Advanced E-cig users and oil/wax, how-to "one-hitter-quitter"
- Thread starter TrueNorthStar
- Start date
MileHighLife
Blower of glass, grower of grass
If it works I'll be right behind you ..
fernand
Well-Known Member
@2clicker, not to be a jerk, but silica is glass. It does not burn, it's the residue on it that burns. You COULD theoretically melt it around 3,000 degrees F, I've never managed. Here I'm cleaning these wicks with a torch. They end up pure white. And I almost cooked my camera ;-)
As to Quartz, "Quartz is just one of 11 crystalline and 2 non-crystalline polymorphs[1] (also called modifications) of the compound silica, SiO2 ".
As to Quartz, "Quartz is just one of 11 crystalline and 2 non-crystalline polymorphs[1] (also called modifications) of the compound silica, SiO2 ".
Last edited:
215z
Well-Known Member
@fernand check out how your own silica wicks are stiffer and more brittle after torching. Silica won't wick as well after about 3 torchings. I personally can't ever get bad flavors out of silica, say after vaping reclaim, or even after burning good oil on it. I know lots of people are happy with silica though, and it certainly easy to get ahold of.
2clicker
Observer
they are correct. it must be kiln fired at 800-900 deg for like 8 hours. luckily for us RBASupplies.com fires theirs at like 1200 degrees for like 12 hours.
i know its glass but wasnt sure of its melting point. regardless i have used silica for oil many times and it can taste like shit if not pampered. i dont have patience for all of that.
That's the one. Thanks for posting it.
It should work in any RDA, as long as you have the room and have large enough post holes, I have built one on an IGO-L, second build, built as in the video. Still going strong.
I have never used ss mesh... maybe I should try to see? The SS rope I got was on amazon, atomizerwick was the name of the company selling through them, if memory serves. Probably one could obtain the same thing at the local hardware store? As for taste.... hmmm, IDK... seems to taste at least as good as the x-116, which I can detect a flavor in. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the SS rope retains a tiny bit of oil and it keeps it from a complete dry burn from dab to dab?
You'll really like it when you go to a thicker gauge and then wrap it.... it's all about surface area.
The readywick stuff is suppose to be safe, as pointed out by 2clicker, but I find the fraying a bit disheartening.
One really nice thing about the wickless coil and the x-116 is that you can switch to dripping without a hiccup when you are out and about... loading a dab is obvious, dripping isn't so much so. Not as convenient as a tank, but I much prefer dabbing every ten or fifteen minutes to sucking on a tank non stop.
chronickiller7
Well-Known Member
Think I found the trick with my coil set up. The key is to pulse the button and not burn the oil (very easy to do). I also redid the coil and got it to .65 ohms. I believe my error in burning the oil was what was causing the bad taste. Not the ss mesh wick or coil. Oil does pool on the deck, and I can load 5-10 good hits just by hitting oil off the deck, since the coil sits so low. When the coil can no longer heat what's on the deck, there's so little to even scrape. Going to try twisting some 22g and see how that works.
2clicker
Observer
RBASupplies claims that the micron size of the fibers are not small enough to cause any real problems. i dont know for sure though. i do know that i have not noticed anything negative after months of use.
and RBASupies claims that silica is far more of a concern than readyX. it frays as well and its fibers are a much smaller micron. sounds like silica would def cause some issues, but you dont hear anyone worried about that...?
i would love to get some definitive info on the subject.
chronickiller7
Well-Known Member
Is the fraying happening when cutting it or just from use?
2clicker
Observer
from cutting it. it wont fray from use. and it only frays on the ends. when you get used to handling it you can keep the fraying to a minimum.
chronickiller7
Well-Known Member
What are you guys using to cut your wicks? Scissors? Wire cutters?
DabComa
Stuck in Dab Coma
I use toe nail ( not fingernail (new not used(lol))) clippers to cut my READYXWICK, and I have yet to get any 2mm to fray, even cutting small 3/16" pieces for oil rda usage. Toe nail clippers are generally built with more (i forgot the name of the unit of measurement cfm I think) applied force in mind, having more crushing power and sturdiness?
Last edited:
2clicker
Observer
same here. also new!
chronickiller7
Well-Known Member
If I were to go to a thicker gauge kanthal, but same number of wraps, would the ohms go up or down? Also, whats the best way to make an ss mesh wick?
2clicker
Observer
thicker kanthal results in less resistance... or lower ohms
please dont use SS mesh as a wick. if you must then you roll it up and wrap the coil around it, but dont do it. it tastes so gross. you will waste time and money.
chronickiller7
Well-Known Member
Thats kinda what I thought. I did use ss mesh at first, but removed it, as it didn't seem to absorb much oil. My deck was equally as oily hahah. But if I got the coil too hot, it tasted off. Likely sickly. I guess my best bet is just wickless for now. I really wanna build a stove top to see how it works. Should I get 22g or 24g? hmmmm.
2clicker
Observer
im running 26g kanthal in my current diamondback coil and it measures at .8ohms. this with about 3 wraps (maxed out do to space inside RDA). this coil is a bit hot for my liking so next i will try 28g wire instead.
fernand
Well-Known Member
Apparently silica has multiple crystalline states all the way to amorphous (glass) and some transitions occur way before actual melting. No idea which ones wick better. I don't keep wicks indefinitely.
