not particularly keen on anyway.

I'm running 6x 3mm 22g kanthal in this one @55w. it's taken 2 hours of experimental vaping to get to the top of the lower chimney. grr.
you have no idea how much I want to rip it apart and start again.... again.

[striker42]

IMO I would rule out vg/pg juice combination. I generslly vape 50/50 DIY  but I've not long since chapped a 70 vg ready made that I wanted to try through it with no issue. It really is a strange one, as I find it more forgiving in the wicking than some I have tried.

[Get Off My Cloud]

Bubbles only coming from one juiceflow hole doesn't mean only one side is wicking it's just the air can more easily escape from that one side.
I get the same on the Griffin, the TF-RTA, the Crius, the Herakles RTA they all do the same and i don't have any dry hit issues.

With the Griffin i keep the wick as short as i can get away with.
I cut the cotton so when i fold it down the end is level with the bottom of the retaining ring.
Then i sort of separate the cotton and tuck just the bottom third closest to the deck into the ring, the rest i position so it's just sitting on top of the ring.

Step 1 trim:


Step 2 tuck one third into ring.


Step 3 position rest so it sits on top of ring:

[thebishman]

May 8, 2016 18:06:45 GMT minime said:

Just used some 70/30 and it's still ok, with my cotton I remove the top & bottom bits then pull the cotton apart so you can just about see through it then cut a 10mm strip lightly roll it them try it in the coil. If it's to tight I run my fingers down the cotton so it pulls small bits off then when it's a snug fit I just let the tails just dip in the channels then screw the ring on.

Back using cotton again mark?

[SteveF]

I just feel that this ones a dud, quite a step to make but I couldn't get it to work in TC because of unstable resistance.
Which makes me think..does it have a ceramic insulator? Could be cracked and allowing the air to come in from the AFC like some of the Crius bases?
No weeping though.

I'm going to give it the subtank RBA treatment when its empty and open up the juice holes from round to oval...fail or flood time.

[anon4]

I diy 70/30 vg juice with no water, it's rather thick. What works for me with the griffin is remove that wick ring, while it's convenient to just tuck it in there it's easier to get wrong, I'd rather take my time and get it right. I have my wicks all the way down the channels, but before I do this I trim them to a fine point. I keep clipping away at an angle until the very bottom has just a strand or two. This helps mop up the last part of a tank with thick juices, and I find as the wicking process starts further down the channel leaks are less likely. I also trim flush against the channels after positioning to remove any excess "girth" that could choke juice flow while maintaining the length. Only then do I put the ring back on. Another thing, with your tank assembled can you wobble it around? My press fit came loose twice on the juice flow causing wobbling and leaking, it also seemed to kill the vacuum leading to slower juice flow to the coils. I removed the 510 pin, sat the base in a wrench (don't tighten it just use it for support) and tapped the deck carefully but firmly a few times with a hammer. After this I noticed my juice flow had good resistance and didn't wobble anymore, no leaking and wicking is more forgiving. Hope this helps. I love this tank but it can be a PITA

[SteveF]

@get Off My Cloud I'll give anything a go, tried big bunny ears and pancakes.

But the juice holes are still going to get a taste of Mr Jewelers File.

[SteveF]

May 8, 2016 18:36:16 GMT anon4 said:

I diy 70/30 vg juice with no water, it's rather thick. What works for me with the griffin is remove that wick ring, while it's convenient to just tuck it in there it's easier to get wrong, I'd rather take my time and get it right. I have my wicks all the way down the channels, but before I do this I trim them to a fine point. I keep clipping away at an angle until the very bottom has just a strand or two. This helps mop up the last part of a tank with thick juices, and I find as the wicking process starts further down the channel leaks are less likely. I also trim flush against the channels after positioning to remove any excess "girth" that could choke juice flow while maintaining the length. Only then do I put the ring back on. Another thing, with your tank assembled can you wobble it around? My press fit came loose twice on the juice flow causing wobbling and leaking, it also seemed to kill the vacuum leading to slower juice flow to the coils. I removed the 510 pin, sat the base in a wrench (don't tighten it just use it for support) and tapped the deck carefully but firmly a few times with a hammer. After this I noticed my juice flow had good resistance and didn't wobble anymore, no leaking and wicking is more forgiving. Hope this helps. I love this tank but it can be a PITA

  I've thought about the hammer treatment