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Do you prefer prebuilt coils or wire? Best Wire?

Soundsystem00

Member For 1 Year
I have recently gotten into building. I tried it a long time ago and use to wrap my own coils with basic wire and a low voltage mod ( provari haha ) and it was OKAY but I just started back up with Wotofo Recurve + DOVPO and I have been getting my ass kicked for month.

Every build seems to be a gamble. Even if the build looks perfect, it often taste mute. More mute than my sub ohm tanks like the Falcon, often. I feel like there must be some key, major thing that I am missing or getting wrong.

I think it may be the way I clip the wires and how I position the coil.

Also I think a lot of these prebuilt coils are a waist of money and I am having some more seasoned builders tell me that they prefer just plain wire because of faster heat up times and better flavor.

What is the best wire to get for a wotofo recurve? Titanium?

Thanks again guys for all of your responses and for all of your help in my previous posts. I am determined to fifgure out building because I love the flavor I get. I dont care about the clouds but if "flavor chaser" is a real thing, I am definitely beyond that point. I am always chasing the dragon and rarely hit the sweet spot.

Help! Any good tutorials that cover the basics? Wicking, coil building, ect.

Thank you.
 

VAPEROXX

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Member For 4 Years
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I have recently gotten into building. I tried it a long time ago and use to wrap my own coils with basic wire and a low voltage mod ( provari haha ) and it was OKAY but I just started back up with Wotofo Recurve + DOVPO and I have been getting my ass kicked for month.

Every build seems to be a gamble. Even if the build looks perfect, it often taste mute. More mute than my sub ohm tanks like the Falcon, often. I feel like there must be some key, major thing that I am missing or getting wrong.

I think it may be the way I clip the wires and how I position the coil.

Also I think a lot of these prebuilt coils are a waist of money and I am having some more seasoned builders tell me that they prefer just plain wire because of faster heat up times and better flavor.

What is the best wire to get for a wotofo recurve? Titanium?

Thanks again guys for all of your responses and for all of your help in my previous posts. I am determined to fifgure out building because I love the flavor I get. I dont care about the clouds but if "flavor chaser" is a real thing, I am definitely beyond that point. I am always chasing the dragon and rarely hit the sweet spot.

Help! Any good tutorials that cover the basics? Wicking, coil building, ect.

Thank you.
Well, titanium is exclusively for Temperature control, and its health risks greatly outweigh its usefulness in vaping in my opinion. The cleanest flavor I get is from 316L Stainless Steel wire. But it is not without some risk. You have to be quite careful about how hot you get it when working out hot spots and cleaning it. If you overheat SS316L, it sets up a corrosion that is harmful if inhaled. This is why welders are very likely to suffer respiratory issues. SS316L can be used in Temperature Control mode or in Wattage mode. So, I stick mostly with Nichrome 80. Very good flavor, very low risk as long as you tolerate nickel well. Some folks don't. As far a best style coils for flavor; I love a 4 core Alien coil. It ramps quickly, vaporizes efficiently and provides stellar flavor. They take awhile to learn proper building skills and techniques, but are very much worth the effort. As far as installation, I prefer to place coils in an RDA or RTA as high as possible in relation to the airflow ports as to keep the air flowing from underneath the coil. This also positions the coils closer to your mouth which of course, keeps the "life" of the flavor. If you want to try a set of these type of coils, PM me and we'll talk more about getting you some. The photos are the 4 core Aliens my wife is vaping right now.
0a15141a721b07d3677c9b286e190d74.jpg
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http://vapingunderground.com/threads/wts-wtt-aspex-performance-coils.434798/
 

Syythe

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In the recurve, I like to set the coil a millimeter or two below the top of the airflow walls. It has always gave me the best flavor that way, so it would be a good place to start to see where you like it.

And for coils and wire type, I like nichrome. Stainless steel always gave me a weird metallic taste (which doesn't seem to happen with everyone) and titanium is not ideal unless you really want to use it, take care while using it to reduce likelihood of toxins, and use it in temp control only.

