Dual Triple Parallel Coil, 32 gauge kanthal, 1mm diameter =1-1.1 phms

One word: YUM

The vapor production is poorer than the dual parallel, but the flavor!!! It's DABOMB

First Time DIY Ejuice

I consume about 3 bottles of 10 ml ejuice every 2-3 weeks. That amounts to 500 pesos. I've always regarded vaping as more expensive, but healthier, than smoking but I wondered if I could bring down the cost by some pesos. I researched about making my own ejuice and after about a month of thinking about it, I finally took the plunge!

I went to my suking Denkat kiosk in Robinsons Galleria and chatted a bit with my pal, the kiosk minder. I should get his name. He's been very helpful throughout my vaping journey. Anyway, so I bought my supplies.

110 ml pure VG
110 ml pure PG
30 ml PG-based 36 mg concentrate Nicotine solution
6 ml Strawberry flavor

I also went to Mercury Drug to buy a 1 ml/cc insulin syringe.

So all in all, my supplies cost 912 pesos.

I went and made a 40/60 PG/VG ejuice. I tried to make a 6mg nicotine ejuice, but I think I botched the exactness of my measure. I used an app from the Play Store to calculate the mixture. I was able to make 4 bottles. I'll make some more today.

How does it taste? Without steeping, the pure strawberry flavored ejuice is yum :D It's gonna steep for about a week.

Same-side Dual Nano Coil

I did something new! Well, I've been wanting to build a dual coil, but the teeny deck on the UDA made it complicated. I thought It wouldn't be manageable.

I found that it's possible to place both coils on one side. So they're side-by-side (on top of one another but not touching) on one side now. It's vaping lots of vapor. Flavor... not as much. Though it could be due to the silica wick I'm using (instead of cotton).

One big reason for me wanting to use silica is because it doesn't burn. So less burnt taste?? I hope.

Cotton Wicking

I've been using cotton wicks on my builds for about two weeks now. What can I say about using cotton instead of silica? It's tastier, cheaper, and easier to manipulate into shape.

BUT it burns. Burnt taste is easy to accomplish, if that's what you like :P

Parallel microcoil 32 gauge around 1.5 mm diameter = 1.5 ohm

So I built a parallel coil using a 3 inches of 32 gauge Kanthal. Resistance came up to around 1.5 ohms. At 3.5 volts, the vape is alright. Taste should be better but it's not really that much of an improvement over the earlier microcoil I did. Throat hit is tops, vapor production is great... flavor... not yet there.

This one is a microcoil too. Around 1.5 mm diameter mini flathead screwdriver.

Diamond Nano Coil using 28 Gauge

Urm, FAIL.

The teeny space between the 2 posts of the UDA couldn't support the diamond coil shape. The 2 bottom coils just wouldn't stay put.

The 28 Gauge wire sucks at being shaped.

Microcoil around 1 mm diameter, 32 gauge kanthal

Holy. Cow. The. Flavor. Is. Intense. Vapor is thick and dense. Well, thicker and denser than anything I've produced so far.

3 inches of wire, with around 3 mm leads each. I haven't tested the resistance but it's bound to be 2+ ohms.

Teeny amount of cotton wicking.

Thumbs waaay up.

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Cottontail Build at 3.1 ohms

I started wanting to build a dual coil this afternoon. Maybe it was everything I've been reading on the forums and on YouTube comments. Maybe I just feel that I can graduate from single coil building coz I've made some nice ones. Whatever the reason, I was hankering to build something new.

Because I have a Smoktech UDA, which has a relatively small deck, I racked my brains on how to fit a dual coil in there. I realized it would be a very tight fit and the risk of shorting (due to wire touching the atomizer body) is kinda higher than what I'd like. So I looked for other build instead. I found the Cottontail build, originally built on a Smoktech Octopus RDA. Since the Octopus has 2 poles, like the UDA, and the Cottontail doesn't seem to require a lot of space, I decided I'd make one.

It's a little difficult to accomplish with a teeny 32 gauge wire. The wire itself is easy to shape, but actually seeing it was a challenge to my poor myopic eyes. Anyway, I managed to do it...

With 5 coils on each "ear", it came up to 3.1 ohms. Lead (length of wire between the last coil and the post) was around .5 mm each.

How's it vape?

NOT so good. Taste was blah. Vapor production wasn't much. Then again, I think it's a coil designed for sub ohm vaping. At 3.1 ohms, I guess the resistance caused the whole set up to heat slow...

Anyway, I'll keep on it til maybe tomorrow or indefinitely. Until I find a more interesting coil to build :D

Vape on, friends!

Savoring Flavor on a Higher/Standard Resistance (2.6 ohm) Build

A 3 ohm build? Why oh why? I'm not a cloud chaser by any means. I'm just someone trying to build a nice everyday (occasional chain-vaping) rig. I tested my atomizer again this morning and found that it went down to around 2.6 ohms. At 3.7 v, it's pretty adequate. I won't be winning any contests, but my coil is pretty and my wicking is neat. I'm satisfied.

