4L4N
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- Nov 30, 2012
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A Tutorial on how to make a SS Mesh Hybrid for the Octopus RDA
In 10 Easy Steps.
What You Need
From left to right -
1 - 2mm Silica wick.
2 - 0.23 Kanthal A1 resistance wire.
3 - Rectangle of Stainless Steel 400 grade mesh
4 - Octopus RDA
5 - 2mm screwdriver ( or similar )
6 - Tweezers ( or pliers )
7 - Volt/Ohm meter
*When performing the steps below please take care not to burn yourself.
STEP 1.
Oxidise / Flame the Mesh using a blue flame ( Chefs blowtorch / Gas hob )
Hold in tweezers.
Once glowing then quench the mesh in a cup of water.
Flame then quench 3 times.
STEP 2.
Anneal the Kanthal resistance wire.
Hold your wire in the flame until it glows.
Flame along it's length 2 times. This is to take the springiness out of the wire.
STEP 3.
Wrap the SS Mesh around your 2mm screwdriver. ( or similar object )
Keep rotating/working the mesh around with your fingers until it's nice and tight and ready for step 4.
STEP 4.
Wrap your resistance wire around the mesh.
I do 4 turns / coils. Wrap it as tight as possible.
0.23 Kanthal usually comes out at 1.3 - 1.5 ohms.
0.20 Kanthal usually comes out at 1.7 - 1.9 ohms.
Pro - tip
Trim the mesh after wrapping your coils then put it back on the screwdriver to reshape the hollow center.
STEP 5.
Slide the mesh/coil off the screwdriver and hold one of the wires with your tweezers.
Flame until glowing then quench again.
Do this 2 times. ( This is to set everything in place and also additional oxidising. )
STEP 6.
Burning Juice onto your mesh/coil.
While still holding the mesh/coil with your tweezers put a few drops of juice ( any flavour ) onto the mesh/coil
until thoroughly soaked.
Now set fire to it !
( Hold the mesh to the flame just long enough to set the juice alight then pull it away from the flame so the juice can burn away on it's own. )
Once the juice has burned off then add more drops and repeat.
Do this 3-5 times.
Doing this step pre-beds the coil and adds additional oxidisation.
STEP 7.
Attach the mesh/coil to the RDA.
Make sure that the mesh is free floating and NOT touching any part of the pos/neg poles
and is also not touching any of the body/base of the RDA.
Only the wires from the coil should be in contact with the poles/terminals.
Try and position the mesh/coil so it floats about 1-2mm above the air hole.
Once fully fitted then use your volt/ohm meter to check the resistance of the coil.
Center post is positive, outer most post is negative.
IF ohms are in an acceptable range then it's time for step 8.
STEP 8.
Check for hotspots.
Attach the RDA to a battery.
Now give it some power. After a few seconds ALL the coils should glow evenly as in pic below.
If only one or two coils are glowing then you have hotspot(s).
Sort any hotspots out before proceeding to next step.
( Tutorial on sorting out hotspots is not included )
STEP 9.
Threading the silica wick.
Wet one end of the wick.
Thread it through either end of the hollow center in the mesh.
Pro - tip
When threading the silica through push and twist at the same time.
STEP 10.
Arrange wick to suit and apply juice.
Once the silica is nicely arranged then drip your favourite flavoured Juice all over it.
Make sure the wick and mesh is soaked. ( Don't let any juice go down the air hole ! )
Now give it a test fire to make sure the vapour production is adequate.
All that's left to do is slip on the top cap and enjoy.
Alan
