RTA.. Not even getting a day before burnt taste (Help problem solving)

rueric · May 11, 2018

Hello all,

I have just about tried everything I can think of.. but I think there must be an information gap somewhere.
Asking everyone to knowledge me on perhaps where I am going wrong..

I recently just bought a new RTA, the Boreas v2.
After about a day of vaping on it, the taste goes to sh*t and I need to clean the coils (dry burn) and re-wick it again.

I feel like this is entirely too short of a time for one to be constantly re-wicking it.. I hear how people can use their coils/wicks for at least a week before the taste starts to go bad.

Here are my specs:
Coil: Amazon purchased: Fogslord Alien Clapton coils: 26GAx3+32GA Kanthal A1+SS316L prebuilt
RTA: Boreas V2
Cotton: Organic japanese cotton
Mod: Fuchai Duo 3
Wattage: Tested between 70-110
Ohm: .11
Juice: Humble juice (variety but constant per wick)

Different things I've tried:
Wicking - I've read/watched a LOT of reviews on this particular RTA and for the most part it was good. I do believe I am wicking this properly. The juice in the tank gets brownish from interacting with the burnt coils.. I make sure I fluff out the ends, make sure its not stuffed in the juice holes, etc.

Chain vaping - I was a smoker, but I do believe that I am vaping properly as well.. I can hit this once every 10-20 minutes or so and still experience the same rate of burning.

I'm thinking about switching over to a different RTA, maybe the TFV12, but an RTA version (saving money on coils/cotton).. Any advice out there that might educate me on where I am going wrong?

Thank you!

jwill · May 11, 2018

Vaping at a high wattage, low ohm with high VG juice (potentially with sweeteners). You could just be making the juice really gummy by heating it at high wattage which is in turn gumming everything else up very quickly.

Nothing about your setup screams that you are doing anything wrong (IMO). It just sounds to me like you might be using some particularly "dirty" juice that is gunking up the systems when it gets hot.

Maybe try a simpler coil at a lower wattage and see if it gets better.

KingPin! · May 11, 2018

Now that’s a good amount of info to start out with :cheers:

How have you positioned the coils?

80/20 juice I imagine it’s sweet quickly looking thier range up so agree with Jwill the higher you have the wattage the quicker it’ll gunk up

Also are you noticing it gunk up one side more than the other? Just wondering if you worked out all the hot spots properly and they glow evenly from the centre out

rueric · May 11, 2018

@jwill, what guage coil do you recommend me trying?

@KingPin! I have the coils positioned directly at the air flows, its pointing up straight to it, directly in the middle.

Is 60-70 Watts still too high for this? I thought that the wattage was already quite low considering the low ohms.
No, both sides are equally gunked, I can take it apart now since its already tasting bad. I'll attach a screenshot in the next few minutes.

https://imgur.com/a/UKAgWW8

Mattp169 · May 11, 2018

istep one: disassemble boreas and soak it all in vodka or pure grain or even vinegar for 30 minutes. Take a tooth brush , tube brush, whatever and scrub it clean as can be.

step 2 dry
step 3 make new coils wick and try again - MAKE SURE coils ae backed off the terminal blocks but not touching the chamber. WHich will cause an intermittent short which will make everything burnt tasting

sounds to me either the coil shorted for a moment, but didn't break and stopped shorting, you over did it on the coil and its burnt now or there's junk on the rta somewhere that is giving the burnt taste.
SO clean it and try anew

rueric · May 11, 2018

Hi Matt,

I just purchased the Boreas, started using it less than a week ago.. But I will give this thing a good cleaning and see where we go from there.

jwill · May 11, 2018

rueric said:
@jwill, what guage coil do you recommend me trying?

@KingPin! I have the coils positioned directly at the air flows, its pointing up straight to it, directly in the middle.