I use tri core fused claptons mostly, sometimes quad core if I feel the urge. Flavor is very subjective, so what I feel gives the best may be sub par to someone else. To me claptons and aliens offer the same flavor levels, so I chose to use fused claptons mostly because it is faster to wrap than aliens.

Some will say that twisted or simple round will offer superior flavor, which could be true for them. The juice you use, the way you take a draw, the airflow you like, the mods settings (if using a regulated device), the way you position your coils, and your taste buds can all play a part in it.

The only way for you to know what gives you the best flavor is for you to try a few things and see which was best for you. There is no best when it comes to coils, there is just favorites and that is personal preference.
 

SteveS45

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Be careful what you ask for KingPin! You might just get it!

Send some this way and I will test them but I'd rather be vaping instead of building. Have plenty of RDA/RTA/RDTA's to test in different setups. But again I would rather screw in a premade and vape. Currently at 7,100 puffs on a Rafale .2Ω SS coil.
 

Carambrda

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I prefer neither of both options TBH. Prebuilt coils can be useful for a temporary solution if they're handbuilt by someone who already possesses the minimum skills necessary to build decent performing advanced coils for flavor chasing. That is, until you have learned how to build them yourself, and, THE most worthwile flavor upgrade in the coil building part of flavor chasing, aside from choosing a decent RDA immediately before you start comparing different coil builds, can be had by moving from simple round wire builds to handbuilt fused claptons, still assuming they are built by someone who knows how to make decent performing ones, not ones that are about equally as shitty as the usual prebuilt mass produced coils of various types that usually are priced only a couple of bucks or even cheaper. The flavor performance gap between simple round wire builds and fused claptons done right is fairly astronomical in fact. Whereas moving from fused claptons to, say, aliens, is a much smaller upgrade relatively in comparison. Yet, despite this, the latter upgrade tends to be easily in excess of 20% better flavor. Easily.
 
I agree with the OP. I've been using sub ohm tanks with drop in coils for about 4 months now to try and quit cigarettes... recently been considering starting to build my own coils, so I got a few different RTAs (RDAs aren't practical for me whatsoever), along with some prebuilt coils to see if any of them I liked enough to want to build. Got a pack of 7 different coils of various claptons along with an alien. Once I got past the immense difficulty of actually getting a pair of them to work on a double rig, I spent all day today running a pair of clapceptions on my aegis mod. It made good clouds, but I noticed it had a heck of a ramp up time... I had to puff once, twice, three times before it actually made vapor and flavor on the third attempt. But this didn't last long. Throughout the day, it made great clouds (after a long as heck ramp up time each time) but soon lost all flavor. Got home... burned cotton. I'm not surprised though, it took way up too long to heat up, even at a .30 resistance for a dual rig. So now I hafta rebuild the whole thing over again cause that long of a ramp up isn't going to work. Maybe it's my mod? Idk... but I'm going back to my sub ohm drop in tank after messing around with a new set of coils for a while and failing to get one of the coils to heat up whatsoever. I couldn't imagine how frustrating it would be to have actually made these then experience so many issues... lol.

Anyway, hello all! I just joined! I didn't say any sort of introductions section so thought I'd just post something in here and jump in!
 

Letitia9

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I agree with the OP. I've been using sub ohm tanks with drop in coils for about 4 months now to try and quit cigarettes... recently been considering starting to build my own coils, so I got a few different RTAs (RDAs aren't practical for me whatsoever), along with some prebuilt coils to see if any of them I liked enough to want to build. Got a pack of 7 different coils of various claptons along with an alien. Once I got past the immense difficulty of actually getting a pair of them to work on a double rig, I spent all day today running a pair of clapceptions on my aegis mod. It made good clouds, but I noticed it had a heck of a ramp up time... I had to puff once, twice, three times before it actually made vapor and flavor on the third attempt. But this didn't last long. Throughout the day, it made great clouds (after a long as heck ramp up time each time) but soon lost all flavor. Got home... burned cotton. I'm not surprised though, it took way up too long to heat up, even at a .30 resistance for a dual rig. So now I hafta rebuild the whole thing over again cause that long of a ramp up isn't going to work. Maybe it's my mod? Idk... but I'm going back to my sub ohm drop in tank after messing around with a new set of coils for a while and failing to get one of the coils to heat up whatsoever. I couldn't imagine how frustrating it would be to have actually made these then experience so many issues... lol.

