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do RTA's spill or leak ?

minimag03

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
It could be a number of things man. Just keep at it. Eventually you'll get the hang of it. I've been building my own setups for a almost two years and I'm still learning. I can promise one thing: the effort and frustration is absolutely worth it once you nail it down.

The type of cotton you're using matters a lot. Stuff like Cotton Bacon acts a lot different than standard cotton pads.
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
thanx mini

so, I put a new coil in it, one of the ones that came with the RECURVE. idk what its called, it has 4 wires, flat layed, with a super thin wire holding them together. I used it at work today, pretty darned nice MTL, till later in the day I got a :blech:. but the tank was kinda low, so.
 

minimag03

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I've had better luck with the Cotton Bacon V2, but that's really personal preference.

I'd suggest buying some V2, Prime, Kendo, some quality cotton pads (Muji, Ko Gen Do), and whatever else you might find. It might seem excessive, and you'll probably have a lot of extra cotton you'll never use, but it will give you a chance to see what type best suites you. Cotton is every bit as important as the coil and other parts of a build. Finding one that works best for your style is important.
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I've had better luck with the Cotton Bacon V2, but that's really personal preference.

I'd suggest buying some V2, Prime, Kendo, some quality cotton pads (Muji, Ko Gen Do), and whatever else you might find. It might seem excessive, and you'll probably have a lot of extra cotton you'll never use, but it will give you a chance to see what type best suites you. Cotton is every bit as important as the coil and other parts of a build. Finding one that works best for your style is important.
^^^definitely this^^^

And you can line your rabbit hole with whatever you don't use.
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I did. the length needs to be just about right, according to Mike Vapes, the designer , u-tube vid. I made the wick so thin I about thought the juice would just run out and flood the coil. but, I "may" be able to make it thinner, will give it a try.
Watch him wick it.

 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
He uses Cotn threads, but you can still get an idea on wick size and length.
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
Watch him wick it.

thanx. but the RECURVE works great. its the INTAKE that I neeed help with. though it is an awesome MTL. which all I wanted, at first.
now I want MORE . sometimes I want to take a good hit off it, and I can't.
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
thanx. but the RECURVE works great. its the INTAKE that I neeed help with. though it is an awesome MTL. which all I wanted, at first.
now I want MORE . sometimes I want to take a good hit off it, and I can't.
This guy is a real character, but he knows what he's doing.
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Here's a great question that I can't remember if you specifically said or not. What batteries are you using?
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
Here's a great question that I can't remember if you specifically said or not. What batteries are you using?

I have the Intake on my innokin coolfire tc100 at around 57w. it handles it no problem. the problem is a :blech: on anything more than a MTL hit
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
this is how its roll'n now. I just slapped a piece of CF wrap n it. yeah, that's a band = I would HATE to bust that glass.

IMG_3205.JPG
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
Remind me again what the resistance the coil is?

I never said. its showing .26. I really do think its my wick, I think it is to thick, even though it seems thin to a FNG. not letting the juice flow well enough for a good hit.
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
just watched the vid. see the clouds, that's what I'm talk'n about ! so I know this RTA can do what I want.

I would say he is right on. love his mod. I'm going to rewick this weekend.
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I never said. its showing .26. I really do think its my wick, I think it is to thick, even though it seems thin to a FNG. not letting the juice flow well enough for a good hit.
You'll get it.
He hasn't steered me wrong yet when it comes to tips about coil length and wicking for a specific atmomizer. Especially right in the beginning, videos like that can be super helpful. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth at least 100 pictures.

Not too tight, not too loose. The cotton should give some resistance on it's way through the coil, but not so much that you're really forcing it and if it starts to tear, that's way too tight. It should leave a bit of "poofiness" on each side.

It also needs to be cut not to log and not too short and that will really vary between atomizers. In the very beginning I tended to go too long. The ends of the cotton should be sitting in the base of the well, but never obstructing the airflow or bunching up.

RDas are usually much more forgiving when it comes to wicking than rTas. Good specimens of each have their advantages.
 
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gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Spacing your coils is probably a good idea too, or if not, you definitely need to work out the hotspots and get them glowing evenly and from the middle first, spreading outward toward the legs. Hotspots will burn small parts of the cotton and destroy the flavor and overall experience no matter how well it's wicked.

I'm still learning all this myself. :confused:
 

minimag03

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
As far as cotton goes, it's too tight/too much if the coil itself moves while you're pulling the cotton through. That's bad for a couple reasons: the juice won't be able to flow through the wick cause it's too tight, and the coil moving can create new hot spots that you already worked out.

And gs's post reminded me that this could be a hotspot problem too. They can not only burn the cotton itself but also cause junk to build up on the coil very quickly that can also give a burnt taste. I agree with him when it said it's probably a smart idea to space your coils at this point in learning how to build. That will totally eliminate the potential hotspot problem.

