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Hot (lead) Leg

Serena25330

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Perhaps its the decks, or I've been building in such a way that frequently getting "hot leg".
I'm fairly confident that this is the right diagnosis: dreaded sizzle sound immediately upon pressing the fire button, emits somewhere between slightly burnt to very acrid charred taste, if I look at my coils when i hear that DREADED sizzle - I se what looks like a miniature prairie fire in my cotton wicks in the deck.
If I were to NOT realize this is what's happening, the outer clapton wire would start to unravel, producing ever worse dry hit

$10million question could be "what causes hot leg" but i prefer to ask: HOW DO I AVOID IT? Since my kennedy rda recently came down with hot leg fever, I now know its not limited to postless decks.
Very much appreciate your input, and thank you
 

MyMagicMist

Diamond Contributor
ECF Refugee
Member For 5 Years
Some rare times you may need to jiggle +/ bend the leg to an offset. Ceramic tweezers are the best to use for doing it. Pulse your coil while bending the leg either up, or down, left, right just a tiny bit.

You'll need to wing the direction of the jiggle +/ bend based upon what seems to work. Every coil will be different. They're unionized so as to make hot leg errors non-standard. "Ha! We'll annoy this vaper by never being the same error twice!"

Yes, hot leg happens even using simple builds. It can be a little frustrating if you're unaware of how to fix. A little applied patience can go a long way though. Welcome to vaping zen.
 
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VapeOn1960

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
I've had it happen a few times (even with simple round wire) I always "dry burn" my coil before doing the wick (looking for "hot spots" and/or leg issues) It also gives me a general idea of how many watts I will vape it at (say I get a decent glow, but slow "ramp up" at 20 watts... I will end up vaping it around 25 watts) I always gently pulse a coil when doing this and make sure everything looks good before even considering doing the wick (and go part way into the closet were it's darker) I don't have specific cures for "hot legs" (oh boy... that came out wrong) Also, check the resistance reading (ohms)... is it what you expected? Double check the mounting screws too. Finally, learn to "rake/strum" your coils. I have had issues with using very fine wire claptons... it's easy to damage the outer wire and not notice.
Did you wrap the coils yourself or are they pre-wound coils? Did you have to make any sharp bends installing the coil? Hey, I'm still learning too... I'm expert and don't claim to be.
 

Serena25330

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Ceramic tweezers by squeezing the coil, and firing at the same time. Before adding the cotton. That always got rid of those pesky hot legs for me.
Whoa before I ramble with questions about what is causing my wick to sizzle, id like to say that yes I do pulse and prime and more importantly -this thread has taken a hilarious turn of events with Vapeon69 (pardon me if I mangled ur screen name).
YES, u have nice legs! Perhaps our ex-husbands knew each other....same tactics
 
Whoa before I ramble with questions about what is causing my wick to sizzle, id like to say that yes I do pulse and prime and more importantly -this thread has taken a hilarious turn of events with Vapeon69 (pardon me if I mangled ur screen name).
YES, u have nice legs! Perhaps our ex-husbands knew each other....same tactics
Thanks Serena. Yeah, he was a piece of work. It was rather eye-opening how bitter he became when I pushed for divorce after catching him cheating for the second time. I won't derail the conversation about "hot legs--coils" with all the sordid details. Apologies everyone... I am still learning proper forum etiquette (haha). Next time I am re-wicking my RTA I will snap a photo of some real hot legs!

Rebecca
 

Jimi D

Gold Contributor
ECF Refugee
Member For 5 Years
Whoa before I ramble with questions about what is causing my wick to sizzle, id like to say that yes I do pulse and prime and more importantly -this thread has taken a hilarious turn of events with Vapeon69 (pardon me if I mangled ur screen name).
YES, u have nice legs! Perhaps our ex-husbands knew each other....same tactics
Are you using plenty of cotton? Kinda sounds like the sizzling wick may not be enough cotton. I’ve always packed mine pretty tight.
 

Serena25330

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Are you using plenty of cotton? Kinda sounds like the sizzling wick may not be enough cotton. I’ve always packed mine pretty tight.
yes, plenty. the sizzling is coming from a red glow that's not a FIRE, but more like a dry burn from mesh, GIVES OFF THE SAME DRY HIT FROM HELL LIKE MESH DOES WHEN NOT FULLY SUPPORTED BY COTTON? Sorry didn't mean to yell & this has NOTHING to do with mesh- I'm only trying to describe the symptoms.
After extensive researching a long while back, I heard the term coined "hot leg", as indeed its the coil lead that is the culprit - just don't know why or how to prevent. Might have something to do with the wick covering the screw where the coil lead is ---
STILL STUMPED
 

Jimi D

Gold Contributor
ECF Refugee
Member For 5 Years
No need to apologize. I understand, it’s very frustrating. Is your coil spaced or closed? Do you have ceramic tweezers? Sounds like that could be the solution.
 

nadalama

Senior Moderator
Staff member
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Member For 4 Years
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yes, plenty. the sizzling is coming from a red glow that's not a FIRE, but more like a dry burn from mesh, GIVES OFF THE SAME DRY HIT FROM HELL LIKE MESH DOES WHEN NOT FULLY SUPPORTED BY COTTON? Sorry didn't mean to yell & this has NOTHING to do with mesh- I'm only trying to describe the symptoms.
After extensive researching a long while back, I heard the term coined "hot leg", as indeed its the coil lead that is the culprit - just don't know why or how to prevent. Might have something to do with the wick covering the screw where the coil lead is ---
STILL STUMPED

I have had the problem you describe, but it almost always goes away after I strum the coil and get it glowing evenly. The other thing I'd offer is that I have never had that problem with a spaced coil.

Oh, and on a Kennedy RDA, and this may be too obvious (if so, please forgive), make sure you've caught both leads on each side with the corresponding side's grub screw. If you have a leg on one side that isn't pinned down with a screw, the other leg on that side will get far too hot.
 

VapeOn1960

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
Which kennedy RDA (24, 25 or 28mm)? Two post or three post? I've been watching videos on all of them (haven't tried one but would like to) I find two post/dual coil decks difficult (I've actually made a sort of "jig" to hold the coils while mounting them) It also helps to figure out how to bend/spread the legs (oh boy... did it again... hard to avoid on this topic) As tricky as this can be, I do still like the two post over the three post (just because the coils will be offset and the air tubes don't line up right) More details would help... specific coils, resistance (of each coil... will be half of that with dual coils) and power used (watts) Just trying to help... hope I'm not trying too hard.
Oh, and what @nadalama said is very important.
EDIT: I removed a sentence that doesn't relate to this build.
 
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