Anyway, hello all! I just joined! I didn't say any sort of introductions section so thought I'd just post something in here and jump in!
Welcome to VU
I learned the hard way to pay attention to the wire gauges used for the prebuilt coils. Though I prefer ss I don't like messing with tc so ramp was a pita until I started ordering coils with finer Guage wire. Made a world of difference. Another option is to set your mod on hard ramp or use tc coils.
 
Welcome to VU
I learned the hard way to pay attention to the wire gauges used for the prebuilt coils. Though I prefer ss I don't like messing with tc so ramp was a pita until I started ordering coils with finer Guage wire. Made a world of difference. Another option is to set your mod on hard ramp or use tc coils.

Thanks for the welcome!

Yeah tbh I am not sure of what gauge was used... which does bug me. But I am fairly sure they are SS or kanthal, so I have been running just straight power/wattage mode. But the pack has good reviews so I would have expected better results than I've had. Gotten somewhat deterred whether I should pursue building or not, cause I really don't have a lot of time to spare as it is. I like the idea of being able to save some money and getting the performance, but I need a way to see it happen before I commit. If that makes sense.
 

Letitia9

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Thanks for the welcome!

Yeah tbh I am not sure of what gauge was used... which does bug me. But I am fairly sure they are SS or kanthal, so I have been running just straight power/wattage mode. But the pack has good reviews so I would have expected better results than I've had. Gotten somewhat deterred whether I should pursue building or not, cause I really don't have a lot of time to spare as it is. I like the idea of being able to save some money and getting the performance, but I need a way to see it happen before I commit. If that makes sense.
Even just installing and wicking prebuilt coils will save you a lot of money. With proper care the coils will last for weeks. Some of my exotics have lasted months. Wick is cheap and with clean juices only need changed once every week or two. Don't get discouraged. Accept VAPEROXX's offer of a sample, he'll be happy to tell you how to care for them. My friend loves his mohawks. Just tap on his avatar and choose "start a conversation".
 

VAPEROXX

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Even just installing and wicking prebuilt coils will save you a lot of money. With proper care the coils will last for weeks. Some of my exotics have lasted months. Wick is cheap and with clean juices only need changed once every week or two. Don't get discouraged. Accept VAPEROXX's offer of a sample, he'll be happy to tell you how to care for them. My friend loves his mohawks. Just tap on his avatar and choose "start a conversation".
@jwill used a set of my Alien coils for 8 months with proper care. He will confirm that statement, that's why I tagged him. You will likely not see that kind of performance and durability from mass produced machine wrapped coils. Good coils are like a good suit. They should be tailored to your needs and style, by hand, and with proper care, should outlast anything off the rack. Not to mention better service than the stuff off the rack.

http://vapingunderground.com/threads/wts-wtt-aspex-performance-coils.434798/
 

Carambrda

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I spent all day today running
Instead of running I always recommend to learn first how to stand up straight. Next in line would be to learn how to walk, and, once that's set and done, MAYBE running could be an option to start wanting to consider. :D
 

MrMeowgi

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I agree with the OP. I've been using sub ohm tanks with drop in coils for about 4 months now to try and quit cigarettes... recently been considering starting to build my own coils, so I got a few different RTAs (RDAs aren't practical for me whatsoever), along with some prebuilt coils to see if any of them I liked enough to want to build. Got a pack of 7 different coils of various claptons along with an alien. Once I got past the immense difficulty of actually getting a pair of them to work on a double rig, I spent all day today running a pair of clapceptions on my aegis mod. It made good clouds, but I noticed it had a heck of a ramp up time... I had to puff once, twice, three times before it actually made vapor and flavor on the third attempt. But this didn't last long. Throughout the day, it made great clouds (after a long as heck ramp up time each time) but soon lost all flavor. Got home... burned cotton. I'm not surprised though, it took way up too long to heat up, even at a .30 resistance for a dual rig. So now I hafta rebuild the whole thing over again cause that long of a ramp up isn't going to work. Maybe it's my mod? Idk... but I'm going back to my sub ohm drop in tank after messing around with a new set of coils for a while and failing to get one of the coils to heat up whatsoever. I couldn't imagine how frustrating it would be to have actually made these then experience so many issues... lol.