Is 60-70 Watts still too high for this? I thought that the wattage was already quite low considering the low ohms.
No, both sides are equally gunked, I can take it apart now since its already tasting bad. I'll attach a screenshot in the next few minutes.

https://imgur.com/a/UKAgWW8

For your wattage and ohms preference you can get it with pretty much anything that makes you smile. I am assuming you are not TC since the coil had Kanthal in it. You can go Kanthal, SS or NI. For low ohms like you are doing, I would use NI80 @ 20g, 5 wraps each coil w/ inside diameter of 3mm for around .15ohm (total) or .30ohm(ish) per coil. Fast ramp, fast cool and it can handle the wattage admirably and still give enough mass to create a dense, cloudy warm vape and get plenty of flavor.

rueric · May 11, 2018

The wires I have at home are just Kanthal A1 wires, I'd have to order some NI80 then.
I use to build my own coils, but saw the Alien ones on amazon for a decent price with less hassle then making my own fused claptons..
If I was to make a simple Kanthal A1 coil, you suggest going 3mm 4-5 wraps?

eStorm · May 11, 2018

Humble, just like most commercial juices do contain a truck load of sweeteners. Depending on the flavor profile, some contain a whole boat load of it lol.

Since you don't seem too have an issue from the start but rather 10-30ml in, I go with the other ones, and say its the juice. On the bright side, be happy you not vaping it in a sub ohm tank with factory coils

But honestly, sometimes people say they fluffing the cotton, posting a picture and first thing I notice is the opposite. Just double check, if you use the correct amount, your cotton fluffed like no tomorrow, your tails not overly short and as well fluffed to the sky etc.

rueric · May 11, 2018

Yup, 100% fluffing my cotton, scraping and cutting off the excess. Making sure they aren't too snug in the filling holes, etc. Perhaps it is just this particular juice.. I've been using them for a few months now, cycling between all the flavors until I find the ones I really like. I think I've narrowed it down.. Do you guys see any issues with the particular alien coils I purchased?

jwill · May 11, 2018

rueric said:
The wires I have at home are just Kanthal A1 wires, I'd have to order some NI80 then.
I use to build my own coils, but saw the Alien ones on amazon for a decent price with less hassle then making my own fused claptons..
If I was to make a simple Kanthal A1 coil, you suggest going 3mm 4-5 wraps?

Kanthal works just fine. 22-24 gauge and work out the ohms where you want it. I am partial to NI80 because I vape mostly mech.

KingPin! · May 11, 2018

rueric said:
@jwill, what guage coil do you recommend me trying?

@KingPin! I have the coils positioned directly at the air flows, its pointing up straight to it, directly in the middle.

Is 60-70 Watts still too high for this? I thought that the wattage was already quite low considering the low ohms.
No, both sides are equally gunked, I can take it apart now since its already tasting bad. I'll attach a screenshot in the next few minutes.

https://imgur.com/a/UKAgWW8

Here’s how I position the coils on the boreas V2

In answer to you question no ...I think at this stage with your photos it’s just the juice that’s causing this to gunk up

Wattage at 70 is perfectly reasonable
It gunking up evenly suggest they are heating ok

Out of interest how do you vape? Do you press the fire button and cook the coil a little before inhaling or inhale at the same time as pressing to go button?

Also how restricted is the airflow?

Not enough air over the coils will cause premature gunking

rueric · May 11, 2018

I fire and inhale at the same time. And after I’m done firing, I still inhale to clear it out. I do not prefire to warm the coils up.

Airflow is opened up all the way, no restrictions.

I would actually prefer going higher wattage for more flavor.. but not at the sacrifice of only having a coil/wick not even last one day.

How often do you vape for before you change your wicks?

Vape Fan · May 11, 2018

Is this the wire, or same as the premade coils your using?

I don't know if the ss part of that wire is getting too hot when you check for hot spots or glow the coil.
I'm wondering if its just the wrap that is 316L?, and, if you space the wraps a little and dry burn like ss, if that would help?

rueric · May 11, 2018

Yep that is the same one I bought.

I do dry burn the coils before use and in between wicks. Followed by a dip in a small water cup or something to clean off the gunk.

Is there a different dry burn method between kanthal and ss?

According to the reviews on amazon, the cores are kanthal and the outer wraps are ss

Vape Fan · May 11, 2018

rueric said:
Yep that is the same one I bought.

