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How often should I replace the wire in my RBA?

RobbieR

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I just started using the RBA that came with my Subtank Mini a couple weeks ago. I have changed the cotton a couple times in the past two weeks, but the wire looked fine after a dry burn so I left it in. Is it OK to dry burn the wire and keep using it, or should I be replacing the wire when the cotton gets bad?

Thanks
 
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skeene

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you can dry burn then run it under hot water (carefully of course) for quite awhile. I'd guess a couple months anyway. Easy enough deck to build on though.
 

fq06

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Not sure if it's a placebo effect or not but I find fresh coils taste better. Back in my kanthal days I would dry burn and rinse a couple times then rebuild. It only takes a couple of minutes and I do think flavor declines with old coils so I just throw a new build on it.

Nickel wire, just replace. Now I'm using stainless and will start dry burning again... but so far I have wanted to try a new build so often to play around with the stainless that I am not even getting to the point of needing to dry burn.
 

f1r3b1rd

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If I had a good build I would dry burn and rewick for weeks. I wouldn't change the kanthal coil until it was pretty obvious that it was that it was time to go. It'll be all misshaped and discombobulated or sometimes just pop when dry burning. The longest I had one go was 10weeks.
Nickel I would change whenever I changed the cotton-about a week to a week and a half.
Stainless Steel,- i have in coil on week 3 right now. But I've been rebuilding some out of boredom.
 
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robot zombie

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I've run a build for a month at the most. Dual 24's @ .18. I never had any problems doing that. The only real issue I can speak of is that once they gunk-up once or twice, it's like pregnancy. It happens more easily after the first time. Personally, I start to notice a drop-off in flavor after just a couple of cleanings. After cleaning, it'll be good for a little while, but once the gunk sets back in, the flavor dies.

You can probably run a coil for as long as you want. Just watch out for obvious signs. If you start seeing orange rust or they're losing their shape, then they're starting to really degrade and they should probably go. At that point, it's anybody's guess what exactly it is that you're inhaling. When this happens is going to depend on how hot you run them and how thick the wire is, but when it really can't wait, you'll know.

I'm hooked on that fresh-coil flavor, myself. Nothing like a vape off of brand new coils... ...but then, I'm one of those people who gets the itch to change builds every other day, so it's just routine for me to change them often. It is that way because I really enjoy building coils. If I don't build at all for one day, I feel all wrong the next day. If I didn't like doing it, I would probably be pretty content to vape on the same set of coils for week after week.
 
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OBDave

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Plenty of good advice here already - I usually get at least 2-3 re-wicks, usually more like 5-6 per coil build. Just broke out the Subtank RBA head though (my wife vapes Subtanks religiously and finally went through the 20 or so coils I bought like 6 months ago), chances are I'll be re-wicking that one more often due to using such a tiny amount of wick but only time will tell...
 

djkokalis

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what's a dry burn? Sorry foreign here. :p
 

robot zombie

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what's a dry burn? Sorry foreign here. :p
It's when you remove wicks from a heavily used coil and fire it just up to the point where it starts to glow before rinsing it with or dunking it into cool water. It's a technique used to quickly get the gunk off of used coils. The basic idea is to burn the leftover juice and buildup into the form of a frail solid that can be rinsed off easily.
 

RobbieR

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THANKS for all the responses!! I had no idea how long I could use a wire.

I really am enjoying vaping with the RBA, I should have started using it months ago when I bought my Subtank. Now I feel like I have wasted a ton of money buying OCC Coils
 

MrScaryZ

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If I had a good build I would dry burn and rewick for weeks. I wouldn't change the kanthal coil until it was pretty obvious that it was that it was time to go. It'll be all misshaped and discombobulated or sometimes just pop when dry burning. The longest I had one go was 10weeks.
Nickel I would change whenever I changed the cotton-about a week to a week and a half.
Stainless Steel,- i have in coil on week 3 right now. But I've been rebuilding some out of boredom.
hahaha same I think I tied you or beat you
 

robot zombie

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THANKS for all the responses!! I had no idea how long I could use a wire.

I really am enjoying vaping with the RBA, I should have started using it months ago when I bought my Subtank. Now I feel like I have wasted a ton of money buying OCC Coils
Yeah, rebuilding seems intimidating and cumbersome at first, but once you start down that path, you never go back.
 

djkokalis

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I dry burned my coil yesterday and it's like new! Thanks for the tip... :)
 

djkokalis

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Hey there again. I also own an ego one atomizer and have purchased also clr heads. They must be for temperature control because they have a red o ring. I tried to dry burn them but the coils break so easily. Any can guess why? It it because of the wire?
 

JERUS

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Hey there again. I also own an ego one atomizer and have purchased also clr heads. They must be for temperature control because they have a red o ring. I tried to dry burn them but the coils break so easily. Any can guess why? It it because of the wire?
If they are a temp control setup you're going to be using Ti or Ni most likely which heat up very quickly. So dry burning you have to be careful. If you let a coil glow too much it'll snap. So make sure you have the power very low for those materials.
 

djkokalis

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If they are a temp control setup you're going to be using Ti or Ni most likely which heat up very quickly. So dry burning you have to be careful. If you let a coil glow too much it'll snap. So make sure you have the power very low for those materials.

Thanks for the reply. How much power do you thing should i use?
 

raymo2u

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Depends on the build and the power applied, how many times and how long its been pulsed and such are deciding factors on how long it can last. If your easy on them then it can last more then a year (Most make new builds because they want to change up) but if you wick and rewick every few days/weeks then it can go on for a long time. The wire will thin and not produce as much flavor or vapor.
Heres a build that I have had going for almost 5 months now using it most of the day every day, I have rewicked it every few days and I pulse it lightly to clean the gunk off, New and recent pics:
22K 46N60 .jpg 22K 46N60 Old.jpg
 

JERUS

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Thanks for the reply. How much power do you thing should i use?
Just enough to glow. It'll start at a dark red/black, and slowly move into an orange glow and then a bright blinding glow. You want that orange glow, not the bright blinding. Just enough to either burn the gunk or at least loosen it up so you can brush/wash it off. I've snapped quite a few coils because I wanted to make sure I got it all nice and burnt clean (mainly when installing because initially some wire has nasty stuff on it).

As far as the power you apply, turn the thing all the way down to minimum and then move up and find where it works. I haven't used Ni/Ti so I'm not sure, I stick with SS and Kanthal.
 
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