Anyway, hello all! I just joined! I didn't say any sort of introductions section so thought I'd just post something in here and jump in!
Welcome to the Vu :cheers:
 

MrMeowgi

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I will add Vaperoxx makes great coils. Have gotten a few of his grab bags myself. Still use the Mohawks 6 months later
 
Even just installing and wicking prebuilt coils will save you a lot of money. With proper care the coils will last for weeks. Some of my exotics have lasted months. Wick is cheap and with clean juices only need changed once every week or two. Don't get discouraged. Accept VAPEROXX's offer of a sample, he'll be happy to tell you how to care for them. My friend loves his mohawks. Just tap on his avatar and choose "start a conversation".

Just saw that! I may just do that I just hate being a mooch lol. I think I figured out part of my issue last night. I dont think my aegis mod likes the rebuildables too much. Seems like the same rta placed onto my voopoo ramped up a lot quicker. I just dont trust my voopoo with rtas is all. So I might need to invest in another mod that can better handle them with a good set of batteries of my choosing.
 

Letitia9

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@jwill used a set of my Alien coils for 8 months with proper care. He will confirm that statement, that's why I tagged him. You will likely not see that kind of performance and durability from mass produced machine wrapped coils. Good coils are like a good suit. They should be tailored to your needs and style, by hand, and with proper care, should outlast anything off the rack. Not to mention better service than the stuff off the rack.

http://vapingunderground.com/threads/wts-wtt-aspex-performance-coils.434798/
I agree to a point. My aliens from AVS last months. Some companies do a very good job and others are only good for trying out multi wire to see if you want to pay for premium. Much like you try a clone before buying an authentic atty.
 

Letitia9

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Just saw that! I may just do that I just hate being a mooch lol. I think I figured out part of my issue last night. I dont think my aegis mod likes the rebuildables too much. Seems like the same rta placed onto my voopoo ramped up a lot quicker. I just dont trust my voopoo with rtas is all. So I might need to invest in another mod that can better handle them with a good set of batteries of my choosing.
Set the aegis to hard ramp and it will do the same job for you. It pays to take the time and play/learn how to best utilize the settings for each mod.
 

Letitia9

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Some manuals are seriously lacking, I think companies are assuming too much these days. Not everyone who buys advanced gear is an experienced vaper. Daniel DJLsb vapes is still pretty good showing how to cruise the settings.
 
Set the aegis to hard ramp and it will do the same job for you. It pays to take the time and play/learn how to best utilize the settings for each mod.

I only use power mode since the coils are kanthal. Afaik hard ramp is only for tc mode... unless you mean bypass mode. Im afraid to use that.
 

Letitia9

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I only use power mode since the coils are kanthal. Afaik hard ramp is only for tc mode... unless you mean bypass mode. Im afraid to use that.
You can use soft-normal-hard ramp in power mode as well.
 

Letitia9

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On the aegis legend? How? Afaik theres no way to do that. Ive actually searched before
My mistake, not a soft-normal-ramp option, you have to use wattage curve in power mode. Same concept just a couple extra steps.
 
My mistake, not a soft-normal-ramp option, you have to use wattage curve in power mode. Same concept just a couple extra steps.

Ah yeah. It does have that. I havent tried it on the rta though. Worth a shot but Im not sure how high I can actually set it on this mpd since it is a parallel and not a series mod. I think max would be 116w with .29 ohm coils and 20 amp rates batteries but dont quote me on that. Really 90 is where i feel is a safe maximum.
 

nadalama

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Ok y'all, I just went through this a few months ago, getting used to using RTAs and RDAs and losing my patience with slow ramp-up times and crap flavor.