I do dry burn the coils before use and in between wicks. Followed by a dip in a small water cup or something to clean off the gunk.

Is there a different dry burn method between kanthal and ss?

Yes, and it wouldn't hurt to try it. If it doesn't help then you know what your doing when you do use all SS.
There are some good vids on youtube and I'll edit in what I do in a min.

This isn't the only way, it's what I do.
Space your wraps a little.

For dry burning ss, it’s like there’s a wattage line you don’t want to get to. That line is glowing orange/red. But you don’t know what that wattage is, so start low. As a matter of fact, I only apply enough wattage to get the coil to change to heated color and nothing that has orange in it.

This change to heated color says if/where hot spots are. Start at around 10-12w and long pulse. If you don’t see any smoke from fingerprints/contaminates, you can hold the fire button down without concern of glow at that wattage, and look for color change on the coil. Use good lighting. If you don’t see any, you’ve at least started breaking it in.

Bump the wattage a few up a little, and pulse, looking for color. Repeat and work out hot spots as you go. Your max wattage may be around 20-24w, and you get orange or red if you pulse too long. If you need more wattage, raise it up but guard against glow with your pulses..

End result should be colored up kinda like this pic, in that it's - middle out, but this one is all 316L.

Vape Fan · May 11, 2018

rueric said:
According to the reviews on amazon, the cores are kanthal and the outer wraps are ss

OK. So they prolly won't have same color like my pick since they are mostly A1. I personally still wouldn't glow them since it has a SS wrap.

rueric · May 11, 2018

Wow that’s very interesting! I had no idea ss had lower heating temperatures. Especially that low!

It’s possible I’ve messed up the coils as soon as I put it in. So how do I go about cleaning them afterwards, will running at 20w get it hot enough for cleaning purposes?

Also, knowing this now. Is it possible to run the wattage at 90w later on once wicked and with a tank?

Vape Fan · May 11, 2018

Your wattages for dry burning those coils may be a little different that what I stated as a reference/explination.

If you clean with water, you could wet first then apply power and if 20w or so isn't enough, give it more. Recheck for hot spots after.

I'll use water sometimes, depending on the coil. Hold the atty upside down so the gunk doesn't drop on the deck or in the AF.

I would think you could run whatever wattage you can handle

rueric · May 11, 2018

Got it, gonna head home now and rebuild some new coils. Space it out a bit and try all over again. Will update on results!

PoppaVic · May 11, 2018

"head home"? Sheesh, when yer at work - you WORK.. Kids nowadays...

rueric · May 11, 2018

Lax job will let you explore different habits

Bigjay1978 · May 11, 2018

KingPin! said:
Here’s how I position the coils on the boreas V2

View attachment 110819 View attachment 110820

In answer to you question no ...I think at this stage with your photos it’s just the juice that’s causing this to gunk up

Wattage at 70 is perfectly reasonable
It gunking up evenly suggest they are heating ok

Out of interest how do you vape? Do you press the fire button and cook the coil a little before inhaling or inhale at the same time as pressing to go button?

Also how restricted is the airflow?

Not enough air over the coils will cause premature gunking

I agree, it's probably the juice. I've had several different liquids that I had to rewick once, sometimes twice daily.

rueric · May 12, 2018

https://imgur.com/a/Petq9BA
Pictures of the new coil, had to learn how to properly dry burn SS lol.. eventually ended up just turning off the lights and firing at around 20W to get the hot spots out. Also spaced it. Hope it goes well!

PoppaVic · May 12, 2018

My problem with the boreas v2 (clone) is the flavor is wunnerful, but the goddamned tank seems to ceaselessly weep juice. I swear it's the idiotic o-rings. I'm tempted to tear it down and get some silicone caulk.

Vape Fan · May 12, 2018

rueric said:
https://imgur.com/a/Petq9BA
Pictures of the new coil, had to learn how to properly dry burn SS lol.. eventually ended up just turning off the lights and firing at around 20W to get the hot spots out. Also spaced it. Hope it goes well!