Also, what type of wire are you using?
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
hotspots = never thought of that.. I rewicked last night, and I looked close at the coil. it was glowing very nicely from inside out and a nice even glow. the wick however, I bombed. I let it set for 2 hours, went to hit it = flooded deck. thinned out the ends to much.

the coil is what I believe is a Clapton. I got 3 of them with the RECURVE RDA.
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
GREAT. those look exactly like the coils I have, mine didn't come in a nice package. I will space the coil and rewick.
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I learned a lot of basics from watching him work with and wick coils.
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
I had some success. spread the coil a little. little tighter wick, Muji, with it thinned out on the ends. juiced to about the level of the coil.
it hit pretty freak'n good ! not as good as what it looks in the vids (could be a perception and/or video thing), but great for me.

so I said GREAT, lets fill er up = NOT GOOD, flooded the deck bad. so I dumped some out. then dumped out what was in the deck.
after huffing on it a little it started working well again. so I just kept the level low for the night.

new wicking today. gotta get it ready for work.
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I had some success. spread the coil a little. little tighter wick, Muji, with it thinned out on the ends. juiced to about the level of the coil.
it hit pretty freak'n good ! not as good as what it looks in the vids (could be a perception and/or video thing), but great for me.

so I said GREAT, lets fill er up = NOT GOOD, flooded the deck bad. so I dumped some out. then dumped out what was in the deck.
after huffing on it a little it started working well again. so I just kept the level low for the night.

new wicking today. gotta get it ready for work.
Believe me friend, everybody goes through this in the very beginning. Not that I'm any great veteran either. Believe that too.

My very first experience with anything rebuildable (last April) was with the RBA decks that come with the Ijoy Limitless xl. Now, we always here about how anything can leak if not built and wicked properly and that's true. However, that setup is the most finicky and easily leaking abomination I have still ever heard of. I did not know that when I bought it.

When I went searching, I was both bummed and somewhat vindicated when I saw endless posts and videos about how people both couldn't get it to stop leaking and allegedly had figured out how. None of which worked for me.

It was a curse and a blessing. A curse because it was the only rebuildable I had at the time and it was driving me nuts, and a blessing because by the time I DID figure it out, I had learned a TON about the principles behind building and wicking.

Now I can build that tank every time with no leaks (or VERY little) and it actually vapes great.

I could tell pretty quickly that you and I are alot alike that way. You're a tinker who is going to slave away until you learn.

And you're well on your way too.
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
thanx, man. you have been a BIG help.

yeah, I know there is a learning curve. its just the nature of the beast. and I AIN'T give'n up.

I rewicked it. put some juice in, dry hit, deck ok. put a little more in, dry hit, ok. put more in, dry hit, ok. need to put more. and try it.


btw, GO BEARS ! pull that shit outta Da hat !
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
It went best for me anyway if I started low on the power and worked my way up.

Assuming you have it wicked properly, make absolutely sure you prime it really well and start well below where you want to be and go up 5 watts at at time until you feel like that build and wick are starting to strain. You can "feel" it and you'll get better at that as you go. It starts to feel hotter than it can handle. Hard to put into words but it becomes unmistakable after a while.
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
yeah, that's what I do. and 2w as I start getting close. then bounce around .5w = all this mod does.

I about topped it off, it "may" be starting to flood. letting it sit.

btw, BEARS lost in OT :gaah:
 

Vape Fan

_evil twin_
Staff member
Senior Moderator
VU Donator
Platinum Contributor
Press Corps
Member For 5 Years
just tried it, its flooding. rewick try # 32
Your talking about wicking the Intake RTA. Right?
Here's a method I hadn't seen. Note how he makes sure the coil isn't past the wicking port opening. And that looking at bottom of wicked ports, there are no open holes.
How you have the AF set, the strength of your pull, and juice viscosity will have input on what works for you.
If you can take a clear, really close up pic of it, maybe someone will see something that helps.
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
i set it down and didn't touch. just now hit it, seems to be working fine. off to watch that vid.

close up pics, its full, not taking it down now.
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
ok, vid observations. I didn't space my coil that much, and it isn't over the wick ports. he used different cotton than mine, and I do have some that "looks" like that. he put the wick down past where MIKE VAPES said to, just say'n. so, when I rewick it, I will do it like that.
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
That's an interesting way to wick. I see why he did it that way with that deck and it makes sense.

The main point of spacing coils is to not have the wraps touching in order to avoid hot spots. However, you do want the edge of the outer wraps to clear the airflow hole AND not so far that they extend much further than the inner edge of the wicking ports.

If the cotton is hanging off the coil over the AF you have the potential for leaking down the air hole and if the outer wraps of the coil are protruding into the wicking ports, you can pull the cotton away from that inner wall of the ports leaving a gap for juice to escape that way too.

The cotton has to fill the wicking channels while dry, but not be stuffed in because it will swell once it has absorbed the juice. If it's too tight the liquid can't move up through the cotton to the coils. Dry hits. I think Vapefan already said that, but just in case.

It really would be great if you could get some shots when you wick it next time.
 

Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
great, thanx. pics = I will try, I am new to taking closeups.

btw, I BOUGHT SOMETHINGs !
Vandy Vape Triple 28mm RTA SS $22. I wanted black, but $22 = hell yeah. this will be my beer drinking, cloud chuck'n, tank
Wismec Bellerophon 28mm RTA Black. I want something to replace my SKRR. "if" it works out, I will be using it while sitting here.
and get this, $5 ! yeah, $5 freak'n bucks. I hope its worth more than $5 lol. if not, no biggie.
$32 shipped, not bad me thinks.
 
I have the manta MTL RTA. It was the first nondisosable atomizer I bought. Single coil. Good flavor. I set it at .77 to .83 ohms and 30-35 watts. Nice clouds. Like some people have said. With any vape there is the potential for leakage at times. But I find the Manta pretty good.
After buying multiple packs of disposables for $20 a pop and sometimes they weren't even good it was fantastic to get a reusable atomizer with a tank. Cotton Bacon works the best.
 
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Jinx'd

Platinum Contributor
Member For 2 Years
well, as it turned out, the Intake was not flooded. I have used it yesterday and today. I think it may have been water still in it from when I cleaned it, idk.

later today I got a thought. maybe I cannot hid it harder because it have the power up to high ? I did not try it.
 

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