So to give y'all an update (thank you for all the replies!)
I tried combing the wicks more, I tried shortening them, I tried thinner wick, I tried thicker wick, I tried black magic, nothing worked. So tonight I decided I'm gonna do something new (it's usually at this point that those dear to me leave the room and call a doctor. Or a vet, whichever is on call and has stock of a sedative)
So, I ripped everything out of the deck. Everything. And I built anew. 3mm ID 24ga kanthal, 5 wraps to give about 0.46 ohm. I lifted it to have the top of the coil be level with the top of the posts. And I looked at it, then at the pack of cotton bacon. And I settled on The Method (TM) (patent pending)
So I took a piece of cotton, jammed it through the coil, and cut it at the edge of the outer rim. Combed it out a bit, cut again, and then I went against everything they teach you at school, band camp and the boy scouts classes. I didn't go NEAR the wicking holes. I tucked the cotton underneath the coil. I felt like such a rebel that I proceeded to wear Raybans for the rest of the wicking process. I even put a The Smiths CD on volume level 11. I worked the wick (loosely) under the coil, then just left a bit of space below the coil itself so that the coil doesn't make contact with the tucked part. The wick covers the wicking holes but avoids going in there like I avoid going into a haberdashery.
I ended up with something that looks like Freddy vs Jason vs an RDA vs WTF-IS-THAT-ON-THE-BUILD-DECK. Seriously, it looks disturbing. I wish I had the presence of mind to take a picture, but I was too occupied by putting on a second pair of sunglasses because one wasn't enough at that stage anymore.
Priming the wick was where I noticed the first difference this time round. The juice immediately soaked into the wick and worked its way around to the bottom tucks - after soaking the part going through the coil. I screwed the top part of the tank onto the base while humming the soundtrack of Pulp Fiction, filled it up, and started at 30W.
I did a few tentative puffs, followed by a few longer puffs. I gradually worked my way up to 37W (which is where it still is) and after I felt that the cotton had some time to get used to the idea of being a science experiment, I did longer and longer puffs. I hit that fire button. I hit it hard. The final puff lasted 6 seconds, my lungs filed legal papers and my fan is on strike. But there was no dry hit.
I proceeded to test with long puffs but couldn't get it to dry hit at 40W or 45W. At 0.46 ohm I'm not going above 45W (steam-engine already thinks I'm being hilarious for going above 25W, but steam-engine is a wuss), in fact my sweet spot is around the 37W mark - and for the last couple of hours I haven't had flooding, spitback, or dry hits yet. I haven't refilled the tank yet (which is usually when the drama starts), so time will tell. But this is a better result than i've had with this bloody thing in a month. So I'm cautiously optimistic.
EDIT: The juice I used for the test tonight was Doug's Awesome Sauce. Man, I love this mix. After about 10 days? Dayumn.
I tried combing the wicks more, I tried shortening them, I tried thinner wick, I tried thicker wick, I tried black magic, nothing worked. So tonight I decided I'm gonna do something new (it's usually at this point that those dear to me leave the room and call a doctor. Or a vet, whichever is on call and has stock of a sedative)
So, I ripped everything out of the deck. Everything. And I built anew. 3mm ID 24ga kanthal, 5 wraps to give about 0.46 ohm. I lifted it to have the top of the coil be level with the top of the posts. And I looked at it, then at the pack of cotton bacon. And I settled on The Method (TM) (patent pending)
So I took a piece of cotton, jammed it through the coil, and cut it at the edge of the outer rim. Combed it out a bit, cut again, and then I went against everything they teach you at school, band camp and the boy scouts classes. I didn't go NEAR the wicking holes. I tucked the cotton underneath the coil. I felt like such a rebel that I proceeded to wear Raybans for the rest of the wicking process. I even put a The Smiths CD on volume level 11. I worked the wick (loosely) under the coil, then just left a bit of space below the coil itself so that the coil doesn't make contact with the tucked part. The wick covers the wicking holes but avoids going in there like I avoid going into a haberdashery.
I ended up with something that looks like Freddy vs Jason vs an RDA vs WTF-IS-THAT-ON-THE-BUILD-DECK. Seriously, it looks disturbing. I wish I had the presence of mind to take a picture, but I was too occupied by putting on a second pair of sunglasses because one wasn't enough at that stage anymore.
Priming the wick was where I noticed the first difference this time round. The juice immediately soaked into the wick and worked its way around to the bottom tucks - after soaking the part going through the coil. I screwed the top part of the tank onto the base while humming the soundtrack of Pulp Fiction, filled it up, and started at 30W.
I did a few tentative puffs, followed by a few longer puffs. I gradually worked my way up to 37W (which is where it still is) and after I felt that the cotton had some time to get used to the idea of being a science experiment, I did longer and longer puffs. I hit that fire button. I hit it hard. The final puff lasted 6 seconds, my lungs filed legal papers and my fan is on strike. But there was no dry hit.
I proceeded to test with long puffs but couldn't get it to dry hit at 40W or 45W. At 0.46 ohm I'm not going above 45W (steam-engine already thinks I'm being hilarious for going above 25W, but steam-engine is a wuss), in fact my sweet spot is around the 37W mark - and for the last couple of hours I haven't had flooding, spitback, or dry hits yet. I haven't refilled the tank yet (which is usually when the drama starts), so time will tell. But this is a better result than i've had with this bloody thing in a month. So I'm cautiously optimistic.
EDIT: The juice I used for the test tonight was Doug's Awesome Sauce. Man, I love this mix. After about 10 days? Dayumn.
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