As long as there's no hot spots. Looks like you could have went for darker color in the middle of the coils. How does it vape?

rueric · May 12, 2018

Vaping good so far! Will be vaping it throughout the day. If it even lasts through the day I’ll consider it a win lol

rueric · May 13, 2018

Okay so it’s been about three days now and although the taste wasn’t horrendous, I was able to wasn’t as good as a new cotton. I decided it was time for a rewick.

When I took the cotton out, the middle cotton was basically completely burnt in half, is this normal? As in, I pulled one end of the cotton out, half the cotton came apart. Pulled the other end to take the other end, this happened for both sides. I’m assuming this still isn’t normal. At least the dry hits wasn’t as bad as it use to be. Any more advice?

Vape Fan · May 13, 2018

I don't know, but I'm sure someone does. Did you wick it too tight last time? And pulled it apart removing it?
And your going to clean and make sure the coils are firing correctly before rewicking - right?

jwill · May 13, 2018

rueric said:
Okay so it’s been about three days now and although the taste wasn’t horrendous, I was able to wasn’t as good as a new cotton. I decided it was time for a rewick.

When I took the cotton out, the middle cotton was basically completely burnt in half, is this normal? As in, I pulled one end of the cotton out, half the cotton came apart. Pulled the other end to take the other end, this happened for both sides. I’m assuming this still isn’t normal. At least the dry hits wasn’t as bad as it use to be. Any more advice?

Sounds like you have too much wicking in your rig and juice is not flowing through at the rate of consumption. Try using a little less wicking material and reset.

rueric · May 13, 2018

Gotcha, I thought I had wicked it pretty well without making it too tight in the middle. Will try again with less wick. And yup, I cleaned out the gunk on the coils before rewicking. Low wattage dry burn (25w) and with water

jwill · May 13, 2018

rueric said:
Gotcha, I thought I had wicked it pretty well without making it too tight in the middle. Will try again with less wick. And yup, I cleaned out the gunk on the coils before rewicking. Low wattage dry burn (25w) and with water

Every atty has that trick to it and you will find wicking that works, just gotta keep trying.

You may have seen this video but if not it may be of help. Edit: Didnt tag start time. He starts wicking about 5:57

rueric · May 13, 2018

Hi, yup I've seen this one and its basically exactly what I do

PoppaVic · May 13, 2018

rueric said:
Gotcha, I thought I had wicked it pretty well without making it too tight in the middle. Will try again with less wick. And yup, I cleaned out the gunk on the coils before rewicking. Low wattage dry burn (25w) and with water

The 'split' wick to me also suggested "too many watts" - It's certainly getting too hot. May be wicking, but can't keep up.

That Nord guy was right about "tightly wicking" to stop spitback, but on all my tanks I definitely want to be able to tow the wick left & right w/o tipping atty & mod to cutting-board. Now, this is with COTTON. So far, with Rayon, I wick it very tight so you need a stabilizing hand on mod and the coil itself - but that damned rayon - you then gotta' thin the bloody tails down to about 25%.

I would definitely rewick and start with lower watts - climb Watts Hill until you are getting the flavor. Watch out for chaining too often. (The last is usually solved on my tanks by moving from 2mm to 3mm mandrels: you are keeping more juice in play)

rueric · May 13, 2018

I went with a 3mm first but I couldn’t get the 3mm to fit in the tank without touching the sides causing a short.. maybe I should grab a coil master to make them better. Does anyone know if using a coil master allow me to space them too?

PoppaVic · May 13, 2018

Everyone I've ever seen "spaces" a coil by pulling it OPEN and then boinking it back into the mandrel-head. I tend to do similar, if I bother.

Dude, if you are having problems fitting a 3mm or 2mm coil in that atty, you are definitely using the wrong wire/design/thinking.

RTA.. Not even getting a day before burnt taste (Help problem solving)

The Great King of Nothing

In my defence, I was left unsupervised ^^

The Great King of Nothing

The Great King of Nothing

In my defence, I was left unsupervised ^^

_evil twin_

_evil twin_

_evil twin_

_evil twin_

_evil twin_

_evil twin_

The Great King of Nothing

The Great King of Nothing

VU Sponsors