Lower resistance or higher resistance? The lowest resistance I've gone was .5 ohm on a regular 28 gauge (Kanthal) coil with cotton wick. At 3.7 v, it was alright. It did produce more vapors, but the taste was somewhat muted? I find this 2.6 ohm build to be more flavorful. I'll probably stay in the 2-3 ohm range for the near future. The 32 gauge Kanthal is best to get this resistance. I made around 7 coils, squeezed them together, on a 2mm diameter screwdriver. Wick went inside this time, not around. No more Dragon Coil coz it gave me a harsher throat hit than I like.

Right now I'm using 6mg Green mint ejuice from Denkat. It's really cool in the mouth and the throat hit is mellow on my coil. I can taste the sweetness underlying the mint. That's how nice on flavor this coil is. :D

Dragon Coil Kanthal A1 32 Gauge, 2 mm Diameter

After watching Rip Trippers' build (a dual coil Dragon Coil), I decided I would try to build one myself. I didn't do a dual coil, as my UDA is pretty small and only has 2 poles on it. I thought it would be too difficult.

So the Dragon Coil was a semi-success. It vaped large volumes of vapor but had a rather harsh throat hit. Considering the resistance of that coil is up to 3 ohm... So I dismantled it this morning and went back to my ordinary microcoil. :)

Nicotine Overdose? Part 1

Okay. So I've been building coils. Building coils entails testing them out. I built 2 coils today. Vaped pretty heavily as a result.

Now my head is heavy and my bowels are irritated. No nausea yet. Better put the PV (personal vaporizer) til tomorrow.

I bought a 32 gauge Kanthal wire. I built a little coil. It produces a cooler vapor than I'm used to. Less flavor too. But I'm liking it for tonight. We'll see how I feel about it tomorrow.

Putting down the PV now...

Kanthal A1 28 Gauge, 22mm Diameter Microcoil v.1

Alright. So I've been trying to build a microcoil with a cotton wick. Last night, my fingers got really sore trying to bend and form the coil. I need to invest in pliers. I gave up on the microcoil and shelved it. I went back to my ordinary coil with silica wick.

This morning, I tried to build the microcoil again. It was a bitch to keep trying to press the coils together so they would touch uniformly. It didn't help matters that my multimeter has run out of batteries. So I might have to go acquire some batteries or a new multimeter from old reliable CD-R King.

Microcoil part deux was a semi-success! Semi-success coz it fires, makes warm vapors, and produces good enough flavor. Semi coz it looks like shit.

I'm vaping on it til it dies.

My Vape History

So I've been vaping for about a month now, exclusively. No cigarettes (analogs) in that time. How has it been?

Vaping has been something of a journey. Trial and error, testing out what other vapers recommend, etc. I started out with an e-go 510 starter kit which I bought last year for Php 1,500. It was alright. But somehow, it didn't satisfy my cravings for the "stink stick". I vaped and smoked for about a year. Then I acquired a smaller e-go ecigarette battery. The same. I used the disposable 510 atomizers. I dripped. The flavor production was alright. The vapor production was alright as well. But still, I felt dissatisfied. In 2013, I was able to quit smoking for a month. Then, personal problems came and I started to smoke again.

About a month ago, I started researching about full mechanical mods. I also started learning about rebuildable atomizers. My motive was really to minimize my spending for disposable 510 atomizers. These things came at 200-450 a pop, and I would go through one every three weeks or so. I thought I should look into rebuildable atomizers.

Well, I got a full mech and a rebuildable atomizer a month ago and I've not smoked a stick since. Mostly coz I didn't want to render the nearly 4k cost of these two useless. Goody for me, I've been smoke-free since.

The guy at the vape kiosk taught me how to build a coil and wick. I used his build for a day. Then I tinkered with it and destroyed it. Hahaha! I built my own. The first build I did was mediocre. It produced flavor and vapor adequately but I knew I could do better!

Second build popped a coil. One of the leads was too long. Sayang. It was a nice microcoil one that made lovely vapor and yummy flavor.

Third build I made was very good :D It lasted about a week then gunk built up and made the taste yucky. This was also the first build I made using cotton coil.

Fourth build, I used the silica wick I bought. It was good! But the looks of the coil turned me off.

Fifth build, I tried making a microcoil. It had around 11 loops. So using a table I got from the internet, I found the resistance to be around 1.4-1.5 ohm. It's a cool vape. The vapor isn't as warm as lower resistance builds. So far, flavor is good.

I'm gonna stay with this microcoil build with cotton wick for about a week until I start craving tinkering again. I hope I can forestall the desire to build.

So, how would I evaluate my vaping experiences so far? Vaping, as a smoking cessation tool, is effective. The hand-to-mouth motion is retained. The flavor is better than combusted tobacco. The challenge of building satisfies my weird-ass tendency to tinker. I like it :D

Yes, vaping is for me. Vaping is for anyone who wants to quit. I recommend it. Start with a starter kit and learn as you go along.

Safety consideration: buy a multi-meter or ohm tester to check resistance of builds. Coz too low a resistance on a mediocre battery may cause an explosion :D

VAPE ON FRIENDS!