The simple fix: a single coil RDA with @The Cromwell 's parallel SS or N80 coils made of 26ga round wire. Use steam-engine.org to calculate ohms on your build.

The not-quite-so-simple fix is similar, and my favorite, SS staged heating coils made with one strand of pre-made SS 26/36 Clapton wire and one strand of round 26 ga SS wire, wrapped in parallel. Six or seven wraps at 3mm will give you a coil at about 0.25 to 0.3 ohms. Fires almost instantly and has fantastic flavor. Word to the wise with either of these coils, though - when you install it, make sure that both legs of the coil are well trapped by your grub screws - you do not want one leg coming loose and shorting out inside your RDA.

If there is enough room, you can always twist the two legs together on each end before installing the coil.

There are videos on YT on how to wrap a staged heating coil.
 

Letitia9

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Ok y'all, I just went through this a few months ago, getting used to using RTAs and RDAs and losing my patience with slow ramp-up times and crap flavor.

The simple fix: a single coil RDA with @The Cromwell 's parallel SS or N80 coils made of 26ga round wire. Use steam-engine.org to calculate ohms on your build.

The not-quite-so-simple fix is similar, and my favorite, SS staged heating coils made with one strand of pre-made SS 26/36 Clapton wire and one strand of round 26 ga SS wire, wrapped in parallel. Six or seven wraps at 3mm will give you a coil at about 0.25 to 0.3 ohms. Fires almost instantly and has fantastic flavor. Word to the wise with either of these coils, though - when you install it, make sure that both legs of the coil are well trapped by your grub screws - you do not want one leg coming loose and shorting out inside your RDA.

If there is enough room, you can always twist the two legs together on each end before installing the coil.

There are videos on YT on how to wrap a staged heating coil.
I do like staged coils but seldom use them. Pure laziness since I have the wire to wrap them.
 
Yeah that seems to be the main issue... even on vpc mode (100, 90, 85, 70, 55) the ramp up is still awful... it just takes too long to heat up the coils and produce vapor. Burned more cotton waiting 5 minutes between drags and didn't really even get a good drag out of it. Literally took less than 15 drags before it burned... I think maybe I need higher ohm coils. More heat through resistance. That or I am not doing the coils properly, but only so many ways to do it on such a small build deck. Now I see why RDAs and/or squonking is a thing.

Guess I should try a heating coil, but I don't really have a set-up ready to make coils yet. I have no table or anything to do that one, no room, no clamp to set up swivels on, and no wire.
 

Letitia9

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Yeah that seems to be the main issue... even on vpc mode (100, 90, 85, 70, 55) the ramp up is still awful... it just takes too long to heat up the coils and produce vapor. Burned more cotton waiting 5 minutes between drags and didn't really even get a good drag out of it. Literally took less than 15 drags before it burned... I think maybe I need higher ohm coils. More heat through resistance. That or I am not doing the coils properly, but only so many ways to do it on such a small build deck. Now I see why RDAs and/or squonking is a thing.

Guess I should try a heating coil, but I don't really have a set-up ready to make coils yet. I have no table or anything to do that one, no room, no clamp to set up swivels on, and no wire.
I sit on my couch and build, you don't need a table to wrap or install a coil or wick. It does help if you wait until the fur babies are asleep tho. They like to "help".
 
Ok y'all, I just went through this a few months ago, getting used to using RTAs and RDAs and losing my patience with slow ramp-up times and crap flavor.

The simple fix: a single coil RDA with @The Cromwell 's parallel SS or N80 coils made of 26ga round wire. Use steam-engine.org to calculate ohms on your build.

The not-quite-so-simple fix is similar, and my favorite, SS staged heating coils made with one strand of pre-made SS 26/36 Clapton wire and one strand of round 26 ga SS wire, wrapped in parallel. Six or seven wraps at 3mm will give you a coil at about 0.25 to 0.3 ohms. Fires almost instantly and has fantastic flavor. Word to the wise with either of these coils, though - when you install it, make sure that both legs of the coil are well trapped by your grub screws - you do not want one leg coming loose and shorting out inside your RDA.

