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Serious problems with RTA's.

PatheticMr.

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
Hello all! I'm new here but have read a lot here after google searches.

Im having real issues with RTA's wicking. I threw away my Lemo about 6 moths ago (in a fit of rage!). Since then i've tried the Billow (havn't used for months due to wicking issues) and recently got a Cthulu and a Talos from my missus for birthday and am havning real issues with wicking. Dry hits after dry hits! I DIY juice and have gone as low as 60vg40pg (surely that is low enough) to try to get it wicking.
I managed to get my Cthulu working nicely at 35watts for a couple of days but after rewicking it (with the same method) its back to try hit city! The talos worked fine for about 2 tanks but then started dry hitting.

I'm hoping someone can help.. I've tried various methods from all over the webinet and nothing seems to be working.

I really can't understand why I can't get this sussed out. I've been using drippers for nearly a year with no issues, am confident rebuilding/making my own juice etc but am starting to feel like either there is some secret to this I've missed or that people are plain just lying that their RTA's work at 60+ watts! ;)

I'm so close to giving up and keeping 100% with RDA's... I do love these tanks tho from the short time I've had them working for.

Thanks! Jay.

PS... I should add that once I've taken the RTA's apart the wicks look relatively wet... they certainly ain't dry! Maybe this might shed some light on the issue?
 

Wingsfan0310

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Generally too much cotton (usually chocking the juice channels) causes dry hits and too little can cause flooding. I don't have your tank but that's the way it usually is.

If you turn it down to say 25-30 watts do you still have the problem. Depending on airflow, size, etc, sometime you just have to turn it down. Good luck!

Cheers,
Steve
 

fq06

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Are you stuffing the juice channels with wick? Or setting the end on top of the juice channel/deck?

As you take the tank apart you lose vacuum and juice is allowed to flood into the deck, even with the channels stuffed, thays the path of least resistance until the tank has opened all the way up. That is most likely why the wicks were wet.

Pics would help.
 

denrock316

Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
I'm having the same problem with my Lemo 2. It worked great with what came in it, and i've had it working great a couple times. Yesterday and today it just won't keep up even at only 20w. Using 50/50

PS- Got it working really good again. I think I finally got the amount of cotton just right. Also I think the problem is the juice I switched too for some reason this 50/50 seems thicker then any other 50/50 I have. I sure am glad I have syringes used it to suck the juice out so I didn't have to waste it or do primer pulls every few vapes the whole tank.
 
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Emberwilde

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
I run my tanks with 75+vg, I use TC and ni200 so a dry hit is no longer an issue as it were, however I do chain vape without issue and when I ran kanthal I never had leaking or dry hit issues by sticking with one basic rule of thumb: with cotton less is more
let me elaborate, when you are stringing the wick thru the coil minimal resistance is best, I can pull my wicks through a spaced nickel coil without disturbing the coils shape or position. If you are having to hold your coil in place when pulling the wicking through you are using too much cotton.
once you have it in the coil you must fill the entire area but pack it loosely.
In the case of cthulhu style decks trim the tails so the ends just touch the shelf at the top of the juice channels when the cotton is still dry.
In the case of lemo 2 style decks pull your tails up, screw on the lower bell section, trim the cotton about flush with bell top, and pack the cotton into the entire D shaped space, pack it lightly not tightly.
In all cases with RTA's the cotton should be loose and fluffy
 

denrock316

Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
I run my tanks with 75+vg, I use TC and ni200 so a dry hit is no longer an issue as it were, however I do chain vape without issue and when I ran kanthal I never had leaking or dry hit issues by sticking with one basic rule of thumb: with cotton less is more
let me elaborate, when you are stringing the wick thru the coil minimal resistance is best, I can pull my wicks through a spaced nickel coil without disturbing the coils shape or position. If you are having to hold your coil in place when pulling the wicking through you are using too much cotton.
once you have it in the coil you must fill the entire area but pack it loosely.
In the case of cthulhu style decks trim the tails so the ends just touch the shelf at the top of the juice channels when the cotton is still dry.
In the case of lemo 2 style decks pull your tails up, screw on the lower bell section, trim the cotton about flush with bell top, and pack the cotton into the entire D shaped space, pack it lightly not tightly.
In all cases with RTA's the cotton should be loose and fluffy

Thank you, I will give this a shot. I have it going pretty well at 20w atm. I did it fairly similar to what you said I think I just need to get it a bit more loose and fluffy.

Update- This did the trick I fluffed it up good and placed it in the D - shaped areas very gently and carefully wicking perfect now with 40/60 and 25w airflow wide open. I believe I will be happy with this tank now. :)

another update - Half way through 2nd tank full now still wicking like a champ. No dry hits no leaks very pleased to finally have this sorted out. :)
 
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PatheticMr.

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
Thank you to everyone for all the replies!

I actually did get the Cthulhu working again at 30+ watts (35 gives the occassional dry hit) about 30 mins after making this post. For this reason, I will not take pictures right now for fear of causing the problem again. I will, however, take a picture of my next attempt (likely later in the week) and will report how it is working. This way if it works well again then there is another resource for those strugging and if not, then maybe you guys can help me sort the problem?

This time I actually packed enough cotton through the coils to give MORE resistance (not agitating the coil though). I trimmed the cotton at the edge of the deck and basically did the pancake method. After this I fluffed the cotton out of the pancake shape and had it just touching the base, but piled quite high (about as high as the top of the coil)... does that make sense? I'm guessing I'm using too much cotton to go above 30 watts but at least this gives me a workable setup. I have yet to try this in the Talos.

I am having a lot of leaking from the airholes when filling the tank up.. even turning it upside down to finish screwing on the top cap (as suggested elsewhere). The airholes are closed when doing this.

Finally, thank you very much to everyone... I think I'll become quite active in this forum!

I'll report back later in the week! :)
 

VapingN252

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
This is mine. Coils filled but not too tight. Cotton extremely fluffed at the ends. 1/4 of that fluff in the juice wells. That how moist my wick stays. No dry his at 60 watts, but that too high if I'm seeking flavor

IMG_20150819_023110.jpg
 

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