I was just commenting on the burning issue. FWIW, after 4 years of vaping e-liquids with all sorts of gear I suspect most of the taste issues have less to do with the "nature" or chemistry of wicks than with their mechanical properties causing areas of overheating and burning of liquids and residues, that being the one and only real problem. Even a tiny red-hot spot can decompose stuff and ruin the taste. That's not to deny better or worse vaporizing performance of different wicks. The Genisis project showed how SS mesh size affected vapor particle size which affected perceived throat hit. Again mechanical properties.
If a ti nail is glowing red yellow hot when applying wax, it burns. Same thing with coils.
Last edited:
pigfoot
Dabs are vapor too!
I'm slowly working my way through this thread - very interesting. My primary ingestion mode is torch and nail, so an alternative would be great. I have an eGo battery and a Yocan yo zap on the way, so at least I can try a basic version of this idea. So you folks who have tried these and the purpose built wax atomizers - are these way better? Much larger production of vapor? I guess it is not possible to get a "nail like" hit off a pen, even a really good one? And how about taste? Are these mods comparable to a dab off a nail in terms of flavor?
DabComa
Stuck in Dab Coma
I think the flavor can be better then on a nail depending on how your hitting it, and the performance can definitely be tuned right in to nail like hits, I warn people before i hand them mine, its just as extreme if not more then a bong rip, I let someone hit it the other day, and they blew out choking a cloud literally the size of their body ( 5 foot +) that floated off into a crowd of people ten feet away that all turned around like someone said "Look over their a marijuana field!" .
Edit: I should add that since I have got my RDA tuned in just the way I like it, I have found myself almost never using my glass, even when I'm home, I get more hits out of the RDA and just as on par performance, I've also kind of came up with a new way of hitting my jammy which is filling my mouth with smoke, then quickly inhaling that larger amount, that would have been next to impossible to try to inhale slowly over time without choking out, so that I can get a much larger hit in that pretty much matches the peak medication effect from glass.
Edit: I should add that since I have got my RDA tuned in just the way I like it, I have found myself almost never using my glass, even when I'm home, I get more hits out of the RDA and just as on par performance, I've also kind of came up with a new way of hitting my jammy which is filling my mouth with smoke, then quickly inhaling that larger amount, that would have been next to impossible to try to inhale slowly over time without choking out, so that I can get a much larger hit in that pretty much matches the peak medication effect from glass.
Last edited:
2clicker
Observer
I let someone hit it the other day, and they blew out choking a cloud literally the size of their body ( 5 foot +) that floated off into a crowd of people ten feet away that all turned around like someone said "Look over their a marijuana field!" .
keep up the great work my friend!
you can absolutely get nail quality rips with the right coil and power. in my opinion this is the better option for me. being able to really tune the device to perform the way you want appeals to me as opposed to most of the manufactured options out there. and its just plain fun to be honest. taste will depend on what materials you use to coil/wick with. users have their preference. you will have to try dif stuff to find what you like.
Puffers
Micro-Climate Mastermind
I hardly use my nail anymore. I keep a driptip with a piece of small silicone on it that mates right up to a 14mm gong fitting. Even when my friends are over they almost always choose the rda w/ glass over using the nail it's just way easier to use, pass, quieter, etc
Last edited:
pigfoot
Dabs are vapor too!
I think the flavor can be better then on a nail depending on how your hitting it, and the performance can definitely be tuned right in to nail like hits, I warn people before i hand them mine, its just as extreme if not more then a bong rip, I let someone hit it the other day, and they blew out choking a cloud literally the size of their body ( 5 foot +) that floated off into a crowd of people ten feet away that all turned around like someone said "Look over their a marijuana field!" .
Edit: I should add that since I have got my RDA tuned in just the way I like it, I have found myself almost never using my glass, even when I'm home, I get more hits out of the RDA and just as on par performance, I've also kind of came up with a new way of hitting my jammy which is filling my mouth with smoke, then quickly inhaling that larger amount, that would have been next to impossible to try to inhale slowly over time without choking out, so that I can get a much larger hit in that pretty much matches the peak medication effect from glass.
That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!
Yeah, I definitely get the fun part. I enjoy tinkering, but there's a lot to learn! One thing I don't get, with an APV, you can just adjust on the fly, with a mod you need to build a different coil, right? Wouldn't it be a lot easier with the APV, just change settings till you find your favorite temp? But the APVs won't do sub ohm - I guess that's the reason?
Yeah, that sounds good. The hits must be a lot hotter from an RDA though? Directly off the chamber? I was thinking of that type of water setup, for cooling. Do you use it much?
I'm just trying to get a handle on a "beginner" setup. The mods are pretty cheap on the 'bay - would prefer not to order from fasttech. A Nemesis or similar? 183650 batt - IMR + basic charger.
The RDA is where I am having trouble. A lot of the "full width" ones seem like the wax would tend to spread out and not stay on the coils.....wouldn't a narrower (14mm) one be better?