If there is enough room, you can always twist the two legs together on each end before installing the coil.

There are videos on YT on how to wrap a staged heating coil.

I can see why people use RDAs, but unless I have a squonker set-up, there is no appeal to me whatsoever unless I am using it for CBD and only need to use as needed. It's too much hassle to use as a daily, like when working, which is why I am wanting an RTA to work.

I sit on my couch and build, you don't need a table to wrap or install a coil or wick. It does help if you wait until the fur babies are asleep tho. They like to "help".

Lol! Fair enough. I take it this is more of a wrap by hand method then, assuming one has a good set of pre-made claptons?
 

nadalama

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Yeah that seems to be the main issue... even on vpc mode (100, 90, 85, 70, 55) the ramp up is still awful... it just takes too long to heat up the coils and produce vapor. Burned more cotton waiting 5 minutes between drags and didn't really even get a good drag out of it. Literally took less than 15 drags before it burned... I think maybe I need higher ohm coils. More heat through resistance. That or I am not doing the coils properly, but only so many ways to do it on such a small build deck. Now I see why RDAs and/or squonking is a thing.

Guess I should try a heating coil, but I don't really have a set-up ready to make coils yet. I have no table or anything to do that one, no room, no clamp to set up swivels on, and no wire.

These days you can buy Clapton wire on a spool. I've used Geekvape and Lighting Vapes brands. Both work great.

I sit in my recliner to build. Have a small toolkit that cost about $20, and a cookie tin with wire in it.
 

Letitia9

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I can see why people use RDAs, but unless I have a squonker set-up, there is no appeal to me whatsoever unless I am using it for CBD and only need to use as needed. It's too much hassle to use as a daily, like when working, which is why I am wanting an RTA to work.



Lol! Fair enough. I take it this is more of a wrap by hand method then, assuming one has a good set of pre-made claptons?
Not necessarily, I also have spools of multi wire, tri core parallel fc from AVS is my favorite. Code AVS was good for 20% off last time I made an order. Code NEWSUBSALE may still be active for 30% off.
https://www.advancedvapesupply.com/collections/spooled-ss-prebuilt-wire
 

Letitia9

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I'm afraid I've outgrown my tins, use those for car and work kit now.
2019-05-30 19.25.07.jpg these are handy and pack away neatly. Built-in lap desk to boot. Few bucks each at walmart.
 
I sit on my couch and build, you don't need a table to wrap or install a coil or wick. It does help if you wait until the fur babies are asleep tho. They like to "help".

These days you can buy Clapton wire on a spool. I've used Geekvape and Lighting Vapes brands. Both work great.

I sit in my recliner to build. Have a small toolkit that cost about $20, and a cookie tin with wire in it.
Lightning vapes are the premade coils I'm using now, I got the 7 in 1 demon killer kit to test out. I tried to rewick my coils since the last ones burned... and RTA is leaking all over my desk.... ugh. This is way harder than it should be. I.m just gonna stick with normal screw in coils... I can vape them for weeks at 85 watts without leaks, or issues, with weekly cleaning...
 
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Letitia9

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Lightning vapes are the premade coils I'm using now, I got the 7 in 1 demon killer kit to test out. I tried to rewick my coils since the last ones burned... and RTA is leaking all over my desk.... ugh. This is way harder than it should be. I.m just gonna stick with normal screw in coils...
Wicking has a learning curve but if you watch a video or two for the atty it doesn't take long to master. Nothing wrong with drop ins if you can afford them.
 
Wicking has a learning curve but if you watch a video or two for the atty it doesn't take long to master. Nothing wrong with drop ins if you can afford them.

They all show perfect, even, wicks... I'm using cotton bacon/natural wicks... they don't look like that when cut. And how they fit so much cotton through the coils is a mystery to me. I can't do it. It's so tight it actually shifts the coils when I go to pull it through if I try to simulate that much cotton. Also, they don't look anything like what is shown when pulled through. Only way I can do is to use basically the entire length of cotton, cutting it so that it start as a teey point and progresses into a big chunk. Even then, I have two uneven sides. I've seen a lot of videos on wicking.... I don't know. Something I'm missing.
 

