Splitting this thread off to be cleaner! Trying Trying… as I’m trying hard to isolate WTF is going on.
@worm1 has graciously answered my questions [in PMs today] and I don’t want to give up yet, nor spend any more money. Frankly, I just don’t have it. A case of more time than money, so I need to understand what is going on… at worst, I’ll learn more about Ohms Law and electricity.
I love learning but it’s really not what I should be doing with my day right now. Please excuse my frustration and resulting lack of patience (cuz right now I’m like WTF??)! Aggravated that I didn’t go to rec center today to exorcise and craving a real cig.
Please excuse!
Yeah. I looks like someone mentioned this. The coils appear to be too big. It’s a 22mm rda. Thus it may do better with 26g wire and 2-2.5ml around wire builds.
This particular RDAs 510 pin screw is adjustable. However, when I un-screw to lengthen it, it does not stay that length; it wobbles and screws itself back in when I twist the tank on.
Right now, I’m following up on @worm1’s suggestion that coils may be too big for this tiny chamber. I’ve re-seated them so they both closer to center post and, I think more importantly, lower to the deck. So, I was able to cut the extra wire off the legs, which I had all spaced out to make room for the cotton. Tried to use too much - figured that would happen…
Test firing without juice or cotton, I could hear the coils compress, as springs, when I pressed the top cap/chamber onto the deck and that resulted in a short. Lamentable because I thought the chamber may just be too short to start with but that I’d fixed that. But, anyway, I feel hopeful at least!
I tell you, it all looks so large and spacious online in pictures and reviews. But, this shite is tiny. Somewhere I read someone say the cotton from a q-tip sized for him. That made no sense to me because those cotton wicks look like giant pillows on YouTube - LMAO!!! I mean, I am really delicate with things (especially when I don’t understand) but then handy, too, but this has been a real challenge. And irritating because I just don’t know jack about electricity, Metal touching metal, yes, but then I didn’t think that was happening under the hood. Or if it was defective or what. Money being tight and really don’t want to smoke, either.
Feeling calmer now and gonna relax and watch some Olympics online…
Definitely not recommended for beginners, @Jazzy_girl!
But, can someone explain to me why these coils are rated for 0.8 ohms but read 0.34 on the mod? That’s screwed all the way on. When the tank is secured on the pin connector but only about halfway down, it reads 0.12? Like I said, I don’t get it… TIA!
As i said, make sure the 510 pin is tight and test on meter w/ everything, including the drip tip. i count 10.5 wraps? be.518 w/ 24 s.s so .26 total?? it will fluctuate as u crank it down or up since its losing/gaining connection w/ the mod
I would take the RDA to a vape shop and ask them to install one thin insulation washer on the 510 screw side and one under the inside well middle positive pin post (these two additions should stop shorting).
Sounds like your middle positive post may be shorting.
If every thing checks out good on a 521 tab or mod with the chamber off then the short may be coming from the wire touching the chamber.
This happens to me with the Goon RDAs. I try to get the coils as close to the airflow as possible. But I also have to take into account that the inner sleeve of the chamber is smaller in ID. If I have the coils too far out, when I put the top cap/sleeve on, it sometimes touches the coils just barely. That caused a hard short.
Its plenty big enough. I generally run 3 diameter, 5 wrap fused Claptons and I’ve never had a short. I think it all comes with experience, stick with it and you’ll get the hang of it. Or you could get one of those massive 30mm RDAs
I realize you just bought this RDA and likely are not hot to replace it just now, however I would not have suggested this as a first RDA. There are much easier decks to build. A few that come to mind include the Bonza, Icon, Goon, & Troll V2. The trouble with 3 post RDAs is that you have to bend the coil leg pretty severely to center the coil, and that creates a tendency to have your coil too far from the post.
Based on the pictures you have, it looks like you have the coils installed “backward” with the bottom leg going to the outside post. The outcome here is that that leg will block you from getting your wick in.
I’m guessing on the size of your coils, but they look to be like 2.5mm ID, maybe 12 wraps, and I’m assuming kanthal, which would make that a pretty high resistance build for the modern era, something like .5 ohm with both coils installed. My advice would be to pull 2 or 3 or 4 wraps off those coils. It will lower the overall resistance of your build, but it is much easier to handle a coil that is 8 wraps instead of 12. That will also go a long way to prevent you shorting against the cap.
One thing I used to do when 3 posts were all we had was to prep my coils thusly prior to install:
If you bend the bottom leg under the coil and then back perpendicular, it will let you install the coil right up against the post, and then use your tool to pull it away from the post. The top leg is less of and issue, but I would also form it to hit the post hole in a controlled way. I get that old hands and eyes could make this a very tricky operation, but it is the best I can offer.
Good luck, and come talk to us in Discord if you want more help, someone is always there.
Thank you @JMak642! I hadn’t noticed there was a difference, so I appreciate it, as it definitely makes sense! I think I can bend my pre-built coil legs this way in future.
Yep, he got it licked and i understand his frustration. He had a lot of problems w/ it, told me a few times he really wanted a cigarette. He really wanted this to work and isn’t in the situation to simply purchase a different one. It is definitely not an easy guy to build on and wouldn’t suggest it for beginners. Thats why it awesome to have this forum w/ peps that are happy to suggest gear.
I probably took it the wrong way. I’m having a super bad day so I’m sorry for going off a little bit. I tried to pm u but it said ur not accepting them
Following up to close this topic and to provide the solution for those who helped me with this issue and to document it for anyone else researching a similar issue.
The short answer is that the top cap touched the coils and shorts the atomizer. Though, first, it was the metal drip tip I used that touched the center post, but I thought I’d solved that problem by using a plastic one.
Quoting a former Reddit user:
I’d suggest a plastic or Delrin tip for use with the Mini. The topcap is really close to the posts and I noticed that most of my metal drip tips actually touch the posts
The problem with the FS Mini is that it is so mini there is a miniscule amount of space between the center post, the coils and top cap. It is not necessarily that the wire I used, or even that the diameter of the coils, was too large but moreso that this being my first RDA I installed the coils (in order to work with them in such a small space) a hair too high and invariably pressing the top cap onto the atomizer as it should be set caused a short. Experimenting with the battery off, I could hear the coils being compressed.
The solution is to make sure the coils sit lower than the center post, which is the tallest point on the base/deck.
Thank you, again, for all those who contributed; it was a huge help!
Hey, I read that you replaced the Drip Tip with a plastic one. I don’t know if you are using the Drip Tip or a Chuff Cap, but this would give you quite a bit more room, and be a little more forgiving regarding your builds. To look at that deck from the side is almost painful, it’s so darn short.