Letitia9

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They all show perfect, even, wicks... I'm using cotton bacon/natural wicks... they don't look like that when cut. And how they fit so much cotton through the coils is a mystery to me. I can't do it. It's so tight it actually shifts the coils when I go to pull it through if I try to simulate that much cotton. Also, they don't look anything like what is shown when pulled through. Only way I can do is to use basically the entire length of cotton, cutting it so that it start as a teey point and progresses into a big chunk. Even then, I have two uneven sides. I've seen a lot of videos on wicking.... I don't know. Something I'm missing.
I don’t care for cotton bacon so can't help with it but rule of thumb is the wick should be tight enough to shift the coil a tad when pulling through but not displace it. One end will always look thinner than the other just because you pulled it thru the coil. Would be easier to stick with 3mm id coils and make a one time splurge for COTN threads or firebolt wicks until you get a feel for it. Koh Gen Do cotton pads are cheap and the easiest to learn with imo. The wick performs well and has no breakin. You can find it on amazon, KGD is what I think all new builders should use to learn with personally.
 
I don’t care for cotton bacon so can't help with it but rule of thumb is the wick should be tight enough to shift the coil a tad when pulling through but not displace it. One end will always look thinner than the other just because you pulled it thru the coil. Would be easier to stick with 3mm id coils and make a one time splurge for COTN threads or firebolt wicks until you get a feel for it. Koh Gen Do cotton pads are cheap and the easiest to learn with imo. The wick performs well and has no breakin. You can find it on amazon, KGD is what I think all new builders should use to learn with personally.

Thanks, I will look into that. I do have some pads that came with one of my RTAs, but I didn't know if they were worth trying or not. I'm using the native wicks more than the cotton bacon... both seem to be a mess in the package imo. Nothing uniform about either one of them. Lumps and whatnot.
 

Letitia9

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Thanks, I will look into that. I do have some pads that came with one of my RTAs, but I didn't know if they were worth trying or not. I'm using the native wicks more than the cotton bacon... both seem to be a mess in the package imo. Nothing uniform about either one of them. Lumps and whatnot.
My native wicks platinum isn't lumpy, fibers are almost as straight as the KGD actually. It does last a couple days longer before tasting too sweet. Is yours not in a rope form?
 

MrMeowgi

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Another way you can do it is mount one side of the mesh and place the cotton under the mesh then mount the other side. I've never used cotton bacon for the profile or unity rta. Only the provided wotofo cotton strips. There are some videos of placing the cotton in the coil on YouTube. I also have one for the unity rta on YouTube I'll link below. I wick both devices exactly the same.

 

Carambrda

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I can see why people use RDAs,
Can you? I mean... aside from getting better flavor from dripping I drip because it actually is less hassle, not more. I'm so lazy in fact it usually takes me several months before I have pulled enough energy together to build another nice coil.
 

Carambrda

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They all show perfect, even, wicks... I'm using cotton bacon/natural wicks... they don't look like that when cut. And how they fit so much cotton through the coils is a mystery to me. I can't do it. It's so tight it actually shifts the coils when I go to pull it through if I try to simulate that much cotton. Also, they don't look anything like what is shown when pulled through. Only way I can do is to use basically the entire length of cotton, cutting it so that it start as a teey point and progresses into a big chunk. Even then, I have two uneven sides. I've seen a lot of videos on wicking.... I don't know. Something I'm missing.
Here's how I do it:


With an RTA there are additional steps involved to get it to neither leak nor mute the flavor, but the rest of the process is completely the same.
 
My native wicks platinum isn't lumpy, fibers are almost as straight as the KGD actually. It does last a couple days longer before tasting too sweet. Is yours not in a rope form?

Kind of? Its like a semi-squished ball that has a thinner piece off one side. Based on that video though i might be better off using the bacon since it being in strips does make it easier to get a straight piece from it. I wasnt really fluffing it out like shown or rolling the whole piece in my hands before slipping it through the coil. So Ill be trying that tonight for sure.
 

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